Those just out of a relationship can either drown their sorrows in booze or fast food; bounce back and throw themselves into something new, eyes clamped shut as they make the dive; or they can swear off relationships altogether, choosing instead to live a life of celibacy.
But there’s another option too – a fourth choice that so rarely goes considered. Those hurting can always employ the services of a ‘Grief Shortener’, a professional murderer who can leap in and sort out the source of one’s heartbreak – permanently.
That’s according to a skit in Laura Imbruglia’s Amateur Hour, anyway, a dark little set-up about murder and loss that came straight from the twisted mind of Imbruglia’s housemate, Gen Giuffre.
“Gen knew I was hunting for comedy skits for my show and offered to pitch an idea,” explains Imbruglia. “After running a few ideas by me, she ended up half-heartedly mentioning this idea she had for a character who specialises in grief shortening by killing the person who broke your heart. It was so dark and twisted. I loved it.”
Actually bringing such a dark idea to life was discussed at length. “The process of building a skit can be deceptively long. A lot of different ideas get thrown around and script changes. We debated whether or not to show the death scene itself. Laura and I really love physical comedy so this was something I wanted to play with in the stalker scenes of the skit, it was interesting to see how they translate on film as opposed to theatre,” says Giuffre.
