The guiding principal of the Funhouse
for the past two decades has been: if I find something amazing, I've
got to share it. Thus, as my Xmas present to readers of this blog
(and for whatever reading you do here, I thank ye kindly), I want to
spotlight a brilliant creation courtesy of some of the shining lights
of British TV comedy.
The program is AD/BC: a Rock Opera (2004), and it's an absolutely spot-on parody of the rock operas of the early Seventies. It's the story of the Nativity, as told by rock composer “Tim Wynde,” played by the great Matt Berry. Berry and Richard Ayoade wrote the music and lyrics, and Ayoade directed. For their pedigree, I merely have to note that both were in the supporting cast of The Mighty Boosh and later were stars of The IT Crowd. Ayoade recently directed the critically lauded Submarine, and Berry is currently starring in the great sitcom Toast of London.
The program is AD/BC: a Rock Opera (2004), and it's an absolutely spot-on parody of the rock operas of the early Seventies. It's the story of the Nativity, as told by rock composer “Tim Wynde,” played by the great Matt Berry. Berry and Richard Ayoade wrote the music and lyrics, and Ayoade directed. For their pedigree, I merely have to note that both were in the supporting cast of The Mighty Boosh and later were stars of The IT Crowd. Ayoade recently directed the critically lauded Submarine, and Berry is currently starring in the great sitcom Toast of London.
Berry has made a habit of playing
hammy, pretentious characters, and that serves him well here as the
Lloyd Webber-like composer who also plays the innkeeper. The show is
not only a letter-perfect parody of the corny “hipness” of the
rock operas, but Ayoade has also wonderfully captured the visual
tropes that appeared in the film versions of these works (there are
wonderful recreations of the camera language and edits from Jewison's
JC Superstar and David Greene's Godspell
catalog of would-be “cool” effects).
[Full disclosure: As a student at Catholic school I was forced to memorize songs from Godspell, so I felt tormented by that show; I actually do enjoy the wildly-dated-even-when-it-was-new excesses of JC Superstar, but take great delight in the precision with which the tenets of both shows are gutted here.]
[Full disclosure: As a student at Catholic school I was forced to memorize songs from Godspell, so I felt tormented by that show; I actually do enjoy the wildly-dated-even-when-it-was-new excesses of JC Superstar, but take great delight in the precision with which the tenets of both shows are gutted here.]
The cast is simply sublime: Berry as
the innkeeper, Julia Davis (Hunderby, Nighty
Night, Jam) as his wife, Julian Barratt
(of the Boosh) as the villainous “Tony Iscariot,” Ayoade as
Joseph, Matt Lucas (Little Britain) as God, and,
among the chorus, Noel Fielding and Rich Fulcher of the “Boosh”
and Graham Linehan (creator of Father Ted and
IT Crowd).
It is fun, it is super satire, and it is incredibly silly. What more can you ask for in comic entertainment?
It is fun, it is super satire, and it is incredibly silly. What more can you ask for in comic entertainment?
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