David Mitchell's Soapbox
is a web series starring the eponymous comedian and actor David Mitchell (of Peep Show, QI, and That Mitchell and Webb Look fame), as he uses Rant Comedy to give his opinions on a particular topic.
The series ran from 23rd November 2009, all the way to 23rd September 2014.
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Tropes seen in the Soapbox:
A-Z
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: One of the episodes is on the subject of male grooming, the series is sponsored by "Bulldog", a manufacturer of mens grooming kits, and David literally makes fun of the idea of male grooming.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: A staple of the humor in the show is that he has opinions on minor annoyances, everything from Sausage rolls, being forced to dance, Americanized spelling note , and tea that's too hot. The show has about 86 episodes, so that is a lot of buttons pushed.
- Hitler Ate Sugar: In "Love or Hate", David compares Marmite to Hitler, on the grounds Hitler also liked the stuff. He clarifies that's where the comparison ends, and is not top be used as an example of Marmite being as bad as Hitler.
- Limited Wardrobe: He wears the same red shirt and black slacks every week. In September 2010, he appeared in a blue shirt to answer viewer comments. He claimed the red shirt was simply for convenience but that being able to operate on a real Limited Wardrobe policy would be fine by him, since it would free him from having to decide what to wear every day.
- Non-Indicative Name: The episode "Wine Tasting" has nothing to do with wine being classy, nor Sommelier Speak; it's about David wanting wine to be uncorked by waiters and such instead of him, and also wants a similar "taste before you buy" attitude to be applied to Beer.
- Orwellian Retcon: The removal of the Bulldog tags from most of the first two series of Soapbox, despite some having minor references to them in the videos themselves, and the parody tags done when he and Webb briefly superseded them to promote their book.
- Paralysis by Analysis: The reason why Mitchell thinks having lots of choices is a bad idea.
- Product Placement: The show itself is partially funded by Bulldog, a Men's grooming company that makes soap (hence the Punny Name). However, Mitchell scarcely mentions the brand. The channel isn't described as being funded by Bulldog in the description or on the main channel page; the only evidence of this are some of the older episodes being prefixed with bumpers for the soap brand in question. In essence, the title comes off as an Artifact Title in quite a lot of the episodes, and one could reasonably assume Mitchell made the show of their own volition.
- Rant Comedy: The essence of the show, really. David Mitchell is quite famous for launching into rants.
- Reference Overdosed: "References" has about 20 different visual jokes that reference certain films or TV shows (the comments explain a bunch of them).
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: "Standards of Spelling" mentions the impracticality of using long words for no reason.
- Take That!: Towards Come Dine With Me in "TV Rudeness", in which he mentions that the rudeness on display is at odds with what people act like at home.
- Visual Innuendo: Lots of it in "Innuendo", such as birds flying in the shape of breasts.
Tropes used as topics on the Soapbox:
A-Z
- Compliment Backfire: David discusses this in "Compliments", in that anything he says when referring to appearance leads into this trope.
- Double Entendre: "Innuendo" is all about discussing this trope, as well as Lampshaded Double Entendre to deconstruct Innuendo to show how and why it's funny.
- Flower Motifs: Discussed in the "Giving Flowers" episode, with David stating that whatever flowers used to mean in relationships, they now mean things like, "Sorry for that thing I did", "Sorry for that thing that, unbeknownst to you, I'm doing", or in the vast majority of cases, "I'm still here." He then tells a story about a woman he gave flowers to after vomiting on her floor at a party the night before. The flowers in question traditionally meant, "Love in absence", but to both him and the woman, the obvious meaning was, "I can't afford to offer to have your carpet shampooed."
- Flowers of Romance: Discussed in the "Giving Flowers" video. Mitchell has no issue with people doing this in a loving relationship, but he finds it baffling that people give flowers outside of one, given how confident someone would have to be to do something so unambiguously romantic without being sure of the outcome. "Because there's no mistaking flowers. No getting out of looking like you're gonna give them once you realise she doesn't want them. No, 'Oh, these, I'm just taking home some cuttings from a dahlia bush.' Or, 'They're not for you, I'm holding them for a florist'."
- Playing Sick: He debunks the concept of Man Flu as he knows a great many people who actively pride themselves on never getting ill.
- I Love the Dead: Discussed in "The Merits Of... Necrophilia", where he opines that it's pretty much a victimless crime, as the "victim" isn't exactly in a position to take offense, and finishes by suggesting a novel concept:
"So all it would take is an extra box to tick on the Organ Donor card. "Once we've taken out your kidneys, liver, and lungs, and stuffed the resulting space with sawdust, do you or do you not have any objections to a couple of perverts having a go on you while you're fresh?"
- Patriotic Fervor: "Allegiance to the Welsh" is him explaining why he likes to root for the Welsh, instead of the English or Scottish.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Topic of "Rape and Pillage", which has Mitchell point out how Pillage sounds less offensive than Rape when said together, but is just as bad in any context.
- Separated by a Common Language: "Dear America" discusses this trope, but in particular Mitchell takes issue with the phrase: "I could care less".
- Traumatic Haircut: In "Haircut", David mentions the troubles of getting a haircut. It either turns into a Gag Haircut or a Bad Hair Day, and that makes him really uneasy about getting one, especially since he feels like the process feels like an interrogation.
