The Fast Show

The Fast Show is a sketch show, and as most such animals it doesn't always work. Some jokes are brilliant, some a bit thin.

The most characteristic ingredient of the Fast Show are its repeated characters and their catch phrases, like the car salesman who compares everything to "making love to a beautiful woman", or the guy whose "...which was nice" is the pinnacle of his emotional reactions. This device is perhaps a little overplayed at times (and the English soccer international Chris Waddle will curse them for that, since he will be remembered for the rest of his life as the catch phrase of Channel 9) but when it works it is extremely effective. My personal favourites are Jazz Club, a terrific satire on late night toffee-nosed music programmes; and also the bloke (played by Paul Whitehouse) who has no opinion of his own and agrees to every argument put to him.

Although this review may look rather mixed, the shows are generally unmissable because the good stuff easily outweighs the weaker moments.

The British lead the world in comedy by a long way. I love Australian comedy, but as far as consistancy, quantity and quality, the Brits have it all over us. The US, on the other hand, have so many poor quality shows, it's disgraceful. There are some gems, such as Seinfeld, earlier Simpsons, and The Tom Green Show, but all in all, there's a lot of cliched garbage. The Fast Show is a fine example of great British humour. There are so many great characters to enjoy- Monkfish, Dave Angel and Carl Hooper being some of the very best. Butmy favourite by far and away is Swiss Tony. The first episode I ever saw of the fast show, had 'the big O', Swiss Tony sketch. Then and there I realised that this was a classic show, and I haven't missed an episode since.

I honestly reckon The Fast Show is the best ever British 'sketch' programme - & that includes Monty Python & Not The 9 O'Clock News. Why do i think that? because they're ALL fantastic. Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark (We Wanna Be T'GETHER) Williams, John Thomson, Caroline Aherne & the other woman whose name I can't remember: "Does my bum look big in this?" For a long time I had an idea that Paul Whitehouse reminded me of an old friend I just couldn't put a name to. In the end I realised there was no such person. He's just got such a wonderful expressive face. The Fast Show has given us Brits so many catch phrases that are STILL instantly recogniseable, and that's the mark of a QUALITY show, and such fantastic characters. I bet everyone reading this has come across 'dodgy' menswear salesmen and knows someone just like Swiss Tony, or Dave Angel, or Ted. It's really hard to pick the best. All I can say is: Watching The Fast Show is like, making love to a beautiful woman. Enjoy!

The Fast show is one of the funniest programs to come out of the home of sketch England. It is full of one liners, running gags and send ups that leave you laughing hours after the show is finished. Characters such as Arthur Atkinson and the news team from channel nine will become timeless classics of British comedy. Also check out previous works by some of the team especially the "Harry Enfield and chums" television program.

From start to end, I've always found "The Fast Show" (known as "Brilliant," in America) hysterically funny. It's well written -- very grown up humor, here. Anyone who was hooked on SCTV will adore every moment! I can only hope that they'll produce another run of shows. 'Priceless.