Anne, one of the Chucklehead writers, posted this video on my Facebook wall  this morning. I tried to contact various Chuckleheads to find out if it was really OUR Chuckleheads.  Ronnie wrote me a message back saying “Of COURSE it’s us–do you think anyone would be impersonating us?

The back story’s this:  Back in the 1980s, there was a discount electronics chain in New York called “Crazy Eddie.”  Dean Friedman would end every commercial with “Crazy Eddie–his prices are INSANE!”  So, they hired Chucklehead actors to dress up as reindeer, etc., and dance in the background.  Well, Dean is back in action with the “Crazy Eddie” song and he successfully reunited some of the Chuckleheads to be part of the act.  I’ve got just one word for all of this:  INSANE!!!!

For more about Chucklehead and the book Rob wrote about the troupe, visit http://talesofthetroupe.wordpress.com.

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This fake ad was from Chuckelehead’s last show, “Stocks and Prawns,” written as an ensemble with mixed results. This video actually introduces Sea Captain Frank, played by Cubby. We shot it off the Staten Island Ferry in early December, and developed quite an audience doing it.

In reality, Sea Captain Frank is a terrible alcoholic, and runs the tanker into a reef. This happened right after the Exxon-Valdez disaster, and I was very wary of making Sea Captain Frank a carbon copy of Hazelwood–so I gave him the added quirk of his buggering his men when they’re at the helm. Yeah, it was a cheap laugh but an effective one.

To learn more about Chucklehead and Rob’s book about it, visit http://talesofthetroupe.wordpress.com.

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This was meant to be a much longer piece but, much like Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo” and Terry Gilliam’s doomed “Man of La Mancha,” it was hit with obstacles of epic proportions. Much of it was shot on Super-8 in New Jersey and Central Park, but then the Super-8 camera got stolen. I have only vague memories of shooting this. Having a guy bring a suitcase on a hike was a nice touch, and I believe it was Jay’s idea. As for Craggy John’s hawk friend Mojave flying, there was a lot of conjecture on how it was done? Built-in remote-control airplane? Stop-action animation? A matte shot? The simple truth is that Mohave’s right wing was on a stick. I believe Mark Sarto, who played Craggy John, actually assembled Mojave, as he was the silly propmeister for the troupe. I don’t know whether it’s clear from this footage, but the original premise was that Craggy John put the campers in harm’s way so that he could save their lives. But, over the course of it all, he became more and more injured. And so he sent Mojave off to attack them out of revenge. At least, that’s the way I remember it. Note the severed hand. Whenever things got slow, we’d have Mark cut off his hand. My favorite was when he was playing a nerd taking a class in making sushi in “The Learning Hut.” Distracted by a beautiful nerdette played by Ronnie, he lets the knife slip and, well, you get the picture.

For more about Chucklehead and Tales of the Troupe, visit http://talesofthetroupe.wordpress.com

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A disco rendition of “Thus Spake Zarathustra” was blasting over the loudspeakers as spotlights zig-zagged across the dance floor.  “Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for the lady who made this all possible, Ms. Gloria Leonard!”  Standing at the edge of the dance floor, I watched four muscle-bound men in loin cloths enter carrying a throne.  On it was seated a 50-something-year-old woman in a G-string, who had a killer body and a striking face, but perhaps a little too much make-up.  The four men carried her up to the small stage where the microphone was, and simultaneously lifted her onto the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for cumming!” she said, to thunderous applause.

A wave of surreality hit me.  What was I doing here? (continue reading…)

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FADE IN ON:

TITLE:  “ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF EVERY COMEDY WRITER.”

FADE TO:

INT. ASTORIA APARTMENT – NIGHT

The apartment is extremely cramped. The living room has a TV, sofa, and bookshelves on one end, and a huge desk and file cabinet crammed into the other end.  Rob is sitting at a keyboard on the desk, typing intently, while Kari lies on the couch, smoking and reading.

KARI

Say, do you know I’ve always thought would make a good Chucklehead skit?

Rob looks up from his typing with a look of nervous anticipation.

(continue reading…)

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THE WORST CASE SCENARIO

FADE IN ON:

TITLE:  “ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF EVERY COMEDY WRITER.”

FADE TO:

INT. ASTORIA APARTMENT – NIGHT

The apartment is extremely cramped. The living room has a TV, sofa, and bookshelves on one end, and a huge desk and file cabinet crammed into the other end.  Rob is sitting at a keyboard on the desk, typing intently, while Kari lies on the couch, smoking and reading.

KARI

Say, do you know I’ve always thought would make a good Chucklehead skit?

Rob looks up from his typing with a look of nervous anticipation.

(continue reading…)

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This was one of the troupe’s favorite videos.  We shot it in Alphabet City and Spanish Harlem in the late 1980s.  It’s notable for a lot of reasons.  One is that we always took advantage of the environment.  We used the crumbling buildings of Alphabet City, for example, to depict NYC after WWIII.  And New Yorkers themselves were often some of the best characters in our videos.  Note, for example, the guy who gives us the funny look as we’re marching down the subway steps.  We also enlisted our close friends.  The woman holding the card is Julie, who was a friend of one of our actresses, Ronnie.  The other noteworthy thing is how very young we looked.  I remember my rich brown hair and full beard!

Pinstripe Plaza is actually based on a real building in Spanish Harlem inhabited by yuppies.  We were all poor and we hated yuppies with a passion.  One of the show-biz types who inhabited a building we nicknamed “Dogboy Manor,” across the street from the yuppie building, considered shooting bottle rockets at it.  ”What’s keeping me from doing,” he said, “is not the potential loss of life or even property values.  It’s the prospect of getting raped while serving time in prison for arson.”

For more information about the troupe and Rob’s book “Tales of the Troupe,” go to http://talesofthetroupe.wordpress.com.

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“So, what happened in France? Why won’t you talk about it?” I asked Rick, as we were walking down Second Avenue toward a trendy health-food restaurant called Eats. We were on our way to lunch, and of course I was paying. Rick owned a compact laser video disk player and plenty of top-quality movies on laser disk, traveled a lot and ate at some of the finest restaurants in Manhattan, but he was always broke. After eating out with the actors for several years, I had just learned to double the price of any meal. (continue reading…)

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There was something so perfect about her. Her tight jeans and black leotard showed off a fantastic, voluptuous body that must have at one time been very athletic but had not seen a gym in at least a couple of years. Her dirty blonde hair was that of a grown-up: Well past shoulder length, it formed a baroque swirl of curls and folds and weaves around her sensuous ears and neck. Her eyes shone with warmth, joy and lust.

She was the newest member of the troupe. Within the ridiculously long five-year span the troupe was in existence, she was an era unto herself. The cast of performers now comprised three men and three women, and starting that night, the dynamics became infinitely more complicated.

(continue reading…)

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I immediately called up Nate and asked if he knew where Frankie was. “No, but you’d better do something. Lou’s really pissed at us because we’re the ones who recommended you. There’s no telling what he might do.” Then he laughed and added: “You’re gonna sleep with da fishes!”

(continue reading…)

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