comedy

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Reggie Perrin

April 25, 2009 in Uncategorized | No comments

Yes. (Clickable)

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Fuck off.  No. Oh FFS.

Remakes are fucked.  Thing is, the only successful remakes are where they change it nearly beyond recognition (the Battlestar Galactica method), or, keep it reasonably close, capturing the essential qualities of the original despite modernisation (The Star Trek Next TNG method). If it’s anywhere in between the two you end up with Carry on Columbus, Star Trek Voyager, and virtually every other remake or spin-off, including some I probably haven’t watched.

Watch for yourself on iPlayer (click No above). If you’re abroad, you’re not missing much. Things to note: colour saturation, audio gain on the laughter track, exaggerated facial expressions, minimal distance between gags and punchlines, Reggie’s pseudo existential angst, the difficulty in suspending belief, on top of a grinding feeling that you’re watching the original as interpreted by idiots.

They’ve used some kind of phaser in the new version of the old theme tune.  That’s almost a metaphor for the show.

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Richard Herring is better than …

April 22, 2009 in The other | No comments

Excluded names because of search engines.  For a couple of banal and incredibly stupid reasons my ribs are fucked.  It’s only temporary, but it hurts like fuck to do the following:

  • Breath
  • Move quickly
  • Be cuddled
  • Lie down
  • Move my arms
  • Stand up
  • Laugh

I laughed quite a bit at this.  Thank-you Richard Herring.

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Horne & Corden: Kicking something while it’s up by telling people to watch it

March 15, 2009 in Media, The other, This | No comments

Seeing is believing.  I think there’s going to be a bit of a Horne & Corden backlash – as reported by Andrew Johnson in today’s Independent.  I think that people should make up their own mind.   Maybe I’m being snobby and elitist (although such accusations are tacit admissions that the show is simple). Maybe I’m some kind of prude.  Maybe I’m jealous.

I really think people should make up their own mind.

So, with no further ado, here’s the show on iPlayer, and for all of you without UK proxies, here’s ‘ Two new fragrances by Fag Le Jay Jean-Peterson‘ (I am not making this up – not my words, not internet irony, not the words of the Westboro Baptist Church,  but the words of BBC 3* ).

On the internet you can slag a television show off merely by telling people to watch it.

* ‘… Tim Goodall, a gay TV journalist, who’s more interested in sipping Pina Colada and discussing how fit the soldiers are in Basra than delivering breaking news …’ – translation: lol, gay – not my words, but the words of BBC 3′s press department.

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Homosexual Nazis, gay war correspondents, and for fuck’s sake

March 14, 2009 in Media, The other | No comments

Years ago, at school – a macho boys school – homo and poof were frequent terms of abuse for anything that seemed effeminate or weak. It was primarily driven by a lack of life experience (ignorance), a kind of lazy, ill-thought out, homophobia. Upon leaving school most people, possessing half a brain or more, and a bit of life experience, rapidly realise that people are generally people regardless of their gender. There are copious amounts of stupid people of every gender. It’s the one thing that unites all nationalities. The basic problem with humour derived from gay stereotypes is pretty much the same as humour derived from any other stereotype. Unless it’s ironic, or has some deeper meaning, it’s obvious, and because it’s obvious, it’s retarded.

I could be missing something about Al Murray’s ‘gay’ Nazi, and Horne & Corden’s ‘gay’ war correspondent, because I don’t think any of the comedians in question are homophobic. In Al Murray’s case he’s got a track record of taking the piss out of homophobia in the form of the pub landlord (‘never confused’). But in the case of the ‘gay’ Nazi and the ‘gay’ war correspondent the humour is derived from some pretty negative homosexual stereotypes. This can be contrasted with Sascha Baron Cohen’s Brüno – here for instance – which is essentially about peoples reactions to absurd situations, and absurd stereotypes, rather than a strict play on stereotypes. If people are just laughing at the stereotype then the comedy is retarded.

I’m not homosexual, and I’ve never experienced the kinds of bullying or discrimination that people have, but I have seen how ignorance about other genders can lead to a kind of lazy, semi-malevolent, homophobia. I’m principally opposed to the ‘gay’ Nazi sketch and Horne & Corden’s ‘gay’ war correspondent sketches because I think they’re retarded sketches, aimed at idiots, and lazy, in some very fundamental ways. People forget that in order to be edgy you have to be smart.

Given how thick people are it should do rather well.

FFS.

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Heh

February 10, 2009 in Media, The other | No comments

Lol at Florida. Lol at the comments.

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This week’s Screenwipe

December 3, 2008 in The other, This | 2 comments

The current episode of Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe is quite special (series 4 episode 3, or series 5 episode 3 if you count from somewhere else, see comments below). During the programme he chats with several prominent UK screen writers about their work. It’s available on iPlayer here, and foreigners will soon find it on YouTube.

