Everyone should have access to Sky Atlantic. It would improve the flow of dinner table conversations and make pub chatter far more inclusive.
It simply isn’t fair that so many people have been missing out on their Monday night comedy spectaculars. It started with the triumphant return of Alan Partridge and the arrival of Armando Iannucci’s Veep. Then things got even better with the arrival of Adam Buxton’s BUG.
Adam Buxton got “famous” when he teamed up with his best mate, Joe Cornish, to make The Adam and JoeShow. It was one of those late night, low-budget comedy shows; watched mainly by stoned students and other people who find really dumb shit hilarious.
As a fan of really dumb shit, I used to stay up past my bedtime to watch the two loveable young fellows frolicking about and making mischief. Their toy adaptations of cult films and TV shows rank highly in my list of “the funniest things ever”. Ally McSqueal, Toytanic and American Beautoy are classics of the soft toy/action figure parody genre.
Then there was BaaadDad – a segment of the show presented by Adam’s Dad. He’d immerse himself in youth culture then come back and deliver his verdict. He coined the wonderful phrase “the shiznit”, which is always fun to say. In fact, I tend to judge new friends on their response to BaaadDad; if they laugh then everything’s cool, if they roll their eyes then, I’m afraid, things aren’t going to work out.
Adam and Joe then found their way to BBC 6 Music and goofed around on the indie airwaves, keeping their cult following and gaining new fans.
No disrespect to Joe Cornish, but Buxton has always been my favourite of the pair. I like his facial hair, comic timing and general bounciness. He’s a master of good-natured mockery and has zero fear of looking like a complete idiot. My admiration is 100% based on his talent. Bah! Who am I kidding! I have a MASSIVE crush on the guy.
His latest TV venture, BUG, is steadily working its way up my “funniest things ever” list. The concept is simple: Buxton introduces the audience to cool music videos before delving into the bizarre depths/shallows of the accompanying YouTube comments.
The show highlights the extent of weirdness online, as well as the crazy skills of music video directors. It also gives Buxton plenty of opportunities to put on silly voices and pull daft faces.
Some of the funniest material occurs when Buxton gets to star in his own music videos or performances. His literal interpretation of “Pull Up to the Bumper” by Grace Jones is well worth tracking down, along with his “Summertime Blues” video directed by Garth Jennings.
BUG is more than a TV show, it began as series of bi-monthly events hosted by Buxton at the BFI to celebrate creativity in music videos. This makes watching BUG feel slightly more intellectually stimulating than watching an episode of Friendsrecreated with stuffed-animals.
If all this hasn’t persuaded you to tune in, then you might simply like gazing upon the loveliness that is Buxton, with a beard and wearing a blazer. It is like looking at a hot college lecturer, only way funnier and totally cool because he’s not really a college lecturer.
To everyone without Sky Atlantic, I can only apologise for dangling such tempting delights before your eyes. To everyone with Sky Atlantic, shall we high-five? Or would that be showing off?