Straight from the horse’s mouth

Blog post by Seb Bance – Horseboy Productions

I think I’m quite a normal person – a little weird and excitable in crowds of 2 or more people but generally pretty normal. Then I list some of the things I’ve done in pursuit of a career in comedy and think maybe I’m not so normal:

• I’ve filmed a girl on a remote Scottish Island who thinks she’s a faerie
• filmed a male pornstar do un-typeable things to himself during a comedy ‘variety’ show
• had a middle aged man in a nappy sit on my lap while preparing his award winning Edinburgh show
• Helped a knight of the realm learn his lines for an ITV sitcom – he made me Earl Grey tea and gave me biscuits.
• produced a critically acclaimed Edinburgh show where the act is whipped live on stage by audience members
• paraded around on stage in front of an audience that included my Mum in a far too revealing 1 direction onesie
• Produced a music video for the only love song that contains genuine equine healthcare advice which gave us the name of our company Horseboy Productions

My comedy journey has been a lot of fun. Tough as hell. Demoralising and utterly shitty at times – working 18 hour days, 5 days a week, then 12 hour days on the weekend for what seemed very little reward other than being vaguely close to a dream I once had.

I started doing an internship in BBC Comedy commissioning 5 years ago and then worked for an Indie for 3 and a half years. I went from the intern at BBC to being a judge on an awards panel that included one of the heads of department for the very same commissioning department. I think she was a little surprised but pleased to see the hyperactive intern from 3 years earlier as a judge alongside her. The competition had a £5000 prize and offered the performer the chance to sign a DVD deal with BBC and 2Entertain.

I definitely felt pleased to be there and it was nice to come full circle before heading out into the world of comedy on my own – knowing that I wouldn’t have a tv company behind me or a more senior producer to fall back on if I completely fuck up. I am now where the buck stops and if I don’t sell tickets to my live show or sell the children’s cartoon I’ve invested all my money in (and a lot of other peoples too) then I’m the only one accountable. Which is awesome!

I like having the fear it’s pretty much my main source of inspiration. In a tradition heading back to our university radio show I tell my writing partner that if I haven’t completed a scene or written the next part of our series bible by a certain deadline he’s allowed to make up any forfeit for me to complete that he can think of. The punishments are pretty unusual from flicking the yoghurt of his choice on my face each morning for a week, to wearing a filthy, disintegrating banana costume all day every day including to lectures, meetings and on dates with my girlfriend at the time (perhaps this is why we broke up thinking about it).

Some of these more elaborate punishments have spilt over into the night I run with my business partner Andy Davies – who hosts the event as his alter ego Quint Fontana. I love running Karaoke Rumble and I think we’ve tapped into a bit of a niche market with its interactivity. Newcomers are welcomed by the regulars and everyone will drink at the bar together before the show sharing memories of previous shows like “did you see that girl who was so drunk she didn’t realise she’d won?”, “Remember that guy that sang the Hindi version of Kula Shaker?” Or “Who was that guy that got booed off after 10 seconds?”. It’s a bit like joining an exclusive club – almost like we’re the mafia of comedy nights as my brother says.

No matter if you’re on your own or come with mates you’ll likely have made several new friends by the end of the night because who doesn’t bond over booing someone else off stage! I think as a shared experience it’s great because whether you sing or don’t, you choose together who wins and who is forced off stage and by the end of it all you’ll all be singing and dancing together anyway regardless of the result.  As one of the hosts it’s great because it’s like having an audience of mates every night even if I only met most of them that evening.

Relationships are important in this industry and retaining them is vital. From the contacts I’ve made through work to the ones I’ve made socially pretty much every single one of them has helped shape my career in some way – whether it’s coming to my show, providing a location or being a sounding board for ideas. I first met Jon Jayson, who started this whole Comedy Crowd with Peter Wright, while playing for my brothers work team. I think it might be because I scored a goal and set up 2 more in an 8-0 win that we stayed in touch. Or it might be that he, like me, left a decent job to pursue his own path in comedy.

It’s one of the reasons I wanted to join The Comedy Crowd as they share the same ethos as me. I can’t be bothered to sit around waiting for a mythical comedy deity to make my dreams come true. I’d rather find a group of people who want the same thing as me. Who want to go out and film things, create things, cause mischief and generally be silly and passionate in the pursuit of having fun.

I’m really excited about the year ahead – I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. Big money may come, it may not. I’m just glad to be doing what I love. I may be a millionaire by the end of it all – selling my cartoon would be a good start – or I may have to sell my organs on the black market – a commodity whose value I think is diminishing with each day. If you want to get involved with anything we’re doing shoot me an email, visit our website www.horseboyproductions.com or come along to one of the shows.