Mez is zeM

Quote #2

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:34:00 +0000

When I see people punching each other. This is just unacceptable behavior. This is insane, unacceptable behavior. We're just not interested in having people punch each other. There's no fighting at these shows.

We do not provide soundtrack for violence.

1,000 Words Worth A Picture #2 (SANDINO)

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:02:00 +0000

This photo essay series examines one photo, it's back story and what it means to me.

Sandino starting their Harold.

Sandino started doing the "Invocation" when they first debuted in April 2010 and did so for a number of months before switching to an organic opening. But the one thing they always did was before they even get their suggestion, one person would emerge from behind the curtain (in a spotlight), slowly start dancing and at the peak of the music would be joined by the rest of the group clapping in a rhythmic fashion, only stopping to strike a particular pose. At which point a member of Sandino will ask for a suggestion.

Now this is a personal opinion based only on a few experiences, but I think it says a lot about a Harold team when you see their first night on Harold Night. It's a unique night that can't be manufactured ever again. Your friends, your family, your peers, students and teachers are all there feeling pride, jealousy, hope and determination. A team that does well on the first night speaks volumes about their internal team chemistry. Not the chemistry you gain by practicing for months and months, but the chemistry you share deep in your bones. Michael Delaney said that all great groups (comedy, music or otherwise) come from the same primordial soup. It's an inherent gene that only lights up when certain atoms hit each other. And when their sensibilities are in check, firing at all cylinders, it's unlike anything else. This does not mean, necessarily, that teams with bad first Harold Nights aren't very good or can't be great. But they start farther behind than others. They have to build something together. I realize that the task of putting 8 performers together into a team is insane, but when it happens, it's magic. Needless to say Sandino had a great first Harold Night.

Sandino means a lot to me for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is Aaron Jackson. I took a 401 class with Aaron and out of that class formed our indie team, Boy Butter. Aaron was always a talented performer and it wasn't a surprise at all when I had heard he was put on Harold Night. Most people didn't know who he was, but that changed almost as soon as he yelled in his devilish way to his child on his first Harold Night.

Sandino also means a lot to me because of what they did with Harolds at Harold Night. When I first started seeing Harold Night, The Law Firm held court every Tuesday night. Law Firm sets would range from a wildly unstructured mess, to a pitch perfect Harold, but either way I ALWAYS got a funny Law Firm set. They took the Chris Gethard Show motto to heart where their sets were either good or so bad, that they were amazing. Sandino is like that, but less on bad side. Sandino started with the "Invocation" opening and while they did perfectly fine performing it, they didn't really find what "Sandino" was until they started doing organic Harolds. They started as simple organic openings, maybe laying a theme or a motif down, until their Harolds asked for something else. Something more risky, but ultimately more satisfying. Ellena once tweeted "Sandino weaves worlds." which aptly described the organic phase of Sandino. Sandino made the Harold fascinating to watch and in a way that was completely their own.

It also didn't hurt that Sandino was just god damn funny. And they are relentless on that front. One of the funniest lines I've ever heard came from Brandon Gulya as the edit line for their first scene of the Harold. Two parents were frantically waiting for their child to come home and Brandon knocks on the door, exciting the parents that their child has come home, and says "What is this? Brick?" as he pointed to their house. Even though 8 minutes into a Harold is way early to be blacked out, it could have been done there and it would have been the greatest black out line ever. Sandino is full of those moments and I am glad I was there to see most of them.

Many teachers and performers talk about teams and shows from years before I had even heard about the UCB Theater, in a way that made me jealous that they experienced something so wonderful. I may never see The Swarm's "Slow Waltz Around Rage Mountain", or a Neutrino Cagematch, or a fwand Harold, but I can say that I have seen Sandino. And oh boy...

Breaking Bad

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Tonight.

Screen Capture #11

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 06:30:00 +0000

Bronson

Adult Swim 11-10-06

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Del Close Marathon 13: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 03:04:00 +0000

Read Day 1 here.

Day 2 started out for me at FIT seeing Omlette Vision and Two Man Movie.

JZT LYING ABOUT SEEING THE STEPFATHERS.

Omlette Vision

DELANEY.

Two Man Movie

-They did a western. Anthony played a gunslinger who had a penchant for wearing disguises, which at the climax of the movie was utilized when he fooled the villain into walking into a coal oven by being in black face.

