When he swept through Chicago last summer, we exchanged a few e-mails with Aziz Ansari. We promised to keep in touch. 24 hour marathon of his new sketch comedy show on MTV or no, he kept his promise. Aziz is performing stand-up at Chicago's Lakeshore Theater June 1 and 2. His new sketch show, "Human Giant," is all over MTV these days, and he and his cohorts Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer recently hosted a straight 24 hours of "Human Giant" madness on their new home channel, entertaining guests including Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, John Krasinski, Bob Odenkirk, Michael Showalter, Ted Leo, Todd Barry and Zach Galifianakis.
The Bastion caught Aziz on his cell phone while he was heading up the elevator in his apartment building on Wednesday. He explained to us how a foray into internet ads in college helped him pay the bills while beginning with comedy, how a ten year old boy he calls "the most amazing performer I've ever seen" scolded him for laughing on the set of his own show, and why eating dry ramen noodles right out of the package is a really bad idea.
AZIZ: I'm moving out of my place tomorrow so I'm packing all of my stuff.
BASTION: Are you moving into a big fat new place since you're so successful now?
AZIZ: No, it's actually quite the opposite, I'm going to end up paying more for less space. A roommate couldn't decide if he wanted to stay, and...I have to move. Bummer. The exact opposite of moving on up. I'm trading a smaller piece of the pie for a shittier piece of the pie.
BASTION: You're coming out to Chicago for some shows at the Lakeshore Theater soon, and "Human Giant" is busting out all over the place. I know people who stayed up for the whole 24 hour MTV marathon.
AZIZ: It was so much fun doing it, and it is awesome that they let us do it. Sort of a risky gamble on their part.
BASTION: So they really did let you do whatever you wanted, you picked the bands and the guests and stuff?
AZIZ: Yeah, we never had to pitch them anything, like with the show where we have to pitch the sketches. They didn't know about Billy Crystal, and Vin Diesel, and all that stuff. We just did whatever we wanted. The only restriction we really had was we were unable to show all the shows we wanted to because of legal issues with music and talent clearance but other than that we got to do whatever we wanted to do.
BASTION: Was it hard to stay up for the whole twenty-four hours, or were you so excited that it wasn't a problem?
AZIZ: We were able to stay up because we were so fired up and trying to keep everything moving. You didn't really have time to get tired, because as soon as we went to commercial break, it was like "what's next, what are we doing next, what's the next bit," and we were constantly on the move and working on stuff so it didn't really give you a chance to get tired.
BASTION: I actually learned a very valuable trick from that show, when Tegan and Sara came on, and they brought their favorite crummy snacks from when they were kids - I'd never seen anyone eat ramen noodles without water before, and I tried it, and I want to thank you for that. (Editor's note - it was dry and salty and not very nice.)
AZIZ: Oh my god, that's terrible, don't do that. People did that in high school, I remember. I didn't support it back then and I don't support it now. Probably pretty dangerous.
BASTION: Probably dangerous. So how much creative freedom do you guys have with "Human Giant?"
AZIZ: We can pretty much do what we want to do. They didn't really give us too many notes, which was cool. They don't really do many comedy shows, so they didn't give us too many notes, and we pretty much were able to do what we wanted to do.
BASTION: Were there ever any bits that you pitched that they just said "Uh, no, that's just not going to work."
AZIZ: No, they would never say that, but they might be like "we don't really get this one." If it was something we really wanted to do, they'd say, okay, shoot it, and we'll see how it looks. Like for example, they weren't really crazy about the "Catching a Predator" one, they thought it might be too confusing, but we were like "we really believe in the idea, and we think we can do it," and they said "why don't you shoot it," and now it's one of their favorites. They were great in that regard.
BASTION: My personal favorite of what I've seen of "Human Giant" so far is the "Shutterbugs" stuff, and especially the season finale with the little kid, Bobb'e J Thompson, who fires you guys from the talent agency - he is just unbelievable. (Link to that video here.) I'm wondering how you found him, and how the writing changed once you found that kid, because he's so astonishingly good - how did that whole thing come about?
AZIZ: A few years back I stumbled onto this show called "America's Most Talented Kids," along with Paul Scheer, and I saw Bobb'e J on that, where he was a judge, and he was like this daffy little kid who made all of these wisecracks, and I thought he was so funny, and I actually started doing a bit about him in my stand-up, and I knew him from that, and then I saw him on the Tracy Morgan show, and he was good on that, and he's been in a couple of movies and things, and he was clearly successful, and when we were writing the "Shutterbugs" season finale, and I think Jason said "What if you got fired and your boss was a little kid?" And I had been talking to some casting person about Bobb'e J, randomly, and we had the attitude that the character would be this high status kid, just yelling at us, and have a complete status reversal.
And we thought "the only kid who can do this is Bobb'e J," actually in the script the character was named Bobb'e J, that's how much we knew it had to be him, and at first he turned us down because there was some cursing in the script, or his agent or his parents turned it down, and then we took all the cursing out and we told him we'd buy him an X-Box or something like that, and he agreed to do it.
The next day we met up with him and shot it, and there's a behind the scenes shot of this of me and Jason legitimately nervous meeting him, it was so funny, we were so full of genuine admiration for this kid. Then we started shooting the scene, and it's pretty dialogue heavy, but he memorized it really fast, and then he was improvising jokes that totally blew our stuff out of the water, and the majority of what made it into the cut is stuff he improvised, and it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. We couldn't believe it.
This kid is like ten years old, and his comedic instincts are far beyond what any kid should be, and was improvising better than, like, I've never seen anything like it - Matt Walsh (of UCB) was there, and Rob (Huebel), Paul (Scheer), and they have years of improv experience, and all of them were blown away at how this kid was improvising. Easily the best performance of the whole series. We couldn't believe how he took ahold of the role, and made it his own. If you think of any joke you remember from that scene, it was all Bobb'e J. The calculator bit, that was him, the "I got a pool in the back of my house and I don't even know how to swim," that was him, you know, all of that stuff.
And we were laughing so hard, we had to shoot all of those reaction shots after Bobb'e J left, because Rob and I were breaking up so much. Every time he said anything...he would even get mad at us, like he came up with the thing where he jumps on a chair and says "You're fired, fools!" we were laughing every time, and he got pissed at us, like "Come on guys, let's get serious here, we gotta shoot this!" But yeah, during the series, there were a lot of fun moments, but watching Bobb'e J work just took the cake, and I hope in the second season he can do more stuff with us.
BASTION: He really is astonishing. While I was watching I thought "there's no way they wrote everything that he's doing," yet he's just a baby, what did you say, ten years old?
