Puppet Shows are Back, and YouTube is the New Stage
Originally published March 8, 2016 on StreetPoetz.com. Last updated May 30, 2019.
Looking for a new web series to check out while you’re scrolling through YouTube videos? Have an odd sense of humor? Look no further than Night Time with Harvey O’King.
Started in the summer of 2015 by Matt Wisniewski, Night Time is a YouTube series about a washed-up talk show host and his monkey sidekick, and the weird and highly bizarre adventures they have together.
“Night Time with Harvey O’King was originally my attempt at making a talk show that would undermine the structure and conventions of talk shows,” Wisniewski says. While the show takes on its own direction and eventually leaves the talk show storyline, the beginning mocks the traditional talk show structure. Harvey makes a variety of flat jokes throughout the first episode, and the monkey just laughs at him as Harvey attempts to start a cheesy game with him.
The characters are all puppets made of paper maché, and therefore each is frozen with one set expression. Harvey himself is stuck with a shocked look on his face, which humorously makes it appear that he is surprised by just about everything, even the things he says himself. His monkey is frozen in a perpetual smirk, which makes sense, as he very often fills the silence with a mad, maniacal cackle. “When I write characters for Night Time, I make them painfully obvious. Because I use models and not actors, the characters can never really change their facial expressions. So I try to write them as one-note-jokes,” Wisniewski says. “As for the voices and the look of the individual characters, I just try to do what seems natural and makes sense.”
The craft of the puppets and the show progressively get more artistic as the show goes on. The owl, which makes his first appearance in the second episode, and meets a gruesome fate in episode three, is one of the most well-crafted puppets on the show, with his feathers blowing in the wind as he insults Harvey with breezy nonchalance. When talking about making the puppets, Wisniewski says, “Basically I ball up paper into the shape of the thing I want to make, put paper mache over it, wait for it to dry, then paint it. Most of what you see in the show is taped cardboard or balled up paper.”
The series really takes off when Harvey and his monkey end up on the run and leave town, driving through the desert when they get pulled over by a rogue cop. The story just escalates from there, which I won’t spoil for you, but it takes some dark twists and turns that are not for the faint of heart.
The series takes a decent sized group of talented people to create. “We usually complete the filming of an episode in like 4 or 5 nights, spread out over a month or so,” Wisniewski says. “There’s been a lot of great people involved with the production process. Pat Depuy, Tom Etu, Adam Pressley, Courtney Denk and Steve Zaionz are all good friends of mine that have played a big part in producing the show. In fact, they ultimately are the ones that make the show. I just sort of tell them what to do then edit footage.”
The show is a new take on the creative things we can do with some paper maché, some editing software, and a camera. The story may be an acquired taste for some, but the humor as well as the detailed puppets make you appreciate the artistry that goes into each episode. The show demonstrates how the internet, and YouTube in general, have changed art forever for less well-known artists and their creative projects. Fourteen years ago, YouTube was founded, and it would be years later before the concept of a “YouTuber” ever existed. But it’s not just the celebrities that we pay attention to on YouTube, it’s anyone with a loud enough voice or heightened creativity and a camera. And this is making creative expression through video much easier and more accessible.
Night Time with Harvey O’King features music from bands in Buffalo. “The music is all local bands that I know or kind of know. They let me use their music for free and I’m super grateful for that,” Wisniewski says. The show features bands such as Green Jelly, Barry Brothers, and Harmonica Lewinski.
When asked if he is working on any other projects, Wisniewski says, “I don’t currently have any other projects that I’m working on. I am writing a number of things though. Also Steve Zaionz had a funny idea for a sketch called Italian Bob Dylan that I’d love to work on next.”
When asked what to expect from Harvey O’King in the future, Wisniewski says, “Well, you can expect the end of a story about a talk show host and his sidekick monkey. They commit an accidental murder, break out of jail, and end up getting abducted and tortured by a rogue cop. That’s basically the premise. The Cop has some big, idiot scheme that hasn’t been revealed yet but it just has to play out. We’re working on the 7th episode right now.”
Intrigued? Appalled? Check out the series here to learn more about the saga of Harvey O’King and his sidekick monkey.
*Please note that StreetPoetz is no longer an active site and the founder, Cece Carson, is now a business coach. Please contact her if a reference is needed.*
Hanna Etu 