There is so little done to encourage sketch comedy within Australia, yet when we deliver it on-song it’s a great product. This news from the Jungle Boys is heartening in that they are calling for script submissions that have the chance to be made professionally. Encouraging new talent is good news for everyone. From the press release:
The award-winning creators of the cult hit Review with Myles Barlow today launched a new online comedy site, Jungleboys.tv and are holding a sketch comedy competition whereby people can contribute ideas and the winning entry will be produced and screened on the site.
Trent O’Donnell, Phil Lloyd and Executive Producer, Jason Burrows, who also just announced a new comedy series This Christmas for ABC TV, wanted a platform to experiment with new material that doesn’t fit with their current slate of TV work and that is free from network approval.
Jungleboys.tv will launch with an exclusive new sketch show The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting.
“The great thing about online is that we have a direct connection with our viewers and we can upload clips very fast and freely”, says O’Donnell who has also directed The Chaser’s War on Everything, Laid and the upcoming Woodley for ABC TV.
“The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting is a different kind of sketch comedy. We’ve gone for naturalistic and subtle comedic performances compared to zany,” O’Donnell continues.
“We didn’t feel that there was a comedy site suitable for this material, so it’s great to be producing and curating this site, which allows us to experiment with new stuff, but also to showcase other comedy we like,” adds Lloyd, who recently starred in and co-wrote ABC TV’s ‘At Home with Julia’.
With the sketch competition, viewers can submit their written ideas online and the winning entry will be produced by and screened on Jungleboys.tv
“We feel that there is a lot of undiscovered and really funny talent out there who aren’t in the industry and we’re keen to provide an accessible outlet”, says Burrows.