info-4119 This show is a competition of comedians from England for the coveted "Balls of Steel" trophy wherein each contestant tries to outdo the others with audacious acts of insolence on an unsuspecting public. Think Candid Camera meets Jackass. This show will make you belly laugh until the tears stream down your face. Each character is distinctive in their acts and ultimately the spirit of the show is well meaning and innocent in a silly way. Hosted by Mark Dolan, each contestant comes on to a talk show sound stage to set up their act for a live audience and play their filmed clip to be voted on at the end of the show. It features practical jokes, ambush journalism and mind games that titillate the voyeur in all of us to the most hilarious degree.The sensibility is tamer than Jim Rose yet more sophisticated than Just For Laughs Gags, with each comedian adept to a media savvy, telegenic obsessed t.v world.For the risible, curmudgeon or dogmatic idealist, this show is funnier than anything I've seen.

Theo Robertson This show hit the headlines well before it was transmitted due to a prank played on Tom Cruise where he was squirted in the face during a mock interview . Ah you remember seeing that on the news don't you ? Someone playing a prank on Tom Cruise , the same Tom Cruise who is legendary as being a great guy , someone who goes out of his way to meet his fans , someone who bends over backwards for an adoring public and who is recognised as the most sincere , genuine and nicest guy in Hollywood today and someone plays a prank on him . As people picked up on this the question was quickly asked " Why didn't they try that with Russell Crowe ? " After watching a couple of episodes of BALLS OF STEEL the answer is quite simple - The jokers are total and absolute cowardly spivsThe format is almost identical to JACKASS, TRIGGER HAPPY TV and BEADLE'S ABOUT except that presenter Mark Dolan comes out with laughable hyperbole that " Britain's rising comedy stars put their arse on the line for your entertainment " , laughable because none of the people on the show are any kind of " rising star " of comedy or anything else , while " entertainment " should come under the trades description act but most laughable of all is the claim that anyone put " their arse on the line " because: THIS SHOW IS 100% STAGED - IT'S TOTALLY FAKE The producers will deny this of course thereby insulting the public even more but it's very easy to see through this charade . Someone invents a new game called " human rodeo " where a man jumps on the backs of passers by . If you want to give it a name I think " Assualt " would be a better title . Strange that no one caught up in this game thinks of calling the police or giving their assailant a bloody good kicking . There's also another game called " Urban sprint " where a man goes out of a shop with a tag that causes the alarms to go off and he's pursued by security men who strangely never catch him and the game ends with the man running into a fast food joint and telling the staff to " Give me a f--ckin' cup of coffee you f--kers " Are we to honestly believe that these sequences are genuine ? Of course their not . Shops and fast food joints in shopping malls would only be too happy to see Channel 4 approach them asking if they'd like to take part in " a dangerous stunt show " since it gives them free publicity . It's the same with members of the public who happy with a few seconds of fame agree to let a man jump on their back , or take them on a dodgy taxi ride or allow a hot brunette to chat up their boyfriend . These victims are in on the joke and for the producers of this unfunny POS to claim that they're not is a blatant lie One of the most insulting television shows to have been produced . Hopefully the " stars " of this crap will never be seen again

Jackson Booth-Millard I thought I had seen a lot of idiotic stunt work in Jackass, but I was wrong! Basically Mark Dolan hosts a talent show for twelve new comedians, six chosen every week to each perform an act of stunt work in front of the public, and the audience choose the winner who has the best Balls of Steel. Memorable comedians have included The Annoying Devil (Jason Attar, replaced by Barrie Hall), Alex Zane, Neg (Dupree), The Big Gay Following (Eric Page), Toju (Okorodudu) The Militant Black Guy, The Pain Men (Dirty Sanchez's Matthew Pritchard and Mike "Pancho" Locke), Olivia Lee, The Bunny Boiler (Thaila Zucchi), Mr. Inappropriate (Tim Shaw), (Meet) The F***ers (Tony Parsons, Kelly Burgess), Randy Campbell (Chris Stapp) and Dick Johansonson and The Man Tester (Dawn Porter). It was number 74 (for Olivia Lee's moments), and number 29 for Alex Zane's Cleverness Game on The 100 Greatest Funny Moments. Very good!

vischebaste (and I have a mortal fear of open heart surgery) A handful of comedy wannabes try to make a name for themselves by outdoing each other in sub-Beadle style pranks. One wannabe interviews celebrities and semi-celebrities with a dildo instead of a microphone. Another wannabe pretends to steal things from shops and then runs away from the pursuing security guards while shouting "come on, fatty!" at them. Another wannabe seduces people's boyfriends on a beach. Another one gets into taxis and does something. A couple of people staple themselves to things. There may have been some other wannabes involved, but I'd begun channel flipping by the point they would have appeared. Mark Dolan (poor man's Clive Anderson) - who was slightly funny in "The Richard Taylor Interviews" - will obviously do anything to reappear on television, regardless of its quality. Please don't watch this - you'll only encourage them.