Red State Update's Redneck Spoofs Spice Up 2008 Campaign

[DeepModem Mom]

Examiner/AP: Redneck Spoofs Spice Up 2008 Campaign
Dec 12, 2007
By KRISTIN M. HALL, AP


(AP/Damian Dovarganes)
Actors Travis Harmon, left, and Jonathan Shockley, pose in character on the set used to videotape their website show "Travis And Jonathan: Red State Update," at Harmon's home in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007. From behind an anchor desk ringed with empty Budweiser cans and Jack Daniel's bottles, the pundits of "Red State Update" dissect election politics from the good ol' boy point of view.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - From behind an anchor desk ringed with empty Budweiser cans and Jack Daniel's bottles, the pundits of "Red State Update" dissect election politics from the good ol' boy point of view. The Web-based sketches star "Jackie Broyles" and "Dunlap" deriding Democrats' inability to talk to NASCAR fans or inflating and then deflating home state hero Fred Thompson. (He's not lazy, the real-life former Tennesseans insist - "he's just real old.") They ape cable network talking heads with such comedic commentary as volunteering to help Mitt Romney on his yardwork so he won't be criticized for hiring illegal aliens or speculating on Rudy Giuliani's love life. They focus on national politics but play to blue collars outside the Beltway instead of Washington insiders.

In two years, Red State Update shorts created by Travis Harmon, 38, and Jonathan Shockley, 36, for YouTube and MySpace have attracted thousands of subscribers. The Internet episodes have regularly rated four stars-plus, with the most popular viewed more than half a million times online. Jackie and Dunlap got a shot at mainstream celebrity during CNN's YouTube Democratic debate in July when they asked the candidates whether all the media attention on Al Gore "hurts y'all's feelings?" Their offbeat video query helped propel the redneck duo beyond a loyal Internet following, built up with weekly video blogs on Salon.com and DirecTV's "The Fizz." They've even made a few pundit appearances on CNN....

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When Thompson announced his candidacy on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Jackie and Dunlap taped outside the studio quizzing Californians on their knowledge of the candidate and handing out homemade campaign signs....Jackie and Dunlap staked out the Las Vegas Democratic debate in November and coaxed on camera Dennis Kucinich's wife (Dunlap hit on her) and longshot candidate Mike Gravel, who told Jackie his beard "looks awful good."

The show may be recorded in California, but Jackie and Dunlap live in Murfreesboro, Tenn., the college town about 30 miles south of Nashville where the comedians met. Jackie, who runs a fictional barbecue/general store, and Dunlap, his mouthy sidekick, exchange political wisecracks from a low-budget set against a backdrop of U.S. and Tennessee flags. Their slant may be Southern conservative, but they're equal opportunity lampooners....

http://www.examiner.com/a-1100108~Redneck_Spoofs_Spice_Up_2008_Campaign.html