A Smell of Reeves & Mortimer.
Today Glyn and I went to the recording of one of the episodes of Reeves & Mortimer’s new
sitcom, House of Fools, at Elstree Studios.
Despite having been involved in countless sitcom read-throughs, neither of us had been present at a recording, either as punters of performers; sadly nothing we’ve been a part of has ever been snapped up (we weren’t the deciding factor). As a result, today was an interesting experience – though frustrating; neither of us are good at being in the audience.
It’s not the first time I’ve seen Vic & Bob in the flesh; back in 1998 they performed a stage version of Shooting Stars as part of a double-bill with The Fast Show at the Hammersmith Apollo, which I went to with my friend Chris. I remember thinking Shooting Stars didn’t work so well in that environment, without the benefit of an edit to tighten it up – but it was still exciting to see the duo in person.
I’ve just realised that was fifteen years ago. CHRIST.
The downside of attending a BBC recording is you're never sure that you’re going to get in; because they can’t charge for tickets, they have no real assurance of the audience’s commitment – so they over-allocate in case people decide to not show up. I’ve been bitten by this once before, when I was turned away from an episode of QI - and nearly had a similar problem at Paul McCartney’s BBC Radio 2 gig last month, despite having won tickets through Macca’s official Twitter account.
The staff chivvy you about with a passive-aggressive tone, presumably borne from too many confrontations with disappointed potential audience members in the past. I understand that they need to be certain of a large turnout – but surely there’s a better way to do it?
I was impressed by the slickness of the recording. There were very few retakes, except for a few pick-ups – and the transition between the live and prerecorded segments was seamless. There were a couple of typical Vic-&-Bob-style prop-based visual gags that couldn’t be performed in front of the audience – but thanks to the bank of cameras masking the performers, you often couldn’t tell what was live and what wasn’t.
I was also surprised by how relaxed the cast seemed in the midst of it. I’d always expected this sort of recording to feel more pressured – but everyone got on with everything quickly and concisely, with very little fuss.
I’ll be interested to see the final edit, to see how it all comes together.
They filmed two episodes today, with us at the first – and as we filed out of the studio we were led past a doorway where Bob Mortimer was catching a breath of fresh air between recordings. He stayed around to shake people’s hands and pose for photographs, which I thought was a nice touch.
All in all, I’m glad we went – but next time we’re present at a sitcom recording, it would be nice to be on the other side of the camera.
Despite having been involved in countless sitcom read-throughs, neither of us had been present at a recording, either as punters of performers; sadly nothing we’ve been a part of has ever been snapped up (we weren’t the deciding factor). As a result, today was an interesting experience – though frustrating; neither of us are good at being in the audience.
It’s not the first time I’ve seen Vic & Bob in the flesh; back in 1998 they performed a stage version of Shooting Stars as part of a double-bill with The Fast Show at the Hammersmith Apollo, which I went to with my friend Chris. I remember thinking Shooting Stars didn’t work so well in that environment, without the benefit of an edit to tighten it up – but it was still exciting to see the duo in person.
I’ve just realised that was fifteen years ago. CHRIST.
The downside of attending a BBC recording is you're never sure that you’re going to get in; because they can’t charge for tickets, they have no real assurance of the audience’s commitment – so they over-allocate in case people decide to not show up. I’ve been bitten by this once before, when I was turned away from an episode of QI - and nearly had a similar problem at Paul McCartney’s BBC Radio 2 gig last month, despite having won tickets through Macca’s official Twitter account.
The staff chivvy you about with a passive-aggressive tone, presumably borne from too many confrontations with disappointed potential audience members in the past. I understand that they need to be certain of a large turnout – but surely there’s a better way to do it?
I was impressed by the slickness of the recording. There were very few retakes, except for a few pick-ups – and the transition between the live and prerecorded segments was seamless. There were a couple of typical Vic-&-Bob-style prop-based visual gags that couldn’t be performed in front of the audience – but thanks to the bank of cameras masking the performers, you often couldn’t tell what was live and what wasn’t.
I was also surprised by how relaxed the cast seemed in the midst of it. I’d always expected this sort of recording to feel more pressured – but everyone got on with everything quickly and concisely, with very little fuss.
I’ll be interested to see the final edit, to see how it all comes together.
They filmed two episodes today, with us at the first – and as we filed out of the studio we were led past a doorway where Bob Mortimer was catching a breath of fresh air between recordings. He stayed around to shake people’s hands and pose for photographs, which I thought was a nice touch.
All in all, I’m glad we went – but next time we’re present at a sitcom recording, it would be nice to be on the other side of the camera.
