REVIEW: The Thick of It – The Scripts

If you haven’t seen, or don’t like the Thick of It, Armando Iannucci’s political satirical comedy following the stories of the people behind the politics, then you might as well stop reading now, as what is about to follow can only be described as the equivalent of an overexcited and giggling schoolgirl in prose form.

I think I could sum up this book in one simple word – Essential. However, as that would look rather poor form for a journalist, I’ll elaborate a bit. The Thick of It could be one of the most important comedies of this generation. Based around the running of a government office and filled with more expletives than an orgy for tourettes sufferers, the show shows the often stretched relationships between an MP, his staff, his public and the ‘ever loving’ Press office of the Prime Minister.

Of course, if you have seen the series before, you might think that this book will add little or nothing to you, However, due to the pace of the show, and the natural nature of the character performances, it was only after reading back over the show that I realised just how many little gags and beautifully written snidey comments there were in each episode. Add to that a wonderful additional chapter of Malcolm Tuckers sent email box, which made me laugh so much, someone heard me in the next Tube carriage, and you see why my original “Essential” is entirely justified.

The Thick of It: The Scripts is available to buy from yonder.

LIVE REVIEW: Jason Byrne – Shy Pigs with Wigs, Hidden in Twigs

Irish comics have a tendency to be generally laid back individuals. Dylan Moran, Dave Allen, Ed Bryne all have an air of relaxation about them. Jason Byrne however does not apparently subscribe to this stereotypical belief.

There is pretty much only one way to approach a Jason Byrne concert, and that is to imagine yourself on a rollercoaster. Not because of ups and downs, thrills and spills and a potential to vomit, but because he is the comedy equivalent of G-Force. Barely pausing within the entire show, his new show “Shy pigs with wigs, hidden in twigs” focuses on Byrnes continuing adventures into parenthood, marriage and seek of fame, and the giant social holes he ends up digging for himself. As competent at ad-libbing from the crowd (which Jason does with such ease an intensity you wonder whether the whole show is just one big bluff) it’s easy to see why Jason is a firm favourite on the comedy and festival circuit, and yet bewildering to work out why he hasn’t got his own series on TV yet.

You can catch Jason Byrne live at the Brighton Dome on 13 October 2007. Have your own little slice of Jason Byrne for yourself by buying his live DVD, available here

DVD: We Know Where You Live (Remix)

There’s a reason that Simon Pegg only made it big once he’d appeared in Spaced, and that reason is that it was the first decent thing of any note he had done.

The public have hardly been clamouring for the release of We Know Where You Live, a Channel 5 sketch show from 1997 – but with the general reverance of Pegg as the comedy world’s Rolling Stones to Ricky Gervais’ Beatles, it’s hardly surprising that this series has been dug out of archives. The mere appearance of Pegg’s receding ginger head on the DVD cover will be enough for most people to part with their money, but to do so would be a mistake of the most horrendous proportions.

Okay, perhaps it’s not that bad, but the truth is that We Know Where You Live had no need to be resurrected. Very much of its time, and featuring other stars-in-waiting like Sanjeev Bhaskar, Fiona Allen and Amanda Holden, this programme defines ‘hit and miss’.

Each half-hour episode will deliver one or two laughs, but any more and you are either drunk, mentally impaired, or watching something else. Put it this way. If it was any good, you’d probably have heard of it already wouldn’t you?

A Pegg completist? Spose you’d best click here then.

FRINGE REVIEW: Frankie Boyle – Morons, I can heal you

Frankie Boyle, star of TV’s ‘Mock The Week’, playing at a theatre near you and charging £15 for the privilege of listening to what is essentially a series of sharp one-liners. Few would deny Boyle’s talent as a performer: his confident manner and acute sense of timing connects him rapidly with his audience, letting him launch with a momentum that carries him right through to the close of the show.

Boyle’s rapport with the audience is the cornerstone of his act, working his material around a series of improvised quips in an adroit fashion but at the end of the performance you’ll be hard pressed to remember any of his gags except the insults. If you’re a fan of the television show he regularly appears on, chances are you’ll have heard some of the gags before. By way of small compensation, Boyle tries playing things close to the bone but there’s no air of unpredictability and what probably seemed like a worthy sharp shock on paper feels a little blunted. Regardless, Boyle rolls with the punches and moves on to his next target when a shot misses effortlessly.

If rapid-fire, old-school banter is your thing, this is probably money well spent but for the rest of you expecting a little more substance and/or value, chances are you’ll come away feeling rather short-changed.

FRINGE REVIEW: Pete Firman – Hokum

Magic shows are an absolute minefield to navigate and perhaps none more than on the Fringe. Everyone likes magic, it’s one of the irrefutable laws of the universe (we’re not including David Blaine in this, not unless you call ‘sitting in a box’ magic). Even ‘coin and card’ street performers can do enough to bamboozle you fleetingly as they contend with those acts that have found themselves a small corner of the Fringe from which to dazzle an audience.

There also tends to be little variation between those acts and for a comedy festival, there’s usually very little in the way of amusement outside of some fairly non-descript patter. Enter stage left: Pete Firman. Although he will be performing a few you’ve seen before, his endearing personality adds a new spin on old favourites, and he’s also got a few illusions of his own, one involving a mouse and a blender which left the audience gasping. Like many of the magic acts on the Fringe, the performance could do with a degree of elevation so as to not deny a large majority of the audience a look at the deft sleight of hand that Firman has but this is a mere quibble. For a darkly entertaining hour, look no further.

For more Pete-loving, you can visit here or you could visit here. It’s entirely up to you.

FRINGE REVIEW: Richard Herring – Oh F*ck I’m Forty

On his blog, ‘Warming Up’, Richard Herring is frequently self-deprecating about his abilities as a stand-up. While some of the asides about his aptitude are obviously intended to provoke a smirk, the remainder reveal a genuine self-doubt that he may not be as good as his audience numbers suggest.

His latest show, ‘Oh Fuck! I’m 40!’ takes a sideways look at this ominous milestone in Herring’s life and examines the ways he’s fallen into in a bid to stay eternally young. Many other reviews have used the cliché ‘Herring gets better with age’ so this one is just going to mention how appropriate it is. Based upon this latest effort, it seems strange to read of Herring being plagued with any reservations about his talent – he has emerged as a prominent stand-up in his own right.

‘Oh Fuck! I’m 40!’ best represents how far Herring has come and is arguably the culmination of many years hard work. His past few shows (including the really rather good ‘Menage a Un’) have been as much about new material as they have been driven by remnants of the ‘Herring’ character but ‘Oh Fuck!’ serves as an almost self-referential swansong for the latter. It’s that knowing wink to the audience that keeps the act feeling fresher than it should do especially since another you get the suspicion that there’s little place left for the persona to go having realised that he’s about to turn 40 and with a desperate inkling that the old tricks might not work tomorrow. As a coda to a character with a lot of history, this is a fitting finale. There’s something really quite tragic as the show ends to Avril Lavigne’s ‘Ska8er Boi’. Point made. Unfortunately for Herring and lucky for you, he’s going to have to do even better next year.

Richard Herring will be performing Oh F*ck I’m 40 in London from 18 – 22 September 2007. You can read Richard Herrings daily blog here.