A new segment for the Jono and Ben show called Making Shapes is coming soon on TV3. Photo / Jason Oxenham
A new segment for the Jono and Ben show called Making Shapes is coming soon on TV3. Photo / Jason Oxenham
From tomorrow, Jono and Ben are introducing a ridiculous new segment to their show, inspired by a crazy Japanese game show.
The segment is called "Making Shapes" and it's based on hit game show Hole in the Wall, which the comedy duo discovered during their "daily google of what's goingon around the world".
Contestants - dressed in a shiny silver suit adorned with bright yellow wraps around the knees and elbows - go in pairs, attempting to contort their bodies to fit through a shape in a wall.
A new segment for the Jono and Ben show called Making Shapes being filmed at South Pacific Pictures in Henderson. Photo / Jason Oxenham.
The catch? That wall is moving rapidly toward them and if they don't make it through the shape, they have nowhere to go but into a pool of freezing water - much to the audience's delight.
The applause they give when contestants do take a dive proves Kiwis really get a kick out of watching others suffer. And so do Jono and Ben.
"What we liked about this one was the humiliation - for once we weren't going to be the ones embarrassing ourselves on TV," Jono jokes. "But it's a lot of fun and I think everyone ... had a lot of fun doing it."
During filming, pairs were presented with shapes to suit different themes. The movie theme forced them to recreate the crane from Karate Kid and the lift from Dirty Dancing, while the dance theme had them doing complicated lifts and dips.
Contestants getting wet in the new Jono and Ben segement Making Shapes. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The thing is, they only have a few seconds after the wall is unveiled before they must react.
One pair failed to make the shape and just broke through the styrofoam wall instead. This apparently counts - as long as you don't end up in the drink, you're a winner.
Ben calls it "a little nugget of comedy gold".
"You talk about things in the Olympics like synchronised diving taking a lot of skill but I think making a shape in a short amount of time's right up there. Tokyo, baby. We're coming, 2020."
A new segment for the Jono and Ben show called Making Shapes being filmed at South Pacific Pictures in Henderson. 21 August 2016. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Though it may not be Olympic-level, it does take some level of skill and it's definitely entertaining.
Making Shapes will appear on Jono and Ben from tomorrow, 7.30pm on TV3.
