Ken Barnard's Set From Blewtenanny #1

Blewtenanny clip #2! I stupidly deleted the music from the first clip so I had to quickly come up with something new. Since I sort of owe Ken a nice clip (his last ChUC set was good but not good footage to edit) I included an extra special lion's ROAR in the beginning music clip.

Ken utterly kicked ass in this show, and brought the night to a screaming, rousing finale.

Writing, Writing, Writing. Typity, Typity, Type.

Three bits:

I just published a zippy little piece on Chicago Metblog: "Hot Chicks at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry." It's about my enduring love for the museum, as well as little fuzzy chick babies.

Yesterday I saw two manifestations of ideas I've kicked around for a long time and done nothing with. #1 - meals, made to impress the hoity-toity, made entirely of ingredients purchased at the Dollar Store. In the New York Times, no less. #2 - a photography project comparing the photos of packaged foods contrasted with the actual food, prepared as directed. I need to follow up on my weird ideas more often.

My hometown is being touted by CNN as a great place to live. This part made me happy: "Local residents fought a two-year legal battle to stop Wal-Mart from opening a local branch." That would have been ridiculous, because there's one about a mile outside of town, on 86th Street, and a Super Target even closer. And wow, the population is over 10,000 now? Woo, Zionsville, you're big stuff!

Don't Spit the Water Photo Post

The three lovely contestants. The curly haired girl was enjoying her bachelorette party, and her friends were whooping it up all the way through.









Somehow I managed to catch a real-live spit! It's coming from the contestant, not from Bryan. I believe it was Nigel Knickers who inspired her to spew.









This girl stuck around for Blewtenanny afterwards and was a key part of the fun. Bryan talked to her and her friends between shows and they are all army buddies, so I say, drink, laugh, and be merry, soldiers!








The final showdown! Miss Blondie gave it up early, making Miss Curly Hair the triumphant winner (although she left her gift certificate prize behind somehow). Tammy Connors' "Madame Ovary," the '70's sex ed teacher, was a scream. How can you keep a straight face with a talking vagina puppet in your face?






Kristen Studard's "a cat" character must be seen to be believed. She is very persistent and would like for you to hold her bowl of cream while she dunks her entire mouth and nose into it, please. And yes, she coughs up hairballs and has a little kitty poop chute. Why wouldn't she?




All photos from Bryan's camera, on my Flickr account.

Go see Don't Spit the Water Saturday nights at the Playground Theater!

A Blewt Whirlyball Bonanza

It's a busy morning. I have lots of deadlines for work, and people from NBC and this comedy festival and that comedy festival keep calling, wanting to pick my brain about Chicago comedy. That's flattering, but dang, kids, Bella's got to pay the bills, too.

How about a couple of photo posts?

(P.S. I edited the Bonnie Hunt post to feature the picture of her and my brother with his face un-fuzzed.)

First, Whirlyball photos from Friday night. It's pretty amazing to watch a dozen fully grown people chase a little ball in little electric carts, screaming and trash-talking like there's a championship title at stake.

It's a Blewt throwdown! Big Dummy (with the hat) and Timekeeper Willis (brown t-shirt) face off in ridiculous little lawnmower-looking things.









Bryan tries to master the steering stick and the ball-chucking thing at the same time. He hit the wall a few times, which was enough to convince me not to play.









Tyler plays for real. He was blocking and passing with ferocity.










Bryan was very happy and tired when the last game was over, but there was still enough group enthusiasm for a round of laser tag.






All photos from Bryan's camera, on my Flickr account.

Bryan Bowden Hosts Blewt!'s "Blewtenanny" Stand Up Showcase

Oh yeah (I always forget to mention when I post my own videos), I shot, edited, and wrote the music for this clip. I need more practice with the tripod, and the camera in general, but the editing is pretty decent.

Bryan wanted some more stand up fun in his life and his Blewt friends gave him the go-ahead for a montly showcase. The first one went smashingly well, and I'm sure it will only get better. I'll post more clips as I edit them.

Saturday Morning Comedy Writing Salon/Workshop

The comedy writing group Bryan and I started is more and more fun every week. It's so productive, and yet it's so easy and fun. Everyone brings bits they'd like help with, whether it's stand-up, sketch, or short film ideas, and we just go around the room adding to and developing each other's material. And then we get to see people immediately hitting the stage with their newly refined material -- last night was Don't Spit the Water (I took 150 photos), where Bryan, Kristen, and Tammy performed their characters, and then the first Blewtennanny stand up showcase (hosted by Bryan), which featured group members Fuzzy and Ken. Plus, lots of group members pop into Schubas on Sunday nights, and I think we've convinced Tammy and Kristen to hit their first open mic week after next. It's pretty near my house so I've promised them I'll go, too, for emotional support. A few pix:

No one goes hungry.











