Celebrated UK actor-comedian Matt Berry has been a fantastically funny man since his days on The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, Snuff Box, and his most recent project that has garnered much attention since 2015's Season 3 of his hit show, Toast of London. Playing down-on-his-luck, Shakespearean-trained actor Steven Toast, Berry weaves his writing skills and acting skills at the same time (writing alongside frequent collaborator Arthur Mathews). Here's a taste of the wit involved in the show:
Berry's sense of humor takes place in a variety of forms: slapstick, dialogue, callbacks, and even music. Yes, music. In every episode, there's a moment of fourth-wall breaking where he sings about a certain situation stemming from the episode that makes him a more vulnerable man rather than the arrogant, looking-for-glory actor we know his character as.
Berry, who actually is trained and very involved with music, has released a few albums of his own, including the theme song to the show, "Take My Hand." Additionally, the show proceeds to envelop the audience in the music itself because that's how well written the show is.
It grabs you with the outrageousness, shocks you with the actions, but overall entertains you in a way that many shows lack today.
A running joke throughout the series is Steven's encounters with Clem Fandango, one of the guys who records Steven for various parts: a submarine voiceover, an adult film, and thousands of pages worth of GPS locations in India. Take a look:
Matt Berry's genius crafts a well-rounded comedy that is part-Seinfeld, part-Office, even part-Monty Python. It revolves around a struggling British actor and the situations he gets into so that he can achieve success in the entertainment business. Don't take my word completely, though, go see for yourself! Toast of London is on Netflix!
