Dave Allen At Peace

Thoughts? I really wanted to like it. The trouble is, Dave Allen was such a master of his craft and seeing Aidan Gillen muck up the timing, especially on the seminal clock gag, really spoilt it for me. I did like Tommy Tiernan as the dad though.

Didn't see this advertised at all or might have watched it. Was his timing too quick then? Allen's timing was fantastically slow like Frankie Howerd's, drawing out a gag for ages, both masters of it but in very different ways, Allen very laid back and casual and Howerd getting sidetracked and using his trademark No, no and thrice nos in a scattily loquacious fashion. Ronnie Corbett I thought was a slightly manufactured blend of the two but still watchable.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 8th April 2018, 11:49 AM

Didn't see this advertised at all or might have watched it. Was his timing too quick then? Allen's timing was fantastically slow like Frankie Howerd's, drawing out a gag for ages, both masters of it but in very different ways, Allen very laid back and casual and Howerd getting sidetracked and using his trademark No, no and thrice nos in a scattily loquacious fashion. Ronnie Corbett I thought was a slightly manufactured blend of the two but still watchable.

It just felt... forced. The delivery seemed a bit staccato and the punchline was actually too slow. Allen rolled into the punchline, with his rhythm of speech, it flowed. Gillen seemed to be deliberately avoiding the natural rhythm of delivery, hence why I thought it ruined it a bit. Actually, the words were in the wrong order, it's "What do they f**king give you? A clock!" Gillen's version is 'What do they give you? A f**king clock!. It might seem like a small detail, but so much of comedy is about the placement of words and the timing, and because I knew this routine pretty much off by heart I really noticed it, A small detail, but when you're playing a great comedian, then the things you're likely to be judged on is how well you tell his jokes! Maybe I've thought about this too much...

I'd recommend getting it on iPlayer, or I think somebody's put it on YouTube anyway, it;s worth seeing for Tommy Tiernan. But I had to go and watch my Dave Allen on Life DVD straight after though.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 8th April 2018, 11:49 AM

Didn't see this advertised at all or might have watched it.

It's on iPlayer for another 24 days.