The premise of Drunk History is really simple: Give a person some time with a bottle of liquor and then ask them to explain a historical event. Basically, it’s the same thing that goes down in honor students’ dorm rooms every weekend.
The professionally produced videos achieved a solid audience through the years on Funny or Die, where actors like Ryan Gosling, Jim Carrey and Eva Mendes often dropped by. Still, some were doubtful the inebriated history lessons would work as a full-fledged comedy series.
As the first episodes on Comedy Central have demonstrated, there was no reason for skepticism. Drunk History is often laugh-out-loud funny — with some quality educational tidbits thrown in for good measure.
“The result, when fully staged, has something of the flavor of avant-garde theater and something of the flavor of an elementary school pageant, offered with a mock solemnity that doesn’t hide a large measure of actual respect,” wrote the Los Angeles Times television critic in a favorable review.
On his point, this is a show better fit for Comedy Central than the History Channel. Still, it finds a way to appeal to both those with a taste for sophomoric humor as well as nerds gone wild. See for yourself…
Just as with the original series, performances by A-list actors are voiced-over by the drunken faux historians. That creates one interesting monologue…
Catch new episodes of the show on Comedy Central every Tuesday night at 10/9 CST.