AZIZ: Yeah, ten years old. Just everything that he did, every line, like where he says "Little 9/11...shame." His line, and the way he said it, were just perfect. His delivery is just perfect. He's the most amazing performer I've ever seen.
BASTION: What's a typical week of comedy like for you now?
AZIZ: Right now we're in between seasons, Jason was still editing a few weeks ago, but we finished most of our publicity and stuff. I'm taking it easy a little, heading to Chicago. I like to go away on the weekends when I can, but still do Eugene Mirman's show, my show at Crash Test, but it's pretty loose. We'll be starting again with Human Giant before too long, and once that kicks in, the rest of your life sort of goes away, because there's so much work involved.
BASTION: You're only 24 and you've done so much already. How have you managed to progress so quickly?
AZIZ: I started when I was pretty young, when I was 18 or 19, I guess, and a lot of older people were helpful and looked out for me, helped me find opportunities and stuff, and I've just been in the right place at the right time. For example, having those short films made right at the time that people were looking for stuff like that, we had a DVD of those made just for ourselves, and that helped. And music and comedy coming together, that helped, I've always been into music.
BASTION: I read in an interview that early on you weren't too worried about getting headshots and finding an agent like a lot of other comics were, you just wanted to work on your comedy, and I assume that's been key is that you weren't worried about getting famous or getting a tv show, you just wanted to do the work, and do the stuff you wanted to get better at, and develop like that.
AZIZ: Yeah, I have always set short term goals for myself, and they got bigger as I got older, and always, the main focus was, if you can get seven minutes of killer material, you're going to go far in this business. Eugene told me that once, if you have a killer seven minutes, no one's going to say no to you. Everyone's always going to want someone who can kill on stage. You can't deny it. You can say some guy sucks, but if he gets up and does well, then the industry can't say "people won't get that," because the audience just did get it. That's the cool thing about stand-up.
BASTION: I read that you started an internet company in college that was supporting you by the time you graduated, and maybe that helped support your creativity a bit.
AZIZ: Yes, with a friend from high school I started a business that was related to the little ads you see on the side of Google searches. It's called affiliate marketing, and we did that through google ad words, that's a simple way of putting it. (Dryly) Very interesting, and hilarious.
BASTION:(Dryly and dorkily) Yes, incredibly hilarious. I read an interview with you by Carol Hartsell of Drink at Work, and she described you as "young, smart, sweet and funny," which I'm sure you're sick of hearing. Would you like to offer something filthy and offensive to offset this "sweet" image that's being put out there about you?
AZIZ: I'm sure you could insert any random line from "Human Giant" in to achieve that effect.
BASTION: Okay, then, I'm going to quote you from an episode of "Shutterbugs": "See you at the tiny Oscars, motherf*ckers!"
Non-Lodge Lodge Show Friday, 50 First Jokes, Blerds Anniversary
Caution, gentle readers, this is a Blerds-laden post. Friday night at the Lodge will be a "non-Lodge Lodge show" featuring confirmed performers Eric Andre, Matt Braunger, Mike Bridenstine, Mike Burns, Mike Holmes as G-Carlo, Tim Kazurinsky, John Leadley as 80's Clown, Brady Novak, CJ Sullivan and Think Tank.
Brendan McGowan and Mike Bridenstine are kicking off a new series of Friday showcases called the Smoke Show, beginning with "50 First Jokes" June 8 at 10 PM at the Spot. What's the concept, you ask? It's 50 comics doing the first joke they ever told on stage, an idea Bridenstine heard about from Mike Burns, who saw it in New York. "I borrowed the idea from the Check Your Cool show in New York. It's a room John F. O'Donnell, Jiwon Li and Claudia Cogan run. I figured what better way to have everyone know about the show than to book everyone? The rest of the showcases will be booked with a host and two comics doing 15 minute sets and a headliner doing 25." The first five shows are listed here.
Also, this Saturday is the Blerds one year anniversary party, at which 12/13 of Blerds will converge at the Spot at 10 PM to rock your socks off.
The Bastion spoke on the telephone with the charming and funny Sherif (thanks to Chicago-based comic Mike Cody for the introduction) and got the scoop on the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour's swing through Chicago at The Vic Theater this Thursday at 7:30.
Years ago - right after 9/11, as a matter of fact - the Bastion saw Axis of Evil co-founder Ahmed Ahmed performing stand-up at the Comedy Store in L.A., and was immediately impressed with him. We exchanged some congratulatory e-mails with him when he won the Richard Pryor Award For Ethnic Comedy at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and have been pleased to see the Axis comedy tour get exposure on NPR as well as CNN and Comedy Central, which has been airing a special about the Axis tour.
An early version of the Axis of Evil shows got started several years ago with a suggestion from L.A. Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore that prompted a series of shows called Arabian Nights. Those shows evolved a bit more in 2005 the comedians decided to continue disarming some of the racial and political tension they experienced on a personal level by turning it into comedy. They've also been conscientious about choosing local Arab-American comedy talent from the cities they perform in to offer them some more experience and exposure.
Sherif met the Axis comedians in 2003, and has been having a great time with the shows. After giving corporate America a shot, and even running his own successful computer business, Sherif decided to give up a well-paying tech job to pursue comedy full-on, and has been busy performing and promoting ever since. He says he's taken some criticism for some of his comedy choices (making jokes about his religion, for example) but doesn't worry too much about random commenters on posted videos and appreciates the reaction audiences give him to personal life stories, rather than straight up "jokes."
What's the show going to be like? Well, here's a sampler platter of the performers you'll see at the Chicago show. Enjoy, then hit up Ticketmaster for what's sure to be a fun night. First, here's a clip of Sherif performing at the Funny Bone in Dayton:
Bill Arnett is a Chicago comedy performer and teacher who shares his love of the art of improv with equally enthusiastic students and colleagues, several of whom offered their impressions of Bill and his work and art. iO theater owner and teacher Charna Halpern says "Bill Arnett is one of the best teachers at iO. He is so brilliant at analyzing what is necessary for a scene to work and has a no holds barred approach in his teaching. Yet he is kind in his notes while always telling it like it is. He has found the right balance between critical and nurturing." He's also, according to him, exactly the guy you want to be sitting next to on the CTA when it's ripped apart by a vortex.
Bastion: First, just so you know, there is an astronomer named Bill Arnett who I think you should consider a week long life swap with. You could squint through telescopes and flunk little planets like Pluto, and he could try to teach improv to Chicago's best and brightest. Of course, that's not really a question. I'm just throwing that out there.
Bill: (As a note to the reader, while this interview was conducted mostly over email I've tried to write my answers as though I was speaking them. There are distinct differences between written and spoken English, no?)
