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Rating:
I miss you too much, the desire to appear on the home page again has become irresistible. I need to give in to the temptation, to embrace this charming mini-world of cultured rascals once more. You catch me (or rather, I let myself be caught) in a particularly disengaged reviewing period. Something that hasn't happened to me for seven years. It's been months that I haven't produced anything, and there's a reason, actually several. I don't like pieces too focused on the author, so I won't explain these reasons. Let's talk about fluff.
To give you a picture of my off period, I suggest this television article (it's on Prime Video). I noticed it from a distance, seeing a rain of incomprehensible memes on social media. Then I started to understand, there's a TV show that's drawing the attention of national pop idleness. It's called LOL, and already for the young internet slang, it might be annoying.
I talked about it with a colleague, and once I understood the fundamental dynamic, I couldn't resist diving into it. There are ten comedians (or supposed ones) who must coexist for six hours in a theater: whoever laughs or smiles is warned and then expelled. Obviously, the main occupation of the contestants is to find every way to break down the resistances and the facial muscles of the others.
The idea is simple and brilliant. Improvisation has its place, the characters are fairly balanced (ranging from Elio to two youngsters from The Jackal), and the purely comedic dynamics blend with the continuous identification of the spectator with the contestants. So from home, besides laughing heartily, you suffer a bit with the participants who make faces and grimaces of pain in an attempt not to break. Moreover, the relentless pursuit of others' laughter leads to a remarkable performance effort, with a plethora of gags and games, vulgarities, and finer touches, tap dancing, and grotesque characters. Mona Lisa (Elio) with four arms and Posaman. The expressions of the unfortunate ones who can't laugh in front of such creativity are priceless.
The formula works, the product is well-calibrated for the times we live in: great attention to the social world, disengagement, and synthesis, a generational mix between veterans and newcomers full of enthusiasm (but less technique, see Matano). A sort of very concise and themed reality show, blending the formal neglect and inevitable improvisation of the pure genre with some more structured and prepared moments, where the trash is studied and not seldom memorable.
If we want to be serious for a moment, the product also works due to a decidedly more sincere and sometimes vulgar language compared to the TV average. The profanity stands out, without however exceeding. This is not necessarily a virtue, but in this case, it is: with the help of online distribution, it becomes a key factor in giving a sense of friendly intimacy, in eliminating that annoying veil of hypocrisy of television. Off with the masks, off with the etiquette, let's have fun. A prank without too many pretensions (but more polished than one might think, even in the very clean editing) to spend a few hours in serenity, without brakes but without becoming heavy.
I devoured it in one evening. No regrets.
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