Help! Dublin accents, mannerisms, sayings, etc

Billy86

I am going to be a little brief here: I am from Rathfarnham and working on developing a sitcom on door-to-door sales that will encompass pretty much all of Dublin (and the commuter belt). I am still in college and have not had anything made before, so I figured the odds of getting somebody to make this were zero, that is was something just for practice and maybe the CV.

Anyway, a few days ago I bumped into somebody that was always be in the shop where I used to work. Turns out she is working for a production company these days who have had some stuff that got on RTE, TV3, etc. We switched numbers and she said she will be in contact during the next week or so, the sitcom seemed to really interest her.

So I have the first six episodes planned out and got going on writing the actual full script of the pilot on Friday. The one thing that is worrying me though (since I am racing against the clock here, don't have much time for research) are how different people from different areas act. The pilot is set in three areas: Clondalkin, Dalkey & Meath. One of the main aims is to pick fun at the different classes and areas, to satirise them. But at the same time I don't want to grossly misrepresent them, or it simply won't be funny and will turn people off.

So can everybody please just chip in with a brief (or lengthy!) take on the finer points of how people in their area (be it rich, poor, rural or urban) act, speak, etc, and how they tend to respond to door-to-door salespeople.

Also, would you react differently to an Indian or Polish person at your door than an Irish person?

If anybody is reading this who moved over from Eastern Europe or the Middle East, how do you find Irish people's attitudes towards the immigrant population?

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Also people's opinions on door-to-door salespeople would be very appreciated. Do you find them funny? Do you hate them with a passion? Do you feel sorry for them/their jobs? Would you be the type to give out to them on the door? Have you ever bought anything from one of these people? Etc... any input would be appreciated.

So much for brevity . Anyway, any and all help would be hugely appreciated!

amdublin

1. Why write all this on a public forum? Do you want people to rob your idea?

2. Re. all your requirements. Do you want us to write the whole thing for you while we are at it?

3. You might get good suggestions over in the Television forum rather than here in Dublin forum.

4. RTE do not have a good success rate with sit-coms. Being brutally idea your idea does not sound much better than anything they have produced/bought from Irish production companies in the past. What is funny about door to door sales???? Who even opens the door to door to door salespeople these days let alone talks to them.

Best of luck all the same. Nice to see people trying to do things.

Sofa King Great

This thread has disaster written all over it.

1. You ask people on a dublin forum to talk about the differences between Dalkey and clondalkin.
2. You ask dublin people to talk about Meath
3. You ask peoples opinions on eastern europeans.

It is a moderaters nightmare!

amdublin

Suggestion:
You could always go out to the three areas and knock on doors pretending to sell something (whatever they'll be selling in your sit-com) and see what the reactions are etc?

DubMedic

story bud..

DubMedic

Billy86 wrote: »

.

The pilot is set in three areas: Clondalkin, Dalkey & Meath. One of the main aims is to pick fun at the different classes and areas, to satirise them.

Oh dear...

Billy86

amdublin wrote: »

1. Why write all this on a public forum? Do you want people to rob your idea?

I didn't really say much about the idea to be honest. It is about door-to-door sales, but that is just the very basic premise. It doesn't give much about the plot away; I haven't even mentioned what kind of comedy it is.

2. Re. all your requirements. Do you want us to write the whole thing for you while we are at it?

Well, I was just throwing it out there to see if I could grab any extra feedback off of it - there's really not much need for sarcasm here. I asked for as much or as little info as people might want to give. Somebody giving a good quote or a particular insight is hardly akin to writing the whole script, now is it?

3. You might get good suggestions over in the Television forum rather than here in Dublin forum.

Yeah, you probably have a good point here. I figure that would be more useful for input into format, structure and all the technical jibber-jabber, though. Still though, there could be some good questions to raise there.

4. RTE do not have a good success rate with sit-coms. Being brutally idea your idea does not sound much better than anything they have produced/bought from Irish production companies in the past. What is funny about door to door sales???? Who even opens the door to door to door salespeople these days let alone talks to them.

Oh trust me, I am more than aware of RTE's awful failure rate with sitcoms (apparently they don't even have a dedicated comedy department, iirc). Still though, somebody has to get it right somewhere. In truth though, this is more a matter of trying to build up a body of work, and to hopefully make a good impression with the production company.

On the other hand, I do find it a bit odd to judge a comedy on it's premise. I am not at all denying that this might turn out to be the most horrendous thing ever made... but it also might be good. I mean, who would have said "yeah, sounds funny" to a sitcom about priests? Or a book shop (Black Books)? Or an office, or writers (30 Rock)? I did work briefly in door-to-door sales though and trust me, there are a lot of funny/bizarre situations that people come across on a daily basis.

It was about 70-80% of people that answered the door though, in honesty (unless it was freezing or raining). You would be surprised how friendly people tended to be too (barring some upper-class areas which were sometimes brutal). I once called to a house in Dundalk, got invited in before I could say a word, got sat down in front of the dinner table, asked if I wanted tea or coffee and maybe a reheated bite to eat, wound up just sitting around and chatting for 10ish minutes... then came the question: "so... who are you?"

