School of Comedy

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.

I was dubious about the idea behind this show, and at times am still uncomfortable about gaining laughs from children swearing, whether they are behaving as adults or not. Of course they know all of the words but that doesn't mean using them is right. Fortunately the best sketches so far are the ones without any swearing - with the sole exception of the farmer sketch for episode 1 which depended on it for the punchline.

I agree however that some of the sketches just aren't funny, and yet it has little to do with the performances of the child actors. Will is very good and I'm looking forward to seeing him as Eustace in the next Narnia film.

When the writing is good it is very good. The Job Interview sketch from episode 2 with the names confusion was classic two-handed comedy. But too many fail to deliver clear comedic content and should have been rejected. Better to have made a shorter series with premium content instead of thinning out the laughs with weaker material. Perhaps those with recurring characters will become funnier as they develop over time, but so far the Pub Landlady has failed to impress.

I will continue to watch in the hope that it delivers on the potential that I believe is in the show.

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.

I really wasn't interested in this when it first appeared. But after having first watched the 'behind the scenes' episodes I fell in love with the characters.

Much of the humour is actually amazingly subtle for such young comedians. Some scenes did just miss the mark. But either was it is definitely the kind of show that has to grow on you.

In the end it also produced some moments of comedic poignancy that have only been matched by some of the greats (Only Fools and Horses, The Fast Show). It's a shame C4 didn't give it more support for a further series.

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.