Latest / Half the Picture / Steve Stamp talks People Just Do Nothing, Kurupt FM, Alan Partridge & making Ed Sheeran laugh (4K)

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Steve Stamp talks People Just Do Nothing, Kurupt FM, Alan Partridge & making Ed Sheeran laugh (4K) · Half the Picture

• 0:00
  No one could play Steve's apart from me.
• 0:03
  People think that I'm going to be very stupid in real life and that I probably do a lot of drugs.
• 0:11
  And I've never really been into drugs and I don't think I'm stupid, but...
• 0:16
  it struck me that steves and old people kind of were quite a good fit weirdly they have quite a similar lifestyle to stoners and to like people that are happy to be sitting around like chilling it's ridiculous some of the shit we were doing but yeah it was that was fun
• 0:33
  Someone was talking to Tom Hanks about his life and processes and various things.
• 0:40
  And they asked him if there were things in films that he didn't like, if there were bits that he hated or whatever.
• 0:47
  And he was like, yeah, there's a bit in Castaway when I get home and I say something to my wife or whatever.
• 0:55
  And I just, like when I saw it, I was just like, ah, just didn't get it that day or whatever, just like didn't.
• 1:03
  didn't wasn't in it I could tell it was me not the character saying it and I was like fuck it's so mad to imagine like someone with his sort of like his uh power I guess who's like you know the lead of this massive film and he's definitely an exec on it as well whatever but he still doesn't see the edit and just like sees it in the premiere and is like oh I didn't like that bit I should have got him swap that out
• 1:32
  like there must be yeah there must be loads of actors that just hate like certain takes I guess I guess even if I'm there though I'm still like there's still things I don't like but you have to sort of concede and be like
• 1:49
  yeah we need that bit or we like he has to go home and see his wife yeah weird it's weird for him to argue that that should shouldn't be in the film just because he didn't like the take but um yeah it's a weird one
• 2:02
  be weird for castaway if castaway ended with him going home but not seeing his wife yeah he just goes yeah yeah i think that's quite a common thing though about this what i hear is that you know the that you know uh the self that self-conscious aspects of like seeing it's looking at the work you've done and being either not totally happy with it or maybe a different take would have been better and just feeling self-conscious about it maybe yeah you probably have to like i guess you
• 2:32
  I don't want to say ego, that's a bit harsh, but like your journey, like you have to sort of remove yourself from it a bit and just like allow it to exist as a sort of this thing that's the collaborative effort and it's like what's come out the other side is what it is and it's kind of like you've just done your bit.
• 2:55
  That's a hard thing to square off, I guess.
• 2:58
  But I think it's interesting like,
• 3:01
  certain TV shows like, you know, where you've got like a American shows, like, like Breaking Bad or something where you've got like a show runner that sees it all the way through.
• 3:13
  And it's kind of, I feel like a lot of the time, those, those big shows are really good because there is like a, there is someone who's just fucking obsessed with it and, and making sure that it's good in every, thank you, mate.
• 3:30
  Okay.
• 3:32
  like in every way and this is like seeing it all the way through.
• 3:37
  And that's how I justify the fact that I'm getting out of my stuff because I'm like, I think it is better if I sort of like, I'm always there and doing stuff and trying to make sure everyone gets what we're trying to do.
• 3:50
  being the vince gilligan to your show it's kind of like him with breaking bad being the overseer of of this behemoth story yeah exactly and i'm and our one's like much smaller and easier to manage anyway so it's better for me that reminds me of a story that i heard about the final season of breaking bad i assume you've seen
• 4:08
  Yeah, yeah, I rewatched it recently because I rewatched, or I hadn't seen Better Call Saul.
• 4:16
  And I was like, because when I first tried to watch it, I didn't like it.
• 4:19
  I was like, it's too sort of silly, like compared to Breaking Bad where it had all the gangster stuff.
• 4:25
  It just felt a bit silly.
• 4:27
  So I didn't watch it.
• 4:27
  And then I got told I should definitely watch it.
• 4:30
  And then I went back and revisited that.
• 4:32
  And then I watched Breaking Bad again.
• 4:33
  And I was just like, fuck me.
• 4:35
  It is just like incredible.
• 4:37
  But yeah, what were you going to say?
• 4:39
  It's unbelievable.
• 4:40
  Both of those shows, I'm a huge fan of both.
• 4:41
  But the story I was reminded of was on the final series.
• 4:45
  You know how that final series kind of cuts back and forth between Walter and the...
• 4:50
  future when he's got the beard and he's sort of coming back to albert yeah and then it cuts back to what was i guess then the present when or the past when the um the story is still unfolding with jesse and the the you know the nazis and all that and uh and he and he has that in the future he has that machine gun in his in the boot of his car yeah trunk sorry american in the trunk of his car
• 5:09
  And apparently in the writers room, they were getting to the, and they planted that at the very beginning of the last series as like a little hook.
• 5:18
  Like, oh, why has he got this massive, heavy machine gun in the boot of his car?
• 5:22
  And Vince Gilligan apparently at one point was like, threw his hands for good, said, guys, I can't think of a reason why he has this in his car.
• 5:30
  Like, let's just forget about it.
• 5:31
  Like, we don't have to tie it up.
• 5:32
  We'll just, let's just forget about it.
• 5:33
  It's no one, no one's gonna, no one watching is gonna care about the fact he's got that gun in the boot of his car.
• 5:37
  at which point all the writers like put their hands up like whoa hang on a second like people definitely will care because you know he's what the white he's got a fucking massive gun in this car so we have to pay it off somehow and he was like okay fine we'll come up he just couldn't apparently he was just struggling to come up with something yeah and that's when he came up with the spoiler alert like the um the key fob at the very end you know when he goes back and finds jesse with the with the nazis yeah key fob device and the gun pops up out of the boot of his car and she kills them all
• 6:06
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 6:07
  Fucking hell, yeah.
• 6:08
  I forgot that that's where that gun ended up going.
• 6:11
  That's mental.
• 6:12
  Yeah.
• 6:13
  Yeah, there's a bit... Have you ever read...
• 6:17
  difficult men it's like a book about sort of that era of television like the the birth of that like amazing sort of mad men breaking bad uh sopranos like basically it's about the writing process of those um of those shows and they talk about uh a bit where
• 6:41
  they're struggling to think of like, why Jesse, no, that's it.
• 6:48
  Jesse has to be manipulated by Mike.
• 6:50
  So he has to be sort of befriended by Mike in order to like create the rift with Walt because he sees that Jesse's being sort of like taken away from him.
• 7:00
  And they were trying to figure out what he should do with Mike.
• 7:06
  And it just talks about this day in the writers room where they're just like trying all these things and it's really elaborate.
• 7:11
  They've got like, he goes into a crack house and kills all these people or like Jesse has to like, like Mike's doing hits on people and all this stuff.
• 7:19
  And then in the end, it just like.
• 7:22
  similar thing.
• 7:22
  They just kind of go, what if he just like, has to just sit in the car and just like wait and just mind the car?
• 7:31
  And it's like, yeah, I get, yeah.
• 7:34
  And they still have all these like mad, like complicated ideas just go out the window and then they end up like, yeah, he just goes around and picks up some little bits of money with him.
• 7:43
  Yeah.
• 7:43
  And it's, that's exactly, that's what you need.
• 7:46
  But it's, it's crazy how much like, how much thought goes into
• 7:53
  that sort of plotting and like how long people spend on it and how like elaborate is as a process and how much strain there is on the, the writers room, that pressure.
• 8:04
  And I can't imagine what it's like when there's, when you've already committed certain things and you've already planted the gun and you've already like, and you don't know where you're going with it.
• 8:14
  That's, that's crazy.
• 8:15
  Yeah, I guess all of that worked to get to what was ultimately the simplest solution, which was why doesn't he just sit in the cart with him and like when he just goes and does the drops?
• 8:23
  Yeah, exactly.
