There are so many things about Ryan Gosling Stole My Best Friend that, upon first glance, turned me off. The celeb-centric premise that read more clickbaity than smart, the fact that episodes are 5-7 minutes long, the subtle reminder that I will never be as good looking, or cool, or successful as Ryan Gosling. It was an epidemic, but I watched the first 30 seconds of the first episode and then, before I knew it, I’d watched all the seconds of all four episodes posted.
As I await the finale, a newborn fan, I was lucky enough to chat with series writer, co-creator, and star Josh Covitt about the perseverance that went into making a damn funny show no one wanted and lots of people – me included – turned out loving.
How did you get your start in comedy?
Josh Covitt: I probably started off just being the class clown in school and then, later, in middle school, my buddies and I started goofing off with my parent’s camcorder – recording stupid sketches and fake talk shows. Then, in high school, I did a lot of improv and, in college, I played with standup a little bit, but, then, I really got into sketch and that’s what took me to UCB. For this video, it was just a couple of my friends from college and the guy who played Gosling, Adam [Harrington], I’ve known him forever. He’s a really funny guy, a really funny standup that I’ve known for a while. I don’t know why but I was like, “You know, I bet Adam could do a really decent Gosling impression.†I remember when I asked him I said, “Could you do a Ryan Gosling impression? Not like a pitch perfect one, but [an impression of] someone who was brainwashed by Gosling?â€
How did this series come about? Apart from Adam doing a pretty solid Gosling impression.
Josh Covitt: I had a friend of a friend who was a super nice guy and I knew that he was hanging out with Ryan [Gosling], and was a friend of Ryan’s, and I would notice that, in the few times I would see him, he would seem more and more Gosling-esque. So it was this weird flash of an idea where I was like, “Huh, he’s slowly turning into a Gosling 2.0.†Which I get because I actually met Ryan Gosling once, through a totally different mutual friend, and he’s like super funny and insanely charismatic so it would make perfect sense that you’d become more like him if you were hanging out with him. Ryan, the director, and I had done a lot of work together before; we did the YouTube Sketchies competition and made the final five or whatever. He came over and I just wrote on a white board, “GSMBF.†I was basically fucking with him and trying to get him to guess what the acronym was and then eventually explained to him it stood for: “Gosling Stole My Best Friend.â€
The crazy thing is we originally made the pilot for Channel 101 because I had made a couple of those and was kind of involved in that community. Then it didn’t get onto Channel 101 and we were like “What the fuck? Is anyone going to watch it?†Then we put it online and the first couple of videos got some love from Funny or Die, so they put it on their site and it got a ton of hits and then they put it on their YouTube channel and then, in between 2 and 3, Adam moved to NY because he fell in love, and I ended up breaking up with my girlfriend, so there’s a huge gap between the 2nd and 3rd episode because there were these huge life changes. I had not only lost a featured location, I also lost my girlfriend who had a really funny supporting role in the first two episodes. Then, Adam found some UCB NY people to help shoot the video. It’s kind of weird for a web series, I don’t know another web series that was “grass roots†yet had two different teams on two different coasts. So I wrote them, and then Adam shot them in NY, and then, last year, we shot episode 4 and 5. 4 is the one that’s up now where I’m being trained to snap out of it.
Bicoastal web series shoots. Jesus. What was the budget?Â
Josh Covitt: It was all bootstrapped, out of pocket. We did a tiny bit for location but, for the most part, we either did it in our apartment or just did stolen shots in the street. We did pay a couple hundred dollars to the New York crew because Adam had to get them together. When we were in LA, it was just myself, Adam, and Ryan our director.
So, Episode 5 is the finale? There won’t be any more after 5?
Josh Covitt: No, there won’t be anymore after Episode 5. No spoilers, but we’re also tying up our Splice runner in Episode 5.
What’s next for the concept, and for you moving forward?
Josh Covitt: Well, since it did take so long for all five of these to be shot, and we were split between coasts, we do want to have a screening where we can show all five of them in a row. Moving forward, my friend and writing partner Anthony are working on some stuff. Anthony is in the very first episode, for like a second, as one of the guys being talked down from a fight, which, by the way, I took from Ryan Gosling really doing that in real life.
I know! He’s a fucking superhero.Â
Josh Covitt: He’s a magical being. Oh, this is funny. So, I don’t know if [Ryan Gosling’s] seen it, if my friends who have an association with him have passed it along to him, but I do know the guy who cuts my hair did. [My barber] is like obsessed with the show. He’ll just text me asking, “Hey man, new Gosling done?†He told me that he went to get dinner at Little Dom’s and saw Gosling getting take out, so he went up to him and said, “Hey, I’m sorry. I don’t want to take up your time, but I’m just a really big fan. Oh, and have you ever seen Ryan Gosling Stole My Best Friend?†Then, the guy who cuts my hair said he asked, “Is it online, is it on the Internet?†So my barber promoted it. So, getting back to your question we might do this kind of series with a different celebrity, and also my writing partner Anthony and I are writing a sketch pilot. That’s the next thing on the plate.
What advice do you have for people who want to break into digital comedy?
Josh Covitt: Well, for sure make sure you stretch out the content you have over the course of three years, that’s number one. Lose all your momentum. Break up with your girlfriend. In all seriousness, though, technology is so good now, you have almost no excuse if you have a funny idea. For Gosling, I was so sure it would be the perfect fit for Channel 101 and when we didn’t get in, it made me think it wasn’t a funny idea, but, then, we put it out, and saw other people liked it. If anyone wants to put something out for no budget, start shooting, get it done, and you’ll be surprised at the response if you’re really into the idea.
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Here are your three reasons to watch this very good thing.
Part 1
The idea of Ryan Gosling stealing your best friend doesn’t make for a neat, pitchable logline, but the idea’s complexity melts away when you see just how accessible and pit-of-your-stomach funny this thing really is.
Part 2
Harrington’s Gosling is both unremarkable and completely spot on in every way we never knew to notice. That surprise is the mark of a deeply great impersonation.
Part 3
If there is a God, or a God-sling, these performances will get both these men a real Half Nelson’s worth of other work.
Luke is a writer/director for CollegeHumor and a watcher of many web videos. Send him yours @LKellyClyne.