Roasted by a Pig

Marc Ryan of “Marc & Todd’s Crazy Clips” hopes nobody gets him confused with Todd.

Not that Marc wouldn’t want to take credit for some of Todd’s lines on their new Outdoor Channel show, but Todd is a boar. Not a bore, a boar. As in wild pig.

Ryan, a comedian who also hosted “Mudslingers” and is known on the web as “Steve, the DUI Lawnmower Guy,” partners with the semi-boarish boar as they introduce and comment on funny videos from the outdoor world.

Ryan said it’s a fun show to do, basically an extension of friends sharing viral videos.

 “We get that it’s such a regular part of our culture now,” he said. “We do it all day on Twitter and Facebook for our friends … ‘OMG, you have to see this!’ We share it in conversation. It’s such a regular part of our daily routine. It makes it really fun to get to be the guy to say, ‘Look at these!’ “

Having a mounted pig head as co-host adds to the absurdity. As Ryan and producer Bob Hamel developed the show, they threw around ideas for a co-host, but Hamel’s suggestion of a pig made Ryan squeal.

 “The Todd part is really fun. It makes for a silly delivery,” Ryan said. “He can kind of say stuff that humans can’t.”

The voice and puppetry of Todd, which has a lever to move its lower jaw, is done by comedian Robert Duchaine, whose web site bio describes him as a “surly misanthrope.”

“Robert is a veteran in the comedy world,” Ryan said. “He’s got a classic voice which is perfect for a wild boar. And he’s always got a smart aleck quip about what I’m doing or what the clip is. He’s just the perfect comedic note on this show.”

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Hamel said Ryan and Duchaine complement one another well as they discuss odd clips.

 “The chemistry between Marc and Todd, Robert, is really great,” Hamel said. “The show is so run and gun, it’s really important that there’s chemistry there.

“Maybe I came up with the initial idea, instead of using a moose head or a deer head, that a boar head would be funnier, but it’s Marc and Robert who run with the jokes. They’re the guys who really create the funny stuff.”

That’s the easy part. Finding the clips requires extensive leg, er, eye work. They estimate they see about 20 clips for every one they can use, the ones they deem funny enough. They’ve seen plenty too inappropriate for TV, or not really hunting. They look for those that speak to specific niche of hunters, anglers and shooters.

“It’s a challenge for sure,” Hamel said. “Finding a clip that would make people laugh and entertain people, that’s No. 1. No. 2 is trying to get permission to use the clip.”

Hamels said “Marc & Todd’s Crazy Clips” has an agreement with a video web site but he spends a lot of time searching Outdoor Channel shows and other web sites, including YouTube, looking for usable videos.

“I’m hoping that gets easier now that the show is airing and people seem to be liking it,” he said. “I’m hoping people out there who have trail cameras or have done hunting pranks say, ‘Yeah, I have something I’d like to share it,’ and they would send it to us.”

Hamel and Ryan know the idea isn’t new, what with a number of similar clip shows already on the air, but Outdoor Channel CEO Roger Warner commissioned the Mudslingers’ crew to hit the family friendly niche of the outdoors and miss the crotch shots.

“He wanted to create a show a father and son could watch together and enjoy,” Ryan said.
“A lot of these clip shows are inappropriate for family viewing. We have such a niche for a dad and his kid to watch funny and amazing videos of something they really like, hunting and fishing. It’s not the same things you see over and over.”

Things to expect include Outdoor Channel personalities, like Matt Busbice taking down one of Todd’s relatives from a helicopter with a bow and trick bow shots from Chris Brackett. Submitted videos include an Indiana man who noodles for giant snapping turtles, a snipe hunting gag on a little kid and Florida boy who entices bass and catfish with minnows and hot dogs and catches them with his hands.

“We have a great one coming up,” Hamel said. “Jason Farmer, who hunts in Pennsylvania and posts some really funny stuff on YouTube, dresses up in a bear costume and does all this crazy stuff in front of his buddy’s trail camera.”

Once they’ve selected a video, Marc and Todd go on location with an outline of a script then work some ad-lib magic.

“It’s them that really shore up the clips,” Hamel said. “These guys come up with great bits on the fly.”

And that includes the scenarios they put Todd in, like driving them off in an ATV. Ryan said there’s a ton of silly situations for a wild pig that are inherently humorous, but in the end the show celebrates hunting and fishing and the crazy stuff that can and does happen.

“It’s Marc and Todd out in the outdoor world,” Ryan said. “It’s more joking around with your buddies than specifically redneck. That hunting camp feel, when you’re sitting around with buddies and how you would joke around. If we capture that feeling, we’ll be successful.

“Todd is there in an attempt to deliver this in a new and interesting way. For a hunter, to see a mount talking, it’s perfect and ridiculous and funny.”

And, just to set the record straight, Marc is the human, and Todd is the stuffed boar’s head.

Go to “Marc & Todd’s Crazy Clips” show page for air times and to submit your video.