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Like all TV presenters with weeks to go before the launch of their latest series, comedian Mark Dolan is currently finding his life utterly dominated by his new baby. The only difference is, in this case, his new baby is the real thing, a bouncing 17-day-old bundle of joy called Arthur. As such, the series, an anarchic and hilarious new offering from Channel 4 called Balls of Steel, must take something of a back seat in terms of Dolan’s priorities. But if he’s chuffed to bits with his new role as a father, he’s also tangibly excited about his latest professional venture.
"I really wanted to be part of Balls of Steel. It does exactly what it says on the tin," he enthuses. "It's a comedy/entertainment show that has a whole range of different styles of humour in it – some very slapstick and base, and some of it a touch more intellectual and cerebral and subtle and layered. It involves twelve new comedy acts all doing different styles of comedy, some of it in the studio, some out and about on the street. But there’s one thing that all the performers have in common: In order to do what they’ve done, they have to have balls of steel. They have to be ludicrously brave, foolhardy, and have to show some contempt for their physical safety."
The range of acts is extensive and varied: Annoying Devil, Naked Guy, Mantester, Bunny Boiler, Prank TV, Black Militant Guy, Urban Sports, The World's Worst, Big Gay Following, The Pain Men, Alex Zane's Fake Gameshows and Randy Campbell's Amazing Stunts. All bring their own unique brand of humour to the show, and Dolan believes that by the end of the series, they will be names to conjure with. “The great thing is, if you’ve not enjoyed one bit, you needn’t worry, because there’ll be another completely contrasting thing along in just a moment."
The physical danger tends to come from the people (both celebrities and members of the public) who are variously mocked, infuriated, lampooned or tricked in a series of recordings that take the hidden camera genre and revolutionise it. According to Dolan, “almost everybody has suffered physical retribution for what they’ve been doing. In that way, the sketches themselves always seem to have these little moments of justice in them.”
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The physical danger tends to come from the people (both celebrities and members of the public) who are variously mocked, infuriated, lampooned or tricked in a series of recordings that take the hidden camera genre and revolutionise it. According to Dolan, “almost everybody has suffered physical retribution for what they’ve been doing. In that way, the sketches themselves always seem to have these little moments of justice in them.”
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"Like The Annoying Devil who went to a golf course with a whole bucket of extra balls. There are some men having a really serious tournament, and just getting to the putting at the end, and he just chucks all the extra balls on the putting green. Now, you'd have thought a golf environment was a completely safe environment in which to do outrageous comedy, but in fact no. A Pringle-wearing retired madman started running towards The Annoying Devil and chucked this very heavy golf club at him. It whacked him on the back of the head."
If that sounds harsh, the treatment meted out to Thaila Zucchi, a.k.a. The Bunny Boiler, seems almost inevitable. "What she does," says Dolan, warming to his theme, "is go up to happy, heterosexual couples, and starts flirting outrageously with the bloke to see what will happen. And she's an incredibly attractive young woman. She's extremely pretty and she's got a body that could stop a clock. She wears a really short skirt, and she sits near them and starts chatting with the bloke.
If that sounds harsh, the treatment meted out to Thaila Zucchi, a.k.a. The Bunny Boiler, seems almost inevitable. "What she does," says Dolan, warming to his theme, "is go up to happy, heterosexual couples, and starts flirting outrageously with the bloke to see what will happen. And she's an incredibly attractive young woman. She's extremely pretty and she's got a body that could stop a clock. She wears a really short skirt, and she sits near them and starts chatting with the bloke.
"She asks questions like 'Do you work out?' and 'Are you a model? You should be, you're really cute'. Then she starts eating a banana very suggestively. And then she'll ask for his phone number and she'll hand the girl a leaflet about cellulite or hair removal. One question she asked a bloke was 'Have you ever been out with anyone pretty?' On one occasion, she upset the girlfriend so much that she attacked Thaila and started pulling her hair out. They had a proper, physical fight in the middle of a shopping centre."
If the show sounds cruel, the reality is that it is a lot more good-natured than one would expect. The show has a genuine warmth to it, and more often than not, it is the performers themselves who are made to suffer. "We worked very hard to get the consent of all members of the public to show the footage, which the law requires. But we went further than that on Balls of Steel. We wanted to know that people had seen the funny side and enjoyed the joke. Proof of that is quite often in the series we'll meet the people involved in the studio audience, and they'll explain what was going through their head at the time of filming."
If the show sounds cruel, the reality is that it is a lot more good-natured than one would expect. The show has a genuine warmth to it, and more often than not, it is the performers themselves who are made to suffer. "We worked very hard to get the consent of all members of the public to show the footage, which the law requires. But we went further than that on Balls of Steel. We wanted to know that people had seen the funny side and enjoyed the joke. Proof of that is quite often in the series we'll meet the people involved in the studio audience, and they'll explain what was going through their head at the time of filming."
The trick, of making people the butt of jokes and then getting them to find it funny, is a difficult one to pull off, but Dolan has managed it before, with his previous series, The Richard Taylor Interviews. In it, he subjected applicants to fictional jobs to ever-more-absurd scenarios in their job interviews. It was inspired and hugely funny, but notably devoid of any malice, thanks to the gentle charm of Dolan himself. Indeed, he seems almost too kind, apologetic and diffident to be a comedian, though he says he's never really contemplated being anything else.
