One more radio comedy series...

One only has to listen to Cabin Pressure, written by John Finnemore and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole, and John himself, to realize what a perfect medium radio is for a sitcom.

Cabin Pressure is the story of small, struggling airline, MJN Air, and their small staff's struggles to stay out of bankruptcy and just get along. It's keenly-observed human behavior, with well-defined characters and jokes that flow naturally from the characters. The four main performances are uniformly excellent. Let's hope Benedict's TV role as Sherlock allows him time to record another series.

Available as a set of Audible downloads, and a must-hear for anyone who like well-written sitcoms.

And so ends series seven of Peep Show

Damn, another season of Peep Show done.

There were lots of laughs this year, and the Christmas episode wherein Mark's family visits, is one of the best episodes of the season, but it ended on a bittersweet note, with the boys about to part ways, Super Hans admitting he's addicted to crack, Mark realizing his son will probably grow up "thinking Jeff is his father", and Alan Johnson acting like a complete asshole and throwing years of sobriety out the window.

It sure felt like they've laid groundwork for an eighth series. I hope so. Peep Show is one of the best comedies ever made, up there with The Office (UK version, of course), Fawlty Towers, and Steptoe and Son.

If you haven't seen Peep Show, early seasons are out on DVD, and readily available in video rental shops if you don't want to buy.

Happy Christmas!

There's nothing I like more than discovering a good radio comedy series or a one-off I haven't heard before. Here are six of the best I've heard this year:

1. Two Episodes of Mash. That's both the name of the comedy duo and their very funny one-off sketch show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast as part of a comedy showcase series. Let's hope we hear more from them in 2011.

2. Nebulous. Mark Gatiss (from The League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who, Sherlock, etc. etc. etc.) stars in this hilarious sci-fi radio sitcom. It also guest-stars the wonderful David Warner. If you like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or early Red Dwarf, you'll like this. I think it's far funnier than both.

3. Beautiful Dreamers. Six mockumentaries, played straight, and all the funnier for it. Outstanding writing and performances, with my favourites episodes being "The River Europe", and "The Whalemen of Musungenyi".

4. Richard Herring's Objective, in which likable comedian Richard Herring attempts to reclaim things society has deemed unlikeable or unacceptable (i.e. the hoodie, the Hitler moustache). Lots of laughs and social commentary.

5. Rhod Gilbert's Bulging Barrel of Laughs. Especially funny are this Welsh comedian's Rant Club segments. The single-potato rant had me laughing aloud on the transit.

6. Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show. A very old-fashioned radio sitcom starring Steve Delaney as the arrogant, aging, malapropism-spouting stage actor, Count Arthur Strong. He is a fine comedic invention: all bravado and bluster and backpedaling. Delany has invested a lot in developing this character, and he shines here, making the mostly unbearable Count simultaneously acerbic and sympathetic.

Any surprise that these are all BBC Radio productions?

As far as I can tell, Nebulous and the first five seasons of Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show are available on CD. Season six of Count Arthur is running on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesdays as of the date of this posting. Of course, all these programs are "available" if one knows where to look. But support the productions and comedians by buying the CDs where you can, yes? Nebulous lists for C$21 and change on a popular book-seller's site, that's just over a buck an episode.

I heard a couple of poor comedy series this year too, but thought I'd leave the "bah humbug" out of this posting. Happy Christmas!

Radio Vault

In my "secret" life, I'm a writer for Radio Vault, a Toronto sketch comedy troupe that performs in the style of 1940s radio shows.

Here's our site: radiovault.ca. You can find podcasts and upcoming show information there.

If you do make it to a show, please say "hello" to us, we don't bite. And if you're listening to the podcast outside of Toronto, it would make our day to know where we've been heard. Please leave a comment on our pages.

Fry & Laurie Reunited: A Wasted Opportunity

I was hoping for something along the lines of Monty Python, Almost the Truth when I sat down to watch Fry and Laurie Reunited. Instead, I got a rather lightweight documentary, content to simply recount the careers of the boys using insipid little animations when not showing clips. One could have read in five minutes on Wikipedia all that was revealed during this plodding 90 minute show.

Interesting stories were started by each of the estimable comedy duo, but were never completed, the show moving from segment to segment to segment with no flow at all. What a fluff piece this was. There was no need for the producers of this show to put Stephen and Hugh in a room together if they weren't going to use anything interesting from their conversation. The guests interviewed didn't add much either, mostly phrases like "Oh, Stephen and Hugh are very funny," and "I was in a Fry and Laurie sketch and it was funny." Emma Thompson popped in to say, "I introduced Stephen to Hugh." The entire show was maddeningly context-free.

I'm not coming down on Stephen Fry or Hugh Laurie, I think they are terrific talents. Maybe some day, someone with a point of view will make a good documentary about them. Fry and Laurie Reunited sure isn't it.

Huzzah! More Peep Show

Peep Show, the best British sitcom since The Office, Extras, and The Thick of It, returns for a seventh season, and the quality is still as high as ever. David Mitchell and Robert Webb slip effortlessly back into their hapless loser personae, and hilarity ensues.

No Canadian broadcaster (that I can find) but well, it's available, if you know where to look.

Chris Morris interviews

These probably won't mean anything until you've had a chance to see the Jihad comedy Four Lions (yes, you read that correctly, and yes, it is funny, very funny in places) but you can hear and see director/co-writer Chris Morris discussing the film on WFMU, on the Film School Rejects site* and on the Motion Captured Podcast.

