Iconic comedian Pauly Shore can keep a straight face when a monster is trying to kill him in Remain Calm. Remembering which character he’s playing? That’s proving to be a little more difficult.
A new bloopers video from the horror comedy short catches Shore and Nick Swardson joking around on set, trading sarcastic jabs as they stumble over their lines. Shore plays Matt, a gas station employee whose night shift turns into a nightmare, while Swardson plays his coworker Erwin. Apparently, keeping those names straight is one of the bigger challenges Shore faces during filming.
The bloopers get even funnier when Shore starts ad-libbing instead of sticking to the script. Swardson’s patience wears thin as his co-star keeps throwing in extra lines, turning the occasional mistake into an opportunity for another joke. The two have a natural back-and-forth that makes the outtakes worth watching, even when they aren’t trying to be funny.
There’s also a second behind-the-scenes video showing Shore and Swardson screaming their lungs out while trying to hit their marks. It’s a quick glimpse of the work that goes into selling the terror in a short where their characters have to stay calm or risk becoming dinner for a monster. The clip ends by directing viewers to a Patreon page for more footage.
Written and directed by Jake Lewis, Remain Calm follows Matt and Erwin as their gas station shift takes a horrifying turn after they learn about Mr. Frett, a creature that hunts people who show signs of fear or anxiety. Doug Jones also stars as the unsettling Grin Man, while Kevin Keppy plays the monster.
The short has found a sizable audience on YouTube, and its future could extend beyond the original 13-minute film. As Dread Central reported, a feature-length adaptation is being shopped around. Shore has expressed interest in returning, although a feature has not been officially greenlit.
For now, these clips offer another reason to spend a little more time with Remain Calm. The finished short puts Shore and Swardson in a situation where losing their nerve could be fatal. Behind the scenes, it seems Shore’s inability to stop improvising is what really tests Swardson’s patience.
