Quickfire round: The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show

I suppose I just don’t get American sketch humour, as I consider fewer than half of the sketches in this show to have been any good. It’s a good thing there’s only six 18-minute episodes.

This is meta – a scene from the show that also perfectly illustrates what watching it is like

Sketch shows are one of my favourite forms of comedy. The Armstrong & Miller Show or, even better, That Mitchell and Webb Look (“it’s avocado you c**t!” being one of the best lines in British television, of course). Sketches are great because they can execute a particular idea and don’t have to worry about anything because they only last for seconds at a time.

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to chalk this show up to a significant cultural differences, because I hardly found any of the sketches funny.

The stand-out to me, and the only one that had me laughing out loud, takes place in a boardroom with a bunch of sales executives. Slowly at first, one executive takes a nectarine and starts eating while someone else is talking. Others join her. The eating becomes messier. They’re all eating them now, and start to throw half-eaten nectarines against the wall. They continue talking, mouths full of nectarine, apologising to colleagues dialling into the meeting from elsewhere. We can hear that those people are also stuffing their faces with nectarines as they continue with the meeting. I think it’s the perfect pacing and nonchalance that made this one stand out to me.

The stand-alone sketches are far better than the recurring ones. A demonstration of the board game It me was a smart take on millennial culture, as was Stick with it where a group of friends rave about their favourite TV shows before admitting that half the show is slow and boring but you just have to ‘stick with it’.

The season is less than two hours long, but those hours are best saved by choosing not to watch it. Presumably some of the better sketches will wind up on YouTube and a few of them will go viral.

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