Comedy Nation

... And when I say esoteric I mean that the script writer is the only person who seems to understand the jokes . I`ll give you an example of how weird and unaccesable the humour is : Every edition features a send up from a famous film and the joke is nuns . That`s right - NUNS ! We`re shown a spoof of WEST SIDE STORY where one of the dancing street gang are nuns . We`re shown a spoof of THE SWEENEY where a bunch of armed robbers are beaten up and handcuffed by a bunch of nuns and we`re shown a send up of ZULU where the red coats defend Rorke`s Drift from an army of nuns , " Don`t throw those bloody crucifixes at me " . If this sounds silly and unfunny wait till you see it on screen where it`s even more silly and unfunny . Many of the sketches are just as bizarre with Ronni Anacona playing a female minister and several other fairly well known alternative comedians appearing in sketches that will make you scratch your head and wonder what they`re about. You can`t help thinking the person who commisioned this for the BBC had no concept of " the emporers new clothes "

The most acessible character from COMEDY NATION is Bulla played by Ricky Grover . Bulla is based upon a real life British prisoner called Charles Bronsan who`s widely regarded as the hardest man in the British penal system. Bulla`s catch phrase " I`m a lovely guy but I get a little bit naughty " did become something of a cult item in the late 1990s but the character himself is a one trick pony who went onto appear in several other comedy sketch shows like THE 11 0`CLOCK SHOW . Unfortunately it was a case of flogging a dead horse

I can understand why many people would be bewildered and possibly almost frightened by this sort of comedy; it was raw and it was completely uncompromising.

Comedy Nation was a platform for new talent to break into television, it was a very jumbled sketch show with many writers and performers adding pieces; it was completely un-linked and totally unrefined. Yes there were some dodgy pieces, but there was also a great deal of genius on show; it seems everybody currently producing alternative British television comedy had a part in this show and it served very well as a stepping stone for some of the best acts on TV. The likes of Kevin Eldon, Julia Davis, Peter Serafinowicz, David Mitchell, Robert Webb and Johnny Vegas; to name a few.

Comedy Nation contained the kind of sketches that left you stunned; The Divine David, a kind of beat up, bitter transvestite, Simon Munnery's 'league against tedium', and of course, the Gaa Haa clown, the embodiment of insanity. I suppose you either like it or you don't, but if you don't, I think you're really missing out.