New Comedy Lab Announced

[The Duck Man]

And they all sound SHIT.

Nicked from Chortle...

Channel 4 has announced details of the new series of its Comedy Lab showcases.

Eight shows, featuring the likes of Glenn Wool, Reginald D Hunter, pictured, Katherine Jakeways and Oram & Meeten feature in the seventh run, which kicks off on May 10.

The segment has previously launched the TV careers of Peter Kay, Dom Joly and Jimmy Carr.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "This year's line-up features a host of emerging comedy writers and performers, who have pushed the boundaries of the genre with eight highly original programmes."

The shows, with their official Channel 4 promotional blurb, are:

Modern Toss
Tuesday  May 10, 11.30pm
Modern Toss, the hit cult comic featuring inappropriate sign writer Mr Tourette, is coming to life in this foul-mouthed hybrid of live-action and animation. Creators John Link and Mick Bunnage have brought their maladjusted cartoon characters to life, while the surreal live-action sequences have been directed by Joe Cornish, of Adam & Joe fame. Featuring more pointlessly hostile behaviour than you could poke an animated stick at, Modern Toss is a brilliantly surreal world of weirdness.  Prod Co: Channel X, Prod: Rebecca Ferrand, Exec Prod: Alan Marke & Jim Reid

Speeding
Wednesday  May 11, 11.30pm  
Speeding is a look at the world of quick-fire flirting and chit-chat that is speed dating Produced by Ash Atalla (producer of The Office), Speeding is set in the upstairs area of a pub, where a group of random romance-seekers are heading for three-minute interludes of social carnage. Moving from one table to the next, we witness the awkward silences, the nervous ramblings, the obvious attraction and repulsion, and the desperation for love and approval.  Prod. Co: Talkback. Writers: Oriane Messina, Fay Rusling, Charlotte McDougall and Susie Donkin. Prod: Ash Atalla

Glenn Wool – What's the Story?  
Thursday May 12, 11.45pm      
You can take the man out of Canada, but you can't take Canada out of the man. That's what Canadian stand-up Glenn Wool finds as he recounts the strange series of events that lead to his arrival in London and how his new home is not all it seems. Wool, a regular on the UK circuit, has barely unpacked his belongings before he discovers he is being haunted. Seeking out the help of the Canadian ex-pat community in the Maple Leaf Bar in Covent Garden, as well as his old friend Tony, they set out to discover the identity of the ghost by means of a séance. Also featuring in Glenn Wool – What's the Story? are fellow Canadian stand-ups Tony Law, Phil Nichol and Jason John Whitehead. Prod. Co: BabyCow. Writer: Glenn Wool. Director/producer: Louise Coats. Exec. Prod: Henry Normal

Whatever
Friday May 13, 11.40pm
Whatever is what happens when you let teenagers run riot in the world of television. This unique and somewhat risky experiment saw a group of urban teenagers coming up with ideas for what THEY wanted to see on the box – and the results are as outrageous as they are funny. Items include "Pimp My Nan" (a competition to turn an old lady into a prostitute), "Junkies Win Prizes" (in which a heroin addict has to find his way out of a maze) and new sport "Tug of Whore". Throw in experiments like "Tormenting Jade Goody with a sausage" and "Getting a Monkey Drunk" and you've got a very cheeky half hour of television, presented by bright young comedian Tom Price. Prod Co: Monkey TV, Prod: Greg Bower, Exec Prod: Will Macdonald, David Granger.

Blackout
Monday 16th May at 11.45pm
A white woman starts passing out and turns into a 6ft4 black guy? Blackout is one of the most surreal Comedy Labs yet, based on the premise that an outwardly politically-correct North London woman starts blacking out and in turn, becomes a black man. Comic Katherine Jakeways stars as Lucienne Porter, with Reginald D. Hunter taking the role of Lucien – the man she turns into. Jo Martin (The Crouches) and comic Ben Willbond also feature in this bizarre look at the tangled fortunes of a white woman, the black man she becomes, and the black woman he's having a relationship with. Prod. Co: Grandma Films. Writers: Reginald D. Hunter, John Gordillo. Director/Producer: John Gordillo.

