Just A Minute

 
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first 2010 post

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Dean BedfordJan 2, 2010
 

 
I haven't posted much recently. That's because I've been busy bringing
together the "new" website. As well as changing thousands of links, I've
had to edit every page, changing apostrophes which haven't liked the
move from Tripod to Yahoo. But also I have been working hard and had the
blues a bit. Not sure why.

I've been listening again of course to the shows in the last season, the
first post-Clement season. There are six very funny shows and four that
were disappointing. I suppose that's not such a bad average, but it does
make me think that the loss of Clement is a big one. We knew that I
suppose, but still it's being confirmed.

The show starts again on Monday with Paul, Gyles Brandreth, Julian Clary
and David Mitchell. David was both very funny and very competitive in
his first two shows so I am expecting a lot from him.

Speaking of which I've listened a few times to the show he chairs, The
Unbelievable Truth, one of those shows which fills time between JAM
seasons on Mondays at 630pm on Radio Four. I mentioned on the Yahoo
group a few months ago that I didn't find the show very funny, and just
about everyone disagreed. I've heard a few more since and still feel
unimpressed. The last one I heard was a special QI edition featuring
Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, John Lloyd (an ex-JAM producer) and Rob
Brydon. I settled down looking forward to an enjoyable programme - after
all Stephen and Alan are among the funniest people in Britain.

Yet again I felt disappointed. For those who haven't heard it, it's a
reworking of Call My Bluff. One of the panel reads a monologue where
most of the material is fiction, but five facts are included. You win
points by guessing which parts of the speech are factual.

The fun of panel shows is usually in the interaction between panellists.
Call My Bluff had Frank Muir who couldn't not be funny if he tried.
Later Sandi Toskvig and Alan Coren enjoyed scoring points off each
other. As I said the panel was especially good - but somehow the comedy
never really got started. I think the monologues go on too long or
something. Anyway the Alan-Stephen double act never really came into
play.

The one good thing about the show was David Mitchell who was by a
distance the funniest person on the show. Most of the good lines came
from him. It made me wonder if he could be the next chairman for JAM
when Nicholas retires - which must surely be in the next two or three
years. I have the feeling David could do a good job.

Anyway I'm off on holiday in a couple of days so may not hear the first
show. It'll depend on whether I can get to an Internet cafe or not. But
I'm sure it will be good and we will get 12 very funny shows this season.

 
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