The Basics is a six episode American

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

created by Elizabeth Demmon, Rachel Horwitz, Mahayla Laurence, Chloe Troast, and Jamie Linn Watson. It is directed by Mary Clare Plaschke and Ryan Beggs. The show follows five young women, Kendyll Lyndsay, Becka, Maegaen, Tiggy, and MJ as they attempt to conquer the male-dominated world of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

comedy. The self proclaimed "girl-bosses" must overcome their perceived vapidness and femininity to make a name for themselves in the indie comedy sphere. The Basics originally premiered January 15, 2021 on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

. It was also made available on IGTV, with one episode releases every Friday. The project was initially launched on

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

where it raised over $13,000. The Basics was an official selection of the 2021 NY Lift-Off Film festival

Plot

MJ becomes committed to putting the girl gang onto her new found love, improv, which she discovers after attending a comedy show while on a date. MJ begins to form her dream team of girl bosses after recruiting cousin Tiggy. Each episode of the first season is dedicated to a different member of the girl-gang, allowing for a wealth of character development. The show works to break down some of the perceived barriers of entering the comedy world as a woman. By exploring how the feminine interacts within a male dominated space, the web series is a testament to the freedom of trying new things and the reward of being fearless. The women's improv journey culminates with a performance at the Sip and Laugh Rosé Improv Festival, where they are pushed to their professional limits. The show works as an ironic illumination of the misogyny in the improv community by creating female characters who represent the juxtaposition of their male counterparts. There is a deep history of misogyny within the comedy community, and this show is empowered by its female lead cast to flip the script.

Episodes

Web series

The six-episode web series follows each one of the main characters as they work their way toward the Sip and Laugh Rosé Improv Festival

Cast

The Basics includes... Jamie Linn Watson as MJ Chloe Troast as Tiggy Mahayla Laurence as Maegaen Rachel Horwitz as Becka Elizabeth Demmon as Kendyll Lyndsay

Production

The show ultimately is a product of NYU students. The actors, director, and producer all attended NYU, with most attending

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the ar ...

. The entirety of the budget for the project, which was $13,000 was raised on Kickstarter. Production for the web series occurred over three consecutive weekends. Budget and available favors meant the series was shot on three separate cameras, the Arri Amira,

Arri Alexa The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arr ...

Mini, and the

Canon C300 The EOS C300 is a digital cinema camera in the Cinema EOS range. It was announced by Canon on November 3, 2011. The camera is offered with the option of Canon EF or Arri PL mounts. It has been available since January 2012. In September 2015, Cano ...

. The creators of the show were inspired by high grade cinematography, using jump cuts, and zooms to elevate the elements of comedy that are lost without a live audience. While the subject of the show centered around a group of all female improvisors, the crew's camera team also improvised a lot of the jump cuts and zooms while filming. This earned the show a spot on the online

Glamour (magazine) ''Glamour'' is today an online women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. For many years a traditional hard-copy magazine, it was founded in 1939 and first published in April 1939 in the United States. It was originally called ' ...

watch list in January. The show has received mild success, stirring up a buzz in local, independent spheres, and continues to post updates to social media, including their

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. The show's director and producer, MC Plaschke has worked on a variety of shorts and episodic installments for independent NYC comedians. Director and producer, Ryan Beggs, is also an NYU graduate who has worked as a comedian and improvisor as well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basics (TV show) 2021 web series debuts