Drinkin, Fightin, Shmokin

Hardy Bucks is a web based comedy series about the lives of Eddie and Buzz and the scrapes two bucks can get into in small town Ireland. From trying to make money to get to the big shmoke.... Galway, to speed dating, sitting the safe pass course, job interviews and of course the proudest time in any man's life.... when he buys his first Honda Civic.

Set in Castletown, a fictional town in Mayo, the show features a strong supporting cast of characters including The Boo, French Toast and arch enemy The Viper. Every character in the show is played to perfection by the performers who have no previous acting experience. The local corner boys are portrayed by Scorpio and The Almera boyz.

Written and created by director Chris Tordoff from Leeds and Martin Maloney, who plays Eddie who is originally from Liverpool. Hardy Bucks recently won RTE's Storyland series. A competition on the RTE website for film makers to make a web based series, where viewers voted for the winner.

Apart from being one of the funniest creations to come out of Ireland since Father Ted, Hardy Bucks speaks about the reality of small town life for these characters. It has a sincerity that hits the nail on the head perfectly of the daily grind, boredom and trying to make something of your life in a one horse town. As French Toast says, "Some people say the best thing about Castletown is the road out of it. But ya have to use that road to get back into it aswell."

Hardy Bucks is one of the most quotable shows around thanks to the amazing dialogue. The dialogue is so natural and it never seems forced. The jokes are not in your face either. They don't try to spoon feed the jokes or rely on clever one liners. The film makers trust the audience to see the humour for themselves. It gives the show a reality that other sitcoms don't achieve.

The series is already a huge hit on YouTube, where you can see all the Bucks episodes and has a massive following on Facebook. Each new episode is eagerly awaited and the stars of the show have even been making live appearances at gigs around the country.

Welcome to Castletown - Hardy Bucks

Director Chris Tordoff talks to Scruff Daddy about the show.

The series has really struck a chord with people from all over Ireland, did you think it would resonate so well with people outside Mayo?

We started doing it as a laugh for ourselves first and foremost. Then it was the talk of the town (Swinford) when it went up on Youtube. We kinda knew that the Mayo contingency would get it but didn't anticipate it spreading further afield. Saying that, you'd have to be a right old dry balls not to laugh when The Boo brings "Beers and f***ing biscuits" in return for friendship.

What was the aim when ye started doing Hardy Bucks?

To try and capture the small town life of young fellas. Those lads who are still in transition between youth and adulthood. It can be depressing because there's so much craic in these boys but the only outlet they have is the town, which leads to frustration and boredom.

Coming from England but having lived here for a number of years must have given you the advantage to see quirks and eccentricities in the characters of Ireland that might not generally get noticed?

We'd consider ourselves Irish as much as English because our families are from Mayo. It does help to be an outsider when observing but in fairness I think it was only a matter of time before someone did the mockumentary thing outside the Pale. Paths to Freedom was great.

Is there much direction given when filming?

It's usually a case of the boys riffing on the script with their own additional material and then when myself or Martin see something developing or I see a possible cutting point then we'll try and follow that route. Some of the events like the mushroom party and the campfire session up the woods are quite real in that we stay sober behind the camera and let the boozy reality unfold. A nightmare to film and cut but you end up with a very authentic looking piss up.

Do you think the lack of experience and acting gave ye a freshness and fearlessness when making the series?

Yes. The material came long before the filming so we didn't worry about technical perfection. The Hardy Buck mentality was always something we'd try to capture even before the cameras. I remember going through a phase where we'd craft super long text messages which would be little mini chapters of a Hardy Buck novel (a novel written in "txt msg" format). Then when Owen (Buzz) copped onto it, he found he could wrap me and Martin around his finger with some of the crazy stuff he could come out with. It began to snowball from there.

Would this type of project have been possible without the aid of social networking sites and the likes?

I doubt it. It would have been hard to persuade the commisioners to take a punt on us. When you have YouTube and Facebook on your side you can use it as a starting ground and if it takes off, you've got the hits and attention to really help your case when wooing the big boys.

Eddie and Buzz

How has winning the RTE storyland competition affected the Hardy Bucks?

The success has gone to our heads. The guy who plays Aloisius has just put a deposit on a helicopter and I think Boo is gonna have his own spin off show where he goes around the world in 80 days like Michael Palin did in that series "Around the world in 80 days". Except it wont be called that.

Will the show be on RTE screens?

I hope it gets to screen in some form but I dunno who'd do it cos it's so coarse. We'd like to keep it rugged and raw like it is on the internet but that probably wont cut the mustard on television so I dunno yet.

Is there any fears that it might get diluted if the bigwigs get involved?

That would be the main concern if we did it. Obviously there'd be broadcasting compliance but in terms of production and editorial control, we'd like to have a finger in all parts of the production pie. Pie fingering.

How did the live appearences at gigs come around?

People just started contacting us through facebook etc. The live shows are a buzz cos it's very much like a meet and greet with the audience where we have the craic with them and play tunes and banter. It's really nice to meet the fans cos it's not like we're a band who are used to audiences. We love it.

What does the future hold for Hardy Bucks?

We'll try and make a viable pilot for telly but who knows what viable will entail. We're not interested in prime time audiences or trying to make them like us but there'll probably be a quota of f-words that we must not surpass. We dont say the f word for the laugh. That's the way any Buck would talk.

Check it: www.youtube.com/hardybucks

Check it: www.facebook.com/hardybucks