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The Best...comedy-show panellist

David Mitchell
  • Posted at 5:13am
  • 15 March 2007
  • by RhodriMarsden-RT
  • 5 comments

The comedy panel show is a bankable TV medium.

The subject is utterly unimportant; it could be based around food additives, 17th-century French court costume or international property law; all that's needed are a couple of reliably witty people, a deadpan master of ceremonies and a couple of other vaguely controversial guests to act as stooges.

When it works, as it usually does on Have I Got News for You, you see a magnificently entertaining romp as quick-witted, fast-thinking contestants tear strips off each other. When it fails, as it usually does on They Think It's All Over, you cringe through your fingers as a pre-scripted line is ballsed up by an athletics bronze medallist with a diction problem.

As these shows continue to sprout like well-watered cress from the night-time TV schedules, it's obvious that there's a dearth of people who are able to deliver the funnies when the cameras point in their direction.

And riding to the rescue comes a slightly repressed, disgruntled ex-Cambridge student in an unpleasant brown suit. In a recent TV interview, David Mitchell was asked "You, er, go on rather a lot of those panel games, don't you?"

Yes, he does, for one simple reason - he's incredibly, disgustingly witty. "I'm just incredibly witty," he said in a recent episode of That Mitchell and Webb Look, and he's incredibly, disgustingly right - he's even starting to make Paul Merton look slow on the uptake.

While a typical panellist - an ex-member of Bronski Beat or a budding stand-up comedian - looks as if their careers depend on everything they utter, Mitchell's bons mots are shoulder-shruggingly effortless.

Whether he's putting himself in the position of insurance salesman to the Russian Army, pondering how Beethoven could be used to sell soufflés or assessing the suitability of the name "Proctor & Gamble" for a new-born child, you're guaranteed a stream of unwilting wit, a torrent of failure-based monologues that combine self-deprecation with pedantry, and smut with one-upmanship.

After a while, you start wishing everyone else would shut up in order to give him more airtime, and I start gaining some perverse pleasure from imagining a dinner party scenario where I'm ritually humiliated as he delivers a devastating hammer blow of wit as I spill the gravy on the tablecloth?

Sorry, I'm dragging you into my own rather grim private fantasy. Peter Cook could be funny without trying, but he generally couldn't be bothered. So, David Mitchell, please continue being bothered. There's a lot of half-arsed panel shows out there. And they need you. Desperately.

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Comments

  • Posted on 14 November 2008
  • at 9:53am
  • by MazY

Surely the fact that these guys have the time to appear repeatedly on such shows demonstrates that none of them are that good. The good ones are out touring, preparing and testing new material, and performing in more credible environments.

Regardless, there is one thing that I think we can all agree on: Russell Howard is about as funny as a funeral.

  • Posted on 30 July 2008
  • at 4:22pm
  • by Miss P

The thing is, David has never claimed to be a stand-up comedian anyway; there is a quote attributed to him somewhere (sadly, I can't recall where offhand!) that to him, stand-up felt "unfinished" compared to the more polished and secure environment of character/sketch comedy. However, there's a difference between being a good comedy actor and a good comedian; likewise, there's a world of difference between stand-up and witticism. Even stand-up comedy can often rely on a well-rehearsed script (with deviation at the discretion of the performer), whereas it takes someone sharp and genuinely funny to say funny things off-the-cuff. I'm not trying to rubbish stand-up as I like all forms of comedy; I'm just saying that there's a difference between comedic forms!

I find David Mitchell one of the funniest people "doing the rounds" (as it were!) today. Long may he reign as the panel show king... well, as long as he wants to, anyway!

  • Posted on 18 July 2008
  • at 7:57pm
  • by Nonsense
David Mitchell has a very quick wit, and almost effortlessly rambles on with hilarious conclusions. There's an obvious level of intelligence behind this man's humour, and he has a high 'tele likeability factor'. Boyle on the other hand 'brings up' the same puerile school yard nonsense whatever show he appears on, which, quite frankly, I can live without. Yeah, shocking can be funny, and FB does hit moments of seemingly pure funniness at times, but most of the time we are hit with the vomit that continually spews from his mouth. However, FB is more akin to Einstein when compared with the terrible 'humour' of Russell Howard. He is definitely in the wrong job. Comedian? That's funny in itself.
  • Posted on 15 June 2008
  • at 7:49pm
  • by Custard socks
Is Mock the Week's 'Scenes we'd Like To See' round not stand up? Mitchell always participates in them. And nothing against Frankie Boyle (I'm a fan) but how many times has he been on QI? Mitchell is panel show gold.
  • Posted on 29 September 2007
  • at 1:38pm
  • by Webbo07

Why do you think they make David Mitchell team "captain" on Mock the Week? Cos he's not that funny and he definitely can't participate in the stand-up rounds! He's great in peep Show (not written by him) but the rest is mediocre at best.

Now if you want a REAL comedy panellist genius look no further than FRANKIE BOYLE! His near-the-knuckle jokes make mock The Week into a laugh-out-loud show not just another panel game. Let's hear it for Frankie and less of the David Mitchell nonsense.

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