About the only broadcast TV we watch these days is C4 for music videos during dinner. This means that we sometimes get to see a guy named Dai Henwood. He is, we are told, a professional comedian, who also does presenting work on C4.
Apparently he’s won awards for his standup comedy. This … is amazing to me. I’ve never seen his standup work and can’t comment on it, but holy fucking balls he’s near unbearable on C4. It’s quite difficult to explain why, but he seems to tend towards that sort of leaden, cliched, silly voice comedy that tends to get airtime on NZ TV, but that makes me want to stick forks in my eyes … but usually just results in my turning the TV off.
Mr Henwoods comedy stylings are clearly what C4 want for their their target demographic and I hope it works well for them, but I prefer a much sharper, more observational, cynical and much drier sort of comedy. Or, altenately, if you’re going to do stupid shit then play it straight and then it works. Don’t spend your time grinning at and mugging for the fucking camera. It’s the difference between the awful Welcome to Paradise and the sublime Flight of the Conchords (or, for that matter, the not sublime but utterly splendid Back of the Y.)
It’s possible that Dai is an NZ Bob Saget analog, cast in roles that don’t really match his natural comedy style. Maybe the smirking matey-mate stuff he does on C4 is a role that they’ve asked him to play, and that his standup is actually hilarious.
I can only hope, but I’m not making any effort to find out.
May 6, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I hate him so much.
He makes me ANGRY.
May 6, 2009 at 2:28 pm
And I have seen his standup, which caused me to hate him.
SO MUCH HATE.
May 6, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Yeah,
His standup is possibly even less good.
– MugginsM
May 6, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Huh, that’s … really? Seriously? That makes me sad.
May 6, 2009 at 10:10 pm
God, can’t stand the man. They’ve got him doing the technology segment on “Sunrise”, would you believe – I can’t even escape him early in the morning, he’s ubiquitous! I’m so not C4’s target demographic any more, that sort of shit leaves me cold :/
May 7, 2009 at 12:42 am
What I’ve seen of his standup isn’t great, and I’ve seen a bit of his presenting and been unimpressed, but I did watch most of his last TV show, the Outback one, and found it hilarious. Maybe he’s at his best when unleashed instead of standing in a studio mugging it up?
May 7, 2009 at 12:58 am
The promos for that hurt me as well 🙁
But then, so does basically everything on C4 that isn’t an actual music video. I am good with the mute button!
May 7, 2009 at 12:47 am
I was going to tell the story about the semi-famous NZ stand-up comic who cornered me in an Auckland bar and decided he was going to ‘shock’ me, until I had to be rescued by Russell, but I can’t remember his name, so the whole thing kind of falls apart there. But whatsisname isn’t funny either, and a really repulsive creep in person.