Review: Luke McQueen Pilots - The Luke of Love

At a running time of an hour this episode is a little too long.

TV/Online review: The Luke McQueen Pilots

The second of his three pilots spoofing TV formats is a little close to home for comedian Luke McQueen.

The Luke McQueen Pilots: Sex With My Father review

After a disappointing opening episode that failed to make its mark among so many other awkward mockumentaries, the second of Luke McQueen's supposedly aborted BBC pilots is on a firmer footing. Even if the title star is outshone by fellow comic Mark Silcox, who quietly steals every scene he's in.

The Luke McQueen Pilots review

The outrageous standup moves into TV with a mock-doc full of public stunts, faux-naive interviews and blood-letting.

A new mock-investigative series begins with a report on our "hidden vampire crisis". Fitfully funny, although McQueen's faux-naif-meets-Russell Brand shtick (standing in a street yelling "Lower the age of sexual consent!" in order to protect virgins from vampires) is an acquired, er, taste.

TV/Online Review: The Luke McQueen Pilots

McQueen doesn't exactly re-invent the spoof documentary wheel here, but he throws himself into the proceedings with gusto.

In The Luke McQueen Pilots, McQueen plays a comedian making a failed documentary about the so-called British vampire crisis. It is not exactly a spoof, though there is a laboured joke about doing something "like what Stacey Dooley or Reggie Yates would do". It is, in its better moments, a spoof of spoofs, though that may be an accidental by-product of inhaling the exhaust of those who have done that sort of thing with more precision (Chris Morris, Sacha Baron Cohen, Charlie Brooker/Philomena Cunk).

The bit where McQueen pours milk over his head is quite funny. The bit where he meets an online paedophile is less so. It's a pretty tough line of humour, the paedophilia gag, and it's not clear whether the individual in question is an actor or a real pervert. There's also a passing joke about Barry Chuckle, who died recently, and a mock protest in which McQueen pretends that Theresa May is a vampire.

The Luke McQueen Pilots: review

Such uncomfortable hidden-camera pieces are what defines this first Luke McQueen Pilot, but they are rare moments in a show that can otherwise feel anaemic, with dubious ideas stretched thin.

After Sacha Baron Cohen and Philomena Cunk, academics such as Exeter's Dr Nick Groom should surely smell a rat when a TV crew arrives wanting to talk about vampires. The Luke McQueen Pilots purports to be the near-unusable documentary footage filmed by the eponymous comedian. While investigating Britain's Hidden Vampire Crisis, McQueen stands awkwardly outside Parliament berating Theresa May's inaction, strips off at a Goth gig to invite passing fangs, and identifies bloodsucking celebs.

Laugh Out London's Edinburgh Fringe Awards 2018

It's been another amazing Edinburgh Festival Fringe full of great comedy, captivating drama and too many chips. The Edinburgh Comedy Awards have made their decision on who won this year's festival, but we now bring you the only awards that truly matter - Laugh Out London's Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Awards, also known as the LOLlies.