I'm Spazticus
Tuesday  May 17, 11.30pm

Taking its title from a song by polio sufferer Ian Dury, I'm Spazticus is a prank-style show starring disabled performers. The cast have workshopped the ideas to come up with the cheekiest and funniest ways to celebrate their disability – often at the expense of the able-bodied public! There's the overtly PC wheelchair user who tries to get record companies to change lyrics ("wheel on by" rather than "walk on by" is much nicer, no?). Prod.co: Zietgeist with Maverick. Producer/director: Jamie O'Leary

Pritch and Panch – the Cinderfella experience
Wednesday  May 18, 11.40pm

What do you get when you take two members of livewire prank group Dirty Sanchez and try to turn them into women? Besides a pair of hairy cross-dressers, you get a very funny crash course in transexualism and femininity.  Pritch and Panch (Matthew Prichard and Michael Locke) are given guidance by the world's leading tutor in cross crossing, sent to Amsterdam to live and breathe the transsexual experience, and then challenged to test out their new skills on their family, friends – and men – in their hometown of Newport, Wales. Prod. Co: Boomerang. Prod: Gareth Rees, Dir: Dylan Davies

Skin Deep
Thursday 19th May at 11.45pm        
Skin Deep is a day in the life of two bickering body artists, for whom literally suffering for your art is not only cool but mandatory. Comics Tom Meeten and Steve Oram star as Vince and Carl – Vince, a stuck-up Oxbridge PhD drop-out with leather trousers and a pierced scrotum, and Carl, a tattooed ignoramus from Bradford blessed with an artistic eye and a flair with a vibrating needle. Oram & Meeten are London comedy circuit favourites, and their talent for character comedy is perfectly displayed in this stylishly seedy production. Jonathan Fox Bassett (Teachers, Murder in Suburbia) adds a touch of Tarantino-style direction to this piece, which is set in a tattoo and body-piercing studio in Leeds. Prod Co: Celador, Prod: Vanessa Haynes, Exec Prod: Humphrey Barclay

[TJ]

I'm Spazticus
Tuesday  May 17, 11.30pm

Taking its title from a song by polio sufferer Ian Dury, I'm Spazticus is a prank-style show starring disabled performers. The cast have workshopped the ideas to come up with the cheekiest and funniest ways to celebrate their disability – often at the expense of the able-bodied public! There's the overtly PC wheelchair user who tries to get record companies to change lyrics ("wheel on by" rather than "walk on by" is much nicer, no?). Prod.co: Zietgeist with Maverick. Producer/director: Jamie O'Leary

Oh yeah, because Dury would have been *well* into the idea, wouldn't he?

Whatever
Friday May 13, 11.40pm
Whatever is what happens when you let teenagers run riot in the world of television.

Fuck off you lazy cunts.

[The Mumbler]

Saw Reginald D. Hunter do a 20-minute stand-up set only last week, and I have to say he was terrific.  But then again, I like Adam & Joe, and The Last Chancers wasn't much cop.  So we'll see.

[rich byrne]

I'm Spazticus
Tuesday  May 17, 11.30pm

Taking its title from a song by polio sufferer Ian Dury, I'm Spazticus is a prank-style show starring disabled performers. The cast have workshopped the ideas to come up with the cheekiest and funniest ways to celebrate their disability – often at the expense of the able-bodied public! There's the overtly PC wheelchair user who tries to get record companies to change lyrics ("wheel on by" rather than "walk on by" is much nicer, no?). Prod.co: Zietgeist with Maverick. Producer/director: Jamie O'Leary

Oh yeah, because Dury would have been *well* into the idea, wouldn't he?

Whatever
Friday May 13, 11.40pm
Whatever is what happens when you let teenagers run riot in the world of television.

Fuck off you lazy cunts.

Note presence of WIll Macdonald as producer. As in literally a lazy cunt who used to produce TFI Friday.

[Gypsum Fantastic]

Moving from one table to the next, we witness the awkward silences, the nervous ramblings, the obvious attraction and repulsion, and the desperation for love and approval.

