It was a full house at Loop Bar last night for the first monthly meetup of IRL, a networking event for web series creators and enthusiasts. IRL offers a chance for Melbourne audiences to watch local web series on a big screen, followed by a Q&A with the series creators. Last night we saw three great comedy series made by Melbourne creators.
First up was I can’t even, a sketch comedy web series created by Hayley and Alyce Adams that truly pays tribute to the Tumblr fandom scene.
The series follows self-proclaimed pop-culture nerds Em (Louise Cox) and Lex (Tiana Hogben). A homage to everyone’s favourite cult series, not a conversation goes by without the pair bringing up one of their favourite characters. Lovers of Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Star Wars and The Hunger Games will be delightfully giddy with Em and Lex’s nerdy escapades.
Series creator Alyce admitted she spent way too much time on Tumblr “researching” the script. She was inspired to write a series with nerdy females leads, a group underrepresented in mainstream media. “We wanted it to be two girls who were super into Harry Potter and Star Wars, which is something you don’t see on TV all the time.. unless you watch Big Bang Theory. Which I don’t.”
Binge all of season one here.
We jumped into the second season of Chris & Josh, the comedy antics of two co-dependent friends. The creative genius behind the show is triple threat creator/writer/director Matt Smolen.
Chris (Matt Werkmeister) and Josh (Shane Savage) are constantly getting themselves into odd and awkward situations, their idiosyncrasies are both relatable and a joy to watch.
“It has carved out its own little niche in the world,” Matt told the crowd. “We just wanted to make it and didn’t care if it bombed. It was meant to be silly. The show was really a testament to people who want to see stuff like this online.”
Watch the entire series of Chris and Josh here.
The final series screened was These New South Whales, a mockumentary that follows Sydney’s premier garage punk outfit.
The show created by production company Born in the Sauce features four cocky underdogs from Newcastle: Jamie, Todd, Luke and Will. As they walk us through the gritty punk scene, the irony is just how “un-punk” they actually are.
These New South Whales are a actually a real band, formed seven years ago. The idea was born when co-creator Ben Timony filmed a band rehearsal for is brother, the lead singer of the band. Although not quite as outgoing as they appear to be in the show, These New South Wales do put on a hectic performance in real life.
“What we want to keep doing with the show is to blur the lines between fact and fiction. The show is not really how they act, but more so heightened versions of themselves. Or maybe that is how the band members really are, I don’t know.” Ben said stifling a laugh.
Watch all the shenanigans of These New South Wales here.
The next IRL Web Series meetup will be held at Loop on Thursday May 19th.