Many people when writing about 'Dirty Sanchez' compare it to 'Jackass', both being, by and large the same type of show. The main comments seem either to be 'It's a Jackass rip-off', or, 'Far more extreme than Jackass'. Both do have equal stances on the show. Not many people have heard of the show, let alone seen it. It came from a much smaller company than the goliaths of MTV, and was pushed to the 1 o'clock in the morning slot by channel 4. maybe appropriately, you may think, after watching the show.
The show comes from the current skateboarder trend for this type of humour: People with a healthy disregard for themselves, messing around. However, Dirty Sanchez's stunts are much more extreme than anyone would care to try, and yes, I will say it, more extreme than 'Jackass'. Stapling your ear to a piece of wood, lowering your posterior onto a floor covered in drawing pins, rolling around in stinging nettles, and playing extreme ice hockey in the nude are all your average sort of stunt. The stunts all have a feeling of 'no going back'; once one of the four man strong crew of daredevils has decided to do a stunt, they go ahead, and regret it later. They often will do a stunt, only to realise a few seconds later that it was more painful than they imagined (one fine example of this is seeing Pritchard skate down an ice rink, before dropping on to his bare rear end, only to realise a few seconds later that it was taking his skin off, and desperately trying to prop himself up on his arms)- The dynamic between the four men-three welsh skateboarders, and one southerner-Is a complex one. they are all friends, and yet all treat each other in a way that borders on the ruthless. an example is a time when one of the guys gets sprayed in the eye, and is trying to wash it out, not realising that one of the others is adding washing powder to his hands, and effectively blinding him all the more. You do wonder what holds them together- Pancho, the shorter one, has a tendency to go into very deep sleeps, giving much scope for practical jokes. the Southerner, (I think it's Dan Joyce) is more reserved, less prepared to go into the really strong stunts. Pritchard has a rather large obsession with going naked, nudity being another central theme to the show. The last Welshman, (I think it's Dainton) is the more crueller of the group, always the instigator of the harsher practical jokes.
Upon viewing, one thing which may turn people off is the way the show is put together. It suffers from fairly poor editing, (Although I know it is shot on quite amateur cameras, but it still doesn't excuse it being put together badly) It lacks the coherency of 'Jackass', cutting back and forth between interviews with the cast, family and friends of the people involved, and the stunts themselves. However, Although I often like to think that my comedy tastes are more refined, I have to admit that shows like this often make me laugh like a kid. The silly way that they injure themselves so willingly just manages to be funny when you are not the one doing it. So, I can say, put your hands together, and pray, for 'Dirty Sanchez'.
