Viewers vote no to Jeremy Paxman's stand-up routine

While David Dimbleby was guiding the good ship Beeb through exit polls and exiled Lib Dems, Jeremy Paxman was doing something very different on Channel 4: telling jokes.

The former Newsnight presenter joined comedian David Mitchell fronting C4's 'Alternative Election' coverage, which set itself up as more about stand-up than seats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdj7e7DSjaE

Paxo's one-liners and pieces to camera didn't exactly win a landslide of support.

Watching Jeremy Paxman try to tell jokes is like watching a slinky try to climb a flight of stairs.

— Alice Gibson (@afgib) May 7, 2015

https://twitter.com/ChrisDWorrall/status/596443925767913472
https://twitter.com/michaelhogan/status/596419988585590784

Maybe it was because everyone were still so used to his Newsnight routine.

https://twitter.com/petepaphides/status/596406587293638656
https://twitter.com/dansumption/status/596453379968258049
https://twitter.com/sarfrazmanzoor/status/596434936690782208
https://twitter.com/HylandIan/status/596438016475983872

As the night wore on, politicians popped up on the studio big screen: Boris Johnson offered himself up to wrestle with the attack dog-turned-comedian, albeit down the other end of a springy ear microphone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D26y-HVBXc8

It's safe to say Paxman wasn't impressed by Boris saying how "lucky" he was to have won. "You could have put a donkey in there with a blue rosette on!" Paxman said of "Bozza's" constituency victory – just the sort of political back-and-forth we had been waiting for.

https://twitter.com/Pop_Law/status/596528498031857664

Was Paxo winning people over?

Channel 4 real winner tonight. #AltElection coverage is great. So funny; time for a British Daily Show with Paxman, Mitchell & @cathynewman

— Craig Solo (@craigsolo) May 8, 2015

Although, maybe it's best to keep things separate.

https://twitter.com/JacobSteinberg/status/596480360566923264

Regular C4 newsreader Cathy Newman meanwhile was trying to keep the actual election coverage afloat.

https://twitter.com/cathynewman/status/596482755061555201

As the pre-prepared pieces to camera dried up and the interviews flowed in, Paxman was clearly on safer ground – although the sniggering in the studio every time a political leader appeared still reminded you this definitely wasn't Newsnight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbrd41Kum-A

https://twitter.com/Voltamax2020/status/596493953614159872
https://twitter.com/rkimachia/status/596493659043954688

So, as viewers became more sleep-deprived, Paxman pepped up. The dodgy comedy monologues and Nicola Sturgeon fish jokes were forgotten, and if he converted a few more floating voters to the political game, so much the better.