What? Are you kidding? I'm actually familiar with this other Bill Arnett. Too bad he's not a chemist. That was my best subject in school. Could have pulled off the switch.
Bastion: What's your performing and comedy background and how did you get started in improv?
Bill: Oh wow, where do I start? I got involved with a social-activist/comedy sketch group in college (Theater Strike Force at the University of Florida). I had to join the group for class credit due to a clerical error concerning a scholarship I was supposed to get. It transitioned to improv after several years. Growing up, though, I was the kid that always wanted to do oral presentations. I did a slide show in elementary school for my state report on Nevada. It was always in my body.
Danielle Uhlarik: "I was recently placed on the Harold team coached by Bill Arnett. Everyone on the team is already name-my-baby-with-me close, but it is amazing how much better we are working together under Bill's guidance. Bill is completely dedicated to the team, and stays in frequent contact with everyone beyond rehearsals. He's the witty uncle who you want to sit next to at Thanksgiving, because his apt remarks about the family make everyone laugh at themselves. And isn't that what brings families together?"
Bastion: We've heard that improvisers are master eavesdroppers in places like CTA cars and restaurants. What are the funniest things you've overheard from strangers recently?
Bill: Hmmm.... I do enjoy eavesdropping but my favorite CTA game is pretending that if a vortex opened up and took the bus or train to some far off planet, and we had to start society all over again, who on the bus would play what role. Like casting "Lost" I guess. Who's the leader? Who's the power-hungry villain? Who's the leading lady? Does that homeless person become some type of future-seeing oracle? I usually cast myself as quirky voice of reason. Or as the guy that gets his legs ripped off by the vortex.
Bastion: What's your average weekly comedy schedule like, in terms of teaching, performing, and so on?
Bill: Weekly comedy schedule? Three shows, three classes, one and a half coaching assignments. The actual comedy of my weekly schedule is the painfully little work I get done on my other projects.
Chris Dingwall: "What I appreciated most about Bill was his refreshing and idiosyncratic perspective of improv - one that, the more I reflect on it, the more it seems right to me. Bill teaches his students 'Yes, And,'' insists on careful listening, and encourages strong character and environment choices - as all good improv teachers do. But he never taught these lessons as dogma, never insisted on a right or wrong way to listen, never discriminated between good or bad choices. After Mick Napier, we are all familiar with the notion that 'good' improv arises not from strict adherence to rules but in relation to the piece being performed, in the finer and more inscrutable interactions between players, their form, and their audience. Bill, going a step further, I think, invited his students to think of improv not only as an art form in itself, but also as the culture of improvisers that determine what's 'good,' which does not mean it's good all the time, or for everybody."
Bastion: If you hadn't discovered improv, what do you think you'd be doing with your life right now? You'd have a different job, of course, but do you think improv has shaped your character and personality as well?
Bill: Like I said I back-doored into improv. I always knew I liked being on stage but never thought it was legit. I was in school to be an electrical engineer although I should have gone with chemistry. I imagine if I had stuck with it I'd be in some corporate PR or sales department. "What do I have to do to get you to buy this hospital management software package?" or "Our competitors would have you think that Lockheed Martin is simply a defense contractor. Let's ask one of the kids in this picture playing on a Lockheed Martin Jr. Fun-Time Out Door Play-Tech Home Gym what they think." I would have been awesome.
As far as improv shaping my personality, I'd say that improv has revealed my personality.
Bastion: Do you have any part in i.O.'s corporate events? I've always wondered what kinds of developments come out of business people loosening up a bit in an improv setting and learning to give and listen a bit more.
Bill: No. And I'm kinda bitter about it. I do teach a lot of 9-to-5ers in my regular classes. For the most part they're great. (Takes a sip of water) They're actually great givers and listeners, they just lack confidence. They make good decisions but their lack of stage skills makes them look mousy. And not all business people are stuffy. Some are amazingly annoying jackasses.
Bastion: Are there lessons you feel you've learned as a teacher that you may not have learned as a student and performer?
Bill: Are there!?! It takes a long time to get good. As a teacher and coach I would get frustrated with the slow learning curve of my students. I've had to learn to be patient with them. I've tried to let them know to be patient with themselves but it doesn't get across.
Angela Manginelli: "Bill has a wonderful way of presenting the material that makes it instantly accessible no matter what your level of experience and is just entertaining as a person. The way he says things and the phrases he uses are very particular to him. Everyone I've met at iO that has had him as a teacher has nothing but good things to say about him and loved being in his class. I am no exception to that rule."
Bastion: Your i.O. blog seems to be widely read. Are you able to keep up with the questions that come in from your blog fans? What's your relationship with your readers like and do you enjoy the give and take of the blogging experience?
Bill: You mean my blog at http://blogs.iochicago.net/bill/wordpress? I've really enjoyed the whole blog experience. Keep those questions and comments coming, please! While I try to answer all of the questions I don't want to devolve into a simple question-and-answer type service. Please keep sending me questions and making comments, readers, I'm sincerely afraid of becoming irrelevant or untouchable.
Paul Bellos: "Bill reminds me of my college philosophy professor. You know he has taught this shit a thousand and one times and he is still enamored with the process - or a very good actor - or both? Bill is accessible and genuinely interested in other people. He took time to answer questions inside and outside the class. In a world of improv fundamentalists Bill teaches that the Harold is a tool rather than a dogma."
Bastion: What would you like to accomplish in the next five years?
Bill: I've got a number of projects out in the ether. A couple of screenplays, a podcast, a website, out-of-town workshops, a sketch show or two. I'm just waiting for a sign from the universe (a check) to tell me which one I should concentrate on. (billarnett.com will be up soon! Beat you to it, Astro-Bill Arnett.)
It seems that the The New York Timesagrees with us that the old paths to comedy opportunities are being increasingly abandoned in favor of that zippy and irresistible internet thing: "For comedians who aspire to break into television, it’s no longer necessary to spend years cracking one-liners at stand-up clubs in hopes of landing an HBO special or a sidekick role on a network sitcom. With clever material, an act that mixes live skits and multimedia, and, especially, some savvy use of the Internet, members of a young comedy troupe can suddenly find themselves starring in their own cable series."
The Bastion's recent conversation with Maria Bamford about her phat and creatively flexible deal with Super Deluxe, as well as Chicago examples of online self-promotion (i.e. Blerds) turning into more and more IRL opportunities has us thinking about this even more.
