Friday 4 December 2015

TV Review: Comedy Bang! Bang!



Thank Jesus Christ for Netflix! Without it I never would have discovered this amazing show. It's called Comedy Bang! Bang! and it's a breath of fresh air.
The show is hosted by Scott Aukerman and supported by his one man band and sidekick Reggie Watts. Before being introduced to Comedy Bang! Bang! I hadn't known about Scott Aukerman. I was surprised when I found out that he had actually been a writer and performer on Mr. Show, a classic and hilarious sketch show that ended way too early. I would definitely say that there is some Mr. Show spirit in Comedy Bang! Bang!. 

The show has a band consisting only of the great Reggie Watts. Not only is he a super talented musician but also extremely hilarious! His approach to comedy is so subtle and perfect. Unfortunately he's no longer part of the show and I can't get over that fact. I've seen the Late Late James Corden show on CBS with Reggie as the bandleader but it's just not funny enough for him. They should have given Norm Macdonald the Late Late show. Imagine Norm and Reggie on one talk show? It would be perfect. 

Comedy Bang! Bang! presents a style of unique comedy. Unique partly because of the fact that it's funny, something that is mostly absent from television comedies these days. I've heard it described as 'irreverent' but I don't agree. That implies it's disrespectful comedy and if you watch the show you'll see that doesn't match up. It's also not random comedy because the bits and themes actually connect in a unique way. 

As I mentioned, Scott Aukerman was a writer for Mr. Show. I find the two shows have a similar sense of humour, this despite the fact that Bang Bang is a talk-show parody. Bang Bang episodes often have an overall theme, or story, that runs through all the sketches and is concluded at the end. I love this, it makes it more then just a talk-show spoof. Perhaps Aukerman learned this from his time with Mr. Show.

There's also a lot of great guests who take part. Zach Galifinakis, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, and the amazing Paul F Tompkins all take part not only as guests but in the sketches. Need I point out the Mr. Show connection? Well I did.

So if you're tired of all the lame comedies on TV nowadays and are wondering what happened to all the funny stuff, a good place to start would be Comedy Bang! Bang!. Don't worry, there's still hope. 

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