Thursday, 11 April 2013

Why do we love @CrimerShow so much?

Some of you may be aware that one aspect of my personality is a certain tendency to get sucked up in and obsessed with things. This can sometimes be a bit unhelpful - like the time I got addicted to listening to every different version of 'On My Own' from Les Mis on Spotify (oh wait, that's now). But it can also be an Extremely Good Thing, and I have my obsessive nature to thank for getting me so emotionally involved in the Crimer Show.


What exactly is Crimer Show? It's difficult to put into words, but in simple terms, it's a Twitter feed started by @AstonishingSod, in which a thrilling crime drama unfolds, tweet by perfectly-crafted tweet. Using somewhat unconventional language and spelling, Crimer Show evokes the essence of every cop show you've ever watched, somehow combining hilarity with nail-biting suspense. Here's the beginning of one so-called "eppasod":
In less than two weeks, the oh-so-suave Crimer and the hapless-yet-lovable Detetcive have amassed an audience of over 16,000 followers, of such a calibre that it seems a cult has been created. You can even buy a t-shirt to show your support.
It's difficult to pinpoint what exactly the appeal of Crimer Show is. I suppose a part of it is that you have to 'get' it. When I stumbled upon it last week, I immediately found the tone funny and followed on that basis. However, when I showed my boyfriend what I kept giggling to myself about, he just didn't understand. It seems that this is true for a lot of the Twitter population - there are countless replies to Crimer Show tweets that are along the lines of "Hey @friend, why did you tell me to follow @CrimerShow? What is this rubbish?" Maybe the world is divided into two types: those who 'get' Crimer Show, and those who don't.

Before long, however, I was hooked on the drama aspect. The nature of tweeting means that something vaguely exciting/hilarious has to happen with every update. Familiar TV show cliches are used to great effect:
There's also the question of how you hear the voice in your head reading the tweets. Some say that they hear it in a Russian accent, but my sister, for some reason, said Cockney. I hear them like adults talking like toddlers.
Because the account purports to be a TV show, there is a certain amount of imagination involved, and I think this is also appealing - it's like when you read a book and imagine stuff, but it's more TV-like because it's fast-paced and in bite-size chunks. And it's ridiculously funny.
I don't know how long I will carry on obsessively checking for Crimer Show updates, but for now I'd like to say that it's a completely genius idea and I haven't stopped laughing for two weeks (except for in the mornings before I've had a cup of tea).

Images: Crimer Show, Haunted Box

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