Posts Tagged ‘suicide’

Tube Drivers Whinge

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

3 and Out is the new comedy movie starring Mackenzie Crook (Gareth from The Office) about a man trying to get paid off from his job as a London tube driver by killing a third suicider in as many weeks.

Typically for “Whinge Britain” - the land in which everyone has to have something to complain about - tube drivers have taken exception to this. You can feel the tears welling up, can’t you?

So Crook and his costars have got together to defend the movie, and rightly so.

Drivers’ union Aslef has criticised the film for its “insulting” storyline.

Crook, who said he was “very proud” of the British-made movie, said he was “disappointed” people had been “jumping to conclusions”.

“They’re imagining we’ve made a very distasteful, bad-taste film, which we haven’t,” he said while promoting Three and Out in central London.

The movie also features Colm Meaney (ex of Star Trek, Far and Away) who said that the film was more about relationships than suicide.

“It’s about two guys who meet in the most bizarre circumstances, become friends and learn to care about each other.”

“I don’t think anyone involved in the film would argue that suicide is a laughing matter,” he told BBC News.

“But this film is not about suicide, and I think anyone who sees the film will see that clearly.”

London Underground allowed filming of the movie at stations, which also carry promotional posters for the film that is released on 25 April, and is directed by Jonathan Gershfield.

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Posted in Comedy Ethics, Film | No Comments »

Ken Stott as Tony Hancock

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

The tortured soul that was Tony Hancock was remarkably portrayed by Ken Stott in this weeks Curse of Comedy drama on BBC Four.

Tender moments between him and his aging best friends young wife were counterpointed with a stark insight into the dark side of this most tragic of comics, who would finally succumb to depression and die following an overdose in an Australian hotel room.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Tony Hancock - viewing this masterly executed drama has, however prompted me to consider reappraising his output.

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Tears of the Clown?

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

We hear so much about the “tragic” comics – Tony Hancock, for instance – that the tragedy tends to overshadow the body of work that they leave behind.

Of course it makes a good story for the media to talk about lonely comics, holed up in hotel rooms, away from their families and friends, topping themselves.

Dwelling on these actions, however, enforces the tragedy, and increases the legend, which always results in us being unable to forget these characters.

Personally speaking I’m not a big fan of Tony Hancock’s; but there are others, such as Kenneth Williams, who might well have committed suicide, whose loss was a sad one for many British comedy fans.

Yet these types of figures don’t (I hope I’m not tempting fate here) seem to be with us anymore in the world of comedy, at least.  There are obviously the mental health problems that Paul Merton suffered, and other comics have terrible times on the road, from the club circuit all the way to the top.

Is it that these days comedians are made of sterner stuff?

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Posted in Film, Light Entertainment, Sitcom, Standup | No Comments »