• 8:25
  Sometimes the simplest approach is the best, I guess.
• 8:27
  Is that what you find with the writer's rooms you've worked in?
• 8:29
  Like, is it a similar atmosphere of quite intense focus?
• 8:35
  I think every writer's room is really different, to be honest.
• 8:39
  There's a...
• 8:41
  Because it's a different, obviously it's a different set of people every time.
• 8:47
  But also tonally you're sort of talking about different, a different sort of show.
• 8:52
  So like I've done Riders Rooms where we're talking about something that's more drama led and it sort of ends up being.
• 9:01
  bit more serious and a bit more like sitting down trying to think of the intricacies of the plotting and it needs to be smart and it needs to be like satisfying.
• 9:12
  But then there's other writers rooms where it's just like, like an animated show or something where it's just mad ideas getting thrown around.
• 9:18
  And it's like, you just almost engaging off, like who's, how much laughter there is kind of like, I guess that sounds like a good idea because everyone's laughing, even though it's completely mental.
• 9:31
  um so yeah I guess every show just has its own sort of system that like works for it or whatever and like people just do nothing was just us like mostly us just in a room doing the characters and then trying to we'd have like little things that we'd just think of like a wife Aldona's brother came to stay and it's obviously not the brother and
• 9:57
  Like, and then you'd sort of throw that around for a bit and then leave it and then come back to it later when there's a sort of another plot that ties into it.
• 10:07
  But a lot of that was just us shouting and me trying to keep track of like, those rooms were so chaotic.
• 10:13
  Yeah.
• 10:14
  And it's me trying to remember or log the things that were kind of felt like good ideas and keep track of them and try and tie them in somehow.
• 10:25
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• 10:27
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• 10:30
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• 10:37
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• 10:40
  your main job was kind of i guess like keeper of the flame of the improv that was going on in the writer's room you were making notes of what was going on like right that's good that's good yeah yeah basically and then it would suddenly like we'd get into the plotting and and then it would get all serious and quiet for a bit like when you're trying to figure out how to solve the puzzle kind of thing but yeah
• 11:06
  But then with like, like Alan and like the others be like throwing out little nuggets that you could use, like little improv bits that were kind of, yeah.
• 11:13
  Cause, cause when I was, when I was looking back at people just do nothing, a lot of it does, it has that mockumentary format and it feels very like spontaneous, like almost like, even if there was an improv on set, like there could have been, cause it has that spontaneous feel.
• 11:24
  Was there a lot of improv in, I guess on set, but also in the writer's room.
• 11:28
  Yeah.
• 11:28
  All the way through.
• 11:29
  I think it's a show that, yeah,
• 11:32
  was because we weren't actors or writers particularly we we were we were sort of finding our way into that and the best stuff that we were doing was kind of where we were a bit looser with the script if it felt too scripted
• 11:54
  it didn't feel like it was as funny or that we were owning it in the same way as as performers and I think because of that we wrote it deliberately so that it could be a bit loose and uh and we performed it in a way that was like always a little bit and not just because people didn't know their lines but we're yeah
• 12:16
  But we performed it in a way that was loose with the words so that like people could chip in and talk over each other and have a sense of like freedom to be funny.
• 12:29
  And then on set as well, like we would if something popped into our head.
• 12:34
  So if it was like this isn't really funny, let's like add something.
• 12:40
  There was always that element as well.
• 12:41
  So there was loads of like new bits getting thrown around.
• 12:46
  Yeah, it was scripted, but it was also like very alive in the sense of ideas and stuff like that.
• 12:53
  And there was also like.
• 12:56
  even in the edit, you're like reconstructing what it is and what it's about and stuff.
• 13:02
  So we would like have these talking heads and sometimes the talking heads would sort of, uh, dictate how we were going to, how much of the scene we even needed, if you know what I mean, because it was,
• 13:18
  those talking heads would sort of just explain what was going on anyway.
• 13:22
  So you almost didn't need like as much of the scene sometimes and it sort of made it punchier.
• 13:28
  You could get in to the next scene a little bit later and leave maybe a bit early as well because you had those talking heads breaking it up.
• 13:34
  Yeah, they're like a cheat code for like just sort of
• 13:38
  explaining what the theme of the episode is or what the even what the like what's going on you could just you could just have somebody be like well yeah well you know like thing is me like it's a bit angry at me because i've done this like you can literally do exposition but it didn't feel like exposition because it's a documentary and that's what you do in documentaries you explain what's going on
• 13:59
  Yeah.
• 14:00
  Yeah.
• 14:01
  I remember you saying once that when you first, because the show has had a really interesting and still has a really interesting life because it started out on YouTube and like little webisodes.
• 14:10
  Yeah.
• 14:10
  Which went viral and, you know, blew up and then got the BBC interested in and they said, why don't you come and work with us and we can put it on telly.
• 14:19
  and i remember you saying once that when you were developing the show for telly it was very much like what you just described there was a lot of like you would you you and the guys would be coming up with with bits and pieces that would be like little plot points like i guess beats like you say like if his brother comes around or like or his auntie rings in a scene and he picks up the phone he's like right okay like the way do we go from here and then you sort of assembled this and then presented it and they were like but it was it wasn't a script yeah initially yeah
• 14:44
  Initially it was like we would do what we heard that they did in Curb, which is like a beat sheet of action points essentially.
• 14:55
  So kind of like this scene will be like Beats comes in, Griner's making a beat, Beats tries to help him and Griner gets a bit weird about him getting involved or whatever.
• 15:08
  So you just have a dynamic and then you let everyone just improvise.
• 15:14
  it worked for YouTube videos cause we would just film loads of stuff and then like find the good bits.
• 15:19
  But in terms of like making a TV show, um, you kind of need to be more disciplined in terms of what your coverage, like, and what you're getting and, uh, even like locations and all of the things that need to be sort of organized carefully and time managed.
• 15:40
  Um, it's not,
• 15:43
  it's not that easy to do a show where you're just like, we'll just film loads of stuff and then see what bits we want to pick out kind of thing.
• 15:51
  And also even just like structurally, like to make the story make sense that that approach probably makes it harder to, if there's just a lot of people waffling and saying whatever comes into their head, it's,
• 16:06
  easy to lose track of what's going on in the episode, I guess.
• 16:10
  Yeah.
• 16:10
  So, yeah, we got, well, we got talked out of that pretty quickly, basically.
• 16:18
  We showed them, like, a one-page beat sheet, and they were like, yeah, BBC are not going to let you get away with that.
• 16:24
  Like, they need to know that there's, like, there's going to be good lines, and there's going to be good...
• 16:32
  characters and journeys and yeah we sort of started on that journey to um learn how to write scripts basically at that point because you've always talked about how much you have a passion for writing like even going back before you were doing people just do nothing like you know you were right i want to say you were writing and thinking about writing and yeah and storytelling and and so do you think that sort of forced this enforced discipline on people just do nothing really was that the thing that shaped you into becoming a writer like i guess yeah yeah screen
• 17:02
  Yeah, definitely.
• 17:03
  Yeah, it was my opportunity to sort of...
• 17:07
  nurture my passion, I guess.
• 17:10
  And to be kind of, I was lucky with Rough Cut, like John Petrie, Asha Teller, people that are very smart and good at nurturing talent.
• 17:21
  And you know, like, like John's track record is like bringing through people like Jamie Dimitri.
• 17:27
  And you know what I mean?
• 17:28
  People that like, that you kind of, you know are funny, but
• 17:37
  there's a sort of, there's a discipline of like creating shows and a, and a sort of, it's a challenge.
• 17:45
  Like it's hard to, it's hard to get your head around like,
• 17:52
  there's being funny and then there's this sort of like structural and the, and the discipline of sitting down and writing something that, uh, that makes sense and, and is kind of going to last for 30 minutes and hold people's attention and have a sort of,
• 18:11
  like a driving narrative and all of these things that, uh, that you don't really think about too much when you're, when you're making like shorter videos and sort of messing around with your mates on YouTube as we were.
