Project Ha. Ha.

vivadeadponies

Link

I'm against them already but sounds like a better prospect than last years duo(Katherine Lynch and Roaring Twenties)

phasers

David McSavage

I stopped reading here

Bass Cadet

Just saw an ad for it on RTE...*CRINGE*

gudman09

Bass Cadet wrote: »

Just saw an ad for it on RTE...*CRINGE*

i've seen a bit more than the ad and its actually quite good. kinda musically based....worth a watch.

vivadeadponies

gudman09 wrote: »

i've seen a bit more than the ad and its actually quite good. kinda musically based....worth a watch.

I'm watching it, but purely to slate it, so ignore me in this thread after 11pm

Bondvillain

Everyone seems to be pretending to be Matt Berry, Chris Morris or some other established comedy performer (ones who, by virtue of actual talent, can get away with the "Deep, Gruff, British accent = High Powered Executive" school of acting. )

It's not doing it for me. 5 more minutes and it's Flicky flicky.

decob

Just checking as i'm not sure if i have some mental disorder or sommat - but is project ha ha mean't to be funny or in some way humourous - as i'm just not getting it.

Stargal

The bit with the office guy thinking in a gangsta-style American accent before breaking into song was very funny - but the rest of it is just leaving me cold. There's a couple of bright moments but really it's just weird.

Basq

Horrific.... even for RTE!

Christ.. don't know why I expected something witty.

Bondvillain

Nope. No improvement. It's poo.

Flicky flicky.

wolfgang123

Terrible. I've seen state funerals which were funnier

Saw the guys in Edinburgh and while it was the same material, I still liked it.

Edit: Dead Cat Bounce I mean.

AnonoBoy

I quite liked it. Still needs a bit of a polish but as a pilot it was far superior to Nightlive that preceded it.

Weird? Yes. But that's not a bad thing.

Tind777

first half was sh1te tbh, second half though was good, lol at lads mag and golf, sumone put golf on youtube plz

btw up the coolraugh!!!

DecoJ

I thought it was good! Maybe the novelty of having something funny, home produced and on RTE dazzled me a bit. It is similar to some fast show / IT crowd characters, but yeah, I'd like to see more of it. It’s not too parochial and could be shown internationally I think. The show is weird, but family guy is weird and has songs and is hugely popular.

BTW I’m also concerned about the David McSavage element..

amacachi

Hit and miss, wouldn't put it off if I spotted it again, which is more than I can say for most RTÉ programmes lately.

Pepe LeFrits

Saw Dead Cat Bounce in Edinburgh and they were excellent. Unfortunately I also saw Diet of Worms there too and I reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaally wish I hadn't.

AnonoBoy

AFAIK each pilot will be treated separately so if Dead Cat Bounce got a series it wouldn't automatically follow that Dave McSavage would get anything more.

Anyway - looking forward to seeing what the other three episodes are like in comparison to this.

joeystrider

I thought it got better as it went on.

The songs were much better than the acting pieces and it is in definite need of tightening. But I like the ass song, the golf song, the lad mag and the ginger spy, although the latter two could have been a bit more hyped.

flannlmacgowan

I thought both programmes had their strong points. True, Nightlive was a bit scatty, and a few of the riffs were hit and miss. However, when you're starting from such a low base, as RTE is with it's abortive attempts at comedy - anyone who managed to watch both episodes of The Roaring Twenties earlier in the year is undoubtedly a masochistic self-hater, it was vile - the production of two shows that had their moments surely represents an advance? With an injection of some more writing talent, I think Nightlive could definitely be a worker, in the vein of The Day Today with Chris Morris.
As for Dead Cat Bounce, I thought their show was hilarious. The continuity between gags was fantastic, the performances were strong and the Golf Song was riotous. At the very least, it was professional, and given that it was only a pilot, it was far better than most commissioned series that we've seen assault our screens, our sensibilities and our sanity over the last few years.
I'd just look at it as a positive beginning. Come on RTE, with our tax dollars, you can do this!

When I came on here after the Roaring Twenties, there was an avalanche of critical posts bemoaning the paucity of comic talent being brought through on our national broadcaster. It's good to see that these shows have gone down slightly better, i.e., not all the comments (bar those belonging to people close to the show) have been negative. I would never go so far as to say that Nightlive and Project Ha Ha were 'great', but I think it's fair to say that they weren't godawful. I think it's a start.

Is this just encouraging mediocrity?

humanji

On the plus side, RTE seem to be showing more and more homegrown comedy shows, so by law of averages something good is bound to appear sooner or later. Isn't it?

AnonoBoy

flannlmacgowan wrote: »

Is this just encouraging mediocrity?

