In the Sunday 4/20 edition of Wiley Miller's Non Sequitur, the main character Joe is seen reading a paper called the "Sunday Telegram", with a headline that reads "Corey Pandolph Found Dead at Gritty's".
Needless to say it was a groggy Sunday morning surprise to find that I was dead... At least in comic form. Rest assured, I'm fine and you shouldn't believe everything you read... Especially in the comics.
FYI, my friend and Maine journalist, Al Diamon, does a nice job of reporting the incident here: Media Mutt
Recently I was hired to make a promotional video for a new book written by Tom Leopold and Bob Sand. The book is called Milt & Marty: The Longest Lasting and Least Successful Comedy Writing Duo in Show Biz History, it was published by Virgin Books and edited by the lovely Ken Siman.
So that's all pretty cool, right? Well, let me throw this in as well. We shot at the Friar's Club on West 55th St. Yes, you know it...it's the place where I want to die. In the video, Tom and Bob play Milt and Marty and answer questions about their careers and personal lives. We shot on Saturday, edited on Sunday and by Monday it was finished. Tom and Bob showed the video at their book warming on Tuesday night in the Milton Berle room at The Friar's and it reportedly went over great. I say reportedly because I got there late and missed it. However, at the event I got to see Richard Belzer, Paul Schaeffer and meet Stephen Collins (who I remember very fondly from his role in Jumpin' Jack Flash). I was told that Chevy Chase was there but I missed him.
This was a wonderful experience all around, including technically, as I got to work with my new set of wireless Sennheiser lavs for the first time as well as a couple of new lights. There's nothing really visually dazzling about the video as it was meant to look like a straight interview segment. However, emulating a three camera shoot with only one camera while an intermittently loud construction crane moved up and down just outside the window, all the while keeping the entire shoot under three hours, was in itself an accomplishment. I have to thank Frank Santopadre (who appears as the interviewer) for hooking me up with this opportunity. Of course, if I don't also thank Sean Crespo for recommending me to Frank, there will be hell to pay. So thank you, Sean. I couldn't have done this shoot entirely on my own with absolutely no help without you.
There are two clips below. The first is the video we showed at the Friar's Club and the second is a short clip of outtakes of Milt and Marty talking about the celebrities of today.
You can buy your very own copy of Milt and Marty in bookstores everywhere, as well as here.
The acronym MILF is not funny. It is especially unfunny when a woman uses it describe herself. It's abominably, nine-elevenly unfunny when a woman uses it to describe herself...in front of her child.
On a related topic, The Real Housewives of New York have not yet been set on fire. Who's on that?
Baseball! Flowers! Showers! Mud and yards of brown grass that smell like feet!
It’s Spring in Maine, a time when we we climb from our caves... Uh, capes and say hello to Mr. Sunshine. We pull out the short shorts, the flip flops and Adirondack chairs and pretend that we’ve NEVER seen a late April snowstorm.
So, before you exercise your weather delusions, why not enjoy some comedy? Eh?
It’s the Drink at Work Show: Portland! This Wednesday, April 16th @ the Empire Dine and Dance.
“Enter with your shorts and cabana shirt, exit with your parka and Bean boots.”
The Drink at Work Show: Portland!
Hosted by The Soul Proprietor and The Fuge Featuring comedian Seth Bond Perry and Brian Giles Music by Eggbot, with Comedy Bingo to follow.
Wednesday, April 16th @ 9pm at The Empire Dine and Dance 575 Congress St., Portland ME $3 @ the door
Join the Shoot the Messenger cast and crew behind the scenes as we work on the "Mothers with Benefits" sketch. Oh, and it's also taco night. SEAN CRESPO makes tacos, yes. Shot on 4/6/08.
Like a nearly formed chick reflexively jerking one of its downy wings for the first time, its eyes still sealed shut with the Nature's caulk, its premie chicken body simultaneously bound and fed by the sticky yolk-plasma of its shell's insides for a short time longer, this reel is not done yet... but it's close.
I've been waiting for a couple months to get some of the video assets I needed for this. I finally did a few weeks back and voila, a rough cut was born when I got around to it. Which was this weekend. One coincidence to note...both my friends Matt McCarthy and Sara Jo Allocco have recently finished or nearly finished their reels as well. I'm wondering if the three of us share a special bond that connects us psychically. For instance, last night was the third night in a row that I had a dream where Matt, Sara, and I all met in an empty barley field in Holland and prayed for the opening of the portal to the Elder Gods by sacrificing Dutch livestock and lepers. Another funny coincidence, we all woke up today covered in wooden shoes and blood! And some of the shoes still had feet in them!
What are the odds?
Man, this thing called life just keeps getting kookier!
Description: This is the opening sequence for a "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" -ish Web series that Drink at Work was hired to work on for NBC's now-defunct site DotComedy. The show was to use existing footage from the old Exosquad cartoon while mixing in live performances from Drink at Work's in-house cast. Though the footage of the entire first episode was shot (but never actually edited together), financial problems at the Web site forced us to abort the project. We still love the intro, however, so if someone wants to pay us to finish the first episode or even to continue with the series feel free to contact us.
