Line #83 Series/SnuffBox


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/l64403810704460.jpg]]
2
3	->''I can't be in love if it's plastic\
4	To live on my own just seems tragic\
5	But we'll raise our swords high when our day comes\
6	We thought it was gold but it was bronze.''
7
8	''Snuff Box'' is a bawdy and truly bizarre SketchComedy[=/=]BritCom, starring Englishman Creator/MattBerry and American Creator/RichFulcher, who work as hangmen and spend time at a gentleman's club. (Evidently, the series takes place in a world in which hanging still survives as an institution). Each episode has a main plot and other one plot and other sketches of tangential relevance. Adding to the confusion, almost every character has the same name as their actor, so it's difficult to tell which Matt/Rich it is you're watching, but the show is funny enough that you don't care.
9
10	The show was reliant on {{Running Gag}}s that, though hilarious, probably would have gotten old eventually were it not for BritishBrevity. The series was commissioned as a replacement for another show, ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popetown Popetown]]'', which was axed because of backlash from Catholics; the BBC gave Berry and Fulcher [[AuteurLicense complete creative freedom]] on the condition that it would (most likely) not be brought back after its original run of six episodes. It was not recommissioned.
11
12	Also see ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace'', most of whose cast have appeared on this show at one time or another, and ''Series/TheMightyBoosh'', which also features Messrs. Berry and Fulcher as a comic duo with a similar dynamic.
13	----
14	!!Tropes used include:
15	* TheAce: Matt is better than Rich at everything. When he's not around Rich, though, he can be just as much a [[TheChewToy Chew Toy]] as anyone.
16	* TheAlcoholic: Quite aside from the regular "Whiskyyyyyyy!" orders, Matt does spend a lot of time on the show getting absolutely plastered.
17	-->'''Rich Fulcher''': Do you remember when we had that amazing night at Belushi's?
18	* AnachronismStew: Director Michael Cumming deliberately used anachronistic sets and costumes so the series was neither a contemporary setting nor a PeriodPiece. There are 70s television sets sitting on top of DVD players, 50s suits next to 70s dresses, and both modern and outdated phones used interchangeably.
19	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: A core tenet of Rich's personality, especially when Wormwood brings in the regular harem.
20	* BedroomAdulteryScene: Happens as part of a fake commercial for "Awkward Moments" coffee.
21	* BeleagueredAssistant: Wormwood doesn't seem so enthusiastic about having to play Russian Roulette.
22	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Music/JimiHendrix is very patient with an obliviously abusive Rich, until he snaps and basically turns into Creator/SamuelLJackson.
23	-->Show me some respect, motherfucker!
24	* BritishBrevity: Only one season of six episodes was ever made.
25	* BrokenRecord: ''"Henry! [-Person of the year...-] Henry! [-Person of the year...-] Henry! [-Person of the year...-]"''
26	* BrotherSisterIncest: After hundreds of failed phone calls, Rich resorts to inviting his sister out to a theatre double-date with Matt.
27	-->'''Rich Fulcher''': "I'm a grrrrrrreat kisser!"
28	* CatchPhrase:
29	** Rich:
30	-->"I'm a great kisser!"
31	-->"[[CallingYourBathroomBreaks I gotta piss.]]"
32	** Matt:
33	-->"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
34	-->"Whiskyyyyyyy!"
35	-->"[[EtTuBrute After all I've done for him!]]"
36	-->"We often sup from the same font."
37	* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: "What about that time you got caught in your dad's study, jerking off over a map of Scotland?"
38	** One sketch involves a psychiatrist's secretary who, after checking that the coast is clear, begins smooching on his hand passionately. Cue the quick pan out, revealing a frustrated patient who had been standing over him the entire time
39	* TheChewToy: On Matt's quest to get his silver cowboy boots back from the cleaners, he is brutally beaten by store attendants, including a man from OopNorth, a CampGay black man who [[IKnowKarate knows martial arts]], and a ViolentGlaswegian.
40	** Rich is also an example, as in the episode where he goes blind.
