Those bloggy Blerds have been at it again. These days they are doing shows in LA at the UCB theater, taking trips to NYC to hit comedy stages there, and packing bags to join other Chicago comedians at the upcoming DC Comedy Fest (from where The Bastion will be reporting). They're also continuing to overrun the internet with their succinct and sharp videos, which are directed by this Friday's Bastion interview subject, Jordan Vogt-Roberts.

Breakout Blerd TJ Miller, who popped into the Bad Dog open mic last Sunday in professionally done werewolf makeup and prosthetics (not for that occasion, but boy did it come in handy for those throat-ripping jokes) is featured in Gothamist, where he talks about his ABC sitcom pilot, studying drama in an Oxford summer program, and shares this bit of motivation for aspiring comedians: "That's how you get bitches, that's how you smoke weed. Believe that." As you may remember from history class, that's also what prompted Lincoln to pursue the presidency.

Is it possible for someone to get tired of seeing their own face? Mike Bridenstine might be pushing it. Mike and other Blerds have seen an amazing viral spinout of their videos in just the past few days. Blerds videos have been featured recently on the front pages of MySpace, MySpace UK, SuperDeluxe, Best Week Ever TV, iFilm, Yahoo's "The 9," webjunk.tv, and many other places.

Bridenstine had these comments on the recent viral explosion, and the Blerd gameplan:

"Well, we've gotten a lot of help. We have a manager and we have producers who push our stuff or build relationships with certain websites. We wouldn't have had that recent traffic without that help. Pat Brice's 'Rent or Own' video and the '8 Mile' video that Mike Holmes and I wrote have been online for almost a year. But they were only on Blerds.com. We just recently starting putting stuff on MySpace and YouTube and SuperDeluxe. And iFilm shortly after that. Some sites have contacted us. Some sites have just reposed from other sites. It's been pretty interesting.

"The exposure has opened a few more doors for us as comics. We've booked certain shows as a collective, where we might not have easily gotten that done as individuals. Again, the manager and producers have certainly helped with that. We've been filming stuff for an ad campaign that will launch next month. We also have a few online episodics to flesh out. Plus we have some pretty great videos we shot for Vivid Entertainment. But every Monday you should see some new material released from us. But other than that, everyone is pretty much going about their days like normal. No major life-altering things have happened because of this yet."

Who are those nerdy but wise girls who have been prodding Chicago comedians to shoot and upload their hilarity onto that newfangled internet thing, because it might even lead to amazing things like being cast on MadTV? Oh, that's right, it's us, The Bastion! With each new bit of news like this, we're happier and happier to say "I told you so."

The Blerds video getting the most exposure lately, starring Mike Bridenstine and Mike Holmes:
Blerds.com: Every Eminem Song Ever - 8 Mile

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