Review of Jam

Introduction

After the unexpected commercial release of Brass Eye, we now get more Chris Morris mind-mess in the form of jam. The show was originally broadcast on Channel 4 in 2 versions, the "normal" jam, and then the special late night remixed version jaaaaam, which had even more messed up visuals and sound. More on those later. Disc 1 of this set contains jam and disc 2 contains jaaaaam.

But what is jam? Well, it`s erm, a kind of, sort of, like, erm, a Chris Morris take on a sketch show, only a million times darker, and a billion times more offensive. Each show has about 10 segments of varying length, which make up the "sketches", all accompanied by various bits of music, be they chill out, ambient, bits of Morcheeba or even a looped up version of Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm by the Crash Test Dummies.

For those of you who don`t know much about Morris, here`s a very brief potted history. He worked on one of Radio 4`s best ever shows On the Hour (currently being repeated on BBC 7), along with Lee & Herring, Armando Iannucci and David Quantick. After more radio work came The Day Today on BBC 2, then Brass Eye on Channel 4, followed by three series of Blue Jam on Radio 1, which then became jam for Channel 4.

Video

A full frame transfer, but full of material which is switching aspect ratios all the time, variable frame rates, over compressed images, odd colour washes and more visual trickery.

As with other Morris shows, part of the appeal is the fantastic attention to detail and all the technical jiggery pokery which goes on.

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack which sounds the same as broadcast. Again, lots of messing about goes on here, with sounds recorded at low bit rate, pitch shifting, time stretching, over-dubs and more. All this attention to detail again adds to the overall package. The full list of all the tracks you can hear in the various sketches is available from:-

http://www.jamcredits.com/

Features

Some suitably whacked out extras too. Each episode of jam is available in an alternate version, including miniaturised, Quadrilateral Lava Lamp, fast-forwarded (honestly), and fast-forwarded (re-adjusted to normal speed).

There are also a few alternate versions of sketches, and a few other little jokes and easter eggs littered around. The most amusing inclusion is Adam and Joe`s Goitre, a funny little spoof of jam.

Conclusion

This won`t appeal to all Morris fans. It`s just a bit too twisted and dark for some. But for me, twisted and dark is good, although it can get a little too much if you watch too many in the same sitting. And as with many radio shows that make it to TV, some things work, others don`t quite come off. It does give Morris a chance to show his eye for attention to visual detail, but it doesn`t always work to the benefit of whatever it is he is trying to achieve.

Once more he is aided and abetted by a familiar cast, most of whom will now be familiar from other work too - Mark Heap, David Cann, Amelia Bullmore, Julia Davis (who seems ideal for playing Morris` weird characters, as well as some of the twisted wrecks from Rob Brydon`s Human Remains, which she also wrote for) and of course the ubiquitous Kevin Eldon. Most of the cast contribute to some of the writing too.

The DVD is a good package, with good picture and sound (even the intentionally bad bits). The fact that you get both versions of the show, which adds up to over 4 hours of Morris mind-mess is good. Add to that a suitable selection of extras and it`s a good package.

I`ll say it again. This won`t appeal to everyone, even hardcore Morris fans, but if you can stomach some of the darker, bleaker moments on display here, then you too can once more enjoy the "twisted brain-wrong of a one-off man-mental" from Chris Morris. There`s no evidence for it, but it is scientific fact! (Ok pedants, I know that`s a Brass Eye line, but I like it ok!)