School of Comedy

Have you ever sat there and watched hours of something so terrible, so bizarrely bad you feel retarded? Well I have, for I watched every episode, both series of this over the last 2 days. I don't know why, I laughed once and I have to admit I laughed at a rather damn good sketch, in the very last episode (a "woman" narrating everything at a dinner party where the predictable punch line is everyone can actually hear her slagging them off) it wasn't clever or special or unique but it tickled me.

Other than that I enjoy the South Africans, possibly because I find the accent pretty. It tries to marry the juvenile and the mature with no luck and at times you feel feel genuinely bad for the cast. By far the most painful of the recurring sketches have to be the cab driver, the art gallery chubby chaser and the white van men. Basicaly they use material that would be good for one sketch, if that, and then do it over and over and over again. Don't get me started on the impromptu lip syncing.

Although it has endeared me to Will Poulter, whose hideous way of speaking in Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader made me hate him for a long time. Yes I know Eustace Scrubb is meant to be an unlikable, repugnant character but still, there is no excuse for that mannerism.

And while they seem to have turned the canned laughter slider down in between Series', they still use it too much. And some of the better recurring sketches from the first series were thrown out and not replaced in the second. The misanthropic bar maid from the first series was brilliant in a cringe worthy way.

That sums the whole show up really, car crash television. Some morbid fascination with misery and pain keeps you watching when you know it's wrong. And a lot of it is so bad it swings back around to good, in a cringe worthy pitiful kind of way. However I do think some of the actor's are pretty talented, some of the girl's play perfectly believable adults (one of which would do better if she didn't have braces).

Well there you go, my long winded confused sh-peel.

I can imagine the craziness the youngsters unleashed on the set of the new series, School of Comedy, and how they simply must have driven all adults on set to distraction. I can't imagine how frustrated the director must have been, trying to handle a cast of dozens of talkative, unfocused, buzzing children. However, the attempts certainly, somehow, paid off.

The performances these kids gave, particularly Son of Rambow's Will Poulter, was nothing short of perfection. Being part of the shows target audience, I smiled. And I laughed. It's not just an adult sketch show, it's charming, witty, and the timing these children hold is superb. I believe in some of these young talents we are looking at the next Armstrong and Mitchell and Miller and Webbs of the sketch genre. And it's great to see such great talent emerging in the UK.

Previous reviewer mentioned how the writing let down the show. And I'm afraid I have to agree with him, he makes a good point. I nearly turned over at the adverts because the laughs were not coming fast enough, and that's down to the awkward situational writing. There's a certain creative spark but unfortunately, it's only flickering.

I didn't change channels and I'm glad. School of Comedy is a feel good sketch show performed by a highly talented new cast with buzzing energy, wit and charm.

Unfortunately E4 have a habit of pimping out shows that turn out to be awful. We've had the 'School of Comedy' all but forced down our throats for the past few weeks in the form of adverts, text within other programs, and the promise that we're going to wet ourselves laughing at children acting like adults.

Unfortunately it failed to deliver. It's a good concept if the thought of children acting like grown ups is enough to make you go into fits of laughter, but if you're expecting anything deeper you'll be disappointed. The child actors are not to be faulted in the slightest, there's some very promising performances from them, especially given they work through different accents and characters quite seamlessly. The writers appear to think that we'll simply be bowled over by children swearing, and don't bother to try and include any deeper reaching comedy; a shame since it seems these children are quite capable of it.

In short, very impressive acting from such a young cast, ultimately let down by poor and very lazy writing. Here's to hoping they buck up their ideas, or that these endearing children get a chance to go on and star in something decent.

It seems that people are knocking this show a little too harshly, and not appreciating it's light-hearted and fun nature. The gimmick of seeing kids act as adults is nothing new - ( Remember the 1976 movie Bugsy Malone?), but with seeing a talented cast deliver comedy sketches, the producers have definitely come up with something fresh and fun. All the performers are good, but special mention must go to Will Poulter, Max Brown, Beth Rylance, and Ella and Lilly Ainsworth, who really are top notch. Overall, as with a lot of sketch shows, there are hits and misses, but I found there to be more hits in this than in a host of other so-called comedy sketch shows currently airing. The wonderful spoofs of 1940's Noel Coward plays, but with added gayness are hilarious, as are the Saffa's, and the Polish workers taking advantage of the stupid English. I also love the Museum Perv, the therapy sessions, and the various music spoofs, when the cast launch into miming a popular song, whose lyrics match the nature of the sketch. All in all, a good series, which deserves a better response than most appear to have given it on this site.

Didn't expect much from this but it's brilliant. The kids really pull off the comedy. Definitely give this a try if you like a laugh