• 18:25
  But, uh, but yeah, I, I took it as a opportunity and, and I said, like, I remember saying to Ash after we did the, uh,
• 18:33
  pilot like we we'd done this pilot and it didn't come out great it was kind of like 10 minutes long and it was just sort of like a cut down of like all the best bits from what was supposed to be like a full episode it just didn't work really and uh
• 18:51
  And they'd sent it to the BBC and they were sort of saying, oh, yeah, we're not sure if they haven't said yet if they're going to commission it and blah, blah, blah.
• 18:59
  And it went on for ages.
• 19:00
  And then I remember just being at this sort of point where I was like, fuck, I need to like...
• 19:06
  Like, I was so helpless because, like, I don't have the direct contact with the BBC.
• 19:12
  So I'm just, like, speaking to Ash or whatever.
• 19:14
  So I wrote in this, like, this big email being, like, if this gets, like, commissioned, I will put everything into it.
• 19:23
  I'm going to fucking, like, try so hard.
• 19:28
  Like, this is what I want to do, basically.
• 19:30
  It was, like, an impassioned, like, declaration of, like, what...
• 19:36
  I, how I saw my life going and that this was it, like this was the opportunity and that like, they need to, they need to sort of believe in us.
• 19:45
  And, um, and I, and I meant it.
• 19:49
  And when it,
• 19:50
  Like, I'm not, I don't think that had anything to do with us getting commissioned.
• 19:55
  But, but it did get commissioned.
• 19:58
  We got a series.
• 19:58
  I quit my job, um, working in like as an admin assistant basically.
• 20:03
  And in like an office and, uh, and I could just be a writer.
• 20:08
  And then I was like, okay, like, and I guess even just the process of writing that email had sort of powered up this, this side of me that was like, I do actually really need to take this opportunity.
• 20:19
  Cause yeah.
• 20:20
  Because it's rare to get that, to be able to like, to write a series.
• 20:28
  And I just knew like, that this had to work because this was my way out of like, what I was doing before.
• 20:38
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• 21:00
  It's like a weird thing to just suddenly define yourself as a writer or an actor, right?
• 21:04
  Like it sort of happens.
• 21:06
  For me, it happened when I was working in an office and I was like, I want to be, I want to create things.
• 21:12
  I want to do more than this, more than just these like.
• 21:18
  these emails and these like these meetings or whatever.
• 21:21
  So I was, I was writing stuff and I started kind of saying that I wanted to be a writer.
• 21:27
  And I guess I sort of like made that decision in my head that I am a writer, that I'm like, that's what I'm doing.
• 21:35
  And that's what I'm gonna pursue kind of thing.
• 21:37
  That's like my path.
• 21:42
  But I think for everyone,
• 21:45
  it was a bit weird to do that with acting because we felt like such imposters in the industry.
• 21:51
  Like we were, we knew that we were funny as a group and that we would sort of like fuck around and we were good at doing these characters, but we never felt like actors in the sense of the discipline and the study that goes into acting.
• 22:08
  Like the serious kind of version of acting and what you hear about where,
• 22:15
  people have gone to like drama school and people have learned like techniques and- Training, the formal kind of training.
• 22:21
  Yeah, and I guess like it took us a while to realize that we were allowed to sort of call ourselves actors and that actually we were capable of doing other roles as well and that that would be all right.
• 22:38
  Even though we didn't have each other as our like support blanket.
• 22:43
  Yeah.
• 22:44
  Well, is it fair to say that like the characters on that show, so like, yeah, your grinders and your beats and your decoys and your Steve's, like, is it fair to say there was a lot of like you guys in those characters as well?
• 22:53
  Like it was, those were drawn, the show was kind of drawn from your lives.
• 22:57
  Yeah, I was talking about this recently because...
• 23:01
  I think it's the fact that we all knew each other.
• 23:03
  And even as we did it, we got to know each other even more.
• 23:06
  Because, like, I didn't really know, like, Asim or Sipa that well when we first started doing it.
• 23:12
  But the more we did, the more we got to know each other's little weird, like, behaviors and, like...
• 23:23
  like Sipa for example is is like a massive overthinker and also a big oversharer so he'll he'll tell me everything that's going on in his life and and all the things that he's like like if he's gone to the doctors he'll share the whole experience and like what happened or whatever and you sort of end up getting all these little nuggets of like
• 23:44
  comedy from real life and then that goes into naturally that sort of becomes like fodder for the writer's room or whatever and then you end up kind of um i guess like grinder became a bit of an overthinker and also we're all
• 24:04
  it didn't have to be that like, like it didn't have to be that one character would always be based on that person.
• 24:15
  It could be that like I did something that was a bit grinder or like, or the like Sifa did something that was like quite like beats vibes.
• 24:26
  And then we would sort of discuss that.
• 24:28
  But yeah,
• 24:30
  Overall, I think we tailored the characters to the actor so kind of specifically that all of the nuances were in there because we knew that they were good at that stuff.
• 24:43
  So like, I would write scenes where I knew that Sipa would be able to do that really well because that's how he behaves and like,
• 24:54
  Asim behaves like this so you'd write it slightly differently and I think that makes it easier once you've done
• 25:02
  And that applies to other shows as well.
• 25:04
  Like once you've done a series and you know the characters and you know the voices and you know the mannerisms and the little intricacies of what that actor's created for that character, it becomes like a back and forth with the writer where you're feeding them more of that to play with and you're feeding into the stuff that
• 25:25
  was funny in series one and you're kind of going let's do more of that because you can see that he's got a weakness there and let's push something towards that and and make it worse basically so with like sort of like steves would that be like him and his nan like that relationship that's the kind of thing you mean like pushing yeah further as over those series as it goes along yeah because steves i think was a
• 25:51
  That sort of evolution of Steve's, when you watch the early stuff, I was quite happy to be in the background and sort of not really doing that much, just kind of being this mess that sits on the floor or whatever.
• 26:04
  But as we started doing more, I started to know the character a bit more and it started to become more of...
• 26:12
  there were a few more interesting kind of things that came out of like, just us doing these like talking heads or whatever.
• 26:20
  And it was like, yeah, the Nan character, the whole thing with the Nan just created this whole new like, uh, world for Steve's where it was like, Oh, he does have like family.
• 26:32
  And he has this, like this, this strange kind of, um, like world of old people that he steps into.
• 26:39
  And that was based on my own,
• 26:41
  life at that time, cause I was living with my parents again after, after going to uni and my granddad lived down the road.
• 26:50
  So like I actually spent a lot of time with my granddad for the, not for the first time, but more time with my granddad than I'd ever spent before.
• 26:58
  Sort of regularly I was like hanging out with him.
• 27:01
  And I, I just love old people.
• 27:03
  Old people are like the coolest people in the world.
• 27:06
  And they, and it sort of struck me that they have quite a similar
• 27:12
  lifestyle to stoners and to like people that are kind of just like happy to be sitting around like chilling and just just kind of like it struck me that steves and old people kind of were quite a good fit weirdly
• 27:27
  So then we just leant into that.
• 27:28
  Yeah.
• 27:29
  And then, and then obviously again, it's like you push it a bit more and then it's, and then you like, you deal with the fucking like a death.
• 27:36
  Yeah.
• 27:37
  And then that became like the series that we won a BAFTA for.
• 27:42
  So it's like the layers start, like, I guess you're adding layers every time and it's, and you're sort of,
• 27:52
  you're creating this depth in the characters every time, but it's, yeah, it was, it was always just an evolution and it was always just paying attention to what the actors were doing with those characters.
• 28:04
  I say the actors, like they're not my mates, but like what we were all doing with our characters was, was unlocking the next layer.
• 28:13
  Yeah.
• 28:14
  And then we would just pay attention to that and keep feeding it.
• 28:18
  Which of the, the actors do you think is least like their character?
