Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy - Series 1 Page 4

nb note Noel was the only person who got his actual name used in the titles at the end.

Quote: Steve Sunshine @ January 26 2012, 9:46 PM GMT

It wasn't really my cup of tea. I did laugh at the guy with the moustache & the funny hat. Most of it was bit "let's be weird for the sake of it" He's a likeable enough guy, but I think he was funnier within the vague restraints of the Boosh. Now they've let him loose, I wonder if anything at all was learnt from giving Horne & Corden a sketch show. I doubt I'll be watching again.

This

It stupefied me that much, I ended up watching 10 minutes of Chris Moyles Quiz night by accident.

Quote: Steve Sunshine @ January 26 2012, 10:39 PM GMT

This

It stupefied me that much, I ended up watching 10 minutes of Chris Moyles Quiz night by accident.

Ironically, the "Fosters sponsors E4 Comedy" sting --- at least on E4+1, when I tried to watch the first ten minutes before giving up --- was done by Vic and Bob. Who would make short work of this sort of pretentious wank. On the one hand, Fielding has clearly reached the stage in his career when the executive sycophants cluster around and tell him that it's all brilliant, even when it clearly isn't. On the other hand, if he were as brilliant as he thinks, he wouldn't be on the trajectory from BBC3 to E4. And the programme would be funny.

I haven't seen a lot of this, but there seems to be some funny stuff here. I agree that random and weird do not necessarily equal funny - there are a whole raft of animated comedies that I do not enjoy because they rely on this principle. The good thing about shows like "The Young Ones" and "The Mighty Boosh" is that the seeming randomsness is pulled together cleverly.
I don't, on the other hand, need traditional jokes to make me laugh - and often they can add up to rather predictable comedy. Where the surreal satire is at its best, this show really sparkles.

Quote: ToddB @ January 26 2012, 11:51 PM GMT

I haven't seen a lot of this...

Where the surreal satire is at its best, this show really sparkles.

You've obviously not seen any of it. There is no satire, it's just stuff happening, unfunny, tedious, stuff.

This is not the Boosh, it's not The Young Ones or Monty Python or a thousand other comedy shows that understand the value of surrealism. This is a cynical advertising company's version of surrealism, a bad art student's idea of surrealism, a superficial drug addict's view of surrealism. It's surrealism for its own sake.

The great thing about labelling your piss poor product with the 'surreal' tag is that when people criticise, you can always use the get out of jail card...well you obviously don't get it.

What came to mind when I first saw trailers/adverts for this was 'Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy'. Like how that was basically like someone pressing play on a reel of deleted Family Guy cutaways (without the 'this is worse than the time...' intros/setups save for white captions on a black background) - this seemed like it would just resemble a load of unused Mighty Boosh animated stories/fantasies/scenes in general.

And it turns out I was right.

I have, in fact, seen several sketches - and I only speak for what I have seen. Let's be clear - I am not hear to champion the show and I am certainly not comparing it to the "Boosh" or to all time greats like "The Young Ones" or "Monty Python" in terms of quality. To be fair, however, all of these comedies that have been given the 'surreal' tag (often not by themselves) have moments where they fizzle due to reliance on the 'random/bizarre equals funny' principle - even the greats.
If you look at surrealist art, there are lots of pieces that are amusing because of the juxtaposing of concepts/images - something familiar explored in an alien way that brings out its ridiculousness. At best, what I have seen heads in this direction, but I am not saying that everything that I saw (or anything that I haven't see) is like this.
I particularly liked the Pele's Cup sketch.
Incidentally - it reminds me a little of "H.R. Puff'N'Stuff" and its ilk.

For good modern surreal comedy - Big Train is about as good as it gets....and juxtaposing random factors/concepts/categories is pretty much the premise of that show. Linehan and Mathews admit they were very much influenced by Vic and Bob - escpecially when writing Father Ted - another shows that blends reality with surrealness/cartoonishness beautifully and seamlessly.

Quote: ToddB @ January 27 2012, 12:39 AM GMT

Incidentally - it reminds me a little of "H.R. Puff'N'Stuff" and its ilk.

Me too. But without the charm or imagination. It's a shame, I wanted this show to be good, I wanted it to be challenging and darkly surreal, like some of the Boosh stuff, but it just fell flat.

All that was going through my head when watching Luxury Comedy was a vision of Noel sitting in a room with a bunch of other trendy drug users trying to come up with stuff. Then someone brings in a box of Cadbury's Fingers, he pulls one out and starts riffing. Because all of his cronies are as stoned as he is, they're probably pissing themselves laughing and going 'that is brilliant Noel, you should definitely put it in the show'.

I think he spent 3 years making it. However bad or good it's turned out, he put a lot of hard work into it. I don't think it's really fair to say he just churned out some shit while he was high and said 'that'll do'.

Quote: zooo @ January 27 2012, 1:30 AM GMT

I think he spent 3 years making it. However bad or good it's turned out, he put a lot of hard work into it. I don't think it's really fair to say he just churned out some shit while he was high and said 'that'll do'.

No it's not fair, but that is how it came across, maybe deliberately so his trendy, young, drug taking audience would 'dig it'.

Whatever the concept behind it or how much work was put into it, it was pretty goddam awful. Unlike other sketch shows that have characters that interact, this was just The Noel Show.

Great for fan girlies, but insufferable to the rest of us. Like a lot of people, won't be watching this again.

P.S. 3 years to write that lion in a cage sketch?! You are shitting me?

This is so obviously Noel's baby, however weird and deformed. But for me Julian's grounding effect was manifest in its absence. Of course that maybe just because I'm used to seeing them both together as a well-oiled comedy duo but for me the relentless, pointless surrealism was just too much and I was left yearning for Julian's deadpan reactions to Noel's madness to balance it all out and make it funny.

But this is Noel's show and, difficult as it is, I suppose we should try to view it as a completely different entity to the marvellous Boosh. It makes it hard though when it features his brother (the guy who played Naboo) and also Rich Fulcher - and even a cameo from The Moon. That was a big mistake in my opinion. Don't put The Moon in...he's Boosh.

Anyway I could go on and start deconstructing but I'm boring my fat f**king self now. My two-penneth is that the show looks fab, it's inventive and mad but there's nothing (as yet) to really sink your teeth into. As said previously it feels like a CBBC show. My missus said it was like a stoned Teletubbies. But then I imagine Noel would love that.

Quote: zooo @ January 27 2012, 1:30 AM GMT

I think he spent 3 years making it.

Year 1. Take drugs and appear on panel shows.
Year 2. Take drugs and appear on panel shows.
Year 3. Take drugs and sit in make-up. Then frantically make a half-arsed show.

Rubbish.

It's telling, on a forum of people who'll argue the toss over just about anything, that not one person so far has stepped up to defend this show.

Not having Julian to reign Noel in makes me think of how much more I enjoy Twin Peaks (co-created by Mark Frost) than any of David Lynch's later movies.