Writers: Kevin Bishop & Lee Hupfield
Director: Elliot Hegarty
"Hello, I'm Griff Rhys Jones;and this is Britain's 28th favourite hill!"
Kevin Bishop will be a familiar face to anyone who watches Channel 4's hilarious celebrity spoof Star Stories, where he often takes centre stage as exaggerated versions of Tom Cruise, Simon Cowell, Jude Law and many others. As the last part of the Comedy Showcase season, Bishop's been handed his own sketch show pilot, which has apparently already been picked up for a full run...
As with all sketch shows ever created, the material is hit-and-miss, and Bishop himself is hardly going to give Rory Bremner any sleepless nights. His impressions range from competent (Griff Rhys Jones) to middling (Gordon Ramsey), although the important thing is it's always clear who he's supposed to be. If this were an impressions show, it would be ranked as a disaster -- but as a turbo-charged Fast Show, it's a definite winner.
An incredible 42 sketches are crammed into the show's 23 minutes! The format takes the shape of Sky's familiar EPG, with each sketch delivered as if you were channel-hopping. Bishop is undoubtedly the star, although a few actors (some familiar from Star Stories) pop up to lend support.
Things got off to a wobbly start with an inspired idea to recreate Morecambe & Wise's famous breakfast sketch (where they prepare a meal to the strains of "The Stripper") -- but now with Pete Docherty and Kate Moss shooting up drugs. Great idea, but badly executed, which only goes to show how talented Eric and Ernie were.
But things rapidly improve; with Last Of The Summer wine transposed to America, 28 Gays Later, classic sitcom catchphrases being ruined (Pike doesn't tell the U-boat captain his name), a dead-on mickey-take of Tribe, Saddam Hussein at a party ("I've heard all about you" -- "Nothing bad I hope"), OCD Batman, the invention of the telegram receiving penis-related junk mail, a doorman convention, a dyslexia outbreak on the news (obvious, but funny), a wonderful spoof of the Wii with Fony's Playbox, and the excellent Middle-Aged Hulk.
Basically, there were more hits than misses and the duds never outstayed their welcome. The average sketch only lasted 15 seconds. For a Pilot, it's clear why a full series has been commissioned, but the workload will be huge to sustain the same quantity and quality.
Also, unlike most sketch shows, which tend to make stars of their performers, Kevin Bishop was notably irrelevant. After watching Monty Python, The Two Ronnies, Harry Enfield & Chums, The Fast Show, The Catherine Tate Show, and even the recent That Mitchell & Webb Look -- you're engaged by the people playing all the characters, too. But Bishop just faded from memory -- because the pace, punchlines and characters totally overshadow him as a performer!
For a show entitled Kevin Bishop, I'm still clueless about who Kevin Bishop is after watching it -- but he can certainly write funny, lightning fast, bite-sized sketches. This was a highlight of the excellent Comedy Showcase season, and great stuff from the kid who played Jim Hawkins in Muppet's Treasure Island...
23 November 2007
Channel 4, 10.30 pm
