Outros: The Sketch After The Sketch

It's (not) all in the cards
More here about the pre-outro era using only cards.

The Outro Event of 2015
At the start of 2015, a significant event happened with the release of the sketch Quickie Cash(on 26/02/2015): the video didn't end on the logo, there was suddenly a bit that came after the jingle. What was this outro, as it became known, meant for? Not outtakes - indeed the PREVIOUS sketch had been their first Outtakes (vol. 1) release.

After the card, we see three lads just standing there, in order, on their 'set', wearing their sketch costumes, facing the screen and smiling sheepishly. Notice the way this is scene 'cut': it starts a bit before the obviously rehearsed plug, which Hog messed up by messing around with an edible prop. Then Foil and Arms say, pretty much simultaneously:

"'Just go for it!'"

And Hog, mouth full of apple, utters what would become the signature (infamous!) ' Outro Welcome Message': You can tell it's their first time can't you! Arms and Foil waving at the camera (awkwardly and overenthusiastically, respectively) says it all, really. Next, Foil gestures to their office, where you can see their filming gear and various Fringe posters, as if giving us a tour behind the scenes:

"'We've been doing all of our videos here in the office.'"

With their old office being what it is - tiny! or in Arms's words: "beautiful" - it wouldn't have surprised anyone if their next sentence would have been a call for funding. What would have inspired them to add this little extra to their sketch? It's not unlikely that the idea came about while editing together their first outtakes video the week before.

And finally, the Ultimate Outro Pitch that we know and love, from Arms:

"'If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe, click the button. If you REALLY enjoyed the video, come see us live in Ireland or the UK or the other world... ly countries.'"

Ah, Arms's grand tradition of messing up gig place names was there from the very start. How comforting. They aren't plugging specific gigs here though, so boosting ticket sales doesn't really seem like the primary reason. It was just a general plug in an attempt perhaps to boost their YouTube stats, as many loyal viewers might not have realised yet they should also subscribe and 'like' their videos. But also, it made 'being a FAH viewer' a much more personal experience! Instead of being just three actors in a sketch, they presented themselves as three nice young lads who are thrilled that you, the viewer, like what they do. It's moving, it's endeaering, and it obviously worked well enough for them to keep doing it to this day.

It was too soon then for a performance of the Doomdah. Hog just ends the plug on a quote from the sketch, which is actually a very clever thing to do! I wonder if that was planned ahead... knowing Hog, probably not! But prepare for your mind to be blown: guess what the very next sketch to be uploaded had at the end of it! Go look it up, I'll wait!

Yes. It was Movie Voice Syndrome , the one with the outro with (TOWTOW) the amazing jingle jam and mouth trumped variation. Can you believe it!? To read everthing about the origins of and variations on the jingle, head over to Doomdah: The Signature Sign-Off Line.

Outro Inserts
More on outros using a small scale frame on top of the endcard are featured here.

Outro Graphics
More on outros where graphics such as subscribe buttons and rolling gig place names are used are featured here.

The Point of the Outro
What are outros used for? Many different things! We've collected a handful of 'outro scripts' throughout the years.

Gigging Again
(hopefully to be continued...)

Themes and Features in FAH Outros
We've got 214 outros and counting at the time of writing (27/07/2020), so the sensible thing to do is to try and order them into categories.

In general, the lads will start messing with their props and surroundings (e.g. New Years Resolutions, Sensodine Commercial Parody and Staying for the Credits) or each other (e.g. 50 Irish Towns in One Conversation). Only one 'pre-doomdah sketch' had an epilogue after the outro (getting out of shape for Christmas) as this only became a regular feature from 2018 onwards.

Ceol agus Ól 3 is another exception, because the lads had to film their outro bits separately for some reason. We would only see this again in The Ryanair Song Live when they were on tour in Australia, until we got a whole 'series' of separately recorded outros when the lads had to self-isolate during lockdown in 2020 (more on that at the end of this article).

Arms also likes to launch into his signature movie trailer voice, repeating key words or sentences the others have mentioned, sometimes with a fake echo, just as he did in the actual Movie Voice Syndrome sketch (5/03/2015). EXAMPLES!

Outros in Character
FAH will often still be wearing their costumes from the sketch, but it's only when they stay fully in character that they truly create an epilogue to the sketch, which makes these outros stand out. Characters from sketches series are particularly well-known for this type of outro.

Examples & compilations coming soon!
 * When Parents Have Visitors

Outros in the Green Room
These outros weren't recorded on their sketch set but afterwards. FAH are wearing their stage costumes and usually tell us something about the gig (or place) they're performing that night. For FAHns who were at that gig, seeing these outros much be a nice little surprise!

Examples & compilations coming soon!
 * 15 Habits of the Mega Rich

Freestyle Merch Plugging
When their first merch came out in February 2017

Examples & compilations coming soon!
 * Two Bouncers on a Blind Date
 * Tea Addiction
 * Brexit Divorce

Outros Out Of Order
You can tell by the costumes (and sometimes even their haircuts!) when the outro doesn't fit the sketch!
 * Cooking for Beginners - Money Talks: the Business Knobs

The Place Name Reels
On their Irish or UK tours, FAH will have gigs lined up in a great number of different towns (the US, Australia or mainland Europe only have around 5 locations).

On occasion, they edit on graphics in post and just mentioned that the ticket links can be found below the video (in the YouTube description), for example in When The Wind Changed. In the outro of Evil Corporate Advertising (14/02/201) Arms underscored the rolling graphics with a couple of seconds of jolly improvised scat singing. In What Is America (21/11/2019) all three lads launched into an amazing improvised mouth trumpet & beatboxing session. Progression! Have a listen:



Most often however, they just recite the place names (or a shortlist), sometimes in character, sometimes in an accent that matches one of the towns. These 'place name reels' became an outro staple and even developed into some sort of contest between the lads to see who could remember them best. A contest in which Arms rarely crosses the finish line.

Whenever Arms gets stuck while reeling off a list of place names (which is most times), Foil is usually heard exclaiming:"'Oh Jeses.'"Him and Hog might also start mime-punching or mime-handgun-shooting Arms in the face. It's definitely not a 'bit', Arms apparently just hasn't got the memory for place names... even when he's reading them off.

In the An Interview with Winter outro (starting at 3 min 20) for example, you can see Arms struggling while trying to recite his 17-item list from memory, with even a little bit of encouragement from Foil, then grabbing his phone (after a jump cut) to read the last few, and finally professing: "'I did OK!'"Even though he still forgot to mention Exeter. Foil himself chose the easy route in this outro, naming only "'Kerry and Derry and other places in Ireland that don't rhyme.'"On the other side of the spectrum there's Hog with his astonishing memory for place names, in and out of character: The list he reeled off in the last sketch had 20 place names on it, and he did it backwards! Okay he did struggle a little bit, but could you do it?
 * 50 Irish Towns in One Conversation
 * 50 UK Towns in One Conversation
 * Problems with the UK (2 min 18 sec in)

In the outro after A Party with the Months of the Year, Arms singled out only three place names from their extensive UK tour because those weren't selling tickets as well. In a 'bit' that might have been planned beforehand, Foil commented on that fact, prompting all three to start slagging these towns while worrying about ticket sales."(A): 'You might end up in Southend!'""(H): 'It'll be filled with people who don't want to be there...'""(F): 'We'll do a quick show.'"