Today saw the death of the hugely funny and influential Irish comedian Dave Allen, known for his caustic wit and perchant for cigarettes and a whisky.

May he rest in peace secure in the knowledge that his material is as relevant today as it ever was.

this is really sad news dave allen was such a funny guy some found his humour very dark but he was incredibley funny R.I.P dave

"A man comes home from the pub to be confronted by the formidable figure of his wife. 'Drunk!' she shouts. 'Me too,' he replies. His wife points to the clock on the wall: 'What does that say?' 'Tick, tock, ding, dong,' he says in reply."

Blimey they're falling like flies at the moment.

R.I.P Dave Allen.

Awww NO!
I love Dave Allen.. god bless him
RIP Dave - You'll be sorely missed.

Originally posted by ANGELUS
I love Dave Allen.. god bless him. As Dave was an athiest, I'm sure he'd have had a chuckle at that one!

I remember watching Dave Allen on TV years ago, he was absolutely hilarious. I became a fan and used to tune in every week without fail.

Top bloke, will be missed.
RIP DA.

Sad day - great comic

Religous jokes and Dave Allen, just go hand in glove

Dave Allen RIP

Hopefully the powers that be will put a couple of shows on in his honour.

Huge fan.

Gutted that he had died.

R.I.P.


(hopefully not disrespectful - but Is my memory right - did he have a finger mising???)

In his own words.

May his god go with him.

Originally posted by LoopyLou
(hopefully not disrespectful - but Is my memory right - did he have a finger mising???) Rings a bell.

My own favourite anecdote was the time a young stand up got tired of the guy heckling him at the bar and challenged him to do better.

Dave Allen put his drink down and walked from where he was in the shadows and onto the stage.

:(

May his god go with him.

Nomme

"Are you the Irish comedian with half a finger?"

"No, I'm the Irish comedian with nine and a half fingers!".

A really funny and intelligent man who will be sadly missed, he lived until he was 68, and crammed more into those years than many folk would into 168.
RIP.
I wonder if his chair is up for sale ;)

What a coinceidence dying on comic releif day. Very sad. Agreat & original commediene. RIP

Originally posted by Carmine
My own favourite anecdote was the time a young stand up got tired of the guy heckling him at the bar and challenged him to do better.

Dave Allen put his drink down and walked from where he was in the shadows and onto the stage.

Reminds me of the greatest heckle of all time... Eric Douglas (who also died recently; he was the son of Kirk, brother of Michael) was being badly heckled during his comedy act. Increasingly annoyed, he shouted at the audience "Don't you know who I am? I'm Kirk Douglas's son!" After a moment someone at the back stood up and said, "No, I'm Kirk Douglas's son!" Someone else followed suit and soon the whole audience was chiming in: "I am Kirk Douglas's son!"

I used to really make an effort and remember to tune in when Dave Allen had his TV show. I know nowadays he probably wouldn't be viewed as PC but would love to see his shows all over again. His sketches with coffins and that poor cardinal? being carried around in that chair.

I know nowadays he probably wouldn't be viewed as PC

He was deliciously un PC & before the term had been coined too. I hope they repeat his shows again too - v funny man.

never heard of him? im 26.....is he before my time or did i just miss him when he was on tv??

I think the television series that he did were probably on before your time or when you were very small. They would have been very inappropriate viewing for one so young & tender :P

Originally posted by mikey
Sad day - great comic

Religous jokes and Dave Allen, just go hand in glove

Indeed, a great loss. His mockery of religion and the law as well as all those states of mind which combine to make up the beliefs and persuasions of the majority will be missed by many.

RIP Dave Allen, and to use your own mocking phrase - "May your god go with you!"

Originally posted by Siân
They would have been very inappropriate viewing for one so young & tender :P

;) i havent changed much since then either lol


and if he took the micky out of religion then im sure i would have enjoyed him.

Dave Allen's humour was indeed before the time of PC. It was a reaction to the stifling orthodox Catholicism he experienced as a child: he was brave and intelligent to challenge this through huimour. He was also an absolute expert at the timing of comedy, and was a superb storyteller. He was probably not on TV as much recently because contemporary standup comedy has tended towards more "observational" styles, which don't follow the narrative style that DA had.

Dave Allen was master at his particular brand of comedy.

A genuinely funny and clever man

RIP

:sad:

He was one of my favourites too, sadly missed.

Originally posted by LoopyLou
Huge fan.

Gutted that he had died.

R.I.P.


(hopefully not disrespectful - but Is my memory right - did he have a finger mising???)
A half of one finger missing I seem to remember.
I'm sure you are not being disrespectful :)

His shows were great and not to be missed, it would be nice if they showed them again.

So many tv faves from my childhood have passed on now and my kids get annoyed when I keep pointing out people in films or comedies who have died but who were such great artists.

Its with great sadness to hear of Dave dying we have lost a truly brilliant comedian,his style was unique and he will be sadly missed.

RIP Dave
thanks for the memories.

I know DA was much admired and deservedly popular and respected. However, he never really cut it for me. Other well known comics who I never found particularly (and in some cases at all) funny are:

Spike Milligan;
Billy Conolly;
Morecambe and Wise;
Charlie Chaplin.

The ones who do it for me are:

Peter Cook - deservedly in my view recently voted our greatest comic talent;

Ricky Gervaise;

Laurel and Hardy;

Bob Monkhouse (I can hear people groan at this, but he was in my view a very accomplished joke teller)

Jay Leno


I suppose this goes to show that humour is a very personal thing.

Sorry to rain on (nearly) everyone's parade, but I didn't think he was particularly funny at all.

A shouty Irishman endlessly railing against a so-called 'taboo' subject (the catholic religion), does not a great comedian make. Subtle he wasn't.

In later years he tried to revive his flagging fortunes by adopting an even more curmudgeonly and "outrageous" persona. He would appear on Parkinson and regularly drop the "F" word on prime-time TV in a calculated attempt to shock the mums and dads in the audience.

I can't quite pin-point why, but I also found him a little creepy.

Sorry to all those Dave Allen fans out there! :|