British Comedy Guide

Youth Of The Wild West

Does this even make sense? And if it does, is it working?

INT. A WILD WEST SALOON. DAY.

TWO COWBOYS ( BILL AND JAKE ) ARE SITTING AT THE BAR DRINKING.

JAKE:
So BIll, How's Junior?

BILL:
You know how it is with these youngsters, the other morning, he came into the kitchen All theses tassles on his strides, no shirt, no shoes, big red stripe down his face and headband with a feather in!

JAKE:
Well I hear it's all the fashion nowadays, amongst the young men. Saw one the other day His hair was all gone 'cept for some crazy stripe all down the middle.

BILL:
That don't make it right Jake. I mean, He doesn't say hello anymore. Do you know what he says?

JAKE:
I don't believe I do Bill.

BILL:
He looks at me, raises his hand, and says, How.

JAKE SHAKES HIS HEAD.

BILL: (CONT'D)
And if that's not bad enough, he calls himself Runs With Coyotes. Said he has the heart of the buffalo.

JAKE:
Runs With Coyotes? Shit Bill, that ain't no Christian name.

BILL:
Darn right it ain't. I tell you, the racket he and his friends listen to.

JAKE:
I hear them at night, where they do all that congregating. I see 'em too, their horses with no saddles and ridin' them all funny.

BILL:
It's not even proper singing, just a load of drums and talking.

JAKE:
More of a chant I'd say, but there sure as hell ain't no tune.

BILL:
I tell ya Jake, he ain't got no respect, called his own mother a Squaw, right to her face.

JAKE:
That ain't no good Bill, no good at all. What you gonna do about it?

BILL PRODUCES SOME BLANKETS

JAKE:
Smallpox? Jesus Bill. that's a bit....

BILL:
No it's his favourite blanket. I'm going to tell him I'll take it away if he doesn't start acting like a goddamn pioneer.

END.

Hi Scratch, I think the idea is really nice. But maybe it could just use a bit of tightening up and the dialogue could possibly mirror the angst of today's parents a bit more - play about a bit with the racial tension perhaps? How about a bit of irony about the Indians coming in and treating the country like it's theirs, type of thing? Just my opinion. But your idea certainly makes sense.

Cheers Kasm, the idea about treating the country like it's theirs is good. Thanks for the input, most appreciated. :)

I think this is a great sketch - I'm really liking your output at the moment scratchyr. Kasm has a great idea there too.

To improve it further, I'd certainly side with Kasm. And this bit:

BILL:
That don't make it right Jake. I mean, He doesn't say hello anymore. Do you know what he says?

JAKE:
I don't believe I do Bill.

BILL:
He looks at me, raises his hand, and says, How.

seems to take a little too much time for a small-ish joke. That could tighten.

It's a great idea though and really well executed - nice one.

Not sure about this. The jokes, as they should, come from milking the initial premise (which is as inventive as always), but I can't help feeling that the individual jokes should maybe have a bit more twist on them; perhaps it is the rhythm of the piece, nothing (apart from the pay-off) was really delivered as a surprise.

Quote: Rick Allden @ April 13 2010, 12:16 PM BST

I think this is a great sketch - I'm really liking your output at the moment scratchyr. Kasm has a great idea there too.

To improve it further, I'd certainly side with Kasm. And this bit:

BILL:
That don't make it right Jake. I mean, He doesn't say hello anymore. Do you know what he says?

JAKE:
I don't believe I do Bill.

BILL:
He looks at me, raises his hand, and says, How.

seems to take a little too much time for a small-ish joke. That could tighten.

It's a great idea though and really well executed - nice one.

Thanks Rick, the general theme seems to be about tightening so will take that on board.

Quote: Timbo @ April 13 2010, 1:08 PM BST

Not sure about this. The jokes, as they should, come from milking the initial premise (which is as inventive as always), but I can't help feeling that the individual jokes should maybe have a bit more twist on them; perhaps it is the rhythm of the piece, nothing (apart from the pay-off) was really delivered as a surprise.

Ok, do you think at the moment it's more like a list of ideas spoken by the characters rather than a developed sketch?

It seems like the idea is good but the execution is not making the most of it.

Thanks as always, great feedback.

I didn't get the blanket / smallpox connection, but that's me showing my ignorance.

Is that something everyone would know?

Re done it after the feedback form everyone. I've left the small pox line in for now, I'm not sure if it is that well known or even if it's correct. I'll look it up and see what I can find. Do you think it's works better now or gone all wrong? scratchyr :)

INT. A WILD WEST SALOON. DAY.

TWO COWBOYS ( BILL AND JAKE ) ARE SITTING AT THE BAR DRINKING.

JAKE:
So BIll, How's Junior?

BILL:
You know how it is with these youngsters, the other morning, he came into the kitchen All theses tassles on his strides, no shirt, no shoes, big red stripe down his face and headband with a feather in! So I say good morning son and he raises his hand, and says, How.

JAKE SHAKES HIS HEAD.

BILL: (CONT'D)
And if that's not bad enough, he calls himself Runs With Coyotes. Said he has the heart of the buffalo.

JAKE:
Runs With Coyotes? Shit Bill, You know what? I blame that music they listen to.

BILL:
Uh huh, Just drums and talking,

JAKE:
It's not even proper singing.

BILL:
I caught him out in the yard prancing around in a circle and pointing at the sky the other night.

JAKE:
The night of the terrible storm?

BILL:
Yep, that only made him dance more.

JAKE:
It's not right Bill. I mean, we come over here, drink our beer and kill their women and now we have our own children trying to be like them.

JAKE:
It ain't no good Bill, no good at all. What you gonna do about it?

BILL PRODUCES SOME BLANKETS

JAKE:
Smallpox? Jesus Bill. that's a bit....

BILL:
No it's his favourite blanket. I'm going to tell him I'll take it away if he doesn't start acting like a goddamn pioneer.

END.

I like it Rich.

But agree with Angie about the small pox / blankets thing.

I'd try to come up with something that doesn't rely on that.

Sorry to go against matters, but the smallpox line was the bit where I laughed out loud.

I thought it was funny. But I don't like many people will get it. I may be wrong.

Hi Scratch

I think it's a lot better.

I like the smallpox line. To be honest, I only found out about it a couple of weeks ago, so I thought this was very funny/clever because it was top of mind.

Maybe have the son calling himself 'Dances with Dogs'? It could lead to some insulting comments about who he's hanging out with?

And although the line:

JAKE:
It's not right Bill. I mean, we come over here, drink our beer and kill their women and now we have our own children trying to be like them.

Is a lot better - I think there's still a killer line in there somewhere.

Sorry to be a bit prescriptive - I've had a beer!

I did like the idea but I kept wanting to see one of the kids with a smoking pipe & a dry flannel 'texting' his mate.

text speak via smoke signals?

Yeah.
Not too easy to film though.

Um Heap big health & safety problems.

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