Do we still like Ricky?

Poor Ricky Gervais. The one time king of quality control was last week he was forced to dance humilatingly by a Wembley-full of Express readers, the most embarresing television dance since Shabnam left the Big Brother house.

On the back of the poor Simpsons episode, the patchy second series of Extras and all sorts of other celeb appearences at the Ivy, has Ricky undone all his good work? Or is he just showing he’s human? Afterall who would turn down Matt Groening or the future King of England when they come knocking?

Smug busting Briain

You never know what you’re going to get when you plunge into the cultural pick and mix that is the average Hay audience, but you’ll normally be party to some surreal blathering or other that is well worth the ticket price alone. Tonight’s Radio 4 listener, sat directly behind me, was busy telling her long suffering friends that as a rule she didn’t like stand-up, however she does believe Sandi Toksvig is a natural comedian. Turning her attention to tonight’s act her, pre-show verdict was that “he’s very Irish, but very funny” as if the two don’t normally sit well together; and I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with her… at least about O’Briain.

The freedom of the stage combined with harsh lighting transformed O’Briain from the cuddly host of Mock the Week into an almost demonic looking redneck Celt. Machine gunning through the performance with a professional mania the excitable Irishman rattled from one story to another as if unable to stop even if he wanted to. Late in the gig he checked his watch and, realising he was now clashing with Reg. D. Hunter’s gig across site, promised to finish soon before effortlessly ploughing on for a further 20 minutes.

It is clear from watching him on stage exactly why he has enjoyed such televisual success in recent years, but it is also comedian’s curse – on more than one occasion I was familiar with his material. Even then O’Briain’s stage technique gave it a fresh quality.

Henry Widdicombe www.suchsmallportions.com 

Brigstocke bites (a bit)

Marcus Brigstocke has always been a bit Radio 4; middle-class, intelligent and a tad smug. So what better place for him to perform than the festival that is essentially a live version of the sleepy radio channel (literally at some points – Brigstocke has just come from performing Just a Minute)? It’s unashamed middle-class armchair liberalism, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

 

In all there are seven Hayite rounds of applause, for anti-Blair, anti-Bush, anti-Littlejohn rants, and the smugness does at points become a bit stifling in the crowded tent in the middle of Wales. But beyond this Brigstocke is charming, interesting and original; everything the Hay crowd would like to think they are (but aren’t).

 

He’s taken on a harder edge recently, whether it’s a reaction to the state of the world or a career move it doesn’t matter, he has more bite and that can only be a good thing. Of course he hasn’t become some sort of corduroy-clad Bill Hicks but he comes across as one of the few comedians peddling political material because he actually cares and his act makes you think far more than a lecture from AA Gill or Simon Schama ever will.

Josh Widdicombe www.suchsmallportions.com

Sarah Kendall at Hay Festival

45 seconds. That’s how long it takes Sarah Kendall to point out that a) she’s an Australian, b) this isn’t Australia, this is Wales and c) ho ho ho aren’t they different and isn’t she a fish out of antipodean waters? It’s material based on topics as obvious as the rain hammering down on the canvas above our heads. Let’s just say that if the beer at the Hay Festival was as cheap as some of Kendall’s jokes ssp would have enjoyed her set a whole lot more.

Festival line-ups are all about balance and it’s easy to see why Kendall made the bill. Her jape-by-numbers routine offers a soothing brain balm to an audience exhausted from the day’s programme of political debate and literary sparring. However, for those of us too stupid to even feign an interest in the ‘meat’ of the festival, her patter is so much candy floss – sticky, sweet and as light as air.

There is one fantastic moment when someone in the audience gets up to go to the loo. Kendall does the obligatory “don’t go, it’ll get better” bit until the loo-leaver gets to the door, then she hisses “Aren’t we glad she’s gone? I couldn’t believe she came, can you?” It’s both spiteful and conspiratory and for a fleeting moment we join the intelligentsia in roaring along to her observational wit.

