
![]() The horror/comedy film, STEAMED!, co-written by Beverly Bonner and Dan Fiorella, is making the rounds on the film festival circuit. How did it come together?
0 Comments
![]() Comedy is so subjective and random. I wouldn't get a joke in one day and the next I get 4 in. Jokes I think are clever get passed by while a mediocre joke is in. Basically, it was a good week for me, in total. I know they used a number of my topics and set-ups, but the punchlines were totally different in tone and style. Even the ones that made it in had some changes made: The FEMA joke was "sharpies and paper towels" and got changed to "sharpies and plastic maps." The Texas joke reworked my "but masks" take a bit. The muffin bit was a real re-wording of my punchline, but the punchline logic remained. The Milli-Vanilli joke got altered a bit, but again, the premise was intact. The 1/6 commission joke got a real workout to have the punchline come back on itself as opposed to my simple "They're ok with 4 recounts but not 1 investigation." I was very happy my "Quid Pro Coop" line hit. I liked that line a lot. And I was proud of my "full contact" airline joke was well. TMI: Daily is going into summer hours after Memorial day, so check the TMI: Hollywood Facebook Page for days and times. And here's my contributions for last week (the video is fine, the thumbnail got pulled from a dissolve frame): ![]() From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... I must have been battling quite the writer's block back then, because this bit is a lazily re-worked essay from my college days. I was going through a severe Woody Allen phase back in college and wrote a number of essays mimicking his style. It was a diary-style article, that was inspired by a class where we discussed the transition in film from silent movies to sound. My memories are vague on this, but I seem to recall the opening paragraph referencing "Singing in the Rain" so it must have been a film class. And it's not even like PHC was in Hollywood, so I don't even know what prompted me to submit this sketch. I guess the lack of effort showed because it wasn't used. Silents is Golden![]() The horror/comedy film, STEAMED!, co-written by Beverly Bonner and Dan Fiorella, is making the rounds on the film festival circuit. How did it come together? So, Beverly Bonner gives me a call; "Do you want to write a movie?" (Now I keep hearing this to the tune of "Do you want to Build a Snowman?") I was wary of her, but I was also wary about passing up an opportunity, any opportunity...
![]() A light week for me, all in all. Frankly, I wasn't feeling it much this week. I hit the usual places for news to mock, but much nothing was inspiring me. And my tweets have been mostly lecture-y rather than funn-y. I included the one joke as a example of some comedic re-writing. Okay, so idiot Congressman comes out and says "For the most part the insurrection was peaceful. Immediately, I thought of comparing it to the Titanic, "for the most part the cruise was great." But when I submitted it I changed it to the Hindenburg, because my logic was its trip was just about finished, up until the last few minutes, it was fine. TMI changed it back to Titanic. Did I over think it? I just found that an odd/interesting choice. But mostly odd. There are going to be changes to the show come summer, especially as things open up in L.A. and the troupe gets the theater up and running again. But, until that time, TMI: Daily is on the TMI: Hollywood Facebook Page weeknights at 6pm on (Hollywood time), if you want to see the jokes that got away. And here's my contributions for last week: ![]() From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Boy, am I a glutton for punishment. I submit the Travel agency sketch to be rejected only to pull out my oldest store sketch and submit that. Did I honestly think this would fly after the first one was rejected? Anyway, this was the rewrite of my first sketch ever, The Pet Store, which became known as The Pet Rock sketch (which I explain in great detail here). This is the post-Rock version of that sketch, and refitted to a PHC commercial set-up. The store keeper is very much a Groucho character, especially when he's behind a counter dealing with customers; slightly rude, absurd and not very helpful. It's the kind of character you like to write when you need to blow off steam. And very much a character that can't exist out of these sketches. The closest I came to trying something bigger with it was to include a version of my Cheese Shoppe sketch as a scene in a screenplay I wrote. The customer was one of the leads in the script. She had a best friend and they entered a cheese shop. But more about that when the Cheese shop skit comes up. Oh, and no surprise, PHC passed on this sketch as well. Storeman's Pet Place![]() The horror/comedy film, STEAMED!, co-written by Beverly Bonner and Dan Fiorella, is making the rounds on the film festival circuit. How did it come together? Ever on the look out for a new venue for my sketches, I responded to another Craig's List ad in December of 2013: COMEDY REPERTORY CO. SEEK SKETCH COMEDY WRITERS The next day I get a response:
![]() It was an odd week. The show from May 10 dropped off the web. No video, no audio from the podcast. It just doesn't exist, I didn't see the show when it was webcast and I don't know if they used anything and no one has gotten back to me about what happened. We had Emma Lieberman and Cameron Weir alternating the anchor chair for Tonya Harris, so each tried to make the spot their own with the jokes selected. Wednesday's show, I'm taking credit for the Chik-fa-A. My punchline was simply "Thanks, Joe Biden," a throw back to the old "Thanks, Obama" trope. It got re-worked into a much longer punchline that nonetheless references Joe Biden. And, oddly, my Rock and Rock Hall of Fame tag went from "better luck next year" to a longer punchline about an office pool. Got nothing in Thursday's show, and got one last joke in Friday. There may be changes to the show in the coming weeks, especially as things open up in L.A. and the troupe gets the theater up and running again. But, until that time, TMI: Daily is on the TMI: Hollywood Facebook Page weeknights at 6pm on (Hollywood time), if you want to see the jokes that got away. And here's my contributions for last week: ![]() From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... There are a couple of odd sketches about to pop up. These are older sketches, going back to college. I was very much in my Monty Python phase when I wrote this originally. I had done a number of store-set sketches through the years, always with a slightly demented store-keeper at the helm. It's a premise that goes back to my first sketch ever, The Pet Store, and continued through my years of writing for "Big B's Traveling Sideshow" (which I'll get to some day--there's video) and the Plant Store sketch. When I decide to pitch them to PHC, I pulled out the Martin Storeman name of the shop owner. I must have been in a major valley, creative-wise, because there's no way Keillor would go for this bit, even reworking the set-up a smidge, to work in the word "Minnesota" and make a last ditch effort to make it a commercial. I wasn't wrong (he didn't). It's just an outright goofy sketch that reminded me of a younger, more free and innocent writer version of myself. It's a theme we'll visit in a few weeks. Until then, here's; Storeman Travel Agency![]() My ebook, Author in the First, is now on sale for 99 cents! That's less than a buck, practically. Nick Flebber is back on the case, helping an author who writes murder prevent some of the murders all around her! Need to get a taste? Here's a new promo I just put together, using the audio from the produced radio adaptation I wrote. You can download your copy today over at Amazon.com. Do it. NOW!!!! |
Dan FiorellaFreelance writer, still hacking away. Archives
January 2025
Categories
All
Blog Roll |