5 things 'Miranda' and I have in common (and 5 things we so obviously don't)

Title: Miranda
Starring: Miranda Hart, Tom Ellis, Patricia Hodge, Katy Wix, Sally Phillips, Sarah Hadland
Summary: Based on the semi-autobiographical writings of rising UK comedy star Miranda Hart... Miranda has always stood out from the crowd. She's over six foot tall, lacks any kind of grace and has an odd habit of dancing in inappropriate situations. She lives in her own chaotic world, making a living by owning a joke shop which is managed by her best friend and taskmaster Stevie.

My idea of a fun Thursday night activity is booting up the netbook and hunting for ideas for future blog posts and eNewsletter issues. Ok, so that's not the fun bit. I mean, it is but it isn't. The part of the night that I really enjoy is watching Miranda. Yes, I said it: I watch Miranda. And, what's more, I LOVE HER. So, what is Miranda? Miranda is a weekly comedy that screens on TV1 in the later part of the evening for err obvious reasons (namely language, sexual references, and adult humour). Miranda is tragically, tragically funny, and terribly awkward, and the whole show is set around, well, pretty much that. You get the idea that anything that can go wrong in Miranda's life, will. Times a hundred. Like when she decides she's going to buy a new outfit for a date, and ends up at a store that specialises in dressing men in drag. It's something that pops up quite a bit, so you get the impression that perhaps, in the past, she would get mistaken for a man quite a lot. She has this habit of bursting into song at the strangest of times (seriously, I do it too, but never in a job interview), and she can never quite bring herself to say the word 'sex' without giggling. In some ways, she's forever ten years old. I highly recommend watching at least one episode and, if you're lucky, you might still catch one or two on tv. If you don't, we do have the DVD, although be patient because it has a fair few requests :)

And, well, 5 things we don't have in common:

Miranda is 6"2 - I'm totally not (in my dreams I have legs up to my eyeballs)

Miranda's mum is HORRIFYINGLY embarrassing - mine would be mortified to even halfway contemplate how much Miranda's mum wants to marry her off to somebody/anybody/everybody

Miranda owns a joke shop - I thinks sometimes life is a joke

Miranda has the hots for local chef Gary Preston - I don't know any local chefs and even if I did I'm not sure that Burger King counts as a restaurant (it's my idea of 'eating out' these days)

Miranda gets called 'Sir' - I get 'ma'am' which makes me feel about forty years older than I am *disgruntled look*

It's ok to dress vacuum cleaners up as people so you can talk to them
Admittedly, mine was a broom and she looked great in a wig, and Miranda's was a vacuum cleaner dressed as Gary so she could dance with it, but I dare you to find anything wrong with that.

Thinking that being somebody's 'safety wife' was, at one time, a halfway decent idea
People do strange things when they're staring down the barrel of a big number birthday.

A good night in is spent singing into a hairbrush
Don't tell me you've never done it. Seriously, don't tell me if you haven't. These days I can be a bit more obvious about it because I eventually traded in the hairbrush for a SingStar microphone. (Also, I'm a SingStar hog and everybody knows once I get on it nobody else is getting a turn).

Sometimes when you're an awkward person, awkward stuff pops out of your mouth
Admittedly what pops out of my mouth isn't cringe-worthy, but it happens all the same. Miranda takes it to new heights.

We've both considered popping round the corner as a holiday idea
In Miranda's case she doesn't want to put up with long flights, crowds, and bad customer service so she tells everyone she's going to Thailand but checks herself in at a hotel down the road. At Christmas time, when the family come down to visit en masse, I get tempted to check myself in at the hotel around the corner and stay there. Indefinitely. (Haven't done it yet).