British Comedy Guide

Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights Page 4

I wonder if he'll have new sketches next week? I don't want to watch any more of the old ones.

And how long can he go on ending sketches with a bodily excretion?

Good stand-up though; especially liked his supposedly-improvised talk to the audience front row.

Quote: Nogget @ December 2 2010, 7:18 AM GMT

his supposedly-improvised talk to the audience front row.

Nothing on TV is real, Nog.

When you're making a TV comedy show, it's wise not only to rehearse your 'audience improv' but also to have snipers in the wings ready to deal with anyone who goes off script.

Quote: Veronica Vestibule @ December 1 2010, 11:14 PM GMT

This is the most original TV comedy show since . . .

It's stand-up mixed in with sketches; it's hardly a brand new format!

Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 2 2010, 9:05 AM GMT

It's stand-up mixed in with sketches; it's hardly a brand new format!

The format is as old as the hills but the sketches! Christ, I'm still trying to get that 'Green Mile' spoof out of mind.

Horrible - but utterly compelling!

Didn't enjoy this.

Quote: Tim Walker @ November 20 2010, 5:04 PM GMT

(...) The man has indeed a great gift for making very funny gags, but I don't like the decisions he makes regarding the limits of his material and I don't like him as a person. Admittedly, this latter opinion is made on the basis of reading his book, plus interviews he has given, but I've seen and read enough to gain the impression that he is a fairly unpleasant man, who hasn't got the humility or insight to accept that anything he does is too unkind - or, simply, wrong. The good misanthropes are those who, deep down, express a desire for the world to be a better place. Boyle just seems to hate the world without any empathy or understanding for those who see good/hope in it.

I appreciate that many great comic talents are probably not necessarily the nicest people in real life, but Boyle is just someone whom I find impossible to like. In short, I don't think he makes the world a happier place. He might be an adorably lovely person to his friends and family (I hope he is), but his style of comedy just leaves me feeling a bit sad about life.

I've also read his book and I've come to the opposite conclusion. Frankie Boyle is a moralist and I think people like him are badly needed in our present TV climate of obsequious conformity.

You missed a viciously satirical show which included a sketch which began:

"As they try to create a show that will appeal to all demographics without giving offence the BBC have launched their new soap, where viewers will have to force their own meanings onto a show where actors with blanked out faces and paper suits act out ambiguous plots."

It was a bit too clever for the audience, but a sign that Boyle is a really important comedian - despite having a chow on C4.

Some of the ideas were good, but I don't think they were presented well. It is possible to comment and be entertaining, I've seen it happen. Maybe it was in one of your posts, Godot?

Quote: Godot Taxis @ December 2 2010, 2:22 PM GMT

Boyle is a really important comedian - despite having a chow

Image

Frankie's chow

Quote: Godot Taxis @ December 2 2010, 2:22 PM GMT

It was a bit too clever for the audience,

It would have only been clever if it had been funny.

I really liked the Knight Rider sketch, yes it was long but you wouldn't say that about about your favourite sitcom. As long as the sketch has enough fresh jokes to fill the time it's not a problem.

I enjoyed the show all in all, though maybe that is because C4 made the genius decision to broadcast it next to The Morgana Show so it could look brilliant in comparison.

Quote: Smartcomedy @ December 3 2010, 4:20 PM GMT

I really liked the Knight Rider sketch, yes it was long but you wouldn't say that about about your favourite sitcom. As long as the sketch has enough fresh jokes to fill the time it's not a problem.

It wasn't so much the length, as the construction, that let down a pretty funny sketch, for me. It sort of lumbered along, from bit to bit. It didn't flow.

I do wonder if that was intended originally to be a series of sketches, which were then put together into the one long one?

Quote: Godot Taxis @ December 2 2010, 2:22 PM GMT

You missed a viciously satirical show which included a sketch which began:

"As they try to create a show that will appeal to all demographics without giving offence the BBC have launched their new soap, where viewers will have to force their own meanings onto a show where actors with blanked out faces and paper suits act out ambiguous plots."

It was a bit too clever for the audience, but a sign that Boyle is a really important comedian - despite having a chow on C4.

That was a good, weird idea; but I don't think they did anything actually funny with it.

Quote: Aaron @ December 3 2010, 4:49 PM GMT

I do wonder if that was intended originally to be a series of sketches, which were then put together into the one long one?

That's exactly what I thought.

Finally got around to watching this and was pretty let down by it. I think Frankie Boyle has remarkable stand-up skills but I think the sketches were very unfunny.

But maybe an endless stream of jokes about sex, violence, and drugs just isn't my thing. I just think it's lazy writing to hit George Michael again.... as if we haven't done that one to death.

I'm with Matthew on the BBC sketch. It was the best premise of the show but like a petunia without nourishment, it wilted and died. The best thing about were the costumes.

It also, as a whole, looked and felt so deathly familiar. How many of these shows are we going to see before they develop some more innovative formats?

Share this page