Comedy Issues
Channel 4 comedy has always been unafraid to go to dark places. The Morgana Show – comedian Morgana Robinson’s latest venture into the weirdly alternative – is a perfect example of this. The only problem as far as I’m concerned is that it’s more than a bit hit-and-miss, and not particularly indicative of the kind of progressive material that Channel 4 are known for commissioning. And while some might blame this on the fact that she is a female comedian rather than a man – yes, THAT again – I would say that it’s more to do with the writing. In some places it’s good, while in others it falls so short of the mark that you do find yourself wondering “did anyone else look at the script other than her?”
From the trailers I anticipated some dark and warped sketches that test the boundaries of what’s OK and what’s unacceptable. Somewhere between Smack The Pony and Frankie Boyle’s darkly satirical stuff. In fact, what I got was a variety of sketches ranging from the brilliant – Ferne Cotton anyone? – to the worryingly flawed. And by that I am not talking about the “so bad it’s good”.
Comedy is subjective, of course, so everyone will have a different opinion on her characters, but one thing I found amusing was Gilbert the pre-teen. Allegedly pre-teen. Even more amusing is the way many critics have described Gilbert as a kind of wacky individual, when, in fact, it’s as blindingly obvious as a dog owner would need dog insurance, to anyone with a working forntal-lobe that Gilbert suffers from a condition related to Down’s Syndrome. Obviously this makes for cringe-worthy viewing at times, which is surely the point, but nobody can dispute that the character is funny, no matter what’s going on in his head.
