Hogwash - At Last the 2020 Show

Hogwash was originally meant to be the **new 2020 Fringe show**, followed by tour bookings in first-time European spots in 2021 such as Belgium, as well as another trip to the US and Australia! The show title, which in FAH tradition has always been vaguely pig-related yet nonsensical and unrelated to the set list, was chosen after a Twitter poll by the lads. But it was not to be, and after lockdown was lifted the lads continued on touring Swines (in a mix with older sketches, mainly Oink!) in Ireland, the UK and Northeast USA instead.

They did however preview one soon-to-become Hogwash sketch in Cork and subsequently their USA tour in March 2022, which was quite sneaky and of course very exciting! We only know of this song through FAHn accounts, and from tiny snippets and comments on the lads' social media pages. Over on their Patreon channel you can find posts about the USA/Canada gigs as well: there's a live stream to watch back, a diary entry and two vlogs (1 and 2). *Please note that you'll only be able to access these posts if you are one of their Patreon subscribers.*

In the coming months, this page is open to anyone who wants to add any information about Hogwash, whether found online or experienced first-hand at a tryout gig, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Vicar Street, or on tour!

This will have been the longest interval in writing a brand new live show for the lads and it'll be very interesting to chart the progression, whether big chances or small tweaks, shuffles in the set list or just general improvements to their performance and character development.

## Hogwash promo pics

The photoshoot for Hogwash happened before the pandemic started. The first images turned up on the Underbelly website in February 2019, when Hogwash ticket sales kicked off. One month later, regrettably, all gigs had to be shelved.

FAH first started reusing photos from this shoot for their then brand new Patreon page in May 2022. Nearly a year later, in March 2021, they revealed unused photos as posters with added graphics to advertise their live streams. When the gigs started up again, more in particular the US and UK tour for the reboot of Swines in the spring of 2022, they used these pictures for their posters, printed tickets and social media ads. Finally, in July 2022, the pictures turned up at venues and in the press to promote Hogwash.

The style is similar to the Swines shoot: set in a rather decrepit building against a textured background with a bold colour. This time they went with yellow, which we've come to associate with Hog. Coincidence?

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Check out an edit they did of their "photo shoot faces" on Patreon!

## Sketches that finally made it in!

This is a rather unique chapter! Because Hogwash has been in development for so long and the lads have since set up a Patreon page where they share behind-the-scenes content, as well as talking about their work and answering questions during live streams, we can trace the origins of certain Hogwash sketches back to the very beginning!

### Going Out Tonight

Are Oisín & Anne Flanagan finally featured in a live show??

From Wednesday 9 to Sunday 13 March 2022, FAH played the Cork Opera House. Part of the set list was a huge surprise: a new song! And not just any song, the characters were undoubtedly named as Anne Flanagan, her son Óisin and even their father, who has only ever been referenced in their YouTube sketches but has never been seen, until now (played by Arms, obviously: can't use editing tricks at a live show!)

The title of the song is "Going Out Tonight". Hog even wears his Anne Flanagan wig, a first for the live shows, and a VERY pink jumper. Upon entering the stage all dolled up as Anne, the US crowd reportedly went wild! You can see a tiny clip from this sketch (recorded by Arms from the wings of the theatre) in part one of the US tour vlog on Patreon.

Check out the Instagram Live chats on the FAHnFEST channel: Cork (feat. Becca) and USA (feat. Megan & Lando).

### Luggage People

This is an episodic sketch in 3 parts. Once again we can know something of the origins of this sketch thanks to a Patreon live stream: The first Hog Show, streamed on 22 October 2020.

Watch the relevant excerpt from the stream below:

This is the Instagram photo they're referencing, posted on 8 July 2019 with the caption:

> Trying out some DIY costumes 😂😂 can't get back up
>
>

It's certainly interesteing to compare those early tryouts to photos of the finalised sketch on stage at the Fringe, 3 years later!

The bickering luggage coupleThe lost backpackThe ending
Lastly, this wonderful shot from the Iveagh Gardens Paddy Power Comedy Festival captures all three Luggage People characters in one!