NEIL W. CASEY

The Benson Interruption

-James Adomian and Garfunkle and Oates were the guests. James Adomain proved (in person) the amazing talent that I already knew he was from the podcasts he has been on. He came out and talked with Benson for a little bit, before he seamlessly transitioned what they were talking about into a spot on Todd Glass impersonation. He then did a Marc Maron impression followed by an Andy Kindler impression. When Benson asked who he was doing to the crowd I screamed “Kindler!” in manic amazement. They spoke a little more and Benson said he should take requests for an impersonation. I screamed out "Lewis Black!" and Benson asked if he did Lewis Black. James Adomain said he did and promptly did his bit of Lewis Black reading from a little girl's diary, fidgety fingers and all. It was, simply, spectacular.

ADOMIAN ABOUT TO BREAK INTO HIS TODD GLASS CHUNK.

Director's Commentary LIVE!

-The movie this year was "XXX" with Vin Diesel.

-Chad Carter was the stuntman, who yelled “Stunt!” every time a stunt was on the screen.

-Horatio was Vin Diesel who sounded retarded, and kept saying “Bingo”.

-Owen Burke was the director and spoke about how he wanted every scene chapter on the DVD to start with a shot of the XXX tattoo on the back of Vin’s head. “I wanted people to know that Vin Diesel has a back of a head.”

-Mantzoukas was the set location coordinator and because he has a phobia of being further than 50 miles from his house, all of the locations in the movie are near where he lives in southern California. -When Vin is at a diner a waitress gives him a drink, not knowing that she's being held hostage, and when he picks it up, written on the napkin below it is "911" at which point Manzoukas says “Never forget.”

"BINGO!"

Improv Cult (Besser's Master Class)

- An improv class where they discussed taking suggestions from the audience. Neil had the best line when they were working on object work (specifically holding a gun) where he said while holding a tommy gun “Kill all the minorities!”

Match Game 76'

-Joe Wengert and Katie Dippold were the contestants. Chad Carter was the host.

The celebrity guests were:

-A recently shot John Lennon (Atamunik)

-Fred from the Mystery Gang (Rodgers)

-Columbo (Burke)

-Sam Kinison (Delaney) and Patty Hearst (Axford)

-Dom Delouise

-Phil Spector (Fogelnest)

-Joe Namuth (Besser)

-Young Osama Bin Laden (Manzoukas)

-Boy from Deliverance (Gethard)

-Brian Wilson (DC Pierson)

-And more that I forgot.

KID FROM DELIVERANCE GETTING DOWN.

John Hughes-prov!

Raider's in 15 Minutes

-Owen Burke describing Raiders of the Lost Ark, while drunk. He didn’t get very far, partially because he spent so much time taking the shots from the beginning of the movie. Just imagine a hyper active 7 year old try to recount his favorite movie. Just perfect.

The NY Mets Monoscene

-Bluvband as a seal with a hat on.

-Riley just coming out as Vacation Jason at which point Gethard started a chant of “Fuck Vacation Jason!” which everyone joined in on.

-Ben Rodger as a spot on Keith Hernandez look.

To Catch A Predator Improv Edition

-Riley got to be the kid this year which was amazing for so many reasons. But what really was great about this years edition was Neil Casey as Chris Hanson. No one does the pithy one liners for a show like that better than him.

-“Looks like you are having trouble sealing the deal. (when Bluvband’s seal from the Mets monoscene tried to hit on Riley).

-Shannon came out with a monkey mask on screaming “Yo donde!” which she was saying loudly from the booth during Improvisosos Peligrosos.

-But the highlight/most disgusting moment was when Jesse Falcon asked the audience if he should drink his piss. Then he proceeded to pull his penis out and pee into a Poland spring bottle, repulsing everyone. But they weren’t as repulsed as they were when he proceeded to drink it and throw the empty bottle into the audience. For DCM and To Catch a Predator that was par for the course. Easy.

YEP. IT WAS THAT KIND OF SHOW.

Dar Silicon

-Kind of like Wicked Fuckin Queeyah the best way to know about Dar Silicon is to see it. This year Shannon goaded a shirtless JZT to dancing on stage at which point Rudel and a number of other folks took their shirts off (including DC Pierson) and began slamdancing on stage with Dar. Best part was when Jesse Falcon and John Frusciante came on stage shirtless and started to slow dance. Heightening by contrast, right? It got weird before long, but shirtless doughy improv nerds still couldn’t take away from Dar fucking Silicon. Nothing can. Still the best show at the Marathon, bit show and improv included.

PANCAKES.

RUDEL GONE IN.

FRUSCIANTE & FALCON.