• 28:22
  At least like, I think I'm probably the one that people are like most shocked by in terms of how I, maybe ask him actually because of the accent, because he doesn't talk like that in real life.
• 28:35
  But yeah, people think that I'm going to be very stupid in real life.
• 28:43
  And I probably do a lot of drugs.
• 28:45
  And I've never really been into drugs.
• 28:47
  And I don't think I'm stupid.
• 28:49
  But yeah, that's...
• 28:52
  There are elements of Steve's that are like me though.
• 28:54
  Like the conspiracy stuff I do actually find fascinating and like, I kind of like playing around with that idea of like,
• 29:04
  sort of allowing myself to dig into like aliens, for example, or whatever it is.
• 29:11
  It's sort of, it's like a part of my brain that I know shouldn't be, I shouldn't allow to exist, but I can do it with Steve's.
• 29:21
  But yeah, I think everyone's quite different to their characters, really.
• 29:25
  Yeah.
• 29:26
  But there's like behaviors in there that are them, I think.
• 29:32
  The little crossovers.
• 29:33
  Yeah, and it's like, yeah, I just think acting's interesting because you can give five actors the exact same words and they'll all do it completely differently and they'll all inhabit a different character completely.
• 29:53
  And that's really interesting.
• 29:56
  And I think we were writing stuff that was,
• 30:03
  tailored to our characters like to our real characters um but also creating these new idiots that were way funnier than us yeah yeah how does it feel um because as you say like the show really took off after a certain point and became a big success and it would have after like season three was the series i want to say which one yeah yeah
• 30:26
  And you have that great scene.
• 30:28
  You reminded me of it then where, I guess spoiler alert as well for season three of People Just Do Nothing, but Steve goes into the care home and his nan's died.
• 30:36
  There's that great, really touching little moment where I think the carer leads you into the office and sits you down and there's no sound.
• 30:43
  Yeah.
• 30:44
  And it just all plays off your reaction to what she's saying.
• 30:47
  You don't hear it.
• 30:47
  You just see it.
• 30:48
  I remember what those scenes were like to shoot.
• 30:50
  I guess that balance of comedy, but also really funny, but also really touching as well.
• 30:56
  Yeah, it's weird because when I sat down to write that, I felt it like I was like...
• 31:07
  I could see those scenes play out and I felt so sad for Steve's and, and I felt like this was going to be a powerful moment.
• 31:17
  And I wrote it in the script as exactly like how it sort of was in the, in the final edit where it's like, you go, you sort of look through, and they do it in the office.
• 31:27
  It's like, when Tim takes off the mic to talk to Dawn,
• 31:30
  Yeah, such a great moment.
• 31:31
  I was like, that's how we should do this.
• 31:33
  Because you don't want to have, you don't really want to hear the conversation with like the sort of logistics of what's going on.
• 31:40
  You know what's going on.
• 31:42
  You just want to sit in that sort of emotion.
• 31:47
  So this is how weird the process of filming is though.
• 31:51
  Because when we were actually shooting it,
• 31:54
  I was, we had to do the scene out loud in order for it to be sort of like we couldn't just go into a room and be mouthing.
• 32:04
  So then we had to sort of improvise the scene that I didn't want to hear.
• 32:08
  Yeah.
• 32:10
  And that felt slightly weird.
• 32:11
  And then I was, I was slightly worried that the director wasn't going to.
• 32:20
  let the final edit be in silence.
• 32:22
  So I had all this worry about how it was gonna, the final product was gonna end up even while we were shooting that stuff.
• 32:28
  And I was in my sort of like, I guess like in my sort of creator head, and my sort of like producer mode.
• 32:40
  I was sort of thinking about all of that stuff while we were shooting it rather than being like really, I remember struggling to get kind of sad actually on, in that scene because I was like, I know I should cry, but, but also I don't like, I'd sort of had all this baggage of, of the process that was kind of like, uh, spoilt, like stopping me from really like feeling the weight of the scene.
• 33:07
  Yeah, it's weird that all the stuff that goes on that you don't think about or that you're not aware of.
• 33:13
  But luckily, when we got to the edit, and he did, Jack, to be fair, he did try and present a version with the sound.
• 33:23
  And I was like, bruv, take the sound out.
• 33:27
  Watch how much better it is.
• 33:29
  And he listened to me, luckily.
• 33:31
  Yeah.
• 33:32
  And so I was right to be worried.
• 33:35
  But yeah, there was like... Those scenes are...
• 33:40
  It's weird to watch as an actor or to talk about because you have all these things that are going on on the day.
• 33:47
  And then you kind of...
• 33:50
  Yeah, you get that end product and you're kind of like, okay, like it did work.
• 33:57
  I did look sad.
• 33:58
  Like the little thing that they smeared under my eyes did make my eyes watery.
• 34:03
  They had to smear some basically like Vicks onto my eyelids to, I think they call it a tear stick.
• 34:11
  So yeah, that's a thing.
• 34:14
  The go-to stuff if you need to cry.
• 34:16
  Yeah.
• 34:16
  Yeah.
• 34:17
  And it's weird as well.
• 34:18
  Like I was even trying to like, you know, like trying to get into a sad space and like, it's so, there's so many people around and there's so much pressure and you know that there's like 10 minutes till lunch or whatever.
• 34:33
  And there's all this like.
• 34:35
  It's such a weird thing as an actor.
• 34:37
  And that's why acting is fucking incredible as a skill.
• 34:40
  To be able to, like, tune everything out and immediately get from zero to 100 with emotion is, like, such an amazing skill.
• 34:50
  And, yeah, like...
• 34:54
  I definitely struggled with that.
• 34:56
  Like to just be able to like suddenly start crying or on demand or whatever.
• 35:03
  It's like an amazing thing that I'm always watching shows and thinking, fuck, he just like, like the camera pushes in on someone and as it gets near their face, a tear falls out of their eye.
• 35:16
  And I'm like, wow.
• 35:22
  Are they all right?
• 35:23
  But yeah, it's amazing.
• 35:25
  Yeah.
• 35:25
  I remember hearing you say that when it comes to the acting part of the job, that something that you have occasionally struggled with anxiety.
• 35:34
  Yeah.
• 35:35
  Camera.
• 35:35
  Is that true?
• 35:37
  I mean, anxiety in life in general.
• 35:41
  But I think the imposter syndrome I was talking about earlier is a big part of that sort of on camera anxiety that,
• 35:49
  That sense of like, that I'm not a real actor or that I'm not supposed to be here or whatever.
• 35:56
  Or I think with Steve's, I felt it less because I felt like no one could play Steve's apart from me.
• 36:02
  Like it was, like it's...
• 36:05
  That's my character sort of thing.
• 36:06
  But with other...
• 36:08
  I think with other shows where you're sort of... Like we're talking about the five different actors doing five different versions of a character, I'm always like, oh, those other four are probably way better than me because they've probably got training and are, like, really, really good.
• 36:24
  So I always...
• 36:25
  I think I always doubt myself in that respect.
• 36:27
  But, yeah, it's...
• 36:30
  That's just like part of how my brain works, I think, is that I'm always like worrying about everything.
• 36:37
  And a lot of the time that is beneficial because it means that I push things and make sure that it's going to be better.
• 36:45
  And even with acting, like it forces me to work harder at my scenes and make sure that I am good.
• 36:52
  Mm hmm.
• 36:53
  Is that how you navigate it by sort of taking it head on and being like, right, okay, I need to get over this hurdle, I guess, of like, and then just go from there.
• 37:04
  Is that how you navigate it?
• 37:06
  Yeah, I think everything, every show is different.
• 37:08
  Every job is different.
• 37:10
  And you just have to sort of, you have to just try not to think about,
• 37:17
  everything that could go wrong and just kind of like make sure you're prepared make sure you've learned your lines and you're there for a reason if they've cast you you are what they want so you just have to kind of try not to let the voices in your head uh the sort of voices of doubt get in the way of like doing good work and uh and yeah that's what you can do
• 37:43
  Yeah, well, it seems to have worked for me.
