School of Comedy

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.

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.

5.3 is not a truly reflective score for this show. Available on 4od.com, I return to it quite often to cheer me up. Complaints about the writing or the concept of kids doing adult humour fall flat on the ground with me. The true concept is that here we have young teenagers developing enough of an understanding about adult life and using their comedic talents to poke fun at it. As for the writing, it is subjective to British life. That said, the viewer needs to overcome the fact that it is being delivered by children, albeit teenagers. When you can appreciate both points, teens making fun of adults with adult based humour, then you are in for a treat. The French taxi passenger who finds football boring and prefers opera and small boys, the estate agent reluctant to show the last room and the (sublime) sketches of the two immigrant South African security guards. Even the thought that teenagers can make fun of these tickles but to see it enacted, and so well, is hugely enjoyable.

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.

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.