1 Minute with a Superhero: Brendan Jack of The Brendan JACKast
by Fred Roed on 03/02/09 at 6:19 am
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This morning we chat to Brendan Jack, star of Crazy Monkey, Straight Outta Benoni and Footskating 101. Often regarded as the South African Olivier, Brendan has launched a new online show called ‘The Brendan JACKast’, a series of hilarious interviews that you can download. With his burgeoning public profile, people in the know are now beginning to refer to Brad Pitt as ‘the poor man’s Brendan Jack’. Smart, strapping, ripped and a regular Mens Health cover model, we figured Brenden Jack would blend in seamlessly with the Ideate crew. We catch up with the man in the middle…
We love your work. Footskating 101 is up there with Out of Africa and Red Scorpion as seminal pieces of African artwork. Can you tell us a little about what you’re doing right now…
Well thanks, I do see a bit of Meryl Streep in my footskating performance – well spotted. Apparently Dolph Lundgren was a chemical engineering Fulbright scholar to MIT, and now he’s encouraging us to gamble. Life is strange. I’m doing a number of things including writing, producing and shooting TV pilots, corporate ads, viral and mobile content, voice-overs, and whatever each new day brings.
Awesome. We also dig the JACKast show you’re doing, but there are loads of places to find entertaining content online. What makes your show different?
Thanks. I think my show has its own particular tone, pace and guests. I’m hoping it’s a fun and relaxed conversation with some cool tangents and possibly even a bit of inside knowledge from the aforementioned guests. Serious childishness with an obscure message. I think I’ve just stumbled across my mission statement.
Any sneak previews to upcoming shows or surprise guests? JZ? Obama? Jimmy Hoffa?
Jimmy Hoffa lives in Roodepoort, but he’s not talking. I’m looking at some international guests, even if it’s Arno Carstens phoning from London. A lot of the top SA comedians are still going to be on. But let’s not ruin the surprise.
How did you get into the entertainment industry?
By studying psychology at WITS, then becoming an advertising copywriter for a few years (at The Jupiter Drawing Room.)
It was never my end goal, but spending a lot of time on TV shoots for adverts and wanting to make unmade scripts slowly steered me towards entertainment.
Crazy Monkey was originally scripted as adverts, until it snowballed out of control and into two feature films.
What about your job makes you lie awake at night?
Working in lean, small teams, where you have to oversee everything yourself, means a lot of mental checklists are always scrolling through the brain.
And my neighbour’s barking dog, constantly telling me to assassinate the president isn’t helping either. Wait, that’s partly from a Spike Lee movie.
Tell us a disaster story on set, on stage or on the show.
Tending towards a more niche style of standup comedy meant I saw a few tumbleweeds blowing past audiences. Staring quietly, wondering when someone was going to tell a Van Der Merwe joke or rip off the ANC.
Also, footskating may look simple – but it’s left quite a few people on set with cracked skulls or bleeding limbs. We almost lost Rob Van Vuuren when scouting locations for Footskating 101. He thought that he could jump across a storm drain. He couldn’t.
Is the internet killing comedy as we know it? *
* this question was crafted after a healthy dose of whisky on my cornflakes.
That’s some good whiskey! I think it is in a way. Obviously there will always be the 2-hour Wedding Crasher-type features, but everything is now broken down into little chunks. I’m guilty myself, I get weary if a clip runs longer than five minutes. Unless it’s a 50 minute WordPress tutorial. I’ll watch it then realise that I could just get someone to do it me. So if anyone wants to build a website for their portfolio, I’ll get the Vida. (You hear that WordPress geeks? – he’s offering you a job. Remember that Ideate gets 45% of whatever he pays you – even if it’s dop.) Oh right… so there seems to be a need for instant comedic gratification, which you unfortunately only really get with punch-in-your-face type of physical comedy. Ricky Gervais’s Extras might’ve battled if it was originally released in two-minute clips. Some of the best comedy takes time to grow on you, in a subtle way. Having said all this, I really like the new scope for shorter format comedy. I’m currently making two minute shows for Go and looking at 12 minute episodes for a show called School of Jack.
Tell us some pitfalls to avoid, besides being punk’d by Rob van Vuuren.
Be realistic… it usually takes time to get some sort of establishment. Except for the Olsen twins, they were established after 6 months of being alive.
Also, avoid freeloaders and charlatans. They tend to spend most of their time trying to convince actresses to get topless. Mostly before the shoot starts.
Sounds like some of our peers in the web industry. Destroy a myth about the entertainment industry…
It’s not a non-stop glamour party. Sure there are perks, but sometimes you find yourself without sleep in a malaria area, waiting to film something insignificant with a bipolar crew.
Tell us something that no one knows about you…
I don’t know how to fly a helicopter. Okay, so a few people already knew this.
What is the best lesson you’ve learned so far?
You need to pay your dues… but then be aware when you’ve paid them off. Some people may attempt to take advantage.
What’s the future for you… what is your BHAG?
To topple Oprah as queen of all media. But firstly to keep growing the collective of likeminded people I’ve been working with over the years. Possibly formalise it a bit more. And continue creating content in all forms – advertising campaigns, online inserts, feature films, yes, even podcasts. If you want something done, drop me a me a message on my contact page. And lastly to continue being part of the growing SA creativity that’s finding its way over to international pastures.
And, finally, a word of advice to Ideate readers – is there a lot of money to be made in the entertainment industry?
I wouldn’t recommend entering the industry if you’re only after money. As with everything, do it if you’re passionate about it. And hopefully with some practice, setbacks, exposure, talent and luck, that wealth will come. Simple.
Naais my broer, thanks for your time, and thanks for the laughs. We look forward to the continuing adventures and will have our browsers diligently tuned to your internet musings. Check back in soon!
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. Fred is the CEO of web marketing company World Wide Creative and the co-founder of online learning portal Heavy Chef. Fred loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. Follow Fred on Twitter here. View more articles by Fred Roed.
Tags: advertising
