For some actors who find themselves stuck at the very bottom of the ladder to stardom, nothing could be more humbling – or humiliating – than having to ‘perform’ in front of people who could care less about those who don elaborate costumes for corporate functions. It’s an experience that ‘corporate entertainers’ Nick and Mike faced in hilarious fashion last season on the comedy web series FOOLS FOR HIRE. With its second season premiering on November 26th on its official Youtube and DailyMotion pages (see links below), the hilarious misadventures of Nick and Mike (played by series co-creators Nick Harrison and Mike Cavers) continue, and so do their often disastrous attempts to break away from the embarrassing profession they find themselves stuck in.

Although the first episode of season 2 has aired on its Youtube page, the series will stream later episodes exclusively on DailyMotion over a 48 hour time frame. 12-16 episodes are scheduled for the show’s second season. Note: While the series is not currently closed-captioned, its co-creator and director Neil Every says he not only hopes to add that feature to each episode, but also another service that will benefit visually impaired viewers as well. “We’re also looking to make the show accessible to the vision impaired through descriptive video which we believe will be a world first for a web series,” he says.

The series also features the guys’ constant nemeses – event coordinator Janet (Jennifer McLean) and the notorious ‘King of Corporate Entertainment’ Eric VonHuffington (Eric Breker). Also returning is Eric’s beautiful right-hand woman, Rochelle (Barbara Kozicki), plus Nick and Mike’s beleaguered ‘agent’ Anderson (Pearce Visser). Along with those characters, there’s also Victoria (Victoria Davidson) and Rebecca (Rebecca Harrison), the long suffering better halves of Mike and Nick respectively.

New additions to the cast feature Bianca (played by Brianne Loop), a confident, headstrong woman who presents new opportunities and hopes for Nick and Mike. Along with Bianca, two wacky new characters make the guys’ lives even more interesting: Cagney (THE NEW ADDAMS’ FAMILY, STARGATE: SG-1 and STARGATE: ATLANTIS’ Ellie Harvie) and Lacey (FALLING SKIES’ Colin Cunningham). Needless to say, they’re nothing like the famed female detective duo that graced TV screens in the ‘80s with their own weekly series, and later, reunion movies. (In the case of FOOLS FOR HIRE, Lacey is male).

While the series’ first season was produced in the ever popular ‘mockumentary’ format with character confessionals that provided uproarious insight into just what it’s like being a ‘corporate entertainer’, FOOLS FOR HIRE’s sophomore season takes a more traditional approach to its storytelling but still maintains its trademark brand of comedy. In addition, viewers can expect not only more of the same, but also a series that’s become much larger and ambitious in its overall production scope.

As Every explains, “We decided before Season 1 had even gone live that we very much wanted to move away from the mockumentary style of storytelling. We felt it was a little restrictive and there are just too many other shows doing a similar style. This is one of the main reasons our opening episode is the way it is – we wanted to throw our audience smack bang in the middle of big action and make it clear right from the get-go that FOOLS FOR HIRE has expanded its ambitions. We wanted to set the scene to basically say, anything can happen in this show!”

Last season, viewers saw just how mortifying the job of ‘corporate entertainer’ can be, as Nick and Mike prepared to pitch their concept for a spectacular pirate themed show to a lucrative Florida client. For a while, it looked like their dreams of not only stardom, but also a big payday would finally come true – only for their ambitions to be thwarted by VonHuffington. With FOOLS FOR HIRE, Harrison and Cavers sought to bring viewers a wacky, hysterical story of just how ridiculous the world of ‘corporate entertainment’ can be; something they both know from experience. “I’ve been dying to tell the story of our lives as corporate entertainers for years. I would often be at a gig thinking, no one would believe me if I told them what I do for money,” Cavers says.

As Harrison recalls, though, the concept of creating a comedy web series based on the thankless, tedious job of trying to entertain stuffy, droll corporate clients came when he and Every were in production on another series. “We (Harrison and Every) met and I told him some stories about corporate entertainment and what Mike (Cavers) and I had to go through and then I told Mike about the meeting. Mike was initially reluctant to be involved, but after seeing how cool Neil was, he was happy to be part of our Three Amigos. He has blamed me for getting him into this ever since (in a good way),” he says. To which Cavers, a 10 year veteran of the business and, in real life, owner of his own corporate entertainment firm, laughingly retorts: “I was not ‘reluctant to be involved’ – I was thrilled. It was the prospect of spending even more time with Nick that made me hesitate. But I made the right decision. I know I did.”

