Some will say that laughter is the universal language, and it is true to some extent – there are gags that will always crack up a room, no matter where in the world this room is.
But humor has its own dialects too, and each country and culture often has its own unique take on what makes people laugh. Some places favor elaborate wordplay, others self-deception; other countries choose their comedy droll and dry; others like it big and wide.
And hey, humans are complex creatures – sometimes we like to sample everything. Aren’t we lucky that SBS On Demand has brought together a cartload of comedies from around the world? Here are just a few of the offerings at Comedy Gold Collection.
Brassic
While they were making a movie together, actor Joe Gilgun he was encouraged by his colleague Dominic West to bring to the screen some of his most disturbing stories about his deviant youth, in North West England. And when Gilgun cooperated with the writer Danny Brocklehurst of Shameless honor, which appeared to set Shameless shame: Brassic. An irreverent, rollicking comedy about a gang of Northern gangsters, led by Gilgun’s Vinnie, looking to raise a small fortune by any means necessary (the show’s title rhymes with ‘skint’) while avoiding butting heads with the local police and thugs.
Needless to say, things don’t always go smoothly, whether the criminal gang is involved in a shady scheme or going through a complicated path of growth and going in the right direction. In a show full of intense violence, sex scenes, adult themes, drug references and foul language, it’s surprisingly heartfelt and unafraid of emotional depth.
Season six of Brassic is now streaming on SBS On Demand, with season 7 starting on Thursday 12 February.
Shorey
Canadian comic fans Letterkennywhich documented everyday life in a respectable rural community (“There are 5000 people in Letterkenny. These are their problems”), you will get to know the hockey player Shoresy, played by the series creator Jared Keeso. Strange man, that Shoresy – soft enough to cry during the national anthem, smart enough to tell opposition players he was close to his mother.
Naturally, though Letterkenny he never showed Shoresy’s facehe deserved to be shown everything he has, and now Keeso took the actor to a new city and a new team, the Sudbury Bulldogs, making a habit of losing. So our hero makes a deal with the owner of the Bulldogs: he will take control, bring in a team of wreckers and goons, and win every game to go ahead or collapse the team. Drawing inspiration from ’70s ice-hockey classics Slapping, Shorey it’s both puerile and vulgar (in the best ways) and witty and engaging (in the best ways). It shoots, it scores goals.
All five seasons of Shoresy are now streaming on SBS On Demand.
Warren’s Vortex
After exploring the supernatural side of life in New Zealand with a police themed mockumentary comedy Wellington Paranormal (a very popular source What We Do in the Shadows film), series creator Paul Yates boldly ventures into sci-fi territory with six episodes Warren’s Vortexwhich both celebrates and pokes fun at the silliness, surrealism and style of the genre.
Welcome to Lower Hutt, the home of Warren (Maaka Pohatu) and his teenage daughter Lucy (Louise Jiang), whose 18th birthday party takes a strange turn when she disappears into a trans-dimensional space in the back shed. Determined to find her and bring her home (there is cake, after all), Warren enters the portal himself and tracks down Lucy through a mind-bending array of alternate realities. If father and daughter can deal with the worst things these different dimensions have to offer (like a world without rugby!), maybe they can really mend their fractured relationship.
Warren’s Vortex is now streaming on SBS On Demand.
Californication
“This program includes content that may be offensive” warns the SBS On Demand page for Californicationand one gets the sense that the makers of this hilarious US comedy wear the category as a badge of honour.
Every adult theme under the California sun gets an engaging, sweaty workout in this series, which follows David Duchovny’s novelist Hank Moody as he grapples with writer’s block, a failed relationship with his soulmate and his apparent inability to resist whatever evil — sex, drugs, alcohol or a combination of it all — throws his way. Duchovny struggled to find the right role for the moment behind him X-Files explosive, but charming, irreverent Hank is a perfect match for his particular charisma and watching him navigate the sensual minefield of his life is equal parts rich indulgence and cautionary tale.
All seven seasons of Californication are now streaming on SBS On Demand.
Call my agent!
Welcome to Agence Samuel Kerr, one of the most prestigious talent agencies in Paris. Its high-powered, multi-talented staff represent the masters of French cinema, and hardly a minute goes by without the likes of Juliette Binoche, Monica Bellucci, Isabelle Huppert and Adjani (all playing their fictional versions with ease) gracing the ASK office with their bright presence and/or making life difficult for their agents.
That’s the setup Call my agent!a workplace comedy with a chic showbiz twist – while the men and women of ASK may be part of an interesting job, they’re just trying to get through the day and climb the next ladder in the business without falling apart. Its combination of 9-to-five striving and show-business, presented in a smart, intelligent way, has made the show not only an international sensation but a format that every country wants to copy – India, Italy, Indonesia, South Korea, Poland, the Philippines and the UK have all created their own versions of Call my agent!and China and the US are currently developing theirs. But nothing beats the original.
All four seasons of Call My Agent! now airing on SBS On Demand.
Father’s Problems
Parenting: people have been doing it for, oh, several thousand years now, you’d think we’d have a handle on it. That’s not the case! All generations find that parenting is pre-loaded with joy but also full of stress, confusion and devastation of all stripes, even if you have the older generation to support you… especially when you have the older generation to support you.
This is from Gemma (Aimee Lou Wood The White Lotus) finds out after a one-night stand turns her unexpected mother, and her best friend into her deadbeat father Malcolm (David Morrissey), who is eager to close out his years of poor parenting by being the best grandchild he can be. What’s worse is that he looks like garbage at almost everything he tries, but he points to the effort. Father’s Problems it’s not afraid to sink its boots into the faults and foibles of its characters, but for all its goofiness, it’s sympathetic to people trying their best in the face of everyday chaos.
Both seasons of Daddy Issues air on SBS On Demand.
Late Bloomer
The struggle is real: can you be honest and respect the traditions of your upbringing, family and community and be true to your spirit and desires when they conflict?
That was the dilemma facing Canadian comedian and content creator Jasmeet Raina, who made a name for himself online in the 2010s under the name Jus Reign with his videos about his immigrant Punjabi family and his take on race and class. After shelving her doctoral studies to focus on digital content, Raina then took it a step further with her TV series Late Bloomerin which he explores his 30-something character’s balance between his native society and his ongoing ambitions. Oh, and there’s also a laptop that isn’t full of nice nude looks.
Season 1 of Late Bloomer is now streaming on SBS On Demand.
Raised by refugees
Top comedian Pax Assadi is very focused on his life and his TV comedy experience Raised by refugees, he told the interviewer he had never “put so much heart and soul and blood, sweat and tears into something before”. It sounds exhausting, sure, but Assadi’s big heart and quick wit are front and center in this story of trying to find your place in a new society where it’s already hard enough to find your place in your family.
Set in Auckland at the turn of the new millennium, Raised by refugees follows the Iranian-Pakistani Assadi family (with Pax playing his father, Afnan) as they deal with the normal problems of everyday life – the first day at a new job, the first day at a new school – before the September 11 attacks make life even more difficult for the refugee family.
Both seasons of Raised by Refugees air on SBS On Demand.
Get more laughs at GOLD COLLECTION OF COMES on SBS On Demand.
