Comics to release 360-degree VR sketch

Comics Micky Overman, Lynn Ruth Miller and Jordan Brookes are to star in a new video filmed in 360-degree virtual reality.

The skit, Sat Navs Will Kill Us, is thought to be the second comedy sketch filmed using the technology, following a Comic Relief scene in March.

The new sketch will revolve around a car journey with Overman (pictured), Miller and Brookes arguing over whether to trust a sat nav, a map or a person and is being released by indie comedy label Turtle Canyon Comedy.

Stuart Laws, who runs the company, said it would be more truly 360-degrees than the Comic Relief forebear.

He told Chortle: ‘I thought it would be a fun addition to the sketch to give the viewer autonomy on how they watched it. The camera is rigged in the middle of the car and the viewer can look at each of the four people arguing, choosing who to focus on and giving them the feeling of being more immersed in the sketch.

‘Hopefully that gives the sketch more value for people wanting to rewatch it and focus on a different character - it makes the viewer the director.

‘From an acting point of view this style of filming means you have to get the entire sketch in one single take as an edit really shatters the virtual reality illusion.

‘From a technical point of view you have to rig the camera on a rig in the middle of the car, hide microphones and then spend hours stitching the footage together as seamlessly as possible and painting out the camera rig.’

Last year, US website Funny Or Die released its first 3D VR sketch, which was called Interrogation and featured Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer – and required a headset for the full effect.

Sat Navs Will Kill Us comes as part of a simultaneous release of 11 sketches by Turtle Canyon on June 13. The ‘Big Turtle Dump’ will feature videos from the likes of James Acaster, Ed Gamble, Suzi Ruffell and John Kearns.

Four days later, on June 17, the company is also launching what it describes as its 'most ambitious project yet': a six-hour live stream of comic Pat Cahill angling on a riverbank, called There’s No I in Fishing. Friends include John Kearns and Greg James will drop by.

The footage follows the trend for ‘slow TV’ in which broadcasters air the likes of canal trips in real time.

As well as Sat Navs Will Kill Us, the other sketches in the Big Turtle Dump are:

Just Puddings: Ed Gamble is a Type 1 diabetic but loves desserts, so he takes James Acaster to the Fudge Kitchen in Windsor to eat fudge, then describe it so that Ed doesn’t have to eat it.

Hope You Come Up Here (3 episodes): Inspired by Wish You Were Here Ian Smith shows you the attractions of his hometown Goole, and even manages to interview the UK’s youngest mayor Terence Smith. Co-starring Kathryn Bond, Sophie Henderson, Fergus Craig

One More Night: The debut short film by Suzi Ruffell about breaking up with someone being difficult if they won't let it happen. Co-starring Rose Johnson.

Biscotti: Patrick Turpin stars in a surprising cinema advert for the snack no one eats.

Anxiety Diet: About a fad diet and starring Annie McGrath, Holly Burn, Brett Goldstein, Gabby Best and Phil Wang

Memory Games: Starring John Kearns as a self-professed expert at remembering things, with Luke McQueen and Lizzie Daykin.

I’ve Lost YouTube: A new series in which the cast – Evelyn Mok, Sunil Patel and Sophie Duker – are given one line of dialogue as a starting point and then improvise a sketch around it. They get two hours to work it out and have to keep it under two minutes.

I Am Wario: Stuart Laws, Anne Klein and Matt Winning are a sketch group with a unique premise: that every single skit has the exact same punchline. A cult hit at Edinburgh 2016, this is their first filmed sketch.

Published: 31 May 2017