I went to see a recording of Mock The Week years ago (the one where Adam Hills took his leg off). 3 hours of constant jokes. Even when they weren't filming, moving cameras around, they were still cracking jokes. Fantastic.
Rhys James will be remembering in MTW circles as the one who made sure the show finished in style with his last joke. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish" and his ending was perfection.
The BBC Executive 17 year old joke was the one that really got me and I'll never forget that he saluted the camera after he went back to his spot. Legend.
Well, I don’t think it would be untrue to say Rhys was one of the funniest people to ever do mock the week. He was so good at it. Also, he got the final joke of the show.
For days this video kept getting recommended to me, I refused to click on it as i assumed it was clickbait. Finally given in and watched it. Not clickbait at all, really interesting watching him talk about the show and how much stuff was planned / scripted! Glad I gave in and clicked it! Haha 😝
I saw Vernon Kay film an opening for Radio 1’s Big Weekend like a decade ago. He just rocked up in front of the crowd queuing up, smashed out a minute intro while hyping up the crowd and moved on. It actually was a pretty cool thing to see him just knock it out with effortless efficiency
Rhys' final joke on Mock the Week was delivered in the same manner that a cricketer who needed one run to win the game would hit the winning ball into the boundary rope. A more perfect finish you couldn't wish to see.
Having been watching a lot of old MTW recently, this was a really interesting watch! Particularly at 6:42, where Rhys talks about MTW's early reputation for being a bearpit and being very intimidating for newcomers - I like many didn't bother watching MTW much after Frankie Boyle left, but having gone back to watch it now, it's interesting to see the dynamic change over time. Maybe they did take the criticism on board after Boyle left, and maybe folks like Boyle and Russell Howard leaving to start their own shows opened up more space on MTW for folks to just join in and not feel under pressure to have to fight for their spot and get their schtick in. You can tell some folks really responded to that pressure - Greg Davies, Adam Hills, Ed Byrne, Rhod Gilbert and Gina Yashere I think all came off really well when they appeared in those early series - but I can imagine it was also really intimidating for some folks. By the time Rhys debuted, Hugh Dennis was the only permanent panellist left, and I get the feeling that he and Dara were both super professional and easy to work with. Plus as Rhys said, lots of his mates had been on already, and there was a whole circle of folks who were all regulars by then - folks like Josh Widdicombe, Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Sara Pascoe, Jon Robins, James Acaster, Ed Gamble, Nish Kumar etc, and then later Rhys himself became a regular as did folks like Angela Barnes, Maisie Adam and Tom Allen. :)
Hugely grateful for this. It always jarred when Russell Howard would ride his own gags to extend his camera time, but the worst was his "Dara Dara Dara look at me" while others were riffing about his massive head. Just too hungry. Loved the interplay of those later years. And Frankie for future guest. Also, Stephen Mangan as both vote for most funny noncomic celeb AND future guest.
5:00 ..having sat through 8 Out Of 10 Cats does Countdown Live a couple years ago, it is a very hard evening - don't get me wrong, it is entertaining - but for an hour long show, it is a four hour recording, and we had to be there for about a full 2-3 hours before hand and to take it further, once you're sat down; you cannot leave, if you didn't realise to bring water, you're shit outta luck. need the bathroom, well there's one on the way out, and you'll be free to use it in 2 hours we also did Bullseye with Alan Carr, and similarly it just takes so, so long think of a movie like Endgame or Oppenheimer where it's 3 hours in a movie theatre; except they keep pausing the movie every 5/10 minutes so it takes 5 hours to get through, the seats are half the size, and firm plastic - and there is no eating or drinking, or leaving to use the bathroom
To my knowledge there's been one non-comedian, on MtW. I'd not say I was the leading authority but I did decide to try and do something more than anyone, on the planet. It was obvious to go niche. I decided to watch the show more than anyone. All show, five times this year, for example. I don't think Lauren Laverne was ever a stand up and she was in, I think, four shows.
Yes definitely Laverne, but there’s been a few non-stand up comedians on it over the seasons. At least where they aren’t actively on the circuit as it were anymore… Bremner, David Mitchell etc, commentators and satirists who you’d more often see on HIGNFY and the like. But Mock the Week came from the embers of Who’s Line is it Anyway, and the improv element, so they’ve always done well on mock the week.
