This one was a fun one to knock out. That summer Chad Wilson and I had just finished releasing our web series Ped Crossing, which had practically turned out to be a short movie that took 2 1/2 years of nights and weekends.  So when I was asked to make something short to screen at JFL Chicago, it was like lifting a light weight to shoot something over a weekend and have it ready to go in a week.  There are more stories to tell you at the bar, but this video is near and dear to me.   Thanks to Anthony Oberbeck, James Fritz, Candy Lawrence, and Sherman Edwards for their silent acting skills, and Mike Andersen for recording.

JULY SHOWS -

JULY 8  - LOLA BALATRO headlines the W.I.P. Theater Chicago
JULY 22 - DAN PEFF at Yeah Buddy Awesome Time, Brü Chicago, ​Chicago
JULY 24 - DAN PEFF at Best Night Ever, GMan Tavern, Chicago

Real Good Drinking with Dan Peff will be screening in the Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival. It's been a few years with our beloved L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival retired, so it'll great to have an April weekend in LA to screen & to see old friends.

Lola Balatro headlines the W.I.P. Theater in Edison Park two consecutive Saturdays. More LB coming up this summer.

APRIL SHOWS - (Full details are on the SHOWS page)
APRIL 1 - LOLA BALATRO headlines the W.I.P. Theater
APRIL 4 - LOLA BALATRO at Chicago Underground Comedy, Beat Kitchen
APRIL 8 - LOLA BALATRO headlines the W.I.P. Theater
APRIL 15-16 - REAL GOOD DRINKING screens at the Hollywood Comedy Shorts Film Festival
MAR. 23  - LOLA BALATRO at Beat Weekend, Blackout Cabaret, Second City

10 years ago this weekend we shot Being Civil, a reality show in 1866 with a Union soldier and Confederate soldier living in the same log cabin. Jeff Madden and I wrote the treatment, and the honorable Joe Kreml filmed it. Brady Novak, Allison Bills, Marz Timms, and Jim Mulvaney starred alongside Jeff and me, with Cork Kangas proving the soundtrack and Andy Ross doing artwork. . It was a butt-ass cold weekend, and I still don't know how Brady got the shirtless outdoor scenes done without dying. And to the name of Marz's character cracks me up. (Cassius Alcindor)

The actually dialog we improvised, and did the whole thing over a weekend. This was the first project I produced, and when it screened at the Music Box theater later with an audience of strangers laughing at the spots we wanted them to laugh, I knew I was following the right path. (Oh, and finding a large cloth confederate flag takes you down a scary internet rabbit hole..)
If you don't have time to watch the full pilot, here's the summary..

BEING CIVIL
     The war is over, but the battle has just begun. It’s 1866, and former Confederate infantryman Calhoun Jackson and Union soldier Hilton Thurdinghill III are put to reside together in a modest log cabin in pastoral Norford County, Pennsylvania. Following the war that pitted brother versus brother and left well-nigh 200,000 perished in combat, tensions naturally manifest themselves in myriad behaviors. The bespectacled Hilton, one born into the better class, is of a sanguine temperament, whereas Calhoun, whose demeanor is imbued with a distaste for aristocracy, is barren of tact. Previously unable to conceal his mirth, Hilton has altogether too rough a time trying to be cheerful and frivolous or anyways frisky as Calhoun wantonly casts a gloom over his merriment.
     Compounding the rascality is the one-upmanship for the attention of Eliza, the town whore. Doubtless, Calhoun will be well pleased should the lady accept his courting, yet she will have none of it, not even for a monetary sum. After Hilton acquaints himself with Cassius Alcindor, the county’s only black man, Calhoun reacts as fiercely as ever, the results whereof will be felt for quite some time to come. Enter malodorous Blackfoot and the enigmatic Woodsman, and the stage is set for an infinitude of riotous adventures. It is fair to presume that such an array of persons was never assembled for a show of this variety upon any previous occasion. Is it well thus to ask the success of so mighty an enterprise as this?

DECEMBER SHOWS - (Full details are on the SHOWS page)
DEC. 3  - LOLA BALATRO at Laughingstock Comedy Music Festival - The Elbo Room
DEC. 22 - DAN PEFF at Parlour Car ar Bar DeVille

 A big thank you to Robin Baumgarten on WGN Morning News, which is part of my daily ritual. She hates the phrase "Tighty Whiteys", resulting in me playing Epic Love Song  today live on air.   Here's the LIVE PERFORMANCE with friends Jonathan Keaton, Jeff Madden, Jim Mulvaney, Andy Orschein, +  brother-in-law Rich Fobes on piano.