Lee Mack

Lee Mack (real name Lee Gordon McKillop) is a fairly prominent British stand-up, notable for his no-nonsense (or maybe that should be all-nonsense) style of performing: he never attempts to include any overarching themes or emotional depth, as modern stand-ups often do, he just says whatever he thinks is funny. He's a team captain on Would I Lie to You opposite David Mitchell, forming a much-milked Odd Couple relationship, and is the creator and star of sitcom Not Going Out opposite Tim Vine, forming another much-milked Odd Couple relationship. He has also presented a Variety Show entitled Lee Mack's All Star Cast. He's also very Northern.

Lee Mack provides examples of:
"Why did the chicken cross the road? Because his house was being bombed by the Russians! Leave him alone, he's only a chicken! They're blowing up his house! Leave him alone, he's a chicken!......Sorry, not chicken, Chechen."
 * Berserk Button: Not that he seems to have any of his own; he just likes to find them and press them. When playing off David Mitchell this works admirably -- when used on Stephen Fry, not so much..
 * Book Dumb: Particularly as the foil to more traditionally intelligent persons.
 * Burn the Witch: He jokes that his father was very traditional, then says that he denounced Lee's sister as a witch when she got her first period.
 * Butt Monkey: On Would I Lie To You?
 * Cannot Tell a Joke: A couple of gags have him tell a joke or make a statement that doesn't really seem to make sense, only for him to then say "sorry, I meant (x)", with X being something that does make sense.

"Mack: You know what you're supposed to do if you're driving and a deer jumps in front of your car?
 * Drives Like Crazy: In a routine about his driving test:

Audience Member: Run it over!

Mack: "Run it over" is the correct answer. That's what you're supposed to do. I was taking my driving test, and a deer did run out into the middle of the road. And I kept driving. Then I looked back. I'd missed it by millimetres. And, well, I didn't want to fail my driving test...I chased the bloody thing through fields for an hour, and the examiner still failed me!"

"Lee: Did you ever do that thing when you were a kid where you try to swear in front of your nan, to try and impress your mates? We'd do that. How many swear words can you get in without Nan noticing? It'd be like "Anyone f'coffee now? Anyone fo' coffee? Is it half a cup? Haaaaalf a cup? Hm?""
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: A real life version, according to his routine about his grandmother.

"I got stopped by a market researcher today. She said, "Can I ask you ten quick questions?" I went, "Go on." She went, "Question #1. Have you ever had a blackout?" I said "No". She went, "And finally, Question #10...""
 * Hypocritical Humour:


 * Large Ham: Occasionally. He has engaged in Ham-to-Ham Combat with other legendary shouters -- notably David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker -- and has at least held his own (arguably he beat Charlie with a well-placed rant about Twitter).
 * Oop North: In spades, and used as a point of contrast against "posh" southerner David Mitchell in Would I Lie To You?, and against "posh" southerner Tim in Not Going Out.
 * Shout-Out: His stage name is an obvious reference to his great-grandfather Billy Mack, a vaudeville star (whom Lee himself never met).
 * Smarter Than You Look: Underneath the working-class Northern-ness (and a touch of Obfuscating Stupidity) is a very sharp mind.
 * Take That: He makes it clear that he doesn't like Robbie Williams very much.