Here's tiny fragment from Luggage People, performed at the Paddy Power Comedy Festival below, taken from the Iveagh Gardens trailer which was posted on the Aiken Promotions Instagram account.

### Feeding the Ducks

There's a wonderful story behind this sketch which Patreon-FAHns will instantly recognise. During one of the lockdown live streams (Arms' Magazine Show on 8 April 2021 (14:50)), the lads talked about their first ever professional writing trip to Cork in 2011. Take a look at the very first item on the set list, which they had written on a huge sheet of paper hung up on the wall of their gaff.

Foil mentioned that he always wanted to throw bits of bread at the audience like old people at ducks in a pond, he only needed to write a sketch around it. That's exactly what he's done for Hogwash. As Arms put it:

> Just to show, a sketch is never dead!
>
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You can watch the excerpt below. Become a Patreon member to get access to the entire stream and all other Patreon content!

Pictures from the gig at Whelan's Live (source)

"Feeding the Ducks" - first part of the sketch"I Hate My Kids" - second part of the sketch
## Tryouts (Work In Progress) around Ireland ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe Premiere

### Cherry Comedy at Whelan's: Super Secret Guests! (Dublin)

Note that none of the Cherry Comedy gigs feature the lads on the poster or in the official announcements on social media. Foil Arms and Hog are a **secret guest act** for these Monday night gigs, as communicated in the Cherry Comedy newsletter (see below for an extract).

This is not surprising, since performers wouldn't be too keen on a room full of fans of theirs when trying out new material. After all, they're doing it to make sure the jokes are any good, and fans will adore them no matter what. In addition, they're part of a line-up so it's not strictly "their" audience anyway. Still, we pulled some strings (pleaded with the organiser) and we got at least one FAHn in the door to that sold-out room for the first ever (of quite a few!) tryout of brand new Hogwash sketches!

* Monday 16 June

They performed **two Hogwash sketches**: "Not Going Out" (a.k.a. The Oisín Song) and a sketch called "**Feeding the Ducks**" which has been previously dropped as conceptual idea of sorts during a Patreon live stream. Apparently, the lads have been wanting to throw bread at the audience "for about six years", they just needed to figure out how to build a skit around it, so Foil... wrote a song! And yep, they did bring actual bread to the gig. The Hogwash front row experience is going to get very 3D, be warned!

Next, they did some **older ones** to fill their slot: the Mime sketch from Swines, Right Song/Wrong Lyrics from Oink! (2017), and - "the short one" - Border Control which is a sketch going back to 2013!

Below you can browse a gallery of the night, with some wonderful snapshots of the lads in action:

* Right Song/Wrong Lyrics
* Feeding the Ducks
* The Oisín Song
* The Mime Weightlifting Competition
* The Mime Weightlifting Competition
* The Mime Weightlifting Competition
* The Mime Weightlifting Competition
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Check out the Instagram Live chat on the FAHnFEST channel (feat. Trí)

* Monday 4 July [CANCELLED]

Just a quick super secret message to let you know that **Foil, Arms & Hog** will be coming in to Whelan's next Monday. You won't see their faces on the posters as it's a secret but as a past customer we thought we'd let you know!

We've got a cracking line-up featuring Kevin McGahern, Gerry McBride & Betsy Speer joining the terrific trio, but tickets are already half gone so grab yours now!

*Sadly this gig was CANCELLED due to illness - wishing the lads a speedy recovery!*

* Monday 18 July:

(TBA)

### Stitches Comedy Club at the Workman's Cellar (Dublin)

* Monday 28 June: Announcement as Special Guests with a distinctive hint about who they are on the poster for the event.

There was also a very sweet description added for these anonymous **Special Guests** :

*As well as a record breaking 15 sold out Vicar St shows under their belt, our guests have also completed a World tour, have over 100 million hits on Youtube.  In just 10 years, **their blend of bizarre, ridiculous and surreal sketches have carved them a loyal cult following**.*

As well as a blurb from **Chortle** (from a review of their 2010 show Strangers with Sweets):

> "Cracking Sketches with performances to match."
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The lads uploaded a New Material Vlog about this gig on Patreon, sharing their thoughts about how the sketches went down and what it's like to again be performing new stuff after such a long "break".

