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The Best...one-man sketch show

Peter Serafinowicz
  • Posted at 4:35pm
  • 24 October 2007
  • by JackSeale-RT
  • 3 comments

After the first episode of The Peter Serafinowicz Show, one viewer wrote to Radio Times saying "Peter needs a ruthless editor". That's just what he doesn't need: left to his own devices he's created a silly, unpredictable, technically superb little marvel that's the antidote to identikit sketch shows.

It's right to be self-titled, because it feels like a unique comic brain squirting messily onto the screen. Who cares that nobody's saying "You'll soon grow to love the weird taste of internet ham" in the playground, that accountants aren't impersonating Alan Alda ("Ludicrous! Preposterous!") by the water cooler? Serafinowicz is a bit weird for mass consumption, but I reckon that's a good sign.

None of the material seems like it's been squeezed out by a team of bored writers, churning out sketches for pin money before moving on to another depressingly similar show. That "ruthless editor" would expunge the public information film about domestic sockets that leak poison, or the inept private investigator who tries to disguise himself using hats alone, for being too stupid for primetime telly. But they both made me weep.

You can feel the joy that went into making this programme. Lovingly crafted details are everywhere. Casual viewers might miss the Basil Fawlty Impersonator Chatline warning that "calls may be monitored by a Sybil Fawlty impersonator", or Darth Vader saying "ow" as he walks through a hologram. Even the dull Big Brother parody had one fantastic line: "Argy-bargy? I think it's short for argument-bargument…"

There are sketches that last for seconds but must have taken ages to make - take Ringo Starr's rejected theme for Goldfinger. The bobbing and pouting are perfect, the out-of-tune piano is spot on. Then as the song faded, "Ringo" explained that the song wasn't used because it took him seven years to write, by which time "the film had come and gone". Serafinowicz fires out more ideas in a minute than other shows manage in 30. (I can't wait for the DVD.)

Being prolific lets him repel the blight that attacks most sketch shows: runners. "Runners" is the industry term for sketches that return week after week. They make it easy to fill six half-hours, but once you've seen the series opener of The Catherine Tate Show or Little Britain, the fun's over until next year.

Serafinowicz subverts this. He has a sketch spoofing shopping channels where the presenters admit their products are tat; then the next week there's an identical-looking skit, but as you reach for the remote it turns out that now, one of the presenters…is a vampire.

Even when he's not a vampire, Serafinowicz is indefinably unnerving - always a good trait for a comic. This gives superficially benign spoofs of Chris Tarrant or Simon Cowell an undercurrent of splenetic, wild-eyed madness. But his expert mimicry alone makes him the best impressionist on TV: his Alan Alda is astonishing, and his Kevin Spacey is off the chart.

The upshot of all this? The funniest sketch show in a decade.

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  • Posted on 23 November 2007
  • at 2:03am
  • by Mehdi

The quality of Peter's impersonations is absolutely staggering - Alan Alda, Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Ringo Starr and last but certainly not least Leonard Rossiter. I think he's infinitely more talented than Alistair McGown for example. The problem with the show is the writing, it's horrendous. Peter's clearly got the talent but he needs better material.

  • Posted on 25 October 2007
  • at 4:36pm
  • by JackSeale-RT

It's funny - checking out what people thought of this on various forums, I saw a lot of posts saying: "This is weak - there was only one funny bit and that was . . ." But everyone had chosen different bits!

That said, it is often the case that comedy series would be better off as three or four parts, rather than six - but it's just not economically viable to do that. Once you've hired the talent, writers and crew, you need to produce at least six episodes to make the whole venture worthwhile.

  • Posted on 25 October 2007
  • at 9:06am
  • by alberon

I think you're wrong. There is some good stuff but it is way to variable. Chop this down to three parts and you'd have something great. Of course you've got to keep the right bits, and the useless PI is one of them, but in general there isn't the quality control needed to really make it a great show.

As to best one-person sketch show ever, well I've been watching bits of Paul Merton - The Series on Youtube. Now THAT is the best one-man sketch show ever. Someone release it on DVD, please!

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