Pilot: The randomness of it all makes it an experience, but this is not the same as saying that it works
I'm not against zany and random humor; indeed it is not uncommon for me to enjoy things that I partner watches with a semi-confused sneer on her face, before explaining to me why I will not be allowed to make the decisions for a while about what series we watch. I have had this with everything from the Might Boosh through to the children's cartoon Adventure Time. I watched the short film (or series pilot, depending on how it goes) 'Your Honor' on my own, but I watched it with this same confused sneer, since even for me this 12 minutes seemed entirely random.
We have a courtroom scene where a man and a woman appear to be in dispute about a small amount of money, however just as much time if not more is taken up with the judge throwing a man in jail for being overly orange, watching a Max Headroom aside, questioning the race of people, or having flashbacks to his rather odd family background. As an experience it is hard to walk away from it because in some ways it is something you need to stick with because it is hard to really know what will happen next. The unnamed supporting Gallery Members are a fine example of this since they feel like even John Waters would have rejected them for being 'a bit much'. We have homeless people, old people, larger people, bronzed people, heavily tattooed people – and so on.
This approach is seen in the material and the court design and in the writing; it is all entirely random – even at one point having the judge refer directly to the director, who then edits in the gravel in post. All of this insanity has a certain appeal, but it also shows that actually, 'random' comedy is not as easy to do as it looks. When I consider Mighty Boosh or Reeves & Mortimer, these seem random around a basic structure, but actually they are tightly written and produced so that what appears to be random and all a bit mad, is actually very well done comedy. Here it feels like they were just hoping that the sheer oddity of it all will appeal in and of itself.
And, to be fair, it works on that level and for some viewer the madness of it all will work – but not for me. Personally I found it lacking discipline and any time it wasn't just randomly throwing stuff at the viewer every few seconds, it didn't work as well. There are a few moments of extended material where it has a nice awkward or funny air, but mostly it does not work unless viewed as an 'experience'. To me this would limit the appeal as a series since I had no desire to see more of this but rather just chalk this one down to experience, but who knows – perhaps to some this will be the most awesome thing they have ever seen; it does take all sorts – but for me it was just a wonder to sit through, but only once.
We have a courtroom scene where a man and a woman appear to be in dispute about a small amount of money, however just as much time if not more is taken up with the judge throwing a man in jail for being overly orange, watching a Max Headroom aside, questioning the race of people, or having flashbacks to his rather odd family background. As an experience it is hard to walk away from it because in some ways it is something you need to stick with because it is hard to really know what will happen next. The unnamed supporting Gallery Members are a fine example of this since they feel like even John Waters would have rejected them for being 'a bit much'. We have homeless people, old people, larger people, bronzed people, heavily tattooed people – and so on.
This approach is seen in the material and the court design and in the writing; it is all entirely random – even at one point having the judge refer directly to the director, who then edits in the gravel in post. All of this insanity has a certain appeal, but it also shows that actually, 'random' comedy is not as easy to do as it looks. When I consider Mighty Boosh or Reeves & Mortimer, these seem random around a basic structure, but actually they are tightly written and produced so that what appears to be random and all a bit mad, is actually very well done comedy. Here it feels like they were just hoping that the sheer oddity of it all will appeal in and of itself.
And, to be fair, it works on that level and for some viewer the madness of it all will work – but not for me. Personally I found it lacking discipline and any time it wasn't just randomly throwing stuff at the viewer every few seconds, it didn't work as well. There are a few moments of extended material where it has a nice awkward or funny air, but mostly it does not work unless viewed as an 'experience'. To me this would limit the appeal as a series since I had no desire to see more of this but rather just chalk this one down to experience, but who knows – perhaps to some this will be the most awesome thing they have ever seen; it does take all sorts – but for me it was just a wonder to sit through, but only once.
- bob the moo
- Oct 14, 2014