The Fast Show

I can understand why people can see the Fast Show as being simpleminded, or plain not funny and repetitive.

But that's just the point.

It's sketches, it's fast paced wit, it's not deeply intelligent humour. It's in your face comedy.

I especially like Bob Flemming and Clive Tucker. Bob:"I've got a tickle in my..." Clive:"ARSE!"

Also notable is Rowley Birkin who wilst only muttering and mumbling can actually tell you a whole story with a few audible sentences.

Ted and Ralph, as said before, do not rank as being humourous, but more as being lovable characters, although you can chuckle at Ralphs ineptitude in finding the words to say what's on his mind.

One that will also always stay in my memories is one with Jesse: He steps out of his door, looks quite bewildered and says with loud voice:"This week, I have been mostly eating..." slight pause..."PROZAC!"

It's a pitty that they stopped with this show, as for the fans, the highpoint has not yet been reached.

Any repeats are more than welcome!

The Fast Show is a sketch show, and as most such animals it doesn't always work. Some jokes are brilliant, some a bit thin.

The most characteristic ingredient of the Fast Show are its repeated characters and their catch phrases, like the car salesman who compares everything to "making love to a beautiful woman", or the guy whose "...which was nice" is the pinnacle of his emotional reactions. This device is perhaps a little overplayed at times (and the English soccer international Chris Waddle will curse them for that, since he will be remembered for the rest of his life as the catch phrase of Channel 9) but when it works it is extremely effective. My personal favourites are Jazz Club, a terrific satire on late night toffee-nosed music programmes; and also the bloke (played by Paul Whitehouse) who has no opinion of his own and agrees to every argument put to him.

Although this review may look rather mixed, the shows are generally unmissable because the good stuff easily outweighs the weaker moments.

From start to end, I've always found "The Fast Show" (known as "Brilliant," in America) hysterically funny. It's well written -- very grown up humor, here. Anyone who was hooked on SCTV will adore every moment! I can only hope that they'll produce another run of shows. 'Priceless.

An American not familiar with this show, as I was, will probably compare it to SNL (Saturday Night Live).

However, there are four big differences. One, it's not live. Two, no music. Three, no guest stars. Four, it's consistently funny.

Anyone who has watched SNL will know that for every absolutely-roll-in-the-isle-genius-sketch, there are about ten poor ones.

These sketches range from the monotonous to the downright painful. Then there are the painful one-joke movie franchises (Wayne's World excluded).

Then I saw the Fast Show, while living abroad a few years. Each sketch was hilarious or memorable, and each character was inspired and sometimes even vaguely rounded.

The editors are intelligent enough to cut off one joke characters before five minutes of an painful, drawn-out sketch. In the Fast Show it is: character's on, cut to a new character, cut back, cut to a new character, cut back etc. Humor is mostly timing, anyway.

Imagine SNL with much better editing and consistently funny and that's what you've got here. It is disappointing that the talent in the show has gone largely unrecognized to this point.

The Fast show is one of the funniest programs to come out of the home of sketch England. It is full of one liners, running gags and send ups that leave you laughing hours after the show is finished. Characters such as Arthur Atkinson and the news team from channel nine will become timeless classics of British comedy. Also check out previous works by some of the team especially the "Harry Enfield and chums" television program.