Derrick Beckles is a Canadian entertainer best known for his work for Vice Magazine, his surreal TV Carnage compilations and his Adult Swim show Totally for Teens. In the early 2000s Derrick was also part of the Truth anti-smoking campaign and founded the website StreetCarnage.com with Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes, now known as StreetBonersandTVCarnage.com.
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» All TV Program Creator InterviewsIt's Derrick.
From the Eric Andre Show, TV CARNAGE and Hot Package, and Hot Package is back for a second season on [adult swim] tonight at 12:30 am!
http://www.adultswim.com/videos/hot-package/
AMA!
https://www.facebook.com/adultswim/posts/10153058956476745
Oh man the hot Mayo, ham and cheese filled Party Poo Poos are all gone again. I want to thank all of you for asking me anything. Please watch tonight at 12:30am It's gonna be several blasts! we have a great season! xo Beckles
Will there be anymore Totally 4 Teens? I feel like there's a lot of at-risk youth that could be helped by it. Also, I hear Good Charlotte is still hanging out backstage.
There will be I hope! It gets bandied aboooooot so I'm hoping , for the sake of at-risk teens as you mentioned it will be back. I mean that's what it's really all about. The money and the sex and the money and the sex and the money can only go so far.
Eh Derrick, good to see they dug in the back of the closet and pulled you out for this AMA, as I’ve been looking forward to it since I saw it in the calendar. I’ve been watching the videos since Casual Fridays, which is a video I’ve replaced three times now, due to not having a good recollection of which ex-girlfriend walked off with it last. When the Found Footage Festival came through town the first time, I went up to their merch table after the show and asked them “Eh, you guys ever heard of TV Carnage?”. This led to some Rodney Dangerfield-esque hemming and hawing…
As for my question, It is one I suspect has been posed to you at many times, yet and answer is not forthcoming. I’ve asked a number of people, both from a related music background (Jorge Socarrás, for instance, on the off chance it’s a Patrick Cowley related recroding) and even friends of my gay uncle, but no answers. Please, finally shed a little light on what song this is, or, failing that, what the name of the video the material came from.
You’d be doing all us record eyeballers a huge favor, as it’s one of those mystery tunes that drives me nearly to madness trying to locate, and I know I’m not the only one…
That was one of the best essays I've read this morning. I thank you for the kind words! Ok so that song is going to be performed on Hot Package Season 3. Please write your local police chief, drug dealer and everyone at Adult Swim so that we can ensure the mystery of this this song is finally revealed!
I guess my only other question is...
Mark McGrath?
Yes. Mark McGrath. He is my new HOT PACKAGE co-host and more.
Hey Derrick- any new Carnage coming soon?
Uh-oh, you know what that sound means...
EXACTLY!
There is a new TV CARNAGE in the works. I'm trying to decide whether or not to finish COP MOVIE or just hammer out a whole new one. Please tell me.
Derrick, I love your work. I've been watching TV Carnage for years now and I love Hot Package (which is horribly under appreciated). I find both projects to be almost symphonic. They always seems to have a definite direction that builds to a climax (I'm thinking of the episode of Hot Package with "you know what that sound means", for example). How do you avoid making just a jumbled clip show and keep your work so interesting?
Hi! Oh golly I'm blushing! Thanks! I try to make things I'd want to see. I'm a pretty hard critic of my own work so I try to make things I'd stop to stare at
What color is the dress?
I think you know. I was a gold and white sort of lady.
Oh I have another question, are you doing any podcasts to promote HP? The one you did with Jake Fogelnest was so fun to listen to, I'd love to hear more.
I'm hoping to. I realllllly am! HINT to PR.
Any progress on releasing more Totally for Teens?
Onion fings crossed. I have a bunch more written. I know teens! I do seminars on how teens think! My books on teens are almost best sellers. It's a non-brainer.
Who would you rather fuck, Tim or Eric?
Gosh, I mean this is like that movie Sexy's Choice. Both. But I wouldn't want it to be weird around the office. But yeah, both.
Did you contract any bedbugs, body lice or any other living parasite when you had Windy City Heat's, Perry Karavellow on your show?
We incinerated his wardrobe. That was imperative and we were prepared for that. I and others did have a rash for a while not sure if it was due to Mr K. But it was apparent on those who came in contact with him.
What were your inspirations for TV Carnage? Had you seen anything like them before you made yours?
Glorious choices humans make when they are trying to emulate humans. They keep getting it so wrong it's art.
What's your archival process like, as in how do you catalogue and sort through what must be tons of source material? Do you capture/rip digital things (off YouTube, etc) now or is it all hard copies? If you are into digital stuff, do you like the process of finding it, or still value the "digging" aspect of video on IRL formats? I absolutely loved your 'War inna Discoteca' video, huge fan of Hot Package and TV Carnage. Your work and composition style has been very influential to my music as well.
Thanks! I appreciate that. I have walls of tapes. Terabytes of self- archived materials. It's madness but they are all inspiration in some way or another. I comb through them for the least obvious things that would appeal to to an audience and go from there. It's a strange math I've invented.
Favorite movie/TV/found footage covered this season?
There are many but Willy Nelson with lasers coming out of his eyeballs is on the list.
What is it like working with [adult swim]? Is it all cocaine and hard liquor? Or do you guys do softer drugs, too?
We also sip Zinfendel during an LSD drip while hookers eat steak off of our backs.
DO YOU WANNA BE HYPNOTIIIIZED?
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What copyright issues did you face with TV Carnage? Did you earn enough money from them to pay the bills?
