So, I was on the Opie & Anthony Show and I’m writing a movie with Kevin McDonald
The proof is in the pudding. Actually, it’s in the video (I don’t even have any pudding), so watch it, then continue reading below.
Okay, so I know this isn’t quite what I said it was. But it still counts! And I swear to god it’s true – I was wearing a WOW (Whip ’em Out Wednesday) shirt that my friend Kyle gave to me in the hopes that I could get Opie to sign it, but I chickened out and didn’t want to bother the dude. I was working as a Production Assistant on the show. The photo in the video was taken during the time where we filmed the “pranks” Opie mentions, and I was wearing the WOW shirt when Opie came back to shoot the staged portions and presentation. That’s why I’m not wearing the shirt in the actual video/photo.
So, while the title of this post might be somewhat misleading, it’s still kind of true and big deal to me. One of my dreams as a comic is to one day do something cool enough that it warrants a visit to the Opie & Anthony Show (preferably when Norton’s in), so I can just “shoot the shit” with those guys and inevitably be the least funny guy in the room. I kind of look at this as the first step in that direction. Most of my favorite modern comics are regulars on that show (Jim Norton, Louis CK, Patrice O’Neal was before his untimely death, “Fat” Bob Kelly), so to be on that show for real some day would be a serious dream come true. And I’m obviously a fan of Opie and Anthony themselves. In my opinion, their show is what radio should be – honest and edgy.
Anyway, yeah, I got to have this amazing experience because I was working on “Who Gets the Last Laugh?” as a Production Assistant, and I also had another completely awesome experience on that show – I got to drive Kids in the Hall’s Kevin McDonald to and from set in my car. Holy shit!
If you’re not familiar with Kids In The Hall, first of all, I don’t care about you because they’re one of the greatest comedy troupes of all time, and second of all, go Google them and change your life.
I grew up on Kids in the Hall and, very honestly, their comedy had a serious influence on my own. I was too young to catch them at their prime, but me, my brother, Nick, and some of my friends in middle school watched the re-runs on Comedy Central any time we could catch them, and more importantly, I owned (and still own) their movie, Brain Candy, on VHS and must have watched it 30 or 40 times between the ages of 12 and 15.
So, when I got to pick up Kevin McDonald and talk to him about Brain Candy, it was pretty god-damned spectacular. He told me about the original ending to Brain Candy that got cut after test screenings (I never knew they had one!); sang The Pixies’ “Monkey Gone to Heaven” acapella in an effort to make me listen to me listen to more Pixies (which I’m doing as I write this post); gave me a list of movies I needed to watch based on our mutual tastes in comedy (which was almost completely Terry Gilliam movies I haven’t seen); and talked to me in-depth about writing comedy. We both decided we write real, dramatic, oft-depressing backdrops for our comedies because we’re both in the school of thought that you can’t really have a good, cathartic laugh without real dramatic stakes. After coming to that conclusion, he joked that the two of us were meant to write a movie together, and I acted way too eager and possibly scared him a little, but oh well.
So, again, perhaps a little bit of overstatement being used in this post, but also again, fuck you. I don’t care. It was a big deal to me. I have his contact information, and as he was getting out of the car to go home he said, “I have a feeling it won’t be the last time I hear from you.” Whether he meant I was going to stalk him or I was going to succeed in comedy, I’m not sure, but I’m going to hope it’s the latter.
Speaking of which, Russell Peters was also on the show, and if you remember correctly, I “opened” for him back in November. I met him again briefly and he was a really nice guy (and well-dressed, I must say). But what I’m really getting at is that I’ll be posting some audio from that Comedy Store gig and the following one in the coming days.
Bye.
-Chris
ChrisRebbert.com 