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Adam Buxton – Comedy Season

 

 

Devoid of the usual Light Entertainment elements of a quintessential TV double act, Adam and Joe’s mutual passion for music and film offered them a unique edge over their television comedy counterparts. Meeting Joe Cornish on moving to the Westminster Public School at the age of fourteen, Buxton immediately saw something appealing in the young movie reviewer for LBC. This came with added benefits when the pair were able to attain complimentary tickets to the cinema to watch the biggest films of the day. Attending exclusive screenings of these major blockbusters was to give Adam and Joe the opportunity to bond. With mutual interests in film and comedy, Adam had found a likeminded counterpart in Mr Cornish which would prove vital in the years to come.

 

Cornish wasn’t the only future entertainment heavyweight to attend Westminster School. Whilst there Adam was to meet the journalist and broadcaster Louis Theroux whom he would go on to make a lasting connection with. It seems incredible to find such early interactions between two people who both would become giants in their respective fields before they became who they were destined to become. Narrowly scraping into public school, for the first two years, Adam felt unrelated and detained to his upper class peers and struggled to find his own place. There were no likeminded students, no familiar sights and more importantly no girls. It was clear that he had little interest in the subject until he met a certain fourteen year old Joe Cornish who he was to bond over The Thompson Twins and Not The Nine O’Clock News. Suddenly the school seemed okay and in Joe, Adam had found a kindred spirit.

 

The early nineties brought some radical changes for independent television and Channel Four’s growing popularity offered the landscape to extend. Under the broadcaster’s objective to promote and create a quota of public access shows, Takeover TV first aired on the 6th May 1995. Answering an advert in the NME, Adam sent a video tape into Channel Four in the hope of being successful. These consisted of a selection of recorded skits which he and Joe regularly constructed in their spare time. Inspired by Monty Python and Not The Nine O’Clock News, there were always elements of surrealism and silliness to their work and this gave him the inspiration to submit it for approval to this interactive forum. This, together with Cornish’s film critic background offered their work a cinematic approach.

 

In television terms, Takeover TV was the first show to offer a platform to talented members of the public to drive their own content which was totally revolutionary for the time. In the era before social media and YouTube, this offered the opportunity for the audience to create and produce content and in turn gave birth to a new generation of comedians including Graham Norton. Adam and Joe quickly became promoted to the hosts of the show and presided over the array of content which Takeover TV boasted.

 

Just a year later, Adam and Joe’s double act status was assured when they secured their own late night self titled Channel Four sketch show. Influenced by their mutual admiration for film, The Adam and Joe Show paid homage to iconic cinematic moments in the form of satirical surrealism. This was the perfect  amalgamation of both their entertainment passions and with Cornish’s skills as a director, the show took on an extra dimension. Combining all the elements of a quintessential TV double act with reverential nods to seminal pop culture, this was a twenty first century take on adult Light Entertainment which appealed to the Britpop generation. The term cult viewing has sadly been adopted to represent bureaucratic viewing habits but The Adam and Joe Show developed a cult following for its satirical and surreal moments of thinking mans comedy which defined a generation.

 

When faced with Channel Four being unable to recommission The Adam and Joe Show, the pair gradually edged towards radio, first as holiday cover for Ricky Gervais on Xfm before inheriting the show in 2003. For three years Adam and Joe brought their irreverent, natural chemistry to Saturday mornings and helped to set the benchmark for radio entertainment hereafter. They soon realised that their rapport and professional chemistry was perfect for the medium of radio as no longer was their comedy curtailed by TV budgets because, to use an overused cliche, pictures are always better on radio! In the era when radio comedy was arguably reserved for overtly political middle aged intellectuals, Adam and Joe were on the forefront of a movement which made comedy cool again.

 

A move to BBC6Music in 2007 would offer the pair a new outlet for their unique relationship with the public. By this time, Joe was already enjoying a blossoming film career in Hollywood and therefore the acclaimed writer and broadcaster Edith Bowman was drafted in as Cornish’s replacement. Despite developing a great friendship with Edith which transcended the airwaves, there was never any doubt that without Joe, the show’s dynamic had changed. Yet with his vast experience in the world of broadcasting, Adam was now ready for a completely new challenge.

 

In 2015 he launched The Adam Buxton Podcast which originally logged his thoughts whilst on walks with his dog Rosie. His relaxed meandering monologue was the perfect complement to the audio format and listeners were subscribing to hear his gentle dulcet tones pontificating about life in his usual understated manner. In the era before the influx of personal perspective celebrity podcasts, Buxton was somewhat of a pioneer and unbeknownst to him, he was forging a path which all celebrity podcasters have since trodden. The podcast quickly expanded to welcome guests to collaborate with Adam and this resulted in a timely reunion with Joe Cornish who has since become a regular contributor.

 

The success of the podcast has spawned many live shows mainly at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank with an array of guests including Louis Theroux. Buxton is in the rare position as one of the only figures to have had a front row seat on the development and popularisation of the podcast format and remains a pioneer of this new avenue for comedy performers to shine. Yet his grounded, modest approach to his work frequently forces his achievements to go under the radar. To many, Adam Buxton represents the very best in original comedy output and his vast cv supports this. In my years of Beyond The Title, I have consistently wrestled with the notion of validity. Yet with the inclusion of the heavyweight Adam Buxton, it’s a sure sign that no one is truly off limits.