We've been talking with Jon DeWalt of Chicago's ThoseGuysFilms.com, who are also taking maximum advantage of the viral video phenomenon and are putting out original content as frequently as possible. According to Jon, "We have a ton of online outlets. It isn't like in ye olde times in the days of The Lonely Island (three years ago) anymore where your website was it, and everyone flocked to see if you have a new video out. Now there are so many video websites that the playing field and viewing population is really divided. So we try to get to as many as we can - we are on Super Deluxe and Funny or Die - these are the two video-sites I most enjoy being a part of and we have gotten the most views from. We are also on MySpace which is good for fan feedback, and average for views, and we are also on iFilm and YouTube which have not gotten us a lot of views at all. AOL featured one of our shorts, 'L'attraction,' off of iFilm and it got a lot of hits from that, but otherwise iFilm hasn't brought us anything. YouTube is tough because if you get one popular video you will be set on fire, but that is not likely because every douchebag in the world is uploading his drinking videos and every confused twenty year old girl is uploading her bikini dancing videos and it's like okay, where is the real comedy? That's why we like Super Deluxe and Funny or Die - it focuses the audience."
Jon went on to explain: "We get some pretty good traffic, we have been in some magazines and featured on Super Deluxe and AOL and some other things. Like I said it is weird because one video will get thousands of views in a day; like today we just uploaded 'Musical Makeover Montage' and it has over 2,700 hits in less than a day on Funny or Die - that same video and same amount of time on YouTube? Nine hits. But what I do like is that the overall sum of views and feedback and people who are enjoying our work gets a little bigger with each video, it has been snowballing for over two years now, and it keeps adding on slowly but surely. That is uplifting."
The Bastion has also been chatting with the charming and funny masterminds behind "Ask Anything With Beth and Val," aptly named Beth and Val, two more comedians taking advantage of those series of tubes to get their material in front of a wider audience. Valerie Hurt and Beth Dover are two self-described "theater dorks turned laugh whores" based in LA who do improv and sketch. Beth trained at Second City in LA and is writing for the National Lampoon Lemmings tour, while Val studied with the Groundlings and does a fake home shopping show on VH1 called the Home Purchasing Club.
Some of Beth's MySpace videos caught the eye of CJ Arabia, who works for dotcomedy.com, and the pair were invited to contribute to dotcomedy.com, which was looking for funny fresh female talent. Beth and Val learned iMovie and started using a Mac laptop, shooting and putting up their stuff, which is in question and answer format with an eye toward pop culture and current events.
They don't get a ton of money for their efforts but they have a lot of fun entertaining questions from viewers, ranging from "If a guy shaves his balls, does that make him gay?" to "Have you ever touched anything and then regretted it?" all the way over to "If Anne Heche was crazy at some point, doesn't that mean she still could be?"
Beth and Val's self-loading video about the viewer comments that came their way after being featured on "What Would Tyler Durden Do" can be seen here.
Something's developing at Second City. Part of Second City's Directing Program, "Recent Developments" features a fun cast of six actors, working toward creating a sketch comedy revue. Each week they improvise scenes based on ideas they've come up with, and shape them into entertaining sketches with the help of audience feedback. Not all of the sketches were hard-hitters, but there is a lot of potential for greatness. A couple of scenes went over very well, including one about a family's unwieldy interaction with their mini-van's GPS system. The entire cast is very talented, and Joshua Hanson has great timing and gives those on-the-money, honest reactions that have the audience rolling. Musical director, Sean Sykes, gives impressive underscoring to the scenes, setting the mood but not distracting from the piece. It will be exciting to check back on this group when they have their run in Donny's Skybox this summer, and see what director Mike McKeown does to bring it all together.
"Recent Developments" has its last run this Thursday at 10:30 pm in Donny's Skybox at Second City and features James Asmus, Vanessa Bayer, Christy Bonstell, Joshua Hanson, Tim Heurlin and Wendy Mateo.
Stop That Show, 3033 Moves to Sundays, Feverberry Mountain Extended
If you are tired of traditional sketch shows or your regular improv shows in Chicago then you are invited to take a trip up north to the Annoyance Theater. All of their shows are very unique and "Stop That Show" keeps that trend going by providing a very different and extremely fun show. Most impressive about this show is that they deliver a very wacky tongue-in-cheek type of comedy, but with such polish and attention to detail. The transitions from scene to scene are very smooth and funny in themselves and the show is technically sound thanks to the Mr. Clay Goodpasture in the light booth. Julie Nichols excels as the musical director, composing over twelve original songs and playing over eight instruments! The music is as fun as the show, which is about a small town that has a theater problem. The solution? Fight fire with fire and put on a show to stop all shows! The real fun happens in act two when the townspeople start putting on a show for every single problem they have. The cast is extremely talented and visibly having a fun time playing with each other; some stand outs include Dan Jessup as The Mayor (whose physicalities, songs and commitment are worth the price of admission alone), Chris Witaske as The Preagician (who is just plain fun to watch, and super over the top. Simply put, hilarious.), and Emily Candini as Darla (Emily is always great at bringing emotion and energy to her characters, in this show she gets to really amp it up). Dunbar Dicks puts all of this together in his directorial debut at The Annoyance and he does a fantastic job. The very last scene of the show is some of the most wonderfully chaotic and absurd comedy this writer has seen all year. "Stop That Show" runs Thursday nights at 8 pm at The Annoyance Theater and is a $15 ticket.
Over at The iO Theater, 3033 is doing some of the best improv in Chicago right now. 3033 is made up of Bill Arnett, Alex Fendrich, Rush Howell, Danny Mora and Andy St.Clair. Everyone in the cast except for Rush was a member of People of Earth, one of the most influential and original iO teams of the past decade. So the fact that these guys are getting back together in a longform improv show should be enough to get you to the theater - but let's add Rush Howell. All you need to know about Rush is this: bar none, he is the funniest person in Chicago right now. All these ingredients make for an incredibly fun show every week, sometimes it is even brilliant. 3033 doesn't do a set form every night, instead they improvise the show structure and rules as they perform which is pretty awesome to watch. 3033 plays on Thursdays at 11pm at iO through May, and moves to Sundays at 10:15 pm starting June 10. It is only $5 (free for iO students/performers) and on a double bill with Stubs (Dina Facklis and Brad Morris).
Finally we would like to congratulate the cast of Feverberry Mountain for getting an extension on their run at iO! They will now be playing every Thursday night at 8 pm through June 7, which means you have three chances left to go see them. Feverberry Mountain is a very tight ensemble that knows each other extremely well which leads to a very cohesive and smart improv show. The cast is made up of Weston C. Haney, John Langen, Gina Nicewonger and Jeff Rukes. It is $10 or free for iO students/performers.
You on Comedy Central, The Movie and Topaz at iO, New Video Wednesday
--Comedy Central's Open Mic Fight is looking for submissions from Chicago stand-up comedians. Send them a seven to ten minute video clip and walk away with a whole bunch of awesome prizes, including a chance to perform on Comedy Central, and $10,000 cash. You have until June 5, so get to it!