@@Alex-mj5dv I'd contest that Mitchell wasn't a comedian. I'm just not a fan of impressionists so I'm glad that Bremner left (I'm not belittling him), at the end of series five.
Dayum! I thought 'Scenes we'd like to see' was completely improvised. It makes sense that the funniest bits were spontaneous and improvised. Anyway, love you guys and @RhysJames!
@@MrWhodini22 Oh, that's interesting. It makes sense that the show's producers wanted the comedians to have some material prepared because of it being for TV. I just thought with the producers being the same as those of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?', things would be more improvised than prepared
Most comedians on Mock the Week had writers for most of their jokes. Francie Boyle used to have a whole team of Glaswegian writers that he outsourced joke writing to and paid really well
@gauravgummaraju yeah was discussed on another comedians podcast last week. They were saying it was a good thing for comedy scene as they all got well paid out of it
Great to learn the background. There were some really good panel contenders, and it was odd how some just didn’t really fit the format. Didn’t like sweary ginger Scotty man at all. Obviously like everyone else, I just loved Milton. He is so unique. When Rhys can grow a beard, do you think the girls will still want to mother him?
How old is this clip, Mock The Week ended two years ago? I'd love to know how bad it is being a panel show comedian, people know you from certain panel shows but not because you have a sold out tour
Why has comedy in this country become the preserve of well off people? It seems like most of the comedians of the last 10 years that get pushed are almost exclusively from the same backgrounds.
@@MrMcChuckles95 Not quite where I was going with it. In fact I bet many of them are labour supporters such is the way of things these days. Wouldn’t mind a bit more diversity though.
@@ThurstonCyclist That’s completely fair. Maybe the idea I had this is somehow new is wrong. I’d still like to see a bit more diversity but it’s not the end of the world. My favourite comedian at the moment isn’t even British.
Saw him years ago opening for Jim Jefferies , rhys insulted constantly the crowd and got booed off the stage, genuinely worst stand up I've seen , obviously tv is different and translates in a different way .
Comment the comedian you’d next like to see come on Happy Hour, and if we make it happen, we’ll send you a special prize!
Lee mack or david mitchell
Stephen merchant
James Acaster
Shane Gillis
Definitely James Caster!
I'd love to see Rhys on Taskmaster!
I went to see a recording of Mock The Week years ago (the one where Adam Hills took his leg off). 3 hours of constant jokes. Even when they weren't filming, moving cameras around, they were still cracking jokes. Fantastic.
I applied for tickets for years and years, and never got in - envious! :)
Rhys James will be remembering in MTW circles as the one who made sure the show finished in style with his last joke. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish" and his ending was perfection.
The BBC Executive 17 year old joke was the one that really got me and I'll never forget that he saluted the camera after he went back to his spot. Legend.
Well, I don’t think it would be untrue to say Rhys was one of the funniest people to ever do mock the week. He was so good at it. Also, he got the final joke of the show.
Ah, but I do not think that it wouldn't not be untrue to not say that he isn't not unfunny.
@@NotoriousWhistler😂😂
@@NotoriousWhistler lmao 👏🏻
"They've cancelled us!"
@@NotoriousWhistler a month on and I'm still deciphering this
For someone who's not a comedian, Richard Osman just blows me away
Great choice-he's so quick and funny
Rhys James is one of my absolute fave comedians. Never doesn’t make me laugh
For days this video kept getting recommended to me, I refused to click on it as i assumed it was clickbait. Finally given in and watched it. Not clickbait at all, really interesting watching him talk about the show and how much stuff was planned / scripted! Glad I gave in and clicked it! Haha 😝
I recall Rhys being quite a constant contributor to Scenes We'd Like to See so it makes sense he improvised a lot there.
I saw Vernon Kay film an opening for Radio 1’s Big Weekend like a decade ago. He just rocked up in front of the crowd queuing up, smashed out a minute intro while hyping up the crowd and moved on. It actually was a pretty cool thing to see him just knock it out with effortless efficiency
James Acaster and Rhys were the best comedians on Mock the week, so damn funny!
