Ross Noble

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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"This isn't the most linear show you're likely to see."
—Ross Noble's massive understatement on his "Unrealtime" DVD.

You might not think that such hilarity would come from a hairy geordie bloke talking bollocks for two hours. But it does.

Ross Noble is an English comedian, but unlike any other. His ability to improvise, his tendency to go off on strange, but relevant, tangents and the influence the audience has over him mean no two of his shows, even on the same tour, are alike. In the best possibly way, though, as there is a kind of surreal, stream-of-consciousness logic to what he says.

As the man himself describes it: "It's a bit like gluing meat to your face." ...Y'know, because it seems odd to most people, but it sort of has logic behind it: "They might just be trying to ward off the advances of an amorous vegan!"

Television appearances beyond stand up have mostly been on Have I Got News for You, usually next to the similarly surreal Paul Merton, and an Australian travelogue programme following a stand up tour. He has also appeared on QI in the most recent series.

He doesn't do drugs. Honestly. He doesn't even drink.

Ross Noble provides examples of the following tropes:

"I'm not saying he's a Nazi because he's German. I'm saying he's a Nazi 'cos he is one."

"John. I've seen your face in the top of a muffin, mate. I'd stay indoors for a bit."

  • Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: The cause of a lot of his tangents. Especially minor, odd things he notices the audience or even himself doing.
    • One example is a five minute spot he had a Canadian comedy festival, he never actually got to any of his material he spent the whole time talking about the architecture of the stage.
    • This even applies to his DVD commentaries, the finest example of which has to be the Things show commentary. He spends at least fifteen minutes interrupting himself and going off on tangents, and, in fact, interrupts his tangents to go off on more tangents. As the man himself says,

"It's like a never-ending spiral of possibilities!"

"When's someone gonna turn round to Bono and go, "OI BONO! TAKE THOSE GLASSES OFF! YOU LOOK LIKE A TWAT!!! YOU'RE FROM IRELAND! YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN OWN SUNGLASSES!!!"

  • Bizarrchitecture: The oyster-shaped car showroom was built to be Noble's "Oyster Domain!".
    • Ross also has no idea what the big orange thing/aka. the set of his Randomist tour. He thinks it looks like an Easyjet plane crash.
  • Brick Joke: His Nonsensory Overload show had him reference his famous "meat-on-the-face" bit from Live at the Apollo from 2004. Said bit was in reference to Lady Gaga's 'meat dress' and was given with no explanation whatsoever, making it quite a non-sequitur for a few people. Lampshaded immediately afterwards.

"That's one for the fans, you see."

"And then you took the words right out of my mouth!/I was thinkin' about the shitty quality of the wolf./You won the wolf at a fairground?/It's clearly gonna burst into flames when you give it to a child."

  • Expospeak Gag: "An Owl Neck Detection Device... which is really just a stick with a pointy bit on it"
  • Fee Fi Faux Pas: A truly legendary example happened in Adelaide during the 2012 tour. During the interval, one of the items left on the stage was a piece of smiley fritz (a kind of ham made to look like a face that is exclusive to South Australia), and Ross decided that it was the most bogan thing he'd ever seen, immediately launching into making fun of it. He put his hands all over it then put it on his face, but it slid off too easily, so he borrowed the sunglasses of a woman in the front row to hold it on there. So he put the fritz on his face and then the glasses on top, making them all sticky. When done, he apologised, admitting sheepishly that he hoped the woman wasn't vegetarian. She was Muslim. Ross very apologetically offered to buy her new glasses and give her free merchandise, admitting that he would be dining out on the story for a long time.
  • Foreign Queasine: At one point during his Australian trip, Ross has the pleasure of trying Pig Nipples, Duck's Nuts, and pickled Lamb's Brain.
  • A Good Name for a Rock Band: Fizzy Logic gives us Simian Artillery and The Latecomers. Both of which are now actual bands.
    • 'Arse maneuvers' is suggested during Headspace Cowboy.
  • Improbable Weapon User: In Fizzy Logic, Ross suggests that a big burly audience member named Peter can kill a wolf with his big burly cock.
  • Inherently Funny Words: Uses 'mofo's' and 'Fiddy' to their full comic effect parodying 50 Cent.
  • It Makes Sense in Context: ...at least it will if you don't drift off and lose track of what he's saying. Or turn up late.
    • No, if you turn up late, you will be guaranteed to be worked in to his current and all future tangents.
      • Parodied on one of his shows (possibly Nobleism) when he started talking about his mate's plums and said it would be unfortunate if somebody stopped paying attention then turned their mind back to the anecdote, because knowing him it would end up being something like

"...AND HE WAS RIDING A GOLDEN DONKEY!"

"No Ross, we don't know... we've all got lives and that."

    • His Get This appearances make this straight up fact. His knowledge of Brit Coms is on the same level as Tony Martin.
  • Out-Gambitted: By his wife (before they were married.)

Ross: Fran! Do we need nappies?
Fran: No Ross, it's alright The doctor says you don't have to wear them any more. You bloody idiot!

  • Overly Long Gag: "Quick! This child is being bummed in the face!" "What?" "Bummed in the face! Help, this child is being bummed in the face!" "I can't understand a word you're saying!" "Bummed in the face!" "Bummed in the face you say?" This went on for about ten minutes.
  • Running Gag: Frequently, but only within each individual show.
  • Sorry, Billy, But You Just Don't Have Legs: In one show of the Things tour, one of the tangents involved a Street Urchin with rickets wanting to join Riverdance.
  • Throw It In: Just about everything he does in his stand up routines.
  • Urine Trouble: His shows go on for a while, so occasionally he'll refer to people desperately waiting for the interval so they can go to the toilet.

"PISS IS GONNA COME OUT OF OUR EYES!!!"

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