The Greater Good (comedy group)
The Greater Good is a sketch comedy trio from Los Angeles consisting of Matt Watkins, Tom Flynn and Will Prescott. The group formed in the summer of 2006 and began developing, writing and shooting video sketches that would not be released online until January 2009. Their comedic style is a unique BLEND of mainstream, observational and surrealist humor often conveyed in a deadpan or overly serious manner. Utilizing both improvisation and tightly written scripts, they often create awkward and uncomfortable experiences for the viewer. In their short existence, The Greater Good has garnered a small but extremely dedicated fanbase.
Beginnings
Matt Watkins, Tom Flynn and Will Prescott met in 2005 while attending school at Chapman University. All three were pursuing their graduate degrees at the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. At the time they were working on numerous film projects in all capacities, from editing to directing to writing. Watkins was part of Grapes of Laugh, a sketch group that earned prominence with the short film Me Room Matey (a Showdown winner on Atom.com). The three decided to form a sketch group with the purpose of creating high-quality comedy for online distribution. Their shared interest in writing, directing and acting made for a balanced, tight-knit unit.
Influences
Influence from many comedians and sketch groups is visible in The Greater Good's work, but they typically site The State, Stella, Upright Citizens Brigade, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Patton Oswalt and Zach Galifianakis as their primary inspirations. Additional comedic entities that have influenced their work include Snuff Box, Spaced, Kids in the Hall and the online comic strip Achewood.
Online Presence
In their relatively short existence, The Greater Good has obtained a wide following that spans over many popular video sharing websites. Most prominently, Funny or Die, CollegeHumor, YouTube, Dailymotion and Metacafe. Additionally, they're ACTIVE on a number of social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.
Their aggressive viral campaign strategy was a major reason for not releasing their work until January 2009. According to Prescott's blog, they were committed to launching as if they were a TV show. He writes, "We didn't want to release our stuff until we had at least 10 sketches ready and all of our marketing and distribution channels in place."
In March 2009, The Greater Good released The Pool, a video sketch designed around the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, commonly known as March Madness. In the sketch, Matt Watkins plays a man who misunderstands the concept of a betting pool. Due to the popularity of the tournament and the comedic social relevance, The Pool garnered a feature spot on the home page of Funny or Die.
In August 2009, The Greater Good released "Vibrator", a video sketch AbOUT roommates who question their friend's controversial purchase. The video was discovered by the staff at CollegeHumor and featured on their national video site. The editors of CollegeHumor changed the title to "Roommate's New Toy", the video garnered numerous plays and comments.
In the summer of 2009, The Greater Good teamed up with writer/producer, Chris Wiltz, to assist with a comedic zombie web series, Semi-Dead. The six episode series premiered on October 28, 2009 and is scheduled to run into 2010. Flynn signed on to direct episodes 3 and 4 while also contributing digital effects work. Prescott signed on to direct episodes 5 and 6 and also appears as a zombie in episode 1.
Video Sketches
Captive (2009)
CoFFEE (2009)
Mom (2009)
Parts (2009)
Parallel Parking (2009)
Miscommunication (2009)
The Pool (2009)
The Toast (2009)
One Life to Give, parts 1-3 (2009)
Stage Fright (2009)
iPhone vs Telepathy (2009)
Vibrator (2009)
Imaginary Breakup (2009)
Easy Lover (2009)
Related Work
The members of The Greater Good are active in other film, video and new media projects. Most recently, all three had small roles in the feature film, Herpes Boy (2009). The film, which stars Byron Lane, Beth Grant and Ahna O'Reilly, held its world premiere at the 2009 Austin Film Festival and won the Comedy Vanguard Audience Award.
Tom Flynn works as a freelance editor and has worked as an assistant director on the popular web series The Guild.
Matt Watkins works as a freelance producer and camera operator, most recently for American Idol.
Will Prescott co-owns a production company, Trainwreck Motion Pictures, that is in pre-production on an untitled feature film. From 2007-2008 he served as a Managing Editor and Producer of the KCET website for the PBS television program, Wired Science.