The Rubberbandits
The Rubberbandits | |
|---|---|
Blindboy Boatclub (left) and Mr Chrome (right) | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Limerick, Ireland |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2000–2020 |
| Members |
|
| Website | www |
The Rubberbandits were an Irish comedy hip-hop duo from Limerick. They consisted of Blindboy Boatclub (real name Dave Chambers) and Mr Chrome (sometimes Bobby Chrome; real name Bob McGlynn). During performances and interviews, they concealed their identities with masks made from plastic shopping bags. They were often accompanied by DJ Willie O'DJ, a silent masked caricature of local politician Willie O'Dea (portrayed by several consecutive men, including Spin South West DJ Paul Webb). The group described themselves as artists, and had dubbed their movement as "Gas Cuntism".
Chambers and McGlynn met while attending Ardscoil Rís, Limerick. Primarily a satirical stage and television act, they have performed throughout Ireland, the UK and the US with shows at events such as Electric Picnic, Oxegen and the Bulmers International Comedy Festival. The Rubberbandits first rose to prominence in December 2010, when their music video "Horse Outside" went viral on YouTube. They have since won awards for both their music and comedy. In 2011, the duo were declared "Best Irish Act" at the entertainment.ie awards, and also won an IFTA award for "Horse Outside".
The duo have also been involved in television, creating sketches for RTÉ, MTV and Channel 4, writing and starring in a Channel 4 comedy pilot, and writing and narrating the ITV2 series The Almost Impossible Gameshow. In 2016, they created The Rubberbandits' Guide to Everything, a mockumentary TV series for RTÉ.
Since 2017, Blindboy Boatclub has been host of The Blindboy Podcast, quickly becoming one of the most listened-to Irish podcasts, with 150,000 weekly listeners as of March 2018.