Creator and host Dave Coffey writes for Culture about RTÉ's popular satirical animated series and podcast series Talking It Out - catch up with all the episodes to date here.
I was chatting to another comedy writer the other day and they asked how we write Talking It Out, the topical comedy cartoon I produce and host for RTÉ Player. When I explained to him that it was unscripted and completely improvised by the cast, he was really surprised.
Watch: Sophie Shanley gets animated for Sarah O'Crilly
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The key to making a great improvised show is to shoot/record way more than you need. With Talking It Out, we record for close to two hours every week. And from those two hours, we whittle it down to the strongest 10 minutes for the animated version of the show.
Watch: Talking It Out - GAA Go Gaga In WhatsApp Hoo-ha
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The process goes something like this: around Wednesday or Thursday, we start to compile a list of possible news stories we might cover. We share some of these with the cast so they can familiarise themselves with the stories. By Friday, we lock down the list of stories for the recording session the next day.
We meet at 9.30am on Saturday morning and record in a small studio for a couple of hours. Before this point, we've had no discussions about what each cast member is going to talk about. I’ll have a list of questions which are geared specifically towards each character, but the performers don’t know what these questions are.
Sometimes, the cast will come into the recording session with some ideas of things they might talk about on a given topic but, mostly, it’s completely off the cuff. Improv always works better that way. When you try to pre-plan or half script an idea, it tends to come out stilted and not as funny.
Watch: Kevin McGahern gets animated for Talking It Out
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The show is only funny because the cast are brilliant improvisers. Kevin McGahern (Seanie) is well known as comedian and TV personality, but he’s also an incredibly gifted improviser. He’s so consistently funny. Pearl O’Rourke (Triona) is my favourite improv performer and the most experienced improviser of the group. She’s a member of several brilliant live improv groups and always steals the show. Nobody is better than Peter McGann (Brian) at playing emotionally damaged Irish men who are completely at odds with modern woke culture. And Sophie Shanley (Sarah) is a raw talent. No improv training. She doesn’t perform regularly. She’s just incredibly funny. Expect to see her headlining comedy shows someday.
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After the recording, me and Jason Butler (Bridget & Eamon, Republic Of Telly) edit the audio down, get it cleared by a solicitor, and take on board any feedback from RTÉ. We release a longer audio version of the show as a podcast. The next day, me and an editor get together to animate and edit the cartoon, using special software that makes it possible to turn it around in a day.
It’s still a race against the clock every week, but after six episodes, we’ve got faster at every aspect of the post-production. We upload the show on a Sunday night and it goes out the next day on RTÉ Player.
Catch up with all the episodes to date of Talking It Out here.
