ANYONE growing up in
the 80s and 90s and who watched Saturday morning TV will no doubt
remember Trevor Neal and Simon Hickson.
For more than a decade,
Trev and Simon as they were known, were integral parts of BBC1's
Going Live! and Live & Kicking shows with their mad, zany and
unpredictable world of comedy, music, sketches and silly games.
Indeed their sketches,
including The Singing Corner in which they involved unsuspecting
special guests, were as legendary as they were hilarious.
Who can forget their
encounters with the likes of French & Saunders, Kylie Minogue and
Lisa Stansfield in which the celebrities were gently mocked?
Even Paul McCartney was
not immune to their improvised skits and was a guest on the show -
something that Simon says was "surreal".
"He brought his
family with him and they asked us for our autographs - I still can't
get over it!" he muses.
And as well as their
inimitable brand of humour their popular catchphrase of "swing
your pants" became firmly etched in the minds of a generation.
Since those heady days
they have continued to work together as writers and performers and
are now putting the finishing touches to their latest venture - a
free audio podcast.
Strangeness In Space is
a comedy sci fi adventure written for both adults and children and
features a collection of brilliantly conceived characters including
Trev, Simon, Sophie and their robot friend LEMON (Linguistically
Enhanced Mobile Operations Network).
Chatting over a coffee
in The Archie Parker, the Forest Hill cafe co-owned by his wife Zoe,
Simon tells me it is “an indulgence of our comic ideas”.
In the story Trev and
Simon play a 1980s styled synth pop duo called Pink Custard. Together
with Sophie - "the sensible one" - and LEMON, they find
themselves in a damaged rocket which has been knocked off course and
is in a distant universe orbiting Planet Mirth.
Every so often they
have to go to the planet to get "supplies" and it is while
they are there that they have their “crazy” adventures and get
into plenty of scrapes.
Along the way they will
encounter various characters including the flocking Featherheads, the
hairy scary Rhinocerbikers, the sinister Dr Scarfium or even a Space
Ghost.
A year in the planning
they are now attracting a host of stellar names to the cast list.
"We’ve just got
Rufus Hound on board and I’m so excited,” says Simon grinning
widely. “He was someone we really wanted to be involved so we are
delighted that he said yes.
"He plays
Atrocious Knocious who is very keen on motorbikes and likes to give
off an image that he’s quite scary. But actually his real name is
Steve and he’s quite scared."
As well as Rufus, Doon
Mackichan has signed up and will be taking on the role of the
narrator. More cast members will be announced in the coming weeks and
Simon hopes the intrigue and excitement will encourage others to take
part - including his dream guest William Shatner to whom Twitter
requests have so far illicted no response.
Each episode will be a
stand alone story but how many episodes they record is down to us.
For they are hoping to
get the project off the ground and blast off into the hall of podcast
fame with a crowdfunding campaign.
When I spoke to Simon,
the team behind the project – Simon, Trev, producer Claire Eden and
fellow actor Sophie Aldred – had £5,000 left of their £15,000
target to raise before April 26 to get Strangeness in Space off the
ground.
But on Monday this week
they had smashed that target and have now set their sights on raising
another £7,000 to ensure a second episode.
And by the time this is
published they may be well on their way to a third.
"The initial
target is £15,000 which will pay for the first episode, all the
production costs and some of the actors' fees," says Simon.
"Each £7,000
after that will pay for future episodes. We are so close now and we
are desperately keen for this to happen so I've been on Twitter a lot
to promote it. It's getting very exciting.
"What I really
like about these crowdfunding initiatives is that it’s ordinary
people who make it happen – so if they like us and it they will
support it. If not, well, that’s it.”
As part of the
campaign, those who back the project financially can win "perks"
such as T shirts, badges and art work plus having a name check on the
script or credits.
"We racked our
brains to come up with perks to suit all budgets and so they range
from pocket money items such as badges to bigger ones such as become
a producer on the show," he says.
The idea for the
project came about after a university reunion Simon went to last
year.
"Trev and I met at
Manchester University in the early 80s and last year there was a 30th
anniversary reunion," he says. "Trev couldn't make it but
Claire and I went along. While we were nursing hangovers at breakfast
the following day we started talking about working together again.
“Trouble was we
didn't know what! However, later Trev and I talked about it and as
we'd done stuff with Sophie before we thought it would be a good idea
to mix what she’s known for - Dr Who and sci fi - with what we were
known for - silly sketches and characters - and the idea developed
from that."
Simon credits Claire
with turning their idea into reality.
"She had done an
amazing job on another similarly funded series, Minister Of Chance,
and without her this wouldn’t have got done,” he says.
“The actual nitty
gritty and sorting out of all the Kickstarter stuff was all down to
her.”
But why an audio show
and not a visual one I ask.
"I would have been
keen for a visual but if you do that you need a fortune to make it
work – anything between £50,000 and £60,000 which isn’t easy to
come by these days," he says.
"And if we took it
anywhere else we'd be reliant on someone commissioning it which would
take ages. This is actually a great way to get things done and it’s
a lot quicker.
"Secondly I’m 52
now and it would look odd as a chap my age doing a comedy show for
kids – we had to be realistic!
“Besides we've
commissioned artist Lee Sullivan to do the promotional artwork for
the project. As part of that he's created these zany animated Trev
and Simon characters that look half our age and I have got my hair
back!” he laughs.
“Also, I liked the
idea of people using their imaginations while listening to it.
"It's nice being
our own boss too - we can do what we want with it and be as mad or as
silly as we want. Our only limitations are our imaginations."
Now they have the
funding for at least the first episode they will get into the studio
in the next few weeks and have the podcast available to download in
September.
“It’s really
exciting and I think as a comedy vehicle it is as endless as our
imaginations,” says Simon.
“Down the line if it
proved successful I would like to see an animation series. It would
also be great to make it into a comic book – it’s got endless
possibilities!”
Visit
http://strangenessinspace.com/ to back the project.
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