--Last Tuesday we sent stand-up Darius Kennedy across the imaginary divide between stand-up and improv in Chicago. He checked out some improv shows at iO - "Our Feature Presentation in 'The Movie'" and "Topaz." He had a good time, and the space-time rift between improv and stand-up was not breached, therefore preserving the existence of the universe for at least another week. Here's what Darius told us:
"It was my first visit to iO. I walked into the Cabaret, and was greeted by the music of Urge Overkill's 'Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon.' I was also welcomed by their huge bar, and a wide and open performance area."
"In the first show, 'The Movie,' the performers seemed new and energized. You could tell who among them was seasoned, and who were the eager newbies, fresher to the scene. They worked in tons of hilarious references like diabetic bears, chicken-stealing ho's, men-on-men mirror action, and one-armed women. Mmm Mmm tasty comedy! 'The Movie' was entertaining and kept the audience's attention, but dragged on at times due to inconsistant relationships among the characters. All in all, the performance was enjoyable, and made me chuckle like a school girl at times."
"Up next was 'Topaz.' These guys are a ball of fun. With their excellent choice of costume (three guys in 70's style denim jumpsuits) and their noticeable appendage bulges, they seemed experienced and in control, and knew how to continue and develop the on-stage relationships to keep the show rolling. These guys filled the roles necessary to keep the audience in tune with the big picture as it evolved."
--And today's new videos. First up is a new offering from ThoseGuysFilms.com, "Musical Makeover Montage":
Also, for your viewing pleasure, "Canned Laughter," starring Chicagoan-turned-New Yorker Joselyn Hughes:
This past Saturday, the Bastion went on location to the filming of 'Angelina', a short collaborative film by comedian Robert Buscemi and local filmmaker Steve Delahoyde. We were cast to play 'listless-and-slightly-annoyed' audience member to Buscemi's Angelina soliloquy, a task that proved nearly impossible as takes were repeated over and over, steadily increasing in ludicrousness as Buscemi and co-star Jared Logan added further and stranger dimensions to the characters, characters who are already absurd and improbable beings from the possibly deranged mind of Buscemi. Sufficed to say, we were physically worn out by the end of the shoot. Add to that the 20 minute black-out period when all of the technical equipment combined with the season's first air-conditioning blew the circuits in the back of the Lincoln Restaurant, and our afternoon proved to be delightfully weird.
You can watch the live version of Angelina below. Photo above by Sarah Hadley.
Crappy Media, MySpace Popularity Contest, "Reader" Takes All
--Tonight at iO, show up at 10 PM for the much-anticipated "Crappy Media Screening" in the Cabaret. "Were you in a cringe-worthy commercial? An abysmal corporate video? A sucktastic short film? No need to be embarrassed...we've all been there. And now we all have the opportunity to let others view our misery...we'll screen videos from several members of the iO community. Come mock and sympathize while enjoying drink specials and free food."
--Chicago comedian Dean Carlson's MySpace is battling it out for kudos from the RedEye in the MySpace Popularity Contest. Go here to cast a vote and declare for all to hear that his HTML is better than that of some blonde radio-related chick named Jen.
--Schadenfreude's Rent Party on Friday night was a good chuckle. Andy Ross did some stand-up, Jet and Holly performed, followed by Mike and Duane, and of course hangers-on Alderman Ed Bus and Judy Barr Topinka showed up as well (maybe for the free beef sandwiches and $2 beers?).
But the best part of the evening was watching members of Chicago's alternative media engage in verbal death matchs, one bloodthirsty pairing after another, ripping on everything from prose style to the tendency to refer to oneself in third person, with a little "yo mama" type stuff thrown in for extra giggles. Gapers Block ripped on Time Out, who gave as good as they got, and in the final and very heated match, we have to admit we were pulling for the kids at Chicagoist, who were in the "online underdog" spot, but in the end, the crowd gave more of a hoot for the insult-hurlers from the Chicago Reader. Hope they're happy with themselves, and their "published since 1971, circulation of approximately 119,606." Big shots.
Since we're on the subject, here's that bit again from a Rent Party last December, wherein (former) Chicagoist editor Scott Smith read aloud from some hilarious correspondence he exchanged with bitter rocker has-been (and local boy) Richard Marx, who took some issue with Chicagoist's portrayal of his current career status. It got ugly - "living in your parents' basement" ugly.
Tonight and tomorrow night are the last of the Lincoln Lodge Comedy and Variety shows, AKA Dwight Nights. "The Lodge's own Josh Cheney and Becky Garcia conjur up the spirit of Steve and Eydie as they play host to a comedic holy trinity in the form of the sparkplug stylings of Fay Canale, the topical musings of Mike Holmes and the always inventive TJ Miller. Plus one more round of 'Off the Eatin Path' as Monte takes you on a culinary trip around Chicago's best value for money eateries, followed by the ever-popular circulation of free samples." Free samples which, as we know, are nicely washed down by those legendary Lodge giganto mugs of the beer of your choice. The show starts at nine.
This weekend is Schadenfreude's final Rent Party (for this season) at the Gallery Cabaret in Bucktown. A recent e-mail invite explains: "We are taking the summer off so this weekend is our final show for a long time! Come on out, the show starts around 8ish. We have Mike and Duane, Jet and Holly, and an all out slam-slam tournament among the members of Chicago's alternative media." Free food and two dollar beers top off an evening that includes a rap battle style slam put-down tournament that features intimidating competitors from Chicagoist, Gapers Block, Time Out, and the Reader. Ink will be spilled.
NewCity Chicago Plumbs the Comedy Depths, Comedy Boot Camp
--NewCity Chicago writer Mike Schramm delved into the seedy underworld of stand-up comedy in Chicago and came out alive. In his article "The Depths of Humor," Schramm talks to Tony Sam, Robert Buscemi, Josh Cheney, and yes, the Bastion herself. He also includes a top ten list of "Ten Rising Comics To Look For," and "Five Places To Go See Them," which are sure to sure to be the object of finger-pointing and start many more spirited debates across the stand-up scene.
--The Bastion sat in on night two (of eight) of Dave Odd's Comedy Boot Camp last night at the Chicago Center For the Performing Arts. There were about a dozen students in attendance, plus a guest comedian, John Bolger, who answered questions and offered advice to those who aim to succeed as a working road comic.
This week's lesson? "Anatomy of a Set." A breakdown of the place and function of the opener, the first few jokes, how to test the waters and read the audience, working in smooth segues, and more. A few tips from host Dave Odd: "Jokes are never finished, and you should be constantly rewriting." Also, how do you get your foot in the door with a club booker? "90% of success in this business is persistence. What might feel like bugging the shit out of people is actually barely getting their attention." Also, don't approach a club until you have a solid twenty minutes, and wait until you're really ready, because first impressions last.
