british comedy

The previous week's episode of Saturday Night Live was pretty solid. Hugh Laurie's fantastic performance was a pleasant surprise for a lot of my House-loving friends, because they weren't quite sure what to expect from the ever-gruff Dr. House. Well, most people don't know that Laurie has an extensive comedy background... an extensive sketch comedy background... an extensive British sketch comedy background, at that (do not be fooled by House's flawless American accent). For several years, he performed with fellow British comedian, Stephen Fry, in a double-act called "Fry and Laurie" (it developed into a television show called A Bit of Fry and Laurie). Check out a clip that I've included after the jump.

Oh, and off-topic from Hugh Laurie, but on-topic with SNL... I've gotta say, I liked how Beck's performances were actually interesting to watch. I usually take a bathroom break when I know that the musical guests are coming up, but I'm glad I stuck around to see Beck's weird puppets and dish-bangers.

The latest edition of The Guardian features some fantastic interviews and articles about some of today's hottest British comedians. They're all great reads, but the photos of the comics re-enacting various moments in pop culture are what really reeled me in. My favorites include Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant (from The Office) as McCartney and Lennon, the boys from Green Wing as Queen, and Nick Frost and Simon Pegg (from Spaced and Shaun of the Dead) as Paul Gascoigne and Vinnie Jones. Hilarious.

Read the text and then check out the great pics by Karl J. Kaul.

According to this article, HBO has called on the stars of Little Britain, David Walliams and Matt Lucas, to create an American version of the program. Normally, when I hear plans to American-ize a popular British television show, I cringe, twitch for a few moments, and walk away. In this case, I'm actually somewhat curious to see just how in they're going to pull this off. I suppose they'll be tackling the various regions of the States in a similar style to LB, but will they ever be able to create characters of the same extremity as Lou and Andy or Vicki Pollard?

(S02E05) I always refer to this episode as "the one where Tim and Gareth kiss" or "the one where Tim and Dawn kiss". However, everyone else does a lot of "um"-ing and "uh"-ing until I mention David's infamous dance. Yes, yes. It's "the one where David dances", but, gosh, so much more happens. All the events in this episode prepare us for the season finale, when feelings are sure to be hurt, hearts are sure to be broken, and fools are sure to be... uh... made... out of.

(S02E03) This episode focused mostly on David's growing disgust/jealousy toward Neil and the near-breakdown of Tim and Dawn's friendship. The constant jokes about David's heeled boots were great because I really do see men wearing those around... It was just the right amount of ridiculous. Wearing a knock-off version of Neil's jacket was the icing on the cake. We learned that David's idea of being bad-ass is slightly different from the rest of the world's...

David: You know that old thing... "Live fast, die young"? Not my way. Live fast, sure. Live too bloody fast sometimes! But... die young? [shakes his head] Die old. That's the way I -- I'm not orthodox. I don't live by "the rules".