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I've binged the first series of Toast and I'd forgotten just how out there Matt Berry comedy can be. He appears in the IT Crowd, but the part was written for him - when Berry is let loose with a script, all hell breaks loose. Snuff Box being the last Berry 'comedy' I caught. I mean, I hesitate to use the word comedy, because while it is funny, its main focus seems to be on a strange parallel dimension where anything is possible.
It deserves recognition because this isn't run of the mill. A lot of time and effort has gone into this series.There are SO many little touches to Toast of London that make it really special. The names or the characters, so well chosen they are comedy in and of themselves. The streak of white hair, the camera work, the catchphrases, the visual background jokes.. I couldn't name everything and it would require repeat viewings to catch them all. Toast is jam packed!
I wanted to write a review on one particular episode to use as a sort of overall snapshot of the series as a whole - one which takes the Berry brand of humour to the extreme. If you can handle this particular episode, you can handle anything. The awkwardness is on another level.
The episode in question is called: "Addictive Personality"
Basic plot - A black African woman has plastic surgery done by Steven Toast's arch nemesis, Ray Purchase, and made to look like Bruce Forsyth just to annoy Toast. And in his own words 'I'm not even that pissed off'. Pointless. Yet, it weaves its way into the plot of the episode in the strangest way.
Toast's flatmate starts a love affair with the Bruce look-alike. Some extremely disgusting imagery is placed in your head about them having sex.
It's so weird, so obscure and so uncomfortable I almost had to look away - this episode will haunt me for months.
Do I like it -
Short answer.. Yes.
Do I think there is a fine line between madness, genius and pushing the limits of weird..
Oh, hell yes.
score 9/10
tom-2979 2 April 2018
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4113937/ |
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19-4-2021 22:49:10