When boredom strikes: Banzai it!

As a self confessed every day lazy student, I often find myself at a loss for how to fill time. During term it’s spent being dragged kicking and screaming between deadlines with about as much resentment as a dog being dragged away from taking a dump on the pavement. However, the current deadline threat level has been reduced from ‘Severe!’ to ‘Ah it’ll be grand’ over the Easter break and I’m left with a lot of spare time on my hands. Of course I don’t resent this, quite the opposite I wallow in the act of filling spare time like a lazy hippo in a muddy Serengeti watering-hole.

Filling spare time can take many forms; be it getting my ass shot off by some guy on the crane in CoD: Modern warfare 2 (and there is always some guy on the crane) or listlessly watching T.V. slumped on the couch vegetated only rousing irately to tell the go compare guy to: ‘Go fuck off!’ However, between these all consuming activities I like to get nostalgic and something that I’ve been getting weirdly sentimental about is the absurd program: Banzai (channel 4, available on MSN).

The concept is simple, so simple it doesn’t do it justice: you place bets on the absurd or mundane games that are set up with a choice of outcomes ranging between 2 to 5. Big deal, what’s funny about that? Good question, one that deserves to be answered the only way possible via youtube:

The small animal balloon lift gamble



If you were too lazy to watch then let me sum it up for you with my opinion: I think the above clip is the unquestionable justification for all forms of animal experimenting and testing. There, now go watch it and laugh or Larry the gay chicken dies.

:-(

The show also included regular characters as well: Mr. Cheeky Chappy, who placed bets on yesteryear Z-list celebrities making them perform weird tasks; Mr. Shaky Hands Man, who interviewed celebrities and timed how long he could continuously shake their hands for; and Lady One Question who posed as a reporter at red carpet events and asked one question before staring blankly at the celebrity till they felt awkward and wondered off. The proceedings were all voiced over by two Japanese actors who narrated and orchestrated the betting bonza with hilarious Engrish: insulting, encouraging and jeering the dead pan celebrity guests.

It was brilliant, what other show would have tried to make a bet on how fast the Queen Mother’s funeral procession was going using a speed gun? The emphasis on ‘tried’ as police confiscated it from the film crew leaving the show creators sheepishly defending the show saying: "Banzai was covering the Queen Mother's funeral in its own, inimitable way. No harm or disrespect was intended." Personally hat’s off to them for trying. It’s about as ballsy as this ladies attempt to attack the pope - probably a choir boys mother or something.

The show has since left the E4 schedule and travelled further afield to the US for some air time before promptly being pulled after Asian-American pressure groups declared it as being ‘racist’. Now the show is confined to the odd rinse on Dave, left out there for the odd bored student to find and spend an hour excitedly yelling at the T.V. “Go Pat Sharp! Run! Beat that German man in Volkswagen Beetle!”

Have a watch and enjoy, maybe bet with a friend or maybe just yell at your computer in an internet cafe while people pretend not to see you.