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It practically gallops!

Fest Up

The show schedule for the Gatlinburg Improv Fest was posted the other day. Einstein Simplified will perform on Friday, February 24 at 9:30 p.m. and on Saturday, February 25 at 6:30 p.m.

A weekend pass for all shows Thursday-Saturday is available for $100
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Thursday February 23, 2012
6:30-7:30 Welcome!
8:00-9:00 Sweet Fanny Adams, Gatlinburg, TN $10
9:30-10:30 TBA (tentative)

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Friday February 24, 2012 – day pass is $40 for all Friday shows, or individual show prices below
5:00-6:00 Shenanigans, Cleveland, TN $10
6:30-7:30 Obv-prov, Cleveland, TN $10
8:00-9:00 Six Guitars -Chase Padgett, Orlando, FL $12
9:30-10:30 Einstein Simplified, Knoxville, TN $10
11:00-12:00 Sweet Fanny Adams, Gatlinburg, TN $10
12:30-1:30 *Sweet Fanny Adams. Gatlinburg, TN – late night invitational (tentative)

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Saturday February 25, 2012 – day pass is $50 for all Saturday shows, or individual show prices below
3:30-4:30 Sweet Fanny Adams, Gatlinburg, TN $10
5:00-6:00 Obv-prov, Cleveland, TN $10
6:30-7:30 Einstein Simplified, Knoxville, TN $10
8:00-9:00 Six Guitars -Chase Padgett, Orlando, FL $12
9:30-10:30 Reasonably Priced Babies, Asheville, NC $10
11:00-12:00 Shenanigans, Cleveland, TN $10
12:30 -1:30 *Sweet Fanny Adams. Gatlinburg, TN – late night invitational (tentative)

I’ve started looking up the other groups who’ll be sharing the stage at the Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre with us. I found a Facebook page for Reasonably Priced Babies from Asheville and a YouTube channel for Shenanigans from Lee University. Here’s a video of Shenanigans playing “Dead Bodies.”

February 5, 2012 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Frankly Speaking

The serial killer in Bobcat Goldthwait’s new movie is named Frank. Naturally, that caught my eye. “God Bless America” will be released via On Demand on April 6 and in select theatres on May 11.

Joel Murray plays Frank, a terminally ill man who goes on a killing spree. Reminiscent of “Dexter,” Frank only kills those whom he thinks deserve to die. He goes after reality show stars, bigots, people who talk in theatres and people who park poorly.

Joel is one of the very talented Murray brothers. I remember him from the Jay Thomas series “Love & War.” Jay arranged for me to play an extra at a movie theatre in one episode. Coincidentally, Joel’s brother Bill plays a character named Frank in “Scrooged,” in which Bobcat played a part.

Bobcat wrote and directed “God Bless America.” I wonder if the killer’s name has anything to do with a voiceover that Bobcat did for Walmart recently. When you click on frankthefruitcake.com, you see a talking fruitcake that has Bobcat’s distinct voice.

January 31, 2012 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Cracker Barrels

The last thing I want to do is “steal” the Nutcracker from my wife.  She loves Tchaikovsky’s ballet and watches different versions of it on TV. It’s always been “her thing” and she’s a little worried that it will become “my thing” now that I’ve had a comedic cameo with the Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association. In reality, the reason I agreed to be in their Nutcracker was because I thought it would make my wife happy.

I admit that I have started paying attention to other productions. When my wife watches the Ovation Channel’s annual “Battle of the Nutcrackers” this week, I will watch with her. Last year, I avoided watching until she insisted that I look at the weird anatomical costumes in the Casse Noisette Circus version.

I wish there was a telecast of the Magic Theatre’s production of “Nutcrackers.” The San Antonio group has created a silly Nutcracker with characters based on classic comedians. For example, Drosselmeyer is played by a Groucho Marx impersonator. The Nutcracker is a Charlie Chaplin look-alike. I found a video clip that includes characters portraying Shirley Temple and Lucille Ball too.

December 14, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

Blue Streaking

There were almost as many recognizable faces in the crowd at Side Splitters as there were on stage Sunday night. Nine local media personalities competed in the second annual Host with the Most Fun’raiser. My wife and I bought tickets to support my Smoky Mountain Television co-host Taz Cable. Brittany Bailey and John Martin had a front row seat to support their WBIR colleague Erin Donovan.

