You know what people in Ireland love? A guy doing impressions of people with funny voices, especially if the people with the funny voices come from Cork and especially if Mario Rosenstock is doing the impressions. You know what else people in Ireland love? Off The Ball. What if you could synthesise the two into one four-minute radio skit? Would it be the greatest thing to ever be broadcast on Irish radio?
Gift Grub offered their take of Off The Ball this am. Listen below. Below that you'll find our assessment of said skit.
The good: Mario's John Giles impression, Mario's breakdown of every interview with John Giles since 2006, most of the original 'bromos' that Gift Grub produced for the skit.
The bad: Mario's Early impression, Mario's McDevitt impression. Like every Gift Grub sketch, the success of this hinges on Rosenstock's mimicry ability as opposed to the content of the sketch. Rosenstock possesses neither the vocal range nor the existential dread to carry off an Early impression, has McDevitt about an octave too high, and the skit stutters after a few philosophy and nightclub jokes (though we liked the 'staring into the middle distance' line).
If this skit was a player rating, we'd give it a 5.5. Workmanlike, but not memorable.
Note - Rosenstock isn't the first to try and fail with OTB parody. Is it possible Off The Ball is beyond parody? Or is itself a parody?
Answers to these big questions as soon as we find them.
