Comedy Slab

This week we review - King Gary (Series 1 Episode 1)

'King Gary follows childhood sweethearts Gary and Terri King, a loved up husband and wife, and their aspirations to achieve social acceptance and moderate material success in competitive suburbia.

This, accompanied by drama queen Gary's constant need to impress his prehistoric old school Dad, Big Gary, and attempt to fill his big boots, equals a massive 'try hard' douchebag.

King Gary is a study of how the small things in life can be blown up to absurd proportions as the pressures of the modern world, and how we think we must exist within it, spiral out of control.

A big comedy about life's small and often petty dramas.

Written by Tom Davis and James De Frond
Directed By James De Frond
Produced by Rupert Majendie
A Shiny Button Production for the BBC.
King Gary is available here: https://bbc.in/397CQAg

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

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This week we review - Lead Balloon (Series 2 Episode 3)

Rick Spleen is a successful but disillusioned stand-up comedian. He spends his days hosting corporate events such as The Heating and Ventilation Awards, arguing with his co-writer Marty and trying to hide his incompetence from Mel, his partner.

Rick is a habitual liar, but as he is not a very good one it is a trait which more often than not lands him in a deep hole... which he invariably then digs himself into even deeper when he piles more flimsy lies on top of the previous ones.

Being out of pocket is something that particularly riles Rick, but with his laid-back daughter Sam and her equally lazy boyfriend Ben always coming up with excuses for needing money, his wallet is rarely full.

Ironically it is Rick's tightfistedness that causes him the biggest financial losses though; eventually he always ends up paying for the damage his lies have caused.

Written by Jack Dee & Pete Sinclair
Directed By Alex Hardcastle
Produced by Alex Hardcastle
An Open Mike Production for the BBC.
Lead Balloon is available here: https://bit.ly/32sj3ZH

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

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Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review - Old Harry's Game (Series 1 Episode 1)

Life is not easy. Spending eternity in a place filled with fire and brimstone while the bottom half of you has been turned into a goat is even worse, but that is what Satan has to put up with.

Satan is somewhat world-weary (or rather underworld-weary), and spends most of his time torturing Thomas Quentin Crimp, the evilest human in the world, ignoring his sycophantic and grotesque assistant Scumspawn, and trying to argue with the Professor, a kind human who was sent to Hell because he was an atheist.

Written by Andy Hamilton
Directed By Michael Lennox
Produced by Paul Mayhew-Archer
A BBC Production.
Old Harry's Game is available here: https://amzn.to/2wxbgxR

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

Subscribe for a new episode each Monday.

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This week we review - Derry Girls (Series 1 Episode 1)

It's 1994 - a time when nobody can seem to agree on anything, except how much they all enjoy using an acronym (The IRA, The UDA, The RUC). Armed police in armoured Land Rovers, British Army check points and "peace" walls are all an everyday reality for 16-year old Erin and her friends.

Erin lives with her uncompromising mother, her long-suffering father and the fearsome 'Granda Joe', a man whose love for his daughters and granddaughters is surpassed only by his contempt for his son-in-law.

Erin is used to seeing her country on the nightly news. This is a time of armed police in armoured Land Rovers and British Army check points. But it's also the time of Murder She Wrote, The Cranberries, MJ and Lisa Marie, Doc Martens, bomber jackets, The X Files, Nirvana and Wayne's World. And while The Troubles may hang over her home town, Erin has troubles of her own...

Terrible with boys and convinced nobody understands her, Erin would love to be a rebel, and sometimes flirts with the idea of standing up to those in authority, like her Principal - the eternally unimpressed Sister Michael, or divorcing her parents, à la Macaulay Culkin, but she never quite has the nerve. She has grand ambitions to become a famous writer and thinks of herself as thoroughly liberal and worldly, yet she's never ventured further than Buncrana...

Written by Lisa McGee
Directed By Michael Lennox
Produced by Catherine Gosling Fuller and Sam Pinnell
A Ha Trick Production for Channel 4.
Derry Girls is available here: https://bit.ly/37crlpl

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

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Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review - Fags, Mags & Bags (Series 8 Episode 4)

Sitcom written by and starring Sanjeev Kohli and Donald Mcleary, set in a Scots-Asian corner shop near Glasgow.

Join the staff of Fags, Mags and Bags in their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation. Ramesh Mahju has built it up over the course of over 30 years and is a firmly entrenched, friendly presence in the local area.

Ramesh loves the art of the 'shop'. However; he does apply the 'low return' rules of the shop to all other aspects of his life. Ramesh is ably assisted by his shop sidekick Dave, a forty-something underachiever who shares Ramesh's love of the art of shopkeeping, even if he is treated like a slave.

Then there are Ramesh's sons Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not particularly keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping, but natural successors to the business. Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them - whether they like it or not!