Toward the end, we participated in a writing exercise involving wringing jokes out of a randomly-assigned page from the Sun-Times, which we then delivered to the class from behind the mic, squinting into the blinding spotlights. Our attempts at inspiring laughter included a snappy zinger about the "Midwest Fishing Report" and its "Fish of the Week" photo. Class was concluded with an open mic, which the Bastion had to forgo, due to the prospect of a long bike ride home in the cold rain, which was made up for by the cookies we swiped off the snack table on our way out.
Laugh That They May Bark, Interview with a Clown, Your Last Cupcake
The Heartland Animal Shelter will benefit from a stand-up showcase that's coming up this Saturday, May 19, at the Footlik Theater in Des Plaines. "Barks, Purrs, and Laughs" will feature some of Chicago's favorite comedians, including Lauren Bishop, Josh Cheney, Nick Lullo, and "The World's Most Dangerous Comic" Mark Faje, who has been on Letterman and Comedy Central.
There's a fun interview with some of the Shrek 3 girls (including Chicago comedy vets Amy Sedaris and Amy Poehler) at the Washington Post. It's an excellent example of how hard it can be to get a straight answer out of a bunch of comedians. From the article: "The correspondent, in a lame attempt to keep his job, tries to steer this sinking ship toward one question posed pre-interview by his editor. To wit: So, you were all funny girls growing up? And, we mean, was that hard? You know?..."
After many fun shows and countless cupcakes, The Spectacular Show will run for the final time tonight, May 16th, at 9:30 at the Gorilla Tango Theater. Tonight's show "(the funeral - please wear black)" includes Andy Ross, Dan Polydoris and many more special guests.
Spittin' Stand-Up, TJ Miller's Pilot Picked Up, German Club Is Cool!
Fun will be afoot at the Playground (which is celebrating its tenth anniversary!) this weekend with the Blewt! stand-up showcase this Saturday following Don't Spit The Water at midnight. The show is free, and will feature sets by Robert Buscemi, Ken Barnard, and other Blewt! favorites.
Also, as you can see, the Blewt!ies are now in cartoon form, thanks to artist, puppet-maker and creative wizard Noah Ginex, and we're already predicting that little Isabella Gadlin, already recruited by Dad to join the comedy family, is either going to grow up to be a famous comedian herself, or a much psychoanalyzed show biz kid (or, of course, both).
Our Big Poppa the Apiary is reporting that "ABC has ordered the most sitcoms of all the nets, including 'Cavemen' and 'Carpoolers' with TJ Miller, who was stoked when he and Pete Holmes announced it Friday at Gutbucket, the monthly UCB stand-up open mike they host."
And, in an abbreviated New Video Wednesday contribution, check out Andy Ross and Steve Delahoyde's "German Club", also featuring Becky Garcia, Nick Leggin, and Josh Cheney. Best of luck with recruiting, there, Andy. Maybe a "free schnitzel with every signup" enticement might help.
Chemically Imbalanced Comedy Benefits From Poker Charity
Chicago's Chemically Imbalanced Comedy has recruited some charity-minded poker players in their quest to secure some permanent performance space. CIC's executive producer Angie McMahon told the Bastion that "These fellas are going to be hosting a launch party on May 19 at Two-Nine in Naperville from 7:00 to 11:00 PM and have named CIC its charity of choice."
What are they going to do with the proceeds? "CIC is trying to get its own space, and we have been doing lots of research and decided we wanted to raise the funds independently of personal bank loans. I started to look at non-traditional fund raising ideas. My sister saw a chicagopokerlive.com poster, and had been involved in a charitable poker event at her school. I started to look into it and it was all legit. Charitable poker consultants like Bert have actually been around for some time, they're just almost completely unknown to the theater community. So in my effort to give back, and also show how cool I am for beating all the kids to the punch, I thought I would let folks know. These guys are really great, and they are trying to find other ways to help out CIC too."
Pop into the launch party for open bar, appetizers, door prizes, and raffle items, including tickets to Late Night Catechism, Gorilla Tango Theater, ImprovOlympic, Hell in a Handbag, Thunder and Lightning, and more.
Tidying Up, Rearranging the Furniture, Seeking New Contributors
The times, they are a changing! And so is the Bastion. You may have noticed a little wonky template action going on here in the last few days as our Big Poppa has been tinkering with a redesign of the site. We promise it will be very pretty by the time it's done.
One of our co-editors has stepped down to senior writer again, although this won't reflect much change in the site itself, as much as it will reduce the level of unnecessary stress she has felt about not being everywhere all the time, talking to every single person in Chicago comedy. (She's very conscientious that way.)
What else? Well, we lost one of our contributors to law school and the big glittering diamond that is New York City, so we're looking for more improv and sketch contributors, if you're interested in seeing and writing about some shows for us. And before you ask, yes, the pay is sky high for this sort of gig. You will be able to quit your current job, give no notice whatsoever, and give your boss the finger on your way out the door.*
If that sounds like something you'd like to do, send us a hello at our new e-mail address. (That's another change - a new and better e-mail address!).
*As is frequently the case, we are using comedy to write about comedy. That was tongue-in-cheek there. Didja see that? Awesome.
Maria Bamford is a many-voiced and one-of-a-kind comedian who enjoyed a lot of fun time on the road with pals Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, and Zach Galifianakis for the Comedians of Comedy (tour, movie and tv series). Lately though, she’s taking a bit of a break from the rigors of the road and is enjoying lucrative and creatively flexible opportunities that many comedians are now enjoying on that newfangled internet thing (which, again, "we told you so"), most notably with her series on SuperDeluxe.
Once the Bastion got over its fangirly excitement at actually being on the phone with Miss Bamford, we got her to share stories about her early work as a sexy (if heavily padded) Star Trek character at the Mall of America, the delights of auditioning her own mother to play the role of…her own mother, and how cool it is to circumvent her friends’ annoyance with her trying out new jokes in the course of a conversation by paying them to listen.
You are coming here to Chicago for a Lakeshore Theater show pretty soon, is that right?
Yes, one show on May 18 and two on May 19. My friend Jackie Kashian is opening for me.
You are doing these Chicago shows in the middle of a bunch of shows in Los Angeles. How did that work out?
Well, I am trying to do a one-or-two gig show out of town sort of thing, instead of the usual club gig of five days, so I'm just sort of in that transition period, I don't know exactly what's going to happen, it seems like the only place I can gig for one or two days has been New York, and I'm going to try in Austin, Texas. A lot of clubs won't bring you in for just a few shows, because they're afraid there won't be enough money unless they have you for a whole week, and I'm trying to stay home more, because I just don't like being on the road for that long.