We bring lots of notes but take none, because I record everyone's feedback and e-mail it to them for further exploration.









We are inspired by Schadenfreude's space, because they have the remnants of years of creativity all over the room, including lists of sketches from their Chicago Public Radio show.

It's Almost April, and, Like You, I'm Slowly Melting

I am way behind on communications right now, forgive me, friends, family, and colleagues.

I'm still sick (?!?!) and am lacking the energy I need to attend to life's tasks right now.

Also, is there anything quite as sad as snow on a bicycle? Bah.

New Blog Frontiers, Quiet Rebel Redhead, Lingering Sickness, Bonus Tuna, and Old Nellie Hubbard

Because I don't write enough, I just made my first post on Chicago Metblog. It's about CTA President Ron Huberman kicking ass and taking names on a 7:30 a.m. Red Line train last week.

Amy Lillard is even cooler than I thought she'd be. She agreed to meet me for lunch at Kopi yesterday and she gave me some fantastic freelancing tips I'm already putting to good use. She's really smart and funny and interesting, and has the natural red locks I've been trying to get out of a bottle for years. Don't forget to give her a peek at Quiet Rebel Writer.

I'm still getting settled in the new place. It's a little lonely during the week without Nellie and Teresa, but they'll be here soon enough. I'm re-sick. I don't know how this happened, except for maybe lack of sleep. My throat is killing me. I want to get better ASAP because we're finally tiptoeing into biking season!

A few observations about transitioning to our new home:

--I love our big sunny kitchen and the washer and dryer neatly tucked into our pantry. I've been working from my laptop at the kitchen table all day, while washing bedclothes, unpacking, washing, and finding cupboard space for Nellie's kitchenware, stepping on the back balcony for a bit of sunshine, and nibbling my way through our soon-to-expire produce. I've never thought of myself as a particularly domestic person but I have to say this new living environment has already had a good influence on me and (do not tell my mother I said this) I enjoy puttering around in my bathrobe, sipping coffee, and doing little household tasks.

--I went to clean out a few things from my old place and found several things on high shelves in that kitchen, including the tuna I had for lunch, one of Calpurnia's mice (??) and a bottle of ADD med which will surely be put to good use.

--Our kitchen cabinets are packed with stuff...on the two bottom shelves only. We're shortish and we don't have a step stool yet. Maybe we should put Bryan's cooking supplies on the high shelves, he's the only one who can reach up that far.

--Nellie has the kitchen collection of Old Mother Hubbard, if OMH had a QVC account and a Platinum Mastercard. No kidding. Nellie will nurture the crap out of you with muffins and eggs and six kinds of soup, and she's got pots and pans and cookie sheets enough to feed conquering armies. She's got cookie cutters (for persuading picky little eaters to down the pb&j's she foists on them), novelty ice cube trays (for orange juice cubes shaped like orange slices), and utensils I can't begin to imagine the proper use of.

--I love living in a family building. I love the chatter of our landlord's little grandkids coming and going and the warm smell of dinner rising up the back stairs at 5 or 6 o'clock. Our landlords are such a lovable grandparent-y couple that some days it's all I can do to not invite myself downstairs for ham and pinto bean soup and cornbread when that happy domestic scent reaches my sniffer.

PeaWea's Romantic Adventures in California

Melissa is moving to California.

She's making art to fund her move.

Her creations are adorable. You love them.

Go. Buy. Now.

Friday Free-For-All

Why has the reporter become the subject? I still haven't fit my appearance on NBC's morning program into my schedule yet, although yesterday I found a few minutes to talk with a guy who's writing about the Chicago comedy scene for Midwest Living magazine (you know, the one your mom reads). He called me the "doyenne of ChiCom," which goes hand-in-hand with Dan's tagging of me as the "den mother of Chicago comedy," which, thankfully, didn't make it into the Tribune piece. (I'm semi-kidding. It's very flattering but also funny that all of these descriptors allude to me being old and a mother many times over. I'm pretty young and energetic, and ain't got no cute babies to show for all of my nurturing. Plus, I tend to think of K-Rock as the den mother of Chicago comedy.)

As if things weren't busy enough, this morning I got an e-mail from someone wanting me to do a half hour radio interview piece. I asked him if it would be cool to interview me and Dan at the same time, since I am more used to being the interviewer, and sort of dread the thought of having to talk about myself for 30 minutes straight.