• 37:44
  I mean, because for me watching, because like going from, like looking at your acting from people just do nothing up through to like Peacock and then, you know, Witness and that, you know, and playing that Brun witness and playing, you know, that Brett for characters.
• 37:57
  It really just seemed to me like your confidence has grown and like you're trying, you know, all those different roles.
• 38:02
  I mean, does it feel like your confidence is built and built as you've gone along?
• 38:05
  Yeah, massively.
• 38:06
  And I was lucky to be in a position where I was like, uh,
• 38:11
  learning on the job with my mates and we were all gaining confidence and we were all kind of like, gassing each other up about, you know, like that was funny.
• 38:21
  And, and, and I think, you know, like obviously winning awards or whatever is, is always good in terms of like feeling like you're not an imposter, but, but yeah, also just the more you do, the more you sort of get a bit comfortable and
• 38:39
  I think we went from like YouTube videos where there was like four of us in a bedroom shooting on like a little camera to there suddenly being like 40 people staring at you and, and that, that can throw you off.
• 38:53
  But I think over time you kind of get used to that process and then you kind of can tune it out to some extent.
• 39:01
  Yeah.
• 39:02
  The Napa thing, like the,
• 39:03
  the the witness was like obviously like the first sort of drama job that I'd done really I did top boy but that was quite a small role this felt slightly bigger and more intense and uh
• 39:22
  And I really remember that, like that thing of like trying to block it out, the cameras and the crew and stuff, just trying to be in this like, in this guy's head and trying to, cause it was such a sort of quiet role with like such small nuances to it.
• 39:41
  There wasn't loads of lines.
• 39:42
  It was all about just like being kind of still and then like looking up at the right time or whatever.
• 39:49
  So like I really had to ignore, I couldn't just bounce around like feeding off energy like I would on a comedy set.
• 39:56
  It was like I had to just be in this space.
• 39:59
  And I remember one scene there was like a camera literally in my face and it like came within inches of my face while I'm trying to sort of do something.
• 40:10
  And I was just like, this is so mad.
• 40:12
  Like this is how, this is what it takes to like present a character like that.
• 40:19
  that you have to just, yeah, completely, you have to completely be in it, but also like you're just aware that there's this camera just moving past your face and you're like, I'm not gonna focus on that.
• 40:33
  Yeah, it's a strange process.
• 40:36
  And having to switch it on and off, I guess, really.
• 40:39
  When they roll, say action, right, I'm on.
• 40:41
  And then switch it off when they say cut, you know.
• 40:45
  Yeah, and also I'm used to being funny on set, like sort of messing around in between takes and trying to sort of like keep the vibe like good.
• 40:54
  Whereas on this set, I was...
• 40:56
  I felt sort of like I shouldn't be doing that so much because I'm playing such a serious role.
• 41:02
  And it's such a it's such a horrible story.
• 41:06
  Yeah.
• 41:07
  So I don't want to make the light of it in any way.
• 41:09
  I've always loved drama.
• 41:11
  That's what I watch at home more than comedy, really, is serious stuff.
• 41:17
  So even writing stuff like that, I think I would love to...
• 41:21
  I grew up with watching Shane Meadows type stuff and all of that kind of British, kind of gritty British drama.
• 41:30
  But always with a... Shane Meadows, for example, is really good at adding a little bit of comedy in there and just sort of like...
• 41:38
  allowing the comedy that does exist in real life to kind of exist even in the drama world.
• 41:45
  I think I'd love to do stuff like that.
• 41:48
  Yeah.
• 41:49
  I think, and I think in terms of acting, that role definitely allowed me to sort of do that, that thing of preparing for a role and, and feeling like an actor with a sort of
• 42:10
  like the discipline I was talking about, it felt like I was doing that and that I, and I had time to prepare and I had time to really focus on it and make sure I did something that I was happy with.
• 42:21
  And, and it was interesting to, as someone who makes like shows, you know, that I write and then follow all the way through to the edit and everything.
• 42:30
  Yeah.
• 42:30
  It was nice to go in and kind of just be part of the machine and, and do my bit and then kind of,
• 42:39
  That was it.
• 42:40
  And I didn't, we shot it like ages ago.
• 42:43
  It took like a year or something, even after it was finished to come out.
• 42:47
  So I didn't know what it was gonna be like really.
• 42:50
  And everyone, I'd sort of mentioned that I had this, that I'd done this role, but.
• 42:55
  and it just went quiet for so long it's it's a that's another weird part of being an actor is that you kind of you do this work and then a year later the thing comes out and then you end up talking about it and trying to remember what what even happened in the day yeah it's like it's so long ago
• 43:15
  It's like floating in the ether and then bam, it just comes out.
• 43:17
  It's like, whoa, okay.
• 43:18
  Yeah.
• 43:18
  And it's really fresh for everyone because they've just seen it.
• 43:21
  Whereas you, you're like, oh yeah, that was, uh, you're trying to remember how you prepared for it, like in, in 2024 or whatever.
• 43:29
  Yeah.
• 43:29
  And then you've got to talk about it on shows like this.
• 43:31
  And you'd be like, yeah, I did.
• 43:32
  It was so long ago.
• 43:33
  I think I did this and then this is how it went.
• 43:35
  Yeah.
• 43:37
  Alan Jackerman.
• 43:37
  I've got his name there.
• 43:40
  That Shane Meadows thing you mentioned there.
• 43:41
  I really see that when I look at your work.
• 43:43
  Like particularly, I think maybe most obviously people just do nothing.
• 43:46
  That landscape that it occurs in, you know, Brentford.
• 43:49
  Yeah.
• 43:49
  That sort of brutalist Brentford.
• 43:51
  I really see the Shane Meadows streak in that.
• 43:55
  When I was looking back and I was like, this reminds me of Shane Meadows in the best way.
• 43:58
  That's a compliment.
• 43:58
  Yeah, that's the best compliment.
• 44:00
  Yeah.
• 44:01
  So of all of Shane Meadows stuff, is there anything that you're a particular fan of, I guess, that was inspiring you?
• 44:07
  Like your favorite Shane Meadows or your favorite Shane Meadows projects are?
• 44:11
  I think This Is England is the one really like the film initially was just like such a mad
• 44:21
  it was such a mad exploration of that, of that world, but also the fact that there was kind of like so much charm in there and these characters that were so believable and just real, it all like the, the, the banter between all of that group was like amazing.
• 44:37
  And I, and I always, I always think like when I'm making shows, like if you can get people,
• 44:46
  if you can allow people to be, to improvise a little bit, I do think it, it just makes it better because it, you feel the like, the warmth and the, the fact that they're bouncing off each other.
• 44:58
  You feel the sort of, the realness of it.
• 45:00
  It makes it feel genuine.
• 45:04
  And yeah, Shane Meadows is the master at that.
• 45:06
  Like he created these, these characters that could all bounce off each other and were kind of like raw enough actors that they were,
• 45:17
  they were doing the lines and they were carrying the emotion and, and creating these like intense, uh, amazing scenes, but also could like have a play fight that was believable on screen or like have, uh, like mess around in a way that felt like, are they actually are messing around?
• 45:34
  Like there's not, this isn't like a sort of, uh, rehearsed, like choreographed fucking around.
• 45:42
  Like this is just them fucking around in character.
• 45:44
  And that's kind of great.
• 45:45
  Yeah.
• 45:46
  I remember you meant when you were talking about the scene of Steve's and in the care home.
• 45:51
  And you mentioned the office, that scene, which is one of the something I thought about when I watched that scene again.
• 45:55
  Like, you know, the fact when he goes in and there's no sound.
• 45:58
  Yeah.
• 45:58
  And it's and it's like the scene with Tim and Dawn in the office.
