Hahaha man this due is great just found this awesome tid-bit bit
KAYVAN NOVAK SPEAKS
The Facejacker Speaks: How To Make A Living By Taking The Piss
Quick Bio
We chatted to the man behind the Fonejacker balaclava about how to turn mucking about with mates into a BAFTA-winning format, Terry Tibbs' very own chat show, the Facejacker movie, and how to spin everyday situations in your favour, using nothing but an accent.
Apparently it's all accountable to Kayvan and his mates being, in his own words, "a bunch of pisstakers."
If you need any proof of that, while we were on the phone to him (on the Fone to Fonejacker, even) came this slice of Facejacker's everyday, tinned-food-troubled life:
"If I'm in the supermarket, there will always miraculously appear in my trolley three cans of All Day Breakfast. And a Fray Bentos pie. So I have to take them out and leave them at the checkout. And my mate’ll be laughing. Basically, I take the piss for a living. But that's because all my friends take the piss out of me. "
Sirens is out on DVD now.
How did your big break come about?
Kayvan Novak: I’m still waiting for it to be honest! No, I guess it was Fonejacker that started it all. I’d sent some stuff into Channel 4 back in 2005. They liked it so they brought me and my mates in, and we just developed the pilot that was Fonejacker. And then we did a series, and we won a BAFTA for that, and then we did another series, and then we had to reinvent it all as Facejacker. The second series of that is about to start in a week, by the way. We've got new characters, too. Like the Ugandan scammer character, he's now got a twin sister.
What advice would you give anyone who might have an idea for an awesome TV show?
KN:
Get a partner in crime. Have someone to bounce off. If you’re on your own, it's easy to end up bashing your head against a brick wall, but it helps when there's someone’s there to say stop. Combine your talents, you know. Two heads are better than one. In for a penny, in for a pound.
I’m surrounded by a lot of people that save me from myself, but ultimately we all work as a team. And when it works, it’s a beautiful thing, which is why I love making my own stuff. It’s gratifying. But at the same time. It’s equally gratifying to work with someone like Chris Morris [on Four Lions] or Omid Djalili.
Were you surprised at all when Fonejacker became such an award-winning cult hit?
KN: Yeah I was. But you’re not really aware of it until the people at the channel let you know that people are watching it and the ratings are good.
When you start to notice it is when people start doing your impressions to you on the street.
What is it that you get most often?
KN: "Oi, c***!" No! I get: "Oh my God mate, do Terry," or they'll ask me to do the mouse voice. Or they’ll do Brian Badonde and just come to up to me go "BAH".
Do you find yourself putting on different accents in everyday life?
KN: Yeah. If I’m calling my mobile phone provider, or I’m calling up to complain about my internet provider, I always put on an accent. I’ll always do it as an older Pakistani gentleman who’s not very happy with the service: "This is not good enough service and I am going to leave and join BT, much better.! They’re like "no, please sir!". Never underestimate that accent. "I want upgradings for my mobile service, how long will it take? I don’t want to sign contract bullshit," - you can swear as well, when you’re old.
Do you have different accents you use in specific situations then?
KN: Definitely. Anything to do with internet, telly or mobile, I call up and make myself Indian. And then if I’m calling someone up about a car, I’ll do it as a Scouser, because you can ask lots of really annoying questions and they won’t get annoyed with you. No one seems to like a Londoner, really. But if you sound like a friendly Scouser, the person on the other end will listen to you and go along with it.
Were there any characters or gags that didn't go down well over in the States, did you get yourself into trouble at all?
Kayvan Novak: There were a couple of people who were a bit peeved at our little shenanigans, but we told them what we ere up to afterwards and that was all cleaned up.
So you've got Sirens out on DVD now, and the new series of Facejacker on the way. Have you got much planned for after that?
KN: Yeah we’ve got the Terry Tibbs chat show, which is going to be a riot. That's going to be on Channel 4. He's going to have hs own chat show, and he's going to do a bit of signing, a bit of dancing. It's basically going to be a grand old Terry Tibbs time. We’re going to do a Facejacker movie, as well. It’s going to be about Brian Bedonde going back into the closet.
Really?
KN: Yeah, he's going to become a womaniser.
REALLY?
KN: BOH! Yes!
Kayvan. Are you mucking around with us?
KN:
Well, I might be mucking around. But we are going to be doing a movie. But I don’t know what it's going to be about yet.
Have you got any other dream projects you'd like to get started with? Sounds like you might already be working on them...
KN: l I’d like to work with Chris Morris again, for when he reads this. And I'd like to work with Terry Gilliam.
Oh, and my friend's just reminded me that I'd really like to work with Linford Christie
The man is a totally idiotic Genius of the third kind for sure
