Holdudvar, Margit sziget, [map]
Between Buda and Pest, II, Margit hid (T4/6), 5 min
Budsucs website/tickets here (usually hosted in Repeta Sarok)
It's Friday night and tonight, Budsucs occupies the usually calm space at the back of Holdudvar. The name is terrible but the cause is noble: English language comedy in Budapest.Now, I'm one of those people who's quite hard to please when it comes to comedians, so if you're not and you laugh at anything, don't bother with this review and just go anyway. Presumably, as the numbers swell, the selection of comedians that they can lure out here will multiply, so your very presence is a kind of pro-comedy demonstration. But for anyone who wants an idea of what to expect...
I can't look at a compère without thinking of Alexei Sayle's bumbling Bobby Chariot, who would have gone down well enough here, since people were generally geared-up/beered-up for laughing. This one was nothing out of the ordinary but in fairness, he was as sharp and as he needed to be, as he accosted members of the audience and ad-libbed some semi-offensive response or other. Swiftly on then to the comedians.
Brett Schafer is from LA but now lives in Budapest. That's pretty much his act, combined with a very nervy start. (It does look as though he's still finding his feet.) Like many Americans in Europe he felt the need to bang on about what people think about Americans, which was a bit irritating in my book. Perversely, people wanted to laugh, but they weren't really sure when they were supposed to.
Liam Mullone, on the other hand, had a relaxed, Izzard-esque approach and demonstrated the kind of standard Budsucs should be aiming for. I’d seen a bit of his material before (here), which he repeated on the night, and happily it stood up to a second hearing. Delivery is half the game in stand-up and whether you can make a list of Surf’s top stains funny or not is a good test. He did. He also enjoyed some banter with a dog in the audience (really, it was a dog), which demonstrated that rarest quality: wit. (The banter demonstrated the wit. The dog was a dullard.)Tinky Winky followed. He calls himself Dave Thompson now but he shot to fame when the BBC decided that the seven-foot Tellytubby wasn't behaving as a Tellytubby should. His “interpretation of the role was not acceptable”, apparently. The same charge might be levelled at him this evening as his comedy was distinctly hackneyed. He was persistent, certainly. Fearless, yes. But even this kindest of audiences was groaning more than laughing. “Men are twenty times more likely to get cancer of the testicles... I’m happy to say all three of mine are fine.” It was like watching The Comedians. Plenty of jokes with a one percent hit-rate. BBC, please reinstate him.
So what does that say about Budsucs? Judging by Liam Mullone’s last minute revision of his notepad at the bar, it’s probably a bit daunting to come out and test the audience here: an unknown that many comedians can live without. And although Dave Thompson didn’t do a lot for me, he has at least got some kind of credentials, having worked with Harry Hill, Dipsy, La La and Po. A mixed bag of comedians, therefore, was still enough to show that Budsucs is doing something right. Overall: entertaining and, crucially, it puts Budapest on the comedy circuit.
budsucks bud sucs sucks
Andy Sz.
Liam Mullone is on the telly on Wednesday 3rd September (Sky News) and doing the rounds in the UK. Dates here.
Brett Schafer will crop up at Budsucs again, I’m sure.
One recent Hungarian film I’ve heard an awful lot about is the subway system drama Kontroll. Released in 2003, this was a big domestic hit for director Nimród Antal who immediately bought a single ticket to Hollywood, where he went on to make this rubbish.
On paper though, Kontroll sounds interesting. A film set in the world of miserable Budapest ticket controllers? A critique, perhaps, of the much-maligned Hungarian public transport system, shot on location? Sign me up.
Sadly, Kontroll isn’t very good at all. In fact, it’s a tiresome mess, hovering uneasily between quirky comedy, quirky thriller and quirky romance, the lack of a clear focus giving the unfortunate impression that Nimród was making it all up as he went along. I suppose that ultimately, it would fall into the category of a ‘yoof’ movie, a little like Doug Liman’s Go, or more worryingly, any of Guy Ritchie’s empty, London-based films. The action is frenetically edited, and underscored by a thumping, but lame soundtrack from NEO, which constantly reminds you that if you aren’t under 25 you probably won't get the most out of this film.