That tour was cut short when a fall from the stage resulted in some sliced tendons for lead singer and one of the guitarists, Billy.
Billy's on his way to healing up, but it's going to take some time....and money.
As a 31 year old who hasn't had health insurance since he was 18, I probably can sympathize with Billy's plight more than many. I'd say most, but more and more in the arts community are not or very much under insured.
If you can spare anything, even a few dollars, please help the guy out. Pela is, and I hate to use this word in this manner, an "important" band. They are very much a part of a movement of smart, poetic, and powerful music that will become the defining style and even artistic ethic for our generation. Plus, they simply kick some truly serious ass.
The boys of Pela have set up a PayPal account here.
You can also of course support Billy and the guys by purchasing a copy of their phenomenal album ANYTOWN GRAFFITI.
If you don't own it, you should probably kill yourself with a hammer. Or buy it. Either or.
At any rate, I'll be putting another mention of all this in my vlog for Television Without Pity which will be available Thursday morning. Here's hoping!
Below is the email blast they sent out earlier today, which has a little more background. ------ Hello all,
Many people now know about Billy cutting tendons in his hand while at a show last month in Chicago. All of you will be happy to hear that Billy is on the path to recovery and he has begun physical therapy that will continue for the next 6 weeks.
Now that the dust has settled it brings to light the reality of medical and life expenses. It also outlines the healthcare system and how unforgiving it is.
Billy's had help from a great organization called MusiCares. While MusicCares are helping where they can, there is a growing amount of bills that cannot be covered. And the fact that only one arm is fully functioning means that Billy has no way to go to work and pay any of these bills that are adding up to thousands and thousands of dollars.
So we've decided to set up a PayPal account for donations.
For everyone wondering how they can help, this is the best way we've figured out to make that happen. Thanks again to everyone that has been supportive during this time period.
The Rejection Show: Wednesday @ 8pm - $5 at the UCB Theatre
The Rejection Show is a comedic based event that embraces the rejected and "turned down" material of professional and amateur writers, comedians, cartoonists, artists, and human beings whom display their creative "failures" live on stage.
Hosted by Jon Friedman
April's Show: The Rejection Show's "On-Air Television Rejections" Volume One
Featuring NYC's finest comedians and writers sharing the footage and behind the scenes tales of their on-air rejections, humiliations, eliminations of failed footage and clips from Survivor, American Idol, VH1, The Tyra Banks Show and so many more!
All brand new segments never before seen on the show!
The Rejection Show is a comedic based event that embraces the rejected and "turned down" material of writers, comedians, cartoonists, artists, and other artistic types whom display their creative and personal "failures" live on stage. It is a hilarious compilation of rejected material (personal and professional) and the stories that go with them. Now set to be a major book release titled, REJECTED to be released in 2009.
Created, Hosted and Produced by writer/comedian Jon Friedman
Live music from Rejection Show House Band: THE DEFIBULATORS
Yes, folks, I'm back in an office job. Fortunately, it's only two days a week and I like to think of myself as more of a renegade hired gun than a corporate hump. I spent the morning designing house ads about the best places to work...ironic? Mayhaps.
Know what won't make the list? Almost everywhere I've ever worked. Know what should make the list? My apartment.
My office is fairly quiet and I've yet to meet any insane people, so there aren't any great Overhearsions™ to speak of at the moment. But two items of note: 1) there's a bathroom pass that I have to sign out for...so that's cool. 2) My office is right around the corner from Rachael Ray's studio. While picking up my lunch — a small falafel platter with onions, peppers, eggplant and hot sauce...god bless our street vendors — I saw the long line of soccor moms, suburban cheftistas, and Stauffer's lasagna lovers that one might expect to be in the queue for a Rachael Ray show. And I'm pretty sure I overheard someone say, "My favorite dish is high-fructose corn syrup! Is she making that today?"
Since taking on the full time role of resident Fake Rockstar over the last few months, I've learned some interesting things about myself. Allow me to share...
1. No matter how hard I try to keep a schedule, procrastination continues to make me her bitch. That's right, procrastination is a female. Deal with it.
2. Not showering for days and not doing laundry for weeks as an adult is much less fun than it was in college.
3. I'm much more productive between the hours of 9pm and 3am.
4. If I stay up working until 3am, I can physically feel my hair and imaginary bugs crawl all over my skin – I call them "Twinklepricks".
5. Just the right amount of cowboy bourbon whisky actually keeps me awake.
6. Too much cowboy bourbon whisky makes me write things like "Pontificational Ridicularity".
7. It is possible to write and draw 4 separate comic strips, but not recommended.
8. If I continue to write and draw 4 comic strips, 2 daily, one 5 days a week and one 2 days a week, for one year, I will have drawn and written 1008 comics strips.
9. Eating makes me fat.
10. Listening to the The National at 3am makes me cry.
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