Sounds hilarious!

[imitationleather]

[THE CHUCKLE REICH REACTS]

What do you mean, "We're not doing that anymore"?

[Cjw]

Whatever
Friday May 13, 11.40pm
Whatever is what happens when you let teenagers run riot in the world of television. This unique and somewhat risky experiment saw a group of urban teenagers coming up with ideas for what THEY wanted to see on the box – and the results are as outrageous as they are funny. Items include "Pimp My Nan" (a competition to turn an old lady into a prostitute), "Junkies Win Prizes" (in which a heroin addict has to find his way out of a maze) and new sport "Tug of Whore". Throw in experiments like "Tormenting Jade Goody with a sausage" and "Getting a Monkey Drunk" and you've got a very cheeky half hour of television, presented by bright young comedian Tom Price. Prod Co: Monkey TV, Prod: Greg Bower, Exec Prod: Will Macdonald, David Granger.

Good god. I think i may shoot myself.

[slim]

Good god. I think i may shoot myself.

Can you sell me the rights to your story first? I feel a new BBC3 sitcom coming on...

Welcome, by the way.

[Gavin]

As in literally a lazy cunt who used to produce TFI Friday.

Interesting use of literally, there.

[Catalogue Trousers]

The one with Joe Cornish involvement could be worth a watch, I suppose.

But dear God, the rest sound wank.

"Whatever"? Whatever...just call it "Shit Chav TV", why don't you, a damn sight  more honest.

And I love the bit about it launching the careers of Dom Joly and Jimmy Carr. With accolades like that, who needs abuse?

[Jon_Norton]

Oram & Neetum have already done a Comedy Lab and it was crap. How come they got asked back?

[Bean Is A Carrot]

Speeding
Wednesday  May 11, 11.30pm  
Speeding is a look at the world of quick-fire flirting and chit-chat that is speed dating Produced by Ash Atalla (producer of The Office), Speeding is set in the upstairs area of a pub, where a group of random romance-seekers are heading for three-minute interludes of social carnage. Moving from one table to the next, we witness the awkward silences, the nervous ramblings, the obvious attraction and repulsion, and the desperation for love and approval.  Prod. Co: Talkback. Writers: Oriane Messina, Fay Rusling, Charlotte McDougall and Susie Donkin. Prod: Ash Atalla

No comment.

[Ghost of Troubled Joe]

Christ alive, that "Whatever" episode sounds absolutely godawful. People are actually given money to write this kind of shit? The one with the disabled people also sounds abysmal.

[Labian Quest]

My idea for a new Comedy Lab: People are invited to submit ideas for new comedy shows and then the ones that come up with tired old crap like getting hairy men to dress up as women are put into a big cannon and fired into a canal.

[Half Hearted]

Oram & Neetum have already done a Comedy Lab and it was crap. How come they got asked back?

Oram and Meeton are actors for somebody else's script this time, as opposed to it being their show as such. Generally I'm quite optimistic about some of this year's selection. As well as O&M's, I'm looking forward to both Hunter's and Wool's offerings. Having spoken to people involved in the production of one of the shows, it sounds like this year Channel 4 has allowed people a lot more time and autonomy than in the past, so this may lead to something of quality for once. Maybe.

Though the hairy tranny show does sound bollocks.

[Mediocre Rich]

Are these supposed to be the genus for whole series then?  I'm not completly au fait with Comedy Lab or what it is trying to achieve.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Wot no Framley Examiner pilot?

[Jon_Norton]

Wot no Framley Examiner pilot?

The series has been and gone. It was Dead Man Weds.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Here's some previous discussion of Modern Toss:

http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4795&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=modern+toss&start=0

Nice to see someone else following the TVGoHome career arc. Sigh.

[The Mumbler]

Channel 4 has clearly just examined its responsibility to "minorities" and has reacted accordingly.  One for wimmin (ie They Wrote For Smack The Pony!), one for thick fucking teens, one which reminds us that C4 pretends to take an interest in ethnicity, something that really might as well be called Thalidomide Happy TV, one for Welsh transvesitites (don't worry all you Scottish lesbians, you'll get your chance next year....), and one that reminds us that Humphrey Barclay is still alive, but sadly no longer working in comedy.  Was there a tickable box that said "Canadians", though?

