The best topical comedy shows are on the radio. It's true, take shows such as The News Quiz, The Now Show and It's Been A Bad Week. Another of the best radio shows is an impressionists sketch show called Dead Ringers, which has also spawned the BBC2 TV series.
Like the radio show, it lasts half an hour and has some regular "characters". The radio 4 version had Brian "The Daddy" Perkins and the TV show has Michael Burke who insists on concluding shady deals on his mobile before reading the news. Politicians don't get away lightly too, figures such as Tony Blair and George W Bush feature too.
One of the all time great sketches featured Zippy from Rainbow standing for Cherrie Blair using only a black wig and Haiwan shirt. And look out for "Yet another history program" with Professor Simon Sharma. As mensioned in another review here, he boasts about how much money he's made, and tells great chunks of important history using only three props.
But there is also some great secret camera work, such as 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' buying a second hand car or 'Maximus Meridius Decimus' (Russel Crowe in Gladiator) asking local builders to rebuild his castle from one foot ruins, with one builder having the solution to how to strengthen the medieval walkways - decking. Another gem was 'Michael Parkinson' interviewing people waiting at a bus stop.
To sum it all up, it's a very funny show that's recorded the day before broadcast to keep it as topical as possible. There's not a hint of canned laughter either, it's recorded in front of a real audience.
And to quote a recent episode, "Hi, I'm Johnny Vaughan. I'm still a big star, it's the channels that got smaller".
Just watch it.
