Thursday, August 18, 2005

Katy Brand - Celebrities Are Gods



You'd have to be living in a cave on a remote island in the middle of nowhere, with really bad TV reception and no branch of WHSmiths not to have noticed that we're living in a heat-reading, mind-numbed, celebrity obsessed country. People who we'd otherwise hope never to have the misfortune to encounter are being propelled into the spotlight and taking up precious time on the TV schedule which should be dedicated to, in my opinion, people with talent. Since talent no longer seems to be a prerequisite for fame, it seems strange perhaps that having written a show worshipping celebrities as gods, Katy Brand has buckets of the stuff. Katy carefully peels back the layers of celebrity to reveal their well-hidden depths - fanta fanatic Charlotte Church, manipulative Kate Moss and a relentlessly "normal" Kate Winslet - celebrities as you've never seen them before. Brand's alternative take on these A-listers is bold, refreshing and is unltimately a masterclass in character comedy. Katy is an engaging and versatile performer surely destined to join the celebrity flock, despite her intelligence and imagination. A very funny show in a very hot room, make sure you take some fizzy water with you. (Do you see what I did there?)