Box-Eyed: Good news for Russell Howard?
By Dan OwenRUSSELL HOWARD'S GOOD NEWS. Is he? Good news, I mean. Stand-up comedian Russell Howard is best-known as a regular on satirical panel show Mock The Week, and has proven himself a likeable enough panellist. But he's not a particularly extraordinary talent in my eyes. His comedy sticks to exaggerated anecdotes aimed at students -- the kind of stuff a witty 19-year-old friend would come up with in the pub and could themselves work-up into a five-minute set if they were so inclined. Maybe that's Howard appeal to student-kind; he's walking proof that a middle-class lad from the countryside can make a living telling forgettable jokes with enthusiasm and cheekiness.
Russell Howard's Good News is his first solo project; another satirical show revolving around the week's news, which is part stand-up and part clip-show. As such, half its success can be attributed to the team of researchers who scour the airwaves for funny moments that Howard just has to provide a feed to. Imagine Russell Brand's Ponderland if the topics were all related to current affairs and the clips came exclusively from contemporary news. The show also likes to dramatize a few of Howard's punchlines, killing the gag in the process because we don't need to SEE a mouse being ejaculated on by a scientist, thank you very much. The joke worked much better in my imagination. Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle was also guilty of this, so hopefully it's not becoming a trend.
Was the show any good? Well, it wasn't bad. In fact, I rather enjoyed the first 15-minutes or so, but then the format started to drag its heels and it lost all momentum when a "mystery guest" (a cackling, tattooed pensioner) was wheeled on to be ridiculed. From there, it limped to the finish. Afterwards, I couldn't remember a single joke Howard had made and didn't feel informed about politics through a comedy prism (a la The Daily Show). You know the funny clips on Have I Got News For You, and how you can't remember ANY of them after the credits roll? This is half an hour of that level of comedy; good for a few giggles at the time, instantly forgotten afterwards -- much like Howard's stand-up. BBC THREE, THU, 10.30PM.
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