I don't think so. Hopefully it's a decent start to a new approach to comedy in RTE. Not all of them are going to be funny right off - comedy needs work, but there are encouraging signs and hopefully something good will come of these pilots.

Also I think it helped that Dead Cat Bounce was directed by the guys at D.A.D.D.Y. - http://www.teamdaddy.com/

One more thing though - Project Ha Ha? Great starting animation - terrible name.

darkdubh

They announced this an an Irish production.Why was it full of English people?And where the hell was it supposed to be set?

AnonoBoy

darkdubh wrote: »

They announced this an an Irish production.Why was it full of English people?And where the hell was it supposed to be set?

It was an Irish production. I believe those English people may have been 'acting'.

To me it didn't matter what country it was set in, although I took it to be an odd Irish kinda setting with a variety of nationalities in it.

GhostInTheRuins

It was a bit crap to be honest. The only decent bit was the golf song at the end.

ScumLord

I liked it. The bit in the office with the dead hooker was really good.

I couldn't believe RTE actually made it, it was so good. I didn't see it all but what I saw was a huge improvement for RTE.

flannlmacgowan

ScumLord wrote: »

I liked it. The bit in the office with the dead hooker was really good.

I couldn't believe RTE actually made it, it was so good. I didn't see it all but what I saw was a huge improvement for RTE.

Very similar thoughts were coarsing through my mind; It was imaginative and in some places original. Very unusual for the Tristrams in Montrose.

Honestly I've spent the last while despairing at Irish TV Comedy in all its forms. The Panel is dire - ok it has some flashes of genius, but compare it to Mock the Week or any of the other British panel shows and it comes across as painfully shoddy - Katherine Lynch nearly landed me in therapy and the less said about those putrid, humourless mutations in Ballydung Manor the better. So anything that even resembles a competent attempt at humour is to be applauded, even cherished. As Anonoboy pointed out, this was a pilot; and it had bags of promise. Give these men the money you gave those inept schysters who produced The Roaring Twenties and I'm certain that the results will be far better, and crucially, far funnier.

As for McSavages upcoming fifteen minutes in the spotlight, much like a farmer watching a space mission returning to earth, I look on with a mixture of apprehension and morbid curiosity.

nenners

vivadeadponies wrote: »

I'm watching it, but purely to slate it, so ignore me in this thread after 11pm

Ah the begruding Irish, it warms the heart..... There's nothing like a refreshing piece of unfounded down-in-the-mouth begrudgery.

Here's a thought, why don't we stop the predictable moaning discuss the many good points? How can Irish comedy progress if everytime RTE commission something and air it, everyone starts running it down before its even on? Irish Comedy hasn't a hope.

Dead Cat Bounce are one of the best things to come out of Ireland lately, as are Diet of Worms et al so a bit of support wouldn't go amiss...but then that would require a bit of thought.

AnonoBoy

nenners wrote: »

Dead Cat Bounce are one of the best things to come out of Ireland lately, as are Diet of Worms et al so a bit of support wouldn't go amiss...but then that would require a bit of thought.

To be fair I think you'll find this thread has been mostly positive towards Dead Cat Bounce so it is doing quite well. If you want to see real vitriol then do a search for the Roaring Twenties thread from early 2008. Now that was hatred.

nenners

AnonoBoy wrote: »

To be fair I think you'll find this thread has been mostly positive towards Dead Cat Bounce so it is doing quite well.

Thats as maybe...Be it Dead Cat Bounce or whoever, its the constant running down of Irish Comedy without ever giving it a chance that makes me mad. We could try and help Irish comedy grow and develop as it has been allowed to elsewhere.
New and innovative irish comedians have enough barriers getting heard without having to deal with irrational and pointless slagging before they ever get going. To be honest, its a bit embarrassing.

vivadeadponies

nenners wrote: »

Ah the begruding Irish, it warms the heart..... There's nothing like a refreshing piece of unfounded down-in-the-mouth begrudgery.

Here's a thought, why don't we stop the predictable moaning discuss the many good points? How can Irish comedy progress if everytime RTE commission something and air it, everyone starts running it down before its even on? Irish Comedy hasn't a hope.

Dead Cat Bounce are one of the best things to come out of Ireland lately, as are Diet of Worms et al so a bit of support wouldn't go amiss...but then that would require a bit of thought.

I was just saying there was no point listening to any argument of mine directly after the show cos it'd be complete drivel.

I thought it was ridiculous to have a group who've been together for less than a year with a half hour long show.

So I watched it then; they seemed to do a decent job with the(almost certainly) miniscule budget and structured it very well... but still they've only been together for less than a year, some of those sketches could've had practically no fine tuning beforehand.

