Meet Justin Time: The Homemade Talk Show Host Who Pulls No Punches

I had an email from one of my former students, Will Ross, the other day.  It was short and sweet (which was surprising considering the reams he used to write for classwork just, I suspect, to extend my marking misery). Regardless, he moved on to pastures (and professorial victims) new and I thought I’d seen the back of him. But oh no – he just had to share his latest video with me because “I remembered that Welsh people have a sense of humour too”.  I should refer him to something widely but incorrectly attributed to Dylan Thomas: “The Welsh pray on their knees on Sunday, but prey on their neighbours for the rest of the week”.  It’s a bad play on words, but if you enjoy that kind of thing, then watch Will’s video; it’s full of them…

We have former roving but sadly disgraced (don’t ask) reporter Justin Time - who occasionally changes his name – reduced to producing his own TV Chat Show at home.  Never mind, he has the coup of the century – any century - an interview with Adolf Hitler (who just happened to be in the area promoting his new vegetarian cookbook and believes that Justin still works for the BBC).  Justin doesn’t spare the sometime dictator – he goes straight in for the kill with a series of questions that are a combination of probing, persistent and provocative. No, sorry. They’re puerile, preposterous and piss-taking – which is what makes them funny. I must admit I missed a few of the punchlines the first watch, but Mr Time quickly beats the boy from Branau into a corner where there is just one (not even a last) resort…

I think if Terry Jones had had access to video technology, then this is exactly the kind of thing he would have been making in his Colwyn Bay living room.  It’s rough around the edges, for sure, but it did what it set out to do – provoked laughter.  Have a watch – and yes, of course I am featuring this just in case Will is hailed as a comic genius in ten years.  I will also be available for interview (for a small fee) where I can expound on Will’s classroom antics, but could I have Louis Theroux rather than Justin Time, please?  He might let me off more lightly.

The Close – What Life in the UK is Really Like

If you are thinking of settling in any of the nations of the United Kingdom, then you are probably aware that you will have to take the Life in the UK test (which assesses applicants’ knowledge of British history, values, laws, traditions, and everyday civic responsibilities for citizenship).  However, I would advise you to watch this, as it is more informative about what really goes on here. So, instead of learning about Welsh Christmas traditions, or what the Scots do at Easter – or any of the other things that most of the people who were born in the UK don’t know about either, learn from this animated short instead.

The Close, by Birdbox Studio (and here hosted by the BBC) takes a close look (ah, couldn’t resist it) at everyday life in an average British street.  There’s the mum trying to get three dogs and a kid organised (sorry, that’s three kids and a dog), the grumpy old lady next door, the bashful teenagers, the one-night-standers, the randy decorators, the middle aged cyclist who really shouldn’t be wearing lycra, the home-worker with homicidal kids, the fellah who has a strange idea about masculine ideals. They’re all here. And so is the American interloper, the grey squirrel, who just wants to climb a tree but doesn't look like he has passed any tests for that recently.  Put these elements together and you will get a real impression of what life is like on a quiet British street.  Of course, like anything else British, behind the calm exterior there is usually just sheer chaos.

Hats off to writer and director Ant Blades and the team for creating something so funny and memorable. So, rip up your Life in the UK book and watch this instead.  You still might not pass the test, but at least it won’t have cost you fifty quid. And you might have learned something useful.