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Hook, line, sinker and a copy of The Angling Times

Posted by johnnie Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:42:00 GMT

I have to talk about The Overcast. Episode 14 (which, purely incidentally, was released on the 1st of April) consisted of an interview between Overman and digital-phil, the host of the now dead and lamented Machinima Live podcast. We all know that there were tensions between the two Phils whilst the podcast was still in production, and nobody was sure exactly how they’d left things. Now we know.

The interview was a brilliantly spoofed argument between the two of them, which gradually descended into name-calling and personal grudge-bearing, culminating in Overman demanding an explanation as to why digital-phil chose to eat pancakes rather than interview cairmen and myself.

The whole thing worked so well because it was based on truth. We did record an episode of Machinima Live, which was never broadcast (the infamous “lost episode”) because of a problem on digital-phil’s PC which corrupted the audio file beyond all repair. I happen to know that a lot of the other supposed irritations that the two Phils threw at each other during the course of the podcast were also, as they say in Hollywood, “inspired by true events”.

I actually emailed Overman shortly after the episode was released, asking if it was a spoof or not. I didn’t post on any of the machinima forums expressing my opinion one way or another, because I was too cowardly to risk being exposed as a victim of the gag.

I feel too guilty about that, now, so I’m going to say this publicly: you got me. Totally and utterly. I did realise that the whole thing was probably an April Fool’s joke, but only after listening to it for a third time, and even then I wasn’t totally sure.

Here (after the cut) is the complete, unedited email that I sent to Overman. Can you feel me covering all my bases?

So … yes. That was quite something.

I’m not going to post a comment on theovercast.com, because … well, quite frankly, I can’t tell if that podcast was an April Fool’s joke or not.

If it WAS an AF joke:

Brilliant. You’re a bone fide goddam genius, and digital-phil is awesome. He deserves so much respect for doing that, and the two of you are great actors, and a brilliant comedy team. I think you probably need to make a post to confirm that this podcast was, indeed, a joke. It’s sufficiently close to the bone that it’s not certain (you’ve got me confused, for one).

If it WASN’T a joke:

Wow. Strictly between the two of us, digital-phil is a bone fide asshole – and I really liked the guy up until now. It was a brave decision to post the interview. He does not come out of it at all well.

Either way:

That podcast was hilarious and painful in equal measure. Next April – interview Katherine Anna Kang, and insist on calling her “Yoko” all the way through the interview.

Johnnie