Darkplace and British comedies

I am a sucker for British comedies lately. I don't know what's come over me lately to suddenly have a desire to watch quirky British comedies but it's hit me hard, and I am having a blast watching them in my spare time.

If memory serves me right, Monty Python was probably the first British comedy I can remember watching. I remember it was a typical boring summer day, with me as a young boy having nothing to randomly turned the channel to PBS to see what will never leave my brain. An old disheveled man stumbling out of the ocean and speaking in some random gibberish. Afterwards a weird animated montage of weird sights of naked Victorian women being smashed by giant feet.

That was my introduction to British humor, and I loved it. A few years later I watched another comedy with my father called "Keeping Up Appearances" a show about a ordinary woman go to great lengths to try and fit into high society. It wasn't as wacky and over the top as Monty Python, but it still was witty and a fun way to wast away a half hour on a Sunday evening.

After that show, there was a long hiatus in my viewing of anything British related in humor. It wasn't until the theatrical release of Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead that I started to take notice again. The quirkiness and the snappy dialog combined with a ton of horror and movie references made me fall in love all over again. My love for the movie did not diminish one iota unit the release of Hot Fuzz what turned my love of 80's action movies into a hilarious and respectful parody. After this I searched for more Edgar Wright and stumbled upon his earlier tv show Spaced. Three days later I marathon-ed the entire first and second series and was watching a few episodes over. I told all of my friends and anyone I knew to check out this show. British comedy was back in my life again.

Now I watch the Mighty Boosh, another out there show that seems to channel equal parts Monty Python and the buddy stylings of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Darkplace is a parody of cheesy 80's sci fi and horror in the mockumentary style similar to Spinal Tap where each of the "actors" are self aware that they created this show that we are watching and also blissfully unaware of how horrible it is. So horrible it's impossible not to laugh. Look Around You is another parody show, this time parodying those educational films watched by students in middle and high school. A cheerful narrator and happy looking students all learn lessons which are purposely wrong and comically filled with very wrong answers. What is the answer to 6 minus 2? You're on Easter Island. Weird and out there stuff, but I love it.

I'm not even including the British sci fi that I watch. Dr. Who and Primevil are two of my current favorites I go to for my wacky sci fi fix, but that's for another day.

I don't know what it is about the British and quirk, but they have it nailed down to an art form.