Kings of Comedy

These days TV comedy such as Little Britain and Peepshow is so chronically ironic that it's hard to know whether to belly- laugh or stare slack-jawed. But there's a growing backlash against in-the-know satire, as Gareth Arnold explains...

Many viewers who want a laugh are getting sick and tired of cunning, complex comedy where they have to wade through layers of slick irony to get to the jokes.

And what's starting as a cult phenomenon could soon become a mainstream trend.

Welcome to the Zooniverse, or as far as the second series of acclaimed BBC series The Mighty Boosh is concerned, a small flat in Dalston, home of one-time zoo keepers Vince Noir and Howard Moon.

Together with a supporting cast of bizarre friends and even stranger enemies, Vince and Howard carry a show that could take British comedy in an entirely new direction.

Creators Noel Fielding (Vince) and Julian Barratt (Howard) are masters of meandering storylines, creating twisted tangents that often lead nowhere in particular, but for fans this is part of the undemanding and simple appeal.

For some, the childish simplicity of the Boosh - which began on Radio represents a comic reaction against the sordid social commentary that reached its Apex in The Office.

This documentary-style exploration of urban failure and frustration is getting too depressing for some, and more and more viewers seem to be after feel-good fun.

" Today's standard sitcoms just aren't breaking ribs like they used to."

Fans that I spoke to ( taken from some of the dozens of internet forums that have sprung up about the show) confirmed that the overwhelmingly positive nature of the Boosh is a welcome break from true-to-life post-millennium turmoil.

"I hate Peepshow, it makes me cringe. So does Alan Partridge, even Fawlty Towers. I want comedy to entertain me, not make me feel uncomfortable.

"I like the Boosh because it's imaginative, it helps me relax. As far as TV goes, I prefer stuff where there is a definite story and characters, and the shows are funny, not cringe-making, " says 'Jonesy '

And Little Britain is finally receiving the criticism it deserves for its peculiarly nasty brand of sketch-based mirth.

A YouGov poll, published last month, found that 70 per cent of television industry representatives thought Vicky Pollard, Little Britain's smoking, drinking, overweight and barely comprehensible single mother, was a fairly typical reflection of the youth of today.

The poll also revealed that 40 per cent of viewers found the portrayal of the tracksuited teenager offensive.

Not offensive enough to flip the channel of course, but could people really be getting fed up with the sheer mean-spirited nastiness of today's comedy offerings?

And at the other end of the scale, today's standard sit coms just aren't breaking ribs like they used to, leaving people in search of a good laugh turning to classic repeats on UK Gold.

The appalling BBC 1 groan-fest My Hero still stumbles along like an embarrassing older relative, accompanied by the louder, ruder, but no less out-of-touch Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps on BBC three.

Meanwhile, the beeb's second channel is home to the antipodean Rob Brydon vehicle Super Nova. Less Big Bang, more damp squib, Super Nova is miscast and riddled with cultural clichés, pseudo-science stereotypes, and bad jokes.

The Mighty Boosh is not without its flaws of course, and some visits to the Zooniverse are more weird than wonderful. When it misses, it misses badly, exposing dodgy scripts and sets that Dr Who would be ashamed to have fall on him.

But it's simple fun, a break from the hard edginess of today's leading comedies, and a world away from the spiteful snobbery that characterises Little Britain.

The Boosh has filled a gap, perhaps not a gap people even knew existed before they remembered that feel-good can also be funny.

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