Brian Bonz and Mike Rizzo are Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, buds known as Bobo Touch — have been since they were wee tots. It makes sense, then, that their sensibilities have synthesized into such a strange, insular creative concoction.
To watch their videos is to experience what must be years of one-on-one riffs, inside jokes, and “let’s just shoot it†Sunday-afternoon brigades. Doesn’t that sound awful? I know … but it’s actually not. Thanks to Bonz’s music chops and the duo’s knack for manufacturing production flash on a shoestring, they’ve cultivated that rare brand of self-indulgent humor that makes you want to “get it†more than it makes you want to turn it off.
In “Bushwick Tarzan,†the second episode of Bonz and Rizzo’s fledgling series Bobo Touch Helpline, a counterculture paint-by-numbers (“majestic dads†jokes included) accelerates to become a weird and trippy ride that’s laugh-out-loud funny at times and consistently captivating.
At a time when the impact of overengineered, press-baiting digital videos is weakening by the second, Bonz and Rizzo’s Bobo Touch is so fun because it feels authentic — like they’ve invited us to watch them fuck around, but they’re also totally cool if we can’t make it. The show’s going on either way.
Luke is executive producer at Big Breakfast and a watcher of many web videos. Send him yours @LKellyClyne.