Written by Sanjeev Kohli & Donald McLeary
Produced by Gus Beattie
Comedy Unit Production for BBC Radio 4.
Fags, Mags & Bags is available here: https://bbc.in/2Spu3m9

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

Subscribe for a new episode each Monday.

Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review - Peep Show (Series 5 Episode 4)

A sitcom about Mark and Jeremy (Jez), two socially dysfunctional men. Despite having nothing in common they share a South London flat.

Wannabe 'musician' Jeremy is a lazy man with big ideas, mostly about himself. Meanwhile Mark is an astonishingly tragic obsessive loser with a no-pain, no-gain view of the world.

Their deepest, darkest thoughts and feelings are revealed as they try to find their place in the modern world and endeavour to find love and fulfilment.

Created By Andrew O'Connor, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain
Written by Simon Blackwell
Produced by Izzy Mant
Directed by Becky Martin
An Objective Poduction.
Peep Show is available here: https://bit.ly/37I6ETb

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

Subscribe for a new episode each Monday.

Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review - Flight Of The Conchords (Series 1 Episode 8)

Flight of the Conchords are a New Zealand comedy duo composed of musicians Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement.

The duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an American television series that aired for two seasons on HBO.

They previously referred to themselves as "New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo", but as of 2014 refer to themselves as "the almost award-winning fourth-most-popular folk duo in New Zealand".

The series revolves around a fictional version of the pair as they try to achieve success as a band in New York City and try to develop an American fan base.

The regular cast includes fellow comedians Rhys Darby as Murray, Arj Barker as Dave, and Kristen Schaal as their obsessed fan Mel as well as many other comedians in guest starring roles.

Created By James Bobin, Jemaine Clement & Bret McKenzie
Written by Eric Kaplan
Produced by Anna Dokoza & Christo Morse
Directed by James Bobin
An HBO Production.
Flight Of The Conchords is available here: https://bit.ly/38eFPpE

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

Subscribe for a new episode each Monday.

Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review - Olga Koch (Fight)

In 2014, Olga Koch’s father got stopped by authorities on the Russian border, which resulted in the most surreal year of her family’s life.

Olga takes the listener behind the iron curtain, giving us an insight into what it was like to grow up in the newly-formed Russian Federation, how Putin's Russia came about, and why her family now live in exile in Munich.

Based on Olga's hit Edinburgh Award-nominated show, Fight is the battle cry for a generation that takes freedom for granted, inspired by a generation that grew up without it.

Written and performed by Olga Koch
Co-written by Charlie Dinki
Produced and edited by Matt Stronge
A BBC Studios Production.
Fight is available here: https://bbc.in/2tcrNWN

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

Subscribe for a new episode each Monday.

Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review - Pete Versus Life (Series 1 Episode 1)

Rafe Spall stars as twenty-something Pete, a struggling sports writer.

Although well meaning, Pete often lacks the emotional maturity required to deal with life's more intricate problems.

Pete wishes that life had clearly defined rules... like sport does. But life isn't like sport, as Pete is only beginning to realise.

The unusual twist with this sitcom is that Pete's life is commented on as if it was an exciting sporting event, by two professional sport commentators - anchor man Colin King and former international footballer Terry McIlroy.

Colin and Terry discuss and analyse Pete's domestic cock-ups with accompanying statistics, on screen graphics and slow motion replays.

Written by Bert Tyler-Moore and George Jeffrie
Directed by Becky Martin
Produced by Phil Clarke
An Objective Production.
Pete Versus Life is available here: https://bit.ly/2QvDz7s

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

Subscribe for a new episode each Monday.

Get in touch - we're @ComedySlab on Twitter and ComedySlab on Facebook.

This week we review - Extras (Series 2 Episode 2)

Andy Millman gives up his day job to become an actor but finds that the lead roles elude him, so he instead has to settle for work as an 'extra' (background actor). During his time on set Millman has to work with stars such as Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Stiller.

By the second series, Andy Millman begins filming his sitcom (When The Whistle Blows) and moves from background artist to TV face.

Despite his burgeoning success, Andy is still surrounded by the usual cast of idiots: his hapless best friend Maggie, his incompetent agent Darren Lamb and "Barry Off EastEnders".

Before long Andy realises fame isn't quite as great as it looks.

The final special sees Andy Millman as a big star with a new, more efficient agent and a new house overlooking Hampstead Heath.

Meanwhile, Maggie has been forced to move into an even smaller flat and is doing cleaning jobs to make ends meet. Sadly, Andy hasn't even noticed.

Written by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
Directed by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
Produced by Charlie Hanson
A BBC / HBO Production.
Extras is available here: https://bbc.in/34wbY9Y

The Comedy Slab Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Spotify and Youtube.

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