If Irish comedy really wants to progress it could stop being so inward looking and actually branch out into England a bit more... worked grand for them until that fabled comedy explosion of the mid/late 90s.

Jazzy

nenners wrote: »

Dead Cat Bounce are one of the best things to come out of Ireland lately, as are Diet of Worms et al so a bit of support wouldn't go amiss...but then that would require a bit of thought.

no they arent. you are just saying that. back it up.
i watched a few diet of worms things over a year ago and it was pretty ok. the crystal maze skit was good. aside from that it was alright at best.
just because they are irish it doesnt make these comedy troops any use or 'the next big thing'. in fact the whole thing smells of cheap imitations of successful british comedy like The Mighty Boosh, Spaced etc.

at the end of the day, if its good - we will laugh. if it is just overhyped, over promoted, over rated tack then we wont... and we will slag it. then we will laugh at all the mock accounts that are created on boards to tell us they are good. surely if they were naturally good then those accounts wouldnt be needed? take a look at the nitelive thread to see shameless promotion in full effect

lostexpectation

how ma`ny shows and eps are in this project haha, they were all described as pilots or in developement. better then putting out a full series

vivadeadponies

lostexpectation wrote: »

how may shows and eps are in this project haha, they were all described as pilots or developement. better then putting out a full series

similar format to channel 4's comedy labs thing... which are exceptionally bad(even the ones with people who go on to do decent things) so at the moment this is a success.

Jazzy

vivadeadponies wrote: »

so at the moment this is a success.

thats a stark image for the future of irish comedy then

vivadeadponies

Jazzy wrote: »

thats a stark image for the future of irish comedy then

here's a look at Ricky Gervais' Comedy Labs show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HmIbmvto-c&feature=related

flannlmacgowan

I thought it was ridiculous to have a group who've been together for less than a year with a half hour long show.

So I watched it then; they seemed to do a decent job with the(almost certainly) miniscule budget and structured it very well... but still they've only been together for less than a year, some of those sketches could've had practically no fine tuning beforehand.

If Irish comedy really wants to progress it could stop being so inward looking and actually branch out into England a bit more... worked grand for them until that fabled comedy explosion of the mid/late 90s.[/quote]

They've been together for more than a year; in fact, they've been performing skits together since college, albeit under different names, such as H-BAM (Check out Graham and the Nazis on Youtube).

But you're right, branching out into England would also be a good idea (although in Ed Byrne's case it just perpetuated mediocrity in his act and encouraged him to rip off Pulp's Different Class album art for advertising his new show). The guys on Little Britain spent a long time developing their work on radio shows; we just don't have that here, but as it's where most fabled British comedy begins, the powers that be should look into it if they're serious about developing new talent.

Threadhead

There needs to be a development at a basic level, not just chucking any old crap up on the screen. There's nowhere near the level of development on Irish shows that British shows have. And it's not about a lack of talent, it's about a lack of care and attention. As for the new crop of stuff that's being given a shot, at least the chance has been afforded to groups and individuals that have in some way being developing work over the past few years, instead of chucking money at crap like the Roaring Twenties.

It's not the comedians fault (apart from not being funny) but it's RTE's for not putting the best development structure in place.

The Roaring Twenties is Steve Staunton to RTE's FAI. Sure, he's inept but he shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place.

I'm not a fan of Dave McSavage in the slightest and I find Diet of Worms incredibly hit and miss but I reckon the fact, that after a couple of years developing, that they've been given a shot is a good sign.

Hopefully something good will come of it. Then again, when you've got 800, 000 or so people watching Killinaskully, the onus probably isn't on them to produce a new Irish comedy revolution.

elshambo

vivadeadponies wrote: »

here's a look at Ricky Gervais' Comedy Labs show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HmIbmvto-c&feature=related

Difference is Channel 4 call their "comedy labs" stuff that for a reason
RTE take the same sh*t and advertise it as "the greatest show on earth"
if they advertised it as giving new talent a early looksee (which is pretty much how Channel 4 advertise theirs) nobody(less) would be complaining
+Channel 4 put their lab stuff on at a suitable hour for such stuff, RTE give it comedy prime time while shows like Corner Gas rot away at 4 in the morning

+Channel 4 have the decency to have good shows as well as the lab stuff!
As in real life, you can only really get away with Lab work when you have produced a bit of quality work to get the funding/goodwill

hot fuss

elshambo wrote: »

+Channel 4 put their lab stuff on at a suitable hour for such stuff, RTE give it comedy prime time while shows like Corner Gas rot away at 4 in the morning
QUOTE]

They're on at the same time... 11pm..

elshambo

hot fuss wrote: »

They're on at the same time... 11pm..

