Nick's Blog
Blogglevision
26/9/2007 @ 13:36
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It was 20 years ago today that a comedy phenomenon was lauched on a sleepy British public...a public that was still recovering from the shell shock of the Alternative Comedians.
For on this day, 20 years ago, the Chuckle Brothers made their TV debut.
"To me, to you" oh how we laughed. Or didn't. Mostly didn't. Pre-school juvenile slapstick performed by two middle aged spiky haired Northerners didn't seem like a recipie for long term success but there're still here today, performing to kids and with no end in sight. BBC Breakfast news interviewed them and took a brief look at how they've stayed on the air all these years. They even went as far as to stop random people and showed them pictures of various famous people from 1987 to see if they would recognise the Chuckle Brothers amongst photos of Nigel Mansell, John Major and George Bush Sr. Surprisingly they couldn't name the others but could pick out Tommy and Paul.
So the BBC would like us to believe...
How do I know the BBC didn't get their production assistants to impersonate members of the public and give false answers? How do I know that they actually interviewed the Chuckle Brothers? They could have been junior researchers forced to don spiky wigs and speak in comedy Northern accents.
How can I be sure it is actually the actual 20th anniversary of Chucklevision? My suspicions were aroused when they asked a phone in question "Today in 1987, which comedy duo debuted on the BBC?"
A: Morcambe and Wise
B: Starsky and Hutch
C: The Chuckle Brothers
AND I had to pay £1-20/minute to answer it!
How can I even be sure I was actually watching BBC 1 and not a cheap knock off channel run by junior trainees?
Lies and lies and lies...that's all TV pedals these days!
Missing, presumed blogged
25/9/2007 @ 16:45
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On the one hand, I consider blogging a solemn duty...something that has to be done in order to keep the wheels of Rhubba adequately greased. On the other, I use this blog as a way of sounding off about whatever has annoyed me that day. I am also aware of using this blog to entertain people who might read it. Phht! Who'd have thunk?
The trouble is, I've settled into the mindset of b) the blog as a sounding board. If I have nothing to rant about or share, then I won't blog. But if I do that, then I'm guilty of abandoning a) my duty to blog.
It's not that I've not been having fun recently. I have. I've had a fantastic time of late. I'm loving life. It's good. It's fruitful. I'm looking at being booked up professionally until July next year. I've got a lovely wifey, a nice home...OK, there are dozens of things I really need to be doing right now but they're not life or death or urgent.
I don't even have anything showbiz and anecdotally to tell you either. I didn't bump into Colin Firth, who then proceeded not to invite me to a drinks party given in Kate Winslet's honour, which never happened. Sure, I can tell you about an electricity bill I have to pay..................................... wellllllll, anyway.
But a blog is a contract between me, the blogger and you, the reader. And I intend to honour that contract. To hold onto it and never let you go. You mean everything to me. You're my life, my love, my one true l....OK, I'll stop there.
Blog 1....ITV 0
18/9/2007 @ 13:41
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Well, we've finished our latest Rhubba.com shoot and you lucky people will get to see TWO, not one, sketches. I'm very excited as I think they're two of the best quality ones we've filmed. From the set design to the filming, we've outdone ourselves this time.
One of them is the last of the ITV "Shoot The Writers" sketches which we've remade (along with "Embittered Women's Masterclass" and "See You In Hell"). I don't want to slag off the guys who made the original "Shoot The Writers" version because they had a miniscule budget and no time to film stuff and they did all that they could have but it really was ITV fault for not providing a decent amount of time and money to get the job done properly.
With the other sketch, we were out in the country to film on a beautiful estate with fields and acres of woods. We had extras all kitted out in British Army uniforms, kit and weapons as well. The lighting was perfect, everyone did their jobs well and we ended up making a sketch that looks better than an average episode of "Soldier, Soldier"; a depiction of the Army designed to appeal to middle aged women and which left out any inconvienient plot devices such as actual soldiering, combat and army life. It was really Eastenders in uniform.
So, looking back at our work, I can safely say we're better than ITV. You give us the money, we'll film it better than they can.
Happiness is a Warm Blog
11/9/2007 @ 09:38
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Sorry I haven't updated things here for a bit; if only you knew what kind of day I had yesterday you'd understand...I can't go into details here because it might result in a lawsuit so moving swiftly on......
.....A survey today says that 1 in 5 British men claim to know how to obtain an illegal firearm. Shocking news? No. Remember we're talking about guys here. If your average British guy were asked by a media research team "do you know how to obtain a firearm?" what do you think he's going to say: "Well, yeah, I have a mate who's got a mate who was in the army and knows Mad Frankie Fraser and he says anytime I want a pukka firearm, it's mine...all I have to do is get him £200 in cash". It's a bigging up story we've got here. It's like when survey teams ask men "when did you lose your virginity?" of course they're going to answer "14, behind the bike sheds...WITH A GIRL, MIND! And she was 16, you know, knowlegeable older woman and all that". They're hardly likely to answer "erm, still waiting for that to happen". And with the firearms, a lot of men will know how to get an illegal one after watching the TV news reports where a journalist goes undercover to purchase a gun. "Oh right, THAT pub! I'm off there on Saturday".
So no need to panic people...it's just guys puffing up their chests.
Blog Artist
05/9/2007 @ 10:46
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Sorry I haven't updated the blog for a while but I've been mega busy with the next shoot we're doing next week. One of the things I've done is a storyboard: I don't normally use them in my work as they take a long time to draw and the results aren't always marvellous to behold or easy to work out.
I used to be a bit of a cartoonist at University. There, I created a comic strip called "Dumbsbury" which was a satirical look at the campus radio station. Needless to say, it had a definite niche market. Still, no one sued me except for one person who preferred to remain out of it after I referrred to him as "The Parkwood Creeper".
I've never drawn anything since then until this week where I felt I had to do a storyboard for one sketch which has some complicated set ups. My efforts were...functional...to say the least. Not quite stick figure theatre but not the work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby either.
However, I looked at them and worried about my mental health. They say you can learn a lot of a person's psyche from looking at their attempts at artwork. The misshapen heads, the short, puny arms and distended legs with their flat feet and a habit of drawing maniacal grins when I just want them to smirk makes me worried that when the cast and crew see them, they'll think I'm some psychopath. I wanted Jack Kirby but I may be the cartoonist Fletcher Hanks...a totally depraved nutter of a comic book writer whose work betrays a sick sense of justice. Go and Google his name and you'll see what I mean. I've seen 6 year olds that can render perspective better than me and considering that I was once as fit as a six year old (when I was on 5BX training), I feel like I now have to get a TOTAL DRAWING DVD to bring me up to speed.
Just don't ask me to paint your portraits, people!
