Radiant Is the Blood of a Vibrant Writing Partnership
We’re big fans of the Venture Bros, and recently completed a binge of the entire series plus Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart including the extras. Our favorite extra was John Hodgman’s interview with series creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick.
Other writing partnerships fascinate us, so hearing Doc and Jackson describe theirs was a treat. (Pretending we’re on a first-name basis with those two is also quite a kick!) In their case, each episode was written entirely by one or the other of the duo. That means that both partners could do the show’s voice. No matter which one did the honors for a particular episode, from the audience perspective it always felt like the same show. That stuck a chord with us, because Jen and Kent have both learned how to do Rune Skelley’s voice. Back in our very early days, our process included a step where we’d edit each other’s stuff. That step was there explicitly so that the voice wouldn’t be “too Kent” or “too Jen” in the finished product. We no longer need to do that.
Another thing that felt familiar was the zany complexity of the plotlines and of the characters’ myriad backstories. In our novels, we always wind up with intricate situations involving complicated people. Tonally, those novels are nothing like Venture Bros. But, Tune In Next Time, our gonzo flash-fiction chain story, comes a lot closer. And listening to Doc and Jackson tell stories about producing Venture Bros reminded us of what it’s like to do Tune In Next Time. Lots of weird shit gets thrown into the mix, and it’s hard to predict which stuff will turn out to matter later on. It takes a lot of agility to sustain something like that. For us, it’s just a whimsical way to keep adding content to our blog. But for Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, the stakes were considerably higher. Our hats are off to them for delivering a show that stayed true to its insane internal logic.
A writing partner is someone who knows when the two of you should and shouldn’t be working without a net.