• 46:01
  I did want to ask about because you mentioned Shane Meadows, like your other influences and inspirations.
• 46:05
  Like what were the other, I guess, comedy shows?
• 46:07
  But also beyond that, you said, you know, drama shows and stories that were inspiring you.
• 46:11
  At that time.
• 46:12
  At that time.
• 46:13
  And I guess, like, now, like, even when you were growing up as well, like, what were the things that really galvanised you, that really fed into you?
• 46:19
  I think, yeah, the office was the main inspiration for, like, people just do nothing because it was so...
• 46:29
  It was so focused on the documentary element being genuine and sort of believable.
• 46:36
  Like it really like acknowledged the camera in a way that no other documentaries were doing really.
• 46:43
  And they were sort of,
• 46:46
  I found that so funny and, and it just unlocked like a whole, a whole level of like, um, the characters kind of performing to the, to the fact that they're in front of a film crew.
• 46:59
  I just felt like that was, that was really interesting.
• 47:01
  And, and, so that was the main inspiration in terms of like style, but I guess in terms of like when we were growing up,
• 47:11
  I used to watch a lot of like Harry Enfield back in the day that it like his stuff with Paul Whitehouse, Harry Enfield and Chums and all of that stuff.
• 47:20
  Because I was into just like characters, just like funny voices, essentially, and just like all of the clowning of it.
• 47:29
  And obviously some of that stuff now, you look back at like Sacha Baron Cohen's stuff, like some of it seems a bit dated now.
• 47:39
  I feel like that sort of, those kind of bigger characters can feel a bit like stereotypy or weird, like uncomfortable now.
• 47:49
  when I was growing up, that was, those were the voices that we were doing in the playground or whatever.
• 47:54
  And those were the, I guess like where that's where I discovered like being funny, doing characters.
• 48:03
  So I think that was a big part of me, uh, sort of finding that part of myself and what else did, what's influenced me?
• 48:14
  I guess my favourite shows are kind of stuff like Peep Show, Alan Partridge, stuff where there's like... You can tell by the way that it's written that someone's overthinking everything.
• 48:28
  And that there's a level of like...
• 48:31
  Like, Peep Show is amazing at just sort of complete... Because you're in someone's head, you really feel the, like, every thought process and you get why somebody would do something...
• 48:46
  even like the most ridiculous thing in the world, like you've heard the sort of process to get there and you kind of like, yeah, I kind of see how he got to that.
• 48:55
  Yeah.
• 48:56
  And that's, that's really funny to me.
• 49:00
  Yeah.
• 49:00
  Steve Coogan as, as Ellen Partridge, I think is, is a sort of,
• 49:04
  one of the best like comedy character performances of all time.
• 49:09
  So I think in that respect, like that was a huge influence and, and even seeing how he took that into different places.
• 49:18
  Um, that was, that was interesting for what we were doing with people just do nothing.
• 49:23
  Cause we were doing like separate sort of little videos about, um,
• 49:28
  with the characters doing like other things.
• 49:30
  So it sort of, yeah, it made us think like, oh, we could do a DJ set in character and we can do like a documentary about Steve's talking about being an abductee.
• 49:44
  It's sort of like, yeah, we were inspired by Partridge, I think in that respect.
• 49:50
  Yeah, it's almost a kind of holistic quality to stuff like that.
• 49:53
  Stuff like Partridge and people just do nothing where it works no matter what format it's in.
• 49:58
  There's a way you can make it work.
• 50:00
  Yeah.
• 50:00
  In the other formats, it's not just like two seasons of a two, six episode seasons of a British comedy show.
• 50:05
  It's like it spans books and Partridge is like books, movies, audio books and, you know, webisodes.
• 50:12
  And they're like morning matters and stuff like that.
• 50:15
  And being able to just build almost like a whole little universe around this character.
• 50:19
  I agree.
• 50:20
  I don't know exactly.
• 50:21
  It requires a lot of attention to detail.
• 50:23
  I imagine as well as say it's similar to people just do nothing like putting that detail in.
• 50:26
  Yeah.
• 50:27
  And you have to sort of decide like how far from,
• 50:31
  like because the world that you've created on the tv show is slightly different to the world that you're operating in if you're doing a dj set in ibiza for example yeah but yeah we just we've we've been quite like disciplined about what we do with the characters i guess and try to sort of keep it keep it sort of feeding into each other um and not and not taking them anywhere that sort of breaks that illusion um
• 51:00
  Do you have a favorite slice of Partridge?
• 51:02
  Like, as Sikirala Partridge, do you have a favorite series or film?
• 51:06
  Like, era.
• 51:07
  Yeah, era of Partridge.
• 51:11
  What's my favorite?
• 51:14
  I think the older stuff, like, I did love.
• 51:19
  But the stuff that Gibbons Brothers have been doing is incredible, like, writing-wise.
• 51:23
  Like, I think the new... What's the new one?
• 51:28
  I can't remember what it's called.
• 51:30
  Yeah, the documentary series, the little six episodes.
• 51:34
  Yeah, I love the documentary.
• 51:35
  How are you?
• 51:36
  How are you?
• 51:37
  Yeah, I think that the sort of documentaries that Alan's kind of behind, like where you can tell he's edited them and stuff like that.
• 51:46
  Yeah.
• 51:46
  I can't remember which one it was.
• 51:49
  I think it was about...
• 51:52
  It was like about Norwich or something.
• 51:53
  There was a documentary and he's like treading water while he's interviewing somebody.
• 51:57
  Welcome to the places of my life.
• 51:59
  Yeah, that one.
• 52:00
  That killed me because it felt so controlled by Partridge, even in the edit.
• 52:06
  And that was like another layer of like, oh, this is incredible.
• 52:10
  Like him sort of recutting his own interview so he looks cool.
• 52:14
  Just like...
• 52:15
  So how did it all start?
• 52:17
  And he's like leaning on the side of the pool, but you can see on her shot that he's like drowning in the foreground.
• 52:23
  That shit is like, that's beautiful.
• 52:26
  And yeah, I think the Gibbons brothers have added like a lot of...
• 52:33
  They've made it like...
• 52:36
  up to date and also like very smart in terms and fresh in terms of like what the type of show is that Partridge is, um, is kind of operating in.
• 52:46
  Hmm.
• 52:47
  that comedy of like that particular sort of strand of comedy, which is linked to the editing is like food and drink to me.
• 52:52
  Cause as someone who started in editing, like into film and like, there's the, do you know you familiar with this time?
• 52:58
  The sort of one show for years back.
• 53:01
  Yeah.
• 53:01
  There's a little item that he does where he goes back to his old school and he, there's a little trick, that little visual trick where Alan walks behind a pillar, like he's in his normal clothes and he's talking to camera and he walks behind a pillar and he comes around the other side of the pillar and he's in his old like blazer.
• 53:15
  And it's supposed to look quite slick.
• 53:17
  But then as he sort of walks off, you see how Alan's edited it.
• 53:21
  He sort of peeks back around the pillar.
• 53:22
  But the old one is like, do we get it?
• 53:24
  Do we get it like that?
• 53:25
  And it's such a little background detail that you could miss.
• 53:28
  It's like seeing the strings in a nice way.
• 53:31
  Yeah.
• 53:31
  Yeah.
• 53:32
  I don't always see playing around with that aspect of TV and film.
• 53:36
  And I think like there's so much that you could be wrong out of that for laughs.
• 53:39
  But that's what, yeah.
• 53:40
  So with people just do nothing.
• 53:42
  When we did like music videos, for example, we would sometimes have like a kind of Chibuddy G production.
• 53:48
  So it would be like the explosions would be completely ridiculous and everything was really over the top.
• 53:53
  And it was almost like good because it's shit.
• 53:56
  That's our motto basically.
