User reviews

No contemporary cable tv channel would dare to play a show like this anymore, and it's not an easy video series to find in good quality, as it has never been released on DVD. It is on Youtube, but it is a low quality transfer from VHS- but even on Youtube yo have to search for it under "Asylum Simon Pegg" otherwise you won't easily find it.

Back in the early days of cable I could imagine this short-lived British tv production being shown after midnight on the Comedy Channel. Asylum, when it is at its best, is something roughly close to the level of weirdness as Garth Marenghi's Dark Place (which if you haven't watched, do so immediately), although not as consistent. The non-PC aspect of the show is that it uses mental illness as its comedic premise (not humorous in real life, of course) but if you can look past the irreverent treatment of its subject matter, Asylum is a bizarre piece of work, and worthwhile if only for segments featuring Julian Barrett, Simon Pegg, and Jessica Hynes. Large portions of this show, particularly in episode one, featuring monologues by Adam Bloom are too over the top and not all that that funny, much in the same way as early stand-up comedy by Robin Williams is often an incoherent barrage of verbal acrobatics. Also, the musical segments while good, are an odd fit for this type of production.

The basic premise of the show is that a pizza delivery guy (Simon Pegg) is incarcerated in an asylum while making a delivery, merely because the asylum needs more patients, and the asylum staff are as crazy as the inmates. If you just want to taste test one episode, I would suggest episode two, as large portions of episode one are best left on fast forward for the reasons stated previously.

If you like obscure weird comedy, this has some great moments, but it's not consistent in quality from one comedy segment to another. If you are ok to zip past the monologues and watch the Julian Barrett and Simon Pegg scenes, Asylum is often witty comedy with irreverent twists and an indie edge.

This seems to be a forgotten gem, it was only by chance that i came across this series on YouTube, i hope it comes out on DVD one day...so many great actors in one place!!! I love Julian as Howard Moon, but i love seeing him playing different characters like in this and (un)natural acts. Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes are also a great duo, of whom i am a big fan, basically if you love surreal stuff like 'The Mighty Boosh' and 'Spaced' etc, this show will probably be right up your street! One thing i'm not a fan of in some of the episodes is the random songs. Usually i like musical intervals, but in some parts it just seems unnecessary and out of place. This is of course apart from Bill Bailey's snip it, he is just awesome.

The television mini-series of six twenty-minute episodes, from the very beginning of Edgar Wright's career, turned out to be, at least for me, completely unwatchable. I watched some of his even earlier works and enjoyed them, but this surreal comedy was not funny to me at all, nor did I find anything worthy of attention in it. Not even the charismatic Simon Pegg pulls it off.

3/10