Welcome to the seventeenth edition of ‘Meet the Writers'. This week whoring for your eyeballs are three-piece sketch troupe Ladma.
Christ I feel good today! I feel more powerful than God multiplied by Gandhi! Wait, who's that knocking on the door? Well butter my thighs, it's Ladma! Take a seat, boys, and let your story unfurl like a rug with a corpse in it.
Well, we started off making comedy in late 2006. We got together to make our first film, Sebastien Foucault, as part of Brighton Film Festival's 36-Hour Film Rush. The film actually won the competition – along with a couple of other short film awards – and this inspired us to make more films. Our films have acted as a good calling card and, from this exposure, we've had meetings with Henry Normal at Baby Cow and Jan Jung at Screen Play productions regarding various projects. We also won Current TV's Comedy Competition late last year which has led to the commission of our first mini-series, Jackwert. The episodes are due out soon and will be screened in a back-to-back special on the channel. The only draw-back is that no-one's ever heard of Current TV We're also due to have some viral clips on the BBC's Teethgrinder but, because it's BBC Northern Ireland, again no-one will be watching. Having got frustrated with making films we concentrated on developing a multi-media live show and have performed at Hull Comedy Festival, Brighton Fringe and the Edinburgh Fringe. We actually got a four star review from Three Weeks for our Edinburgh show. Which was nice. When we're not doing all that, Pete and I (Dan) have written for the Treason Show and Newsrevue. Having said all that, an actress we worked with in the early days did once describe us as "a bit Hollyoaks." That was a low.
Anyone who's ever been to the Ediburgh Festival will tell you that the world of comedy isn't short of white, twenty-something sketch troupes. So tell me, why am I standing here sautéing pork medallions for you lot?
Well, mainly due to the saturation of the comedy market in Edinburgh and the existence of thousands of other sketch groups we decided to do PBH's Free Fringe. This helped reduce our costs because we didn't have to hire a venue and it also guaranteed higher audience figures – although most of them were foreign and didn't understand a word we were saying. So you can keep your pork medallions (unless you want to make a donation at the end, in which case Pete would prefer Quorn or tofu medallions).
As for being unique, I think our multi-media edge separates us from other groups. We like to combine sketches with films, clips, SFX and interaction with filmed/audio virals. It's not your classic self-contained-ignore-the-audience-affair. We like to mix it up with audience interaction, stand-up banter and the multi-media stuff. This freshens up the dynamic and keeps people engaged. Apart from anything, we're not your classically trained middle-class actor luvvies and, although we've all been to university, we're turned off by the conceited pomposity and faux intellectual humour of university revues. We love a good cock gag – just as long as it doesn't make us throw up.
You mention Newsrevue and the Treason Show among your credits. Personally, I don't write topical material as my satirical sting is second only to being punched by an amoeba. Tell us though, what is it you enjoy about sending up the news and who are your favourite satirical targets?
Although I would describe our style as satirical, I think it's quite removed from the satire of the Treason Show. We've written for the Treason Show to learn the art of constructing sketches and writing punchlines but we'd much rather work on our own projects – which is why we've produced the films. Our favourite targets are things which take themselves too seriously, faux philosophies, pretentious art, trends, fads and far-fetched political correctness. I think it's more important and effective to criticise something and make fun of something when it has the air of authority. In the past we've targeted freerunning, pretentious arthouse cinema and Northern/Southern stereotypes. We'd rather do something which is going to make people think and provoke a reaction than poke fun at easy targets like celebrity or showbiz. But it's not about being dark or controversial for the sake of itself, it's about making a point. For instance, our film about rape – Safe Blokes – isn't about gratuitously mentioning rape, it's about satirising political correctness and the demonisation of men. We like to think that we're a bit more Chris Morris than Dead Ringers. We also like to think we put the poon back in lampoon.
If I knew I had two spare chumps to pick up the slack I'd spend the best part of my writing life strung up in a hammock barking orders from beneath a gigantic platinum crown. Tell me though, how do you manage your writing duties?
Pete does the nouns, Chris does the verbs and I do the adjectives. But seriously, writing's a very organic process and we do it all as a group (apart from the Treason Show stuff which we've done as individuals). Our early films weren't written verbatim – rather we'd have an edit sheet of ideas, scenes, jokes, characters and concepts. We'd then film the scenes and improvise around the core ideas, like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Operation Good Guys. From this I think we get a more natural performance (as we're not really actors) and a lot of the writing is done in front of camera. Often one of us will have a little idea individually then, when we discuss it as a group, we'll flesh it out and take it into a completely different direction. The great thing about working with two other people is that you've got three completely different perspectives and they might think of a funny angle you've not thought of. As for proper writing – our live show and our recent mini-series (Jackwert) were all completely scripted. The live show was an amalgamation of ideas and sketches whilst Jackwert has more of a narrative. Both were written by all of us sat round a computer talking and making each other laugh. Usually one of us gets the laborious job of typing whilst the other two mess around saying different things in character and trying to make us laugh. I think wankers call it ‘workshopping'.
I read that if you want to get ahead in this industry you have to be prepared to give a little. So how did you score that Current TV gig?
Last summer a producer from Current, Nathan, dropped us a line having seen our films and asked us to enter their Comedy Competition. We don't usually enter competitions as the payback can be limited for a lot of work but, because we had the time and there was a good prize, we decided to give it a go. We had to make a three minute rant and so decided to showcase a number of our characters discussing their Pet Hates in the style of the Channel 4 idents. They seemed to like it and, from that, we got a commission for a three-part mini-series. Although it's been a long process, we're really happy with the end product and it should be on Current soon. We'll also be putting a longer edit on our website. Our producer was really happy with the finished article and seemed really positive about working on new films in the future. The project itself was a real eye-opener and gave us some great experience of working with a producer and to a restrictive brief. Current has certain commitments to provide factual entertainment and, hence, we had to shoe-horn some facts in and keep within the mockumentary style. But I think, if you work within those specifications, it's a great way to get work exposed and get a television credit.
Who do you rate in terms of sketch comedy right now?
It's sad to say but I don't think there's a lot of great sketch comedy on television at the moment. I think television sketch shows often prioritise a premise or concept – like using CGI or only writing sketches about couples or twenty-somethings – over the quality of material. But there are loads of great acts on the live comedy circuit. We're big fans of the anarchic humour of We Are Klang and the energetic mayhem of Pappy's Fun Club. They're probably top of the sketch mountain at the moment, but I think they've struggled to transfer the brilliance of their live shows to a television setting. In the same bracket you've got the more traditional Idiots of Ants. Struggling up the sketch mountain we saw some great shows at Edinburgh this year that are definitely worth keeping an eye on. Bishop and Douch mix some brilliantly unique and whimsical sketches with comedy songs, although some of their material can sometimes be a little overlong. Delete the Banjax have some great performers and material whilst Four Sad Faces are more of your traditional sketch act and have a new series on BBC7. Apart from that, our favourites include Big Train, Mr Show, Tim and Eric, The League of Gentlemen and Jam.
Final question - If the three of you were found face down in a ditch tomorrow, beaten to death by a piano leg, what would the headline say?
Justice.
Thank you, Ladma.
Watch a deleted scene from Ladma's Jackwert, soon to be seen God knows when on Current TV.
The last edition of ‘Meet the Writers' was with Blakewill & Harris.
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