London SketchFest 2014, Pappy's, review

On Thursday night, at the Backyard in the unaccountably trendy Bethnal Green, Pappy's got this year's SketchFest - a competitive celebration of that unfairly beleaguered corner of comic endeavour, launched only last year - off to an effervescent start. Or, rather, they kind of did.

Al Murray, Pappy's & more join Altitude line-up

Al Murray has been added to the line-up of this year's Altitude Festival, which takes place in Mayrhofen, Austria from March 31 - April 4. Also joining an impressive bill are Pappy's, Fred MacAuly and Rainer Hersch.

Matthew Crosby: Working hard to be silly

We've been performing live sketch comedy together as Pappy's for nearly a decade, so it was great to be able to create something that was distinct from our live shows, but that still had the same big, silly, knockabout energy.

The Typhleotris is a freshwater fish that lives in Madagascar's limestone caves, a habitat of such consummate darkness that nature has not bothered to provide it with eyes. But even the Typhleotris, with a bag over its head, sealed inside a box, would have been able to see the jokes coming in Badults.

Not all the jokes, it has to be said. BBC3's new sketch show/sitcom hybrid served up several that were genuinely inspired and laugh-out-loud funny, suggesting the fault lay in lacklustre quality control rather than any shortfall in comic creativity.

But the wheat was bulked out by an awful lot of chaff, not to mention corn, which is very surprising for an inaugural episode out to impress.

Written and performed by Ben Clark, Matthew Crosby and Tom Parry - hitherto best known as award-winning fringe troupe Pappy's - Badults places immature adults into a flatshare environment, inevitably inviting - and suffering - comparison with a host of other comedies, notably The Young Ones, The Big Bang Theory, New Girl and even the works of the Three Stooges.

It has manic energy to spare, an engaging cast, cheerfully throwaway plotlines and an instinctive understanding of how to extract the most from its predominantly studio-bound setting.

The surreal inserts - Darwin comes alive off a £10 note to comment on the action - look a bit tired, and the central characters need far clearer delineation, but Badults shows a lot of promise.

However, poor Emer Kenny will need an awful lot more to work with if she is going to make any impression as fourth flatmate Rachel, sidelined almost as soon as she appeared and looking every bit the arbitrary, add-on female.

Badults episode 1 review: Money

There's the seed of something great in here but it's only been half-realised. In their live shows, Pappy's get by with ramshackle charm and enthusiasm, but so far, this hasn't translated well to TV.

All-male flat-share sitcom from sketch troupe Pappy's, who tasted 2012 Edinburgh fringe glory with their Last Ever Show. It's worth a watch for its strange moments, such as the recurring use/abuse of the Les Mis soundtrack and Matthew's (Matthew Crosby) obsession with the sign language lady off the telly. For the most part, however, the trio's slapstick stand-up doesn't transfer over as well to the small screen as it could in this first episode, although the show may well find its feet a bit more in the coming five weeks.

Fringe favourites bid to conquer TV with Badults

Sketch trio and Edinburgh Fringe favourites Pappy's aren't at the festival this year. Instead, you can find them on television in their new sitcom, Badults.

Oh, men - sometimes you can be such silly-billies! From Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? through to Bottom and Men Behaving Badly, TV has a recurring soft spot for men old enough to know better.

The latest addition to this infantile strand is Badults. The name does most of the work here but, just to clarify, it's about three male flatmates in their late twenties getting into scrapes. The only sensible character is their lady friend Rachel, who pops in from time-to-time to make the boys look even more puerile. Pappy's, the sketch-comedy trio who are the creator-stars of Badults, are beloved of many for their live work, but this first episode - which sees them accidentally withdraw £5,000 from their joint account - misses the mark.

There's no faulting the imagination at work (at one point, they re-enact the French Revolution), but their linking gags and repartee are twee, cloying and weaker than your nan's squash. What made The Inbetweeners such a rare gem was that the weekly antics were appropriate for the character's ages. Badults is just another slightly cringey example of men behaving badly.

Three-man sketch troupe Pappy's take another stab at TV glory with Badults, a tiresome flat-share sitcom that tries and fails to be a modern-day Goodies by way of The Young Ones (Or Filthy, Rich & Catflap: take your pick).

Despite being broad, silly and eager to please, the gags are uninspired and obvious, and the three of them seem to be playing the same noisy idiot character, albeit pitched at slightly different volumes. Its daffy spirit and intent are commendable, but no amount of good intentions can compensate for such weak material.