Sarah Keyworth - firefighter? Russell Kane - rhino dung shoveller!
Russell Kane, Sarah Keyworth and Fatiha El-Ghorri have been trying out new jobs for a BBC series in which they experience apprenticeships in different occupations, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
The usually well-groomed Kane tries his hand at shovelling and analysing dung in the rhino enclosure of Chester Zoo; Keyworth cuts open a car and battles intense blazes as a firefighter in Gloucestershire, while non-driver El-Ghorri builds Formula 1 car parts and races on a simulator at the Williams Experience Centre in Oxfordshire.
Released on the BBC Bitesize website on February 1st, the Comedians Get "Real Jobs" shorts are designed to introduce the range of apprenticeships available, pairing the comics with people currently doing them.
Kane, who had hoped to learn how to become a coffee barista, is shown sweeping up, gagging, and sifting through rhino dung in order to analyse it in an endocrinology laboratory.
Keyworth struggles to run and unfurl a hose at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh but then gamely enters a burning "hot box", designed to recreate an actual building fire.
Partnered with one of the only female apprentices in Formula 1, El-Ghorri has a go at prepping and fitting complex car parts at the home of the Williams team in Grove, Oxfordshire, but is less adept on the driving simulator, crashing the car multiple times.
"We made these films to highlight that you can reach your goal without going to university - it can be so expensive its unreachable for some people but there are some amazing apprenticeships out there on offer" producer Victoria Cook, a former stand-up-turned writer-producer, told BCG. "BBC Bitesize have all the apprenticeships featured in the films on their site plus loads more."
The films are directed by Amee Fairbank-Brown for her production company, Lizardfish, which has previously made educational short films for the BBC, on subjects such as mental health and internet safety, and part of a wider campaign promoting apprenticeships on BBC Bitesize.
On February 8th, BBC Bitesize will be live from the Science Museum in London with a live careers show about apprenticeships. Schools are invited to join the interactive live show from the comfort of their classrooms.