I don’t normally like watching things like that episode, because it sometimes reveals a dispassionate professionalism in heroes that tinges the way I see them forever, like they’ve been dipped in the bog of eternal stench. I don’t necessarily want to know the artist to appreciate their art. I’m that childish.

But all of the people in the programme (Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Graham Linehan, Russell T Davies, Paul Abbott, Tony Jordan) came across well, and none of the questions asked by Brooker were stupid in a way that I, as a layman, could detect.

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Sex, honesty, disability (or shagging, sticking it to twats, and the full retard) or mutual incomprehension by people that care about people just as much

December 2, 2008 in Media, The other | No comments

Recently I had a casual conversation with someone about Simon Amstell’s Never Mind The Buzzcocks, which led to a broader discussion about contemporary comedy. I’m of the opinion that Simon Amstell is very funny, and they were of the opinion that Simon Amstell is nasty and picks on people. It’s indicative of a wide gap between the internet generation (it’s not an age thing – it’s an information thing) and everybody else. I have some opinions on ‘modern’ humour. Just like I possess an anus.

Sex and morality – still a big issue for many, there are a whole generation of people that openly discuss issues that were taboo. In part through things like sex education in schools, in part changing attitudes, and in part because of the internet. There are plenty of subjects that people do not consider shock-worthy. Superficially it seems callous, but in my opinion, honesty does not equal not caring.  Humour based on things that were taboo does not cheapen debate, but signifies willingness to talk openly about issues that were considered in bad taste. It’s the inverse of Victorian double standards. People don’t look the other way. In the previous paragraph I placed modern in quote marks because I believe people like Daniel Defoe, William Hogarth, later Samuel Butler, countless others, did the same thing (some would say they did it better, and the comparison is disproportionate – I agree  – but the point is about precedents). It’s not new.

Take the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross ruckus – moral decline? In some ways I am glad to live in a country that is still shocked by bad behaviour – the exact opposite of moral decline – on the other-hand I think some of the more vitriolic responses to the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross ruckus were driven by people who are unwilling to talk about sex because they think it’s immoral outside of marriage, which is a shame, because it happens. It happened in the past too . When people point to things like teenage pregnancy rates in the UK as a sign of moral decline, it’s worth noting that among the industrialised nations Japan, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and France, have far lower rates of teenage pregnancy, with attitudes towards sex that are far more open than ours. A willingness to talk about sex does not equal immorality, any more than Victorians not talking about sex equalled morality. Nor does it equal ‘the answer’ – I won’t pretend that I think an unwillingness to talk about sex is the reason for the UK and America’s high teenage pregnancy rates. I have no doubt at all that it’s more complicated than that, and requires impartial inquiry, free of the shackles of mere opinion such as this.

If people were campaigning against Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross because they invaded the privacy of Georgina Baillie (whom seems reasonable and intelligent) I think they’ve got a fair point – but they weren’t – they were complaining about it been ‘grossly offensive’. Not a gross invasion of privacy, or good old fashioned bad manners, but an issue of taste, decency, and morality. Combined with a general sense of anger towards the BBC.

I don’t know many people on my side of the debate who thinks what Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross did was edgy, or anything other than mildly amusing (at best – many people thought it was rubbish – they can both be far funnier), but the reactions to it exposed a divide and a mutual misunderstanding from both sides. As BBC license fee payers those who found the broadcast offensive were absolutely within their rights to complain. But in the rush for judgement many people feel as if their views were ignored because they were not suitably incensed or represented. I felt quite angry about that at the time, and was as rabid, or worse, than the people I criticised. I was wrong and I regret that. Retrospect is a fine thing. Emotions running high do not lead to a quality debate or bode well for free speech.

Honesty being mistaken for nastiness – Simon Amstell’s humour is based on honesty. His stand up and his presenting. When he is picking on some celebrity he doesn’t do so with anything other than the truth. This is no more apparent when a celebrity on Never Mind The Buzzcocks (available on iPlayer here) says something along the lines of ‘yeah – so what’ and the audience applauds. I think this is a natural Twenty First Century reaction to Twentieth Century celebrity. PR, image making, to an extent the machinery of media production, is no longer transparent to the audience, and people like Simon Amstell are a reaction to that. The divide in the opinions of Never Mind The Buzzcocks viewers after the exit of Mark Lamarr exactly mirrors the cultural divide. One could almost get Hegelian about this sort of thing,

