(no subject)

[skygiants]

Recently my housemate has become obsessed with BBC's The Goes Wrong Show (to my understanding a follow-up on the live theater show The Play That Goes Wrong, which I've never seen), so over the past month that's been most of what we've watched in this house.

The premise is that we-the-audience are watching an amateur theater company with ambitions somewhat beyond their scope attempting to successfully make it through to the end of a performance regardless of the set and prop malfunctions unleashing physical comedy all around them. Each episode is a half-hour short play that in itself is a take-off on a particular genre; the WWII spy drama, the legal thriller, and the period romance in particular are all extremely funny. This clip from the period romance does a pretty good job of showing the kind of escalating physical comedy that makes up most of the show, though it's also worth watching the British cast grimly attempt a Tennessee Williams pastiche. I just spent about a half hour trying to find a clip of my favorite scene in the whole show, which involves an actor playing a fax machine, but no one appears to have wanted to spoil it so I can only recommend you watch "The Pilot (Not The Pilot)" yourself.

Each of the recurring cast members of the show plays the same actor-character with the same amateur-theater-company quirks that come through regardless of the character they're playing in any individual show (there's the one who can't remember lines, the one who constantly breaks character to repeat a gag and get second laugh, the one who's got a particular Blue Steel look that she directs towards the audience at every opportunity, etc.) There are also two longer specials -- a Peter Pan show and a Christmas Carol show -- but these are marred imo by the need to fill out the time by shoehorning in subplots relating to interpersonal offstage conflict between the actors (conversations accidentally broadcast over the loudspeaker, greenscreen effects replaced with incriminating videos, etc.) that ramp up the secondhand embarrassment levels to a horrible degree, whereas the half-hour shows are perfectly filled out just with the simple drama of the cast desperately attempting to soldier through to the end of today's play.

Anyway, they're all free to watch with ads on tubitv, which I don't fully understand as a platform but does occasionally provide me with television I can't find elsewhere and don't want to pay Amazon for, so if you're jonesing for the slapstick of The Theater at its worst/best this is an easy and enjoyable way to get a fix!

Comments

[dramaturgca]

Having seen the stage show, I can say that that really is most of the plot of the live show, inept actors/crew trying to get through a play of grander scope than is appropriate for them, whilst everything goes wrong. The amount of effortless split second timing to do the kinds of stunts and gags they do live on stage is considerable. I was very very impressed. And I nearly cried laughing.

[skygiants]

The timing on the physical comedy in the TV show is ASTOUNDINGLY good, I'm consistently impressed by it. Would love to see the stage show live someday!

[ckd]

I saw the original play (though not, IIRC, with the original original cast) with L and family in the West End in 2017 and was absolutely blown away by it.

Later, I got tickets for one of the US tours so I could take my parents to see the show. In April 2020. Yeah, that didn't happen.

The Show That Goes Wrong is good, though not as immersive as the live show which had some pre-curtain audience participation bits. Well worth watching (and I did get to watch it with Mom).

[skygiants]

I hope you do get a chance to go take your parents to the live show someday! I hope this for me too, actually. :D

[nextian]

thank you, trevor the fax machine has really deeply hit the spot

[skygiants]

i! love! the fax machine!!! vimvimvimvimvim!!!!!

[sovay]

so if you're jonesing for the slapstick of The Theater at its worst/best this is an easy and enjoyable way to get a fix!

Sold.

[skygiants]

I very much hope you enjoy!

[radiantfracture]

Thank you for this. I have been laughing like a drain for the last half-hour.

[skygiants]

You're so welcome, that was indeed exactly the intended result!

[chestnut_pod]

Well, those two clips made me laugh uproariously, so into the queue this goes!

[skygiants]

We've been muttering 'LAGER BEER' to each other all weekend and are likely to go on doing so indefinitely tbh.

[chestnut_pod]

Well, I downed the lot, and crops watered, soul rejuvenated, skin cleared, etc. etc.

[alias_sqbr]

Hmm! So on the one hand it looks like Australia is the only country outside of North America to have access to tubi, but on the other hand it looks like the It Goes Wrong Show is not available in Australia, since it's not giving me the 'play episode 1' etc type prompts I get on other shows. But on the gripping hand I found some other promising things I would never have come across without your rec, so, thank you anyway :)

[skygiants]

lol, you're welcome anyway! I hope some of the other promising things do indeed to turn out to be worth the while.

[marginaliana]

the slapstick of The Theater

The spotlight has been shown on My Taste, so I shall hie myself over there directly.

[skygiants]

I very much hope you enjoy!!

[aella_irene]

I am very fond of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and I think it might add something to have seen That Scene, and thus know why all of Jonathan's parts are small and terrible.

I am so glad the Goes Wrong Show is reaching further!

[skygiants]

Peter Pan Goes Wrong has some TRULY spectacular moments, the pirate accent stuff had me absolutely rolling and I love the Blazing Saddles ending!

[qian]

I actually cried with laughter at the bear statue vs beer in the bad American accents, so I guess I'll be watching this!

[skygiants]

I have now watched that clip enough times that I may have lost the ability to say 'beer' in my own, normal American accent!