The RTE show is shown in RTE's comedy "primetime" slot
The CH4 one is not shown in CH4's comedy "primetime" slot!

you know what i meant, was there a reason for your post?:o:eek:

ScumLord

nenners wrote: »

Thats as maybe...Be it Dead Cat Bounce or whoever, its the constant running down of Irish Comedy without ever giving it a chance that makes me mad. We could try and help Irish comedy grow and develop as it has been allowed to elsewhere.
New and innovative irish comedians have enough barriers getting heard without having to deal with irrational and pointless slagging before they ever get going. To be honest, its a bit embarrassing.

NO. that's how we breed super comedians. We make them tough. Like Spartans.

elshambo

ScumLord wrote: »

NO. that's how we breed super comedians. We make them tough. Like Spartans.

Legend!

lostexpectation

elshambo wrote: »

Difference is Channel 4 call their "comedy labs" stuff that for a reason
RTE take the same sh*t and advertise it as "the greatest show on earth"
if they advertised it as giving new talent a early looksee (which is pretty much how Channel 4 advertise theirs) nobody(less) would be complaining
+Channel 4 put their lab stuff on at a suitable hour for such stuff, RTE give it comedy prime time while shows like Corner Gas rot away at 4 in the morning

+Channel 4 have the decency to have good shows as well as the lab stuff!
As in real life, you can only really get away with Lab work when you have produced a bit of quality work to get the funding/goodwill

that is how its been advertised. project haha

elshambo

lostexpectation wrote: »

that is how its been advertised. project haha

Glad to hear it!

Not in the ad i saw though!:eek:
(ooh and my post was a general dig at all recent rte comedy output, not just this show)

BTW I do think you have to be showing good stuff as well to get away with showing the "lab" stuff
And the time slot/night they are showing it is supposed to be their headline comedy stuff and the whole night is advertised as such, NO?

Im glad RTE are doing shows like this even if i didnt like it
Just wish they could commision something i like more than once every 10 years!:eek:

ohh and as for the scripts, edit edit edit edit
not just write, spell check!:o
or as in K Lynch's case, draw on napkin, show up, shoot:(

Most comedy show RTE commision looks like a decent idea ruined by not being scripted well enough

**
ooh wait you actually think i saw an add/thought the show was called
"the greatest show on earth"
err WOW!

vivadeadponies

elshambo wrote: »

+Channel 4 put their lab stuff on at a suitable hour for such stuff, RTE give it comedy prime time while shows like Corner Gas rot away at 4 in the morning

Now that was a terrible, terrible show; no laugh track but had these huge silences after every joke where the laughing would've been placed to create this awful flat feeling to everything about it.

elshambo

vivadeadponies wrote: »

Now that was a terrible, terrible show; no laugh track but had these huge silences after every joke where the laughing would've been placed to create this awful flat feeling to everything about it.

aah ya, part of the humour, its a bit clever that show alright, not everyones cup o'tea, the auld clever stuff:eek:;)

lostdoggy999

elshambo wrote: »

aah ya, part of the humour, its a bit clever that show alright, not everyones cup o'tea, the auld clever stuff:eek:;)

I didn't get it. Am I broken?

Damon Blake

i saw their hotel room sketch show in edinburgh, thought it was fantastic show and was glad to hear they put together a pilot.

i thought the show got stronger as it went along and if they made another i'd watch it, which i would imagine is part of the point of a pilot.

elshambo

lostdoggy999 wrote: »

I didn't get it. Am I broken?

possibly, check your warrinty, if thats run out, go back to the shop, you might just need rebooting

Damon Blake wrote: »

i saw their hotel room sketch show in edinburgh, thought it was fantastic show and was glad to hear they put together a pilot.

i thought the show got stronger as it went along and if they made another i'd watch it, which i would imagine is part of the point of a pilot.

Id like to see RTE giving more opp's to lads like these, just when they get the chance tell yer mates to push for more money so they can tighten the scripts( edit edit edit:( ), shows like these are taken too easily by some acts (because the chances come so rarely in this country) and then done on a cheap RTE budget, cheaply made and its the acts in question who come out looking bad!:(

Not into the musical stuff myself unless its VERY VERY good, so I would probably never be their target audience. (others on here liked the big butt song, i turned off after it)

SprostonGreen

I liked it. I didnt like the first scene with the hooker, but it got better, especially that xerox machine scene.

I'm all for new Irish comedy and hate the way its get automatically slated, just because its Irish. Programme makers and writers have to get a chance, things arent always instantly good, it takes time.