Disability and the use of politically incorrect language in satire – there was a bit of a fuss as a result of Simple Jack in the film Tropic Thunder, over the use of the word retarded. Again, I think many people missed the point; in Tropic Thunder Simple Jack was presented as a film that starred Tugg Speedman as a cognitively impaired lad who could talk to animals. It it was presented as a film that bombed (failed miserably at the box-office). The point was that it bombed because Tugg Speedman played ‘the full retard’ – as Kirk Lazarus, method actor extraordinaire, pointed out. People do not want to see people who are greatly cognitively impaired in films, they prefer people like Rain Man or Forest Gump, idealised, sanitised versions of disability. The film was as much a satire of cinema audiences as movies and actors. Everyone picked up on the use of the word retard and a blacked-up Robert Downey Jr (Kirk Lazarus was a satire of stereotypes in method acting), but not what was spelt out by Kirk Lazarus about movie depictions of the cognitively impaired. People were too busy being offended to notice. Tropic Thunder was a great satire. & Tom Cruise was brilliant in it (click here for a tasty morsel, or even better, buy the DVD).

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David Mitchell’s cool

November 30, 2008 in The other, This | No comments

There is less and less difference between what appears in newspapers and blogs. Due, I think, to the prevalence of mere opinion. It’s distinct from ‘not opinion’ columns and blogs  by the likes of the excellent Ben Goldacre, and others, because opinion is like casual, and occasionally fuckwitted, chat overheard in a high-street pub. Or an internet discussion group. It doesn’t necessarily have any weight behind it, and is for entertainment, rather than reaching a wide audience. So, I’m going to pick on former pot smoker David Mitchell’s “My drugs hell? No one offered me any” column published in today’s Observer*.

Because he got paid for it, and I’m a little jealous, plus, I’m putting-off sorting out some kind of Sunday food (bad back/hang-over), plus, I think he’s trying to make some kind of point. I’ll get my cast-iron, bona-fide, complaint out of the way:

Public Service Announcement: I’m talking about normal cannabis here rather than skunk which, I’m reliably informed, both is, and can get you into, serious shit.

Bollocks. Transform and others have gone out of their way to dispel the myth of hyper strong weed and links to mental illness for a long time. I believe what they’re saying because they have produced carefully referenced arguments with a basis in actual evidence. The government’s scientists backed this up – they were ignored, presumably various super-duper-skunk platitudes are widespread, because of media coverage of drugs issues. I think with something as important as drugs policy evidence is paramount. Otherwise it’s a waste of time.

There is no Pepé Le Pew in a cape.

Furthermore, and I’m going to emulate a newspaper opinion column journalist’s standard of evidence – I’ve been reliably informed by several somewhat hip ageing middle-class hippies that cannabis oil, Thai-sticks, and ‘red leb’ resin, were mind-blowingly strong compared to most skunk – and highly sought out in the early 1970s.

It may seem a trivial point; but public misconceptions about drugs can lead to policies being enacted that lead to people being locked up.  Which will likely more negatively impact their life than their skunk smoking habits.  Anecdote can be dangerous.  I once saw someone go mad after eating a sausage roll.

Now I’m going to go into full newspaper opinion column (or ‘blog’) mode, but not before carefully, and conscientiously, alienating  people, by telling my imaginary reader, to their face, figuratively speaking – obviously – to fuck off. Fuck off. If you’re reading this you should have better things to do, like preparing some food, or cleaning up a bit. Or something useful.

I’m going to wank a little about David Mitchell’s bit about cool:  Not a cast-iron complaint, not bona fide, but nonetheless worth typing. It annoys me when people who could reasonably be called cool talk about the general principles of cool. It’s like saying “I’m not racist, but” with cool instead of racist. It’s like telling everyone who thinks you’re cool to fuck off, with examples of the Marlborough Man or some cock of a stereotype of cool.  While simultaneously being cool.  “Ooh look at me – people say I’m cool – but I’m not – I can reflect on it – I’m a square peg in a cool round hole”.  Etc.

Now I’m off  to do something useful.

* Which is worth reading weekly because it’s funny. I think David Mitchell is alright – although for all I know he may kick small animals – for fun. The fact that this blog piece is itself opinion makes me lol at my own hypocrisy – I’ve spelt that out for the thickies in this footnote.

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S.H.H

November 18, 2008 in Media, The other | No comments

S.H.H on iPlayer.  Woo-hoo.

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Little Britain USA: Phyliss and Mr Doggy

September 24, 2008 in The other | No comments

I’d really like to be able to hate this for being reliant on catchphrases,  a kind of modern-day CU Jimmy/Russ Abbot nightmare (which also attracted millions of viewers), but I can’t because it’s funny.  Here’s a clip of Phyliss and Mr Doggy from Little Britain USA.  Soon to be on US television.  David Walliams is an excellent actor.

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