While taping the intro to the video for our visit to Daytona Beach on Humongo Nation, we were greeted by the sound of a landscaper's weedwacker. That's not a huge surprise, and we even remarked "right on cue!" as location noise is a common challenge while shooting videos on the go.
And then Ronnie the landscaper came over to introduce himself. Again, we were amused by the interruption, and revel in meeting interesting locals. Thinking he was just looking for a free promo shirt, we were polite to his questions, his jokes, and his request to be on video.
"What's Humm On Go? Is that an energy drink? Do you guys have any energy drinks?" We kept the camera rolling, and then...discovered...that we were just punk'd. We got pranked real good by the masterful Dave Wilkie. Ronnie wasn't a real landscaper. Just a character dreamed up by blogger Dave Wilkie.
Here's the best part: Dave has turned his character into a fun side project. Ronnie now has a blog, a twitter account and a YouTube channel. I am fully expecting a tv deal to follow.
What can we learn from Ronnie? That it's ok to have fun. And sometimes exploring a side project of your own just for the fun of it can lead to great things, can stretch your creative muscles and teach you a thing or two about humanity.
Read about Dave's exploration into schizophrenia and watch his appearance in the beginning of our Humongo Nation Daytona Beach video, and then say "damn...I wish that I thought of that" when he signs a big tv deal.
3 comments:
Hey man how come you can use my name and likeness and not pay me? Specially when you had all that beer in your car and didnt give me any.
Please ignore Ronnie. He's been studying entertainment law lately.
As for a TV deal, I could see that killed quickly as there would be an outcry of "stereotyping" from some group like the Order of American Scapers in Service or some crazy organization like that.
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