‘I smoked a fake joint with my bum – a TV legend supported me through it’
Definitely an interesting day at work.
After ten years of creating increasingly bonkers sketches, Ryan Dylan, Rian Lennon and Lee Dobbin are finally getting their big break on TV and they certainly haven’t toned down the comedy for the transition.
After putting in the hours, with plenty of laughter along the way, they have been commissioned to create a BBC comedy series, Funboys.
‘It’s surreal,’ stated Ryan, who also wrote and produced the series alongside Rian, summarising the mood of the group. What’s also surreal is their actual TV show which only gets more bizarre as the episodes progress.
From a talking dead pig (‘He was a nightmare when it was an indoors scene. The pig handler had a tough job,’ shared Rian) to a handjob on a swan pedalo and accidentally killing a co-worker, there’s a lot to take in.
Perhaps most shockingly is the scene is which a naked Callum (Ryan) is on all fours smoking a spliff from his bottom as his ex-girlfriend’s brother David (Jamie Demetriou) comforts him with back rubs and verbal assurances.
Ryan recalled the day to Metro: ‘Having a joint in my ass was the worst. It was cold, it was a bad position, just everything.
Funboys is coming to BBC iPlayer later this month (Picture: BBC/Mayhay Studios LTD/Jeremy Stockton)‘Jamie totally supported me through that. He was saying “It’s okay, don’t worry, you’re doing great”.’ The lines, which were partly improvised, were said in character but Ryan used them for comfort too. ‘He was amazing at improv,’ Rian added.
The trio revealed they had one question when Jamie, who’s also starred in Barbie, Stath Lets Flats, Fleabag and Back in Action, joined their show: Why?
They were in disbelief that Jamie had agreed to their nutty show, which follows Northern Ireland pals Callum, Jordan (Rian) and Lorcan (Lee) as they attempt to navigate through the hardships of life. The men spend their days playing video games, working deadend jobs, and getting up to (mostly) harmless mischief in their local area.
They initially created a short film in 2024 which Jamie was a big fan of and so the 37-year-old was in after a chance meeting at a comedy festival.
Jamie recently starred in Back in Action (Picture: Netflix/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)‘He was very up for it, and so when we got the series commission we wrote a character with him in mind.
‘His day on set was the best part of the shoot. It was like the final week and we were on the farm, and the weather was all nice. I don’t know if it was the nicest for you, Ryan, with a blunt up your bum,’ joked Rian.
Ryan quickly responded: ‘I wasn’t thinking about the weather.’
He also wasn’t thinking about the weather when his character received the aforementioned handjob while floating on a waterbody, instead he was more concerned about passers-by.
‘After the first takes, we got the laughs out and then thought we need to do this. There were some pedestrians coming by too so I wanted to get it over with.’
Although these particular moments were made up by their imagination, much of the show has been inspired by their real lives. They’ve worked non-showbiz jobs for most of their adulthood with the boys racking up hours in HMV, local cafes, and a supermarket.
Funboys was brought out as a short film in 2024 (Picture: BBC/Camden Productions)‘Calum’s shop personality is kind of what I adopted,’ said Ryan. In the first series, he becomes mean to get the respect of his co-workers.
‘He went full b*****d, but I went like half b*****d,’ he estimated.
‘I learned how to do that and so that subconsciously came from me. There’s a lot in there.
‘The humour with Callum comes from the whole contrast between him being a bit nerdy and shy, and then coming across incredibly strong characters. I came across that a lot growing up. It seemed like everybody had a huge character, just incredibly confident and intimidating.
‘I had to adapt,’ he summarised.
Getting to show some of their reality doesn’t just feel like a breakthrough for the trio, but the Northern Ireland comedy scene too.
‘In Northern Ireland there has been a particular style of comedy, and a pipeline of stand-up comics to comedy TV series. We never really did stand-up and so the commissioners or producers didn’t quite get it, or didn’t understand the sketches,’ shared Rian.
It has taken a while for Rian and Ryan to get funding (Picture: BBC/Mayhay Studios Ltd/Chloe Dymott)‘We hadn’t really made much contact with people outside of Northern Ireland, and there weren’t that many opportunities for funding, so we were just plugging away and hoping that eventually something clicked and the BBC spotted us.
‘It’s funny because it took a long time to get to that position, but once the ball was rolling, it actually all happened quite quickly.’
When asked if they ever felt like giving up, he replied with a smile: ‘Probably a little bit, but not enough.’
Lee was happy to continue regardless for his pure enjoyment: ‘For me, it was just always fun to do sketches so whether it was going anywhere or not like I was always game.’
With the show being available across the UK on iPlayer, they see it as a positive that more people will hear the stronger Northern Ireland accents.
‘Our thinking is that if we get it on TV, then people will acclimatise to it and that’s cool,’ said Rian. Although Lee has some sage advice for the first few episodes: ‘Use subtitles.’
The episodes get more bizzare(Picture: BBC/Mayhay Studios Ltd/Chloe Dymott)Subtitles are not the only key to bringing it to a wider audience – the show is also produced by Simon Mayhew-Archer. You may not know his name, but you may well have seen his work on This Country. Like the previous hit, Funboys has used a low-fi aesthetic and showed how ordinary people can often be the funniest.
‘That oddness that exists here hasn’t been seen by the wider audience,’ Ryan says, while sitting on our Zoom call in Northern Ireland. ‘So I really wanted to show what we’ve been looking at for decades.’
With so much material captured through the memories, they have plenty ready to go if fans want a series two.
‘We’ve got lots and lots of ideas,’ promised Rian.
Funboys airs on BBC NI and iPlayer on Feb 10 and BBC Three on Feb 13
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