Alan Partridge (with Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Rob Gibbons, and Neil Gibbons), 2011
(December 2011)
I didn't read this, but listened to it as an audiobook. Despite hearing good things about them from a fair few people, I'd never really gone for them before, but couldn't pass up the chance to hear it read by the man himself. I listened to it on my commute, so my fellow passengers had to put up with me giggling like a twat every day for a week.
The comments after almost every single online review of this book have pretty quickly ended up with people just firing out quotes. So lets cut to the chase, shall we?
Name good British comedy, from the Goons to the present (hell, from Shakespeare), and I thank god that my father was British, so that I can get more of the references and language. N.American comedy is just so... slow.
ReplyDelete'A joke is coming. Here it is. This is the joke! You missed it? I'll repeat again, and again. Wasn't that funny? (Please).'
No, it wasn't.
I should have a British comedy Christmas tradition. My Easter one is to watch 'Life of Brian' with my best friends: one another 'lapsed Catholic', the other an atheist Jew married to an Asian shiksa (gasp!). Suggestions, please.
Not quite British, but maybe the 'Father Ted' Christmas Special, though 'Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse' is more my favourite.
ReplyDeleteFor every Basil Fawlty, Alan Partridge, or David Brent, there's a dozen other unfunny also-rans. Sturgeon's Law, as you say. We do do comic monsters very well though. We also seem good at only exporting the better stuff, for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI thought Father Ted might be up your street. Bonus point for the FT connection in one of the clips above...
Try 'The League of Gentlemen'. It's something of an acquired taste, and the 3rd series isn't so great, but the first two and the christmas special are very good.
"I thought Father Ted might be up your street." Lapsed Catholic son of a fourth-gen. potato-famine export, wryly known among her spawn as 'our sainted Catholic mother', and a West-Yorkshire Anglican off-licence proprietor's apostate-to-Papism son... imagine that, eh?
ReplyDeleteIn the mini preview pic on my blogroll I thought that was Sasha Borat Cohen or whatever that guys name is?......apparently I was way off :)
ReplyDeleteatheist Jew with an Asian shiksa (gasp!)
ReplyDeletehmmm, sounds pretty familiar. There is more to Ireland than this, though.
Does it reflect badly on me that I had to google the word 'shiksa'?
ReplyDeleteChris/Ant - That first clip is from 'The Day Today', a spoof news programme fronted by Chris Morris, who kind of inspired Ali G's guerilla interview technique, so you're not all that far off. Morris' Brasseye is well worth a look, especially 'Drugs' and the 'Paedophile Special' ("This one has disguised himself as a school").
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9031532194656768989