Always On Silent: December 2006

PCOW

Photogenic Comic Of The Week:

Renee Gauthier at The Spectacular Show (12-20-06)

Weeds

I havent been this happy with an image since Buscemi's show in September.
The circumstances were...trying. It was difficult. Still, I had the praise of a few folks. It was quite an experience to be there with four (or five) other comedians. I witnessed one in awe, another nerd out, and another quote bits verbatim. There was an appreciation that the other people in the audience probably wouldnt understand. There was one kid, all by himself and it was just as fun watching him enjoy himself as it was watching Zach.
We were inches away from him. It was amazing.

I Live In A Funny Neighborhood.

Spitfire at the Lodge. Host: Becky Garcia:

I live in a funny neighorhood. Here's why. As of late, Hannah Gansen (below) has been making a few cameos at my place of work [Starbucks.] One day she was in and expressed that she's been feeling a little..."Creatively constipated." She proved this wrong last night, methinks. All the girls did really well. I heard Thursday was just as good, if not better.

Little Faye:

Alli. Alli Leber is awesome. She is completely selfless and supportive. Like K-Rock, she scolds me anytime I try to humble myself. She talked to me more about the Comics For Change benefits. I look forward to the next one...I met her cousin who reminded me totally of one young Keanu Reeves.

Deb:

Deb Downing comes into my Starbucks almost every other day. I've seen her in the store several times before and every time I do I think, "She looks very familar!" She

came in last week and I finally said: "You're Deb, arent you?" I got that funny puzzled look from her and I explained how I knew K-Rock and that I was looking forward to seeing her perform on Friday. After the show, I got a nice greeting from Deb and I suggested she try putting a Splenda in the foam on her latte; it tastes kinda' like cotton candy if it were made out of froth.

A couple of other comedian sightings at this Starbucks include: Andy Ross, Steve "O" Harvey, Deb Downing (see story above), Brian Gallivan and around 5 different Second City students. It's probably a little strange to have your barista's face light up as she says: "You do comedy, dont you!?"

Deb's impersonation of a Chimp doing an impersonation of Sinead O'Connor:

The Belly Dancers of Hipnotic.

Mike Olsen's impersonation of a Sailor-Pirate-Villainous-Frenchman:

Afterwards, Kristy, James Fritz and I went over to The Bierstube for a drink.

Sonny the Bartender:

I experienced what "might" feel like competition (if I really took it that seriously) last night. After around two am, I realized I just need to relax and stay focused. It doesnt matter what kind of camera I have, I still do a decent job. I'm working hard at getting better and more experienced, so there is no worry over here.

Today I got a call from my dad.

Yeah, he's got an automotive satire blog now...and it's got a three word title, sound familiar? Heh, heh. Dont read it if you dont know what a Front Subframe Shift VK/FwAgG-54.2B is.

Seems everyone's a Blerd deese-dayse.

He knew before I did that The Bastion added me to the credits as a Contributing Photographer. Sure, cool dad. I just couldnt get over the fact that my dad reads The Bastion almost as religiously as the comedians in the scene do.

Anyway. Some things to look forward to?:

-Your Sunday Best (as usual).
-Seeing/Photographing Matt Braunger and *possibly* Eric Acosta on Tuesday at ChUC if there's no second show at Weeds.
-The ChUC Holiday Spectacular.
-ChuckleBowl!
-David Dineen-Porter at the end of January (from my motherland!).
-2007 in general.

Night, cats!

The Beat Kitchen

There was no PCOW Sunday because I only went to (technically) one show last week.

Well, tonight was the first ChUC show at The Beat Kitchen. Buscemi started off hosting duties and Tony Sam took over after a little bit.

Kumail:

Andy Ross reminded us that there was a theme to the show: Musical instruments. So, he pretended a hollow tube was a guitar, bass, didjeridu, and banjo.

Tony Sam, hosting.

Something rare: Getting a few good sequences and getting some still shots of Vatterot. The man moves around so much, it's hard to capture his face.

Never a chore to shoot Flannery:

I spoke out of turn during Holmes' set and got called out. Blame it on the Guiness, muh'dear.

Hated the reddish lighting, figured out a way to fix it (slightly, barely, hardly). Opted to shoot in black and white all night.

While everyone was in the front room having drinks and chats, Tony and the boys had a little staff meeting of sorts. I snapped a quick pic while I was grabbing my coat.

Somehow, I think the Beat Kitchen can't be funny unless a bunch of guys are in the back playing music with toys. Even then, the kids there take it seriously.
Hopefully, we can make it funny. Or as Bridenstine says, we'll grow to love it.
And not in that "ironic" way.

I feel like the only one that liked the grungy charm of it all (except for the permanent pee smell in the bathrooms).
We just have to be positive about these things. You cant bring up the idea of a room dying, otherwise it will happen. I guess it's like a jinx. Keep it off your mind and out of the show.