41	* ClusterFBomb
42	* CoitusUninterruptus
43	* CurbStompBattle: Matt's first three attempts to pick up his silver cowboy boots end like this.
44	* DeafComposer: Matt's brother is a successful musician despite being 80% deaf. This may have something to do with the fact that he sings entirely in synthesizer noises.
45	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: When the duo end up presenting golf. ''[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Somehow.]]''
46	-->'''Rich''': ''Good morning. And afternoon. Welcome to the British Open... where golfers and golfing come together... for golfing.''
47	* DoItYourselfThemeTune: Matt wrote all the original music for the show, and he and Rich sing it.
48	** TheCastShowoff
49	* DrillSergeantNasty: As an art gallery tour guide, played by Fulcher.
50	** PerverseSexualLust: He's in love with a pair of ballerinas in one of the paintings.
51	* EagleLand: Rich is not so much an American as a British caricature of an American: uncouth, inconsiderate, culturally illiterate and foul-mouthed (even by the show's standards). His brother (also played by Rich) is even worse.
52	* EasilyForgiven: When Matt is caught [[spoiler:having sex with the bride at Rich's wedding]].
53	* EstablishingSeriesMoment: From the beginning of the first episode:
54	--> '''Rich''': "Sorry I'm late. Are we early?"
55	--> '''Matt''': "No idea. I've lost my watch."
56	** They then arrive at an execution chamber where Matt hangs a man, contrary to the illegality of capital punishment in England. As John Teti notes in his [[http://www.avclub.com/article/snuff-box-was-too-dark-tv-and-too-smart-youtube-210547 A.V. Club retrospective]], it's the perfect setup for the shambling and surreal journey through disconnected moments in time and space that follows.
57	* FallOfTheHouseOfCards: Matt destroys Rich's house of cards as he's finishing the last 2 cards with a table kick, and proceeds to laugh in his face.
58	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In the first episode whilst Rich is on a date with girl, he can also be briefly seen as he runs behind her wearing a top hat.
59	* GallowsHumour: Often literally.
60	* EverybodyLaughsEnding: The series concludes with this when [[spoiler:everyone spots Matt having sex with Rich's bride over a balcony]].
61	* {{Hammerspace}}: Where did Matt get that cavalry sabre?
62	* HollywoodHeartAttack: Not quite, but nonetheless, Rich collapses to the floor in agonizing pain and goes blind in one eye after drinking some homebrew beer he made.
63	* HollywoodTourettes: In stereo!
64	* IdenticalGrandson: Well, great-nephew. Sir Charles looks exactly like Matt, and his valet, Wormwood, looks exactly like the club's current valet, Ken. How the latter two are related is unclear.
65	** Also, Matt's brother is played by Matt, and Rich's brother by Rich. Rich also plays his character's mother, [[spoiler:Mama Cass]].
66	* IncrediblyLamePun: "Now Mr. Rich, you said you wanted to dash off to eat a pie. Might I tempt you with one of mine?" [motions to gaggle of topless prostitutes]
67	* INeedToGoIronMyDog: Rich often shouts ''"My neighbour has been kidnapped!"'' before fleeing an awkward situation. Matt on the other hand typically doesn't care enough to bother making excuses, and just wanders off.
68	* TheJeeves: Ken and Wormwood
69	* JerkAss: Essentially everybody, but particularly Rich's brother
70	-->'''Rich''': Matt, you know how you used to call me a prick?\
71	'''Mat''': I never stopped calling you a prick.\
72	'''Rich''': Yeah, well this guy is King Pricko. Of Pricksburg, Cockachusetts.
73	* KickTheDog: Quite literally in one of the Boyfriends sketches.
74	* LargeHam: Matt Berry
75	* LarynxDissonance: In the final episode, Rich falls in love with (and marries) a woman named [[Literature/{{Beowulf}} Grendel]], who, though beautiful, speaks entirely in dubbed-in chimpanzee noises.
76	** In an earlier episode, Rich and Matt are accidentally speaking in each other's voices. Alcohol quickly cures them.