I would imagine that the travel gets to be exhausting after awhile, doesn't it?
Yeah, it's really fun and exciting and stuff like that, but then, I understand why people bring posses of friends on the road, or people who are fans, or whatever, because it's just a bummer, you know, I'm sure people who travel for work know - you're in a hotel room for weeks at a time, and as a comic, you're only with people for an hour a night, and you can hang out with the other comics during the day, but sometimes the hotel is hard to get to, and so far away that people can't hang out. So I'm just trying to do one or two day gigs and see how that works.
You are doing lots and lots of tv stuff, and trying to get more tv stuff, how's that going for you?
I have a new half hour Comedy Central special that aired last year, but lately I've being doing more internet stuff - it's exploding, as many have said. I've been doing webisodes for SuperDeluxe, which is a website under the Turner Network, and I've done nine episodes (there may be only six online right now), and they just hired me to do another ten episodes, and it pays really well, and it's been great. I've made these shows with Damon Jones - we have a special Mother's Day episode which will be featured on the front page of cnn.com all Mother's Day weekend, so there's that as well, and that's great, because then I can stay in town.
I read about that - so you actually, for your SuperDeluxe show, auditioned your mom to play the part of your mom?
Right, yeah, that's the idea of the episode. She's very funny, and it's very good. My parents are in town right now, so my mom got her first acting job. She was paid $300 - it's non-union.
How much creative freedom do you have with SuperDeluxe?
You can do whatever you want, whatever you want, which I think is - from what I've heard, I've never been on more than a stand up spot on a tv show - it's just me and the guys, and we send it in, and the producer, Dan Pasternak, will say, "well, hey, that was unclear," but nothing creatively editorial, and it's awesome.
Wow. So you can write whatever you want, and where do you shoot the episodes, then?
The premise of the original series is that I had a nervous breakdown and am living in my parents' attic in Duluth, Minnesota, trying to figure out what to do next (which is my deepest fear and yet my greatest wish), and so we just shot it at Damon's house in his guest bedroom, and now we're shooting in my apartment, and it's getting hot out here, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out. And we're not sure what we're going to do for the next ten episodes, they just okayed us for, and we're not sure exactly what we're going to do, but we're going to stay with the same show.
But it's so exciting, and they pay really well - we get a generous budget for each episode, and basically, that's split between me and Damon, and it takes us about a week to make them, so it's really great, and I know that a lot of artists are doing it, and it's really great, and there are lots of great shows on Super Deluxe. There's this guy, Brad Neely, out of Austin, Texas, who's just hilarious. He does an animated series, and it's really good.
Do you find that because of the online nature of this project, that you get more feedback from people, and more interaction with fans, because they can send you e-mail or talk on the message boards? Do you pay attention to that kind of stuff, or is that useful to you?
Yeah, the cool thing is, you can read all the comments, and that's the good thing and the terrifying thing, because there are the people who don't like it, who are like "I liked this better when it was called (whatever show they think it's like). That's the funny part about the internet, it really is a community. It's like heckling with live shows, except you can't see the person, so you can only assume that they're by themselves, and they're afraid, and they have low self-esteem and they've never created anything themselves, and so they feel the need to lash out at others.
Maybe the people who have the most negative comments are the people who actually are living in their parents' attics in Duluth, like in your show, and it hits a little too close to home.
Well, exactly, or, I don't know, maybe they're trying to help me, maybe that's what they're trying to do. But that's the interesting thing - I've been told by friends, because I can't google myself anymore, because everybody has - I can't imagine for someone who's really famous, they have anything you can ever think of written about them. And there are really passionate opinions: "They should really die," but maybe that's how media has always been. But it's interesting, because now it's more just individuals who - because I mean, I'm not really famous. I'm a J or Z-list celebrity, right above, maybe, your real estate agent who has his face on a bench in town, and there's probably even stuff written about that guy.
So can I ask you about your voiceover work? You've done a lot of that kind of stuff, which I have to think you're a really excellent choice for, because you're so versatile and flexible with voice stuff. Do you enjoy that sort of work?
Oh, I love it. Voiceover stuff is really fun. This morning I'm going to do "Word Girl," which is a series on PBS, it's really funny and well-written, it's by a company coming out of Boston called Soup To Nuts, they produce Doctor Katz and Home Movies, which is a show on the Cartoon Network, on Adult Swim, and they're brilliant. The way I get most of my voiceover work through comedy, not so much through auditioning - there are so many incredible voiceover artists. So when someone is looking for my kind of sense of humor, that's how I get hired.
Some of the the Comedians of Comedy episodes are about to be re-run on Comedy Central - is that sort of an over and done project, or is it sort of ongoing?
Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn, who came up with the concept, kind of choose where to go on tour, and say, hey, who's available, who can come on this tour, and it's a cool way to travel with your friends, like I was saying, you're kind of alone on the road, and Comedians of Comedy is a way for us to travel together, and it's so fun. I don't know of any dates offhand, but I told those guys I'm kind of trying to stay in town, I'm a little burned out on travel right now, and I'd like to go out maybe once a month, but with those guys, it's often a seven to ten day thing, and it's fun, but I don't know if I'm getting to be an old lady, but I just want to sit on my couch, and look at Oprah magazines, and positively visualize things.
Can you tell me how you got started with comedy? You started doing stand up when you were about 19 or 20, right?
Yeah, I always enjoyed doing speeches and stuff in high school, and then, in Minneapolis, I started doing open mics, much like you have in Chicago - open mics in little theaters and stuff. I did that for about three years, and then I moved out to Los Angeles. I got a job doing Star Trek characters for Paramount Parks in this sort of touring show, and they said if I moved to L.A. maybe I could work for them. And I had a couple of really rough years trying to figure out - I didn't know how to make a living beyond my poor waitressing skills, which were okay for Minneapolis, but in L.A., people are more - they want the food, and I wasn't able to give it to them.
Tell me again - you were doing Star Trek characters in a live show?
It was silly, like those costumed character that wander around, and it started out sort of fancy, we did a stage show, like me and a Vulcan, and some Klingons, at the Mall of American in Minneapolis, and then it sort of ended up being a Taco Bell promotion, and other things. I was just the "space babe" character, in a tight costume and platform boots and a very padded bra, because that is a part of the Bajoran culture. And then I worked probably five or six years as a secretary once I figured out that I could type, and that was helpful.
You studied creative writing in college, do you think that helped you with the writing that goes into comedy?
