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Our second Wicked Pig challenge film is coming very soon, and the topic is celebrity…

Appropriately enough, the gormless faces of Richard Dadd and Dan Fryer have been turning up in all sorts of odd places recently. Here is a roundup of some of them:

1) This week’s edition of YourCanterbury includes an interview which is by turns sarcastic, sobering and hyperbolic (left – click image to enlarge) as well as a generous plug for this ‘ere Bakery website. Our thanks to Florence, the journalist.

2) The University of Kent ran with ‘Kent alumni named Britain’s next comedy double act’ and even embedded our video on the University homepage for a short time . . . despite YourCanterbury having labelled our campus-based occupations “the most boring jobs in the world” above . . .

3) Amongst such worthy headlines as “What entrepreneurs want from their accountants” and “100 days later – what has the Coalition done for you?” can be found an article about our egg portrait business model, which concludes “it’s probably more of a lesson on how not to set up a business” at the official website of Real Business ‘The Champion of UK Enterprise’

4) The Canterbury Times (formerly Adscene) along with the Kentish Gazette and This Is Kent website have all featured variants of this article which includes an extremely accurate quote from Dan. Accurate apart from the bit about being “over the moon” (he didn’t say that) . . . oh, and the bit about us writing together for 5 years (we haven’t been) . . . and the bit about “showing the world what we can do” . . . okay, he didn’t say any of it. Makes you wonder why they even bothered interviewing us. Oh that’s right, they didn’t.

5) One of the proudest moments of our Internet career so far: we appeared at the top of the B3ta newsletter!

6) And apparently we also deserve a brief blog entry on Ant and Dec’s “No.1 Fansite on the Web”

This is all a bit odd.

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for more, and remember the second Wicked Pig challenge is imminent!

Our old friends Ed and Will popped up last night in the first episode of ‘Secret Britain’ on BBC One, which focussed on the south of England.

Click here to watch their appearance, in context with the full programme. Warning: may contain Matt Baker.

Back in November 2008, i designed a load of assets for our entry into a small University film competition. For those who know the film, you’ll remember the roughly sketched items quite well. If not, please re-familiarize yourself with them:

Well, the reason they looked the way they did was simple – my illustration skills have not progressed since my 6th birthday, and all were drawn at 3am whilst doing a load of final year degree work. Little did I know that this style I had inadvertently developed was to become somewhat of a craze within the stale design offices of the University and over the past year I’ve seen it be copied quite a few times. The latest derivative however has transcended the University and moved into the public transport sector of Canterbury. Cue the photo flow diagram:

I’m not really sure if I should be flattered by this or worried that something i consider to be as good as a scribble on the back of a restaurant napkin has inspired, well, a scribble on the back of a bus stop sign.

Either way, The Bakery has an undying reputation for pursuing plagiarism via the UK legal system, and I certainly wont let this one slip the net. Watch out Stagecoach, i’m looking to earn back considerable compensation for all of those bus tickets I brought in my first year, before I discovered that the walk to Sainsbury’s wasn’t that far.

Here’s a nice film using an interesting technique called tilt shift. Basically, it makes every thing look miniature:

We hacked into Geoff Island‘s PC and recovered the search history from his first year at Konkerbury University.

This was created with Google’s new Search Stories Video Creator, which is full of ‘heart-lifting’ and ‘life-affirming’ stories designed to make a bit of sick come into your mouth. I wanted to submit a video that was a little more downbeat and based in the mundane reality of life. After all, not everyone’s search history is about sodding happy endings and emotional journies, irrespective of what Google might claim.

What better time to call upon Geoff Island?

Here at last, is the first of our Challenge Films for Sty TV!

And a trailer…

The Edinburgh comedy awards have long championed the best and most creative comedy. For years they were sponsored by Perrier, these days they endure a lager brand name. And they have just incurred the wrath of my favourite stand-up, Stewart Lee, by coming up with the most unimaginative, meaningless and generic way of promoting their new-found alliance.

They want the Internet public to vote for their ‘Comedy God,’ from all previous winners and nominees.

Yes, the idea is so beige and pathetic that it’s pretty embarrassing to think someone was paid to come up with it. It associates the best, most creative comedy, with commercial blandness and tired ITV talent show-style voting.

In a now well-circulated e-mail rant, Stewart Lee implored “Who among those you are asking to vote has even heard of [1984 nominees] The Frank Chickens, who for all anyone under 30 knows may be the best act on the list? It is not possible for the outcome of this vote to have any credibility.”

He’s right of course. And that’s why I’m asking you all to vote for the Frank Chickens as your Comedy God.

No, I’ve never heard of them either. Apparently they are “an obscure, disbanded Anglo-Japanese avant-garde musical group who specialised in singing about Japanese social conditions.”

The Frank Chickens are currently in second place. Click here and make them God.

Some say that getting passionate about this is missing the point. That the real purpose is to advertise Fosters and its new association with the comedy awards. But I disagree. Anyone who’s stupid enough to pay for the experience of drinking a pint of chilled Aussie piss* deserves their fate. This is really about championing creativity, imagination and the greatness of Edinburgh’s comedy scene. And having a laugh at the expense of marketing dullards.

Remember: drink local Real Ale, and vote for the Frank Chickens.

*brewed in the UK