Big Shiny Balls Of Steel (Balls Of Steel)

Member Name: danball

Product:	Balls Of Steel
Date:	06/03/09 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Neg's Urban Sports

Disadvantages: Mark Dolan, The Annoying Devil amongst others.

Balls Of Steel is a somewhat controversial TV comedy show which was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and was presented by Mark Dolan. To date there has been three series.

The idea of this show is that the 'acts' perform pranks or stunts on the unsuspecting public (and occassionally celebrities) infront of hidden cameras and, at the end of the show, the studio audience choose who has the biggest 'balls of steel' (who was the bravest).

I personally found this very hit and miss. Some of the sketches were hilarious whereas others were dull and even annoying.

I particularly like 'Neg's Urban Sports'. This consists of the lead character, Neg, creating a different Urban Sport based loosely on an actual sport. 'Burger Bowl Off' and 'Urban Sprinting' have been the best of the lot. In 'Burger Bowl Off' Neg orders a large amount of fast food from well known food chains and drives around in the car throwing the food at people on the street. It sounds pretty pathetic, maybe it is, but the way in which he does it is always funny. 'Urban Sprinting' sees Neg taunt security guards in shopping centres so that they chase him. Another clearly childish prank but one that works very well. One attempt failed miserably when a member of the public grabbed him and pinned him to the floor.

Some of the other acts on the show are very good Alex Zane presents a series of fake gameshows where the contestants are told that their answer is wrong, even when it is right. In one sketch, which was based around the Mastermind format of having participants answer questions on a specialist subject, the contestant was answering questions on Anne Frank. When informed that his answer was incorrect, he flew into a rage. Yet another funny but immature thing to find amusing.

Come to think of it, everything that I find amusing on this show is really childish. I think by reviewing this show in a positive light I have given you all a great insight into my sense of humour. I might be a grown adult but I struggle to resist some cheap laughs at peoples expense. I have the sense of humour of a fourteen year old boy at times. Not a bad thing surely?

'The Annoying Devil' is one of the acts that I dislike. The idea behind this one is that a man has dressed up as a devil and does things to annoy members of the public. I just find this character annoying as opposed to entertaining but one prank that he did that I found amusing was when he drove a tractor very very slowly down a narrow country lane with a huge line of traffic following him. This was probably funnier as he was sat atop the tractor in full devil outfit.

I feel I should provide a full list of acts that have appeared on the show but it might be too long so I'll just list the prominent ones: Neg, Alex Zane, Olivia Lee, Thaila Zucchi, The Annoying Devil, Big Gay Following, The Pain Men (Pancho and Pritchard from Dirty Sanchez) and The Militant Black Guy. There have been a few more but the ones listed above appear alot more frequently than others.

I should also point out that the presenter, Mark Dolan, can be very annoying. I'm not overly keen on his presenting style and, to me, he comes across as arrogant and smug. The links inbetween the sketches seem heavily scripted and Dolan does not seem to make any attempt to make them seem believable. Poor presenting overall really.

This show made for perfect friday night viewing. If you want something you can watch with your brain switched off, a few beers and unwind after a long working week, this is for you.

Summary: Good comedy show.