The Lockdown Stag Do - How we Made it Happen.
STAG - Teaser
At the beginning of the lockdown, I had an idea to create the sketch 'STAG' and after the BBC rejected it (I know I was surprised too), I spoke to my mate and Hull's own Jack Gleadow, who agreed to help me make it myself. Considering that everything was on its arse due to lockdown I figured it wouldn't be hard to get some other comedians involved. Within a few days, I managed to convince both the very funny Anna Spark and James Allen to get involved. Now that I had a full cast, we started cracking on with rehearsals.
Straight away everyone clicked into their role and we got the ball rolling on developing the sketch. I felt confident that between the four of us, we were gonna produce something funny because the rehearsals felt like we were in a green room at a comedy club (the place where the acts chill before going on stage - BUT what constitutes as a green room can be very dubious. I've previously sat on an upside-down bucket in a cupboard and been left with a half-eaten pack of digestives to enjoy before going on stage. And if I remember correctly the digestive was the best part of that gig. But our green room was ace!).
We hit the ground running and it didn't take us long to learn the script and then imprint our own personal touch on it. After a few run-throughs, the script became more of a beat sheet as we brought the characters to life by ad-libbing, using total improv in parts. After about four weeks, we were ready to film but seeing as Anna was back in Australia, we split the filming into two sections: first, we started with Anna's section and after two takes without stopping, we moved onto the opening section with me, Jack and James. After a few hours of recording, we had it in the bag and although it's not perfect, it's something positive to come out of lockdown.
Thanks to the help from Jack, James and Anna, making 'STAG' was great fun and gave us all something to look forward to and focus on beyond zoom quizzes and clapping for the NHS. As we were all feeling the squeeze of the comedy world coming to a grinding halt, the hours we all spent together messing about over zoom rehearsing gave us a little but much-needed feeling of normality.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy watching 'STAG' as much as we did making it. The positive feedback we've received so far has been great and we appreciate all the support. You will find the full film below.
Until next time take it easy,
Harry x
Synopsis: Thanks to the UK Lockdown Harry's Stag Do has been cancelled but groomsman Jack and Jimbo haven't stopped there as they've organised him a virtual Stag, Harry just doesn't know it yet. This what happens when you put together three mates, video chat and half a bottle of sh*tmix. You get the most underwhelming Stag do with a few surprises along the way... Oi oi Lads! Lads! Lads!
Full cast details below:
Harry Stachini:
Twitter: @Hstachini
Facebook:@HarryStachinicomedian
Instagram: @Harrystachini
Jack Gleadow:
Twitter: @jackgleadow
Facebook: @jackgleadowcomedy
Instagram: @Jack Gleadow
TikTok: @SqueakyNortherner
James Allen:
Twitter: @JamesAllen27
Instagram: @james.allen27
Anna Spark:
Twitter: @annasparkcomedy
Instagram: @annasparkcomedy
Facebook: @annasparkcomic
