Review by Benjamin Poole (@filmclubchs)
Men and women. They’re different, aren’t they? It is hilarious how different men and women are! In certain circumstances men and women do not act in the same way to the events that are occurring and this is in and of itself completely hysterical. You wouldn’t think that an entire web series could be based around this truism, and you’d probably be right, but it hasn’t prevented the makers of I’ll Call You from giving it a shot, every week, (for free, fair play) on the internets.
The central premise of I’ll Call You involves hapless comedy writer Jon (Ben Hague), whom the show depicts going on a series of awkward dates with increasingly difficult women in an ill-fated attempted to get over his broken marriage. Good old Jon, he’s doesn’t have much luck, but that’s because men and women are just not the same; men are schlubby but down to earth and loyal to their bros, while women display a variety of high maintenance ticks and foibles, and are just generally difficult bitches. Ah ha ha! Those women! They really are cray. What is also funny is how people have, you know, Ess Eee Ecks….SEX! Sex is intrinsically funny. I’m giggling just writing about it, so you can imagine my naughty delight in discovering that many of the punchlines in I’ll Call You simply involve people having it off! Sex! That process people have been engaging in for time immemorial! Sex that everyone does! Sex that your very own parents did at least once; side-splitting! Hehe, my favourite joke in I’ll Call You involved a crack about ejaculating on a woman’s face…. when she doesn’t expect it! Seriously. It’s hilarious. Hahaa! I’m typing this in between rolling on the floor laughing my ‘ass off’.
Funny is in the individual sense of humour though, I suppose. And while it’s clear that the particular funny of I’ll Call You didn’t work in the least for me, I have to praise the construction of the show. It has a zippy energy, and at seven or so minutes an episode, it is certainly tight. There’s a lovely clear use of space, which is fittingly cartoony with its sense of foregrounding, and crisp editing that gives the show a breezy rhythm. It is also seemingly full of ideas, which I personally didn’t find amusing, but other people did, so good luck to them (with the show, and their forthcoming GCSEs/SAT tests- ooh, snap!). The care that has been put into the production of the show is actually frustrating in itself - if only similar effort had been put into the humour.
At the time of writing there are only three episodes of this adult comedy online, so perhaps it will pick up. Alas a trailer teases forthcoming merriments; a woman with several children, a woman who says her favourite book is Eat Love Pray! If this is the sort of thing you find inherently amusing (women fulfilling a biological destiny, instead of male desire; women choosing reading material which is different to what a man may stereotypically choose) then fill your boots with I’ll Call You at www.illcallyoutv.com