From Deseret News archives:
It's soooo Graham Norton
Actually, he's already here. One of Britain's most popular talk-show hosts makes his American television debut (sort of) tonight on Comedy Central with "The Graham Norton Effect" at 8 p.m.
Not that he hasn't been here before. That British talk show "So Graham Norton" has been airing on BBC-America for years. And he's done a number of episodes of that show on this side of the pond.
But this is his first attempt at an American show for an American audience on an American network.
"It's very exciting," Norton said. "We're taking a popular, successful comedy show in Britain (and) remaking it for the American market. Who knows . . . I could be the new 'Coupling.' "
There's one major difference, however. Unlike the Americanized "Coupling," Graham Norton is actually funny. Very funny. In a naughty sort of way.
Very naughty. I mean, it's about 30 seconds before we get to the first masturbation joke. And the vast majority of the humor is about sex.
"It's not big. It's not clever," Norton said. "It's the sort of rubbish you get drunk at parties and laugh about, but with celebrities and an audience there as well."
His is a traditional talk show — with a twist. He relies on audience participation for various bits. He does telephone gags. He sits down and talks to celebrities. But the goal is always laughs. In a naughty sort of way.
"We think about what's funny rather than what's shocking," Norton said. "We don't set out to shock. We set out to amuse. But it's just a lot of things that make us laugh do tend to be quite rude and a bit, yeah, schoolboyish."
And a big part of the fun is watching the celebrity guests react to that schoolboyishness.
"I think a lot of celebrities are sort of nervous, thinking something awful's going to happen," Norton said. "But I think, by and large, if you talked to any of the celebrities that have been on the show, they will say they had a nice time — unless you bump into Harvey Keitel."
He didn't change much about the show to Americanize it. Essentially, it is the same show. And, given his experience taping "So Graham Norton" episodes in this country — he doesn't think there's a lot of difference between what Yanks and Brits laugh at.
"I thought the differences between audiences would be bigger," Norton said. "But I suppose when you're doing this sort of, let's say, gutter comedy that we do, that tends to translate quite readily across the globe."
Be warned, he's not exaggerating about the "gutter comedy."