It was a good while ago though, so while I can remember the general reactions quite well, the exact way in which people speak to somebody at their door is a bit fuzzy to me these days. I might take amdublin's advise and try to go around a few doors (but it will need to be something at least semi-legit, some people get very paranoid when somebody sells something at the door). I also need to call into the company where I used to work, see if I can get any feedback off them and/or those who work for them nowadays. Mightn't be the best bet either though, they tend to be a bit of a cliquey/'when you are gone, you are gone' type; still worth a shot all the same.

Best of luck all the same. Nice to see people trying to do things.

Cheers! I don't mean to sound arsey in my response by the way, I am just under a bit of pressure to try and get this done (and done well) with only a few days. Hence my, perhaps ill-advised move of creating this thread.

P.S. I am an idiot! Should have just gone to OverheardInDublin.com.

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I had not thought of the potential consequences of some of what this thread entails, re. being a burden on any moderators. If they want to close it, feel free!

Billy86

DubMedic wrote: »

Oh dear...

...and that is what I am trying to avoid from any potential readers.

Piriz

hi,
never mind the negativity above...anything is possible..and if you get the right jokes and execute them well it will work...
Sarah and Steve was very popular because the jokes were good very Dublin humour and it was well executed..also the characters were endearing..

Take the question above 'who even answers the door to door to door sales men?
thats an idea for a scene in Dalkey...:
Sales man has little success in even getting an answer..starts out confident but rejection after rejection starts to chip away at his positive spirit..he could have intermittent phone calls from his boss and his wife increasing the pressure to close sales and bring home some money (for once)..
I imagine the format would be a scene from Dalkey then one from Clondalkin then one from Meath and so on..
so flicks back to Dalkey guy.. snobby folk (satire) telling him to get off their property with hand gestures through a stained glass window...
another scene where he tries to communicate with someone through an intercom system on the road at the front of the houses security gates..
another scene where he is climbing over tall locked garden gates in his suit just to reach the house..
another where he is then being chased around their garden by their dogs..
another where he finaly gets an answer and it turnes out that he is trying to offload/sell the worst most pathetic product ever like tupperware or some ****..
then last scene at the end of the day when its raining and he is drenched and dejected miserable and stressed to the max and decides to call it a day the Garda arrive and question him about hassling the residence & scoping out houses when he ****ing flips the lid and gets arrested..
(above copyright Piriz)

it could work just get the right ideas and execute it properly you would need a good cast and people willing to let you use their property for it..so in trying to find people to willing to let you shoot scenes at their door etc you will become a character in your own sitcom.. you'll find some ideas there..

unless you have the jokes to add to this its going nowhere..

i have plenty of ideas for you mate but you'd have to cut me a deal

billybigunz

Ooh people from the north side speak like this, but people from the south like this. blah, blah.

Its been done a million times before, mostly badly.

Piriz

not very constructive billybigunz, don't mind him OP he hasn't a clue:D

i think the OPs' story about being invited into a home, seated at the kitchen table and offered a reheated dinner then 10 mins later being asked who the f*ck he is.. is funny.. (i think this would work well in the Meath setting:)
the show wouldn't have to be necessarily about negative class divides but about
funny sketches and situations a door to door sales person would find themselves in..bringing three situations from Dalkey, Clondalkin & Meath would work great..and provide scope for different jokes etc.

I imagine the sales man encountering people thinking that they have dealt with him before and being aggressively accused of all sorts.., meeting a blind person who would have no use for the product or service etc que much confusion..., trying the hard sell on kids (how much do you get for pocket money? thats enough for 1 anyway...)...knocking into a house which is being burgled at the time..., being invited into a house just about to seal the deal when the home owner realises the sales man walked dog **** into the carpet in the hall and now he needs to ring the boss to cover the cleaning costs.., being asked upstairs by some homosexual farmer..., a person answers the door hands him a 10er for the milk money & says "no milk next week" and closes the door in his face..sales man grins and pockets the cash as its the only money he's made all day..., being asked to go to the off license for some underage kids and doing it to make a few quid.. man the concept for the show is legend...so simple so many scenarios

billybigunz

Upwardly Mobile.

Spiritoftheseventies

The clondalkin accent is quite good actually and not what you would think it would sound like. They are a very sound people so don't think there is much room for parody there.
Curious to know why you picked that area. Not from there myself but do know a few people from there. Very down to earth as most Dublin people are.
The Door to door salesman thing might work but drop the first idea and you might have half a chance of making a go of it.
The success rate on Irish comedies is very poor overall. I think making a drama would be a better idea.

amdublin

Piriz wrote: »

man the concept for the show is legend...so simple so many scenarios

Em....and none of them funny. In my opinion. Sorry.

