More great stuff from Canada! Each episode Kenny and Spenny battle it out to avoid a Jackass style 'humiliation'. Apparently it's totally unscripted, although at times I've questioned this. Anyway, it's not important because it's brilliant. Kenny, who looks like a young Oliver Reed, is a badly smelling, unwashed, laid-back lovable character. Every group of mates has one; The guy in my circle of friends knows exactly who he is... But the brilliance of Kenny is his prolific conjuring-up of ingenious ways to win. Spenny is rather more lanky, serious, stressed and introvert, providing excellent cannon fodder for Kenny.
The show has won awards in Canada, and there are even spin off shows around the world...even from the UK! Ed Vs Spencer is aired on Sky 1. From what I've seen, it also looks pretty good, and refreshingly, they have their own original set of challenges. The Germans have Elton Vs Simon. At first I was tempted to take the piss out of this, but Germans tend to have a good sense of humour so I'll resist for the time being.
Whole episodes can be found on YouTube, and this one is arguably the funniest of all: Pray silence please for Kenny Vs Spenny 'First one to laugh loses'.
Monday 20 October 2008
Thursday 16 October 2008
The Castle (1997)
Again, more good comedy from Oz that we never got over here before the days of Youtube. It seems obvious to me know that when you put an Australian or two in front of a camera, it's bound to create good comedy. I went to Australia once, and I can honestly say I never met an Aussie that wasn't fucking hilarious to laugh with or at. Firstly there's the accent; far more extreme than your mate's best impression of Joe Mangle. Then there's the authorities, which allow road signs with jokes in them.
I guess when you find yourself in new world territory where all animals tend to bite, sting or infect you to death, you take your pick of two options. 1) Go down the sea, try not to get attacked by sharks and get pissed or 2) Go into the outback, pick fruit, try not to get bitten by insects, and get pissed. Either way it's gonna be funny. I'll never forget the time a friend and I went on a mountain biking trip in Byron Bay and were introduced to the 'Klu Klux Klan horse'... but that's another story...
...right, that's my mind reorganised, now for the comedy. Only 11 years late but still great: The Castle, a film about an Australian family who live adjacent, juxtaposed, next to an airport never did reach our shores, but there was an American version made. No doubt it was shit, so watch part of the original here, then spend the afternoon trying to memorise the lyrics to the Pugwall theme tune and searching for pictures of Jenny and Marmaloid naked. I didn't do that...i'm too busy being a professional journalist.
I guess when you find yourself in new world territory where all animals tend to bite, sting or infect you to death, you take your pick of two options. 1) Go down the sea, try not to get attacked by sharks and get pissed or 2) Go into the outback, pick fruit, try not to get bitten by insects, and get pissed. Either way it's gonna be funny. I'll never forget the time a friend and I went on a mountain biking trip in Byron Bay and were introduced to the 'Klu Klux Klan horse'... but that's another story...
...right, that's my mind reorganised, now for the comedy. Only 11 years late but still great: The Castle, a film about an Australian family who live adjacent, juxtaposed, next to an airport never did reach our shores, but there was an American version made. No doubt it was shit, so watch part of the original here, then spend the afternoon trying to memorise the lyrics to the Pugwall theme tune and searching for pictures of Jenny and Marmaloid naked. I didn't do that...i'm too busy being a professional journalist.
Sunday 27 July 2008
Ricky Grover
For me the 11 o'clock show was always one to watch...if a little past my bedtime. As regular as clockwork I tuned in to see Iain Lee twatting about with Daisy Donovan, not just so I could perv on Daisy and to debate with myself over whether or not Iain Lee was actually funny or just a twat. No, the real reason I stayed up THAT late was for my 5 minute weekly fix of 'Bulla'.
As many of you will remember, Bulla was the most dangerous man alive, who harboured reasonably dangerous, and slightly confused opinions; and he wasn't shy of sharing them, from his prison cell.
Since then Grover, who has appeared in films and TV, and has most recently produced a series about sextuplets, reunited after being separated at birth, when their mother was jailed for manslaughter. 'The Potter Family' is available to stream at comedybox.tv
Unfortunately it is not possible to insert a video here, but don't worry, I've hooked y'all up with a link. Enjoy!
http://www.comedybox.tv/comic-video-ricky+grover-10770
&
.... For those who don't remember Bulla, here's a clip:
As many of you will remember, Bulla was the most dangerous man alive, who harboured reasonably dangerous, and slightly confused opinions; and he wasn't shy of sharing them, from his prison cell.
Since then Grover, who has appeared in films and TV, and has most recently produced a series about sextuplets, reunited after being separated at birth, when their mother was jailed for manslaughter. 'The Potter Family' is available to stream at comedybox.tv
Unfortunately it is not possible to insert a video here, but don't worry, I've hooked y'all up with a link. Enjoy!
http://www.comedybox.tv/comic-video-ricky+grover-10770
&
.... For those who don't remember Bulla, here's a clip:
Thursday 17 July 2008
Mighty boosh (comedy) festival
The comedians who signed themselves up for the booshfest in kent this year might well have been somewhat surprised by the thorough upstaging they were dealt by the days musical lineup. Although the tv series does feature the odd song here and there, most would consider the comedy element of programe to be the stronger of the two.
