The Off the Cuff Comedy Project
The Kewanee Star Courier is all abuzz. "Friday, a dart was thrown at a map by a group of aspiring young comedians in Chicago to determine where they would perform that night. Guess where it hit? The Off the Cuff Comedy Project came to Kewanee Friday, with less than one day to book, promote and perform a comedy show which will be pitched to TV networks as a new reality series. Each day they toss a dart and find out where they’re going that day."
Kewanee will be the first to tell you that it's the hog capitol of the world, and the calendar on their chamber of commerce website indicates that most important events that happen in this town are hog-related. Hell, let's face it, people in this town are probably going to be talking about this for years.
Who were those brave young comedians? A bunch of ragtag kids from the Windy Apple itself -- Chicago. Edge Comedy kids, led by Dave Odd. "The rules of the dart throwing were: we couldn't land on a big city (Rockford, Joliet, etc.). We couldn't land on a place where we already knew other comedy shows existed or I had already done Edge shows at (Bloomington, Gardner, etc.), and we couldn't land withing a 25 mile radius of the city. Fortunately, on the first try, the dart landed in the most perfect spot imaginable, Kewanee (Hog Capitol of the World). Awesomeness."
"So off we went, armed with nothing more than a sound system, a mic stand, a spotlight, 900 flyers with the venue spot blank, and a stamp with interchangeable letters. Our goal was to find a venue, promote and perform in a show by 9:00pm that night. We called it 'The Off the Cuff Comedy Experiment.' September 1st is our next one and I'm kind of hoping it will go disastrously, just so we can show some extremes in the pilot episodes we put together."
"This of course, is one of those small Midwestern towns that got a Wal-Mart not too long ago, and 75% of the businesses were shuttered, except the KFCs, Menards, McDonalds, Walgreens, CVSs, Subways, and other corporate bullshit that took over the main strip into town. Proving once again, that mainstreet communities are being destroyed by the Shaumburgization of America. On the way out of town, I got pulled over by a cop. I rolled through a stop sign I guess and he pulled me over. Dean Carlson did not stop or even slow down to make sure we weren't getting arrested -- thanks, Dean."
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Eyewitness accounts from surviving comedians:
From Dean Carlson: "The Off the Cuff Comedy Project perfectly captured the extreme highs and lows of stand-up all in one day. When we first rolled into Kewanee, IL I thought that we were in trouble. Tattooed, bearded, drunken locals came screaming out of Misty's (the first dive bar we stopped at) when they saw us filming in their parking lot. After an explanation from Dave Odd, they allowed us to film and even take the cameras inside. Luckily for our crew I'm also tattooed, bearded, and frequently drunk so I gave our group some unspoken street cred when I rolled up my sleeves, plopped down at the bar, and ordered a dollar beer. It would have been a physical impossibility for the bartender to have any more scars on her face. Welcome to the Meth Belt!"
"During the show these two gargantuan men walked in and it was obvious that they had just come from and amateur pro wrestling event (and participated). One of the dudes was still wearing his wrestling boots. At one point during my set I asked the crowd if anyone was celebrating anything tonight. Some attractive young girl shouts out that it's her birthday, I respond by saying, 'That's great you know? This young lady is celebrating her birthday... (gesturing towards the wrestlers) these two guys just won the tag-team championship, it's a good night!' The crowd roared with laughter. I thought it was a great line too until after the show I find out that they LITERALLY ARE THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THEIR WRESTLING ORGANIZATION!! The two wrestlers were great sports and actually offered me a job as their pro wrestling manager. I'm really not kidding."
"When we were all driving out of town I followed Dave Odd, who ended up rolling the first stop sign we come to. All of sudden headlights appear out of nowhere directly behind me and the Kewanee 5-0 roll up next to me, make intimidating eye contact, then blow past me and pull over Dave. Not knowing what just happened, but also realizing that I'm not currently insured, nor have I made I a car payment in the last month and a half, I do what any normal human being would do...I got the fuck out of there. I get a call from Dave 20 minutes later asking me why I left him there to deal with Kewanee PD. What was I supposed to do? T-bone the cop in the middle of the intersection and wave Dave to safety? Nothing says sawed off shotgun blast to the chest like pulling behind a cop car and getting out to inquire why they pulled over my friend. I just expect rash, vigilante action like that in Smalltown, USA. I've seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
From Michael Sanchez: "Off The Cuff has been one of the weirdest anomalies I've experienced since getting into comedy. When Dave first mentioned his idea for a show I was completely skeptical. I hate reality television and even suggested recreating the same concept in a pre-written script format. Having been involved I can honestly say I only went along for the ride to see it fail. I figured where there's conflict there's a story and even if Dave's idea bombed miserably we'd have a cool one-off documentary of a failed idea. I couldn't have been more wrong. Not only was the day a complete success but it turned out to be the perfect story. In the beginning it seems as though we are destined to fail and in the end everything miraculously comes off without the slightest of hitches. I thought it would be a fiasco and instead it was a fluke."
From Ryan Budds: "I had a great time doing the Off the Cuff Comedy Project with Dave Odd and everybody. The whole day and project will stick with me for a while because as a comedian, experimenting with shows and venues is always a risk and a risk worth taking. For something as awesome as throwing a dart at a map and having a successful show by nightfall where it lands, I really didn't know if it would work or not. Promoting the show was a show in itself because the people of Kewanee, IL seemed to not be entirely familiar with the comedy format or the art of stand-up comedy. I think all we really needed to do was to tell people there was a dartboard involved and they were sold. If it was actually a setup, booked-for-months show, I don't think it would have been as successful. Everyone we bumped into was either crazy or sheltered or totally down for what we were doing, so that process was an adventure in itself. Hosting the show, I felt like I could honestly say anything about Wal-Mart or the elderly or genitals and the crowd would have loved the topics all the same. They were an awesome crowd because I think they felt like they were being treated in a way, maybe a reward for harvesting that extra husk of corn to fill the side dish section of the dinner table at the annual 'Hog Fest' that we were a week prior to experiencing in Kewanee. People there seemed genuinely happy for such an event and I'm glad I could be part of it. The day rocked and I couldn't have asked to be part of a better team of comedians and spectators."
From Bryan Berrey: "When Dave described Off the Cuff to me, it just struck me as a really brilliant stupid idea. It turned out to be just a great experience, and (more importantly) a great showcase. It went so archetypally well that if it becomes a TV pilot, people might think it was staged. As far as Kewanee itself, most of the people were incredibly friendly and supportive (although a little befuddled at first). All the staff at the Pioneer Pub & Grub did everything they could to help and make us (well, me at least) feel at home. It was a great reminder of how great small town America can be. I was a little apprehensive before the show, but any 'cultural gap' turned out to be superficial. Ryan Budds warmed up the crowd as well as any professional, and my own set went extremely well, and after the show, people from the crowd were shaking my hand and trying to get me drunk. That's always a good sign."
