Created by Helena Ruse, Pippa Mills and Andrew Mills, in Melbourne, Leftovers Sketch Comedy is an ongoing comedic web series that explores different themes in contemporary society. With a focus on the experience of young Australians, each sketch pokes fun at a new social norm or convention.
What helps you create new and different themes for each episode?
Each sketch is different. Almost all of them have come from experiences in our own lives. A lot have come from observing people, and situations we have found ourselves in. Occasionally we’ll see an issue being raised in the media and we’ll make our own commentary on that issue. Or just make fun of things in popular culture.
How do you work as a group when preparing and producing the different episodes?
We throw ideas around to each other over Facebook and then agree on an idea we like and who ever came up with it goes and writes it. Mostly just one of us will write a sketch and then we will make changes as a group, other times we will come up with ideas together and push it further from their. We often improvise and make changes as we go as well. Some sketches are wholly improvised. So it’s a real mix when it comes to the way we create.
What (and/or who) inspired your series?
Leftovers was born out of the desire to create something, or just to create anything. So we did a few standalone sketches, then just continued and haven’t stopped. It was a love of sketch shows like Portlandia and Saturday Night Live that created this desire to do sketches. Comedians like Ricky Gervais and Louis C.K, have also inspired us, as well as more Melbourne based comedy groups like Aunty Donna.
Please tell us a quirky and/or interesting fact about yourself or team that’s unrelated to your web series?
If we had any musical talent we’d ditch comedy and become DJs, as they look like they have the most fun of any creative person. They’re also much cooler than people in comedy.
Is your series an ongoing project? If so can you give us some clues about what comes next?
Yes, it’s ongoing. But we’re hoping to be a little more focused, and move away from sketches in the future. We want to create a web series around a particular idea, with recurring characters. But nothing set in stone yet. We’re biding our time!
Leftovers on the web:
Watch Leftovers
Leftovers on Facebook
Leftovers on Twitter
Leftovers on Instagram