• Everyone who has ever done comedy has their ultimate comedy dream. The hour-long special. That’s a good one. A sitcom where you’re the lead. Another classic. Your own talk show. Probably not very realistic in 2021 but I appreciate your can-do spirit.
My dream has always been highly specific and one I’ve wanted to make come true for the past ten years. Here goes.
You know those “Best Of’s” SNL has had for legendary cast members like Will Ferrell, Eddie Murphy and...David Spade? I always wanted one of those. With no SNL employment coming anytime soon, I’ve decided to do the next best thing.
My wife Anna Paone and I rented out The Stuart Cinema Theater in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Saturday, July 31 at 7:00 PM. Anna is going to screen her long awaited short film “Our Lady of the 80s” and you better believe, I will be screening “The Best Of Matt Levy.” Who determined what was the “Best Of Matt Levy?” Well, that would be Matt Levy of course. My portion of the screening will be made up of sketches from as far back as 2007 (shot on a mini DV camcorder) to projects I literally edited yesterday. You’ll see never before seen stuff and a few things where you may say, “Oh, yeah, I remember that one.” I don’t want to give away everything that will be shown because that’s what makes a “Best Of” special. The “what’s next?!” aspect is half the fun.
With all that being said, if this sounds like something you’d want to attend, here’s a link for tickets (they’re $9.75 after fees) that will make your seeing Matt Levy and Anna Paone movies on the big screen dreams come true.
Full disclosure: I’ll probably be wearing a suit and tie at this thing. Yeah, it’s one of those things.
*While searching for locations to hold this screening at, I found a luxury apartment building with a beautiful screening room. I messaged management about putting our screening on there and they just GAVE me the access code to their theater. I came clean and admitted I wasn’t a resident of the building (there was some confusion about whether or not I lived there) and now I’ll always wonder what would have happened if I kept the jig up for a month. Probably would have been kicked out mid-screening which would have been so punk.
• I just mentioned that a sketch I was editing yesterday will be included in the “Best Of.” That’s a true statement. Last Saturday, in just a scant 3.5 hours, I filmed a sketch at The Tiny Cupboard (gotta give it up for Amy Wong and Matt Rosenblum) I’d had on my “I gotta make this bucket list” for years. It’s a high concept, silly piece and was honestly a touch stressful to make. Shooting with a shoestring crew made up of me, fantastic sound guy Prachya Klong Amornratananond and assistant director/script supervisor Sydney Giancomazzi, I was under a lot of pressure to get in and out of this location as quickly as possible. So, I innovated. My game plan was to draw up a shot list that had the needed shots AND the dialogue that accompanied the shot to ensure that we got everything we needed. Basically, my goal was to eliminate cross referencing the script and shot list- combine the two. I’m certain I’m not the first person to ever do this but I will say it was an incredibly effective way to keep everyone on the exact same page.
Major thanks to all the actors that gave up their Saturdays to be locked in a room with no air conditioning and I’ll name them all because it’s the least I can do in return for your generosity. The players were: Matt Holbert, Anna Paone, CW Headley, Danny Rathbun, David Rey Martinez, Julianne Ballington, Sam Zelitch, Jerry Lalee, Rosa Escandon, Peter Schutz and the folks from Des Moines whom I’d never met. You guys are all the real heroes.
• Folks, we’ve been talking dreams. If you’re a performer or creative type, you certainly have some ideas for projects you’ve always wanted to get off the ground floor but it can feel weird and self-indulgent to share these hidden thoughts with people. I felt that way about the “Best Of” and my feature I’ve been kicking around for a year or so now. It’s tough to find someone that stands resolutely in your corner and gets just as excited about your work as you. Well, I found your whisperer that may change everything for you. Her name is Tessa Faye and she guides you to your goals like a cheerleader more amped for your next big step than you are. After just one session (yes, I’m aware this sounds like an infomercial all of a sudden), she made me feel like this script that I wasn’t quite sure how to get to the next step with could get off the ground. If you’re also looking for a kick in the pants, here’s a link to link up with her. Make your dream idea become a reality. And please hire me to work on your project, please.
• The amount of stuff that made me laugh that appeared on the various timelines, feeds and algorithms on the internet this past week was quite high. Here’s a sampling of some of the best:
- I’m a comedy nerd first, film snob second and baseball fanatic third. That’s the order. It’s hard to find baseball content that qualifies as real comedy but I found a gem this week when listening to my friend Bernie Thrasher’s podcast “Coffee and Baseball.” In the episode I checked out, Bernie and his co-host Ryan rap back and forth about the sticky ball scandal and share insight about a forgotten Blue Jays cheating scandal from 2010-14 I’d never even heard about before. Every scandal in baseball is about cheating in some way or another but this podcast doesn’t need any performance enhancers- the two hosts have a rat-a-tat rapport, have done their homework and is essentially an hour where you listen to two friends have a highly focused conversation about one subject: baseball (to be fair, they didn’t cover a lot of coffee content).
- With each passing day, more and more of our lives increasingly become content. We are beholden to the beast: in order to “make it” you have to constantly be creating. Never have I seen this “art imitates life” trope better executed than in Meno Fernandez and Espi Rivadeneira’s short “People with Podcast Be Like” where a funny and spontaneous conversation is exploited for all its worth. No funny moment is sacred for a comic. It has to be shared with the world and the way this sketch takes it to absurd new heights shows a simple observation can get away from us and become something else entirely. 10/10 would recommend.
- It’s practically impossible to parody James Bond at this point. It’s the ultimate “it’s been done so well already, why even try?” subject. However, some brave comic minds are still willing to find fresh takes on the iconic character. Now with the Bond catalogue making its way to Amazon, my friend from across the pond Tom Scudamore was able to find some comedic gas in the tank and skewer this new development with his 6.5-minute showpiece “Bond on Amazon.” In this exquisitely edited set of short sketches starring a scarily convincing Thom Boyer as Bond, there are a number of choice gags about remembering passwords, the awkwardness of buying doorbells and an appearance from a Dr. Evil-like Jeff Bezos that might be played by yours truly. OK, he is played by yours truly. That’s me.
- The last sketch worthy of shout out status this week is Brendan Sagalow and Mike Feeney’s very short, very funny “Dog Tags” where a dying soldier in combat has a few simple last wishes that prove to be a bit more difficult to pull off than he bargained for. It’s executed in classic sketch style with impressive heightens and a perfect twist at the end. You could use this puppy to teach structure in a sketch class.
• Finally, most importantly, long live Conan. From his NBC show to his TBS show, fantastic podcast to his “Conan Without Borders” show, “Simpsons” to “SNL” writing days, there really is no one better. I often almost fall off the treadmill laughing at his podcast weekly and I’m very excited to see what’s next. As he said in his final episode, ““I've devoted all of my adult life — all of it — to pursuing this strange, phantom intersection between smart and stupid.” He’s proven time and again that it’s more than possible- it can happen every day for nearly 30 years.
Cheers, Coco