In other news...

Melissa is moving to Los Angeles! Yes, my dear niece, best friend, and invaluable emotional support during my transition to life here in Chicago is spreading her wings and heading for the land of sunshine, bikinis, and more film editing and graphics work than she'd ever be able to find here. She and her partner in crime (and business) are keeping a blog about it here. Please note the fantastic looking custom graphics she's incorporated into their blog, and click on the PayPal button, should you feel so generous. Also, feel free to call and console me in a few months, when I'll be an emotional wreck...I'm going to miss her terribly. But I'm very proud of her and I have every confidence that she's going to make a smooth transition and impress me with many accomplishments in a short time.

My adorable boyfriend is in the home stretch of his mighty mustache-growing efforts. (Feel free to donate here! Scroll down to find "Bryan Bowden.") He thinks he looks skeevy with the current facial hair configuration. I think he looks like he's in rehearsals for a musical, roller-skating off-Broadway production of Starsky and Hutch. The children of Chicago benefit from whatever donations he collects by enjoying continued free tutoring and writing classes at 826 CHI. Wednesday night he and I headed to a pub in Wicker Park for the weekly mustache growth assessment and photo documentation, not to mention a few pints of beer and the reading of silly mustache-themed poetry. Before the night was over I also volunteered to help 826 CHI with some PR efforts for some of their upcoming events.

I'd also like to offer a respectful little tip of the hat to Quiet Rebel Writer, a very inspiring freelance writer here in Chicago who I know through ideaXchange. I actually have not met her yet, but I hope to sometime soon. Quiet Rebel Writer is an amazing resource of insights and good information about finding success and satisfaction as a communications professional. And on top of that, she just seems like a cool person - creative, smart, thoughtful, and independent of mind. Just what I want to be when I grow up (but for the fact that she's younger than I am.) If you're the least bit interested in freelance writing, you should make QRW a regular read.

Bonnie Hunt Is My New Best Friend

Okay...not really. I've never met her. But I've been a huge fan of hers for a long time. I just think she's so warm and funny and charming onscreen, and I've somehow always thought of her as my cool older sister.

Like me, she's among the youngest in a large Irish German Catholic family, is from Chicago, and trained at Second City.

Unlike me, she's starred in movies with Dustin Hoffman, Steve Martin, and Robin Williams. She's also a writer, director and television producer.

She disarms David Letterman (with whom she's created two television shows) by simply walking onto his set, a trait she shares with one of my other favorite comedy ladies, Amy Sedaris. And she just seems like a real person, and someone who is genuinely warm and caring.

My brother has been directing Bonnie in an event he's been working on and they've been doing some rehearsals this week.

Last night while I was managing producing duties at ChUC (which was an amazing show, by the way), my brother sent me a text: "I'm hanging out with Bonnie Hunt."

I wrote back: "Tell her I love her."

Then I thought, "no! I should have said 'tell her I'm producing a stand-up showcase in Chicago -- and I love her!' I want to sound cool!" But it was too late.

Today he e-mailed me this picture of them, taken with her phone. Apparently when he told her how much I love her, she insisted that he take a picture for me.

"She's as warm and straight-up as you'd expect her to be," he said. "After kissing my left cheek (which I haven't washed yet) she headed toward her car and said 'say 'hi' to your sister!"

Did I Accidentally Pack My Shoes?*

Whew. Moved in. Unpacking. Sore and bruised. Appreciative of helpful family and friends. Glad to be settling in. Incapable of full sentences. More soon.

*Yes, I did. I got ready to go and couldn't find my sneakers anywhere...I had taped them up neatly in a moving box.

On Second Thought...

My flight to Cleveland was canceled due to weather, and they would not have been able to get me in until tomorrow afternoon, making it a 24 hour trip. No thanks, I'll take a refund.

Instead, I'm going to take advantage of the UHaul Nellie and Teresa booked for their move tomorrow and move a week early.

A week early? Yikes! Does anyone know where I can find some boxes?

P.S. Last time I put a UHaul picture in a blog post was three years ago. Man, if I think I'm jittery and unsettled now, thinking about what I was like then is a powerful reality check.

Me in the Chicago Tribune and the Indianapolis Star Today

I am in today's Chicago Tribune, in a story about the stand-up scene. The writer talked to me and Dan about ChUC and also quoted my very first comedy soul sister, K-Rock.

