It’s not often you get to be in the audience for a pilot TV show, let alone a live chat show with
A mix of straight-up punchlines and oddball quips
a warm-up act, special guests, commercial breaks and several references to past
contestants of The X Factor. However, there are only two members of Hot Concrete - Henry
Whaley and Charlie Billingham - so cue completely seamless costume changes and an array
of accents.
Luckily, as “the kids are into TV...and long-form comedy sketch shows,” Hot Concrete: Too
Hot (and Too Concretey) for TV at Just the Tonic Mash House is easily enjoyable, as the sold-out room shows.
The guest interviews and the ‘80s infomercial-style ads work as sketches, that contain a mix of
straight-up punchlines and oddball quips. There’s also a great recurring bit about Whaley not
understanding the concept of perspective, as he recounts being approached by “an
increasingly growing child” who later “shrunk away.” The adverts are shown on a monitor that is quite small so, though the sound was of good quality, it’s not clear how much the people seated further back could see.
There is some kind of underlying evil mastermind plot, but it’s not vital; the sketches are
good enough to stand alone and Whaley and Billingham are strong actors. As someone who’s
been in a few studio audiences, if only more of them were this well written.
