I'm scarily obsessive about humour, but I'd have to say influences would be Python, then the alt comedy wave of the 80s, in the UK, being Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Rik and Ade, and many others, then moving onto standup, I have a true love for puns, so Steven Wright gets a namecheck, and Mitch Hedberg, and then the group of writers including Chris Morris, Armando Ianucci, Charlie Brooker, Steve Coogan.
I've also always enjoyed the extreme offensive or dark humour, so long as it's presented right, of course Roy Chubby Brown is offensive to most, but just saying **** a lot doesn't build a deep act to me. Now Chubby Brown has his fanbase and I don't have any problem with him, watching his act made me realise he's a talented comedian, with a good style and rapport with his audience, just not my thing.
However, Bill Hicks, Louis CK, Stewart Lee and the vastly under promoted Jerry Sadowitz all push the boundaries of good taste while genuinely being creatively funny, although I admit Sadowitz actively tries to be offensive to the point where I'd feel uneasy repeating some of his lines here.
One of his least offensive lines, when asked about the tsunami, was 'Oh I know how they feel, I once drank a glass of water too quickly.' He's generally not that nice. I feel there is a certain honourable sacrifice to these guys in making yourself unpopular to the point where people would physically attack you just to amuse people in a way that most would not dare.
Anyway, I guess they'd be my main influences on my humour, and I know I've caught myself hearing people talk and scanning to find a joke to follow it, I've got some latent thing in my brain that seems to alert me to potential feedlines, I guess I could be tiresome at times, but I tend to get genuine laughs more often than blank silence.
I sure don't have the bravery to step onto a stage and try it tho, and for that, I salute them all.
