TV Thoughts: Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy edition
I've been watching Noel Fielding's new show Luxury Comedy (through youtube uploads, of course) each week as new episodes come out. Now that I've gotten through episode 3, I think it might be time to share some thoughts on the whole thing.
Before reading this post, it might be helpful to go back and take a look at my post from last year on "The Mighty Boosh", because I had a theory on how I was going to feel about this show before I even started watching, and it all goes back to my reaction to the Boosh. To recap for newcomers, I- for reasons I can't even remember now- decided to watch The Mighty Boosh even though I was 90% sure I wouldn't like it. It took a few episodes for me to come around to it- the love wasn't instant- but when I fell, I fell hard. Now I've found lots of other people to share that love with; even gingerrose- who's never seen the show- agrees with me that the outtakes from Series 3 are some of the funniest ever. (You know you want to watch them too.)
Actually, when I thought about it, the same pattern occurred several more times, when I tried to branch out and watch other shows these actors did- particularly those Noel Fielding was in. To demonstrate:
- I didn't want to watch Never Mind the Buzzcocks at first, because I thought seeing Noel Fielding not playing a character wouldn't be as good. I came around pretty quickly, though, when Buzzcocks turned out to be absolutely freaking hilarious.
- The first time I saw Noel Fielding's performance as Kate Bush in Let's Dance for Comic Relief, I thought it was too ridiculous to be funny. But then, of course, I watched it 6 more times just for research's sake. By the time I got to the fourth time, I found that I suddenly loved it.
So basically, every time a new show came along, I would approach it with extreme skepticism, only to find that with repeat viewings, whatever it was turned out to be awesome. It's a proven pattern. And yet, I went into Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy with the same wariness. Because this is what I heard about it before it aired*:
- weird
- really, really weird
- just like Monty Python, only weirder and all the characters are played by 1 person
- extremely surreal
- effing weird and crazy
* not actual quotes
And they were absolutely, 100% right. It is weird. Very weird. If you are trying to make sense out of it, stop now, because the best way I can describe it is this: watching Luxury Comedy is kind of like eating cotton candy. (What do they call cotton candy in England- candyfloss? Or is that a different thing?) It's light and fluffy and meant to disintegrate in your mouth while you're eating it. If you try to chew it like a normal food, it'll get all stringy and stuck in your teeth. You just gotta let it melt.
Three episodes of this show have told me that I just have to let it happen, immerse myself in the weird world of the show and let it flow around me without thinking about it too much. The brilliant thing about a sketch show is that you're almost not meant to like the entire episode as a whole- you can pick and choose among individual sketches. There's been no one episode that I'd hold up as a personal preference, but some of the bits within the episodes have stuck with me, and some haven't. The buzz around the Jelly Fox character in episode 2 suggested that he was a particularly anticipated favorite among the cast and crew, for instance, but I couldn't get into his part. But not five minutes later in the same episode, there were moments that made me laugh out loud. So below, I've pinpointed one or two sections from each episode that grabbed me. Watch if you want- watch the whole episodes if you want- but be prepared. It's weird.
1) Episode 1: Daddy Push
Please don't ask me to explain why I like this scene in particular. I can't. It's a seashell in a tracksuit dancing to an audiorecording of a Sherlock Holmes story. I just find it funny- maybe for no reason.
(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALu3etE2fSc )
Episode 2: Frida Kahlo
How to explain this clip? Well, the sort of "home base" of the show is a jungle hut where a strange hyper-realized version of Noel Fielding lives. In these scenes, he's accompanied by a kilt-wearing butler, a trendy German girl, and a cleaner who happens to also be a robot Andy Warhol. In this scene, Robot Andy Warhol has "taken a holiday;" covering for him is "Frida Kahlo, the Mexican surrealist painter," who looks suspiciously like Robot Andy Warhol in drag. Unfortunately, I can't find this clip by itself on youtube, but I've tried to program this episode to start at the same spot the clip starts, so you can see it for yourself without having to skim through the rest. My favorite part is when everyone suddenly lapses into German accents. (Watch through to 18:24 for best results.)
Hope this works!
NOTE: This episode should be starting at 15 min 49 sec. If it's starting somewhere else for you, feel free to skip to there.
Episode 3: The Missing Popsicle
I just wanted to included this because it wins, hands down, for the best alibi ever. In this scene, Noel is missing one of the popsicles he bought at the store the day before, and he is searching for the culprit. Robot Andy Warhol has the best excuse for why it can't be him.
"What's that red stuff around your mouth?!"
"...It is blood from a penguin carcass that I was feasting upon in the hallway."
Click to see the scene! Watch until 16:31
As I read this post over, I realize that any and all attempts I have made to describe this show have probably failed. These scene descriptions don't make any sense to me, and I've seen them! That's the joy of the show, though, I guess. The Mighty Boosh found its joy from being a show that only a select group of people found funny; Luxury Comedy derives the same pleasure from being a show that is funny in a way many people can enjoy, but no one can explain. Maybe that's for the best.
