I enjoyed the books one although he went for a lot of easy targets, and I really liked the religion and comedy ones. The political correctness one had some good stuff but I'd seen pretty much all of it before.
I think the sketches, by and large, have been awful - often they just repeat (if not undermine) the joke he's just done. That said, I liked one or two of them (particularly the National Apple Hotline one, which had those duff 70s sketch shows down pat). That said, I'm guessing that was a compromise with TV executives who think people are too stupid/unattentive to watch 25-odd minutes of uninterrupted stand-up comedy.
On the whole, I don't think he's struck the right tone a lot of the time - he's often come across as arrogant, bitter and patronising, which is a real shame as during his stand-up shows he doesn't at all - in fact he's expert at striking the right tone to be able to get away with some pretty astonishing statements ("Let's hear it for the good old British IRA!"). I don't know what it is about being on TV that's brought out the more negative side, but I can't imagine he's won many new fans through the series. A shame really, as I think he's the best stand-up on the scene at the moment, by some margin.
Posted By: Ottosson Foxtrot, Apr 27, 12:38:00
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