Home / Arts and Entertainment / Fast Show: 3 Decades Later, Social Media Keeps Cult Comedy Alive
Fast Show: 3 Decades Later, Social Media Keeps Cult Comedy Alive
24 Jan
Summary
- Cult comedy The Fast Show, created by Higson and Whitehouse, thrives via social media.
- A live stage show, featuring 70 revived characters, tours since 2024.
- The show honors the late Caroline Aherne with a montage of her sketches.
More than three decades after its inception, the cult sketch comedy "The Fast Show," created by Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse, continues to resonate with audiences. The show's innovative format of rapid-fire, short sketches, which aired until 2000, has found a new life on social media platforms, with GIFs and memes keeping its characters and catchphrases in the cultural consciousness.
Higson and Whitehouse, friends since 1977, developed "The Fast Show" by refining their learnings from classic sketch shows. The series, known for its prolific character creation, squeezed an average of 27 sketches into each 30-minute episode, a significantly faster pace than its contemporaries. This approach was influenced by the fast-paced visuals of MTV pop videos.
A stage show, "An Evening With The Fast Show," began touring in 2024, reviving around 70 characters, with "Ooh, suit you sir" from Ken and Kenneth being a particularly memorable catchphrase. The production includes six original cast members and pays tribute to the late Caroline Aherne, who passed away in 2016, through a montage of her iconic sketches.
Both Higson and Whitehouse remain active in their respective fields. Whitehouse stars in "Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing" and will appear in the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series. Higson is the author of "The Enemy" young adult series and the Young Bond novels. The creators have not ruled out future projects with the "Fast Show" team.
