Snuff Box

There is a darkness in this humor that is hard to shake off. If you are already familiar with and enjoy the work of Berry and Fulcher then jump right in. They are at their peak here.

It works when you think of it more as a demo reel, a proof-of-concept of the style and humor Berry would end up perfecting in Toast of London six years later by adding premise, characters and pathos. After all, you'll notice music, character names and even actors from ToL appear here first. Its a fascinating exercise to watch.

BBC3 has brought some fantastic comedy shows to our screens over the last few years like little Britain and the mighty boosh. Snuff box is no exception, in fact it is hilarious and my favourite show of 06, though it isn't to everyones taste.

Matt berry and Rich Fulcher star as a hangman and his American assistant respectably, It is based somewhere in upper class London, which for some reason has a lot mentally ill people roaming the streets. The pair spend their days hanging condemned souls for cash, chasing women and sitting in their rather posh gentleman's club sipping whiskey.

The plot may seem strange but believe me, the comedy moments are priceless and couldn't be achieved by any other show, for example, the execution scenes where we see lads doing their job, hanging criminals with the priest who would rather be down the 'rubber dub' than stand around reading the last rights all day. It may seem sick but it is funny.

With original music including the awesome theme tune (written and composed by Berry),various sketch-like scenes and the incredible comedy double act of Berry and Fulcher, all in all a top show which, if you give it a chance, will have you in stitches.

This show is a high point in the British tradition of sitcoms which give the most oblivious, selfish and lewd male characters free reign to inflict hurt upon the world. The boors also suffer but there is little justice or fairness to be found. More often the cruelty just mounts and no one escapes some awful fate. I am reminded of absurdist theater but with better jokes. I agreed with dschmeding that Mr. Show and the Tim and Eric Awesome Show from the USA are comparison points. But those shows exhibit some sense of balance and compassion. Perhaps dschmeding's low rating reflects his desire for this sort of ethical balance in a comedy story. That is a more popular approach, certainly in feature films. As for me, I find the laughs in Snuff Box harder for their sheer offensiveness and unfairness. The lack of ethical logic keeps the jokes from being predictable. In real life no one could never get away with doing anything that happens on this show. If you weren't killed on the spot you would be quickly locked away. Lovers of Peep Show, the original British The Office and Extras will enjoy this show though they should expect a heightened level of offensiveness. I call it offensive because I realize it is often seen as offensive, but I have not been offended by anything on Snuff Box. I haven't seen anything from American television that can compete for sheer low taste. But if you go out and watch stand-up groups like New York City's UCB perform live without censorship and advertiser pressure, you'll find some of the same type of funny, and it's more shocking and satisfying live.

Snuff Box is an unconventional sketch show from Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher. Aka Dixon Bainbridge and Bob Fossil from The Mighty Boosh. And not forgetting Berry as Dr Sanchez, in the superb Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

The show is set in a Gentlemen's Club for Hangmen and features hanging, time travel, a variety of sports, fighting, shouting, rude words, pleasure, singing, dancing, intrigue and whisky.

Snuff Box won't appeal to everyone's tastes, but if it were ever repeated, I would encourage you to take a look and see what you think. It provides a refreshing change from the awful but ever popular reality TV and the depressing soap operas.

The music is done by Berry and my favourites must be The Empty Room (a homage to the Old Grey Whistle Test) and The Diary song set in the Gentlemen's Club.

All I can say is anyone who has an out of the ordinary sense of humour, needs to watch Snuff Box.