Schadenfreude: The Phudie Mart

Let’s say upfront that I go for comedy – and that in trawling around prx for some yucks I’ve listened to other Schadenfreude pieces and (along with a couple of other groups) I enjoy them quite a lot. What I like most about their work is the gentle, but intricate attention to character, which also comes out in the writing. This piece, a mockumentary about a food market, is no exception, with individuals that I can palpably SEE: the employee in a stiff brown tie who refuses to take a vacation, the affable nut in her cowboy boots, the “loose cannon” in open shirt. However, in my mind better not to announce it as a documentary – because to parody a doc successfully it should really fool you, especially in a sea of radio where almost everything is documentary around it. This however sounds like comedy from the get-go (with the reporter as straight man – why not - everyone needs one!) – might as well go with it. Also – I was less happy when piece strayed from the subtlety – the screaming fascist from corporate headquarters – too much. Don’t need to do that to keep surprising me – the little stuff gets me first.