Thursday, September 14, 2017

Jam (2000) TV series

Director: Chrisopher Morris

Writers: Peter Baynham, Christopher Morris, Jane Bussmann, David Quantick, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews

Composers: Christopher Morris, Adrian Sutton

Starring: Christopher Morris, Amelia Bullmore, David Cann, Julia Davis, Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap

More info: IMDb

Plot: A surreal, ambient mix of bleak comedy sketches.



My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

Since I was in middle school as the 1980s began, I've been watching British TV comedy ever since and it's never let up.  In addition to the hundreds of movies I watch a year, I also burn through dozens of shows from all over the world.  At some point I discovered the genius of Chrisopher Morris when I came across his gut-bustingly funny parody on prime time news magazine shows called. BRASS EYE (1997).  I lost my shit on that one and had to seek out everything he's done.  Well I finally watched all 6 episodes of his short-lived sketch comedy show, JAM.  It's surreal and lofty and not something that most people would even finish the first episode.  I can see why it didn't last long but it is darkly funny.  It's absurd, at times deep and often very funny.  There are recurring bits that don't always work.  Some of them are one-joke gags that go on a little too long but there's a lot of funny.  Then there's the cast.  Damn, they're funny.  Mark Heap plays a recurring doctor and he's funny as shit.  He's got a face and demeanor that fits his roles beautifully.  I know Julia Davis and Kevin Eldon from their brilliant work on the harshly hilarious show NIGHTY NIGHT (2004) and it's a gas seeing them in something new (to me, that is).  This show's target audience is for a special few who appreciate dark humor.  I was curious for more by the end of the first episode but I wasn't yet sold on it.  By the end of the second, I was hooked until the end. 

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