Bob Odenkirk Knows His Funny
Bob Odenkirk is one funny guy. The Mr. Show co-creator brings his special brand of humor to the Interweb in a new series at SuperDeluxe.com called Derek & Simon (see below). The show’s about a bunch of hapless twentysomething dudes who are looking for lady-love, with middling to poor results. VH1 Blogs sat down with Odenkirk to discuss relationship problems, writing television on the Internet and the point where funny becomes offensive.
Where ever did you get the idea?
It’s extremely low concept. It’s just two guys and their friends trying to get laid, but they’re cock-blocking each other. The world is cock-blocking them also. It’s every guy’s experience. It’s just life, you know, when you’re 27 and you’re working hard to hook up.
What are you feeling more lately: the Internet or TV?
The speed [of the Internet] is really cool. So much of showbiz is trying to sell your ideas to a network person or a studio person. It’s a very, very long road, which you have to try to survive while keeping some form of purity to the project. It usually ends in disaster or sorrow — only occasionally in something you can be proud of. This, on the other hand, is just going and shooting the sh*t you like!
Do the guys ever get girls?
I want to tell the stories you’d tell your friends. The ones that start, “You’ll never believe what happened last night . . . .” That’s what it’s all about. Sometimes the guys actually find girls to be with, but mostly it goes sour.
Especially if they’re behaving like morons.
One of the most popular pieces we shot was called “Baby Talk.” That wasn’t even a script. At our idea session, someone had said, “I hate it when girls do that baby-talk thing.” I said, “What if the girl comes up, starts talking like that, and then we find out that she’s partially deaf?” She’s having a hard time enunciating. But the guy who’s with her just hasn’t been listening to her, which is a very guy thing to do. It’s a fun one, isn’t it? Then all his friends yell at him: “You’re such a dick!”
