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Don’t miss The Fast Show

December 27, 2011 By

Don’t miss The Fast Show over at Fosters.co.uk. It’s better than it ever was – for me anyway.

 

The latest episode welcomes back pub bore Billy Bleach who is pestering a woman in the pub about the use of her smart phone.

 

Billy reckons his best mate had one of the first phones of that model in the country after queuing up all night for it in Beijing.

 

Billy gets a bit lateral, as is his wont. The funniest bit comes where he goes off in a reverie down memory lane, remembering how it was when he used to write letters to girls – the excitement he felt when posting the letters etc. This really impresses the lady who Bill was previously boring the pants of until he ruins it with a “course not you Muppet!” and the brief and rare moment of opportunity has passed.

 

Make no mistake; the new series includes some very funny videos. If you enjoy truly clever sketch show comedy, they don’t come much funnier than The Fast Show. But you have to watch it to understand it (just in case you aren’t already a fan that is).

 

Don’t miss Ted and Ralph’s conversation in the barn about Twitter, Facebook and Ted’s use of the internet – which is largely limited to his once a year email to his brother Brendan in New Zealand.

 

And Arthur Atkinson is back with the least funny punch lines of all time – which is why they’re so funny of course.

 

Also in episode six, we get to hear football legend Ron Manager chatting in a highly sexist manner with his colleagues off-camera. As usual, Ron is just a little out of kilter with it all – and it finally descends into a Benny Hill style chase around the studio; priceless, isn’t it, hmm?

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Fast show rewind

December 14, 2011 By

The Fast Show is back with all your favourite characters at Fosters.co.uk.

The comedy sketch show that ran from 1994 to 1997 has been badly missed by many of us. Well to be more specific, its characters have been sorely missed, particularly Swiss Toni for me; the garage owner cum a car dealer with a bouffant silvery quiff, double-breasted suit and silk handkerchief in top pocket who appears to be going through some kind of mid-life crisis.

Swiss Toni sees himself as guru to his assistant Paul, to whom he gives constant advice, comparing all the situations facing Paul in life as being a lot like “making love to a beautiful woman.”

Other characters we’re happy to see back include the “Suits you sir” outfitters Ken and Kenneth; “Oooh, suits you, sir, ooh. The ladies like a man in a suit, don’t they, sir?” and Dave Angel, Eco warrior.

Dave, another classic character played by Simon Day is always introduced wandering down a country lane to the strains of “Moonlight Shadow” in his Essex boy type of garb of beige bomber jacket, trilby hat and shades. The new series sees Dave lamenting the lack of fish in our rivers and eulogising about fish and chips, with maybe a pickled onion on the side and a bottle of pale ale.

Meanwhile, we’re taken back in time briefly with old time stand-up comedian and star of the music hall Arthur Atkinson who, with his legendarily unfunny catchphrase is still looking for his washboard.

To borrow a phrase from Swiss Toni, watching the new series of The Fast Show is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman. You can do it in short bursts if that suits your style – with fine wines and Belgian chocolates on the side.

Fosters is also playing home to other comedy legends in the shape of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer if the Fast Show isn’t really your thing. It seems all the old favourites are coming back on the web only. Suits you!

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Check out The Fast Show online!

December 2, 2011 By

The new web-based series of The Fast Show launched on November 10th and the show has picked up where it left off all those years ago, delivering the same level of humour which made the show so popular in the 1990s.

Writers Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson have decided against making wholesale changes and have instead stuck with the same familiar characters and catchphrases which made the show an instant hit in the mid-90s.

That isn’t to say the creators haven’t moved with the times. As well as making the move from television to online, they have been keen to mention current affairs in the opening episodes of the new series.

The show’s cast, Mark Williams aside, has reunited with fresh material at its disposal and the actors have fitted back into their roles seamlessly. Swiss Toni, Ted and Ralph, Ron Manager, the Chanel 9 team, all these instantly recognisable characters are back and it is as if they have never been away.

The likes of Whitehouse and Simon Day won’t like to hear this, but they have aged noticeably. Not that it matters. If anything, it adds to the charm of characters like Rowley Birkin QC.

The online series will run for 12 episodes, which means we can expect a festive episode over the Christmas period. The shows are significantly shorter and the sketches within them longer than fans will be used to. Eight minutes doesn’t seem quite long enough for a show which has been away for so long.

Nevertheless, The Fast Show is back and is easier to access than ever before. All these funny video clips are available on YouTube every Thursday. Log on now to catch up.

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What TV comedy should you definitely be watching this Xmas?

November 25, 2011 By

When people talk about great British comedy sketch shows, the first one which usually comes to mind is Little Britain. What most people forget is Little Britain was largely influenced by The Fast Show, brilliantly written by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson.

The Fast Show relied on recurring running gags and many catchphrases, such as ”Suit you, sir!”, “Scorchio” and ”This week, I ‘ave been mostly…”. It was a simple concept, but it worked. As a family, if we were ever looking for funny videos to watch during the Christmas period, more often than not we would turn to The Fast Show.

The show featured many characters and sketches, ranging from the ramblings of eccentric old man Rowley Birkin QC to the ever-enthusiastic Brilliant Kid. Ron Manager, Ted and Ralph, Swiss Toni and Billy Bleach even went on to star in their own spin-off programmes.

The comedy ran for three series from 1994 to 1997, before returning for a three-part “Last Ever” show in 2000, with Johnny Depp guest-starring as a customer of The Suit You Tailors in the first episode of the series. The stars of the show, including Whitehouse, Arabella Weir and Simon Day, went their separate ways at the conclusion of that series and that looked to be that for The Fast Show. That was until earlier this month.

Over a decade on from the last televised show, the cast has reunited, minus Mark Williams, for a 12-episode series to be screened online. The episodes may only be as short as eight minutes long but the show lacks none of the humour which made it a huge success back in the 90s.

If you are planning on looking at YouTube funny videos today, don’t overlook The Fast Show.

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