No finger on the pulse

10 April 2012

If hefty golfer Colin Montgomerie shrank and teamed up with a younger Griff Rhys Jones, the result would look like Laurence Howarth and Gus Brown.

Howarth has written for Alistair McGowan, Brown appeared briefly in BBC2's Happiness, but this sketch show is their first joint effort and currently it shows.

There is plenty of talent on display, but they are heading for treacherous comedy waters, trying to explore how men are. The easy option would be a litany of Loaded archetypes, but this is more ambitious, addressing man's inability to emote. In one recurring vignette, they play a cheery duo who meet when their stigmata appear, but they might as well be discussing the football. A highlight is a Brideshead Revisited variant, relocated to Ipswich, in which corny gags are a substitute for intimacy.

Elsewhere, the comedic clutter of cultural references scrabbles for laughs. A Matter Of Life And Death, Unbreakable and 1984 jostle for sparky lines, but the performances are more polished than the script. At an hour this would not outstay its welcome, but at the moment it is 15 minutes over-long. In fact, if Colin Montgomerie teamed up with Griff Rhys Jones the result would probably be funnier.

Laurence & Gus

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