Five New Comedy Shorts From BBC Northern Ireland
Date Posted: September 26, 2024
BBC Northern Ireland has commissioned five new comedy shorts from Nice One Productions, and supported by Northern Ireland Screen.
They will debut on October 7, as part of its on-going commitment to develop and nurture new comedy acting, writing and production talent.
The shorts will be available in their entirety on BBC iPlayer from Monday 7 October at 6am, and weekly on BBC One Northern Ireland from October 7 at 11.35pm.
The first in the series, The Frick, sees west Belfast woman Pepper delivering Chinese food, when she realises she lost her suddenly posh bestie Eve because she gives her the full friendship ‘ick’.
Pepper’s hard-nosed Mum warns the only way to survive this situation is to ‘frick’ Eve right back, and publicly. So Pepper gate crashes Eve’s dinner party to put things right – and return the t-shirt she’s wearing – all in front of Eve’s new fancy friends.
The short comedy is written by Claire Rafferty and Michael Elliott, with performances from Claire Rafferty, Niamh McGrady and Tracey Lynch.
The second in the series is The Spar.
Tommy and Tyrone are two Belfast boxers in need of some quick cash, so a paid sparring gig set up by their manager sounds perfect. That is until the other fighter is revealed. He’s an absolute beast who far outclasses Tyrone in size and weight. Hopefully for Tyrone, Tommy’s new plan to still get the £100 and avoid a stay in hospital will work…
The Spar is written by and stars Tommy McCarthy and Tyrone McKenna, with additional support from actors Dan Gordon and Abdul Seesay.
In the third comedy short – How’s She Cuttin’? Cattle Mart – Claire is a single woman living in rural Northern Ireland and in desperate need of a date for her cousin’s wedding.
She devises the perfect plan to ‘pull’ the farmer of her dreams and where better to find one than at a cattle mart? Nothing could possibly go wrong, as long as her wing-woman Charlotte doesn’t mess up the plan and Claire doesn’t accidentally start bidding on a prize cow…
Written by and starring Claire Corrigan, the short comedy also stars Charlotte Turnbull and Padraig Ryan.
In Country Rogues, cousins Caoimhe and Dara make up a mismatched country music band. She’s got stress-induced anxiety and an addiction to energy drinks, he’s got Down’s Syndrome and illegal fireworks.
Separately they’ve got dreams of becoming Northern Ireland’s biggest country music stars but can they do it together? Can they take their first step to success by smashing their first audition to land their first gig? Either way, there will be fireworks.
Written by Eoin Cleland and PJ Hart, the short features performances from Eimer Bailie, Chris Patrick Simpson, and Belfast’s very own Oscar recipient James Martin.
The final comedy short in the series is entitled Lightbulb Moment.
OCD sufferer, Bee, tells her sceptical Mum the reason she repeats actions in sets of four is because she believes that, if she doesn’t her Mum will die. On hearing this, her Mum has a sudden change of heart and demands that her daughter gives in to her compulsions and push the living room light switch one more time.
Written by and starring Bronagh Diamond, the short also features Cathy Brennan-Bradley and Dan Gordon.
Chris Jones, Executive Producer, Nice One Productions, said: “It’s probably never been more challenging to be in the business of making new TV comedy – but with the new writing and performing talent in these ‘shorts’, I believe our producer Jason Butler has uncovered authentic and refreshingly funny local comedy gems for the future.
“Nice One is grateful for the faith and support from BBC Northern Ireland, the BBC Small Indie Fund for Comedy, and Northern Ireland Screen.”
