This is one of the finest pieces of comedy from the nineties.
Anyone with an affinity with the North of England will get this immediately. I remember Coogan writing that "the comedy devil is in the details". He must have believed what he wrote, as this thirty minute film stands up to repeated viewing. I found it impossible to catch all of the jokes the first time around.
The dialogue is superb and very realistic. The best thing about the Calf videos is that these people nearly exist. The whole thing fits together because you have met people like Paul and Mark. They're not too outrageous - they're just characters ploughing through a mundane existence in Manchester.
Patrick Marber puts in a particularly fine performance as Spiros Zorba Panathageorgianous ( I wonder how much that's worth in Scrabble ) and some of his language quirks are remarkably well observed.
Overall, an exemplary work which captures the spirit of the North perfectly ( although the late Gary Olsen's northern accent is pretty dodgy ). Watch it, and watch it again. Get the narrative first time round, and try and catch everything else afterwards.
Anyone with an affinity with the North of England will get this immediately. I remember Coogan writing that "the comedy devil is in the details". He must have believed what he wrote, as this thirty minute film stands up to repeated viewing. I found it impossible to catch all of the jokes the first time around.
The dialogue is superb and very realistic. The best thing about the Calf videos is that these people nearly exist. The whole thing fits together because you have met people like Paul and Mark. They're not too outrageous - they're just characters ploughing through a mundane existence in Manchester.
Patrick Marber puts in a particularly fine performance as Spiros Zorba Panathageorgianous ( I wonder how much that's worth in Scrabble ) and some of his language quirks are remarkably well observed.
Overall, an exemplary work which captures the spirit of the North perfectly ( although the late Gary Olsen's northern accent is pretty dodgy ). Watch it, and watch it again. Get the narrative first time round, and try and catch everything else afterwards.