I first came across Rhys years ago on the Top 10 Football F*ck Ups series on TFR and he was hilarious 😂😂
What a modest guy.
Not surprised coming from him as he always performed well on MTW, but it is nice to hear a positive opinion about that show
Rhys' final joke on Mock the Week was delivered in the same manner that a cricketer who needed one run to win the game would hit the winning ball into the boundary rope. A more perfect finish you couldn't wish to see.
Rhys looking gorgeous here!
Rhys on OG Football Daily is legendary stuff
remember seeing him on Football Daily/TFR about a decade ago, was sick finding out he made it onto MTW
I recall watching Rhys James on the old TFR (remember that). Was that before he was famous?
The Football Republic? That was how he got his big break
Having been watching a lot of old MTW recently, this was a really interesting watch! Particularly at 6:42, where Rhys talks about MTW's early reputation for being a bearpit and being very intimidating for newcomers - I like many didn't bother watching MTW much after Frankie Boyle left, but having gone back to watch it now, it's interesting to see the dynamic change over time. Maybe they did take the criticism on board after Boyle left, and maybe folks like Boyle and Russell Howard leaving to start their own shows opened up more space on MTW for folks to just join in and not feel under pressure to have to fight for their spot and get their schtick in. You can tell some folks really responded to that pressure - Greg Davies, Adam Hills, Ed Byrne, Rhod Gilbert and Gina Yashere I think all came off really well when they appeared in those early series - but I can imagine it was also really intimidating for some folks. By the time Rhys debuted, Hugh Dennis was the only permanent panellist left, and I get the feeling that he and Dara were both super professional and easy to work with. Plus as Rhys said, lots of his mates had been on already, and there was a whole circle of folks who were all regulars by then - folks like Josh Widdicombe, Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Sara Pascoe, Jon Robins, James Acaster, Ed Gamble, Nish Kumar etc, and then later Rhys himself became a regular as did folks like Angela Barnes, Maisie Adam and Tom Allen. :)
Hugely grateful for this. It always jarred when Russell Howard would ride his own gags to extend his camera time, but the worst was his "Dara Dara Dara look at me" while others were riffing about his massive head. Just too hungry.
Loved the interplay of those later years. And Frankie for future guest.
Also, Stephen Mangan as both vote for most funny noncomic celeb AND future guest.
Great interview, wish you’d ask him more about his Chelsea career though
I often wondered how much information was given to MTW comedians prior to the show. I figured that some preparation was done by the comedians.
He's a lot like if Joanna Lumley had a son. They even have the same toothy grin
The stand up mic "improv" section on Mock the Week always seems VERY rehearsed.
It definitely is
Would love to see Henning Wehn on the podcast.
ironic that Rhys said "only 1 interview so it must have been really short? like 10 minutes" in a 10 minute interview
5:00 ..having sat through 8 Out Of 10 Cats does Countdown Live a couple years ago, it is a very hard evening - don't get me wrong, it is entertaining - but for an hour long show, it is a four hour recording, and we had to be there for about a full 2-3 hours before hand
and to take it further, once you're sat down; you cannot leave, if you didn't realise to bring water, you're shit outta luck. need the bathroom, well there's one on the way out, and you'll be free to use it in 2 hours
we also did Bullseye with Alan Carr, and similarly it just takes so, so long
think of a movie like Endgame or Oppenheimer where it's 3 hours in a movie theatre; except they keep pausing the movie every 5/10 minutes so it takes 5 hours to get through, the seats are half the size, and firm plastic - and there is no eating or drinking, or leaving to use the bathroom
I used to watch this guy on Filthy Fellas back in the day, was so funny on there too
the people who he picked(louie spence , gemma collins) shows the level he's at lol
Went to see this guy so funny
To my knowledge there's been one non-comedian, on MtW. I'd not say I was the leading authority but I did decide to try and do something more than anyone, on the planet. It was obvious to go niche. I decided to watch the show more than anyone. All show, five times this year, for example. I don't think Lauren Laverne was ever a stand up and she was in, I think, four shows.
