Nana-nana-nana-nana-na, Baby give it up, give it up – VIC give it up
Am I the first? Well I suppose that only proves I have too much time on my hands and the rest of youse are busy. Anywis….
Thursday nights are shaping up to be my favourite night of the week for telly. You have the 1-2-1 triuvirate salvo of Mock of the Week, 8 Out of 10 Cats and then Question Time, which this week was a doozy, to be expected in the current climate. Anyway, could go on about that at some length and may do later on, but just wanted to pose one question out of what i watched last night:
Has Vic Reeves had a stroke?
Seriously. He was on 8 Out of 10 Cats last night and gave yet another cringeworthy, shamobolic performance. Aside from the fact he just doesn’t look right anymore, everything he mutters is said with all the comic timing of David Camerson after someone has reversed over his head abotu a dozen times with his own 4X4. Vic and Bob were of course heroes of mine as they were of anyone with an interest in comedy over the last 2 decades, but I think it’s widely accepted that during at least the second half of that period has seen them slide further and further down into the murky netherworld of desperately unfunny. I don’t know much of what Bob does these days aside from pretend to be a puppet pug called Churchill, but in any event it is Vic who has displayed the most dramatic deterioriation.
From Families at War, Randall and Hopkirk, the return of Shooting Stars, Vic and Bob in Catterick, I’m A Celebrity, Brainiac… blah blah blah – we have seen someone who used to inspire laughs without uttering a word turn into a near vegetative no-joke has been. I suppose the early signs were there during the first run of Shooting Stars when he used to rub his legs when a female guest sat to his right and he used to do a mock-spazz ‘club singing’ routine, but at least that raised a smile occasionally.
Now he basically looks like he’s waiting on Nurse to wake him up and the only ventures into comedy he makes are either his stock in trade surrealism (but without the once customary laughs) or apparently pointless literal statements (last night’s was ‘look I have a fly on my finger, can we make sure we get this in shot?’).
I would say give up now Vic and preserve your dignity, but if he was going to do that I suspect he would have had to bow out after The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, the last truly great showcase for his undeniable natural comedic abilities.
So Vic, if you have had a stroke then I hope you make a full recovery. And if you haven’t… well you might want to pretend you have.
Did you just use the word ‘doozy’? I can’t forgive that. ‘Triuvirate’ I can forgive, but ‘doozy’ no way.
Missed the program but did cringe when I read the fly on the finger quote. Also I liked the mock-spazz club singing.
I read his Me Moir book or really I listened to the audiobook since i thot it would be funnier with him reading it. however in about five hours of audio i must have sniggered once. it was poor. the fact that it was his life up till about 20 odd or something means there must be a part 2 which may include the stroke years.
I did use the word doozy which I apologise for. It was very hypocritical of me, because I actually went on a rant to Angie (that’s my wife, folk reading this who I don’t know) during the same show and Claudia Winkleman was on it and used the phrase ‘nada, nada, nada’ instead of ‘blah, blah, blah’.
Sorry.
Just watched Mock the Week in the iPlayer thing. Frankie Boyle should just have his own show. Immense.
I only really watch it for Boyle. There’s probably at least one point every week when he says something which, while being hilarious, does make you slightly recoil. And it’s usually about Kerry Katona.
The host is OK, that Russell boy with the blonde hair tries to hard but is alright, the rest are all pretty shit. Boyle walks it.
Also, just looked up ‘triuvirate’ in the dictionary. It doesn’t exist biatch. I take it you meant triumvirate? If I had wheeled that one out at the pub to make myself look smart and it was wrong you would have felt the full force of my wrath!
Aw come on. It was just a type. I am fallible. Hard to believe, I know. At least I am encouraging you to look at a dictionary – that is at least a step in the right direction.
So far this blog is more of a diumvirate. It should be a quadumvirate!
now you’re just making up words. You nincumspittle!
Good post. Vic isn’t a funny as he once was but let’s get it into perspective… Series 2 of Big Night Out, Talc & Turnips sketch was the single greatest comedic event of our time. No-one has trumped it since. In that sense all comedy has deteriorated, not just Vic.
True, he doesn’t have the same energy and enthusiasm now but is still capable of golden nuggets like the bra men, Colin the Fox & Tom Fun, up there with the best of boosh and pissing all over the (mainly) irritable Little Britain.
To Vic Reeves/Jim Moir one can only say: thankyou
Bob wis the engine powering the motor. Without him he is…erm… engineless.