For rest of the time we’re plagued by the feeling that this is one of the rare occasions at Hay that ssp will be the authority on something. And we’re supremely confident in our knowledge that, despite what these fiercely intelligent people may think, Sarah Kendall is just no good.

Henry Barnes – live editor at www.suchsmallportions.com

Peep Show 4: a bit desperate

With all six episodes built to what was hoped to be some sort of monumental final episode wedding extravaganza, the fourth series of Peep Show has been the first to have a truly conventional story arc. Viewers have overlooked the slightly dodgy episodes with plots based around desperate attempts to make Mark and Jeremy’s actions more extreme as they waited for the greatest car crash wedding since Britney/K Fed. We saw Jeremy eat a dog (for no real reason), Mark going feral in a car park (in an unlikely change of character) and the whole show just becoming a bit too silly. Much like the new Derren Brown series it was paired with on Friday nights, ideas had been sacrificed in favour of extreme scenarios.

In the end, the final episode was just more of the same. Mark and Sophie’s wedding was predictably disastrous, while Jeremy pissed himself. That was about it. This series has been a bit Mitchell-heavy throughout with Robert Webb restricted to playing bit parts as the vacuous Jeremy. It’s a disservice to Webb who, although maybe not as funny as David Mitchell, puts in a brilliantly desperate performance as Jeremy which deserves more screen time. Perhaps now the “el dude brothers” are set to be reunited in series five, the problems we have seen over the past six weeks will be remedied.

Josh Widdicombe – editor www.suchsmallportions.com

The SSP “pimp your plant pot” pot is complete

See the relevant article here
Now all it needs is an appropriate flower… Any suggestions?

(posted by Holly, TV Editor)

Ricky Gervais – total rip-off?

Tickets went on sale at 10am this morning for Ricky Gervais’ dates at the Hammersmith Apollo later this year. If you book through TicketMaster you’ll be spending just over £40, including booking fee and postage, for the privilege of sitting in a seat in six months’ time and watching one slightly pudgy man standing alone on a stage (I’m making assumptions based on his last tour).

Is it just me, or does £40 seem a bit much?

Given live stand-up generally has such low production costs compared to, say, Opera or a classical concert, or even Kylie, it does seem like a bit of a rip-off to me. Huge bands command this kind of ticket price, with a lot more over-heads to cover with the takings. Yes, I must admit I’m not the biggest Gervais fan anyway, but honestly I wouldn’t pay £40 to see any comedian. Unless they had seven costume changes, a team of dancers and perhaps threw in a few free drinks.

Anna

The last hurrah of a one-time comedy bandit

Anyone who managed the heroic task of watching through Paul O’Grady to the more saucy bits of Comic Relief last Friday would have noticed a budding satirical comedian in the making. Call me blind for not seeing the gag, but I found Tony Blair’s sketch with Catherine Tate to actually be quite amusing. It is hard to imagine a Jacques Chirac or Bush doing anything of the sort, not to mention any of the other Prime Minister we’ve had in the past; John Major was terrorized by Spitting Image’s pea sketch for Christ’s sake. But if this is part of the final farewell tour that (courtesy of a leaked document from D street) will leave us wanting more, did Comic Relief play into a retiring PM’s publicity hands?

P.S. Highlight of the night has to be Jonathon Ross’s accidental quip to Fern Cotton about her sounding common. No stage school in the country could teach someone to hide a face that drops that fast.

Tim

We don’t need specially made TV comedy

The Radio Times’ description of ITV’s new afternoon show:

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Soapstar Superchef 5:00pm – 6:00pm ITV1 London

VIDEO Plus+: 8703 Subtitles, widescreen

New series in which the nation’s favourite soap actors reveal their hidden culinary skills in a series of head-to-head battles. Each day two teams of soap stars must recreate the signature dish of one of the country’s leading chefs in front of a live studio audience and an unforgiving panel of judges. In today’s show, Coronation Street takes on Emmerdale in the ultimate celebrity cook off.

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If you need counselling after reading about this new ITV low, please dial the SSP helpline on 08000000000000000.

Holly