THE MANY FACES OF WILL FERRELL!

The world according to Dubyah! Will Ferrell gives a superb, painfully funny representation of George Bush in THANK YOU AMERICA. Image: HBO. 

Whether you like him or not (I'm in the former category-just check out the movie TALLADEGA NIGHTS!), there's no denying that US comedian Will Ferrell has become one of the most successful and influential performers of the genre within the last ten years, as well as proving himself as a fine serious actor, writer and all round behind the scenes talent. Comedy is the real game for which he was born, though, and the US HBO channel have certainly made the most of those talents with two shows well worth checking out when they appear on the UK's SKY ATLANTIC channel next month. The first, THANK YOU AMERICA, is a recording of his live performance playing George "Dubyah" Bush, based on the extremely funny short run Broadway show, and as a daring piece of comedy satire: it's genius, and it doesn't get any more grotesque when you consider how so much of what Dubyah imparts to the audience is actually based on fact (so much so that, at times, a big TRUE sign comes out to let us know!), and there were moments watching it when I didn't know whether to laugh or cry about some his initiated policy decisions and interactions with his government aides. All in all, THANK YOU AMERICA sees Ferrell getting his performance as Bush down a Tee and, even if its mildly over-long, there's still plenty to get the funny bones tickling (and check out the scene where he gets down with Condy Rice! It's an absolute classic!).

Beyond playing Bush, Ferrell has also been a major force in helping to evolutionize comedy in mediums outside film and TV, and his generous co-creating/partaking in the web comedy site FUNNYORDIE.COM- a type of YOUTUBE of wide encompassing funny and satiric original shorts- has led to the creation of a new TV series based on those sketches and characters, and which, like the site itself, features great contributions from a whole plethora of popular film and TV stars (including the likes of James Franco, Don Cheadle, Eva Mendes, Rachel Bilson, and long-time funnyman partner to Ferrell, John C. Reilly) within a new realm of laughter. With a world-breaking 76 million downloads alone for just one of Ferrell's prior sketches for the site, "The Landlord", the FUNNY OR DIE TV adaptation looks set to be another triumph for both HBO and revolutionary American comedy in general!