Kontroll tells the story of a group of ticket collectors, led by Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi), a man who works, sleeps, and lives in the subway …(although he doesn’t, as far as I can recall, eat Subway). The rest of his crew are a weird bunch of freaks - there’s a convincingly shabby, moustachioed controller, a grizzled veteran, a narcoleptic, and the thick new boy who, for no reason whatsoever, has wheels in the bottom of his shoes. The other characters aren’t much better - we’re introduced to a pretty girl who wears a bear costume (for no reason whatsoever), a rival crew of controllers who hate Bulcsú’s gang (for no reason whatsoever), and a psychotic maniac who pushes pedestrians under trains (for no reaso…. pfffff. You get the idea).
With very little in the way of character development, the film ends up wearing its weirdness like a badge, the sprawling, claustrophobic underground system reminiscent of the effectively bizarre worlds created by Jeunet et Caro, or Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Only, Nimród’s underground world seems flimsy and pointless - in my book, ten genre-hopping sub-plots don’t make a story. So... Bulcsú is afraid to leave the underground system… where he has these ‘hilarious’ encounters with passengers…. and everyone thinks he’s the pedestrian-pushing maniac... but, he falls in love… 'oooookaaay.' Finally though, so what? I was left firmly stranded at the station.
It’s in the comic sections that Kontroll disappoints the most. Nimród opts for an unimaginative montage technique, and sets up a series of familiar encounters between controllers and ticketless passengers, Japanese tourists, and beautiful women… then, rather than writing funny material, makes everybody SHOUT! It’s like being stuck in a lift with a boisterous six year old.
Interestingly, the film opens with a monologue from a BKV spokesperson who embraces, but also distances himself from ‘his friend’ Antal’s film. There certainly is a clever satire to be made about the flawed underground system here in Budapest, but this isn‘t it. How about a movie which tells the story of controller with a heart of gold, who cares about the passengers, doesn’t take great delight in finding people who are without a valid pass, and genuinely loves his job? Now that, I’d buy a ticket for.
Andy T.
Sadly, Kontroll isn’t very good at all. In fact, it’s a tiresome mess, hovering uneasily between quirky comedy, quirky thriller and quirky romance, the lack of a clear focus giving the unfortunate impression that Nimród was making it all up as he went along. I suppose that ultimately, it would fall into the category of a ‘yoof’ movie, a little like Doug Liman’s Go, or more worryingly, any of Guy Ritchie’s empty, London-based films. The action is frenetically edited, and underscored by a thumping, but lame soundtrack from NEO, which constantly reminds you that if you aren’t under 25 you probably won't get the most out of this film.
Kontroll tells the story of a group of ticket collectors, led by Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi), a man who works, sleeps, and lives in the subway …(although he doesn’t, as far as I can recall, eat Subway). The rest of his crew are a weird bunch of freaks - there’s a convincingly shabby, moustachioed controller, a grizzled veteran, a narcoleptic, and the thick new boy who, for no reason whatsoever, has wheels in the bottom of his shoes. The other characters aren’t much better - we’re introduced to a pretty girl who wears a bear costume (for no reason whatsoever), a rival crew of controllers who hate Bulcsú’s gang (for no reason whatsoever), and a psychotic maniac who pushes pedestrians under trains (for no reaso…. pfffff. You get the idea).
With very little in the way of character development, the film ends up wearing its weirdness like a badge, the sprawling, claustrophobic underground system reminiscent of the effectively bizarre worlds created by Jeunet et Caro, or Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Only, Nimród’s underground world seems flimsy and pointless - in my book, ten genre-hopping sub-plots don’t make a story. So... Bulcsú is afraid to leave the underground system… where he has these ‘hilarious’ encounters with passengers…. and everyone thinks he’s the pedestrian-pushing maniac... but, he falls in love… 'oooookaaay.' Finally though, so what? I was left firmly stranded at the station.
It’s in the comic sections that Kontroll disappoints the most. Nimród opts for an unimaginative montage technique, and sets up a series of familiar encounters between controllers and ticketless passengers, Japanese tourists, and beautiful women… then, rather than writing funny material, makes everybody SHOUT! It’s like being stuck in a lift with a boisterous six year old.
Interestingly, the film opens with a monologue from a BKV spokesperson who embraces, but also distances himself from ‘his friend’ Antal’s film. There certainly is a clever satire to be made about the flawed underground system here in Budapest, but this isn‘t it. How about a movie which tells the story of controller with a heart of gold, who cares about the passengers, doesn’t take great delight in finding people who are without a valid pass, and genuinely loves his job? Now that, I’d buy a ticket for.
Andy T.
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