I love this guy. I've been watching Fonejacker right from the start. It seems like others are eventually waking up to this chap's talent. I just heard him being interviewed by Shaun Keaveny on BBC R6. Maybe it's because the show is broadcast on E4 that it's taken so long for people to catch on.
Some might say that making prank calls is not a new comedy idea and reinforcing comedy stereotypes is an easy way to get a laugh. They definitely have a point. I know all about getting the piss taken out of me by people who resort to the latter to get a cheap laugh. I'm also a big fan of comedy and people who can make me laugh these days are in short supply. The Fonejacker can, and he does this in a number of ways with just the right amount of cyniscism.
The Fonejacker expresses our universal dislike and frustration at the call centre experience. He pokes fun at the publics' general greed and consumption of insignificant but collectible items that are easy to come by such as pirated DVDs. He shows us how gullible we are by asking us to give over our bank details to a stranger from a fictional bank in Uganda.
Prank calls have always been about making the recipient of the call look stupid. The audience laughs at their predicament and is reassured in their knowledge that there are people out there who are more of an idiot than themselves.
I suppose in a way, the Fonejacker has just modernised this idea by making the scenarios more relevant to today's society. He tackles subjects that we all find amusing, frustrating and downright annoying. It's the way he does this that makes the Fonejacker different than say Jeremy Beadle. He uses his comedy acting talent for all the voices in the show. He also uses little animations and video clips to illustrate the conversations which is a clever, imaginative way to get extra laughs.
The chap who plays Fonejacker is quite secretive about his real personae. We see him in the show hiding behind a full face, bobble on top, ski hat with black aviator sunglasses. He looks like a comedy terrorist and I suppose in a way, he is. This all adds to his mystique. Who is he? Is he watching me now? Am I next? The Fonejacker's Facebook page is inundated with postings from fans who want him to defrock himself and expose his real identity. I think this is really clever as it keeps people guessing and talking about who he is, and this ensures he is kept in the public eye.
Here is one of my favourite characters: The Mouse. What I like about this clip is that the recipient is not made to look daft but is wise to the gag and plays along with it, so creating a nice little improvised sketch in which the Fonejacker is able to display his comedy acting talent and tell the story completely without being cut off. It's also a very wicked and yet sweet idea that there's this vigilante mouse out to kill the cat that has eaten all his family. It does make me wonder how many takes they had to do before they got the killer scene. Another favourite character of mine is "Talk to me, Terry Tibbs". Again, the public that he speaks to in his sketches play along with the character developing nice scenes in which both characters score equal points. Nobody likes a person to look completely stupid at the hands of a prankster, do they?
Most of the Fonejacker clips can be found on You Tube or on the excellent Fonejacker web site.
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