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New Web Series Focuses On The Service Industry, Sex

New Web Series Focuses On The Service Industry, Sex
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I remember attending this one party back in university with Ian Lynch and few of our mutual friends from Frosh week.

It's memorable because Ian's mom had taken the time to handwrite a note, in which she detailed her son's telephone number and address. She neatly placed the note in his windbreaker pocket, just in case it got lost that night. Or perhaps more likely, in case Ian got lost.

Either way, after a few drinks, Ian pulled the note out from his pocket and began to read from it.

"To whomever this concerns," read Ian, laughing. "Please note that my son lives at..."

It served as perfect comedic fodder.

We all laughed along with him. And why wouldn't we? It's was hilarious to us that his mom had Ian pegged so perfectly.

Since then, I've attended many other events with Ian. Not much has changed, he continues to be the life of the party: funny, smart, charming, and always up for a laugh.

So when I heard that Ian was taking part in a new comedic web series called Gratuitous Behaviour, I couldn't resist the opportunity to catch up with him and talk about it.

MM: Gratuitous Behaviour is about love, sex, and debauchery. Do I have that right? If so, then what got you interested in the script?

IL: The script was written by an old friend named Dana Robert Taylor. We've been friends since high school and waited tables together for years. The fact that this script is about waiters appealed so much to me. I've worked many places but I can truly say the most interesting and talented people I've ever met have all been servers or bartenders. I loved the script because it told the other side of the story. So many shows have characters eating in restaurants this show tells the story of the people who are usually in the background.

MM: You play the character of Wes Greene, a waiter with a penchant for white wine and hot gossip. I'm curious, is this character really just you?

IL: I'm more of a beer guy and I do enjoy gossip but only if it's funny. Wes is more refined than I am. Wes wants to be a part of a group in society that he's not whereas I think I created my own group. But there are parts that remind me of myself. The way he's loud and likes to be the center of attention at work -- that's all me.

MM: Having worked in the service industry before, if you could change one thing about it, what would it be? Would you want people to tip before the meal so you know how to treat them, as Avery suggests in the first episode?

IL: There's a special spot in hell for people who don't tip. I tip everyone -- at Tim Hortons, the hot dog stand, the dog grooming shop. I think it comes from having served for so long. I could usually tell a good tipper from the moment I went over to the table - -but was sometimes surprised. If I could change anything about the serving industry I would make it so servers have benefits and are entitled to paid sick days.

MM: Having spent an evening on the set (full disclosure, I was an extra in one scene), I was really taken back by the high level of production value that went into Gratuitous Behaviour. Can you talk about how you and the rest of the crew managed to pull everything off?

IL: I still don't know how our amazing crew pulled that off! The crew was led by the incredible Liz May (producer) and R Stephenson Price (director). We shot the entire season in four days -- an average of 18 script pages per day "officially," and unofficially closer to 36 since we shot the entire script at least twice for both sides of the webcam conversation. It was an unbelievably epic achievement.

MM: The first series of Gratuitous Behaviour will be released each Wednesday on YouTube for the next five weeks. After that, what are the plans for the series?

IL: We made the first season as a calling card for the series. The sky is the limit and we do have plans for a second season pending financing.

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