Some of the show’s new cast members were no stranger to Harrison and Cavers, having worked with several of them on stage, TV and even – believe it or not – as corporate entertainers themselves. “I actually worked with Ellie on THE NEW ADDAMS FAMILY when I guest starred as ‘Big Earl’, and Ellie and I are also amazing improvisors from The Vancouver TheatreSports League (a popular improv comedy group),” Harrison recalls. “Barbara (Kozicki) & I did many a corporate gig and I knew she would be perfect for the part of Rochelle. Jen McLean and I have done corporate together for close to 20 years, so I knew how damn funny she is. So glad she’s on this project,” adds Cavers.

FOOLS FOR HIRE’s production quality also improved from season to season. “Between Season 1 and 2 we acquired a few new pieces of equipment such as a jib arm a slider and a small lighting kit which has allowed us to be more cinematic in our approach. This went hand-in-hand with moving away from the mockumentary/improv nature of shooting to a much more structured and controllable fully scripted narrative form,” Every says. While the show maintained its high quality caliber of comedy, the new narrative-based approach Every took with season 2 helped streamline the production process despite the usual difficulties that come with filming any low budget series.

“We shot mostly on weekends and when we could lock locations and get everyone in the same place at the same time. The show is 100% volunteer so we’re always at the mercy of real life priorities like day jobs and family commitments etc. For the most part we shot the scripts in order. The biggest change was really just needing to be more organized with the little details because of the increased scale of the storytelling,” Every adds.

That change in approach benefitted FOOLS FOR HIRE, a series that not only features great comedy and characters, but also pays tribute to geek and pop culture in many humorous ways. “Being a comedy makes it easier to get a little crazy with things but having grown men in costumes, who are also colossal geeks, has meant we can explore a lot of territory. We love paying homage to all things geeky and pretty much every episode has several subtle (and not so subtle) geek and pop culture elements,” says Every.

“We’ve tried to set up Season 2 in a way where we can tell all kinds of different stories, mostly because we’d all get bored doing the same thing over and over again. It’s also important for us to sprinkle in a little drama. We love comedies that have heart and soul and that aren’t just going for the laugh. Nick and Mike, as characters in the show, are very relatable – at their core they’re just 2 guys trying to do what they love while supporting their families. Not an easy thing to do when you’re so often ridiculed and certainly no easy task in Vancouver, one of the least affordable cities in North America,” he adds.

Despite gaining critical acclaim and recognition throughout the industry, including Nick Harrison’s win for best actor at this past year’s L.A. WebFest and a nomination for best web series at Vancouver’s Leo Awards (honoring the year’s best movies, TV and web series produced in British Columbia, Canada), gaining greater viewership has been harder to come by. Yet, the series has already become a hit with its small yet loyal audience. Every hopes that its improved production quality, and its hilarious comedy, will keep that audience, as well as attract new viewers to FOOLS FOR HIRE.

“The audience we have are incredibly loyal and enthusiastic so my hope with Season 2 is that we build that audience and find new places to get on the radar. We’ve tried really hard to pack Season 2 with lots more fun stuff – there really is something for everyone in the show and our analytics support that as our audience is pretty much equally divided between teenagers and adults and is split 50/50 between a male and female demographic,” he says.

Overall, FOOLS FOR HIRE is a web series for the underdog in all of us; those who try their best to achieve success despite the biggest of odds. It’s a show with situations and characters that many viewers can relate to. It’s a show that features the continuing adventures of two guys desperate to achieve success in one of the most spirit sucking jobs anyone can have – while trying to maintain some semblance of dignity in the process.

As Every explains: “We’ve tried to give the comedy a good variety – it’s not wall-to-wall slapstick and its not mean-spirited or overly sarcastic like some shows are. I think there’s a heart to FOOLS FOR HIRE and we’ve had a surprising number of people tell us there’s something unique and special about it. Personally I think there’s a familiarity to it that resonates. We can’t help but root for the underdog and Nick and Mike do a great job of being those underdogs. They’re good people and we want them to succeed. The comedy comes from their spectacular failures which we can all relate to. It’s a slice of life but a life most people haven’t seen too much of.” Adds Cavers: “Life is hard. Raising a family is hard. Keeping a roof over your head is hard. And it gets harder all the time, especially in a city like Vancouver. What can you do except laugh, and do what has to be done.”

ON THE WEB: www.foolsforhiretheseries.com

DAILYMOTION: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/FoolsForHire

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/FoolsForHire

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/foolsforhire

TWITTER: @Fools_For_Hire


FOOLS FOR HIRE – Ep 2.1 – The Hungry Games pt. I by FoolsForHire