Full Pantomime: “It’s cool again to be Catholic or go to the bullfights, no one saw it coming”

Roberto Bodegas and Alberto Casado, that is, Full Pantomime, photographed at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.Edy PérezWe must never rule out the importance of luck in achieving success. Let’s take the case of Full Pantomime. Today, the comic duo formed by Rober Bodegas (Lugo, 43 years old) and Alberto Casado (Madrid, 41) has just released their first major production, Entrepreneurs, a series for Disney +, but almost a decade ago they were just two anonymous scriptwriters who worked—sometimes together, sometimes not—on television. «We wanted to do something of our own and we wrote a humorous play that we premiered at the Alfil Theater in Madrid. To promote it we thought of recording some short videos for the internet, which didn’t make much sense, because they were traditional, while the play was bordering on surreal,» recalls Bodegas. And here the unexpected turn of events occurs. “When we only had two videos, the Bishop kicked us out because no one was there,” explains Casado. «But the videos had more or less worked. So we decided to continue making them. Simply to have our own space with something that entertained us. Something simple, because the premise was that they didn’t cost us anything. The way to achieve this was to record each other.» Those one-minute sketches became the emblem of Pantomime Full. The scheme is apparently simple: you take a recognizable character, stereotypes that are believed to be original when in reality they are walking clichés – a singer-songwriter, someone who is polyamorous, or a nouveau riche – and you mercilessly eviscerate him. It’s funny how you can dissect someone in a minute. «Surely the trick was that everything was very niche. We chose characters from our environment. Then it’s true that it opened up a little to everyone,» says Casado. Those were also different times and those videos that were distributed via Facebook or YouTube were a real novelty. «We chose the right moment. We were one of the first to make content designed for networks. Now everything is saturated. Even your cousin makes content for TikTok, but then there was very little of this. And that’s why I think it caught attention. We had very few followers and media outlets like EL PAÍS were already calling us to do interviews.» Disciplined guys, for a long time they posted one a week. «On Thursday you had nothing. And in the afternoon you said to yourself: ‘We have to invent something’. And we did it, man. It took us three hours to invent something. But the months went by and you got more and more work. And there comes a time when it is unfeasible because you can’t because of a tour or because you collaborate with a program,» recalls Casado. Right now on his YouTube channel there are 217 videos and 512,000 subscribers. And of all those sketches there is one that stands out. Conformista, published in March 2023, is the discouraging chronicle of a generation that sees the days go by with no other hope than to survive. Subtitled There is no reason to live life, that video received eight million views in two days and became a phenomenon. «Everyone was looking for us. Radio, television, the press… even the columnists wanted to give their version. Someone said that until then each video slapped a specific sector of the population, but with that one we had slapped the entire country,» says Bodegas. «It was unexpected. Let’s see, when you do it, you know it’s a badass video, but I remember when we saw it already set up and such and we didn’t think we were going too hard either,» Casado concludes. And now they have been given a place at the adult table with a series, Entrepreneurs, which is actually a development of characters that in one way or another have been through their videos. Bodegas plays a posh, spendthrift, and good-hearted posh guy who spends his father’s money on an absurd coworking. Married, to a smoke-selling guru who acts as the ideologue of the business based on clichés, self-help clichés. Clients, interns, employees or family circulate around him. «One of our objectives was to make a larger fiction than what we usually do. We had presented a project and such, but they had always told us no. And one day Álex de la Iglesia wrote to us. He told us that he was amazed by what we did and that if we had any idea, and what we told him about, this was the one that convinced him,» explains Casado. Entrepreneurs is a bit of the generational development of its characters. The moment they turn 40 years old. «It’s taking those privileged guys who invent a profession with that liberal ideology that is so fashionable now. These guys who study business administration, who are like bohemians and scoundrels and who love to take it out to see who has the longest one.» A Full Pantomime would be needed for the Z, right? «It’s grown on us now, but just like the previous generation had to see us as stupid, there is a point there of things that no one saw coming. Like it’s cool again to be Catholic or to go to the bullfights. Now suddenly it’s back in fashion. I’m quite crazy about it. And what about chastity? It’s in fashion. It’s all very crazy.»