Ah, conjoined-twins humor. Does it ever get old?
You be the judge, as Spike TV gives you a full two-and-a-half minutes of it in the mockumentary below, produced by Hungry Man and directed by Dave Laden for the cable network.
If we've learned anything from the Skittles campaign, it's that young men are obsessed with ravaged anatomies—any poorly functioning body part will do. Targeting the same demo, Spike surely saw lots of promise in the idea of twin brothers joined at the chest. Locked forever in an absurd bro hug, Dan and Ethan Duffy, described by the network as a modern-day Goofus and Gallant, couldn't be more different. Dan's a carpe diem kind of guy, meatheady but full of life. Ethan's an angry, morose, chain-smoking loser. The superstar and the slacker. Guess which one watches more Spike TV.
All the sight gags are in here, as nothing is easy for these two—whether they're exercising, brushing their teeth, making out with a girl (that would be Dan, with Ethan trying to cop a feel), or cruising down a Slip 'n Slide. It's pretty basic stuff—really quite spectacularly stupid at times—but hard not to chuckle here and there.
"The idea came from us wanting to show the contrast between someone that was exposed to Spike TV and someone that wasn't—so conjoined twins that were facing separate directions made perfect sense," says Hungry Man writer Justin Warias. "I prepped for the job by watching some documentaries on actual conjoined twins and seeing how they interact and move with each other. There's an unlimited amount of comedy that can come from being stuck to someone, so once we applied that idea to the new lineup of Spike TV shows, the scenarios came pretty easily."
The spot gets a bit too complicated for its own good toward the end, when Dan for some reason starts a tattooing/tax-preparation business. And the writing could be better—the visual comedy carries things well enough, but the guys should have a few more good one-liners. But still, you know, conjoined twins! The kids are going to love this.
A :30 and a :60, also posted below, will air in rotation.
CREDITS
Client: Spike TV
Producer, Writer: Lukas Kaiser
Producer: Ira Rosensweig
Vice President, Creative Director: Terry Minogue
Production Manager: Bill Trojanowski
Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Dave Laden
Managing Partner: Kevin Byrne, New York
Line Producer: Jason Gilbert
Director of Photography: Matthew Woolf
Writers: Justin Warias, Frances Galvon
Editing: Neal Usatin (mockumentary)
Editing: The Cutting Room (:30 and :60)
Audio: SuperExploder
Sound Design/Mix: Jody Nazzaro
