It's weird for me, turning my computer off and temporarily abandoning my youtube addiction to storm across London and watch Adam Buxton jack me up on his own.
Irony aside, Adam and friends have guided a generation of us into growing old while simultaneously refusing to do so. Determined not to grow old in mind as well as beard, he continues to give us what all children want, and what all grumpy old fogeys want - sitting around with your friends going: "Look what I found. WTF eh?" It's the lazy yet playfully eccentric humour that makes us Brits so terribly adorable what what. For those of you still clutching for a quick-capsule definition of what Adam Buxton is, think 'A/V comedian'. In fact, extend that to 'Patron of whatever madness can be pulled in and out of a camera' as he gives us an all too brief tour of the contents of his laptop, as compiled recently and throughout the illustrious and highly recommended Bug show at the Greenwich Comedy Festival.
The show's charm is its reckless entropy. Nothing runs to cues, Adam simply plucks things from his arsenal, if and when he can remember where he put them. Far from being ramshackle, these erring hiccups make up some of the funniest moments. A crowd of internet junkies will only react to technical failings with a recognising glee and adulation. Tonight the circus begins with Tiga's 'Shoes' the most eighties-flavoured video you've seen since the seventies. Next, zZz's 'Grip' doing some rather hypnotizing things with trampolines. Ladyscraper's 'Bad Ketchup' is a painful but beautiful reminder of what happens when Transformer toys meet Breakcore Gabba, followed by modern classic stop motion short 'Western Spagetti' by Pes.
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Next up, a music video for The Bird and The Bee's 'Again and Again' an animation made from screen capture shots of someone's Macbook software. Particularly confusing since Adam is using the same software to flit between the videos (entertainment, thou shalt find thyself filling every crack). Finally we see ThreeLeggedLeg's take on NASA's track 'Gifted' and just for a while things get arty.
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Then Garth Jennings joins Adam, adding further to the charming domesticity of the Chinwag format. Garth gives us an again all too brief insight into some of the more amusing tribulations of his career. He's done some surprisingly innovative things. You know REM's Imitation of Life video, the one you thought was all edited together? It's not, the whole thing is one 20 second shot. Watch it, it's mental. Beck's Lost Cause video was put together with just 7 seconds of original footage. Anyone who's ever dabbled in media studies will appreciate this extreme form of 'looking inside the box' that Garth Jennings has mastered. Which ought to remind you of what he and Adam did with Thom Yorke and that scene from Se7en.
Naturally, for us double-dipped fans of both Adam Buxton and Radiohead, the highlights of the show were the making-of snippets and out takes from Adam and Garth's contributions to the Scotch Mist sessions Radiohead did for the In Rainbows album two years ago Yep, going up that hill was their idea. Throwing stuff at them in slow motion was their idea. And of course the helmet cams. Who else would come up with helmet cams?
All in all, ruddy good fun. Too darn short though. I seriously could have watched this all night, and it's the kind of entertainment that really can go on all night. Makes you want to get your ass on the internet right now. Ahem.
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