British Comedy Guide

Big Top Page 21

Watching the latest episode last night, I've worked out how to deal with this show. Try watching it not as a sitcom, but as a piece of "Theatre of the Absurd"*... It works so much better this way. :)

* The Theatre of the Absurd (French: Théâtre de l'Absurde) is a designation for particular plays written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theatre which has evolved from their work. Critic Martin Esslin coined the term "Theatre of the Absurd", relating these plays based on a broad theme of absurdity, roughly similar to the way Albert Camus uses the term. The Absurd in these plays takes the form of man's reaction to a world apparently without meaning or man as a puppet controlled or menaced by an invisible outside force. Though the term is applied to a wide range of plays, some characteristics coincide in many of the plays: broad comedy, often similar to Vaudeville, mixed with horrific or tragic images; characters caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions; dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense; plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive; either a parody or dismissal of realism and the concept of the "well-made play"

When I was a kid Tim my mum made me eat things like Lamb stew and meat pies. I didn't like them. I am an adult now.

I enjoy a cassoulet and a fish pie now and again.

;)

I saw it last night as the six year old said they wanted to see it before bed. The problem I think is the setting; circuses seem so irrelevant and not within most people's experience - maybe it could do with more interaction with the characters and the outside world. It would have been interesting if it had been about a community of travellers.

Not sure how "a community of travellers" is any more relevant or close to peoples' experiences than a circus...?

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ December 29 2009, 7:04 PM GMT

The problem I think is the setting; circuses seem so irrelevant and not within most people's experience

It's certainly true that sitcom audiences like situations they know about and understand. Millions upon millions of people all over the world will immediately have identified with the situation in The Likely Lads. The same is also true of countless 'Man-wife-kids' and 'flat-sharing' sitcoms. Having said that, there's hardly anyone in the world who can have been familiar with the situations in Red Dwarf or Blackadder Goes Forth and yet both did very well indeed.

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ December 29 2009, 7:04 PM GMT

Maybe it could do with more interaction with the characters and the outside world.

No maybe about it. The characters do nothing but deliver 'funny' lines or set another character up to deliver a 'funny' line. That sort of thing works for small children but not for anyone older. The same is true of Bruce Mackinnon's way-over-the-top acting in the show.

The main problem is there are far too many jokes. If they'd cut out 80% of the jokes and replaced them with situational comedy and character comedy, the BBC and Big Top wouldn't now be facing the tsunami of ridicule that's washing over them from the nation's viewers and critics.

Agree about McKinnon's performance being misjudged, and I would add that Amanda Holden is insufficiently engaging in the lead.

I am not so sure about the gag count, which is certainly no higher than Not Going Out, and the gags are in character and serve the flow of the story (not always true of NGO). A lot of them are also quite funny. It occurred to me while watching the 'Skydiver' episode that the series might have been better served by being on the radio, which would have lent itself to the over the top absurdity allowed by the circus setting.

Quote: Ming the Mirthless @ December 29 2009, 7:38 PM GMT

It's certainly true that sitcom audiences like situations they know about and understand. Millions upon millions of people all over the world will immediately have identified with the situation in The Likely Lads. The same is also true of countless 'Man-wife-kids' and 'flat-sharing' sitcoms. Having said that, there's hardly anyone in the world who can have been familiar with the situations in Red Dwarf or Blackadder Goes Forth and yet both did very well indeed.

No maybe about it. The characters do nothing but deliver 'funny' lines or set another character up to deliver a 'funny' line. That sort of thing works for small children but not for anyone older. The same is true of Bruce Mackinnon's way-over-the-top acting in the show.

The main problem is there are far too many jokes. If they'd cut out 80% of the jokes and replaced them with situational comedy and character comedy, the BBC and Big Top wouldn't now be facing the tsunami of ridicule that's washing over them from the nation's viewers and critics.

Laughing out loud

Quote: Marc P @ December 29 2009, 6:55 PM GMT

I am an adult now.

Discuss...

Well, I thought that episode 5 was pretty mediocre. As usual, all of the (good) laughs came from Erasmus. It seems all a bit of a shame really, as it was such a promising premise (IMO). Part of me would like to see a second series, because I feel that they were so close to a decent programme - but, mm, yeah... I'll see how tonight's episode goes.

Erasmus has an unnerving (almost pychopathic) disregard for the feelings of others which leads me to suspect Daniel Peak might be a Scouser.

I've Googled DP's birth but can find no details.

Does anyone know?

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