Music video shoot with Seth Williams and Andy Metz

Photos by me, full Flickr set here. So my comedy pal Seth Williams and I have been talking about doing a music video for quite awhile, and a few weekends ago he brought his musical partner-in-crime Andy Metz to my neighborhood and we ran around with my cameras, shooting them performing their song "Simpleton" in several locations. We had a great time playing around and being creative, and I'm really happy with the video and photos we ended up with. Of course, this being my first music video edit, it will still take me awhile to refine the final product, but when it's done I will be sharing it here, so stay tuned! Here are a few photos from the video shoot.

My pix from Impress These Apes Season 4 Show 4: Horror Films

(Full Flickr set here.) Last night was the mid-point of the fourth year of Impress These Apes, show #4, and the talent was Horror Movie. The puny human slaves, aka contestants, were partnered up and challenged to complete a 10 minute horror movie. Between crafting their ideas and still doing things like going to 9-5 jobs, most of them were editing up until the wee hours of the morning yesterday, so after the show the crowd dispersed earlier than usual, but their efforts were clearly worth it. The Apes treated us puny human audience members to popcorn and milk duds, and it was an awesome night as usual.

Ken Barnard as Beauty Pageant Host and Jim Fath as Future Human:


Steve Gadlin as Barry Shirley, Paul Luikart as Captain Apehab, and Bryan Bowden as Bushmeat:


Michelle Renee Thompson and Chelsea Devantes:


And their video:


Thomas Wittington and Kelly Beeman:


And their video:


Scott Whitehair and Chad Briggs:


And their video:


Christina Boucher and Daniel Kibblesmith:


And their video:


Bryan as Bushmeat. (Is it weird that I still find him cute when he's being a redneck ape? That's not usually my type.)


And the final moment of terror for the contestants, the announcement of next week's challenge: their biggest performance fear, which they were unfortunate enough to tell the apes during their videotaped auditions. I say it every week: these contestants have major huevos. I wouldn't even be able to handle the audition process, let alone being an Apes contestant and coming up with something awesome every time with 7 days' notice.

My pix from Peek-a-Boo: An Ooky Spooky Halloween Burlesque Revue

The show is at the Greenhouse Theater in Chicago, all this month! Full Flickr set here:

Mr. Bones, AKA Chris Biddle:



Naughty Natanya:





Siren Jinx:





Natasha Minsk:









Dr. Acula:



Very Bond girl-y!

Elena Rubin Headshots

Elena is just incredibly beautiful. A record one third of all the photos I shot of her were nice. She's now faced with the task of sorting through about 500 to choose her favorites (full Flickr set here). I'm very proud of this set, and happy to give another headshot client exactly what they were looking for.

Don't Spit the Water at the Just For Laughs fest, show #2

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:


Kristen Studard and Chip Aucoin of the Chicago Sashay Dancers (boy, those kids have moxie!):


Sasha (Steve Gadlin) and the Noob (Paul Luikhart):


Bryan Bowden's grand entrance as Timekeeper Willis - he does a mean sprinkler, no?:


Erica Reid (as Cutie Bumblesnatch) will poke you with a toothbrush, if that's what it takes:


Jared Logan, as Kelly Paynes, knows not where the boundaries of propriety are:


The awesomely nutbar (and equally lovable) Puterbaugh Sisterz:

Jared Logan, as Kelly Paynes, doesn't know when to stop:


Nick Vatterott, as The Interrogator, will get the information he needs from you!:


Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle:


Special guest comedian, back from Los Angeles, Robert Buscemi:


Dancing at the end of the show, to celebrate the winner (yeah, that's Cutie Bumblesnatch's idea of "exhuberant":

Don't Spit the Water at the Just For Laughs fest, show #1

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:


Sasha and the Noob (Steve Gadlin and Paul Luikart) try out their razor sharp knock-knock jokes:


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:


The end: darn you, Mr. Pickles!