• 53:58
  Like it's,
• 53:59
  it's all and partridge is allowed to do the same thing because he's kind of he's kind of presenting like something that he's in control of so he he can do it badly because he doesn't he's you imagine that he's sort of overpowered the people that are trying to correct him or whatever yeah and uh and in the same way we've got like jabadi g being in charge of a music video it would just be terrible and sort of like you would leave in the the bit of the end where you're like did we get it yeah it's just like yeah i love all that stuff
• 54:28
  Yeah.
• 54:28
  And when you're working with your mates on these projects, I mean, you've touched on this a bit already, but like, is it, how different is it to working on something like, say, The Witness, where I guess it's you and the crew and the writers, but when you're working with people like Alan, what's that atmosphere like, you know, as opposed to like working with people on those other shows?
• 54:52
  Yeah.
• 54:52
  I think People Just Do Nothing was really free because it was our show and we were all kind of so involved in, in, in all of it.
• 55:01
  So like we would be on set watching each other's like scenes that we're not in, for example, I'd be there.
• 55:08
  And after it finishes, I'd be like shouting, like, see, do, do this other thing.
• 55:13
  And like sort of adding like more jokes, like do more of that and whatever.
• 55:17
  And Jack bless him, Jack Clough, the director, he,
• 55:21
  he allowed that to sort of exist as like a, a process where we would feed in and, and he would also obviously have his notes and sometimes he'd have to sort of be like, no, no, no, don't, like, don't do that.
• 55:33
  I want you to do this thing.
• 55:36
  But yeah, after people just do nothing, it was a bit of a learning curve in terms of like on Peacock, I can't be running on and giving notes to see, but all the time, like there's a director who is, is,
• 55:49
  like has a vision and needs to, there had to be a sort of like processes where it would be like, I have to feed to the producer who then walkie talkies to the director and Steve says, can we try this thing?
• 56:03
  And then he can like, so that the discipline sort of came gradually
• 56:11
  but that was a good way of doing it because it felt like we found our feet in the chaos and the fun and it's messing around and then we gradually became more professional along the way and and stepping out of uh shows where it's all of us and into things where it's a bit more it's just me on my own or it's or it's just me and Sipa with a different group and a different dynamic uh yeah our professionalism evolved along the way
• 56:39
  Yeah.
• 56:40
  And was that what it was like?
• 56:41
  Because I just remember now the off the back of people just do nothing.
• 56:44
  There's the Ed Sheeran tune and sketch that you guys did with Sheeran on that.
• 56:48
  I mean, yeah.
• 56:49
  How did that come back?
• 56:51
  And was that the kind of atmosphere on set with Ed?
• 56:54
  That kind of free and loose?
• 56:56
  The chaos.
• 56:57
  Yeah, it was.
• 56:59
  That came about from Comic Relief.
• 57:02
  They wanted to do a sketch with us and they said, I can't remember who put Ed Sheeran and us together, but basically we were like, yeah, that's amazing because we can just terrorize him.
• 57:13
  And he was a fan of people just do nothing.
• 57:16
  So we knew that he'd be up for sort of messing around and being ridiculed essentially.
• 57:23
  And he was great, man.
• 57:24
  He came on and just like,
• 57:25
  we we'd scripted it so we knew what was roughly going to be said but we was throwing random stuff out and he was giving back and it was just like it was really it was really fun it was kind of and it was organized enough that you know like it was a it was a proper shoot and everything but it still had the chaos and it still was like um i can't believe what we got away with to be honest it was it was really like ridiculous some of the shit we were doing yeah but yeah it was
• 57:55
  Yeah, well, that's what it feels like watching that back.
• 57:57
  And like, there's that little bit where like, he's laying down like a guitar line in the studio.
• 58:01
  He's got his acoustic guitar, you know, Mary Ed Sheeran.
• 58:03
  And then Grant is like, say, stop, no, like just like a bar, like not even like, he's like two seconds of guitar.
• 58:09
  And then he just loops it.
• 58:10
  And he's like, why are you doing a dropper?
• 58:12
  He's like, what are you talking about?
• 58:13
  All that stuff.
• 58:15
  Yeah, all of that stuff was like, it was kind of like,
• 58:21
  On the day, I think Sipu was just pushing and pushing to see if he could, like, get him to break, basically.
• 58:29
  And that's kind of what we always do as a group is, like, we try and make each other laugh.
• 58:34
  So when there's someone new that's brought in, like, in Ed Sheeran, we're, like, we're trying to make him laugh, basically.
• 58:42
  He was good, though.
• 58:43
  I don't think we really made him break.
• 58:46
  He kind of...
• 58:47
  He would laugh after we'd cut, but he was very professional.
• 58:51
  More than us, we always laugh.
• 58:53
  We struggle to get through takes a lot of the time.
• 58:56
  Even when you're on the green screen boxes, and it's supposed to be on elephants, you're doing the green screen.
• 59:02
  And what's nice about those...
• 59:04
  again, it was like another sort of side, like, uh, adventure side quest for the characters where they're sort of in this slightly different space to the TV show.
• 59:16
  Right.
• 59:16
  Like, so, um, yeah, what's nice about that stuff is it, it does feel like going back to what we, where we started in terms of like the YouTube stuff of us messing around and doing like a little, um,
• 59:27
  short thing and we even had the guy directing it Ben Murray who uh was our original like director cameraman on the the very early YouTube stuff and he he sort of as I don't know like been there along the whole journey as as a sort of like someone that we can always go to and make uh make stuff with and that's kind of it's kind of nice getting the old crew back together again
• 59:56
  Yeah.
• 59:56
  Yeah.
• 59:57
  Is that what it's like on the new tour?
• 59:59
  Because I know you've got the EP coming out at the end of the tour.
• 1:00:01
  Is that what it's like sort of bringing the gang back together?
• 1:00:04
  Yeah, it literally is that.
• 1:00:06
  It's like we all want to do other stuff and want to like, you know, expand our...
• 1:00:13
  our horizons or whatever but there's always this element of like it's it's always fun when we do these characters and it's always fun like hanging out as a group so uh yeah we got asked if we wanted to do like an australia tour at the end of last year and we did that and it was just really fun just like just hanging out with your mates basically and doing these um these shows so we
• 1:00:39
  And Sipa and Hugo went into the studio and made some new music as the characters kind of thing.
• 1:00:48
  And I think it's just organically just like the fact that we want to hang out with each other means that we kind of say yes to certain opportunities or create opportunities for ourselves, like the music stuff.
• 1:01:03
  And it's just like...
• 1:01:05
  it just keeps it all alive and it's weird how the show, well, it's not weird.
• 1:01:10
  It's great.
• 1:01:10
  How the show has its own life now.
• 1:01:13
  Like it's, it's sort of endured over time, even though we haven't made anything for however long it's been now, like seven years or something, there's still, there's still all of this stuff going on and there's still people watching it and discovering it.
• 1:01:27
  And there's like the young kids now watching it.
• 1:01:29
  And, uh, yeah, so I guess it's,
• 1:01:34
  it's hard to get that in terms of like TV.
• 1:01:37
  Um, especially now where there's just so much to you are constantly being fed.
• 1:01:43
  It's kind of great that there's this, like, there's got this life of its own where it just exists now and people keep finding it and keep watching it.
• 1:01:53
  And, um, and when we pop up and do like a tour, people come to it.
• 1:01:58
  Like we just, uh, we just sold out roundhouse.
• 1:02:01
  So,
• 1:02:04
  but yeah yeah it's come to the tour yeah not roundhouse because i saw that it is fantastic that it has had such a legacy and that people do seem to keep coming back to it and keep finding it and it's had that amazing afterlife as you say
• 1:02:20
  Yeah, and for us it's just fun because it gives us an excuse to mess about and do some more stuff in character.
• 1:02:28
  And the music stuff is like our childhood dream when we were growing up DJing and to be performing to a room full of people and partying with them is just like, it's fun, man.
• 1:02:44
  Yeah, man.
• 1:02:44
  Yeah, well, hey, this was such a blast chatting to you, Steve.
