Baskets

So, when I originally signed up for the thesis class, I had my idea/story for a short comedy film about Flex the Clown - a washed up clown that never takes his clown suit off because it's a part of who he is. But then, I learned that Zach Galifianakis and Louis C.K. (two of the biggest comedy geniuses of our time) were working on an FX original called Baskets. Although, little to no plot information was given away in the advertisements, I knew it was about a clown that was trying to break into the clowning profession. Here's a poster from the show.



So anyways, I thought this was going to ruin my thesis idea. I didn't want to rip off the new show so I decided to scrap Flex the Clown and figure out a different idea.

But then, I finally decided to watch Baskets to see what it was all about. And although, I did enjoy the pilot episode, I also realized that it's a lot different than the story I had in mind for my thesis. Baskets is about Chip Baskets, who is passionate about being a clown. He struggles to pass clown school in France, but eventually, fails out because of a language barrier. Then, he returns home to get back on his feet.

If you're familiar with Louie C.K. and Zach Galifianakis' humor, then you know it contains a lot of painfully awkward and tragic situations. Baskets is just like that. And though I enjoyed the pilot I felt that Baskets failed to really capitalize on the actual "clown" aspect. In my thesis, I'm going to focus more on the "clowning" of the story.