School of Comedy

School of Comedy

The title card used for the show.
Genre Comedy
Created by Laura Lawson
Directed by Alex Hardcastle
Starring Various Actors/Actresses
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 12
Production
Executive producer(s) Andy Harries
Producer(s) Laura Lawson
Editor(s) Steve Andrews
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Left Bank Pictures
Broadcast
Original channel E4 (series)
Original run 1 October 2009 – 18 October 2010
External links
Website

School of Comedy is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was turned into a television show after a successful run of review shows at the Edinburgh festival.[1] The cast is entirely made up of children much like in the popular musical Bugsy Malone which creator Laura Lawson often references to in interviews about the show.[1]

The show comprises sketches involving a very diverse group of characters; from a lesbian couple in 1940s war-time Britain, to a pair of South-African security guards. The show is unique from other comedy sketch shows because even though the show's content is mature enough to need to be shown after the watershed, the roles are all played by teenage children of ages 11 – 15.

The show ran for two series' on E4 from 1 October 2009 [2] to 18 October 2010.[3]

The show has been credited with starting the careers of both Will Poulter and Jack Harries. Poulter has gone on to star in films such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and We're the Millers, while Harries has gone on to start a YouTube channel named "JacksGap", which currently has over 3 million subscribers and has made Harries both well-known and popular on the internet.

Cast / Character(s)

Actor/Actress Character(s)
Will Poulter Bota Saffas - One of two South-African security guards.
Geoff - A 1970s copper.
Leonard Lizard - A greedy, closeted 1980s businessman who founded Lizard Corporation. Parody of Gordon Gekko.
Mr Mills - A blunt and 'non-PC' school teacher.
Pongo - A 1940s homosexual navy officer whose wife is a lesbian.
Terry - A 'typical white van man' (a British stereotype of a handyman).
And smaller non-recurring parts
Jack Harries Marv - A hot-shot Hollywood movie producer.
Marcus - An employee of Lizard Corporation, and the object of Leonard's affection.
And smaller non-recurring parts
Beth Rylance Angharad - A rude blind lady who despises her husband.
Karel - An Eastern-European immigrant working for a rich British family.
Margot - A 1940s lesbian.
Vota Saffas - One of two South-African security guards.
And smaller non-recurring parts

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Interview with Laura Lawson". E4 Website. Retrieved on 16 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Channel 4's Series 1, Episode 1 Summary". Channel 4 Website. Retrieved on 16 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Channel 4's Series 2, Episode 6 Summary". Channel 4 Website. Retrieved on 16 June 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 School Of Comedy - Production Details, British Comedy Guide. (2008)

External links