Nicknames

* Main image
* Title card

"**Nicknames**" is the second segment of the twelfth episode of the first season of *Kiff*. It is the twenty-fourth episode overall.

## Synopsis

Kiff and Barry try to get nicknamed by a local movie theater ticket taker.

## Plot

Kiff, Barry and their friends are seeing the new Chubbles Wubbington movie, *Hot Mail*, at the Table Town Cinema. Kiff learns that the ticket taker, Nick Namé, is known to give moviegoers nicknames, but he does not do so for Kiff and Barry, offending Kiff. Inside the theater, Kiff is unable to enjoy the movie, as she is still irritated about not having received a nickname.

At Kiff's house, Kiff and Barry try thinking of nicknames for themselves, but Kiff cannot find one she likes. Barry points out that they have to leave for the cinema soon as it is "almost showtime", inspiring Kiff to give herself the nickname "Showtime". Kiff and Barry arrive for another screening of *Hot Mail* and ask Nick to call them "Showtime" and "Brainstorm", but Nick tells them that nicknames must come naturally. As he explains this, he taunts Kiff by repeatedly addressing her as "Kiff", and even "Kiff Chatterley".

Later, Kiff walks out of the theater intending to speak her mind to Nick, but she suddenly finds herself intimidated. Barry walks up to Nick and tells him it is wrong to selectively nickname people, which inspires Nick to nickname Barry "Mr. Guts". Flattered, Barry proceeds to adopt an obnoxiously self-confident personality, embracing the nickname to the point of no longer responding to his actual name.

After seeing a poster for *Karla the Amazing Hypnotist*, Kiff devises a plan to hypnotize Nick into nicknaming her "Showtime". She asks Barry, Reggie, Renée and Candle to engage Nick in conversation and repeatedly mention the words "show", "time" and "Kiff", with the aim of conditioning Nick into forming a mental association between "Kiff" and "Showtime". However, this only succeeds in making Nick accidentally say "Kiff" instead of "showtime" when he receives a phone call inquiring about a movie's showtime.

Kiff gives up on trying to get Nick to nickname her and instead decides to launch a boycott of the cinema. She gives a speech to the cinema's customers telling them that a cozier cinema with free admission and better snacks exists, which turns out to be her own house. The house becomes crowded with people, so Kiff explains the situation to Beryl. Beryl is confused as to why Kiff wants to be nicknamed so badly when "Kiff" itself is already a nickname. She then shows Kiff a document displaying Kiff's actual given name, which Kiff dislikes. Kiff admits that she wanted a nickname because she wanted to feel cool, to which Beryl replies that Kiff is already cool the way she is.

On a later trip to the cinema, Kiff proudly reveals to Nick that "Kiff" is already a nickname, while Barry laughs at Nick and nicknames him "Nick Na-Lame". Nick reveals that he has never received a nickname of his own and declares that he is finally "free", then flies away. The other moviegoers see this and head into the theater without presenting their tickets.

## Cast and characters

* Kimiko Glenn as Kiff Chatterley
* H. Michael Croner as Barry Buns
* Danny Pudi as Nick Namé
* Eric Bauza as Reggie
* Vella Lovell as Candle Fox
* Mary Mack as Renée du Bedat
* Tom Kenny as Trevor Angstrom
* Lauren Ash as Beryl Chatterley
* James Monroe Iglehart as Martin Chatterley

## Locations

* Table Town
	+ Table Town Cinema
	+ Chatterley residence
		- Kiff's room

## Songs

* "Nicknames" – written by Nic Smal and Lucy Heavens

## Trivia

* **Opening sponsor**: *Hot Mail*
* The title *Hot Mail* references Microsoft's email service Hotmail (now called Outlook.com).
* One of the movies showing in the cinema is *Saul Snart 2: Snart Harder*, the sequel to *Saul Snart: Mole Cop* from "Two for One Hot Dogs". The two *Saul Snart* movies are parodies of the 2009 film *Paul Blart: Mall Cop* and its 2015 sequel.
* Barry's "Big Dave" costume is based on Guy Fieri, while his "Young Shirley" costume is based on a young Shirley Temple.
* Nic Smal has stated that this episode was inspired by him attempting to nickname himself in the past.
* The song sequence was primarily storyboarded by Brett Muller, though the ending where Kiff pulls the electrical socket out was by Adam Bohorquez.

## References

1. ↑ Davis, Victoria (March 8, 2023). ‘Kiff’: A Cape-Town-Inspired Buddy Comedy that Captures the Soul of Hand-Drawn. *Animation World Network*. Retrieved on June 28, 2023.
2. ↑ Muller, Brett (June 20, 2023). Here's the Lil Song Sequence I'd done for the episode "Nicknames", the first and only song I'd done for Kiff Season 1! @DeadlyComics helped out big time on this and added the gag at the end where Kiff pulls the plug on the music.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on July 2, 2023.