• Another week in the can without leaving the building. Still, quite a bit happened. I spent pretty much every day fine tuning a sketch I wrote back in July and it is now complete and on the internet! I titled it “There’s a Twist You Won’t See Coming In This.” My pal John Field taught me about the value of giving your videos a name that grabs attention and, you know, as click baity as this title is, I’d watch a video that promised a twist to see if it really delivered a twist. I promise this one does!
Plus, I think the sketch turned out really great. It’s a bit longer than one might expect clocking in at five minutes but it’s all integral to the TWIST. There’s great acting in this thing too coming from David Rey Martinez in the lead role and very funny supporting turns by Anna Paone, Nate Borgman and Belton Delaine-Facey. It looks amazing as well; Katie Nahvi shot the heck out of this thing making great use out of a tilt shift lens that makes it look like only your subject is in focus. On top of that, one of my favorite bands, Blood Cultures gave me the rights to their song “Phospholipid.” I love this one so much and I didn’t give away much because I hope you watch. The link is the first comment.
• Once again, the comedy community surprised and delighted me this week with innumerable selfless acts of kindness. Here’s a quick recap of those that stood out to me:
- Bennett Hoffman, a friend of mine wrote a status that read, “Did you write a film script or TV pilot? Can I read it and practice giving notes?” It seemed too good to be true. I DM’d him and asked if he would read a 132-page screenplay I wrote last year. He said, “Sure.” No one ever follows up on this kind of thing but I thought it was nice. The next day, I received a Google Doc with extensive notes about my screenplay that were not only constructive but inspired me to get back to rewriting it. This went way above and beyond my expectations and when I asked if I could send him some cash, he politely declined. This was truly amazing.
- Last week, I mentioned that Carolines had a GoFundMe set up to aid the staff that had been hit hard by COVID-19. Well, one of my favorite comics, James Altucher saw this and graciously donated $500. Nice to know that some of the funniest folks around also have the biggest hearts.
- Over the past few days, I became obsessed with a sketch from a 1993 episode of SNL hosted by Charlton Heston. The premise of the sketch is simple. Heston plays a bag boy who has worked at his grocery store for 42 years and plays by his own rules. The sketch was nowhere to be found on the internet. I searched everywhere. There are screenshots and transcripts. No video. Somehow, I came across a comment on YouTube where a user named “Roy C” said he had it but NBC kept taking it down. After emailing back and forth a few times, this stranger from the internet sent me the sketch along with a few other classics from that episode that are nowhere to be found online (hopefully this changes once Peacock, NBC’s streaming service exists) like the Cold Opening and Monologue where everyone in the SNL cast become apes a la “Planet of the Apes.” Another sketch was “King Solomon’s Career Day” where a class learns about the different occupations one can have in Biblical times. Really funny and I’m so glad I saw them all. If you want to see, message me your email address and I can pass them along via Google Drive too.
- Started doing this thing on Twitter where I give away $1 for a “Best” story. For example, I did one for “Best useless fact” that was won by Robby Leon. Did another one about “Best celebrity interaction” story. For some reason, Blaine Capatch (from “Beat the Geeks” and “Mad TV”) saw this and retweeted it. It blew up. Got like 300 celebrity stories sent to me by strangers that were all unique and hilarious. Some of my favorites were from comedy friends Ronnie Fleming, Patrick Hastie and Blair Dawson. If you want to read all the stories, you totally can. Link in the comments.
- Finally, this isn’t an act of kindness but I am consistently shocked at how Alex Payne and Matt Tenenbaum are putting out new content EVERY DAY. They’re putting me to shame at how prolific they are during this quaranTIME. The link is in the comments to their YouTube channel and you should definitely subscribe to keep up with all their greatness.
• With all this free time, I try to ration my content intake so I don’t burn out and it all feels special. This is what I chose to watch/read this week (some of it isn’t even funny; just trying to give some recommendations in this weird time where we all have too much free time):
The Miskel Spillman episode of SNL (1977): This is something that has only happened once in the history of Saturday Night Live. If you don’t know, the show hosted a “Anyone Can Host” contest and the winner was an 80-year-old immigrant named Miskel Spillman. I’d always wanted to see it but never found the time. Suddenly, I have time and this is certainly a fun watch. Spillman has a palpable joy onscreen in her limited roles. There are also a few classic sketches as well. I loved the ambulance action figure commercial as well as the “Date the self conscious association.” Bill Murray makes a solid premise really sing. Sartresky (yes, the philosopher) and Hutch was fun too. Elvis Costello was the musical guest. If you’re a fan of any of these things, DEFINITELY CHECK IT OUT (streaming on Hulu).
“Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” (2019): As a moderate fan of the Askewniverse, I’d been keeping track of the diminishing returns of this series for years from “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” to “Clerks 2.” Happy to say that the diminishing returns continue as this movie is OK at best with a silly plot about stopping a movie from being produced. Mewes and Smith do about exactly what you’d expect in their now immortal roles. However, the meta jokes about Kevin Smith being a horrible director and neverending cameos of aging stars you forgot about (Jason Lee, Shannon Elizabeth, Val Kilmer, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Joey Lauren Adams to name a few) make this a NICE DISTRACTION that tries pretty hard (streaming on Amazon Prime).
“I Killed” (2006): This is actually a book! I finished a book! It’s a book full of stories about comics on the road. It ranges from short 2-5 page tales told by big names like Seinfeld, George Lopez (his story about a female stalker is particularly memorable) and Tom Arnold (his act was comprised of goldfish that would freeze in his trunk?) to smaller ones like Larry Miller who opens the story with maybe the best one of all about playing a high school after prom show. A lot of the book is very dated and misogynistic but if you look past the worst in this, you’ll find some gold in this collection and wisdom about being a comedy lifer. On top of that, there are a lot of comedians in this book I’d never even heard of. There’s always so much more out there than we think. If you love comedy, GIVE IT A READ (Anna’s dad lent this book to me...you can get it on Amazon if you want to support that local business. It’s $12 on Kindle).
The two non-comedy movies I saw this week were “Motherless Brooklyn” which I really, really liked. It’s a 1950s period piece starring Edward Norton as a Private Investigator with Tourette’s trying to track down his boss and friend Bruce Willis’ killer. It should also be noted that Alec Baldwin is as good in this as he was in “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Totally check it out if you can (it’s $5 to rent on Amazon again but worth it). The second movie I saw was “Queen and Slim.” Man, the first 30 minutes were amazing. So incredibly tense and well done. The rest of the movie is fine but a bit repetitive with the couple on their first date on the run (which is such a cool premise). Amazing soundtrack, beautiful visuals and a real “What’s going to happen?!” kind of vibe to it but in the end, it wasn’t for me (also streaming on Amazon for $6).
Well, that’s all for me this week. Back to watching Photoshop tutorials
My new sketch with a twist and others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSCszFFLYB0&list=PLoBsCsHJsKMrx6cuZ4Se8CQ_QBfOUcJ5U
The celebrity interaction Tweet: https://twitter.com/MattLevy51/status/1242146498583957504
Payne and Tenenbaum’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFr_xgQuhVYm4LLSZyNbViw
