Little Miss Jocelyn

OK, I simply adore this new comedy sketch show by 3 Non Blondes star, Jocelyn Jee Esien. But first of all, I must admit that this show is an acquired taste. The less positive comments about it are understandable, considering the sketch material.

But for me, it is Esien's sheer versatility and wide-range of characters, that make this a winning formula. She becomes that character and adopts a whole new persona, in each sketch! My favourites include acid-tongued, man hating Gladys Kingston, Fiona the office employee who believes that no-one knows that she is black, Jiffy the busy-body traffic warden with her love for stopping ordinary people and lecturing them on various topics, and so on. Her facial expressions are just priceless, too.

You either love or hate it. I personally can't get enough of it.

When I watched the show for the first time I thought 'oh another Little Britain clone' but I was pleasantly surprised by the following episodes. As with all new programme's i was too quick to judge and have found myself looking forward to future episodes. However there are some sketches and characters I still don't laugh at. The bus driving character Sheson is too similar to the traffic warden character of Jiffy to me to be considered an individually comical character. Despite this I still enjoy watching the show but as a 3 non blonds fan I'm bound to be a little biased. My favourite characters in Little Miss Jocelyn are Mrs Omwukuopopo (Nigerian Polygamist), Jiffy (Parking Attendant) and Fiona (A woman who doesn't want her colleagues to learn she's black) and these characters in my opinion really make the show. A criticism i must make though is that it seems like a female version of Little Britain and The Fast Show but I don't think it was intentional on Jocelyn's behalf.

This program is the worst I have ever seen, and believe me, I've seen Tittybangbang and Peter Serofinawicz. I'm amazed that there are people commenting here who say they love it. I suppose the explanations about recognising characters from the black community may go somewhere to explain it, but even so in that sphere, all she does is shout in a particular accent. If I was an ex-pat in eg Nigeria and a white woman came on TV shouting in cockney, that in itself might amuse for 30 seconds, but when I realise there are actually no jokes and no wit, surely the amusement wears thin? Goofy teeth, strange accents and shouting does not make comedy. Take out the rude bits and this is sub-standard children's TV.

Little Miss Jocelyn is one of the most brilliant of comedy shows. Its depth is often unappreciated. Take these characters: Liz: a biting satire of white man's exoticisation of black women. Fiona: a woman who is so conditioned by prevalent (but generally unspoken) racist opinions that she espouses them wholeheartedly to the point of denying her own 'black' identity, save finally exploding at the end of the sketch by 'fulfilling' the most racist and outrageous of anti-black clichés. Mrs Omwukupopo: another incisive satire playing up to white people's prejudices towards so-called 'black sexuality'. Throughout Jocelyn Lee Esien plays on either reversing white prejudices or on reproducing them for satiric effect highlighting the racist views that British society is full of and is not aware of subscribing to, or cannot quite admit to in public (except perhaps in the dark corners of a pub), thanks to its often hypocritical adherence to 'political correctness'. I imagine many white people will find the show distasteful, but that is the whole purpose of it, to throw back in their faces the types of prejudices that their society itself often holds against Africans. Of course that is just one level. There is another. Little Miss Jocelyn is a comedy about the African community in the UK laughing about itself and its idiosyncrasies. Many of her sketches are part of the classic repertoire of 'country (call-a-spade-a-spade) bumpkin goes to the metropolis of political correctness' and can be found in many other comedies about/by migrants (not only African) living in the so-called 'advanced' economies.

I am not surprised but saddened by the axing of the program.

Loved the show. It should show now on one of the paid streaming programs.