I'm heading to Midway to grab a flight to Cleveland to visit Melissa, who's house-sitting there. Yes, Cleveland! It's all part of my brilliant plan to escape the harsh Chicago winter by making an almost imperceptible shift in the exact same latitude.

Also, I had a record three articles published in the Indianapolis Star this morning. If you're interested in the 26th annual Flower and Patio Show at the Indiana Fairgrounds, I am darned near an expert on the subject at this point. My parents are calling everyone within a 25 mile radius making sure everyone reads today's paper and marvels at my flair for proper punctuation and short, easy-to-digest paragraphs.

A quote from the Trib piece:

Stand and deliver

In a town full of improv and temptations to move elsewhere, the stand-up scene still has its stars

By Glenn Jeffers | TRIBUNE REPORTER

March 7, 2008

...Chicago Underground (Comedy)...is more of a showcase for the new "room-to-room" comics like Brady Novak, Brendan McGowan and Fay Canale. Though the room's a little bigger than the Lodge, the show still carries the same hangout vibe back when Sam ran it out of Gunther Murphy's. Comics do their sets, then knock back a few and talk shop in the bar.

Thank Dan Telfer and Elizabeth McQuern, the show's new producers, for keeping that vibe. The two have retained several local comics by sticking to a tried-and-true philosophy: Give them whatever they want, from extra time to letting them play music on stage. "We want them to feel spoiled," says Telfer, 29, of Evanston...

Is All of Chicago Sick?

I went to the doctor today and I have a viral sinus infection that's crept into my ears and chest. She could tell by looking in my ears that I'm dehydrated. My poor thirsty little ears!

She warned me about exhaustion, instructed me to push fluids, and gave me Flonase and Allegra, but I'm just going to have to wait 5-6 days for the virus to leave my body. If I don't rest now I could prolong my recovery by several more days.

I am so shaky and exhausted right now, and I've hardly done a thing. While waiting for my prescriptions, I was so sweaty and dizzy I decided not to buy groceries because carrying stuff makes me feel weak. I have almost no food at home. Yesterday I fainted after walking up three flights of stairs.

I can't go to ChUC tonight because any exertion beyond typing makes me feel dizzy. This makes me feel worse because Dan is also miserably sick (not to mention he's awaiting the arrival of his little bundle of joy), and this means he'll be producing tonight's show without my help. I'm sorry, Dan, and tonight's performing comedians.

Kristy is sick. Bryan has been a little sick. Melissa (formerly known as Sloan, now going by her real name) is sick. Is all of Chicago sick?

We're ready for Springtime now, please.

Edited to add: Angel is also sick. Pooh on you, wacky weather. Stop this silliness.

Edit again: Nellie is also sick. This is RIDICULOUS.

"I love the swirl and swing of words as they intertwangle with human emotions.”

Darn. I thought I'd made up an entirely new word, but Google tells me others before me have done the same. It also tells me it's not a real word, but I knew that already.

Still, "intertwangled" is pretty darned funny, no?

(The title of this post is a purposely mangled quote from James Mitchener.)

Moving In, Moving On, Moving Up

I am blogging for the first time in my new place. Nellie and I went to Jewel and she put together a sweet spread for us, documented with a MacBook Photo Booth snap, sealed with a stagey handshake (at left). Our new apartment is huge and gorgeous, and I can't wait to be totally settled here. I rented a U-Haul for the weekend after next, and thank goodness. My studio is feeling more cramped and depressing by the day. Did I mention it's cramped and depressing? And it only has one window? Because it is, and it does.

Bryan made a Butterfinger commercial the other day. They liked him so much they invited him back to do another one. (That's him at left in the green shirt, next to his 21-year old "girlfriend," feigning anger that his "roommate" and his "sister" are making out.) The next one will also feature Dan Polydoris, who's one of my cast members at ChUC and one of my favorite comedy boys. Bryan will play a hotel patron who repays his hungry bellboy (Polydoris) with a mouthful of pre-chewed Butterfinger. Ew.

Also, he's growing a mustache for a charity, 826CHI, which offers free writing support to Chicago schoolkids. (There are some netizens who think the whole thing is terribly sexist, by the way. They're incorrect.) I've never known him without a full beard and mustache, so it was a little shock to see him clean-shaven. He looks younger, and, as far as I'm concerned, is adorable with or without the scruff, but I still donated $25 for him to grow the 'stache back.

What else? I made a donation to Barack Obama's campaign today. I have been a big supporter of his for several years, since I first began reading about him. I never thought I would say this about a politician before, but he inspires me and makes me feel hopeful about my country's future.

Obama '08!