Anyone who has had to listen to a child’s chaotic stream of consciousness will immediately get Making Fun. I wanna a dinosaur! And tacos! And a toilet! And a dinosaur that spits out tacos whilst I sit on the toilet! That would be so awesome!
Such is the task laid at the feet of Jimmy DiResta and pals. Master maker DiResta (who confesses early on that he does not care for children) must wearily listen to a stream of nonsensical requests before settling on something that he believes can practically be made by him and his crew.
Even as DiResta selects which lucky kids are going to be the target of his droll sarcasm, the selected build task can seem baffling to achieve.
As the show is lacking any ‘rival’ team or arbitrary time limit there are no stakes associated with getting the job done, beyond the fascination that comes with watching *how* they get the job done.
DiResta has built a name for himself across his YouTube channel, various DIY type shows, and a podcast. Supporting him are a gaggle of guys with carefully laid out skills and banter areas.
Jackman is tasked with engineering; Canadian Pat with the lathe and mad eyes; Graz competes for joke content, and Derek is the self-proclaimed best friend. Again, as there are no stakes then the bulk of the show is watching the amazing builds come together and the chemistry between the builders.
Is Making Fun Worth Watching?
Such chemistry skews towards the ‘try hard’ at points. Making Fun was splashed more across the Netflix child profiles rather than the adult ones because such high energy humour is more appealing to a child’s palate.
Plenty of colourful slam graphics and mini-skit ‘bits’ are welded into the format and for an adult these will likely create a strong reaction either to the positive or the negative.
Despite an arguably over-performative presentation (this British reviewer remembers fondly the more subdued workmanship appeal of Scrapheap Challenge on a Sunday morning) Making Fun is an entertaining watch.
Even if the hosts aren’t to your taste (Canadian Pat’s eyes, HIS EYES!) then the gloriously daft builds are a wonder to behold.
I wasn’t joking about the Taco Spitting Dinosaur earlier. And how does a humongous Rock Papers Scissors device tickle your fancy? Plus no further elaboration is really needed with the episode entitled Catapoop vs Trepoochet…
Making Fun takes televised DIY bodging, stuffs it full of children’s imagination, and bolts the package together into a lurching technicolour creation. You’d do best to get out of its way.
Words by Mike Record