"I always wanted to perform. I love an audience. My father was a publican, he ran a pub in Kentish Town, North London. As a kid, I used to perform there all the time for the customers, little stand up routines when I was about ten. I did a lot of performing at school, and I think that I learned that I wanted to be a comedian by doing acting. The more I acted, the more I realised I just wanted to make people laugh. I used to nearly die with boredom appearing in Shakespeare plays."
"I always wanted to perform. I love an audience. My father was a publican, he ran a pub in Kentish Town, North London. As a kid, I used to perform there all the time for the customers, little stand up routines when I was about ten. I did a lot of performing at school, and I think that I learned that I wanted to be a comedian by doing acting. The more I acted, the more I realised I just wanted to make people laugh. I used to nearly die with boredom appearing in Shakespeare plays."
Studying at Edinburgh University, Dolan took an active role in the thriving arts scene and honed his talent for stand up and improvisation. But it was a subsequent stint away from comedy, in the real world, that convinced him of his true calling. "I remember selling pensions on the phone in a call centre. Unfortunately, I was quite good at cold calling people and getting them to come in for an appointment about a pension. One day, the bloke who ran the office had a little look in his eye and said 'Young man, I think I'm going to make a great pension salesman out of you'. I ran a mile. I think having a taste of success in the pension field really encouraged me that anything else is better than that."
It proved a sensible decision. As well as having two TV series to his credit, he does an enormous amount of radio, regular stand up work, and has appeared as a panellist on a number of other TV shows. "Popping up on panel shows is really good fun, as I don't have to be responsible for the content of the show." Having established himself, he now finds himself in the rarefied position of bringing through a whole host of other new comedy talents.
It proved a sensible decision. As well as having two TV series to his credit, he does an enormous amount of radio, regular stand up work, and has appeared as a panellist on a number of other TV shows. "Popping up on panel shows is really good fun, as I don't have to be responsible for the content of the show." Having established himself, he now finds himself in the rarefied position of bringing through a whole host of other new comedy talents.
"The idea behind Balls of Steel is to blood new performers [though one hopes not in the golf-club-in-the-head sense]. We want to bring people in who are very funny and very talented but who've not had the exposure or the opportunity yet. Balls of Steel empowers them to go out there and do their thing. They were given a lot of independence – nobody interfered with them. The idea was king. Whoever had the funniest ideas got to do it, no matter who they were."
Women are well represented in the line up, though Dolan says this was never a specific goal. "We were very lucky. We encountered a number of extremely funny, very talented female performers who had a lot of brilliant ideas about what they wanted to do. So, rather than tokenism, this was a case where it was absolutely obvious to us we should include them in the show. And they bring a natural balance to it. I think when men make comedy together exclusively, it does develop its own tone, which can centre around base sexual jokes and swearwords. Having very funny, strong-willed women in the team has just changed the whole atmosphere of the programme."
Women are well represented in the line up, though Dolan says this was never a specific goal. "We were very lucky. We encountered a number of extremely funny, very talented female performers who had a lot of brilliant ideas about what they wanted to do. So, rather than tokenism, this was a case where it was absolutely obvious to us we should include them in the show. And they bring a natural balance to it. I think when men make comedy together exclusively, it does develop its own tone, which can centre around base sexual jokes and swearwords. Having very funny, strong-willed women in the team has just changed the whole atmosphere of the programme."
With so many comedians out and about ready to inflict their own unique brand of mayhem, it seems difficult to know how to warn unsuspecting members of the public what to look out for. But one tip would be to approach any offers to go on game shows with a distinct cynicism – especially if the presenter is one Alex Zane.
"I'm very fond of Alex Zane's twisted, evil game shows," says Dolan happily. "There's one show called 'The Buzzing Game', in which the contestants have to buzz in with their answers, and one of the contestants does not realise that his buzzer doesn’t work. So when he knows the answer, he presses the buzzer and it doesn't go. And he's getting increasingly frustrated. Then, when he does not know the answer to the question, his buzzer goes. He was a really seasoned game show contestant – one of these people who's been on loads of game shows – and he was driven steadily crazy.
"I'm very fond of Alex Zane's twisted, evil game shows," says Dolan happily. "There's one show called 'The Buzzing Game', in which the contestants have to buzz in with their answers, and one of the contestants does not realise that his buzzer doesn’t work. So when he knows the answer, he presses the buzzer and it doesn't go. And he's getting increasingly frustrated. Then, when he does not know the answer to the question, his buzzer goes. He was a really seasoned game show contestant – one of these people who's been on loads of game shows – and he was driven steadily crazy.
"In another one, it was a sort of Mastermind clone, and we had experts in various fields come in to answer questions on their specified subject. But we gave them all the wrong answers, and totally contradicted them, telling them they were wrong when they knew they were right."
Ultimately, according to Dolan, there should be something for everyone in the show, thanks to the presence of so many different styles of humour. "It creates a show which, if you’re not enjoying one bit, you needn't worry, because there'll be another completely contrasting thing along in just a moment. That's why I’m hoping the show will be a real success."
By Benjie Goodhart
Ultimately, according to Dolan, there should be something for everyone in the show, thanks to the presence of so many different styles of humour. "It creates a show which, if you’re not enjoying one bit, you needn't worry, because there'll be another completely contrasting thing along in just a moment. That's why I’m hoping the show will be a real success."
By Benjie Goodhart
