Documentary from 1998 about trying to win the Perrier award through contacts

[IAcceptTheTermsOfTheAgree]

Critical Condition: Comedy (part 1 of 2)

Comedy critic Ian Shuttleworth tries to win the Perrier award by having a friend on the panel and pulling in interview favours with other comedy critic friends. It's hard to decide who to hate more, the man himself or his incredibly unlikeable friends.

His friends are so transparent that they seem like complete morons--almost sub-human--when made to interact with[nb]lie to[/nb] people who are on the level.

His show is terrible. His two jokes are mocked in the video comments. I didn't spot any others.

[Famous Mortimer]

I'll watch it again in a bit if I get the time, but I don't recall he was trying to be good, or expecting to win on the basis of his talent. Also, the doc shows the almost entirely empty theatre for his shows, and the shock when he gets shortlisted.

[Incandenza]

Really enjoyed this as car crash tv. Can't believe he felt he could stroll out at a late night comedy showcase and think he could handle an audience of that nature. Came across as a complete and utter twat with absolutely no redeeming features. His reactions to 'only' getting four stars were outrageous.

[wdfbhjk]

Has anyone got more of this series, i love jon ronson

[kidsick5000]

Anyone got more info on this? This is clearly a scam but by who.
Is it a Ronson experiment in the relative ease of pushing the Emperor's new clothes or a fabrication by the critic and his friend to be more interesting subjects?

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Christ. Read the transcript of this on SOTCAA years ago, but watching it is even more depressing.

A scam? No, I think Shuttleworth was A) Trying to turn the critic's experience into an amusing one-man show, and B) proving to himself that he could do something that's he's spent years lambasting, presumably founded on a complex cocktail of arrogance, guilt and inecurity.

The problem was that his material - from what we could see - was appalling, his detestable critic mates encouraged his hubris, and he was totally out of his depth generally. Collins, Maconie & Quantick performed an Edinburgh show a few years ago, and it did quite well, the important difference being that they all had years of performing experience between them, and their show wasn't a defensive, unfunny protest on behalf of their art. It was more of an "amusing stories from the hackery frontline" affair.

A comedy critic doing an Edinburgh show about the trials of being a comedy critic at Edinburgh is always bound to fail. A lunatic idea. 

[Icehaven]

Nice to see Marcus Brigstocke being used as the example of a typically crap comedian too (at about 4 minutes in). Part 2 has Sean Hughes and Dylan Moran heckling him off stage as well, excellent.

[CaledonianGonzo]

There was a bit of chat about this on the Edfringe thread a week or two back, where actwithoutwords posted the link to 'Shutters's site and the page about his Fringe experience:

http://www.compulink.co.uk/~shutters/critmass.htm

(Comedy's loss is web-design's 'gain').