Swoon

-After the theater cleaning it was pouring rain so I ran over to Urban where Swoon was performing. Or as I should say, where Swoon was being heckled by the audience. It was a weird combination of JZT being the hypeman for the audience between scenes, water bottles being thrown into the audience, Riley with a quarter Jameson bottle in one hand and a toy gun in the other, Rudel being booed mercilessly for doing a not completely committed puking move, Adam Frankel’s amazing monologue/dance/fake shooting grocery buying scene, Nate Min playing Nick Jaramillo and Aaron getting notes from the audience while his scene was still happening. Definitely going to become a DCM go to show for years to come.

"OH MY GOD." -AARON JACKSON

Boy Butter

-Our first DCM was exactly what I had wanted. It started off like the Swoon set. Fesh yelled out from the audience “Good move Ellena.” to which Riley replied “It’s not that kind of show Fesh!” causing Fesh and Phil Jackson to simultaneously yell back “Yeah it is!”

-I don’t remember much, but I do remember at one point a small piece of pipe cleaner was being worn by Riley as a headset microphone, which promptly got passed around to others for different scenes.

Adult Swim 11-9-06

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Del Close Marathon 13: Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:50:00 +0000

The Del Close Marathon is the biggest improv event in the world. 3 days of an obscene amount of improv and it's hands down the best weekend of the year for me. This year was special to me partly because it was my 5th year going to the festival, but more so because I was in it! More on that on Day 2.

I got out of work early to head over to line up around 2:30pm.

THE BROTHERS TOWNSEND.

WILL AND THE COOPERS WITH A SMALL SOFT DRINK.

RUDEL GOING IN.

RILEY BRANDISHING HIS DCM PASS.

THE PRESS AND YOWIE.

RILEY AND ALEXIS CONFERRING.

The Press Conference

-Besser, Walsh, Roberts and Horatio were present. They did a scene where Roberts played Stevie Wonder who was about to be informed by Horatio (Stevie’s new assistant) that Michael Jackson died. Even in that scene you could see the game being hit, resting it and hitting it again.They are the best.

THE UCB SANZ AMY BUT PLUS HORATIO.

STEVIE WONDER AND HIS LAYERS OF SECURITY.

Outlook of the Poet

- Did a medieval themed monoscene, where Gavin was “Vinnie” who through a pizza truck time portal went back in time.

VINNIE.

Bassprov

-Scott Adsit and Matt Walsh sat in with Bassprov. Seeing Adsit work in a group like that was phenomenal. He was the definition of giving what the scene needs and not a drop over.

MAKING DEALS.

Sentimental Lady

-Not only are they one of the best UCB LA teams, but they are also just one of the best overall. Their form of going back to a main scene, creating information and then just tagging to see those little scenes started slow, but once they got on a roll, they destroyed. Best improv show of the night by far.

IN THE JUNGLE.

FERNIE!

NAILING DOWN SHOES BY OWEN BURKE.

Nailed Down

-Delaney and Secunda were mob men who were waiting for a produce truck to come so they could stock their produce stand, which was a front. Delaney had a great sub game where he would keep naming movie lines and plead with Secunda to name them, which he couldn’t.


SECUNDA & DELANEY

Revolver

-Great team, great set. They had a group game where they called back a heist situation where a woman was holding a gun, but the odd way of how she was holding it got called out as a hook. This ensued to “well there’s a gun on that hook!”

-She ended up reading a dirty limirick written by one of the kids that was about eating out a cat’s pussy. It destroyed.

-In another scene while a man was being executed, a family member of the victum was brought in to see the execution at which point he looked at a flag (which had been a reoccurring motif in the set) and just said “Well would you look at that.” So simple so funny.

-A kid mentioned to his mother about how she loves her other son, that died when he was six, more than him. Cut to the mother having a large child sit on her lap and him telling her about the kids making fun of him because he has an enlarged heart that can’t sustain him. Very funny.

HOOK GUN.

Cannon and Gausas

COW DRAMA.

Doug Benson's Doug Loves Movies Podcast Live

BESSER RUINING DOUG'S SURPRISE FOR WHO'S ON HIS SHOW.

The Back Room

-Rob Lathan’s Nihilist Jeff Foxworth was so on point with his cadence it was surreal. “If you put monopoly money in a collection tray at church and don’t think its bad because there is no god, then you might be a nihilst.

-Adomian’s Sheriff of Nottingham played by Alan Rickman was all in the stage presence. He owns any character he does, but even he couldn’t hold it together for Lathan’s Foxworthy. No one could.

-Santangelli as a high school narc. "Come on guys. Who's doing drugs?"

-Owen Burke as a character simply named Shortcuts.

-Darryl Strawberry. Nuff said

DARRYL'S GOT THE MAGIC STICK, SON.