### The International Bar (Dublin)

* Thursday 30 June: promo tweet

FAH were added on the bill as special guests only two days ahead of the gig.

### Official WIP show at Whelan's Live (Dublin)

* Thursday 7 July: promo Tweet

This is an announced gig, with a room capacity of around 60 people. They did a "full" Hogwash preview here, no old sketches. The setlist was photographed by Caitríona so we already know the (working) title for all Hogwash sketches:

* Feeding the Ducks
* Hate my Kids
* Luggage People 1
* I'm in a Musical
* Military Homecoming 1
* Ghost Tour
* Olympic Walking
* Military Homecoming 2
* Luggage People 2
* Italian Advert
* Robot Dad
* Going Out Tonight

Two of these, *Italian Advert* and *Going Out Tonight* (aka the Oisín Song) would end up getting cut for the Edinburgh Fringe run.

Chat on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfyo7DGjw9V/

Some tweets about the show *(note: tweets have been slightly edited for spelling and punctuation)*:

* great night tonight- so that’s why you learned Italian on Duolingo!!! #Hogwash
* loved tonights show in Whelan's Live, so funny, the sketches were class. Hogwash in full, is gonna be deadly #Hogwash
* what a brilliant show last night, Hogwash is going to be the funniest show yet. Have to give the biggest props to Arms, the master staller. If anyone gets the chance to see these lads, grab it. You won't be disappointed. #Hogwash

## Festivals in Ireland

### Galway International Arts Festival (13 & 14 July)

Foil Arms and Hog do several shows at midday as part of the Laughter Loft programme, among many other comedy acts. They're playing 2 gigs in a row on 2 consecutive days, at 1 and 3 pm. No doubt building stamina for their Edinburgh Fringe run!

### Dlr Mill Theatre Work In Progress run, Dundrum (20, 26 & 28 Jul, 8 pm)

From the Dlr Mill Theatre Team: "The summer months will see us busy with summer camps, comedy, music and drama. Take a look here at what is on offer to you. We are especially delighted to welcome Foil, Arms and Hog back on our stage with their one hour preview show."

### Paddy Power comedy festival at Iveagh Gardens (21 - 24 July 2022)

* 21 July at **The Only Joke Inn**. Also on the bill are Killian Sunderman, Mary Beth Barone and Duane Doogan.
* 23-24 July on The Bleedin Massive Stage

This gig was attended by a handful of FAHns. The new Hogwash sketches were bookended by Swines sketches to start and finish the set.

**Set List**

1. The World's Strongest Man aka the Mimes sketch (from Swines)
2. Luggage People 1 and 2 (not 3) put together as one sketch
3. Military Homecoming (part 1)
4. Olympic Walking
5. School Field Trip aka Guildelines (from Swines)

## Hogwash at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Many FAHns are going to see the show throughout the Fringe, so if we're lucky we'll get to cover the entire evolution from start to finish. It'll be too much "stuff" to add here, so we'll redirect you to our special Hogwash at the Fringe page for a detailed analysis and commentary instead. We'll have a different page for reviews as well.

Tickets to Hogwash at the Fringe can be purchased through the Fringe website or through Underbelly. The shows are selling very well as usual but there should be last-minute tickets available for most dates.

The synopsis for Hogwash from the Fringe website reads as follows:

> With over 500 million online views the internet sensations return to McEwan hall to premiere their new show ‘Hogwash’. A mix of sketch comedy, audience participation, and improvisation. Best reviewed show at the Edinburgh Fringe 2018 & 2019. Sold-out 2009-2019.
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Huge Hogwash posters can be spotted around Edinburgh, mainly of course near Bristo Square where their venue McEwan Hall is located.

The flyer has the landscape promo picture on the front as well, whereas for the back they chose one of the pictures from their London Swines gig at the Hammersmith Apollo. The blurbs are slightly different, using for example a different Rowan Atkinson qoute ("great show!" instead of "very funny!"), and the synopsis contains a fair amount of spoilers.

Hogwash flyer, frontHogwash flyer, back