The latest edition of the increasingly popular BUG did not disappoint. This time we were also celebrating its 25th edition, in its fifth year. It’s always a sell out crowd and its easy to see why. Cutting edge music videos blended with some true comedy genius from Adam Buxton. It’s a very good mix and will be difficult to re-create in an article but here is a summary of the highlights.
The evening began with Adam dancing out onto stage singing ‘some old bollocks’ as he put it, over the well known Röyksopp tune Eple.
As with previous BUG events, once the welcomes had been done we were again treated to some comedy folder names on Adam’s hard drive. Bearing in mind that Adam has been primarily known to people for his work with Joe Cornish on the Adam & Joe Show. Even though they have not worked together for a number of years, Adam still gets questions from people either thinking he is Joe or asking if Joe is ok (You know – in the same way, nobody really knows which ones Ant and which ones Dec). So very apt that the opening statement was “Yes, i have seen ‘Attack The Block’ and i think it’s great!”. (Joe being the director – read our Attack The Block review)
The established format of BUG is simply show a few music videos, then hand back over to Adam to analyse and pick out the funniest comments that people have posted under that particular video on YouTube.
The running order was as follows:
The Chase – I Like You
Director: L’Ogre
Battles – Ice Cream
Director: CANADA
Pig with a Face of a Boy – The Complete History of the Soviet Union, Arranged to the Music of Tetris
Director: Chris Lincé
Wiley – Numbers in Action
Director: Us
Dead Snares – The Language
Director: Tobias Stretch
Woodkid – Iron
Director: Yoann Lemoine
At this point Adam was joined on stage for a guest appearance from Peter Serafinowicz. Many people will know him from his role as Simon Pegg’s housemate in Shaun of The Dead. He has also had his own show The Peter Serafinowicz Show and the fantastic retro series Look Around You.
Here we took a look at Peter’s music video directorial debut – the video for Hot Chip, I Feel Better. It’s best described as very camp JLS video mixed with a bit of mayhem and murder. Luckily the best YouTube comment of the night fell to this video when somebody posted…
“What’s up with Cancer Jesus?”
Hot Chip – I Feel Better
Director: Peter Serafinowicz
Alex Metric & Steve Angello feat. Ian Brown – Open Your Eyes
Director: Peter Serafinowicz
A re-imagined version of Rocky Balboa vs ED 209 (from Robocop) with Peter Serafinowicz as Rocky.
Etienne de Crécy – No Brain
Director: Fleur & Manu
Another excellent piece from the French master.
Somewhere along the way, Adam got onto the subject of his beard. Somebody had asked him if they felt it was The Ultimate Symbol of Masculinity. Not quite he had retorted but set out on a mission to discover just what is The Ultimate Symbol of Masculinity. Now the result has to be one of the funniest things you will ever see (if somehow you can get to see it). In summary – it was a giant person with penises for arms and legs, (holding) a football, towering over the image of a shed, with a porsche parked next to it… all topped off with Clarkson’s face. GENIUS!!
Colourmusic – You Leaving for Me
Director: Matt and Oz
(if you are fond of teddy bears – don’t watch this one!)
Stars – Changes
Director:Jaron Albertin
This video features for the most part a naked girl running around. The version on YouTube has been blurred out, so you can’t really appreciate it in her full… err… its full glory. Try and track it down elsewhere!
Manchester Orchestra – Simple Math
Director:Daniels
Probably the best video on the night!
The show was wrapped with another screening of the legendary video for Witness the Fitness by Roots Manuva – always a pleasure.
And so, BUG scuttles on – with new shows coming up in Manchester and Norwich, showing no signs of slowing down. BUG 26 at the BFI is a Moby special, so get your tickets early. Rumour has it they sell out within the first hour of going on sale. Bravo Dr Buckles.
More info:
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, Southbank, London SE1 8XT
BUG
Adam Buxton
Blink Productions
Peter Serafinowicz
