Chips, meet Piss...

Things have been quiet in Rubber Balls Towers of late. We had planned a Christmas Sketch but my dear old dad died shortly before Christmas, which rather took the wind out of my sails. Quite frankly, I lost my mojo and felt no enthusiasm for doing anything much.

Also, doubts about the very basis of Rubber Balls had been setting in anyway, as I don't feel that people are really that interested in satirical sketch type humour - there are now so many outlets, such as topical comedy panel shows on TV, radio shows, and a torrent of stuff on the internet. I mean, how can one compete with, say, a snappy Photoshopped gag on Twitter or Facebook?

And then, just as I started getting back to work on another (related) project, ITV announced Newzoids, a new '...puppet show [which] promises a “biting look at the world of politics and celebrity”, nearly 20 years after the end of Spitting Image.' Thank you very fucking much, ITV, for pissing all over Rubber Balls's chips. That said, I do really hope that Newzoids is a massive hit as, with luck, that will stimulate interest in all things puppety...

Meanwhile, to feel like I'm getting somewhere, I've just finished painting the Benjamin Netanyahu puppet head - whether it gets used or not is another thing...

Dad would have loved it - he hated Netanyahu...

Nigel's Calypso!

For the first time ever, we went out on location with a puppet! And broke out into song! We spent an enjoyable afternoon freaking shoppers out, and making small children piss themselves laughing, on Walthamstow High Street as we filmed Nigel's Calypso!



Here we penetrate the veil concealing the magic of Rubber Balls...

Rubber Balls!

Bloody hell, yet again a massive gap since the last post! And nobody gave a shit! Well fuck you, I'm going to post again anyway...

Being a massive (aka fat) fan of Spitting Image, I wondered if it was possible to create something in that spirit for our jaded online age, and to that end I decided to see if I could round up some like-minded people, as I lack many of the skills required to attempt such a project, and I need someone to kick me up the arse now and then when my energy/interest flags.

So thanks to the Twitter, I hooked up with mega-talented short film maker* extraordinaire Jon Rist, aka Jonofthesouth, and hot-shot up-&-coming improv comedy wizard Nick Brown.

But being aware of logistical limitations, in particular the length of time it takes to make a puppet, what to do? Without spending many months first making puppets, there was no way we could even hope to mount some kind of ensemble production like Spitting Image, or even the much cheaper (and admirable) Aussie puppet show, Rubbery Figures (well worth checking out on YouTube, BTW).

So what single figure could we take the piss out of? Aha, we thought, 22 May is Euro Election time! And who is flavour of the month and never off the bloody telly? Nigel Farage... That might give us time to make perhaps two puppets (if we were lucky), or (as it transpired) one.

So, allied with my old Nick Griffin puppet (to provide a foil for Nige), we decided to take the plunge, writing a script which incorporated the most feasibly filmable material we'd dreamt up.

But what to call this venture? Well, the puppets are rubber, and it's mostly going to be a load of old balls, so how about... Rubber Balls? Ace!

And this is the final result, Rubber Balls Presents Nigel Farage TV:



So how was it made? I don't hear you ask... Well you'll have to wait for another post to find that out. Or just look here.


*As in he's normal height, his films are short, rather than he's a short-arsed maker of films (regardless of length). Got that? Good.