Late Night Gimp Fight's comedy favourites

David: The Office

The Office is, in my opinion, the perfect sitcom. It came out of nowhere in the late summer of 2001 and I remember when I first watched it I thought it was a real documentary. It was so authentically executed and the performances so relentlessly naturalistic I remember thinking I hadn't seen a sitcom like this before.

Of course, Gervais' career-defining performance was perfect, and influenced a whole ream of performances that involved a David Brent-esque knowing wink at the camera throughout the decade that followed. The supporting cast were all brilliant as well and quite rightly launched the careers of Mackenzie Crook, Martin Freeman, etc. But it was also the heart, and the pathos of The Office that touched so many people. I remember thinking that (with the possible exception of the end of Blackadder Goes Forth) I hadn't been moved to tears in the same half hour that I split my sides laughing before, and The Office did this.

Re-visiting it a decade later is still a joy and the laughs are still as hard and as long. It's perfect.

Paul: Bo Burnham: Words, Words, Words

The performance that left the greatest impression on me was Bo Burnham's Words, Words, Words at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival. It blew me away. He'd just turned 20, and the show was so accomplished, I remember sitting in hysterics one minute and stunned silence the next (not ideal for a comedy audience member).

There comes a terrifying moment in a performer's life when you hit 25 and realise you're never going to be a prodigy - you just have to get on with it! So seeing this show, nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award and written while he was still a teenager, was genuinely stunning.

It was an apt title, as his way with lyrics was incredible, and the show was stuffed full of ideas, from straight stand up to haiku's, and he even had the temerity to do a damn good 'to be or not to be…' halfway through the show. Astonishing.

Lee: Eddie Murphy: Raw

I was never really into comedy that much as a kid. I had dreams of being in a band or being a footballer, but was far too lazy to learn an instrument and am pretty crap at football. That all changed when I saw the Eddie Murphy DVD Raw. I must have been about 12 years old and loved every word of it. As a kid a huge part of me loved the bad language but there was another part of me that saw it as more than that.

The way he was controlling that audience with his every word. The opportunity to act like a clown onstage, dick around and get clapped at the end? As the perennial class clown I wanted a piece of that action. I visited Edinburgh for the first time at 17 with my Youth Theatre and was blown away by all that was on offer. I haven't looked back since.

Matt: Lee Evans: Different Planet

The performance that has left the greatest impression on me would have to be Lee Evans in the Different Planet Tour. My Dad bought the VHs –  yes that s right the VHS! – of this tour when I was just 12 years old and I remember him letting me watch it on a Sunday afternoon when my mum( who had quite specifically said I could not watch it) had gone out, and I remember just being amazed by his pure energy it was like watching a comic athlete!

He sprinted across the stage with each gag and every character he created in his jokes were more and more ridiculous. It was the first full comedy act I saw and to this date have ever seen, he had energy, observation, amazing timing and could always win over a crowd. But for me the most impressive thing about this show in particular is that I can still watch it now and despite having seen it over 50 times and it being 16 years old it will still make me laugh out loud from start to finish.

David: Charlie Brooker's two-minute poem rant about The Sun on 10 O'Clock Live

I m a massive Charlie Brooker fan and I could have picked any number of examples of his unique acerbic output, but his rhyming rant about The Sun on 10 O clock Live was one of my favourite Brooker moments in recent years. 10 O'Clock Live seems to get a lot of stick in the press but for those who watch it there s always plenty of great examples of topical satire and brilliant writing to enjoy, and this was probably the best example of it.

There was no build-up to it on the show and he just launched into it as if it was any other piece to camera, it s only about half-way through you realise quite how brilliant what you re watching is, and seeing it go out live was quite a moment. People on social media seemed to have a simultaneous twittergasm when it was over, and it's easy to see why.

Watch it here (embedding has been disabled)

Published: 1 Aug 2012