Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Winterize Thyself with Hockey Laughs


Long before the days of High Definition cameras for professionals, let alone consumers - there was a format called Hi-8. In its day, it was thought to be of decent quality and best of all, much easier to just go somewhere and shoot something fun. And so, back in the day we decided to write, shoot and broadcast a few comedy shorts with a hockey theme.

The first in the series was an informative yet silly piece on the Zamboni Ice Machine, only it was not a real Zamboni, the machine was a wanna be ice scrapper called an Olympia. The video was shot at the local rink in south Charlotte, North Carolina - which is anything but a hockey mecca. You can watch that video here.

The next comedy sketch in the series was about a hockey team's dentist - title Dr. Barre. Okay, now we are talking as the piece ventures into and explores the zone of weird. Or as Hunter Thompson used to say, the weird turn pro. Watch that here.

And then we went back to the rink to film a short called The Penalty Box, which sort of explains the lighter side of the rules of hockey. Complete with lots of cheap shots, cross checks, and high sticks aimed at causing injuries. You can watch that here.

And finally - the weirdest comedy short of all - At Home with Antoine, which tells the story of a retired hockey player who seems to have been checked and body slammed once or twice too often. It seems he thinks himself to be the poet laureate of the NHL, a new position granted by the commissioner of hockey himself. Think Alistair Cooke meets Andy Kaufman, this puppy is out there. If you think you can handle it, you can watch it here.