Mock The Weak.

Nick Cohen takes on the BBC's comedy panel show "Mock the Week" in his Standpoint article this month. There is much to dislike about Mock the Week, but Cohen picks the wrong target in Frankie Boyle, who for all his crudity and abusiveness often comes up with very funny lines and delivers them excellently. Contrary to Cohen I don't think he particularly targets obvious victims in his jokes. The humour is vicious and doesn't appeal to the better part of human nature so I can see an argument for saying it shouldn't be on at 9:00 in the evening but it is still amusing.

Besides which Cohen misses the more deserving targets. How can any attack on Mock the Week ignore the comedic black holes that are Andy Parsons and Russell Howard though?

Parsons is a kind of trollish looking man who seems as if he ought to be funny until he opens his mouth. Then he tells unfunny jokes in such a way that you can see the punchline coming a mile off. Also every single joke is told with the same rhythm so even if the punchline isn't immediately obvious you can tell it is coming anyway by the change in tone after the painfully contrived set up, (which usually consists of "They're saying that {insert some crap} eh?!").

The nicest thing that can be said about him is that he isn't Russell Howard. His jokes aren't always terrible (many of them would be funny if said by someone else), but he creates such an irritating persona as an attention seeking child who is always acting up to try and win the approval of his elders that he simply makes me want to slam his face in a car door. I wouldn't actually do that to an attention seeking child I must add.


{Via Jonathan Pearce at Samizdata and possibly via Blognor Regis although I'm not sure}