Elis James

iPlayer Preview: Funny Valentines

February 13, 2015 by Becca Moody 1 Comment

If you watched the BBC iPlayer shorts from June 2014, you’ll have seen for yourself how these miniature comedy installations really do open up a new style of viewing. Last year’s six hilarious bitesize programmes allowed us to sample a whole range of funny creations from the likes of Matt Berry, Reece Shearsmith, Micky Flanagan and Meera Syal, and it’s no surprise that the news of a brand new set this month was more than welcome.

Rom Com is the increasingly popular Romesh Ranganathan’s Valentine’s-related short, starring Aisling Bea. Together they make up the world’s seemingly most awkward first date ever. The episode follows Romesh as he is rigorously prepared for his evening with this quite mysterious young woman by his very own verbally abusive relationship guru, who also happens to be a figment of his own imagination. Rom Com is a dark and oppressive comedy, and is made bitterly funny thanks to both of its stars.

Katy Wix’s Dear Jean Pierre is a silly story of a quaint French romance, as it reaches its emotional final moments. In this remarkable tale, Wix relives the moments where the relationship began to decline, and brings her wonderfully childish humour along for the ride. With her trademark hopeful and innocent nature, and a knack for surprising us with various twists and turns along the way, Dear Jean Pierre is a complete comedy delight.

Matt Berry’s Wild Love is certainly wild, shockingly funny and crude. In the sequel to last year’s Lone Wolf, Berry narrates the mating antics of various creatures ranging from golden frogs to “colonial hopping dogs”. This undiscovered world is absolutely crazy, and even our beloved narrator himself seems to get carried away by the absurdity of it all, which makes for hilarious listening. Writer, Bob Mortimer, and Berry have come together yet again, to create something fantastic, and it’s not too difficult to visualise this becoming a series one day. Watch out David Attenborough!

Bill Bailey brings his brilliant song-writing skills to present a parody of the romantic-rock music industry by remaking one of his own songs, Love Song. It is bleak, harshly funny and typical of Bailey’s hilarious comedy. It also really made me want to watch his ’96 live show Cosmic Jam again as this man’s material is absolutely timeless. Music Lovers is Sara Pascoe’s surreal comedy short about a Norwegian band, Monozygotic, who are promoting their new album, but it turns out there is much more going on behind the scenes that are revealed throughout. I loved this because it’s completely different from anything I’ve seen Sara do before (and because I got to hear Elis James’ Norwegian accent.

Elephant, starring Nick Helm and Esther Smith, is the sweetest little comedy I’ve seen in a long time. It follows a very clumsy yet likeable pair of young almost-lovebirds as they embark on the world’s cheapest almost-date ever. The visuals of this one are absolutely beautiful, with bright natural lighting and smiles all round and the over all effect is a slow-burning, lovely episode that really warms the heart. The Lady and the Fly from Modern Toss is very different from the rest of the episodes due to its animated format. A fly has fallen in love with a human woman and her apparent rejection has made him feel like ending it all and becoming a “self-netter” by flinging himself into a spider’s web, ready to be eaten. Modern Toss have created something that is cleverer than most observational comedy, as the ideas are implied through the fly’s narrative, rather than in explicit statements.

These iPlayer shorts are such a great new development in online viewing and I look forward to a third batch at some point in the future.

Watch all of the fantastic comedy shorts on BBC iPlayer

TV Review: Crims

February 10, 2015 by Becca Moody 3 Comments

Crims is a sitcom about Welsh nice guy Luke, played by stand up Elis James, who is unfairly sentenced to two years in a young offenders institution as a result of his moronic friend (the brother of Luke’s girlfriend), Jason (Kadiff Kirwan) getting him involved in a failed bank robbery. These two unlikely friends are now forced to spend all of their time together, as a result of sharing a cell, and simultaneously try to keep their heads down as well as ending up on the frontline of all manners of trouble.

Luke, or “Lulu”, as Jason calls him, is your typical antihero. He is meek and frustratingly stubborn, but an increasingly likeable character nonetheless. Jason, on the other hand, is an endearing idiot, who we can forgive for all his wrongs because he is oblivious, and very funny as a result. It’s fair to say that Luke and Jason are unlikely protagonists, their personalities are polar opposites and they bicker like an old married couple.

A hilarious backstory between prison officers Dawn (Cariad Lloyd) and Creg (Ricky Champ) provides a refreshing side-narrative that develops with each episode. Creg’s incessant stalking of Dawn also adds a sinister element to Crims, and, mark my love of shows like The Mighty Boosh, Snuff Box and The League of Gentlemen, you can see why I’m a fan.

The writing from Adam Kay and Dan Swimer is excellent; the characters come together effortlessly and there is no room for boredom in a jam-packed 30 minute episode. Crims has a brilliant cast, including Theo Barklem-Biggs as Twilight-obsessed thug, Marcel, Ed Kear as ‘Black Elton John’, Selom Awadzi as Daz, and Jamal Hadjkura as the prison-snitch, Isaac. And appearances from the likes of the fantastic Tracy Ann-Oberman and Sylvester Mccoy make a great addition to the cast too.

This brand new sitcom has proven itself to be highly original, witty and accessible, and I hope there are more series to come.

CATCH SERIES ONE OF CRIMS ON BBC IPLAYER