The other radio program of Toni Clapés
On Wednesday night, La 2 Cat premiered Cervells mínims, the new TV show by Toni Clapés, which, in reality, is radio with cameras. Like a good portion of the television programs being made, you can turn your back to the screen and follow everything that happens. It can have an audience, it can make connections with the street, they can think up a setting... but it is radio. And it maintains some of the inertia, such as adding obvious sound effects depending on the topic. If someone talks about money, we hear the "clink!" of a cash register. It is curious, however, how the medium conditions the host. Clapés, seasoned with thousands of hours with listeners, took a good while to seem comfortable and have the demeanor of Versió RAC1. The trouble the glasses gave him didn't help.
"Here we will make a defense of 'cunyadisme' [brother-in-law-ism]!", claimed the host. "It's hard to have an opinion on everything without having a damn clue, eh!", pointed out comedian Txabi Franquesa, who was the essential support for Clapés to maintain the tone of the show. Clapés has relied on two more radio collaborators: Guillem Estadella and Alba Segarra, diligent and bold when it comes to enlivening the 'cunyada' [brother-in-law] chat. Segarra, by the way, did a television double, because that same evening we had already seen her on Està passant on TV3.
Cervells mínims is a new container of popular topics that adjust to Clapés' obsessions. Two guests, in this case the cook Ada Parellada and the comedian Carles Sans, join the conversation to chime in, without any desire for transcendence. The most relevant thing about the connections from the street with Estadella was confirming the number of people who do not understand Catalan. The audience's anecdotes slowed down the rhythm of a program that struggled to gain momentum and flow naturally.
The show's opening credits have a vintage feel that recalls the covers of the small 45 rpm records of Capri's monologues. The caricature of Toni Clapés looks like the one Valentí Castanys drew of Capri for the record where the comedian recited two of his monologues: La guerra del 600 and Les pastilles. Perhaps it is a coincidence, but Clapés has become the Capri of the 21st century: pessimistic and disenchanted with the world, criticizing it with the sarcasm of someone who has no choice but to resign themselves to it. And this spirit is what works so well for him as a grumpy comedian. Unlike other television projects Clapés has taken on in the past, this time he is not trying to be anything other than himself. He does not seek to affect the attitude of a standard presenter. Clapés must be Clapés to connect with the audience. “This is a show where we will complain about everything,” he declared right at the start.
Cervells mínims is a mediocre show. Mind you, the title is the perfect alibi to play it safe and announce its lack of pretensions. Doing comedy without putting much effort into it. Holding a talk show without it seeming like one. And if it is nothing special, they have already warned you that they are being know-it-alls. Perhaps that is the trick: anticipating. If we are going to have insubstantial television, at least be upfront about it.
