Sketch Diary - Several ones

There is something fun about trying to film a tonne of sketches in the same week. We usually do our best stuff when our backs are against the wall, with rigid deadlines. Our hair tends to get a little greyer too, but that's for another dye, I mean day.  The previous few weeks have had a similar tinge to them.. conversations going something like this

"okay, what scripts do people have?"

 - "I have one that's really simple, we could film it in a few hours, no edit"

"okay we'll go with that one"

 - "you haven't heard it yet"

" and.... action!!"

This is how we have worked for the past few weeks, meeting early and grinding out scripts - right up to the wire. It's times like this, that you get desperate. When you get desperate, you start to search your computer for discarded scripts, half finished ones, ones where timing wasn't right or weird ones that were never funny but you can't bear to delete just yet...There's a sketch called 'Denim' and another called 'Home improvement parody' that I regularly come upon and they're almost 10 years old at this point. We'll never do them, but they do get a casual look every so often. I do unearth something this time though,  'Irish lad tries to get J1 Visa' - which gets a few laughs. 

"It's only one shot"

"LET'S SHOOOOOOT"

I'm definitely in the running for a Fah'y.

A what???!! Lemme explain

We've come up with some internal awards, called a Fah'y the ceremony being the Fah'ies,  -  You can be nominated for one of this ultra prestigious award if you do something outstanding that makes the other two's life a lot easier. For instance, if you write a sketch that only requires one shot, or you sort some tricky paperwork or discover that a joke is possibly offensive or done by someone else- you can conversely be nominated for one something like incompetence, as I did, coming out on stage two nights in a row with my microphone on mute. 

 Foil informs me of this fact in a gig debrief after one of our nights at the opera house here in Cork. We're walking back to the carpark, and as usual, we're dissecting every part of the show, the ups and downs. We've come to something of a conclusion.. when you screw with the setlist, you can cause unexpected consequences. Also, we possibly did too much audience interaction. But, I mean, in fairness, there was just SO much on that night. Ah well, you just have to trust your gut, and sometimes you won't get it absolutely right, that's life. 

We're also trying a new sketch, a song, in the second half. It's called 'Out tonight' and features a never before used character from our videos on stage. There's the usual challenge of trying to remember lines, music and also improvise in parts, meaning that again, some parts work better than others, and some parts you completely butcher, getting yourself nominated for a Fah'y in the process.

We do have half an eye on the US and Canada Tour, with there barely being time to wash our clothes between Cork and our transatlantic  jet setting clown extravaganza. I'm definitely the least relaxed about the whole thing. Maybe its all the covid tests or the setlist conundrums or the mutiple airports, but yikes! I'm trying to remind myself to enjoy it! Hog is so breezy, I'm a bag of nerves, and Foil is somewhere in between.  Honestly though, Its really such a privilege to be able to do something like this, to go on the road and perform for people, and I really am aware of that - how lucky we are. I know there will be people at the show who've travelled far, got hotels, babysitters, dinners and all manner of expenses, and I really want to give them a night out that makes it worthwhile! 

I'm off for a pre show nap, the little diva/baby that I am, looking to be fresh for tonight's show. Why do I need a nap you say? Was I out partying last night? No. No I wasn't. Last night, I did the least rock and roll thing, that had rock and roll consequences. I came home after the gig, and ate a massive slice of cake. It was coffee cake. I didn't sleep a wink. I might as well have gone out on the town.

Rolling stones eat your heart out.

A