When it was announced that Saturday Night Live would launch a UK version there were a lot of naysayers, including me. I’m not a total hater, there have been sketches I’ve found genuinely funny in recent years – like this one poking fun at the incomprehenisbility of the metric system. However, on the whole, SNL is not my kind of comedy, there’s something too obvious about its type of humour.
Most people would probably agree that American humour and British humour are different. We love comedy sketch shows, but ours are darker, more sarcastic and absurdist. Would SNL UK try to imitate the original or would it boldly forge its own path? Based on the first episode, the showrunners have gone with a bit of both, using the tried-and-tested format, but applying a British sensibility as much as possible.
Now I wouldn’t say I loved every minute of it and neither did our reviewer, TV comedy expert Tom Hemingway. There were bloated sketches, dud jokes, cringey performances – but also moments that shone. For instance, Ania Magliano and Paddy Young’s Weekend Update had some solid and daring political jokes, including one particularly brilliant one about helium and the Strait of Hormuz. Then there was the mad comedy attack, “45 Seconds with Fouracres”, where he dashed through Irish accents in a skit about “what kind of Irish is your grandad?”
It was imperfect, but I don’t think we’ve had something like it that dares to try and fail on British TV in a while. It was like being at a live comedy show where things are a bit unpolished and some jokes soar while others crash spectacularly. I think its bravery should be commended, and it will be interesting to see how it grows as all involved become more confident with the format, and learn what works best and how to finesse it.
We would love hear what you think makes American and British humour different, let us know in the comments.
Saturday Night Live is on Saturday on Sky1 and streaming on Now TV
Absurd and serious
Want something a bit more familiar? Then why not watch the podcast, The Harry Hill Show. Yes, you read that right: watch a podcast. The absurdist comedy show has been dubbed a “vodscarf” by its host, the comedian Harry Hill. It draws on his televisual background of abusurdist comedy, and repackages it in the podcast format, featuring interviews with special guests and unique experts, a range of weird games and many an intentionally incomprehensible segment.
In this piece, media expert James McLean writes about how the show is tapping into the trend for people to watch podcasts on YouTube rather than to just listen to them. Traditionally, the experience of watching a podcast is not markedly different from listening as the video just tends to be of the hosts and their guests speaking behind mics.
However, in this wacky hour-long show, the visuals add a lot to the audio. Camera work, set design, visual gags and more all play a part in Hill’s show, which is downright bizarre and surreal. Enjoy Hill jigging the hot new dance “the Andy Burnham” with comedian Nish Kumar; marvel as poet John Cooper Clark manages to “Name that Seed” from a variety pack of more than 8,000; and watch as singer Self Esteem learns about Mary, Queen of Scots and more.
The Harry Hill Show can be found on Youtube and other podcasting platforms
Looking for something a bit more serious? Irish writer Colm Tóibín has a new collection of short stories out called The News from Dublin. Across nine tales, Tóibín explores displacement and the many emotions that come with it.
These stories take readers from Argentina to Ireland, offering intimate portraits of people shaped by history, disappointment, tragedy, grief and the long shadows of secrecy. Our reviewer noted that each story is “rendered with quiet precision and emotional intelligence”.
The News from Dublin by Colm Tóibín is out now
Obsessive characters
Pan Macmillan
Wolf Worm, the new book from T Kingfisher (the pen name of US author Ursula Vernon) crawls with mystery and a lot of bugs. Set in 1899, the southern gothic novel follows Sonia Wilson, an anxious young scientific illustrator, who has been hired to draw the vast collection of insects of the reclusive entomologist (insect expert) Dr Halder at his North Carolina manor house.
Bugs are everywhere, but it’s not just that which is making Sonia’s skin crawl; darker things are clearly at work in the Carolina woods. Animals are acting strangely, sounds in the house are disconcerting, and her employer, so deep in his peculiar scientific work, remains an elusive puzzle. A harrowing tale of obsession and scientific ambition, our gothic literature expert Daniel Cook dubbed it “the best kind of neo-Victorian gothic literature”.
Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher is out now
Read more:
Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher – a brilliantly creepy, skin-crawling work of southern gothic fiction
Obsession takes a different form in Hooked, the new book from Asako Yuzuki, author of the bestselling crime novel Butter. Hooked follows two women in their thirties who have struggled to form connections and are mired in loneliness until they strike up an unlikely friendship.
Eriko is a career-driven woman with a stable income, working for a trading company. Shōko is a housewife and blogger who writes about her daily life with her husband. What starts off as a positive, if somewhat intense, connection soon turns sour when Eriko becomes worryingly possessive. In this review, Japanese fiction expert Nozomi Uematsu explains the real loneliness epidemic behind the trend for books about single lonely women in Tokyo.
Hooked by Asako Yuzuki is out now
Read more:
Hooked by Asako Yuzuki: a biting tale of female loneliness and obsession
Do you think makes American and British humour different? Let us know how in the comments below
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