Something uncomical:
After I got home, I walked around the block for some air and I saw (heard, rather) a horrible car accident. My back was to the entire thing, but a couple walking a little further behind me witnessed it. I heard an annoying stereo blasting some loud garbage-sounds and then Long-squeal-crash-glass-break-noise.

Apparently, the guy "took the corner too hard" and flipped over onto his side and into a parked Saturn. That's a Jeep for you. The driver had to be taken to the hospital but the passenger climbed out totally alright. Strange. As the tow truck brought it back on all four wheels, the stereo started back up again and one of the tow truck men started dancing along to the music. While we were all standing there gawking, the driver of the Saturn came along with his two friends. He went up to one of the cops and said: "Uhhhh. That's my Saturn."
The poor guy seemed sweet and well-mannered. He probably has the cleanest driving record and the rear end of his car gets trashed when it's parked because some asshole has a speeding problem.
I was really tired and zoned out, so the entire thing felt like a dream. Even the pictures dont seem real.

I'm so glad I dont drive in the city.

Friday Night's Bitter Edge.

Things have been rough on this side of the monitor.

It's been too cold to step foot out of doors. Instead of going to shows, I've taken to watching ridiculous Christmas movies and making monotonous blog posts on Myspace.

Last night I sacrificed myself to the frigid night air and-thus the life of a good photographer-only got one (or two) good shots of the night.

I wanted to check out some of the Edge comedy shows, so I took a chance.
I waited a good 45 minutes for the Damen bus to take me to Clark. I ended up walking six blocks to Kitty Moon for the Alter Egos showcase.

I saw the tail-end of the first show and sat around waiting for the second to start. I was accosted by the charming bar puppy, Mona a few times as well.

I had totally forgotten that Adam Kroshus was in town and we sat and talked for a little bit about Wisconsin and Chicago.

Tony Blanco's character was a terrifying (loud) clown. Fringles? Pringles? I really oughta' write down the names of these people the next few times I'm out.

This is presumably the reason I had nightmares last night:

Thanks alot, Tony.

Adam's Gay English Butler.

Something I'm not sure I liked about the Alter Egos showcase was all the yelling. Alot of the comedian's characters were very screamy. Mike Wiley (pictured first) was actually complaining about the loss of his voice later in the night. Tony Blanco didnt even use the microphone. Brendan McGowan performed the only character that didn't entail hollering, in fact the opposite; a very polite southern gentleman. I didnt capture any photos of this because he ended up having a really short set and I was feeling antisocial when I got there.

Tony Sam and Jeff Tobin arrived fresh from Santa Kong (wherein attendees dress in Santa clothes, get on a trolley with strangers, drink and go to places around the city to cause mayhem). I'm pretty sure they were C-mashed when they walked in. Something about "drunk santas" is mildly amusing. They told me that the lot of them ended up getting kicked out of Macy's. I like the idea of this "Santa Kong" and I think it's something I'd like to do next year, maybe as a "photo assignment."

Here is Brady doing a rather classic character: A plumber lecturing on about pipes. I forgot that Brady actually knows pipes, so it was very convincing.

I went to the Crowd Work showcase across the street afterwards. The "Santa's" followed me over and did some light, soused heckling before getting impatient and taking off. Surprisingly, even though Jeff hates hecklers, he does a pretty good job at being very mean and heckly.

I didnt get many good shots, I wasnt up to much after the Alter Egos showcase and the trek through the cold. If you want to know about the show, Dan P.(the ref) can tell you aaall about it.
Heh.
He was kind enough to give me a ride home so I didnt have to stand for another 45 minutes at the glacial Clark Bus Stop. We actually had some really good shop talk.
I found it a little easier to"talk shop" with someone who is as relatively new into the scene as I am. The perspectives are similar, I think.

I just read about Bonnie "Prince" Billy doing Stand-Up and I'm pretty stoked. Ok, that's an understatement. I'm damn excited. I'm over-the-clouds-thrilled. I really want to get some stellar shots at the People Under The Stares show. Here's hoping.

That's all for today.
See you tomorrow.

PCOTW.

I just realised that I forgot to post the most photogenic comic of the week on Sunday.
So here it is kids; somewhat of a tie for the week of 11/27-12/3...

Sugar Powdered Doughnuts. Both together and on solo occasions:

So, it seems I have plans for New Years. I have a little idea for that night that may be tedious to execute and a little expensive. We'll see.
Stay tuned.

Team Submarine Because It Rhymes.

Did well tonight, I think.

Although there was one incident where I went out to shoot with Man On The Street at The Lodge but didnt realize my iso setting was at 800. This probably means nothing to you, so in laments terms, I got "really effing grainy pictures."

Once again, I took more pictures at A Demon Who Never Appeared. I cant seem to get enough. I even sat in the "press section" tonight. This is what I've deemed it since this is where Steve and K-rock usually sit. Most of the time I sit right up front, which is sometimes too close.
I cant seem to find that perfect place to shoot from.

Since I really should go to bed, I'll only post two pictures from tonight.