Audience for the Host with the Most competition at Side Splitters Comedy Club - Alan Carmichael and Cynthia Moxley As I looked around the showroom, I saw Cynthia Moxley, Alan Carmichael and Scott Bird of Moxley Carmichael Public Relations. Cynthia writes a popular party-hopping blog called the Blue Streak. In it, she posts photos that she takes at many charity events around town. As a result, she’s not in the pictures. Seeing her gave me the idea to turn the tables on her and to snap a few pictures of the audience in the few moments left before showtime.

Audience for the Host with the Most competition at Side Splitters Comedy Club - Michele Silva, Lorena Estrada and their dates Michele Silva was there to root for Taz and for her WVLT colleague Whitney Kent. Michele was seated with WVLT’s Lorena Estrada. I especially enjoyed Whitney’s Shirley Nash Pitts impersonation. Tonya Cinnamon posted a photo on Facebook of Whitney imitating Shirley’s “Clean It Up” facial expression.

Audience for the Host with the Most competition at Side Splitters Comedy Club - Frank Murphy and Stephen A. Burrows Mayoral candidate Mark Padgett and local attorney Stephen A. Burroughs were seated on opposite sides of the room. They both got countless mentions from the comedians, especially Burroughs who is known for his billboards, his Facebook memes and his recent Swagfest.

October 24, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

There’s Money in the Banana Stand

It’s great news for “Arrested Development” fans like me. The cast appeared together on a panel at The New Yorker Festival on Sunday. The New York Times reported that series creator Mitchell Hurwitz told the audience the crew would make ten more episodes of the cult-classic show plus a feature film. The actors who played the three Bluth brothers, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Tony Hale, all wrote about the news on their Twitter feeds.

There are so many things I love about “Arrested Development” that it was hard to choose a clip to embed here. My family and I often joke about Gob’s magic career. I still laugh about his ambition to be in the magicians’ trade journal, “Poof!” magazine. Sometimes the song Gob used as a theme, “The Final Countdown,” will get stuck in my head. The next time Amazon.com gives away mp3 credits, I need to remember to download it. Here’s a clip from Season 2, featuring Gob and Buster trying to trick Tony Wonder, played by Ben Stiller.

October 3, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Eth Lab

Side Splitters Comedy Club isn’t normally open at lunchtime. It was yesterday. The Volunteer chapter of the PRSA held their September meeting in the club on Thursday. This is Ethics Awareness Month for the organization. Ethics chair Michael Holtz of the American Cancer Society was responsible for the meeting’s content. He hired Einstein Simplified to do ethics-themed improv scenes.

Five of us from the group were available for the gig. We prepared by reading the case studies on the PRSA website. We took some of our regular games and twisted them slightly for the occasion. We even made up a new fast game, “Spin Doctor,” that will likely show up in our Tuesday-night repertoire.

I knew many of the people in attendance, which made me feel a bit nervous. The PRSA members are public relations specialists from charities, hospitals, banks,PR firms, government agencies and more.

Managing partners Bridgette and Coley O’Dell did a fine job of feeding the guests. The buffet lunch included mixed-greens salad, pulled pork, beef brisket, cole slaw, potato salad and pecan pie. I took the stage to get things started. Before introducing my fellow improvisers, I suggested that the PRSA members should consider booking their companies’ holiday parties at Side Splitters. Of course it would be nice if they also hired Einstein Simplified to entertain, but they could just as easily have Bridgette book a stand-up comedian for their party.

September 23, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Peter Principle

All the news stories about Ben & Jerry’s new flavor gave my wife a start. She hadn’t seen the classic Saturday Night Live sketch from which the flavor gets its name. The Miami New Times compared it to ten other foods with terrible names, including two I spotted at my local grocery this Spring.

Guest host Alec Baldwin played a character named Pete Schweddy. He arrives at his local NPR station with a tray full of baked goods, specifically cookie balls. We can see that the “Delicious Dish” hosts, played by Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon, are sampling confections. The comedy comes from the idea that a radio listener would be horrified to hear their description without seeing what was really happening.

By naming their ice cream flavor after Schweddy’s holiday treats, Ben & Jerry’s puts many shoppers in the same position as the imaginary NPR listeners in the SNL sketch. Those who saw the sketch will think it’s hysterical. Those who haven’t seen it will think the ice cream company, a  subsidiary of Unilever, has lost its mind.

September 12, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

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