Personally, I’m not a huge fan of stand up comedy, which surprises people, and I am not one that deliberately seeks out those comedy entertainment panel shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Q.I or Mock The Week either, so with that in mind my recommendation for The Weekend Binge this week is going to seem strange. Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled sees the comedian and actor sit down for a roundtable discussion with guests, predominantly fellow comedians, for an unscripted chat with the intention of stumbling across a name for each show. I’ve always been fascinated by the art of conversation, especially with the tangents it often throws up, so for me that’s behind my reasoning for binge watching through this series of late.
The Highlights…
On Dave’s on demand service you can currently watch two series of this programme that’s fairly accessible and thus can be watched in any order. With that in mind, it’s worth looking through the guests on each show and particularly looking out for those names who amuse you. For me, seeing the likes of the hysterical Bill Bailey and Noel Fielding guest starring drew me to those shows and I wasn’t disappointed. In episode one, Noel Fielding’s story about going missing during his own comedy tour had me laughing out loud.
The Format…
As mentioned, it’s a roundtable discussion in front of a live audience, so it has quite an enjoyable, warm feel to it and felt surprisingly intimate to me as a viewer. I’m an avid podcast listener, mainly listening to various football shows in the format, and the programme certainly has a podcast feel to it, so it didn’t surprise me when I found out that they were releasing segments from each show as an audio podcast too. Worth a listen when you’re on the go…
Alan Davies as a host…
Still most commonly known for playing Jonathan Creek, Alan Davies isn’t a stranger to the conversation based comedy format as a long standing guest on Q.I. As a host I think he oversees preceedings well and allows the conversation to flow interjecting with amusing asides. I’m actually a big fan of his Arsenal Football Club based podcast, The Tuesday Club, where he’s a little bit more of a loose cannon, so if you’re a Gooner then you should probably check that out too.
The Green Room with Paul Provenza…
Alan Davies’ show has been criticised for its similarity to The Green Room with Paul Provenza that’s put out by Showtime in the States, which is also worth watching depending on the talent involved. As a producer with some experience now of negotiating the terms for programme formats to be used abroad I have no problem with this – those UK citizens who watch The Green Room may feel slightly alienated because of the US pop culture references and social issues discussed in amongst the conversation and thus would get a lot more from a UK version as I did. But, in truth, I think it’s some lazy journalism from such reviewers – if anything The Green Room has taken a podcast format that’s been done in people’s bedrooms over and over, as well as vodcasts from YouTube, and adapted it for the US mainstream by applying talent. As with Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled the talent is what makes the show and of course, with the search for a title in amongst the conversation, they’ve found a unique angle on that ‘podcast’ format too.
Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled is now available on UKTV Play here. You can also find links to the podcast on iTunes, which can be downloaded for free.
Arran Dutton
Arran Dutton is a scriptwriter and producer with credits for BBC. Find out more about him at arrandutton.com