The best comedy on demand

The week's best comedy on demand:

Mascots

Christopher Guest doesn't exactly break his mould with his latest mockumentary, set like Best in Show or A Mighty Wind, in an obscure and competitive subculture. But the semi-improvised formula has worked for so long, why try to meddle?

His new film, exclusive to Netflix, is set among the weird, furry (or at least foamy) world of sports mascots. all vying for the coveted Gold Fluffy Award. The cast includes Jane Lynch, Fred Willard, Ed Begley, Jr, Chris O'Dowd Jennifer Coolidge and Kerry Godliman, and although critics haven't rated it as one of his best movies, the oddballs still score plenty of laughs.

Cuban Fury

Also new to Netflix is the 2014 movie Cuban Fury, which stars Nick Frost plays a washed-up former salsa king, who picks up his dancing shoes again to woo his new boss, played by Raschid Jones. It's an entertaining, if unremarkable, romcom, with stand-out performances from Ian McShane as a sort of grizzled, alcoholic, Cockney Mr Miyagi and Kayvan Novak as a big gay stereotype. Read our original review here.

Made Of Human

Prolific podcaster Sofie Hagen is eight episodes into this podcast, on the increasingly relevant issue of mental health, as it finally comes into the mainstream. The premise is that the Danish comic speaks to people about how they function as human beings. How do they cope? How do they deal with their darkness?

Her guest this week is Sara Pascoe, and they discuss jealousy, friendships, break-ups and therapy, and older episodes feature Richard Gadd, Katy Brand and Jise Long, among others… It's on iTunes here.

Curmudgeons

This critically acclaimed short film is directed by Danny DeVito, who also stars as one of the titular old-timers, alongside the late David Margulies. It has just been screened at the London Film Festival, but is also available free to view on Vimeo.

Published: 15 Oct 2016