February 23, 2012

You are here: Home / TV / Comedy

The future of comedy

December 28, 2011 By

Where does the future of comedy lie? And what does the future of comedy really look like?

 

The old saying has it that there’s nothing new under the sun, and when it comes to comedy, I think there’s a lot of truth in it in terms of content. In other words, we homo-sapiens don’t fundamentally change our human natures. So the things our ancestors found amusing on the Savannah 300,000 years ago were the same, in principle, as the things we find funny today.

 

Irony, for example, isn’t new. Character studies and parodies aren’t new either. But what is new is the content; the situations in which we frame our comedy changes with the ages, as does, of course, its means of delivery. And it’s this latter area that looks the most interesting when considering comedy’s future.

 

The obvious place for comedy to flourish as it’s thrown open to billions of people around the world is the internet. It’s now conceivable for anyone producing genuinely funny video clips to go viral and become an overnight success.

 

The problem is that this is all very bitty. Perhaps there’s no harm in this, but where will the new comedy come from that takes time to nurture and for people on a large scale to truly connect with? In the age of the mass internet, if your comedy doesn’t hit home immediately, literally in a few seconds, the perhaps it won’t get anywhere?

 

A good example is the return of The Fast Show online only at Fosters.co.uk. When the show was first broadcast on the BBC in the mid 90s, it took time for the British public to really connect with it. Now, the sayings of its main characters are known to almost every adult – but would that have happened had it been first introduced on the web only? I doubt it, but when you watch the Fast Show now, you feel you know it well and understand the depth of the characters etc.

 

The future of comedy undoubtedly lies on the web as well as TV, but it will lose something in the process.  

Filed Under: Comedy, TV Tagged With: , , ,

Best ever Fast Show character?

December 14, 2011 By

Who was the best ever Fast Show character?

Was it Ted the groundsman or his employer, Lordly figure Ralph? “I wouldn’t know about that, sir”

Or perhaps it’s the 13th Duke Of Wybourne: “Me, the 13th Duke of Wybourne? Here? At the changing rooms of the Brazilian synchronised-swimming team? Let’s hope I live up to my reputation. Ladies, here I come, time for a rub down.”

The “Off-roaders” Simon and Lindsey have to be on the shortlist for me. Simon: “Right, day five, paintball. We’re here for fun and camaraderie. The type of people you meet in the paint zone are the best. We’ve gotten a lot of new buddies since we started balling.” Lindsey (interrupting…): “Gotten!?” Simon: “Now, although paintball is not real war…” Lindsey: (interrupting…) “Buddies!?”

Or how about domineering wife Renée and the hapless husband Roy? “We’ve been to Stratford on Avon and went to see Shakespeare’s old house, I said to the guide it’s a bit pokey, What did I say to the guide Roy?” Roy: “It’s a bit pokey.”

Then there’s “Swiss Toni” the middle aged car dealer with a quiff and a penchant for repeating the same advice over and over to his assistant Paul “Watch me. Learn from me. I could teach you everything there is to know about this business. These aren’t cars we’re selling here, they’re dreams. And to know about cars, to know about dreams, you have to know about women.”

For me, though, the overall winner has to be the rambling and for the main part, unintelligible, posh old Rowley Birkin QC in front of his roaring fire : …”Johnny! Johnny Ludlow!” Hahaha… [rambles] …terrible flatulence… [rambles] …you see?… [rambles] …the whole thing was made completely out of rubber… [rambles; make bubbling noises] …in fact, we communicated the whole time with sign language…”

The great news for Fast Show fans is that the show is back courtesy of Fosters.co.uk along with other comedy legends like Vic & Bob; definitely not to be missed!

Filed Under: Comedy, TV Tagged With: , , ,

Hit comedy returns … only on the web!

December 4, 2011 By

When The Fast Show bowed out of British television with a special Last Fast Show Ever in 2000, fans of the show could have been forgiven for thinking that was the last time they would see the old cast together.

The title of the last three-part series proved to be a red herring and now, over a decade on, the show is back for a 12-episode online series, with fresh material written by creators Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson.

Like Alan Partridge and Vic & Bob before them, The Fast Show team has made an online comeback and the guys have picked up where they left off all those years ago.

Recognisable characters such as Ted and Ralph, Swiss Toni and Dave Angel – Eco Warrior are back and with them come the familiar one-liners that were mimicked up and down the country all those years ago.

The Fast Show reinvented sketch comedy with its innovative style – at times featuring a sketch a minute during episodes. The show’s style would later influence other British comedies, such as Little Britain and The Catherine Tate Show.

The first few online episodes suggest The Fast Show 2011 hasn’t lost any of the attraction which made the show so popular when it hit the comedy scene in 1994.

However, fans of the show will have to get used to a much faster show. Each episode is now only around eight minutes long, the only downside to an otherwise exciting comeback.

It will be difficult for The Fast Show to hit the same heights as the 90s, but with a talented cast of actors and equally brilliant writers, the show has every chance.

 

Filed Under: Comedy, TV Tagged With: , , , ,

The Fast Show is back!

November 25, 2011 By

Paul Whitehouse is a household name in British comedy. He and old friend Charlie Higson created The Fast Show, the comedy which revolutionised sketch shows back in the mid-1990s. Now, the pair has teamed up to bring the famous old show back to our screens. Our computer screens, that is.

Whitehouse and Higson have teamed up with Arabella Weir, John Thomson, Caroline Aherne and Simon Day for a 12-episode online series which began on November 10. The series features all the classic characters and one-liners and is sure to be a hit with fans of the show.

Whitehouse, a university drop-out, fell into comedy by chance. He worked as a labourer, along with Higson, on a house shared by comedians Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, from who they gained inspiration. From there, Whitehouse and Higson moved to the same estate as Harry Enfield and the rest is history.

They began writing credits for Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out and Harry Enfield’s Television Programme, before hitting on an idea of their own. They took the basis of Enfield’s comedy concept and turned it into a slicker version with a vast array of characters and catchphrases, including “Suit you, sir!” and “Does my bum look big in this?”

The Fast Show ran for three series from 1994 to 1997, with a three-part Last Fast Show Ever in 2000. Eleven years on, the show is back with fresh material and is a must-see as far as funny video clips on the net go.

Whitehouse has picked up characters like Rowley Birkin QC, Ron Manager and estate worker Ted as if he has never been away, while Aherne slips back into the show seamlessly. The gags just don’t get old.

 

Filed Under: Comedy, TV Tagged With: , , ,