77	** In the episode where Rich beats Matt to the punchlines of his own jokes, Rich briefly speaks in Matt's voice when copying his introduction to the joke
78	* LoopingLines: Deliberately invoked, and deliberately terrible.
79	* MoodDissonance: "The Empty Room", a song Matt wrote after his brother committed suicide, and then plays on The Old Grey Whistle Test hosted by Creator/RichardAyoade, quickly turns into an instrumental glamrock piece
80	* NippleAndDimed: Nipples, either male or female, are not an uncommon sight.
81	* NotInFrontOfTheKid: subverted in one of the censor sketches. Although we only hear the dialogue, what sounds like a pornographic scene is interrupted when the female participant's young son comes into the room. They decide to let him watch. The censors think it's hilarious.
82	* NotQuiteStarring: Quite a few impersonations, including Creator/ChristopherLee as a porn star, Music/DavidBowie (played by Alice Lowe), UsefulNotes/CharlesManson, Music/JimiHendrix, Music/ElvisPresley, UsefulNotes/DavidBeckham, and others.
83	* RunningGag: Quite a few.
84	** One particularly delightful one is that Matt will be hitting on a beautiful woman, often carrying something for her, when she will mention her boyfriend, causing him to matter-of-factly announce "Fuck you!", drop whatever he was carrying, and leave.
85	** A subtler one is the frequent references to rabbits, particularly when being eaten.
86	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "YOU! WILL! NOT! TITTER!"
87	* OnTheNext: "In the Snuff Box next time..."
88	* OncePerEpisode: Rich ends up travelling in time instead of taking a piss, Matt's great uncle resolves a problem, and the scene ends when Wormwood returns with prositutes.
89	* ShoutOut:
90	** Rich is given a birthday present by "Ricky from [[Series/TheOfficeUK the office]]."
91	** Matt's Victorian tour guide walks off the job after getting a call from his agent about a part in ''Theatre/StarlightExpress''.
92	** "The Diary Song" has Matt in zombie makeup pulling off some [[MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody Jacko-esque dance moves]].
93	* SinisterMinister: A fairly mild example: Alan Ford (best known as Brick Top in ''Film/{{Snatch}}'') plays a foul-mouthed, hard-drinking priest. So far as we know, he's not really evil, though.
94	* StatusQuoGameShow: Rich and Matt go on a quiz show. It doesn't go well. Mostly because they didn't prepare in the slightest.
95	* TakeThat: A fairly playful one at the beginning of the first episode:
96	-->'''Rich''': [as a [[Series/TheMightyBoosh crimp]]] I haven't got a bean, but my shoes are clean!\
97	'''Matt''': What the hell is that?\
98	'''Rich''': Oh, it's just an old song...
99	* TitleDrop: In the full version of the theme song:
100	-->''So I guess it's goodbye now it's over\
101	Nothing much changed, we're just older\
102	But if I see you again back in detox\
103	Put my remains in my snuffbox''
104	* TimeTravel: OnceAnEpisode, Rich goes through a door marked "1888", which takes him to VictorianLondon where he meets the club's founder and Matt's great-uncle, Sir Charles Berry, who gives him advice and showers him in prostitutes. Sir Charles is subtly intended to be [[spoiler:UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper]].
105	* TomatoSurprise: The identity of Matt's father
106	* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Rich is an obnoxious, idiotic CloudCuckoolander, while Matt is a boorish alcoholic JerkAss.
107	* UnusualEuphemism: "Effin' and a-jeffin'", for swearing
108	-->'''Rich''': Hey, wait a minute. He just effed.\
109	'''Alan Ford''': 'Course I did. I'm a fucking priest, ain't I?
110	* ViolentGlaswegian: Matt literally gets beaten to near death with a cricket bat by a violent Glaswegian sales assistant.
111	* VitriolicBestBuds: An ''extremely'' charitable interpretation of the relationship between Matt and Rich.
112	* VomitIndiscretionShot: A particularly... chunky one when Rich is on ''Mastermind''.
113	* WhatTheHellHero: Matt's reaction to Rich's reading of his diary [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment In Song]]...

Context Series / SnuffBox