Arriving at the site, then, one can only imagine the comedians' first moments as they saw the huge stage, and assuming that their prescence would be at least equal to the music 'half' of the day, wandered around, searching in vain for another similarly sized venue for themselves. what they would eventually find could only have been a disappointment: a miniscule marquee for about a hundred people, which would somehow be host to some of the best comedy acts of great britain.
Despite deaing with a ridiculous 1 in 1 out door policy (for the area *surounding* the tent), yours truly managed to blag a prime spot on the inside. However, as ive used up my alloted 200 words on describing the single obvious downfall of the day, I only have time to give quick 4-word ratings for the acts i actually saw. So here goes:
Josie long: slightly muckier, still charming
Ross noble: energetic improv, frenetic buffoonery
Robin ince: political middle-ager, needed longer
Paddys fun: less entertaining whitehouse exp
Arj barker: conchord costar, good shit
Arnab chanda: preteen looks, confidence abounds
david doherty: highly infectious keyboarding. Ace.
Mark watson: energetic, crowd working situational,
matt berry: oversized ego, DARKPLACE RAP
matt holness (wier) old material, still good
tony law: nutjob yank(?) accented wierdo
paul foot: awkward camp sitcom = meh.
Paul sinna: "gay"
Arriving at the site, then, one can only imagine the comedians' first moments as they saw the huge stage, and assuming that their prescence would be at least equal to the music 'half' of the day, wandered around, searching in vain for another similarly sized venue for themselves. what they would eventually find could only have been a disappointment: a miniscule marquee for about a hundred people, which would somehow be host to some of the best comedy acts of great britain.
Despite deaing with a ridiculous 1 in 1 out door policy (for the area *surounding* the tent), yours truly managed to blag a prime spot on the inside. However, as ive used up my alloted 200 words on describing the single obvious downfall of the day, I only have time to give quick 4-word ratings for the acts i actually saw. So here goes:
Josie long: slightly muckier, still charming
Ross noble: energetic improv, frenetic buffoonery
Robin ince: political middle-ager, needed longer
Paddys fun: less entertaining whitehouse exp
Arj barker: conchord costar, good shit
Arnab chanda: preteen looks, confidence abounds
david doherty: highly infectious keyboarding. Ace.
Mark watson: energetic, crowd working situational,
matt berry: oversized ego, DARKPLACE RAP
matt holness (wier) old material, still good
tony law: nutjob yank(?) accented wierdo
paul foot: awkward camp sitcom = meh.
Paul sinna: "gay"
Wednesday 16 July 2008
Michael Fabbri
Laid back, relaxed with a deadly sting is how I'd best describe Michael Fabbri. The up and coming comedian is toilet circuiting around the stand up scene, and although I'm not going to lie and say I've seen him live, I will at least try and see his show if it comes within a reasonable proximity of me; partly because it'll be for under a tenner, and partly because it's not every day that you see a genuinely likable and funny character on stage. This is the only video I could find, so someone is gonna have to go and film him soon and stick it on Youtube, then let me know, because I'm simply too lazy to do it myself:
Sunday 13 July 2008
Trailer Park Boys
I still don't know why this hasn't made it bigger in the UK! Trailer Park Boys shows the day to day lives of 3 best friends; Julian, Ricky & Bubbles, who live on a Trailer Park.
Earning money by selling weed and fixing (deliberately) broken shopping carts, the 3 attempt to survive, avoid jail and earn enough money to fund their main expenditures: weed growing UV lights, alcohol and cat food.
With so many episodes already filmed it's best to start from the beginning and get to know the characters. Their genuine comradeship will echo the best of your own friendships, however distant their lives may be from anyone you'll ever meet.
Earning money by selling weed and fixing (deliberately) broken shopping carts, the 3 attempt to survive, avoid jail and earn enough money to fund their main expenditures: weed growing UV lights, alcohol and cat food.
With so many episodes already filmed it's best to start from the beginning and get to know the characters. Their genuine comradeship will echo the best of your own friendships, however distant their lives may be from anyone you'll ever meet.
Thursday 10 July 2008
Australian Comedy coming to the UK
Recent advances in technology have allowed for the distribution of comedy sitcoms reaching us Brits for places as far as Australia and New Zealand. Gone are the days where our choice was restricted to 'Everybody Loves Ramond, and that other show with 2 Gaymen and the squealing woman.
Within the last year or so we have been blessed with the highly original Flight of the Conchords, and more recently from Australia: Summer Heights High which has been showing on BBC3. However, it seems this has been a long time coming. Chris Lilley, who wrote and directed SHH first appeared in Big Bite (2003), and although the scenes are a little scrappy and the characters a bit underdeveloped, it's good to see where it all started:
Within the last year or so we have been blessed with the highly original Flight of the Conchords, and more recently from Australia: Summer Heights High which has been showing on BBC3. However, it seems this has been a long time coming. Chris Lilley, who wrote and directed SHH first appeared in Big Bite (2003), and although the scenes are a little scrappy and the characters a bit underdeveloped, it's good to see where it all started:
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