No subject is off limits in David Hasselhoff's excellent spoof documentary Hoff the Record
Ben Dowell caught up with the Baywatch and Knight Rider star at the premiere of his new comedy and met a man who's not afraid to make fun of himself
You can say many things about David Hasselhoff. But on the evidence of his new spoof documentary Hoff the Record, you can’t say that he’s not game for a laugh.
Dave’s excellent new comedy imagines the former Baywatch and Knight Rider star down on his luck and keen to kickstart his career in England. At Stansted airport he's greeted by a mini-cab driver and an inept, inexperienced assistant, and taken to a divey hotel – and the fun begins.
No subject is off limits as he's forced to audition for a part as himself (which he fails to get) and subjected to just about every humiliation you can think of. In an audition room for the fictional Hoff biopic a dwarf actor scheduled to play the "child Hoff" is deemed to give a better performance than the real deal. A show-off LA performer also claims to do Michael Knight of Knight Rider fame with more aplomb than the man who played him for 98 hours in the hit 80s drama.
It’s brilliantly funny in places and particular hats off to Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing) for his performance as driver Terry, a man who cannot contain his enthusiasm for the Hoff and is desperate (as anyone would be) to find out the secrets of Baywatch and Knight Rider and the man's life. Terry also puts his foot in it. A lot.
“Man, my girlfriend listened to you last night and her rape alarm went off,” he says at one point.
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Yes, I wasn’t sure about that line either. But that questionable gag aside, Hoff the Record has its heart in the right place and is very moving in parts. For example, when forced to watch as another actor performs his chart-topping song Looking for Freedom and act out that notorious viral clip when a bare-chested and drunk Hoff berated his daughter, he snaps – and you have a lot of sympathy.
“It’s my life, it’s my song,” he wails. (And let’s not forget that he also saved SpongeBob’s life.)
And when RadioTimes.com caught up him at last night’s premiere, he demonstrated how well he can take a joke.
“It’s not reality television, thank god. It’s fun,” said the Hoff with a cheer and a backslap. “We all make mistakes. We had a lot of fun in the 80s. If we took the fun we had in the 80s – if we did that now we would be in jail.
“It was a great way to get back and to get to the truth.”
And here’s a clip for you to enjoy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ihut5vvUsM
Hoff the Record begins on Dave on June 18th at 9pm
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