Long-time no see!

For those wondering why on earth I’ve posted another video about James Acaster, the answer is thus:
When I posted the first Acaster video, it was only the fourth video I’d made. I was passionate about Acaster, and his comedy meant a lot to me. However, I lacked the skills to turn this passion into a good video. Looking back, my editing is average, and more importantly, my discussion and analysis underwhelming. My heart was in the right place, but I didn’t know what I was doing.

So, I’ve remade it from the ground up. Although both videos share the same basic premise, they are completely different. This video is over double its length, more in depth and focused, and is edited to a much higher standard. I also took a crack at pixel art, and I’d like to thank my sister Naomi for giving them a level of finesse I never would have achieved on my own (particularly the Ali Wong one which went through several hilariously awful iterations).

I owe a lot to the first Acaster video. It blew up, and gave me the platform that I was able to build the channel off. It’s crazy to think that something I made in my bedroom could be viewed 700,000+ times. But it’s time for it to die. I have left the link in the video description, but it will now be unlisted from the channel.

Also, apologies to the 100ish people who watched this last week with my narration only coming out one headphone. I hadn't yet learnt the power of switching audio from stereo to mono haha.

Anyway, have a nice day, eat a pear, watch Taskmaster UK!
Josh

Acaster's 'Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999' is truly brilliant, completely correct that it's very different from the Netflix specials but honestly I've watched it multiple times now and it is true 2 hours of comedy genius, every section is as good as each other and not one miss

I know 'Cold Lasagna Hate Myself 1999' is very different from his Netflix special/series, but the story about him and his agent splitting up, and how he tells the story from his agent's perspective instead of his own, is another really really clever way of using the unreliable narrator with a twist.

I love Acaster's stand-up specials but, no joke, they make me cry every time. They're just so genuine and relatable.

This was recommended to me 11 minutes after upload when I’m not subscribed… good job algorithm

Being an unintentionally intelligent cartoonish character that speaks truth in the form of comedy is the absolute gold standard that James Acaster has attained. Love it...  :)

"Doesn't matter what she thinks. It's about accepting yourself at the end of the day. Focus on her because it's easier."

Jesus James, thank you.

The repertoire specials have a special place in my heart. I saw them one after the other and my dad found me in fits of laughter, tears streaming down my face, unable to explain why I was laughing so much, or what I was watching. Have never laughed that hard my entire life. My favourite comic since then, and no one has ever come close.

That Stewart Lee quote at the beginning is so true: once a genre is established (for which Michael Macintyre deserves lots of credit) you can begin to play with it and sneak in interesting ideas

Even the ending leading into Cold Lasagna Hate Myself was beautiful. The art throughout this was amazing! Agh! Thank you so much for making this I don't have the right words to explain how cool this doc was or how warm and fuzzy I feel after watching it. Thank you!

A comedians comedian. Just watch the other comics around him and you can see that they wish they had his magic ✨

I loved this for several reasons:
1. As a fellow comedy geek, I reckon Lee and Acaster are about the best there are out there at creating interesting, original and hilarious shows.
2. It helped me solve a structural problem with the end of my own debut show... which has been bothering me for a while!
3. I spotted a very brief snippet of my own interview with James, which made me happy you had included it!

Thanks for putting it together... keep up the amazing work!

i had never heard of acaster until his specials, and they all made me laugh until i cried, he was so instantly my favorite, and so clearly something special. This was a great video, thanks!

When I found James Acaster I felt he was similar to Bo Burnham and figured that was why I enjoyed him so much. He is brilliant in such a different and unique way thank you for making this video! I also have never heard of Stewart Lee before and will definitely be looking into his comedy much more after this.

Acaster's ability to use comedy to sneakily lead his audience by the back door into serious consciousness-raising realtalk about the human condition, is one of the reasons I love him. There are a very select few comics who have done this well - others that spring to mind (though they do it rather differently) are Daniel Sloss and Simon Amstell, and it's also why Bojack Horseman is so great.

I enjoy Stewart Lee too, but I don't get the same buzz of insight from him. When he breaks down, it doesn't feel like we've broken through to the real Stewart Lee, but rather that it's just another layer of the persona, all part of the performance. Obviously in reality that is to some extent true for the others too, but with them it feels like we've reached a seam of truth, whereas no matter how many levels Stewart Lee goes down, we never feel like we get to the truth, we can never trust him. Lee's work was groundbreaking and is still brilliant on an intellectual level, but anyone familiar with him now knows that his narration is so unreliable that it distances him from the audience and makes him unrelateable, so undermines any possibility to connect to our hearts.

Thanks for the video, really nicely done.

The footage you choose to accompany your points are always so well crafted. Great video again.

He may not know who he is, but he knows what he's too good for.

This channel truly has some amazing content. So glad I subscribed after that first Acaster video, as a stand-up comedy fanatic, it's truly a gem.

near the end of reset when he does that “hypothetical” about andrew in the crowd that slowly becomes more and more clearly just exactly his life is such a clever use of crowd interaction

Thank you for this, you've found a way to explain why I was so obssesed with this especial when I saw it and why I can not watch it again since my first viewing due to the heavy honesty I felt from it. It is, for me, something to be experienced with full attention and you've listed most of the reasons why. Great content.