If you saw Steve Pemberton in Benidorm you'll know that he has some great comic expressions. Yet in this he finds another level and mines it completely.
This is my first time seeing Reece Shearsmith and I was impressed by how well he and Pemberton work together.
The little touches multiply it all out from Pemberton's bobbing head as he tries to run quietly upstairs, his shamefaced eyes after the dog-window incident and Shearsmith's exasperation since he's the only one of the pair with a businesslike approach to the job and he's partnered with a dolt. Gerald (Dennis Lawson) discovering that one cupboard is full of housemaid as he tries to hide his girlfriend and, with a slight shrug, switching to the other cupboard.
The timings are impeccable and when Pemberton and Shearsmith synchronise their movements the effect is splendid. Though it was not an homage to the silent era - to which at least one of the cast has a blood-connection - it showed every bit of respect and understanding of how those early days founded the grammar used in this. The camera work was solid; close up shots magnify small facial expressions and it's easy to over-articulate in a tight framed shot and these guys were so animated that it had to be mostly long-shots which heightened the comic effect. The arrival of Paul (Kayvan Novak) seemed like an intrusion - as indeed it was - but Novak played the role so well that he was soon a valued member of the party.
To play so many visual gags and wrap them up in/connect them with so little dialogue and still keep it funny is not as easy as this piece makes it look.
It seems churlish to be critical of the piece. But the trans-gender twist merely to set up the under-bed gag should have hit the cutting-room floor. Oona Chaplin is so feminine and shapely and the stand-in so obviously was neither that it was more than a stretch of credulity.
Some people apparently took issue with the dog scene which they felt was distressing and also the gun-play. Well, this is billed as a black comedy not some fuzzy-fold-farm Disney fest. In fact if they had seen the first episode and how that ended they'd have had some serious chills run down their back.
Indeed this might be the funniest - or least dark - of the set. These guys are tremendous writers and this stuff is really really good.
More please chaps! (P.S. Steve; please wear those teeth for your award acceptance speech).
This is my first time seeing Reece Shearsmith and I was impressed by how well he and Pemberton work together.
The little touches multiply it all out from Pemberton's bobbing head as he tries to run quietly upstairs, his shamefaced eyes after the dog-window incident and Shearsmith's exasperation since he's the only one of the pair with a businesslike approach to the job and he's partnered with a dolt. Gerald (Dennis Lawson) discovering that one cupboard is full of housemaid as he tries to hide his girlfriend and, with a slight shrug, switching to the other cupboard.
The timings are impeccable and when Pemberton and Shearsmith synchronise their movements the effect is splendid. Though it was not an homage to the silent era - to which at least one of the cast has a blood-connection - it showed every bit of respect and understanding of how those early days founded the grammar used in this. The camera work was solid; close up shots magnify small facial expressions and it's easy to over-articulate in a tight framed shot and these guys were so animated that it had to be mostly long-shots which heightened the comic effect. The arrival of Paul (Kayvan Novak) seemed like an intrusion - as indeed it was - but Novak played the role so well that he was soon a valued member of the party.
To play so many visual gags and wrap them up in/connect them with so little dialogue and still keep it funny is not as easy as this piece makes it look.
It seems churlish to be critical of the piece. But the trans-gender twist merely to set up the under-bed gag should have hit the cutting-room floor. Oona Chaplin is so feminine and shapely and the stand-in so obviously was neither that it was more than a stretch of credulity.
Some people apparently took issue with the dog scene which they felt was distressing and also the gun-play. Well, this is billed as a black comedy not some fuzzy-fold-farm Disney fest. In fact if they had seen the first episode and how that ended they'd have had some serious chills run down their back.
Indeed this might be the funniest - or least dark - of the set. These guys are tremendous writers and this stuff is really really good.
More please chaps! (P.S. Steve; please wear those teeth for your award acceptance speech).