[neveragain]

'Moving from one table to the next, we witness the awkward silences...'

Oh for God's sake, have we not had enough silences! It's a sad statement on the writers of today that the funniest thing they can come up with is to write 'An overlong, nervous pause'.

[Jon_Norton]

'Moving from one table to the next, we witness the awkward silences...'

Oh for God's sake, have we not had enough silences! It's a sad statement on the writers of today that the funniest thing they can come up with is to write 'An overlong, nervous pause'.

It's all in the way they don't say anything.

[Robert Dyas]

Some preview clips of modern toss

http://www.mrandmrswheatley.co.uk/toss1.html
http://www.mrandmrswheatley.co.uk/toss2.html

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

That's so bland, man.

[Jon_Norton]

Is this show going to be advertised with the slogan "If you said Bo Selecta was pointless unfunny shite, then you spoke too soon...."

[Lewis]

A couple of clips of Adam and Joe plugging the show from this Saturday's XFM show:

http://rapidshare.de/files/1635987/Adam_and_Joe_-_Comedy_Lab.mp3.html

[Dang]

That one called 'I'm spazzticus' sounds a bit too much like the Lars von trier film 'The idiots'.

It certainly seems to be exploring the same ideas except that the people in it really are disabled.

Mind you, from how most of  those comedy labs sound, copying someone elses ideas seems to be the least of the problems. Making them funny or intersting would be a good problem to sort out first.

[abbot lau]

it sounds like this year Channel 4 has allowed people a lot more time and autonomy than in the past, so this may lead to something of quality for once. Maybe. .

Well good luck to them if they're getting more Autonomy.   I did a Comedy Lab in 2002 with a mate, and we wanted to make it ourselves, having had a little production experience and a very clear idea of how it should be done (I mean, having written it and all)  and I can't tell you how painful it was to have 'our baby'  mismanaged into a pile of steaming turds.  

And before you ask, it was 'Captain V' - a sci-fi comedy which was (mis)cast behind our backs by a production company so wrapped up in their other, much bigger project (Shaun of the Dead) that they ended up having to cram all the rehearsal and shooting into 2 weeks at huge expense, whereas what we wanted was to shoot cheaper and for longer with a cast that had time to grow into their characters.  

So I'll be watching these new 'Labs' with mixed feelings.   A mixture of regret and despair, probably.


And by the way... why, when 'Comedy Lab' is supposed to be about showcasing the talents of new people on the comedy scene, do Adam and Joe end up getting involved year after year?

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Did they make changes to the script behind your backs as well?

[mwude]

Blackout
Monday 16th May at 11.45pm
A white woman starts passing out and turns into a 6ft4 black guy? Blackout is one of the most surreal Comedy Labs yet, based on the premise that an outwardly politically-correct North London woman starts blacking out and in turn, becomes a black man. Comic Katherine Jakeways stars as Lucienne Porter, with Reginald D. Hunter taking the role of Lucien – the man she turns into. Jo Martin (The Crouches) and comic Ben Willbond also feature in this bizarre look at the tangled fortunes of a white woman, the black man she becomes, and the black woman he's having a relationship with. Prod. Co: Grandma Films. Writers: Reginald D. Hunter, John Gordillo. Director/Producer: John Gordillo.

This is the only one that seems like it might have a bit of promise.  I've still not caught any of Reginald D Hunter but I've heard his name bandied about quite often & normally followed by considerable praise.  The press-release emphasis on how 'surreal' and 'bizarre' it's going to be is slightly off-putting, but handled with a light touch it could be interesting and funny.  Although perhaps it's only my obsession with Jekyll & Hyde that's making me have any positive feelings about this.

There's normally one vaguely half-decent Comedy Lab in each series isn't there?  This looks like being the one from this series.  Searching for positive things in that list does feel a bit like pointing out a nice looking bit of carrot in the middle of a puddle of vomit.