Little Britain stars to be Funny or Die

Little Britain creators Matt Lucas and David Walliams and British indie Hat Trick Productions have teamed up to launch a UK version of Funny or Die, the US comedy portal founded by comedian Will Ferrell (Elf, Anchorman).

Funny or Die UK launches today with preview sketches from the US version of Little Britain, which, like the original, is written by and stars Lucas and Walliams.

The pair will continue to provide exclusive clips and sketches for the site on a monthly basis, and will spearhead the search for members of a brand new London-based comedy troop to create content.

Aspiring comedians and sketch writers will be able to post their own clips on the site, with viewers able to vote either ‘funny’ or ‘die’ for each sketch in order to determine which clips will populate it.

Comedian James Serafinowicz will lead the team of comics attached to Funny or Die UK, and will be supported by such talent as director Al Campbell (Screenburn, Fonejacker) and writing trio the Dawson Bros (That Mitchell and Webb Look, Skins).

As its library of homegrown content is built, Funny or Die UK will offer comedy sourced from its US parent. Walliams and Lucas will also write a blog for the site.

Hat Trick, which has credits, including Have I Got News For You, Father Ted and Fonejacker to its name, will be Funny or Die UK’s sole production partner, providing content and acting as the London base for the Funny or Die team.

The US site, launched in 2007, claims to be the World’s number one comedy portal. In August of this year alone, it attracted nine million unique visitors, according to the site’s statistics.

“When we were asked if we wanted to work with Funny or Die, we thought ‘What’s that?’,” Joked Lucas. “We found out that it was based in America and we thought ‘Where?’. They then told us that Funny or Die was the most successful comedy website on the internet… then we were really confused. ‘What’s the internet?’ we asked. After years of talking to scientists, geographers and leading politicians we finally discovered the answers to all of these questions. Armed with this information we said ‘Yes’.”

On a more serious note, he added: “It’s exciting to be involved with a comedy website that’s already number one. The US site has been a great place for comedians to test out new stuff and more importantly it’s worked well as a platform for discovering new talent. That’s what we’re hoping to achieve over here.”