We went to the lovely yet uncomfortable Drill Hall on Thursday night to attend the now-regular-before-the-filming That Mitchell & Webb Look tryout night where a whole load of sketches that don’t score quite enough points to be given a place in the To Film list are performed in front of a mostly live studio audience whose laughter is measure by some boffins using secret scientific means. Probably. Some of it was filmed for the inevitable DVD. It was not for transmission so Super Producer Gareth Edwards was without the usual suit but did of course mention red flickering lights and high visibility black t-shirts to somebody sitting near me’s delight. Also no green flashing pineapple thing or disembodied voices which was a shame. The Drill Hall was as unbearably clammy as usual though, hurrah!

*SPOILER ALERT*

Here are the sketches that were performed, in a handy Hit, Miss or Maybe format:

HIT!
Car showroom: Nissan Almera does not transform into robotic Almeratron as promised.

Behind the scenes: Sorry! remake. Very good.

Sam & Joe 1: Wearing vaguely women’s clothing. Good first sketch but idea is repeated and weakened.

‘Get A Baby’ advert. Based on Rob’s recent new lifestyle change?

Chess players in the style of Big Brother contestants. Very funny, more so than it sounds.

2010 House with the Webdesignerson family. Very Mitchell & Webb Look.

Arse (in the style of Apple) shop. Great sketch that becomes a sketch about sketches.

Dosh For Gold! Good silly one.

Bed & Booze makeover show featuring drunk B&B couple from series 3.

Cash For Plutonium! Men in toilet queue loved this sketch.

Awful obituary poem in local newspaper. Great.

French Grandstand. Gloriously silly fun.

www.massiveyachts.co.uk The eccentric billionaires have a new idea. Woman in front of us got very excited.

Laboratory-based sketch with punchline I don’t wish to spoil. Very funny, led to a bit of corpsing.
Reports Mode 1: Bavarian TV show. Excellently silly sketch surprisingly not written by Simon Kane.

Reports Mode 2: Viewers’ reports.

Two evil wizards turn up at the same time. Great and geeky.

MI6 planning Diana’s death but with twist ending. A bit too “ooh” for telly?

Ad men in meeting about Titanic before it sets sail. Funny wordy one.

Reports Mode 3: Classic Report.

Barristers: Half drunk for a better life.

MISS!
Stand Up comedy club for aliens. Good start but missing a punchline.

Alan stood up by bride so friend Michael stands in for her. Too long.

Sam & Joe 2: Vaguely female bee keeping outfit.

Sam & Joe 3: Knights etc.

Seen the new Shakespeare? A bit weak compared to other sketches.

Convoluted Phil Collins FM sketch that went on too long.

Porn & Drugs Towers theme park. A bit obvious.

Low budget afternoon TV quiz show with repetitive interrupty host. Not that strong.

Donnie Cosey : A Prayer & A Pint 1: Tehran. Not bad but not great.

Alan Bevan with slapstick gene.

Donnie Cosey: A Prayer & A Pint 2: Large Hadron Collider.

Donnie Cosey: A Prayer & A Pint 3: Colliers Wood.

MAYBE!
Artificial Intelligence 1: Internet comes to life in Aussie PM’s house.

Danny and Philip in hot air balloon: celebrity chef kidnapper. Not bad but not brilliant.

Artificial Intelligence 2: Skeptical PM’s son. Could work if done right.

Martin and Neil door to door like mormons but in fact just curious about world.

Artificial Intelligence 3: Rob as Aussie PM. Quite funny but not quite there.

“Good with people” person at party.

Voice of God records voice over. Not bad.

Lapdancing sector saved by government.

So… the biggest winners were as follows:

Sorry! remake.
Apple-style ‘Arse’ shop.
Awful obituary poem.
Massiveyachts.so.uk
Laboratory.
Reports Mode.
MI6 Diana plan.
Titanic ad men.
Half drunk lifestyle.

We (politely) demand that these sketches are made when production begins in January.

After the recording we had a nice drink and a chat with Mr Guest List Benefactor and all round funny man Jason Hazelely where things temporarily went weird due to top comedy writwer and co-creator of Father Ted Arthur Mathews randomly thinking that I was Gareth Edwards. I checked and I was not him. Said hello to Rob too but James Bachman (who also helped out with guest list) was busy so I shall say hello via the medium of blogging instead: “Hello.” We had fun.