The word BJ is wonderful: it means so very much. Billy Joel. Jon Bon Jovi. Boris Johnson… Well now there is a new BJ: Bradford Jordan. Here are the facts about him: he's funnier than any of the above. He’s a member of the Oxford Imps. He wrote the first 45 minute-long sketches of the BJ show (the second half is devoted to improvisation). He’s American.
Watching Channel 4 on Saturday mornings, and Hollywood gross-out movies when nothing else is on, has taught me all I know about American comedy. The sketches here are from the same American litter. Thus for general acting style think Scrubs, whilst actors sometimes address the audience like an eponymous show host would. Cue bubbly, emphatic-voiced, mostly American entertainers on stage injecting greater energy and far more expression in their voices than their British homologues - both a forte and a weakness in this show. The actors perform BJ’s script with brio but sometimes you wanted to tell them to just “chill out! take it easy! SLOW DOWN!”
There were about 4 sketches in total and the scenes moved smoothly from one to the next. Particularly humorous was one where God and Satan are competing for possession of an onanistic male called Joe. The two roles were played superbly by the imposing Tom Greeves and a seductive and shapely devil, Chloe Masterson. The third scene is inspired too, we see a convention of the world’s most virulent diseases, the Plague obviously chairing it, and Genital Warts and HIV vying for the status of world’s biggest killer. Bradford Jordan himself then arrives as a panacea made from the concoction of all world religions mixed with sugar.
These are all very funny ideas for sketches. Furthermore, it was nice to see such a pastiche of styles: musicals, a “Something About Mary” songster one moment, a talk show host interviewing the panacea the next. However with regard to the writing, I couldn’t remember enough stand-out lines in the production even if conceptually it was funny. The sketches themselves needed to be more punchy or more focused. Less of the good, yet easy, gags about gays, dwarfs, Condolezza Rice’s looks and Ariel the mermaid having genital warts, and a little more subtlety and wit. Jordan should grow confident enough in his writing to realize that we the audience don’t need to be in hysterics every second. A joke well prepared and well exploited is worth many one-liners.
The improvisation by the new set of actors and BJ in the second half was bound to generate laughs. Improvisation can be entirely different each night, nonetheless on the first night James Laurence was magnificent. Every comment he made was hilarious, but most importantly he can act. The improvisation team all seemed good comedians, but to be that and a good actor is rare.
If there are to be future BJ shows, I’m sure I will go along because BJ is certainly a funny guy. But, I would go with the hope that he had refined his manic style. But then again...maybe I’m just too patriotically attached to BBC2 and the likes of Coupling and The Office. Perhaps I need to get used to the swifter, joke-stuffed shows of Channel 4.
Watching Channel 4 on Saturday mornings, and Hollywood gross-out movies when nothing else is on, has taught me all I know about American comedy. The sketches here are from the same American litter. Thus for general acting style think Scrubs, whilst actors sometimes address the audience like an eponymous show host would. Cue bubbly, emphatic-voiced, mostly American entertainers on stage injecting greater energy and far more expression in their voices than their British homologues - both a forte and a weakness in this show. The actors perform BJ’s script with brio but sometimes you wanted to tell them to just “chill out! take it easy! SLOW DOWN!”
There were about 4 sketches in total and the scenes moved smoothly from one to the next. Particularly humorous was one where God and Satan are competing for possession of an onanistic male called Joe. The two roles were played superbly by the imposing Tom Greeves and a seductive and shapely devil, Chloe Masterson. The third scene is inspired too, we see a convention of the world’s most virulent diseases, the Plague obviously chairing it, and Genital Warts and HIV vying for the status of world’s biggest killer. Bradford Jordan himself then arrives as a panacea made from the concoction of all world religions mixed with sugar.
These are all very funny ideas for sketches. Furthermore, it was nice to see such a pastiche of styles: musicals, a “Something About Mary” songster one moment, a talk show host interviewing the panacea the next. However with regard to the writing, I couldn’t remember enough stand-out lines in the production even if conceptually it was funny. The sketches themselves needed to be more punchy or more focused. Less of the good, yet easy, gags about gays, dwarfs, Condolezza Rice’s looks and Ariel the mermaid having genital warts, and a little more subtlety and wit. Jordan should grow confident enough in his writing to realize that we the audience don’t need to be in hysterics every second. A joke well prepared and well exploited is worth many one-liners.
The improvisation by the new set of actors and BJ in the second half was bound to generate laughs. Improvisation can be entirely different each night, nonetheless on the first night James Laurence was magnificent. Every comment he made was hilarious, but most importantly he can act. The improvisation team all seemed good comedians, but to be that and a good actor is rare.
If there are to be future BJ shows, I’m sure I will go along because BJ is certainly a funny guy. But, I would go with the hope that he had refined his manic style. But then again...maybe I’m just too patriotically attached to BBC2 and the likes of Coupling and The Office. Perhaps I need to get used to the swifter, joke-stuffed shows of Channel 4.