Pop Buzz UK

It’s Adam and Shelley is a new sketch show which starts on BBC3 next Monday. I’ve been lucky enough to already watch the first two episodes on DVD, so here is a quick run-down of what to expect in the series.

First of all I should point out that I have a very silly sense of humour. You’ll already know this if you are a regular reader of Pop Buzz UK and have seen some of the videos I’ve put up over the last year. So this sort of sketch show appeals to me more than it might my Gran for instance. I don’t think she’d appreciate some of the humour which borders on adult at times.

Adam and Shelley Longworth are a brother and sister duo who have already appeared in shows independently but now put their heads together to produce an original sketch show in the mould of (but not copying) Little Britain. As soon as you see a clip from the show you’ll recognise Shelley from TittyBangBang, another innovative BBC3 show.

It’s Adam and Shelley follows the basic sketch show format of a combination of characters in different settings. Some of the characters work, and some don’t, and I found it a bit more hit and miss than both Little Britain and The Catherine Tate Show, which are two cult comedy shows which made the crossover to mainstream. For this reason I don’t know if it will repeat that success, but it’ll certainly have its fans who lap it up.

My favourite characters from the plethora on show here are the Goth twins Jake and Tilly. There’s something strangely funny about seeing a grown man and woman dressing up in the garb of the latest teenage trend, but they pull it off… just. The situations the pair get themselves in through daring and taunting each other are brilliantly conceived, and the characters will strike a chord with both kids and their parents.

Chelsea Sheraton is a great character and one that was definitely due to be conceived about now. Lampooning the likes of Paris Hilton and echoing the diva-esque demands of people like Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez, Chelsea is a lazy celebrity IT girl. She’s basically famous for being famous, a concept we’re all too familiar with these days.

You’ve also got Brucie and Lucky Lee, a couple of kung fu karaoke wielding superheroes, who end the skit with a song. It’s probably the weirdest conceived sketch on the whole show, but it works.

Then there’s the two Australian lab scientists who actually don’t know what they’re doing and so end up injuring themselves in the process. It’s not big or particularly clever but it made me laugh nonetheless.

While It’s Adam and Shelley didn’t have me laughing my balls off hysterically throughout, it did make me chuckle, and want to watch the rest of the series.

There seems to be a new trend in comedy for subtle yet funny and this sort of fits in to that niche nicely. The same way as parts of Little Britain has me looking away from the screen, so does this, but inside I still want to laugh.

I like it, and it’s definitely worth a watch. I’m just not sure how many people will have had their fill of this kind of stuff, and consign it to the bin without giving it, and them a chance.

It’s Adam And Shelley premières on BBC Three, Monday at 9.30pm.

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