We should never discount the importance of luck in achieving success. Let’s take the case of Full Pantomime. Today, the comedy duo formed by Rober Bodegas (Lugo, 43 years old) and Alberto Casado (Madrid, 41) has just premiered their first major production, entrepreneurs, a series for Disney+, but almost ten years ago they were just two anonymous screenwriters working – sometimes together, sometimes not – on television.
“We wanted to do something of our own and we wrote a humorous show that we premiered at the Teatro Alfil in Madrid. To promote it we thought of recording short videos for the Internet, which didn’t make much sense, because they were traditional, while the show was bordering on the surreal,” recalls Bodegas.
And here comes the unexpected turn of events. “When we only had two videos, the Bishop kicked us out because there was no one there,” explains Casado. “But the videos had more or less worked. So we decided to keep making them. Just to have our own space with something that entertained us. Something simple, because the premise was that they didn’t cost us anything. The way to achieve this was to record each other.” Those sketches of one minute became the emblem of Pantomime Full. The scheme is apparently simple: take a recognizable character, stereotypes believed to be original when in reality they are walking clichés – a singer-songwriter, a polyamorous man or a nouveau riche – and you mercilessly dissect him. It’s funny how you can dissect someone in a minute. “Surely the trick was that everything was very niche. We chose characters from our environment. Then it’s true that it was already opening up to everyone,” says Casado.
They were also different times and those videos that were distributed via Facebook or YouTube were a real novelty. “We chose the right moment. We were among the first to create content designed for networks. Now everything is saturated. Your cousin also creates content for TikTok, but then there were very few of them. And that’s why I think it attracted attention. We had very few followers and media like EL PAÍS were already calling us to do interviews.”
Disciplined guys, for a long time they posted one a week. “By Thursday you had nothing. And in the afternoon you were like, ‘We have to come up with something.’ And we did, man. It took us three hours to come up with something. But the months went by and you have more and more work. And there comes a time when it’s unachievable because you can’t because of a tour or because you’re cooperating with a program,” Casado recalls.
There are currently 217 videos and 512,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel. And all those sketches There’s one that stands out. Conformist, Published in March 2023, it is the disheartening chronicle of a generation that sees the days pass with no hope other than to survive. Subtitled There is no reason to live lifethat video got eight million views in two days and became a phenomenon. “Everyone was looking for us. The radio, television, the press… even the editorialists wanted to give their version. Some said that until then each video slapped a specific segment of the population, but with that one we had slapped the entire country”, says Bodegas. “It was unexpected. Let’s see, when you do it, you know it’s a tough video, but I remember when we saw it ready and stuff and we didn’t think we were going to go too far,” concludes Casado.
And now they had a seat at the adult table with a series, entrepreneurs, which is actually a development of characters who have appeared in their videos in one way or another. Bodegas plays a posh, spendthrift, good-hearted boy who spends his father’s money on a coworking absurd. Married to a smoke-selling guru who serves as a business ideologue based on clichés, self-help clichés. Customers, interns, employees or family members circulate around him.
“One of our goals was to make a larger fiction than what we usually do. We had presented a project and things like that, but they always told us no. And one day Álex de la Iglesia wrote to us. He told us that he was amazed by what we had done and that if we had some ideas and what we had told him about, that was what convinced him,” explains Casado. Entrepreneurs It’s a bit like the generational development of their characters. The moment they turn 40. “You need those privileged kids who invent a profession with that liberal ideology that’s so fashionable now. These kids who study business administration, who are like bohemians and scoundrels and who love to let off steam to see who has the longest one.”
It would take a full pantomime for the Z, right? “Now we’re used to it, but just like the previous generation had to see us as stupid, there’s a point there where no one expected things to come. Like it’s cool to be Catholic again or go to bullfights. Now suddenly it’s back in fashion. I’m crazy about it. And what about chastity? It’s in fashion. It’s all very crazy.”