Best quote from Mr. Morris: "I don't have a pathological personality disorder, so why get involved in Twitter?"
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* Be warned, the audio on the Film School Rejects video is quite poor.

Funny, Free, "Flumpf": What More Do You Want?!

There's a Free Ricky Gervais Podcast here: Karl Pilkington: A Day In the Life. You can easily find it on Bittorrent or through Soulseek if you don't like or use iTunes.

It does what it says on the tin: Karl describes a typical day, much to the delight and amazement of Steve and Ricky. Karl reveals his love of (and lack of knowledge about) worms, coins the word "flumpf", and makes unflattering comments about the poor, put-upon Suzanne. I don't believe for a second Karl has any idea of how funny he is, which only adds to the comedy.

I thought I'd be tired of Karl by now, that I'd heard all the permutations of weirdness in his head. Nope.

Kevin Eldon

If you like British comedy, you've probably seen Kevin Eldon in supporting roles on many shows such as Brass Eye, Smack the Pony, Look Around You, Jam, I'm Alan Partridge, and in the recent Chris Morris film, Four Lions.

He's a very, very funny man. Here's a link to a series of comedic monologues he did for Resonance FM in London: monologues.

And here is a London Evening Standard piece about him: article.

The Dulcet Tones of James Earl Jones

I'm not much for parodies, especially Star Wars parodies, but once in a while, someone puts in the time, effort, and talent and comes up with something hilarious. Enjoy!

Snuff Box

Just discovered Snuff Box, a British sketch show starring and written by Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher (pictured).

I've only watched the first episode. It's quite good, by turns surreal and vulgar, and the narrative is often subverted for comedic purpose. Sketches loop in back in on themselves and through a bizarre framing story.

No one plays hapless schlub like Fulcher. If you chuckled at his character, Bob Fossil, on The Mighty Boosh, you'll like this series.

Quick plug

A couple of very funny Toronto actor/comedians I know get together each week to discuss current events in a humourous manner. Now you can eavesdrop on them at The Puffin.

Test of audioboo

The net just keeps getting simpler and simpler, dunnit? Here's an embedded audioboo of the first Radio Vault podcast for your listening pleasure.

More about Radio Vault here: radiovault.ca

Not a vibrator (but still exciting)...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7851989.stm

Another riter

This also came in response to my ad for a writing partner:

Here is a sample of writing that I did for a small comedy plot:

You have one male host named Mr. Hockey, who loves all types of sports, but his favourite is HOCKEY!!!

You have one female hostess named Mrs. Artsiss Fartsiss, who loves art shows, gallery shows, anything and everything to do about art!!!

The tension between them is so think that you can cut it with a hockey stick if you get my drift, which you will find later in this segment!

Mr. Hockey goes to the Air Canada Centre for opening game of the Leafs and Canadiens. During the game he stops 5 fans that have their shirts off and all of them spell L-E-A-F-S. He asks them the History between the Leafs and Canadiens. One of them farts and tells Mr. Hockey the whole history. The fan has a spray can and wants to spray! and Mr. Hockey decides why not and joins the fans for the rest of the game.

Mrs. Artiss Fartisss just left a starving arts show; she farted by accident and her stomach making growling noises. I think that she was main painting in the whole show.

The tension between these people escalates because Mrs. Artiss Fartiss can find a 5 Star restaurant and was forced to eat at Lick's. She accidentally bumps into Mr. Hockey inside Lick's and both hit the floor and she glances at him while they are still on the floor. Her facial expression says it all because she is looking at the other Mr. Hockey it you get my drift.

They both get up and decide to have dinner together, and the saga continues! THE END!

Too bad I lost my English-UtterFuckingNonsense dictionary.

Oppertunity losed?

I've recently been trying to find a collaborator to work on some comedy sketches (one of my many passions). So I placed an ad around the web, on a few selected sites. This came in response:

"hey.... i do have a more dry whit... and python is something i enjoy.... but my favorite has to be kids in the hall... but something i have been doing or trying to lately has been what i like to call policing pop culture... things are getting out of hand and there are way to many stupid people with nothing to say but mics in there hand and for some reason people are blind to this idiocy ... so i have been writing things like ... for example do u rember the CLUB BANGER with the brilliant writing THIS IS WHY IM HOT .... brilliant... anyways i wrote a skit for a friend to wrap this is why im hot while running on a tredmile.... standing on a bech with his winter coat on in the sauna... things like that.... i have a couple friends that like to write and want to do some shit to so i dunno maybe we could colaberate"

So I wrote a short, polite note declining, and got this back within moments:

"wow that was short u asked for somone that was funny to write with not an editor .... your loss good look with making people laugh"

Maybe I should have taken him on. He sure made me laugh.

When you monged so soft and blacked in cupboard

In the mood be deeply disturbed while laughing yourself silly? Download Blue Jam here:

http://chilled.cream.org/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=6fdbd33dd642ddf557929e04c1c2ddec&page=bluejam

You know those connections your brain makes when something is mentioned in passing? That's how I stumbled upon Blue Jam. I knew a bit about Chris Morris, having seen his excellent news satire The Day Today. But nothing could have prepared me for this. Hard to imagine it being broadcast on the radio, even after midnight.

I swear I do all the heavy lifting around here. Enjoy.