Watch This: Snuff Box

I've made a lot of posts about great shows you should be watching, and a good handful of them have been British. That's for a few different reasons. The first being, I'm a fan of a lot of things British, and in particular their brand of humor. British humor, I feel, takes a certain amount of intellect not always present in American comedy (there are, of course, exceptions on both sides). I'm also of the opinion that, in general, British TV networks are more open to shows that are edgy and different. Another show that falls into these categories is the darkly hilarious "Snuff Box", a twisted but amazing sketch show. More after the break!
Imagine this if you will. Two men sitting in the lounge of a gentleman's club, drink whiskey by the fire in tall leather armchairs. One asks the other if he could re-do anything in his life if he had the chance. To his friend's surprise, he says he wouldn't change a single thing. "So, for instance-every time you were late for a train. You wouldn't want to change that at all?" "Nope," he replies "Being late can make you mysterious." Despite his answers, he keeps being asked hypothetical situations to see if there's anything at all he would do differently. Finally, he's asked "What about that time you got caught in your dad's study jerkin' off over a map of Scotland?" His friend doesn't answer, instead asking "Wait a minute...how the HELL did you know that?" As it turns out, it was in his diary, which his friend stole and has been reading aloud in the lounge.

If you're still reading this article and haven't browsed to some other website...hats off! This is one of the many sketches from "Snuff Box", a sketch show created by, written by, and starring Matt Berry (a Brit) and Rich Fulcher (an American). Like many great shows, it lasted for a short period-one series (season) of 6 episodes. But they're some of the best 6 episodes of TV you'll ever see.

Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher

The overall arching setting of Snuff Box is that Berry and Fulcher play slightly fictionalized versions of themselves, working as two hangmen that only occasionally hang the condemned and more often just hang out in the gentleman's club, drinking, reading each others diaries, and recalling crazy nights out. On top of that are great side sketches that are often whacked and strange but always hilarious.

For example, in one sketch Fulcher is approached by Berry on the street, who is holding a sign that merely says "golf sale" with an arrow pointing towards an alley. Fulcher decides to follow him, further and further into dim alley ways. Finally, he's drawn into a corner where he's suddenly surrounded by people with similar signs, who beat him over the head with them. Cut to Fulcher now standing on the street with a sign, offering to show a passerby the way. Another sketch, and a favorite of mine, involves Berry continually going to a store to pick up a pair of silver cowboy boots, only to be met with an odd disdain each time by the clerks, leading to fist fights each time.

I won't spoil any more sketches (though I will post another favorite at the end) given Snuff Box's sadly short lifespan, so I'll leave it at this. If you love your comedy off the wall, strange and dark, but hilarious, don't look any further than the fantastic "Snuff Box".