The Gongs All Here

SITCOM OF THE YEAR
Rev.

In 2010, the Beeb – in one of those strange scheduling quirks it’s occasionally prone to – broadcast the first series of Rev. at approximately 2.30am on Tuesdays, thus ensuring that the vast majority of the viewing public never got to appreciate the brilliance of Tom Hollander’s sitcom. Thankfully, in 2011 the schedulers saw sense and gave Rev. its rightful prime-time slot, enabling comedy fans to fully enjoy the adventures of the titular clergyman, Adam Smallbone, who attempts to lead the spiritual life whilst contending with the sturm und drang of everyday existence in his inner-city parish.
Our favourite episode from the second series found Smallbone caught up in a summer heatwave – for which he sported fetching black shorts to go with his shirt and collar – and having to contend with, variously, his badly behaved niece, deciding whether or not to have a child of his own, nightmares, and an old folks’ home blessing mistaken for an exorcism. And if you had any doubts about Rev.’s authenticity, Church of England head Rowan Williams even declared himself a fan.

COMEDY PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Tim and Eric

Irish comedy fans were lucky enough to witness the European live debut of US surrealists Tim and Eric back in July, when the duo made their way to Dublin for the Vodafone Comedy Festival. The pair commenced as they meant to go on, making their entrance wearing nude body costumes – complete with pubic hair and oversized testicles – and singing a tune comprised entirely of the word, “Diarrhoea!” This was promptly interrupted by an announcement declaring that Tim and Eric had won the ‘2011 Vodafone Comedy Festival Best Sketch’ award. Other highlights included a spoof of waffly new-age movements, and a suitably off-the-wall trailer for a Tim and Eric road movie.

STAND-UP OF THE YEAR
Demetri Martin

An occasional Daily Show contributor and former writer for Conan O’Brien, Martin arrived in Dublin for a packed Vicar St. show that showcased his observational style to perfection. With an approach reminiscent of Jerry Seinfeld, and a fondness for sharp one-liners with echoes of Steve Wright, Martin took us on an hysterical trip through the oddities of modern life. One of the best gags concerned how people introduce friends by saying, for example, “This is John... This is John. Pretty insulting, when you think about it.” Indeed, sir.

COMEDY SCENE OF THE YEAR
Life’s Too Short

As with Extras, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s sitcom Life’s Too Short was a somewhat uneven effort (the chief drawback being Warwick Davis’s ongoing Gervais impression) ultimately saved by some brilliant set-pieces. One of the stand-out moments from the series was Davis’s decision to showcase the skills of his dwarf acting agency, by having the actors recreate scenes from classic films. We had one dwarf being crucified a la The Passion Of The Christ, and another two paying tribute to Brokeback Mountain.
Best of all, though, was a scene – right at the end of the episode – which found a woman dwarf recreating Sharon Stone’s infamous leg-crossing moment in Basic Instinct, complete with white dress and blonde wig. A killer touch was having her utter the line – in a deeply unconvincing, amateur drama-style monotone – “Did you ever fuck on cocaine?”
20 minutes after the episode ended, we were still laughing.

IRISH COMEDY ACT OF THE YEAR
Rubberbandits

Last Christmas found the Limerick duo achieving superstardom thanks to the YouTube phenomenon ‘Horse Outside’. They followed it up with the superb ‘Fight Your Father’, which found one of the boys expressing his animosity towards his girlfriend’s old man. Perhaps even better was the Irish language version the pair released as part of Seachtain na Gaelige. By the end of the year, The Rubberbandits’ unstoppable rise towards international stardom had been further enhanced by a series of shorts for Channel 4.
Incidentally, not only are The Rubberbandits currently one of the funniest Irish acts, they are also among the country’s premier beatmakers, as evidenced by the vintage electro-pop of ‘Horse Outside’ and the stylish r ‘n’ b groove of ‘Fight Your Father’. Perhaps Lady Gaga will come calling for a cred-enhancing collaboration? Now that’s a tune we’d pay to hear.

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
Conan O’Brien

Following the nasty end to his short-lived tenure on NBC’s Tonight Show – which concluded with Jay Leno returning to his old slot – Conan O’Brien finally got back into the chat-show groove with Conan, broadcast by cable channel TBS. Not being on a network might have given the host slightly more leeway when it came to risqué subject matter, but really, the programme was all about giving O’Brien free rein to showcase his abilities as possibly the most naturally funny performer of his generation.
As well as the punchy interviews and set-piece skits, there were also welcome returns for characters such as the Masturbating Bear and – our personal favourite – cigar-chomping canine, Triumph The Insult Comedy Dog.

MEMOIR OF THE YEAR
I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan

Steve Coogan kept the quality control of Alan Partridge output at a remarkably high level with last year’s superb Mid Morning Matters web series, and these lofty standards continued with the Norwich presenter’s memoir (which, we were assured, he wrote himself – the broadcaster having attained “a grade B English Language O-Level”). The book found Partridge reflecting on his eventful life and career, including the painful cancelling of Knowing Me, You, that nasty Toblerone addiction, the BBC’s failure to recognise his unique talents, and his current status as “one of the better DJs in the Norfolk area”.

XMAS DVD MUST-BUY
Peter Kay Live

If you’re looking for a laugh over Christmas, you could do worse than check out this DVD record of Peter Kay’s phenomenally successful Tour That Doesn’t Tour Tour, which stopped off at the Dublin O2 earlier this year for no less than six nights. Recorded at the London O2, Peter Kay Live finds the Bolton comic riffing on the infuriating minutiae of modern life in his own inimitable fashion, and even fulfilling his long-held arena rock ambitions, courtesy of a rousing version of ‘We Are The Champions’ at the finish.