The Panel

Christian Lighthouse Players

-Gethard was Crystal Meth Mark humming prayer songs which led from Amazing Grace to Rudolf the Red nose reindeer. Klepper saying "Like a light bulb!" whether Crystal Meth Mark was singing Rudolf or a different song.

-Walsh was so high he could not keep it together.

-Anthony played the weird pastor who just fucked all the kids.

CRYSTAL METH MARK SERENADING.

OH BOY.

Wicked Fuckin' Queeyah

-Watch a video of it if you can find it. It would be a disservice to the show to try to describe it and the pure joy one can get out of it.

PURNS GETTING YOU FAGGOTS READY FOR REAL MAKE EM UPS.

SUPPORT WARK.

FUCKIN OBJECT WORK.

The DCM AM Zoo Crew!

-Best New Bit Show.

-Perfect for 15 min slot where someone would just create a weird name for the two people who came out making them have to talk as those characters. It was funny and quick. Can't ask for more.

PURNELL AND THE GAY WEREWOLF.

"EVERYTHING IS COMING UP...BOLOGNA."

Classic Masculinity

BRIAN'S BACK!

The Del Harris Marathon

-"Jump Ball!"

-The show quickly devolved into a meta set about calling out improv moves like basketball moves to the point where it just became a one on one basketball game. With Terry Withers as the audible basketball hoop.

The Green Crew

-Anthony, Neil and Will did a living room set where they talked about NYC socialism, buying property and having moments.

Adult Swim 11-8-06

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000

The Dogs Are Out To Get Us

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 02:53:00 +0000

An essay I wrote for Splitsider.com. You can check it out on their site here.

Alright listen up. We got another young girl found dead on Fuller Street. Yeah, I hear you. The third one like this in four days. We got to work this case hard, guys. If we do that we’ll get the sonofabitch. We don’t have much time, but we’ll get this goddamn dog even if it means I get demoted to training new brick heads like you. This has got to stop in MY city one way or the other. And I won’t let another cute, small dog, kill another innocent girl!

God damn it! One-day people will realize the danger of having these animals as pets.

Preliminary reports suggests that the dog slobbered on her…post mortem. One sick bastard. Once again I want to stress caution, in case you encounter this twisted animal.

You should all have the psyche profile on our suspect we received this morning. Use it. It’s fairly standard deranged-psychotic-killer-dog stuff. The concrete evidence we do have: He’s a half-breed Chihuahua. Name: Rico. Origin: Mexico. He was trained at a local adoption center. He has no tags and of course isn’t spayed or neutered. Then again they never are…

Because Rico doesn’t have any tags, the adoption organization didn’t know his background. Call it human error or an inefficiency in the system, either way, he got through the cracks. He’s been on the FBI’s Most Hounded List for over 5 dog years. Moving from one family to the next, always running away. This time he ran his way right into our victim’s heart.

Awareness was our main tool to get the word out about this animal. But today, we go back to old school beat copping. Getting out in the alleys. Canvassing dog parks. Leaning on some crooked vets. Hit a dog spa or two. Don’t be above shaking down a couple of dog treat makers, either. Do what it takes to stop these senseless killings. Period. After that, it’s up to whatever God you pray to. Because no one should have suffered like Halley did.

Rico was given to Halley for her 15th birthday. Treated it well. But to Rico, Halley was just another chew toy. To use and abuse. What really gets me is that she trusted him. She believed Rico was her friend. I mean look at her!

What kind of ruthless sonofabitch looks into eyes like Halley’s knowing he’s going to scratch them out like the fluff from a new La-Z-Boy? I’ll tell you what kind. The murdering kind.

Sure their petite frame and doe eyes make them seem cute, but deep down I know they’re all killers. Some people, some dog breath lovers might say, “Well they weren’t always like this. They were nice once.”

No. They were always killers. We… I…I just didn’t know it yet…

I shoulda known. One of those things was in my house! An English Toy Terrier, in my house! And I bought the damn thing for my daughter. And Sebastian licked my face. It made me love it. And then it went and killed my baby. Is that what you want?

Is that what you want for your little girl? Huh? To find you’re beautiful daughter tied up in a dog leash, dead from having been yapped to death!

I didn’t think so. The best we can do is catch Rico and pry his manicured paws away from the next innocent girl, before we’re prying those girl’s corpses out of the holes Rico digs up.

