We've made no secret of our love for the work of Dutch comedy duo Steffn Haars and Flip Van der Kuil here in these pages over the years. The writing and directing duo first came to prominence as part of the New Kids comedy team, rising up quickly from online videos to a full TV series to a pair of feature films built around their very particular comedy style that proved to be massive local hits and hugely popular on the festival circuit. The retirement of the New Kids brand and characters didn't seem to slow down their rise at all as subsequent features (Bros Before Hos and Ron Goosens Low Budget Stunt Man) also proved to be major successes. And now the duo has returned to television with Random Shit.
For those unfamiliar with their work, well, the titles might give you a hint. Imagine Apatow but significantly ruder, more prone to physical spectacle, and remarkably smart about how stupid their characters are while also somehow being weirdly humanist and positive. Their characters are stupid and frequently cross social lines due to their stupidity but are well intentioned at their core and much loved by their creators. Which brings us to their latest.
Backed by SVOD platform Videoland, Random Shit is essentially what happens when you give these guys tiny budgets and total creative freedom. Which is to say, it looks quite rude and very funny. While most of the New Kids team are present the lead part belongs to Dutch comedian - and frequent collaborator - Henry van Loon who stars as himself offered the opportunity to pitch an original series to Videoland. In every episode Henry does exactly that, which each of the pitches proving so outlandish that they are ultimately rejected but not before we get to see what he's been dreaming up. Which means, yes, the entire series exists to give life to things its creators were told they would never be allowed to do on television.
The director roster is broadened out here a little bit with Plan C helmer Max Porcelijn also contributing and even without subtitles this looks like great fun. Check out the trailer below.