Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Man in the Box Bloopers - Greg's New Office

Try to keep a straight face with Mike Polk's head popping out at you.

Leave comments if you like!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

THE TRUTH BEHIND MY NEW HAIRCUT!!!

So over the holidays I returned to my hometown of Milford, CT and caught up with some buddies of mine. However, there was something distinctly different about them. For one thing they kept referring to women as "fuckin' skanks." And they didn't so much drink Jägerbombs as much as they enjoyed repeating the word over and over again. It was pretty horrific.

After inquiring what their deal was, I learned of "My New Haircut", a video not so new to YouTube about That Guy in every bar and club you'll ever go to, at least from my experiences in Los Angeles and the Tri-State area. A good concept. Decently executed, although I don't think it was funny as much as it was quotable. Thus all my friends quoting it as if it had come straight from Will Ferrel's mouth.

Come to find out that a co-worker and friend of mine Mike Polk was the originator of the concept of "My New Haircut", except his was called "Look at My Striped Shirt!", and actually hilarious. He first published this essay on thephatphree.com, and then later in a book entitled... what else? "Look At My Striped Shirt!: Confessions of the People You Love to Hate", which was published in December of 2006. Mike even taped a live performance of this monologue and posted it on YouTube on August 31st, 2006. It currently has around 23,000 views. The "My New Haircut" video was posted on YouTube June 10, 2007, just shy of a year after Mike's. It has almost 10,000,000 views. Holy shit.

Now, the second "My New Haircut" hit it big, Mike was getting calls from friends up in arms about the blatant plagiarism. "Skanks", "Jägerbombs", calling bartenders "chief". It couldn't be more obvious. But, to be honest and quite frank, Mike didn't give a shit. He still doesn't. Mike's not the type of guy who gets his feathers rustled easily. He's also not the type of guy who would approve of the expression "feathers rustled", so I apologize, Mike.

But here at Runaway Box, our feathers were rustled (again, I'm sorry), and so something had to be done in Mike's defense. Justice needed to be served. Mike's a brilliant, funny guy and he deserves some credit. What really ticked us off is that this guy with his shitty new haircut is now making money from t-shirts and, get this, a college tour. Who wants this guy at their college? Like, really, who wants to say they partied with that guy? I'd be embarrassed. But the point is, he's making money off of something that is not his, without ever even hinting at giving credit to Mike Polk the original author. It's just wrong.

Anyway, the result of our frustrations (and not Mike's, to be clear) was this video. So spread the word. Get the truth out there. Do something good for once in your life.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

What We're Liking

So about every week or so I'll be kind of showcasing some stuff here on the blog that we're watching around the offices of Runaway Box. Believe it or not we don't just watch our own stuff over and over again. Well, we do, because it's that awesome, but there's also some other stuff thrown in there sometimes. And sometimes, we really like that stuff.

Here's what most of us were huddled around my laptop watching yesterday. It's called Jingle Cats. I'm aware there is a plethora of kitty videos on youtube that all suck, all with a minimum of 70 million views. This is not one of them. Sing along if you know the words.



Watch this video on drugs. Any kind. It will be the best thing you've seen since "The Godfather".

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Behind the Scenes - Speed Dating

In December we showcased several new series, one of them being created by Ben Pace (aka Harold the Janitor from "Elevator"). Five episodes of "Speed Dating" ran daily for a week. All five were filmed in one day. Here are some behind-the-scenes stills from that shoot.

The guy on the right is Nathan Naesel, a friend of Ben's. Each episode originally started and ended with Nate leaning over to Ben to give tips on the speed dating experience. However, due to time constraints, Nate ended up on the cutting room floor.

This is one of the above mentioned lean-ins that you never got to see. In the episode "Uptight Woman", Nate began by leaning in and telling Ben to just be himself. At the end, Nate leaned in again and told him to try being "less himself" next time.

This restaurant set was completed fabricated in our insert stage. Recognize that carpet pattern? We also film "Elevator" here.

This is Matt on camera. He's not really a midget, although I wish he was because it'd be fun to work with one, I think.

This is Julianna Guill from the episode "Bubbly Bitch". In her glass is pure pina colada mix, with no alcohol, and I think Ben's is a Snapple Iced Tea.

Here they are going over the script for the episode. Ben Pace wrote these himself. He pretty much stuck to his script while filming, contrary to "Elevator" where he improvs quite a bit as Harold.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Behind the Scenes of "A Look Back"

As 2007 wound down a couple weeks ago, we did a "year in review" of sorts here at Runaway Box, highlighting some of our most enjoyed videos, and featuring all new introductions from your favorite Runaway Box people, Mike, Woody, Andrew, and Thad.

Obviously Thad couldn't make it, as he is under house arrest (and animated, therefore not real), but here are some pictures from that magical shoot.

Here is Andrew as "Marty". The green vest and bow tie are meant to be reminiscent of the walls in Marty's house.

Check out the coat tails on Mike's suit. Mike was quick to point out his theory of "The longer the coat tails, the bigger the douchebag." Unfortunately, we never saw them in frame.

Woody introducing "Elevator Music". None of these introductions were written beforehand; they were all made up on the spot.

Mike takes a load off after a strenuous three minutes on his feet.

Woody had to come out from behind that curtain 392482375483 times. I counted.

Here you go, superfans. Make this one your wallpaper.

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Thursday, January 10, 2008

Behind the Scenes of Elevator - A Friendly Wager

Hey, gang! Here's another extra for you... A Behind the Scenes of the recently aired Elevator episode "A Friendly Wager". And really, who wouldn't want to see more of Woody dressed in drag?

Recognize the hottie in the front? That's Woody, and this is an unused take from "A Friendly Wager."

Runaway Fact: This is actually Jaime's dress. She plays Sharon on Elevator. It would have been a lot more pleasant to see Jaime on the Elevator in this dress, but a lot less funny.

Out of a batch of ten episodes, Woody chose to shoot "A Friendly Wager" first, as he was so eager to get it over with. Or maybe he was just really eager to see what he looked like as a woman.

At Runaway Box, everybody does everything. That's Genevieve Jones who plays Intern Jane on Elevator applying Woody's make-up. That's just funny to say.

I guess putting this picture up is about as close to revenge as I'll get for Woody putting me in an Elevator naked. This is Jaime's office, by the way, aka the Wardrobe Room.

Runaway Fact: Woody insisted that a woman dress him. I offered to help but Woody just kind of looked at me weird... I think I captured it with this picture.

The cast's first reaction to Woman Woody. Somebody actually said his hair looked like it could be a female's from the back. What do you think? "Woman Woody" sounds like a sexual term, but I don't want to imagine what it would be.

Runaway Fact: Although the dress was Jaime's, the purse and tiara belonged to Woody. Pretty convenient to have.

There you have it! Leave comments and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/runawaybox!!!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Behind the Scenes at Telemundo with Spanish Mike!

Hey, remember the One Semester of Spanish Love Song? Of course you do. Remember when that was performed live on Telemundo to Kim Kardashian? How could you forget!

You're probably wondering what it's like to be backstage at a high profile show such as Mas Vale Tarde. Well, wonder no more. Here is a great behind the scenes video starring Mike Polk (Spanish Mike) and some others from the runaway box gang.



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And keep checking back here at the runaway blog for behind the scenes features, and more!



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