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Of all film and TV genres, comedy is surely the most polarising. Take other genres such as sci-fi or rom-com. Non-fans of these hate them with a passion but, mostly, they are able to see why others would like them. This is just not the case with comedy. We all like to believe that we have a great sense of humour and, hence, are in a position to comment on the quality of a comedy. This often leads to fierce arguments, and people being unable to comprehend why anybody would find certain things funny. Now I come to new BBC1 comedy Mrs Brown’s Boys… I think you can see where I’m going with this.
The show stars Brendan O’Carroll in drag playing Irish woman Agnes Brown, a contemptible, rude, interfering woman, and the opening episode revealed that the show is a showcase for O’Carroll’s very harsh, very funny one-liners. I say ‘very funny’ with some caution. The show has been almost universally panned by critics, and the astoundingly high amount of swearing has renewed the ‘swearing shouldn’t be used to get laughs’ debate. I, myself, was rather wary of it to begin with but, as the situations became more outrageous, I found enjoyment kicking in, no matter how guilty I felt about it. As for the swearing, while this is no doubt a terrible thing to say, it made the show funnier, and the jokes would have largely lost their impact without that nasty little word beginning with f. However, said word can’t take all the credit, as the gusto and brutality that O’Carroll delivered these jokes with was tremendous.
O’Carroll being so hilarious and memorable did come at a price, though. The other characters were all forced to be straight guys, with not a single funny line between them and, as a result, were instantly forgettable. Indeed, the only interesting thing about the actors was that there were often shots of them laughing when they shouldn’t have been, with some of them visibly shaking as O’Carroll launched into his next foul-mouthed tirade. It certainly saves the money it would cost to compile an outtake show for BBC3.
It cannot be denied that much of the comedy could be dismissed for easy laughs, but it wasn’t all predictable. Take, for instance, a particularly memorable sequence involving a taser. Initially, it seemed like a very obvious gag, but as the scene developed, there was a nice little twist at the end that ensured that hilarity was caused rather than exasperation. It was also in these unexpected moments that Mrs Brown’s Boys became an all the more worthwhile viewing experience.
Having said all that, the humour definitely won’t appeal to everyone. It wouldn’t be at all difficult to imagine that for every person rolling around laughing, there would be another switching off their TV and going to investigate if the bathroom tiles needed grouting. Furthermore, you wouldn’t have to think very hard in order to rip it to shreds. But, such is the world of comedy, and all of this surmounted to Mrs Brown’s Boys being crude, outrageous, and (delete as necessary) hilarious/pathetic.
The next episode of Mrs Brown's Boys airs tonight at 10.35pm on BBC1.
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