• 1:02:47
  Yeah, me too.
• 1:02:48
  I mean, what of, just briefly for the viewers and listeners, what kind of, so you've got the EP coming out, you've got the upcoming tour, what else have you got coming out that we can look forward to?
• 1:02:58
  There's some stuff in development, but...
• 1:03:01
  I can't really talk about anything that's coming out at the moment.
• 1:03:05
  Um, but yeah, just keep, just keep your eyes peeled.
• 1:03:08
  I'm still, I'm still working away.
• 1:03:10
  Watch this space.
• 1:03:11
  Yeah, man.
• 1:03:12
  All right.
• 1:03:12
  And then, uh, lastly, uh, something that we ask our guests on half the picture is, uh, for some good recommendations, like what good films I've watched recently, what good, maybe the books, what good music albums I've listened to recently.
• 1:03:23
  Do you have any, uh, recommendations, uh, to share that you've been enjoying recently?
• 1:03:28
  Uh, what films have I watched recently?
• 1:03:31
  Wait, let me check my letterbox, because that's how I remember what films I watched recently.
• 1:03:35
  There's one called Searat.
• 1:03:37
  Have you seen that?
• 1:03:38
  I remember it coming out.
• 1:03:39
  It was about, was it about a year ago that it came out?
• 1:03:41
  Yeah, maybe like six months ago or something.
• 1:03:44
  But it's out on streaming now.
• 1:03:46
  But it's... That, I went to the cinema on my own, and I didn't know what it was about, and it fucking blew my head off.
• 1:03:54
  Like, it's so intense and amazing, and just like...
• 1:04:00
  It's kind of around this world of people raving in the desert.
• 1:04:06
  So the cast are kind of these crusty ravers that you're just like, they must be real.
• 1:04:12
  They seem like they've been cast from a festival in the desert.
• 1:04:17
  There's no other way they could have found these people.
• 1:04:20
  But it's an amazing film.
• 1:04:23
  Yeah, proper blew my mind.
• 1:04:25
  Let me see what else.
• 1:04:25
  It's a good one, Surat.
• 1:04:27
  An old lecturer of mine was raving, no pun intended, about that one when I last met it with them.
• 1:04:32
  Yeah.
• 1:04:32
  You've seen Surat, you've got to watch this.
• 1:04:33
  And they're blasting the soundtrack for the students 24-7.
• 1:04:35
  It's great.
• 1:04:36
  It's a pretty dark style that happens in that film.
• 1:04:40
  It's so dark.
• 1:04:41
  Oh, you've seen it.
• 1:04:41
  Yeah, it's great.
• 1:04:42
  It's heavy.
• 1:04:44
  Yeah, it's heavy.
• 1:04:45
  It's really heavy.
• 1:04:46
  I should, people thinking that I'm like a comedy guy.
• 1:04:50
  No, no.
• 1:04:51
  What else did I like?
• 1:04:52
  I can't remember what this stuff is.
• 1:04:56
  You open a box and you fall down a rabbit hole.
• 1:04:57
  There's so much.
• 1:04:59
  Yeah.
• 1:05:00
  I'll tell you what I watched last night was the drama.
• 1:05:03
  That was good.
• 1:05:04
  It was good, wasn't it?
• 1:05:05
  I found it like...
• 1:05:07
  I found it really, because I knew what it was about generally.
• 1:05:12
  And I knew that there was going to be a point where she reveals the thing and it's going to be shocking somehow.
• 1:05:20
  Yeah.
• 1:05:21
  And I was like, how is that going to endure though?
• 1:05:23
  How is that going to be enough to make the whole film work?
• 1:05:27
  But it was so good.
• 1:05:28
  The director's amazing.
• 1:05:30
  Have you ever seen, oh, what's the other one?
• 1:05:33
  Dream.
• 1:05:33
  Dream Scenario.
• 1:05:34
  Dream Scenario.
• 1:05:35
  I haven't got around to it yet.
• 1:05:36
  The Nick Cage film.
• 1:05:36
  That's amazing as well.
• 1:05:38
  I was so surprised by that as well.
• 1:05:42
  I think the director's really good at taking a ridiculous premise and kind of grounding it in reality in a way that you're like, it really makes you laugh because it feels so believable.
• 1:05:58
  And even though it's extreme, he'll kind of find a way
• 1:06:06
  I guess like what we're saying with that sort of peep show, like earning that thing of like, it gets to a point where it's completely mental, but you completely understand how and why.
• 1:06:15
  And it, and it feels real.
• 1:06:17
  Totally.
• 1:06:18
  Yeah.
• 1:06:18
  Even though, even though the, the actual concept of the film is, is so bizarre.
• 1:06:23
  Like it's, yeah, I love that stuff.
• 1:06:25
  Yeah.
• 1:06:25
  Did you think that they, cause I saw the drama early this year and I loved it.
• 1:06:28
  Did you think that the, no spoilers for what the thing is that is revealed, but do you think their friends overreacted?
• 1:06:33
  Or do you think it was in proportion?
• 1:06:36
  I think one of the friends overreacted.
• 1:06:40
  Alana Haim.
• 1:06:43
  Yeah.
• 1:06:43
  I think she was a bit like... Because I was watching it kind of like...
• 1:06:47
  I don't think I would...
• 1:06:49
  I don't know if I would care that much.
• 1:06:52
  And then as they sort of started to...
• 1:06:55
  sort of unpack it a little bit i was like oh yeah maybe i would care actually and it and then it sort of yeah it was good that's what i mean it took you on that journey and i felt like i was fully on it and then yeah it had quite a satisfying um because again it's like where's it gonna go like how's it gonna how's it gonna pay off in a way that's satisfying but it did it had a big a big climax at the end that was funny
• 1:07:20
  Yeah.
• 1:07:21
  I thought it was, I also thought it was really, I thought, cause for a film that was so sort of spiky and like blackly comic, I thought the ending was like surprisingly sweet.
• 1:07:28
  Like I've got quite, I think that's quite a, quite an optimistic ending.
• 1:07:31
  Yeah.
• 1:07:32
  Yeah.
• 1:07:32
  Yeah.
• 1:07:32
  Yeah.
• 1:07:32
  Somebody, I remember talking to some of my mates that were like, Oh no, that's, that's gotta be the end.
• 1:07:36
  Right.
• 1:07:37
  Like no spoilers, but that's gotta be the end of it.
• 1:07:38
  Yeah.
• 1:07:39
  And then I just thought, no, no, no, that's maybe that's a new, a new beginning.
• 1:07:42
  I don't know.
• 1:07:42
  Yeah.
• 1:07:43
  Yeah.
• 1:07:43
  It's true.
• 1:07:44
  No, there's definitely
• 1:07:52
  I'm trying to think how I can say this without giving anything away.
• 1:07:55
  We're just talking about it in really vague terms.
• 1:07:57
  Okay, wait.
• 1:07:57
  Spoiler alert for the drama.
• 1:07:59
  Okay, let's go.
• 1:08:01
  No, I think, yeah, it's optimistic.
• 1:08:03
  I think the fact that they're both there...
• 1:08:08
  at the end, says a lot.
• 1:08:11
  That's what I'm saying.
• 1:08:11
  That's all we're saying.
• 1:08:13
  Okey dokey.
• 1:08:14
  So Surratt and the drama, two good films.
• 1:08:17
  Those aren't like the best films I can think of.
• 1:08:20
  That's just off the top of my head, yeah.
• 1:08:22
  But Surratt, like, yeah, that stuck with me.
• 1:08:25
  And I apologize in advance to everyone who watches it and is completely traumatized.
• 1:08:31
  Brilliant.
• 1:08:32
  Well, hey, thanks so much again.
• 1:08:33
  Thank you, man.
• 1:08:33
  Such a pleasure.
• 1:08:34
  And yeah, thanks for coming on Off the Picture.
• 1:08:36
  Nice one.
• 1:08:36
  Thank you.