Hermes & Renato

Hermes & Renato, known as Banana Mecânica from 2010 to 2013, is a Brazilian comedy troupe formed in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro in 1999 (and based in São Paulo as of 2002) by friends Marco Antônio Alves, Fausto Fanti, Adriano Pereira, Felipe Torres and Bruno Sutter (later joined by Gil Brother from 2002 to 2008), whose name was taken from the first characters they ever created for their sketches: Hermes (played by Alves) and Renato (played by Fanti). Heavily influenced by comedians such as Os Trapalhões, Roberto Gómez Bolaños and Costinha alongside old pornochanchada films and the 1988–90 television comedy show TV Pirata,[1][2] and known for their edgy off-color humor frequently reliant on pop culture references, word plays, puns, catchphrases, profanity and double entendres, they acquired a massive cult following throughout the late 1990s/early to mid-2000s and had their own television programs broadcast at different times by MTV Brasil (1999–2010, 2013), RecordTV (2010–2013) and FX (2015–2016). They were also responsible for creating Tela Class for MTV and idealizing the parodic heavy metal band Massacration.

Hermes & Renato
Marco Antônio Alves (left) and Fausto Fanti (right) perform as their respective characters "Hermes" and "Renato" in 2002
Medium
NationalityBrazilian
Years active1999–present
Genres
Members
  • Marco Antônio Alves
  • Adriano Pereira
  • Felipe Torres
  • Franco Fanti
Former members
WebsiteHermeseRenato.com.br

History

The origins of Hermes & Renato trace back as early as 1990, when Petrópolis-based friends Marco Antônio Alves and Fausto Fanti used to perform comical sketches for fun in their houses under the respective monikers of "Hermes" and "Renato", while recording them with a camcorder; Hermes was taken from a former teacher of one of them, and Renato was a mutual friend whom they liked to joke about.[3] By 1999 they were joined by Adriano Pereira, Felipe Torres and Bruno Sutter (all of them long-time friends who occasionally performed together on their amateur sketches), becoming a fully fledged professional comedy troupe, and obtained a contract with MTV Brasil to host their own sketch comedy television program. During their tenure with MTV, the troupe amassed a strong cult following with their raunchy, unapologetic comedy, and characters and sketches such as "Gozo the Clown" (a parody of Bozo), "Padre Gato" ("Hot Priest"), "Boça", "Joselito Sem-Noção", "Padre Quemedo e o Capeta" ("Priest Quemedo and the Devil", parodying Spanish-born priest Óscar González-Quevedo), the titular "Hermes" and "Renato", a pair of wily con artists dressed in 1970s attire, and band Massacration, which would eventually spawn off and release albums and singles, also hosting their own program on MTV, Total Massacration, from 2005 to 2006.[4][5] They also created Tela Class, a show in which they re-dub old films creating an entirely different and satirical plot, which lasted for two seasons from 2007 to 2008, and the comical telenovelas Sinhá Boça (parodying Sinhá Moça) and O Proxeneta (parodying O Profeta). Their MTV series was also responsible for launching the career of future YouTuber Gil Brother, who was part of Hermes & Renato from 2002 until his departure in 2008 due to creative divergences and contractual issues.[6] Sutter left the group in 2012 to focus on his musical career and other pursuits. Both of them, however, would continue collaborating occasionally with the troupe as unofficial members.

In 2010 their contract with MTV expired, and they signed with RecordTV to have their own spot at the variety show Legendários, hosted by Marcos Mion. However, since MTV held the rights to both the "Hermes & Renato" name and most of their original characters, they were forced to pick a new one; after a poll was set up, fans chose "Banana Mecânica" ("A Clockwork Banana", referencing the novel/film A Clockwork Orange).[7] The "Banana Mecânica" period would be heavily criticized due to censorship from RecordTV though, and the humorists later came to disown it.[8] They returned to MTV in 2013, recovering their former name, until it went defunct;[9] Hermes & Renato then announced they would be purchasing the name rights in order to branch to digital platforms and other television channels.[10]

In late 2013 Hermes & Renato signed with FX; their show was scheduled to premiere in late 2014,[11] but it was postponed to November of the following year as Fausto Fanti, who was considered the group's "intellectual mentor",[12] committed suicide by hanging at his apartment on July 30, 2014 following increasing bouts of depression.[13][14] He was subsequently replaced by his brother, Franco Fanti.[15] Their contract with FX expired in 2016.