Then we’ll close this case and find some peace. The wife and I don’t sleep much anymore. How can you when you have to live with the guilt? I suspect none of you do either. But we’ll beat this. We have to. For Halley. For my sweet Emily. Because if we don’t, then we’re just opening the floodgates in our city for kittens, and God help us…parakeets. And I know none of you want to be pulling bloated dead bodies out of birdbaths anytime soon.

We’re in a grim business, but someone’s got to do it.

Now get out there and catch me that sonofabitch.

Quote #1

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 02:17:00 +0000

Racism is a bitch. I mean white people you gotta know. It fucks you up, but what it does to black people is a bitch. Because no matter—it’s hard enough being a human being. It’s really fucking hard enough just to be that. Just to go through everyday life without murdering a motherfucker is hard enough. Just to walk through life, decent as a person. But here another element is added to it when you black. Motherfuckers got that little edge on us. It’s enough to make you crazy. Is if you are in an argument with another man, he maybe white, but it’s man on man for a minute and shit get rough, he end up calling you “Nigger!” You got to go “Ah shit. Fuck. Now I ain’t no man no more. Nigger now. I gotta argue with that shit. Fucked my balance all off now.”

But it’s an ugly thing. I hope someday they give it up.

Adult Swim 11-6-06

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Adult Swim 11-3-06

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Adult Swim 11-2-06

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Scene Work #13

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Connor Ratliff & Dan Black

Breaking #3

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Brandon Gulya

In The Audience Tonight #1

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Jokes #2

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Andy Rocco

Scene Work #12

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

David Bluvband & Phillip Jackson

Adult Swim 11-1-06

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

1,000 Words Worth Of A Picture #1 (The Chris Gethard Show)

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

This photo essay series examines one photo, it's back story and what it means to me.

Chris Gethard hovers over a temporarily unconscious Don Fanelli, with guidance from Ben Rodgers.

I've never been asked "What is The Chris Gethard Show like?", but if someone did ask me that I would show them the picture above.

First, a little context for the picture.

This was the Craigslist Show, where Chris and the cast decided to build a show around stuff they found on Craigslist, but the caveat was that they started preparing for the show only hours before. In one of the final bits, Will, Shannon, Don and Chris would battle for a loose football. Each member represented a section of the audience. Who ever had the ball in their possession by the time the LLC had stop playing, the winner would get a bag of goodies they had received from someone on Craigslist and share with their respective audience section. They went all out and not in a playful way. It might have started out playful, but by the end of it Don was lying on the floor unconscious.

The look on Gethard's face when he saw that Don wasn't playing around, that he really wasn't responding, will forever be sealed in my memory of the show. The show was always so raw that someone might actually lose consciousness and not as a controlled bit. "It was staged" someone might say. And knowing Gethard's love of wrestling, there's a pretty good chance it was. But that look he had. That said otherwise.

But what the picture represents to me was the experience of The Chris Gethard Show that was unlike anything I've seen at the UCB Theater. The theater is known for being at the fore front of comedic ideas, shows and performances. But even this show was different. Part of it came from Chris' own ethos about being on that stage. To be honest. Always. And The Chris Gethard Show was honest. Even if it was to the detriment of the show. You can't have your father on your show taking ANY questions from ANYONE about ANYTHING without striving for honesty. You can't do a Night of Zero Laughs without wanting to do something different. You definitely can't do it twice without pushing some boundaries.

You could leave the show angry (Lonely Coward's Show), energized (Wheel of Degradation), shocked (Telethon of Shame), touched (Mitchell Stephen Fesh's Show) and astonished (Diddy's Show). But no matter what it was, I cherished the nights I spent watching Shannon display a sideshow of her poop, or watching Don Fanelli get waxed in pure agony, or seeing Will Hines beat Chris at his own game, or seeing a wrestler jab another with a broken stick, or seeing a friend, like Riley, making my (and probably his) comedy idols laugh. That to me was (and will still be) special.

The first time I ever saw Chris Gethard was with the Stepfathers at the 2007 Del Close Marathon where he and Shannon O'Neill got into a physical fight halfway through their set. I saw him again on September 30th, 2008 when he was coming to Whiplash as his character Gallagher Three, challenging Gallagher to respond to him and his fruit smashing bit. I even got to smash some fruit right next to Chris. (Skip to 3:34 to see me.)

Since then I've seen him perform numerous times and have enjoyed what he does immensely. But now there's no way I'll ever see him, without thinking about that look.

The Chris Gethard Show

Caption Comics #10

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Finger Phoned #8

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Alex Pereira wants to end world hunger. By dancing.

Medium Space #1 (TLR)

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Adult Swim 10-31-06

noreply@blogger.com (Mez) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:00:00 +0000