Forget the debate about the ethics of this show, the bottom line is this: the sketches in Tramadol Nights are embarrassingly poor. I won't therefore try and defend the morality of them as frankly they aren't worth defending.
As for the stand-up, I do enjoy Boyle if I'm honest. Watching this show reminds me of watching Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle in that you wish it were just all stand-up as the stand-up is so much better than the sketches. Still, I think Boyle has gone too far with the shock factor. In any field, the more shock tactics are used the less effective they become. Boyle already seems to find himself with no more taboos to break and hence no where else to go.
This will serve as an interesting test case in the limits of TV comedy. Boyle tells what are essentially the most offensive jokes conceivable and, if Ofcom let this pass (although I have a feeling they won't), then from this point on anything goes.
I'm not quite sure whether that's a good thing or not.
As for the stand-up, I do enjoy Boyle if I'm honest. Watching this show reminds me of watching Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle in that you wish it were just all stand-up as the stand-up is so much better than the sketches. Still, I think Boyle has gone too far with the shock factor. In any field, the more shock tactics are used the less effective they become. Boyle already seems to find himself with no more taboos to break and hence no where else to go.
This will serve as an interesting test case in the limits of TV comedy. Boyle tells what are essentially the most offensive jokes conceivable and, if Ofcom let this pass (although I have a feeling they won't), then from this point on anything goes.
I'm not quite sure whether that's a good thing or not.