Hermes & Renato launched their first theater play, Uma Tentativa de Show, in 2017.[16][17]

In 2020, Felipe Torres joined fellow humorists Paulinho Serra (formerly from Comédia MTV and Pânico na TV), Raul Chequer and Leandro Ramos (of YouTube and television series Choque de Cultura) to star in the comedy film Abestalhados 2, directed by Marcelo Botta and Marcos Jorge (who previously directed Estômago in 2007) and scheduled to be released in early 2021.[18]

Cancelled film

In 2009, celebrating their 10th anniversary, Hermes & Renato announced that they began planning a full-length film, scheduled to premiere in movie theaters by 2011;[19] after missing its planned release date no further news emerged, and following the closure of MTV Brasil in 2013 and the suicide of Fausto Fanti in 2014 it was presumably cancelled. Nonetheless, an hour-long documentary entitled A Verdadeira História de Hermes & Renato, originally filmed in 2009, did premiere on MTV Brasil in 2013.[1]

Members

Present members
  • 1999–present: Marco Antônio Alves (Hermes)
  • 1999–present: Adriano Pereira
  • 1999–present: Felipe Torres
  • 2015–present: Franco Fanti

Past members

See also

References
  1. Filipe Pereira (August 13, 2014). "Crítica: A Verdadeira História de Hermes & Renato". Vortex Cultural (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  2. Fernanda Dannemann (February 24, 2002). "Hermes & Renato consagra o 'heavy-trash'". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  3. Chico Silva (September 18, 2002). "A musa do escracho". ISTOÉ (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  4. "Relembre personagens de Fausto Fanti em 'Hermes & Renato'". G1 (in Portuguese). July 31, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  5. Aurélio Araújo (July 30, 2015). "15 personagens inesquecíveis de Fausto Fanti, do 'Hermes & Renato'". Medium (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  6. Nataly Cabanas (March 10, 2011). "O que é isso, Brother?". Trip (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  7. "Grupo Hermes & Renato agora se chama Banana Mecânica". R7.com (in Portuguese). June 5, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  8. James Cimino (April 16, 2013). "'Até piada de português fomos proibidos de fazer na Record', dizem Hermes & Renato em volta à MTV". UOL (in Portuguese). Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  10. "Hermes & Renato segue trilha do Porta dos Fundos". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). July 23, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  11. Cauê Muraro (November 19, 2015). "'Boça' diz que em Hermes & Renato vale tudo pelo humor: 'Menos zoofilia'". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  12. Rodrigo Ortega (July 31, 2014). "'Que ele seja lembrado como genial', dizem amigos de Fausto Fanti". G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  13. "Fausto Fanti, humorista do Hermes & Renato, é encontrado morto em SP". G1 (in Portuguese). July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  14. Jaqueline Falcão (July 31, 2014). "Delegado diz não ter dúvidas de que Fausto Fanti cometeu suicídio". O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  15. "'Vamos seguir em frente pelo Fausto', anunciam atores de 'Hermes & Renato'". G1 (in Portuguese). August 21, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  16. "Hermes & Renato falam de mimimi, peça em Curitiba e nova série". Tribuna (in Portuguese). August 31, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  17. Paulo Corrêa (July 14, 2019). "Hermes & Renato apresenta a peça Uma Tentativa de Show em Porto Alegre". Jornal No Palco (in Portuguese). Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  18. Leonardo Sanchez (March 9, 2020). "Comédia reúne atores de Hermes & Renato, Comédia MTV e Choque de Cultura". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  19. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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