Loud People

He is the master of the quick comeback. A famed wit, with the impeccable timing of a matador. His home is protected by video surveillance. His head is big. He is Don Rickles.

But we're not here to talk about Don Rickles. We're here to meet one of his biggest fans - Todd Lamb. Todd is a visionary. His brain makes ideas and then his hands make the ideas turn real. Recently his brains and hands co-authored their greatest creation to date - Loud People. In a nutshell, Loud People is the dramatic reenactment of real telephone conversations that Todd secretly recorded on the streets of NY. It's hilarious and you would like it a lot. We met with M. Lamb recently to find out how his brainchild is faring.
 
Jason Crombie: Hey Todd!
Todd Lamb: Hey!
JC: How was your weekend? Did you have a good 4th (of July)?
TL: Yeah, it was okay. My girlfriend and one of her friends and I took the grill up to the park and had some hot dogs.
JC: Sounds nice.
TL: Yeah, it was good, it was alright. Nothing major, got out of the house.
JC: Did you get up on the roof to watch the fireworks?
TL: No, I watched them on TV.
JC: Did you really? On TV?
TL: Yeah.

JC: Maybe I should have watched them on TV too. Guess what?
TL: What?
JC: I smoked weed.
TL: Oh really?
JC: Yeah. I got really, really stoned. I never smoke, so it was pretty good. Do you smoke pot?
TL: No, I don't touch it anymore.
JC: Me neither. Only on the special holidays. Martin Luther King day, Inauguration day, Presidents day, ...Veteran's day, The Democratic National Convention is a three-day binge...
TL: See, with me, if I start doing it - I'll do it every day. It'd be just like drinking beer! I drink a few beers at the end of each day.
JC: You wouldn't want to add weed to that.
TL: No. I used to smoke every day, y'know? I really liked it.
JC: How long did you smoke for?
TL: Oh man, lets see...three...five... for like eight years I smoked every day.
JC: Every single day?
TL: Yeah. Often times I wouldn't even leave the house!
JC: I did that yesterday!
TL: See what I'm saying?
JC: Totally. Actually I did leave the house once yesterday I went to get rolly papers... which turned into a can of root beer... which I used as a makeshift pipe... that sounds terrible doesn't it? But, in my defense, it was a public holiday weekend.
TL: That's fine.

JC: We should talk about your latest project now.
TL: Okay.
JC: How good is Loud People? I love it!
TL: Thanks! I'm just happy it got finished! It had been on my mind for like a year, so...
JC: You'd been thinking about doing it for a year?
TL: Yeah, I had the idea last summer and, like I do with a lot of things, I just rolled it around in my head for months. And then finally I got it made.
JC: You're lucky someone else didn't beat you to it. You know that almost always happens when you have an idea and shelve it in your head for too long.
TL: Well, I was a little bit secretive about it. I only told maybe five people about the project. I started it in February and it took me till June to finish. In that time I kept looking online to see if anyone else had done it.

JC: How are you doing it? I'm assuming you've got a Dictaphone and your just standing close to strangers and recording conversations?
TL: Yeah, I have a Dictaphone, I also just take notes. It's kinda better almost just to take notes.
JC: Why?
TL: Because then it's on paper and already looks like a script? Like I'll eavesdrop on a train or on a park bench, and I can hear everything, so I just write it down.
JC: You're doing short hand, taking down real conversations.
TL: Yeah.

JC: My favorite of the three Loud People episodes so far is the guy on the phone saying, "Guess what I'm doing? You'll never believe it. I'm eating a sandwich."
TL: Oh yeah, that was the first one we shot. That's probably my favorite too.
JC: It's hilarious! Is it real?
TL: That was real! I was sitting in a café here in Brooklyn and this lady was saying that- word-for-fucking word.
JC: That blows my mind. I was sure you must have manufactured that a little. It's just too weird! Who calls all their friends to tell them they're eating a sandwich?
TL: I know. It was one of those situations where she was behind me, I couldn't see her face but I could every single word she said, and I was like "Oh my god! I can't believe this person is talking at such length about her stupid sandwich!" But she did! She went on and on and on about that damn sandwich.
JC: And then she hung up and called someone else!
TL: Yeah! She was eating by herself in the café, so she was bored, she didn't have anything to talk about. So she started calling people up about her sandwich.
JC: Jesus.

TL: I'm just in awe of how people abuse cell phones.
JC: And abuse friendship! Don't call me to explain what you're eating!
TL: I know!
JC: How the response been to Loud People so far?
TL: It's gotten a really good response! Funnyordie.com doesn't get a lot of hits the way Youtube.com does, y'know? Like, a small group of comedy-nerds go there. But it's going good. Everyone who's seen it really liked it.
JC: You've gotta make more. I really want to see like, one a week. I guess that's impossible. Are you working on another one now?
TL: No, no. My goal was to do three and now I think I'll take a break for a while, see what happens with it.

JC: What's the second one where the guy is freaking out about the money? I pissed myself.
TL: The one where the guy's wearing a headset and he's in an office? That's ‘The Money'
JC: Was that verbatim?
TL: That one was word for word too. I overheard a guy in Tribeca who was just furious. He was going into bankruptcy. That one's about 97% word for word.
JC: It's so funny. People just say the douchiest shit when they're angry.
TL: I know.

JC: I really wish you'd make one Loud People every week.
TL: Well, I hope to make more. If someone would back it, if someone would give me a venue to put them up every week I'd do it.
JC: If someone wanted to contact you and give you money how could they do it?
TL: They could go to toddlamb.net and then there's a little button to email me.
JC: And how much money would you need? Ballpark? Quarter of a million to get started?
TL: I don't know, maybe.
JC: Are you worried someone might steal the idea for Loud People and stiff you? Like, what if an ice-cream company took the idea and made their own ads with it. Could you do anything? It's your intellectual property, right?
TL: Man, every good idea is ripped off every day! Especially with the Internet. Everyone thinks what they see on there is disposable.
JC: Yeah.
TL: You just have to hope for the best, y'know? You have to hope the sleaze-balls won't do that.

By Jason Crombie

Format: Project

Mood: Rad

Keywords: Online, Todd Lamb, Short Film