But hey, what do I know?! Could turn out to be great!

duckysauce

Billy86 wrote: »

I am going to be a little brief here: I am from Rathfarnham and working on developing a sitcom on door-to-door sales that will encompass pretty much all of Dublin (and the commuter belt). I am still in college and have not had anything made before, so I figured the odds of getting somebody to make this were zero, that is was something just for practice and maybe the CV.

Anyway, a few days ago I bumped into somebody that was always be in the shop where I used to work. Turns out she is working for a production company these days who have had some stuff that got on RTE, TV3, etc. We switched numbers and she said she will be in contact during the next week or so, the sitcom seemed to really interest her.

So I have the first six episodes planned out and got going on writing the actual full script of the pilot on Friday. The one thing that is worrying me though (since I am racing against the clock here, don't have much time for research) are how different people from different areas act. The pilot is set in three areas: Clondalkin, Dalkey & Meath. One of the main aims is to pick fun at the different classes and areas, to satirise them. But at the same time I don't want to grossly misrepresent them, or it simply won't be funny and will turn people off.

So can everybody please just chip in with a brief (or lengthy!) take on the finer points of how people in their area (be it rich, poor, rural or urban) act, speak, etc, and how they tend to respond to door-to-door salespeople.

Also, would you react differently to an Indian or Polish person at your door than an Irish person?

If anybody is reading this who moved over from Eastern Europe or the Middle East, how do you find Irish people's attitudes towards the immigrant population?

---

Also people's opinions on door-to-door salespeople would be very appreciated. Do you find them funny? Do you hate them with a passion? Do you feel sorry for them/their jobs? Would you be the type to give out to them on the door? Have you ever bought anything from one of these people? Etc... any input would be appreciated.

So much for brevity . Anyway, any and all help would be hugely appreciated!

is it not your job, ideas, to come up with this brilliant satire ?

RandolphEsq

DubMedic wrote: »

Oh dear...

True though

cosmic

Sounds to me like you're just reinforcing stereotypes. Not a positive thing.

Billy86

cosmic wrote: »

Sounds to me like you're just reinforcing stereotypes. Not a positive thing.

Well, as was pointed out earlier I probably shouldn't say too much about it before getting the thing finished and copyrighted/registered, but that is precisely what I am trying to avoid - the focus is more to do with ethics, absurdity and current events rather than the typical "in Foxrock they speak like this, while in Ringsend they speak like THIS" type of gick. That is why I went with the door-to-door premise: it provides a wide scope and having briefly worked in it, I can tell you it puts you in some of the most absurd situations possible.

Also, TV stations in recent years apparently tend to have an obsession with 'high concept' (wide scope) programmes, and with the emergence of digital filmmaking allowing for incredibly cheap production on certain types of films (e.g. Once, which cost only €140,000 and which RTE co-funded) they are expecting more or less everything to be made for a similarly cheap budget while still having that scope... even moreso post-recession. That is something that I figure my concept has going for it, at least.

A big worry of mine would be that my preconcieved notions might indeed be stereotypes. Now, that would otherwise be easily fixable - I could write the thing out in full, get a few people to read it, and correct problems such as lack of character development, stereotyping, jokes that don't work, etc on the redrafts. But if I am to have this done for later in the week, I won't have that luxury of time. This thread was really just a desperate attempt to try and see if I could nip these stereotypes in the bud.

As it is going I think I might just try to explain that I will need at least another week or two to iron out the creases, so to speak. Still, best to be prepared or have something to show.

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Spiritoftheseventies, I know a few people from Clondalkin as well - it's a grand area for the most part and you are right about the accent. Cheers by the way, that's exactly the type of stuff I was looking for - things to help me avoid stereotyping.

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Piriz, thanks for the compliments... unfortunately my dole & I couldn't fit you on the payroll right now, though! You are kind of along the right lines as to the humour I am going for. More absurdist, a little surrealist even, as opposed to waffling at length about the differences in the areas and accents.

Guitareaxe

What do you mean by "different classes" ?

There are no "Classes" of people in ireland, there is no class system, Its a republic.

Spiritoftheseventies

Anyway to answer Op on dublin sayings. To start off. Shut your bleedin mouth you, would ever go and **** off, I will on me arse...

CrazyRabbit

Why not hire actors from those areas to play the parts of the people answering the doors? Give them the general idea of the dialogue and let them improvise.

The best comedy is unscripted.

Either that, or go spend some time in the areas...pubs, public events, bingo halls etc.

Sorry, it's the best I can offer. I don't really know much about the mannerisms of people from those areas.

Degsy

With all due respect,i hardly think the "satire" is going to be very biting or indeed the comedy very funny if the writer has to come in here looking for information on how Dublin people speak.

The first rule of satire is to be aquainted with the subject matter..you cant write dialogue if you've no idea how people speak.

Kablamo!

Dunno if this is relevant, but I always just say "oh, they're dead".
Normally you can slam the door while the person blusters, but sometimes they can catch you out.
"Is Pat there?"
"No he's dead, sorry."
"Oh condolences, can I speak to his wife?"
"I'm afraid she's also deceased."
"Is the homeowner there?"
"Dead."
"The **** you doing here???"
*Slam door*