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Behind the Scenes Photo Diary Balaclava Shop
🕑 Added 2021-11-04 13:55:20 +0000 UTCThe balaclava shop is a shop that sells balaclavas. There's no way around it.. we're going to need a LOT of balaclavas. Hog has worked his magic. Easily the most brass necked member of the group, he saunters into an army surplus store and EXPECTS to be sold 20 plus balaclavas. That's enough to get you on some sort of a list.
Things you could need twenty balaclavas for:
1. Setting up a paramalitary organisation
2. Robbing a bank/Post office/Large farm
3. Kidnapping
4. Skiing with terrorists
Hog has done VERY well, he's not only managed to pick up a tonne of balaclavas, but also a number of busts (steady on) and torsos from a local workwear shop. The things that man can get out of people.
This is the first Diary entry I've done after the fact, so all of my hopes and dreams have been replaced by a crude reality. The dopamine hit of the first hour of replying to your comments has evaporated and we've moved on to the task of compiling next weeks sketch. SHOWBIZNUSS BABY.
My immediate reaction is...I wish we'd added more jokes and taken others out. Sometimes when we adapt something, we are very close to the script that we performed, for good reason too. Those jokes have survived the Edinburgh fringe, years of touring -they are battle hardened, wrinkled old and wise...(think old scottish highland man). The problem is, that you can't get your brain to see beyond them, to see what else could be written, improved or taken in a new direction.
"Tha jook is tha jook laddie" - Old Scottish Proverb
In fairness, with this week it was also time, time kills comedy, improvisation and creativity. HOWEVER, i'm really happy with all of the new bits, with Dierdre and Holly's performance and I'm pleased that we tried something that had a very different feel to it. learning is the key!
Here's a joke I wanted to add, but we didn't have the guts to...
MARY: How's business Mark?
SHOP ASSISTANT: Not as good as before, we used to get a lot of orders from up North, but not so much anymore
MARY: Obviously
SHOP ASSISTANT: Brexit yeah..
When we started making youtube videos we had the expressed goal of trying to be funnier on film. Duh right? We would experiment with styles, camera and acting, editing, music, colour - so that if we ever got a bigger show, with a higher budget, we would know what we liked and what worked on camera. We would be able to manage it ourselves, and hold our own with experienced directors and editors. You don't know powerlessness until you're on a tv production set and they are rushing you pointing cameras at you, or getting you to do stuff you don't find funny. Your lack of knowledge, that void, is filled by someone else - it has to be as you'll never get the thing done on time. Time is money in TV.
In today's sketch we had the wonderful Deirdre O'Kane, who comes from that TV world. If you don't know Dierdre, I suggest you check out some of her movies, 'Intermission' being my one of my favourite movies of all time. I'd really love to write something like that. She was an absolute pro, and to be honest, we could have used her first take, it was that good. Holly was great too, we wanted a teenage voice and she nailed it - I believe it's her first acting gig, so that's cool.
I'm really not sure if we would ever make a leap to television, it does seem like such a foreign world. Sometimes the grass can be an awful lot greener on the other side. It does feel like a connection with all of you would be lost, not to mention that homemade feel, the slapdash costumes and props. Some comedy when scaled up, really loses its charm.
"Tv is pure shyte pal" - Old Scottish proverb
As I finish up the comments for this morning and head into the office, having just three of us (with the occasional guest star), is a very comforting feeling. A tad too comforting perhaps, but that's okay for now.
Comments
You should sell balaclavas with a set of false eyebrows, just to "bring out the eyes" a little more!
Haha this is brilliant! π
Lads! https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/nov/05/balaclavas-battle-to-be-most-coveted-fashion-item-of-late-2021
Victoria Olson
Love the blond locks on the mannequin. Attention to detail pays off.
Victoria Olson
You lads can do no wrong. Loved the new balaclava video, and its predecessors. Donβt stop ever, if thatβs not too much to ask. βItβs all goodβ - Highland Hipster Mam
Some days reading your diary feels even more privileged and today is one of those days... So thank you Arms for sharing your guts with us on such a level.
I was thinking they bought one and robbed the rest...
Was soll ich sagen?! Ich liebe es einfach π€·π»ββοΈβ₯οΈ
Arms this is an absolutely beautiful, thoughtful and fascinating diary entry. Thank you so much for your insights and interesting, contemplative ideas about your own comedy. I adore Deirdre O'Kane - if anyone wants to see her work, they should watch Moone Boy, which is a brilliant series written by Chris O'Dowd. Deirdre plays the mother in that series and she is absolutely phenomenal. I adore her!! It was so incredible to see her in one of your sketches. A priceless moment on film, to be sure!
Little Woot (wouter0612)
These posts go deep. That is what I like about Arms. He is not afraid to have feelings and tell a good written story.
Joan
Please do a reenactment sketch of Hog sauntering ( not marching, not sashaying), into the Army surplus store and procuring all those hats. He could narrate what his thoughts were before, during and after the deed.I always wonder what his brain holds.
I really loved reading these insights (as always), and also the self-reflexion bits... I was wondering after this morning's sketch premiere if you're happy at all with the sketch, and these thoughts appear... somewhat well-rounded and I'm happy that you're happy with how your work evolves.
so they actually BOUGHT those balaclavas !? π€― I genuinely thought they just cut out holes in beanies.
Conor Clune
I really feel you'd have a market for TV productions with the slapdash costumes and props. Think TV but not TV studio. So a higher production camera and sound, colouring etc, but actors, costumes and props stay limited. There's plenty of TV shows made by people with their friends that turned out good enough for someone to want to broadcast. You could even set it as a show where you're given a theme to make a sketch out of as if it's high end production but your costume/set/prop budget is insanely low and you've to do what you can. Not in a way that's pressuring but in the knowledge that a Rice Krispies baron is funny where a regular baron won't be