Yes definitely Laverne, but there’s been a few non-stand up comedians on it over the seasons. At least where they aren’t actively on the circuit as it were anymore… Bremner, David Mitchell etc, commentators and satirists who you’d more often see on HIGNFY and the like. But Mock the Week came from the embers of Who’s Line is it Anyway, and the improv element, so they’ve always done well on mock the week.
@@Alex-mj5dv I'd contest that Mitchell wasn't a comedian. I'm just not a fan of impressionists so I'm glad that Bremner left (I'm not belittling him), at the end of series five.
What's up with Jack? Has he gone Strawberry?
ua-cam.com/video/TmcklTRP3xs/v-deo.html&pp=ygUVamFjayBnb2VzIHN0cmF3YmVycnkg
Dayum! I thought 'Scenes we'd like to see' was completely improvised. It makes sense that the funniest bits were spontaneous and improvised. Anyway, love you guys and @RhysJames!
There used to be a Frankie Boyle clip available on itunes of him trying out stuff for the next weeks Mock The Week in a gig.
@@MrWhodini22 Oh, that's interesting. It makes sense that the show's producers wanted the comedians to have some material prepared because of it being for TV. I just thought with the producers being the same as those of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?', things would be more improvised than prepared
Most comedians on Mock the Week had writers for most of their jokes. Francie Boyle used to have a whole team of Glaswegian writers that he outsourced joke writing to and paid really well
@@peterd4011 For real? That's kinda disappointing, if true
@gauravgummaraju yeah was discussed on another comedians podcast last week. They were saying it was a good thing for comedy scene as they all got well paid out of it
Great to learn the background. There were some really good panel contenders, and it was odd how some just didn’t really fit the format.
Didn’t like sweary ginger Scotty man at all.
Obviously like everyone else, I just loved Milton. He is so unique.
When Rhys can grow a beard, do you think the girls will still want to mother him?
rabbit in the headlights?? doesn't even make sense?!
Nearly the first person 😂
I’m not the first person. I don’t live on the internet. I have a life.
Ooo sorry solid, sounds like a projection to me and you probably are clinically online.. aha touch grass boyo
This is Stevie on my burner by the way
You still commented within minutes of the upload.
Well, boy-o, looks like I’m 1 whole day cooler than you.
Apparently you live on the internet just enough to know that’s a thing to begin with.
How do they split the endless tory ,brexit and daily mail jokes? Tedious middle class ballix for the most part!
How old is this clip, Mock The Week ended two years ago? I'd love to know how bad it is being a panel show comedian, people know you from certain panel shows but not because you have a sold out tour
He looks happy though doesn’t he. You definitely didn’t have a smile on your face writing that comment.
Why has comedy in this country become the preserve of well off people?
It seems like most of the comedians of the last 10 years that get pushed are almost exclusively from the same backgrounds.
Tories?
@@MrMcChuckles95 Not quite where I was going with it.
In fact I bet many of them are labour supporters such is the way of things these days.
Wouldn’t mind a bit more diversity though.
It kind of always has been? Beyond the Fringe, Monty Python, Fry and Laurie were all Oxbridge types, who generally come from privileged backgrounds.
@@ThurstonCyclist That’s completely fair. Maybe the idea I had this is somehow new is wrong.
I’d still like to see a bit more diversity but it’s not the end of the world.
My favourite comedian at the moment isn’t even British.
@@jonathanmarkham1998 I can agree with you in wanting to see diversity of backgrounds: if every comedian were posh, things could get stale.
First person😅
Nope
1st
Secrets? What, doing 10 minutes of your latest set over 6 episodes on the BBC...?
This lad knowns nothing about mock the week
You should get frankie Boyle on
Saw him years ago opening for Jim Jefferies , rhys insulted constantly the crowd and got booed off the stage, genuinely worst stand up I've seen , obviously tv is different and translates in a different way .
I have never met or worked with Jim Jefferies 😂
@@RhysJamesbro got called out on his fake news in real time
Happy hour fell off
Mock the Week has been axed. I don't know why you're discussing an ex programme.
Weird take. Disapprove of museums as well?
@@AndrewALineInTheSand Hahaha exactly!
Well, I think we've found the poster boy for "The past is problematic." I guess it's true that new is always better and we can't dwell on the past. 😂