They were all made anonymously at first. I did them for weirdoes and love. Now it's an industry of people who should be in TV CARNAGE showing TV CARNAGE. However, I did get a weird letter from the U.S. military once asking about TV CARNAGE. no shit. I did not answer it. It was reallllllllly weird.
I guess it just boggles my mind that you can have all these disparate and unrelated clips and somehow put them together in a way that conveys a sense of structure. How do you write a script for something like that? Or does it just come to you in the editing process?
Oh thanks. I find a story within the all clips and tangentially we've them into one another. There are certain clips that serve in a way as structural pillars. Load bearing. And eventually I am in a trance. Seriously. It's like animation with random frames.
What's Eric Andre like to work with?
Like having voices from my head stand in front of me and smells from my body also stand in front of me. HA! We share many similar loves, hates, smells, rotisserie snacks, GG Allin love making techniques and ethical drug dealers.
Can you share a crazy story from the Eric Andre show. Also are you a waffle or pancake kind of guy?
Hard to say.... I waffle on pancake questions. Hahahaha uggghhhhh. Crazy story, Eric and I both had the same salad for lunch.
Out-RAGE-ous.
Out-RAGE-ous!!!!!
Sweet stuff. You have talent and that's what I love to see in the film-industry. I'm a film-maker myself and published author. So, I respect the work, passion and love you put into your filming, mentoring, career, etc.
What was your first day on set like, I remember mine and WOW. haha.?
That is all :)
Look, Hollywood and those who keep it alive, sacred and protected abound with talent. That's a given. My first day on set was like anyone else. I slit a goat's throat, drank a human baby and made out with Sammy Davis' ghost.
Why does your physical appearance give me an uneasy feeling?
Stop asking the mirror questions.
I kid, I kid.
Hey, Derrick.
First of all, I have to say that "Bird Up" was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I'd love to be able to share it with my friends, but I'd rather not resort to piracy. Is there somewhere I can see the episode in its entirety?
Second: Are you currently (or will you be) looking for a writer with an absurd sense of humor?
I believe there is a 5hr "Bird Up" feature in the works. I wish!
Never, writers who are boring are usually the best ones. So if you are truly absurd or have a sense of humor , don't bother.
Yo Derrick, glad to see HP got picked up. Can't wait to see it!
I had a brief conversation with you in San Diego about Totally 4 Teens merch, any chance you still have stuff lying around that I could buy?
Hit me up. I make dreamers dreams become a non-dream reality. Moving' merch... baby, baby moving' merrrch.
Please have something controversial or negative to say about Shane from VICE. Do you?
He squeezed my shoulder once but it felt a bit too hard. It could have been, not quite as hard. I will never back down from that fact.
Can you List five words that describe your character?
Sure. sucksexfull, hotttt , ammmmazzzzzinnng, explicitly, and fasst
If you could go back to the day you decided your future, would you choose the same path you're on now?
That day hasn't happened yet.
Would you ever consider re-enacting Shaggy's "Angel" video shot for shot?
ABSOLUTELY N-YES! HAHAHA! Yes.
All right pal, I see your game, lets get right down to it. How many times you jackin it watching those dusty old tapes? I see through your lies old fox
Ok, ok. A LOT!
If you could have any celebrity as a guest co-host, who would it be?
Also, you guys made an awesome show. Great job!
Thanks! There area bunch.
I want Crispin Glover to co-host with me. I think that would be rad as fudge. And the antithesis of an entertainment show vibe. Which is what I am always going' for.
Derrick, love the show!
I'm a huge fan of Windy City Heat and was so happy to briefly meet you at the 10th Anniversary screening a few years ago.
Perry Karavello's appearance in last year's season was hilarious. Can we expect to see anymore from that piece of shit, no good, government scamming, lying, cheating, greasy, homophobe?
Also, any good stories from working with someone that's so unprofessional?
GREAT QUESTION! First offI have to say that I feel so embarrassed that I spelled his name wrong. Apologies. I mean he was unruly to say the least. He got into a fight with Pat O'Brien which was like watching the ultimate porn. I'm surprised I din't have my pants around my ankles by the end of it.
Do you work for McDonalds?
I don't work for McDonalds! I don't work for McDonalds! I don't work for McDonalds! I don't work for McDonalds!
Does he still make musical poo?
Why do IPA's taste like Shampoo?
They shouldn't if you get a good one. But, Lord Thundering Jesus, there are all of these new micro breweries looking for an angle and next thing you know you are passing around the Pantene. Fuggin' Pert Plus man.
What are your favorite subreddits?
Ohh man there are so many. Where do I start?
Did you ever experiment with a serious TV Carnage in any way? I haven't seen them all, so maybe you have famously. Do you think the format would work on a serious topic? (War propaganda, or refugee camps, or something)
Yes I think it It would and yeah I'd like to. There are some people who are starting to do that well. I've always wanted to do that.
I knew it!!!
yep
Carnage. Probably. I dunno. I believe in you?
Thank you.
Oh man, so that's what he's like when he's not high. I knew it!
yep!
[deleted]
Thank you very much! Also, that felt like a message from a fortune cookie.
How does one get to work on productions or with Adult Swim?
I'm not sure but I feel very lucky to be. Seriously it's a strange wonderful road.
Where do dig for B-movie footage?
PS: I love Mia. Tell her I said hi!!!!
Anywhere and everywhere. And I will NOT!
Good to know, thanks.
As a follow-up question: Have you ever been to Teeter's Sports Bar? It's just outside of American Canyon, California. My guess would be that you haven't, but it has a funny name.
no but that sounds amazing. Please tell me more. Maybe you are what i'm looking for!
Thanks for doing another AMA?
Is my time up?
Never. Never go away. I feel like we've been through too much.
Ok. Good. I'm here. What are you wearing?