Bryan and his Blewt pals resurrected Don't Spit the Water for two Just For Laughs festival shows at the Playground Theater, and I was front and center dutifully manning my camera. Yes, that meant my feet got spit on several times. Ew! Some of our friends who have split for LA and New York came back to reprise some of their best (most ridiculous) characters, and the night was SO FUN. These are my favorite pics from the 10:30 show. Fuzzy Gerdes as a giant scary banana:
Bryan and his Blewt pals resurrected Don't Spit the Water for two Just For Laughs festival shows at the Playground Theater, and I was front and center dutifully manning my camera. Yes, that meant my feet got spit on several times. Ew! Some of our friends who have split for LA and New York came back to reprise some of their best (most ridiculous) characters, and the night was SO FUN. These are my favorite pics from the 8:00 show.
A contestant tries to resist the comedic powers of Choco Loco (aka T.J. Miller, in from LA):
The absurd and pathetic-but-endearing Chicago Sashay Dancers:
Ken Barnard, as Krystle Strawbury, tries to charm a contestant into spitting:
...then he takes a more aggressive approach as Krystle turns into a mermaid:
Potty-mouthed cowboy Scot Goodheart (with Bryan keeping time in the background) whips out some power ballads to coax some soggy chuckles:
Bryan Bowden, as Timekeeper Willis, explains that one of that night's prizes is an autographed picture of himself, which he thinks is the greatest thing ever:
Chicago comedy is still recovering a bit from the week of awesome that was the Just For Laughs festival. Big names came in, and lots of our local pals (including 4-5 of my show's cast) got some stage time at some fantastic showcases. After the two super fun Don't Spit the Water shows Saturday night (pics to come, see 'em on Flickr sans commentary if you want), a bunch of us rode up the street to iO, where they were having a special reunion show for the Late Night Late Show.
The Del Close theater was packed full of more people I've ever seen in there before, with extra rows of chairs in front of the stage and bar. Everyone was excited about the show's special guest, Bob Odenkirk - except he didn't show up, but David Cross was there instead! He was really cool and (of course) funny. He did a recurring bit where the host would ask him to tell the audience what his upcoming book was about (or whatever), and he'd go up and down the rows, briefly explaining it to every individual person. He did it several times and the audience was nerding out at the concept of David Cross interacting with them. When he got to me, he described Arrested Development by saying "It was a show, with people, and comedy..." then he moved on.
Another special guest, for whom the audience woo'd and cheered like mad, was Sarah Haskins, Chicago native and writer/star of the excellent, excellent "Target Women" videos on Current tv. So smart and funny, and so nice. I interviewed her for the Bastion awhile back, and said a quick hello to her right before the show started. After three comedy shows in one night, and knowing I'd need to spend all of the following Sunday writing, I started to wind down at 1:30 am and left the show before it was over, heading home on my bike. Bryan stuck around and ended up joining Sarah and a bunch of our mutual friends for a spontaneous party until the wee hours of the morning. Of course! I always miss all the fun. Anyway, some of my pics:
Sarah Haskins and Steve Waltien:
Seth Weitberg and David Cross:
Seth Weitberg, David Cross, and Jordan Klepper:
And, just for fun, one of my favorite Target Women videos:
Spending many hours learning Final Cut Pro. MANY hours. So far, I have 17 cool seconds to show for it. Whaddya think? For once I'm editing something that actually has me in it, although it's only a still photo. Also, I needed a cool, fuzzed out clip of someone performing stand-up to put under the early part, so I snuck in some boyfriend footage. Sweet.
