COFFEE BREAK Episode 1 Part 2 -
A New Comedy Web Series.

Neal and David are two writers struggling to make it in the biz.  They watch their friend Phil’s theatre monologue.

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3 swirlies

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“I’d rather watch douchebag Dave clean his own pipe.”

This is exactly how the audience feels during the opening scene when Dave and Neal’s actor friend drones on in a theatre monologue, playing… yup, chickenpox.

Like a lot of scenes in this series so far; things could be lot funnier if they were shorter.  Timing is everything in comedy.  Get in, make the audience laugh, then get out.

Instead, we find ourselves asking, along with Dave and Neal at the 3 ½ minute mark: “What is this about?”

Indeed, what is this series about?

This episode introduces a Starbucks-y waitress/barista who trades lattes for writing help from the guys—in a very male nerd fantasy kind of way.  Think Rachel in “Friends.”  But less perky.  This could add an interesting love interest tension to the all-guys dynamic.

Also, for the first time, we get a sense of their goals as they brainstorm how to make money.  Yes, stakes!  Could this be a hint of things to come?  How do you pursue your dreams and make a living at the same time?  If so, that’s a powerful premise that many young people can aspire and relate to—if that’s where the series is headed.

Despite its length, there are some good and funny moments if you stick it through to the end.  But the highlight has to be the boy band music video spoof.  It’s pretty ridiculous, and will have you yearning for the good old days of ‘N Sync and The Backstreet Boys—or not.  Probably not.

There’s a lot of comedic potential in this series, and the two leads have a nice, subtle comedic chemistry.  If they can define what they want to say with this series, as well as hone that comedic timing, this could very well be the kind of diversion you’re looking for on your coffee break!

Coffee Break Episode 1 (Part 2 of 4)

Follow us on Twitter @CoffeeBreakTV

3 Swirlies

“Why don’t we go back to that ‘feel good’ movie idea we were talking about? You know, the one where people were donating organs, something like that?”

I had a really hard time giving this one a rating. It’s a premise we have seen before (the writer writes and we see the film as they change) and technically, it could be much better. But… for all the wooden acting and the jokes that we have seen before, these two guys do have charm – and they have a pretty good comedy instinct with some good timing. And that’s the hard part. Acting, forcing yourself to come up with fresher jokes, all of this is stuff that you grow into if you keep at it long enough. A plain ol’ instinct for timing and sense of humour, well that’s the kind of stuff you can build a career on.

So it’s rough. There’s a weird break that I assume to be an opening titles after what TV people call a ‘long tease.’ I wasn’t sure what was going on, at first. It kinda felt like it could have been an ending, so why was there still five minutes left?

And yes, it is too long. The characters suffer from lack of real goals and stakes, so the scenes sort of drag (while still having some funny lines) along until a resolution is forced by a new character. The ‘film within a film’ was mostly fun, but it went too far when it broke the forth wall and had the fictional girl mugging at the audience. Again, we’ve just seen that exact beat before.

But, in the end, I gave it 3 instead of 2 Swirlies because I do think it is worth watching.

Let’s see how part 2 works out. If it more of the same, that 3 will drop down.

Great thumbnail, though!

Coffee Break Episode 1 (Part 1 of 4)