‘Internment’ is an ambitious YouTube web series from the Australian comedy group Leftovers.
Good morning internet! Down another of my YouTube rabbit holes I stumbled across ‘The Other Intern’, an episode from the series ‘Internment’ starring Helena Ruse, Pippa Mills with special guest Danielle Walker. It was principally funded by Screen Australia and Film Victoria and it SHOWS. The production value is superb, and the acting is very good. YouTube user Jimmy Fragrance is all smiles and praise for the show.
He’s not exactly correct though. With 3.7k views on the episode ‘The Other Intern’, I would say that they have attracted a sizable fan base. ‘Leftovers’ is the hosting account for the show, named after their own sketch comedy group. They also have a playlist of improvisation comedy videos from the troupe. This creative ensemble have a wealth of material and some great funding behind them.
The first episode I watched was just over 9 minutes long and moved through at a methodical pace allowing for the comedy to hit. The episode begins with Franny, the newest intern being introduced to Pippa and Greg (“..actually it’s Celina”) by their boss — a brightly-lipped, overly touchy earnest woman who clearly has little to no regard for her coworkers as she refers to both women as “boys”. At first, Franny (Danielle Walker) seems docile and intimidated but is quick to reveal she has other games on her mind. The episode is witty and sharp, brimming with bitchy, manipulative reveals and moments of Gervais-level-awkwardness. The largely-female cast are all very enjoyable to watch. Andrew Mills has numerous roles in the series from conception to production, but it is unclear what exactly they are. There is mention of ‘Leftovers’ YouTube channel previously being his and containing some of his older work.
I jumped around on this series based on the names of the episodes that grabbed my attention. ‘The Office Creep’ was my next adventure into the ‘Internment’ rabbit hole. The episode starts with the boss of the company briefing his employees. He opens up the room to Jackson (Rohan Ganju) who suggests “rigging websites to be real laggy” and goes on to explain his grand idea to bolster the frustration of users by having pages not load when consumers add things to their cart, hereby entrapping customers to buy way more than they actually want to. I was belly laughing out loud and suddenly suspicious of my own devices. All too relatable.
The episode very soon gets very Australian with a shocking line devoid of political correctness suggested by a male office worker, which is shortly followed up by a female office worker of Asian appearance who steps in to offer her assessment of the previous racist verbal oversight to voice her approval of the idea. I didn’t love the scene, nor think it was particularly necessary to the overall scripting. Australia’s Huffington Post has numerous articles discussing this cultural phenomenon and it’s impact on POC within the nation. It’s hard what to make of jokes like these from an outside perspective. Personally I felt uncomfortable and a bit deflated after my enjoyment of the previous scene with Jackson.
YouTube user Jade Broadnax commented on ‘The Office Creep’.
The show seems to have exported itself internationally, to Sweden at least.
I enjoyed a good proportion of the episodes that I watched and will dig further in to their other material at a later date. It is an ambitious series and well put together. In the mean time, jump on their socials below.
Til next time.
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