NJ - KI Putin

Justin - Thousands of Russians participated in an anti Putin rally, and this came days after he admitted to a journalist that some of his past escapades have not been entirely true. Which means that capturing a snow leopard and finding Greek urns in the Black Sea were all staged, but on the plus side those news segments are now eligible for Soap of the year at the TV choice awards. To discover if he is still using such underhanded tricks we used the equipment we bought at the closing down sale of News of The World to listen in on a meeting with his head of lies

Woman 1 - We need to stage another event to get the Russian people back on side.

Putin - What were you thinking?

Woman 1 - We want to show your sensitive side, so how about you find an injured puppy yards from where the press just happened to have gathered

Putin - Then I kill the puppy?

Woman 1 - No, you hug it

Putin - Until it stops breathing and its eyes pop out. Got it

Woman 1 - No, you love it

Putin - Harsh way to kill it

Woman 1 - No - forget that. How about we reiterate how manly you are?

Putin - By killing more one puppy?

Woman 1 - Forget the puppy! Who is the toughest Russian man?

Putin - Someone with an outside swimming pool?

Woman 1 - Ivan Drago from Rocky four, played by Dolph Lundgren. Give him some money - and I don't know - his wife back and he'll take a dive in round one

Putin - No, I don't want to do anything that would slow down the making of The Expendables three

Woman 1 - We could always try and play the sympathy card. Picture this, you are on a well earned vacation, sunbathing and a photographer takes pictures of your giant man boobs

Putin - Do you think we're trying too hard? The Putin family have a saying; you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but who cares whos fooled when you rig the election

Woman 1 - True

Putin - So it's agreed. I kill many puppies!

END

The problem with this for NJ is that it needs to be a character-based sketch, and the character of Putin is not strong enough here. Plus, we've all written a sketch about Putin in this vein (did it myself last series) so it's not particularly original.

Also it's not focused enough. There seem to be a lot of gags stuck together rather than a solid idea.

Doesn't work for KI as it needs to be Kirrin Island-ised with their version of a Russian oligarch.

Dan

I would say the opening setup is waaaaaayyy to long, a quick a joke or two to setup the idea and move on, then you need quick sharp jokes that drives the story forward before you twist the end and slap the audience in the face. It's seems to a single joke premise without a strong sketch premise and no real twist at the end. It's amusing but not really funny (that said I did quite like it but I wouldn't expect to hear a sketch like that on Newsjack)

Thanks for your comments. I never really thought of creating a putin character, but you're right in the sketch it's the aide that is defined rather than who the sketch is supposed to be about. Taken on board

The Puppy thing is excellent and you have the characters pretty much down pat. Getting the mixture of character, good ideas and funny lines is a good mix.

But the addition of Ivan Drago is a distraction.