#187 Jet ski larceny
Trailers. Brawlers. Leftovers. Hardcovers.
1 OCTOBER 2025
Hello, treacle.
So this week I’ve decided to stop watching film trailers for a year.
I don’t like them, they give too much away.
Also, I don’t need to be persuaded to watch films. I’ll watch them regardless.
I’m excited at the prospect of being surprised again.
Now every film feels like a gift I have to unwrap.
Rule of three
[Film] Splitsville
I didn’t know anything about this film until I watched it but I now pronounce it the funniest movie I’ve seen this year. Fist fights, chest compressions, unsupervised fireworks, partner-swapping and jet ski larceny. It’s visually daring and viscerally pleasing all at the same time. Haven’t laughed out loud so much in years.
[TV] The Leftovers
What Damon Lindelof did after Lost. For my money, it’s his masterpiece. Two percent of the world’s population vanish on the same day and everyone else has to pick up the pieces. The Leftovers has more ideas in its pilot episode than most shows have over their entire run - and crucially it delivers answers. My favourites are the silent cult The Guilty Remnant who hang out in the background of scenes chain-smoking cigarettes and holding up signs that say DON’T WASTE YOUR BREATH.
[Book] 3,190 New Ideas Before Bedtime
When I started doing improv, Michael Brunström was an improviser rock star. He was and is the cleverest, most absurd performer I’ve ever seen, still to this day. No one has a brain like his. He’s moved on to more scripted work now but recently I discovered he’s written a book where he lists the ideas he has before bed each night. Here’s a sample:
IDEA #275 Yoga for model railway enthusiasts.
IDEA #1001 I am dust. Help me revise for my geography GCSE.
IDEA #2169 A very long and thick rope with Sigmund Freud at the end.
There are 3,190 of these.
At the time of writing, he’s 9 days out and just over £100 off his crowdfunding target. I really think this is an object of singular beauty and I’d love to help him reach his goal. So if you have £8 and want to own something truly and beautifully idiosyncratic - click this link and make a pledge.
Spotlight
I’m going to try something a bit different for my next Pretend course. Thanks as always for being interested in this stuff.
I want to do a six week project that is more like a rehearsal process than a class. I have a show I want to put on based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s play, No Exit where a group of people are stuck in a room in hell with no way out and only each other for company. I’ve already put on a version of this show at Improfestival Karlsruhe and I absolutely adored it.
Our version will be set in a kind of purgatory rather than hell itself (so there’s room for redemption) and from an improv perspective we’ll be looking at the monoscene format, how relationships can drive plot and the use of silence and movement to build atmosphere.
I’m thinking ten people maximum (allowing for up to two casts of five at the showcase) and a cost of £175 for the six weeks plus showcase performance.
As always with Pretend stuff, please only fill in the application form below if you’d be keen to accept a place on the course.
Details at a glance - Dead End
Six weeks (Sat 8th November - 13th December 2025, 4-6pm)
Showcase on Fri 12th December 6pm
All classes and show at Theatre Deli (Nearest tube: Bank)
Cost: £175 per person, max. 10 improvisers
Free scholarship places will be available
Focus: Monoscene, relationship, movement, show creation
Please apply here (deadline 10th October)
Longform thoughts
Be kind to be funny
As part of my natural movement training I heard the parkour philosophy Be strong to be useful and wanted to try and find the improv equivalent. I have written ten suggestions in Être fort pour être utile and welcome your thoughts by replying to this newsletter.
Radio contact
Ruff!