Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Matt Berry, Rich Fulcher, Richard Ayoade,
Alice Bird, Peter Kyriacou | Written by Matt Berry & Rich Fulcher
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 180 minutes | Directed by Michael Cumming
Fans of the Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd and Garth Marengi's Dark Place will feel very much at home in the world of Snuff Box, or Berry & Fulcher's Snuff Box as it was also known. It's essentially a sketch show presented as a surreal sitcom, fronted by Boosh regulars Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher. If you were a fan of Boosh, you'll like this. If you have the time to put into this DVD release, you'll be won over. If you just dip in and out though... prepare to be baffled.
The linking “theme”, if you can call it that, is hanging. Berry is High Executioner to the King of England, Rich is his assistant, and the two spend most of their time in a private gentlemen's club for hangman. This setting forms the basis of the two's “adventures”, such as they are, and provides the link for the series' ongoing running gags. It's frequently very silly, and both Berry and Fulcher have that sort of modern deadpan style which takes some getting used to. However, by about episode three, you'll probably find yourself warming to the whole package.
And some of the running gags are crackers. Matt's constant flirting with beautiful women, which ends with a hearty “fuck you!” and an act of destruction when they reveal they have boyfriends. Rich's regular visits to 1888 to Matt's great-great-uncle Sir Charles, who appears to be Jack the Ripper, where he gets showered with prostitutes. Matt's attempts to buy silver cowboy boots which inevitably end with the shop assistant beating the crap out of him... It's all utterly predictable and borderline insane, if that's not a contradiction, but the gags basically wear you down: give it three episodes and you'll suddenly find yourself discussing the eating of rabbits, passing yourself off as “a great kisser” or demanding “whiskyyyyyyyy”. The theme song, written and performed by Berry, is also damn good. Even when it's done in the style of Phil Collins.
EXTRAS *** Inside The Snuff Box — 18 minutes of behind the scenes footage; Outtakes; Commentaries for episodes 1, 2 and 6; Soundtrack — all the songs; stills gallery; an utterly pointless DVD trailer.