Does anyone remember when British Comedy duos were funny? Morcambe and Wise (OK I don’t remember them per se but we see their 486 brilliant Christmas specials rolled out annually). Reeves and Mortimer. The Two Ronnies. Cannon and Ball (erm…scratch that one).
The United Kingdom of the Great British Isles has a comedy pedigree that is arguably unsurpassed by any other country (the USA is out because they don’t understand irony), and that includes the great tradition of the comedy duo. Typically a magical combination of ‘the stupid one’ and ‘the exasperated clever one’, these pairs have entertained us through generations and we have gratefully thanked them.
But today? The youth of Britain are stuck with the mediocre likes of Mitchell & Webb and Horne & Corden, two duos rammed down the public’s throat just because they happened to break through into mainstream in television shows written by other, more talented people.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I give you ‘Peep Show’ and ‘Gavin and Stacey’. Both extremely popular, clever and genuinely funny televisual treats that happen to star a pair of actors who share an undisputable chemistry with the material and each other.Problem is, as soon as a show like this hits, the great and the good in the world of comedy production smell a cash cow. No sooner can you say ‘David Mitchell isn’t as funny or clever as his character in Peep show’ than you start seeing these pairs EVERYWHERE!
Mitchell shows up on every comedy panel show going (except for ‘Argumental’ on Dave – the producers have good taste) and proves just how hilarious he isn’t. Horne & Corden are called in to do a dire segment at the Royal Variety performance. Both pairs are slung into hit and miss sketch shows on the BBC who should learn that the odd titter from the audience does not count as a success.
What does this prove? It all goes South when these people are required to stand on their own two feet and actually be funny.
And then? The inevitable feature length film.
First came Mitchell & Webbs ‘Magicians’, in which Mitchell hilariously cuts off his wife’s head on stage because she’s shagging Webb. But it’s all OK in the end because the pair make up, forget about her and become successful again.
Then there’s Lesbian Vampire Killers…has there been a more over-hyped British film in recent history? When it came out in the cinema you couldn’t walk 50 yards without seeing Horne & Corden’s smug faces glaring at you from a phone box, magazine cover or billboard. Panned by critics on release, the film was a flop – no doubt in part due to the fact that everyone was sick of the sight of them. At least for the DVD release the marketing people saw sense. The cover sees the two ‘stars’ crammed into a tiny section at the bottom, playing second fiddle to a large pair of breasts. What a pair of tits. Steve Boniface
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