Conspiracies with Fran
- Episode aired Mar 10, 2014
YOUR RATING
Fran the Lunatic shares her conspiracies, Eve can't find anything to wear, and when life gives you Diabetes...Dia-beat it?Fran the Lunatic shares her conspiracies, Eve can't find anything to wear, and when life gives you Diabetes...Dia-beat it?Fran the Lunatic shares her conspiracies, Eve can't find anything to wear, and when life gives you Diabetes...Dia-beat it?
Photos
Storyline
Featured review
Season 1: Has energy and a few good laughs, but mostly is trading on energy, broad humor and 'OMG' randomness
Comedy is a very difficult thing to do and even when it is done right, what works for one person may not work for another due to varying tastes and moods. Coming to the first season of The 5 Minute Sketch Show reminded me of these things, and also made me feel old and probably not the target audience for this. The concept is simple and is cleverly done in regards the real target audience – those surfing this on their mobile devices, who (in theory) have low tolerances for slow material and want lots of cool stuff in their faces this very second or they will switch to something else.
In that is not the target of the show then it is certainly the impression that comes across. The sketches rarely hang around for longer than 15-30, with only a few going longer or reoccurring across the individual episode (but not across the season). This combined with the theme song, graphics and other presentations give the feeling of being rushed and hassled. Perhaps this would not have been the case if I had laughed more often, but unfortunately I did not. I'd say each 5 minutes produce at least one thing I liked or laughed at, which is not a great outcome for a show that craws so much into 5 minutes. The comedy is sometimes wonderfully absurd and funny, but mostly it is trying too hard to be that way, ending up feeling just random for the sake of it, but without anything built on or around that to actually be funny. This isn't helped by how broad the vast majority of it is, with race, sex organs, bodily functions, sexual assault and other such things delivered – ironically of course, which makes it alright, but sometimes it felt like a teenager trying to shock their parents by saying something shocking and awaiting their reaction with a nervous but satisfying look (maybe I am projecting too much with that).
The ensemble cast have a great feel about them though; pretty much to the point that I wanted them to be funnier. The cast all seem to be behind the scenes as well, producers, writers and so on, and it comes over that they are close group that enjoy working together and what they are doing – just a shame that they seem to be enjoying it more than I did. There are nuggets in here but they are the exception rather than the rule; maybe they are enough to justify trying the second season but my hope would be they reduce the energy and broadness and really try to make the most of the core of imaginative comedy that is present but not really used in so many of their sketches.
In that is not the target of the show then it is certainly the impression that comes across. The sketches rarely hang around for longer than 15-30, with only a few going longer or reoccurring across the individual episode (but not across the season). This combined with the theme song, graphics and other presentations give the feeling of being rushed and hassled. Perhaps this would not have been the case if I had laughed more often, but unfortunately I did not. I'd say each 5 minutes produce at least one thing I liked or laughed at, which is not a great outcome for a show that craws so much into 5 minutes. The comedy is sometimes wonderfully absurd and funny, but mostly it is trying too hard to be that way, ending up feeling just random for the sake of it, but without anything built on or around that to actually be funny. This isn't helped by how broad the vast majority of it is, with race, sex organs, bodily functions, sexual assault and other such things delivered – ironically of course, which makes it alright, but sometimes it felt like a teenager trying to shock their parents by saying something shocking and awaiting their reaction with a nervous but satisfying look (maybe I am projecting too much with that).
The ensemble cast have a great feel about them though; pretty much to the point that I wanted them to be funnier. The cast all seem to be behind the scenes as well, producers, writers and so on, and it comes over that they are close group that enjoy working together and what they are doing – just a shame that they seem to be enjoying it more than I did. There are nuggets in here but they are the exception rather than the rule; maybe they are enough to justify trying the second season but my hope would be they reduce the energy and broadness and really try to make the most of the core of imaginative comedy that is present but not really used in so many of their sketches.
- bob the moo
- Nov 17, 2014
- Permalink
Details
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content