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DON'T WATCH THIS SHOW
Conceived and Performed by:
Mick McCleery
Brett Haniss
Mike Mcaleer
John KolinskyHave you ever watched a tightknite group of friends interact? I mean have you ever paid strict attention to the way they talk and treat each other? After a while you can pick up on things like special code words or in-jokes that are repeated over and over again and are only understood by this "inner circle". That's the exact impression I picked up watching DON'T WATCH THIS SHOW, that it was meant only for a select few who were lucky enough to be on the same wavelength as Mick McCleery and his pals.
I've mentioned my old college roommate Marvin in previous reviews, but to be honest he and I were never that close. There was one guy that I despised so much I threw a party when I was able to get him to move out, his name was Bob Benkowsky. He was probably Marv's best friend during his time at Wright State. Those two even made up their own codewords to refer to certain girls on campus that they would see walking around camus. There was Copper, who would always try to "cop" smokes from people. There was Good, who was…well, good looking. There was Bronde, whose hair was somewhere between brown and blonde. Marv and Bob were able to speak openly about these girls in public free from fear, even when sitting next to one of them, simply because no one else knew what in the hell they were talking about - especially me (I have a feeling I was either Dickweed or Asshole - two guys Marv and Bob were always jabbering on about).
Marv and Bob are prime examples of what I'm talking about; only those guys could understand each other. Only they understood the other's sense of humor. Much of the comedy in DON'T WATCH THIS SHOW is in a similar vein. The humor seems to be based on in-jokes rather than something broader and more accessible. Skits like Guys Who Bust (which incidentally would have been Marv and Bob) feels like a running gag Mick and his friends have been doing for years. There's humor in DON'T WATCH THIS SHOW, but I just wasn't privy to it.
The actors themselves are a versatile bunch, able to play everything from degenerates to retards to spermacidal fluid, all with a Monty Python-esque glee. If the gags in DON'T WATCH THIS SHOW went even farther in the name of bad taste, then it's possible the show could eventually be a worthy successor to the thrown of great sketch comedy once held by the Python troop. As it stands now, even with it's narrow target audience, DON'T WATCH THIS SHOW is still better than the American crown prince of sketch, Saturday Night Live.