Bordering on genius (Banzai)

Member Name: tim_russell

Product:	Banzai
Date:	21/06/01 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hilarious, surreal, original & imaginative

Disadvantages: It's over too quickly!

Well, what the hell was that all about eh? Not since the early days of "Vic Reeves' Big Night Out" has such surreal, absurd nonsense made me laugh so heartily. I'm talking, of course, about "Banzai", which made its terrestrial TV debut on C4 last night.

For those of you who missed it, the premise of "Banzai" is simple. Viewers bet on the outcome of various challenges, ranging from the simple (two firemen trying to knock each other over by hosing each other) to the rather more complex (an old woman trying to down a half pint of sherry before the intro to Marillion's "Kayleigh" finishes, thus depriving Fish of the opportunity to start singing). Other bets involved Supermarket Trolley Jousting, Guess Phil Tufnell's Arse, and many more.

Deafeningly excitable commentary is provided by Bert Kwouk, and the links are livened up by an assortment of possibly stereotyped but nonetheless amusing Japanese characters. Guests on last night's show included the aforementioned Fish and Phil Tufnell, along with Chris Tarrant, who fell victim to the Shake Hands Man, whose role is to interview celebrities while trying to shake their hands for as long as possible. It took Tarrant over 3 minutes to extricate himself whilst fielding mindlessly banal questions about "Millionaire".

If you've not seen "Banzai", this review doesn't capture the surreal, anarchic quality of the show and has probably left you even more baffled than I was at 11pm last night. It's on again tonight (21 June) at 1030pm, so turn on & claim that you were into it from the start, before it becomes as hugely popular as it inevitably will.

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