Television series
Snuff Box
Snuff Box is a sketch show dressed as a darkly absurdist period piece, with Matt Berry and Robert Fulcher as executioners in a Georgian gentlemen's club. It's deliberately crude, surreal, and hostile to good taste—violently funny if you're on its wavelength, utterly baffling if you're not. For people who find mainstream comedy too polite.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy deadpan, slightly absurd comedy that wanders off into odd little side-worlds and rewards a close ear for period-flavoured silliness rather than a tight plot.
Skip it if you want a single continuous plot, since this drifts between a gentlemen's club for hangmen and unconnected sketches that can feel patchy when a bit misses.
What it asks of you: Half an hour across six episodes, so it's a light commitment, but the sketches arrive quickly and you need to keep up with shifts in tone.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Mighty Boosh2004
Same era of British absurdist sketch comedy with anarchic energy and elaborate visual gags. Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt create a world where logic bends and nothing is sacred.
But Gets very weird very fast, and relies on commitment to its own rules rather than traditional punchlines. Some bits drag.
Jam2000
Chris Morris's darkly experimental sketch show that treats grotesque subject matter with complete deadpan seriousness. Uncomfortable, inventive, and genuinely unsettling in ways that shouldn't be funny.
But Genuinely disturbing. Some sketches are so dark they're more queasy than amusing. Not remotely comforting viewing.
Brass Eye1997
Chris Morris again, but as a fake news show. Viciously smart satire wrapped in the language of earnest current affairs. Punches down at stupidity and credulity with surgical precision.
But Can feel quite mean-spirited, and some of the targets feel dated now. Requires you to stay mentally alert throughout.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Snuff Box
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Sopranos1999
Both shows trust that you'll find monsters compelling enough to watch them do ordinary things. Both understand that the most interesting comedy comes from people who shouldn't be likeable.
A complete tonal opposite that shares Snuff Box's willingness to feature truly unlikeable people as protagonists and spend time in confined spaces—a New Jersey house instead of a gentlemen's club. Both understand that character comedy lives in moral ambiguity.
But Six seasons of slowly mounting dread is very different from 30-minute bursts of chaos. The emotional weight can be crushing.
More like this (7)
Limmy's Show2009
Scottish sketch series with the same willingness to be uncomfortable and weird. Brian Limond builds absurd logic systems and then lives inside them. Genuinely original.
But Relies heavily on the strength of individual sketches. When they don't land, there's nowhere to hide.
Look Around You2002
Parody of 1980s educational programming that commits entirely to the bit. Two seasons of perfectly executed pastiche that's funny because it's precise, not because it's winking at you.
But The joke is subtle and repetitive. If you don't find the format funny, nothing will convert you.
The League of Gentlemen1999
British sketch comedy that revels in grotesque characters and moral bankruptcy. Dark, character-driven, with genuine plot threads running through episodes.
But Some sketches overstay their welcome. The grotesqueness can feel like the point rather than a means to one.
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace2004
Parody of bad 1980s horror TV with perfect comedic discipline. Every frame is a joke about the format itself, and it never breaks character.
But Works entirely through commitment to the bit. If pastiches don't appeal, you'll find it tedious.
Monty Python's Flying Circus1969
The original British absurdist sketch show. Less dark than Snuff Box, but equally willing to abandon logic and embrace pure silliness. Foundation reading.
But Some sketches feel thin now, and the pacing is slower than modern comedy. Can feel more quaint than genuinely funny.
A Bit of Fry and Laurie1987
Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie's sketch series has wit, verbal dexterity, and some genuine oddness. Less transgressive than Snuff Box but skilled enough to sustain itself.
But More mainstream than edgy. If you want Snuff Box's nastiness, this is too polite and clever.
The Death of Stalin2017
Both use historical or formal settings as a playground for contemporary darkness. Both understand that the funniest thing about power is how absurd it becomes when you actually watch it happen.
Armando Iannucci's absurdist satire of Soviet bureaucracy. Black and white, very British, and uses formal period settings as a frame for anarchic political comedy. Grotesque characters in an antique world.
But Quite talky and politically engaged. The humour is more cerebral than physical. Some will find it academic.
People
Writing
- Matt BerryCreator
- Rich FulcherCreator
Recommended by
The Mighty Boosh, Look Around You, Toast of London, Big Train, The Catherine Tate Show, Come Fly with Me