Rubberbandits follow Father Ted to land Channel 4 deal

Outrageous comedy duo The Rubberbandits are set to follow in the footsteps of Father Ted after landing a show on Channel 4.

The English channel announced yesterday that the Limerick double act have secured a pilot television show on the back of their success on the station’s new internet platform, Comedy Blaps, with three irreverent short film sketches.

It is the station’s first commission from their online showcase set up last November to find the next big thing in comedy.

Irish comedy is striking gold in Britain over the past year with Mrs Brown’s Boys pulling in huge ratings for the BBC while comedian Graham Norton is coming on top in the battle of the chat shows.

The Rubberbandits, who are being tipped to take over from The Inbetweeners, are set to start filming the 30-minute pilot shortly and it will be aired this year.

Channel 4 commissioning editor Fiona McDermott said yesterday the station is looking forward to the pair unveiling a new range of plastic bags for their faces.

“We can’t wait for the pilot, if nothing else we’re just thrilled we’ve given them the chance to showcase even more supermarket carrier bags on their faces.

“We always hoped Comedy Blaps would be the perfect stepping stone for new talent to hone their craft and move up the ladder and that’s exactly what’s happened with the totally brilliant Rubberbandits,” Ms McDermott said.

The little known comedy duo, Blindboy and Mr Chrome, shot to fame in 2010 when their ‘Horse Outside’ video became an internet sensation, clocking up almost nine million hits on YouTube to date.

The internet phenom-enon narrowly missed out on the Christmas number one spot in 2010 when they were pipped by the X Factor’s Christmas single by winner Matt Cardle.

They will make a 30-minute pilot which will be broadcast as part of the 4funnies series on Channel 4 later this year.