Probably. I didn't enjoy college that much, I didn't do that well, I mean, I did okay. I think one reason I really liked stand up was that I - I wasn't the very best with criticism, you know the "Yeah, hm, I didn't like the way you..." But stand up is good that way, the only criticism you get is from the audience, and then you can kind of leave. Nobody gives you notes, and that sort of stuff, er, I suppose they could, but I would finish and shimmy away, and nobody could tell me what they thought of me. I sort of "got through" college. I'm sure it helped -I learned how to use a thesaurus.
Can you tell me a little about your writing process is like - how do you identify ideas that are going to work on stage, and how do you develop them, how do you work them out on stage, is there actual writing involved? Do you keep a notebook?
I have lots of notebooks flying around, and I have an idea, and it can take years, sometimes, for something to work, and sometimes they never work, but I keep chewing on them because I really like them. Here's a joke that I was joking about with a friend - we were driving around and we passed this place called the Golden Hen, and that's become a joke where I say "I've been thinking about having kids, and I've got their names picked out. They're going to be Donut and Golden Hen. And I know what you're saying, 'how do you know they're going to be girls?' But a mother knows." And I just keep telling them over and over again to my family and friends, and see if they laugh.
Sometimes it's just a like a concept, like sometimes people will ask "So what are you doing, what are you working on?" And I'm like "No, I'm done. I kind of finished early. I'm living in the gravy boat, with gravy dripping on top of me." Usually it's stuff I'm just passionate about, or something I think is funny, and it either becomes something, or it doesn't, and then there it is. I don't always write it out, or type it out, I never really enjoyed that, I just write down phrases, and then say them all out.
And now I have a friend who I pay to listen to my jokes, because she's a really good listener, and she thinks I'm hilarious, and she's also a comedian herself - a different kind of comedian, a sketch comic, and that's good because, sometimes I try to fit jokes into conversations, or ask my friends to listen to my jokes, and sometimes it's fun, but sometimes my friends are like "Can we just talk?" And I say "Yeah, but can I tell a joke about how we're talking?" But now I have that income, so I think, oh, it's nice to have someone I pay, who thinks I'm funny, to listen, and then I can practice doing them over and over again.
Well, Maria, I just want to thank you again for chatting with me, it's been so much fun, and I will be at one of the Lakeshore Theater shows, so I will do my best to hoot and holler for you from the audience.
Oh, I appreciate that so much, and you have to come and say hi, I would love to see you.
(Video of Maria with Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn performing in Chicago in April 2006 courtesy of Dan Telfer.)
Lavender Cabaret Will Beat the Laughs Out of You, the Early Days of Chicago Improv, Lakeshore Books More Big Names
Lavender Cabaret has created a brand new hard-hitting sexy spectacle - Pillow Fight Club. Noted Chicago burlesque princess Michelle L'amour says “This is what happens when you combine the WWE with America’s Next Top model. Hard Hitting Fluff!” What's so funny about that, you ask? Well, Chicago comedians will be on hand to offer hilarious commentary, that's what. For more information about the shows, which begin May 10 at Joe's at 940 W. Weed Street, go here. (Photo is not of featured fighters. We...stole it off the internet. Just FYI.)
A new show called Something From Nothing is opening at the Apollo Theater, and improv nerds will want to be there to see what director Bryan Cohen describes as "a re-imagining of the story of one of the first Harold teams at iO, The Baron's Barracudas...takes place in 1985, during the birth of Chicago's improv community, when students of the Harold created theatre from scratch and centered their lives in a bar called CrossCurrents. The show has been meticulously researched through interviews with ‘those who were there’ including Charna Halpern, Michael Gellman, David Pasquesi, and many others. This play is an homage to the people who first made Chicago-style improvisation worthy for the stage."
The Lakeshore Theater is gearing up for a great bunch of special guests in the next few months, including Reggie Watts and Maria Bamford this month, Taylor Negron and Julia Sweeney in June, Arj Barker and Judy Tenuta in July, and Louis CK and Carol Leifer in August. The Bastion already caught the fantastic Mike Birbiglia show a few weeks back (with amazing opening act and local kid made good John Mulaney), and we can tell you the Lakeshore knows how to bring the laughs.
Same Title, Different Story, Second City Film Contest
There's a cool new Chicago-based creative comedy-related podcast online these days, called "Same Title Different Story." Creator Chris McAvoy explains the premise: "The idea is to give a group of writers the same title, ask them to write the story that belongs to the title, then record them reading their piece."
Chris has put out several episodes already, to an enthusiastic audience that seems to keep growing. "The reaction has been pretty good so far. We have a handful of 'subscribers' (people who subscribed for free through iTunes) and a larger number of people that listen to the podcasts directly on the website. The list of writers for the next few titles has gotten quite large as people hear about the project and want to participate.
"The process is pretty straightforward, but it's time consuming. I sent out two titles to a group of sixteen people in February, and arranged for recording at the Playground in March. I wrote the software that carries the pieces in March, now I'm editing the recorded pieces, about two a week, and putting them online. The release week was pretty encouraging, we had brief write ups on Gapers Block and Chicagoist, and I was on Talkin Funny plugging the show. All in all, it's been a lot of fun. Writers really like working on the project, it gives them some framework to work within, but is still open ended enough to not be stifling."
When he swept through Chicago last summer, we exchanged a few e-mails with Aziz Ansari. We promised to keep in touch. 24 hour marathon of his new sketch comedy show on MTV or no, he kept his promise. Aziz is performing stand-up at Chicago's Lakeshore Theater June 1 and 2. His new sketch show, "Human Giant," is all over MTV these days, and he and his cohorts Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer recently hosted a straight 24 hours of "Human Giant" madness on their new home channel, entertaining guests including Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, John Krasinski, Bob Odenkirk, Michael Showalter, Ted Leo, Todd Barry and Zach Galifianakis.
AZIZ: It was so much fun doing it, and it is awesome that they let us do it. Sort of a risky gamble on their part.
BASTION: I actually learned a very valuable trick from that show, when Tegan and Sara came on, and they brought their favorite crummy snacks from when they were kids - I'd never seen anyone eat ramen noodles without water before, and I tried it, and I want to thank you for that. (Editor's note - it was dry and salty and not very nice.)
The next day we met up with him and shot it, and there's a behind the scenes shot of this of me and Jason legitimately nervous meeting him, it was so funny, we were so full of genuine admiration for this kid. Then we started shooting the scene, and it's pretty dialogue heavy, but he memorized it really fast, and then he was improvising jokes that totally blew our stuff out of the water, and the majority of what made it into the cut is stuff he improvised, and it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. We couldn't believe it. 
BASTION: I read that you started an internet company in college that was supporting you by the time you graduated, and maybe that helped support your creativity a bit.