Before reading this post, it might be helpful to go back and take a look at my post from last year on "The Mighty Boosh", because I had a theory on how I was going to feel about this show before I even started watching, and it all goes back to my reaction to the Boosh. To recap for newcomers, I- for reasons I can't even remember now- decided to watch The Mighty Boosh even though I was 90% sure I wouldn't like it. It took a few episodes for me to come around to it- the love wasn't instant- but when I fell, I fell hard. Now I've found lots of other people to share that love with; even gingerrose- who's never seen the show- agrees with me that the outtakes from Series 3 are some of the funniest ever. (You know you want to watch them too.)
Actually, when I thought about it, the same pattern occurred several more times, when I tried to branch out and watch other shows these actors did- particularly those Noel Fielding was in. To demonstrate:
- I didn't want to watch Never Mind the Buzzcocks at first, because I thought seeing Noel Fielding not playing a character wouldn't be as good. I came around pretty quickly, though, when Buzzcocks turned out to be absolutely freaking hilarious.
- The first time I saw Noel Fielding's performance as Kate Bush in Let's Dance for Comic Relief, I thought it was too ridiculous to be funny. But then, of course, I watched it 6 more times just for research's sake. By the time I got to the fourth time, I found that I suddenly loved it.
So basically, every time a new show came along, I would approach it with extreme skepticism, only to find that with repeat viewings, whatever it was turned out to be awesome. It's a proven pattern. And yet, I went into Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy with the same wariness. Because this is what I heard about it before it aired*:
- weird
- really, really weird
- just like Monty Python, only weirder and all the characters are played by 1 person
- extremely surreal
- effing weird and crazy
* not actual quotes
And they were absolutely, 100% right. It is weird. Very weird. If you are trying to make sense out of it, stop now, because the best way I can describe it is this: watching Luxury Comedy is kind of like eating cotton candy. (What do they call cotton candy in England- candyfloss? Or is that a different thing?) It's light and fluffy and meant to disintegrate in your mouth while you're eating it. If you try to chew it like a normal food, it'll get all stringy and stuck in your teeth. You just gotta let it melt.
Three episodes of this show have told me that I just have to let it happen, immerse myself in the weird world of the show and let it flow around me without thinking about it too much. The brilliant thing about a sketch show is that you're almost not meant to like the entire episode as a whole- you can pick and choose among individual sketches. There's been no one episode that I'd hold up as a personal preference, but some of the bits within the episodes have stuck with me, and some haven't. The buzz around the Jelly Fox character in episode 2 suggested that he was a particularly anticipated favorite among the cast and crew, for instance, but I couldn't get into his part. But not five minutes later in the same episode, there were moments that made me laugh out loud. So below, I've pinpointed one or two sections from each episode that grabbed me. Watch if you want- watch the whole episodes if you want- but be prepared. It's weird.
1) Episode 1: Daddy Push
Please don't ask me to explain why I like this scene in particular. I can't. It's a seashell in a tracksuit dancing to an audiorecording of a Sherlock Holmes story. I just find it funny- maybe for no reason.
Click to view(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALu3etE2fSc )
Episode 2: Frida Kahlo
How to explain this clip? Well, the sort of "home base" of the show is a jungle hut where a strange hyper-realized version of Noel Fielding lives. In these scenes, he's accompanied by a kilt-wearing butler, a trendy German girl, and a cleaner who happens to also be a robot Andy Warhol. In this scene, Robot Andy Warhol has "taken a holiday;" covering for him is "Frida Kahlo, the Mexican surrealist painter," who looks suspiciously like Robot Andy Warhol in drag. Unfortunately, I can't find this clip by itself on youtube, but I've tried to program this episode to start at the same spot the clip starts, so you can see it for yourself without having to skim through the rest. My favorite part is when everyone suddenly lapses into German accents. (Watch through to 18:24 for best results.)
Hope this works!
NOTE: This episode should be starting at 15 min 49 sec. If it's starting somewhere else for you, feel free to skip to there.
Episode 3: The Missing Popsicle
I just wanted to included this because it wins, hands down, for the best alibi ever. In this scene, Noel is missing one of the popsicles he bought at the store the day before, and he is searching for the culprit. Robot Andy Warhol has the best excuse for why it can't be him.
"What's that red stuff around your mouth?!"
"...It is blood from a penguin carcass that I was feasting upon in the hallway."
Click to see the scene! Watch until 16:31
As I read this post over, I realize that any and all attempts I have made to describe this show have probably failed. These scene descriptions don't make any sense to me, and I've seen them! That's the joy of the show, though, I guess. The Mighty Boosh found its joy from being a show that only a select group of people found funny; Luxury Comedy derives the same pleasure from being a show that is funny in a way many people can enjoy, but no one can explain. Maybe that's for the best.