Comedy, welcome home!

Time Trumpet
Originally uploaded by ambroseneville.

Last night was the occasion of the triumphant first episode of Armando Ianucci's new series, Time Trumpet. Funnily enough it was Naomi's idea to watch it (now, bear in mind that she can't stand anything remotely associated with Steve Coogan, and AI was one of the Alan Partridge writers), after we watched some episodes of the Armando Ianucci Show together that I'd found on UKNova a few months back.

It was tremendous. Time Trumpet is the best comedy I've watched in ages. Highlight's of last night's episode were pundits from the future (including a grey-haired Stuart Lee!) discussing the Top of the Pops 2 intro credits as a major event in British history, laughing at the very idea of petrol, and referring back to Camilla Parker-Bowles actually having been a TV prank artist who'd been playing a joke on Prince Charles for 60 years. Truly inspired stuff. I suggest you head over to the site and enjoy some of the clips, as I don't think I can do it justice in words yet. Dale Winton suicide bomb, anyone?

An honorable mention must also go to Annually Retentive, the recent Rob Brydon vehicle. I've been enjoying Brydon's comedy since the much-underrated Steve Coogan collaboration in Cruise of the Gods, then through his wonderful solo turn in Marion and Geoff. Now, don't get me wrong, I think that Alan Partridge was actually a work of genius, and right up there with the very finest recent sit-comedy (it preceded The Office, after all), but it seems that where Coogan is now re-using comedic ideas, and Saxondale isn't quite as good as I'd hoped for, Brydon is going from strength to strength bringing forward interesting comedy concepts. Annually retentive is brilliant in the same way that Ricky Gervais' Extras is brilliant, by taking public perception of celebrities (albeit of lesser fame) and messing with it, in this case in a show that parodies Have I Got News For You. The funny parts of the show are not the actual panel faux-game-show, but the production team meetings, where Brydon voices bluntly critical views of all the guests he doesn't want to have on his show, but inevitably have to be booked to appear.