ConstantComedy.com aka Project X Revealed aka Dan Wright and Steve Marsh Make A Lovely Couple and the Pros From Dover Have A Strange Nosebleed

At long last all can be revealed Dear Listener - today Project X, aka constantcomedy.com goes live!  What is it I hear you ask?  Imagine YouTube, but devoted specifically towards original comedy performance. 

We've created a site in which people can upload clips to their heart's content - but they're moderated so only original comedy gets though, (it's not another site full of old Knightrider episodes or 'baby falls off toilet' home videos) - and rather than just having the clips simply rated on a basic 'star' system like other sites we have a 'live stream' on the main page which syncs you up with everybody else watching - you can interact with everybody else viewing, and vote clips 'on or off' on a second by second basis.

The site's in beta, (we don't launch officially to the public for a few more weeks), so still rough round the edges, with plenty of improvements, functionality and features to be added but it's still chock full of the ha-ha.

So head over and have a look - and if you're feeling funny then sign-up and upload a clip yourself!

(Clip above: Dan Wright and Steve Marsh, below we have the Pros from Dover, Gemma Arrowsmith, Chapman and Crompton and Myfanwy)

Mr. President - Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love George W. Bush

Have posted a new version of 'Mr. President' to YouTube - special thanks to the folks who emailed me about the old version's sound-synch problems.

This vid is kinda close to my heart as it's something I've re-worked on a yearly basis since 2001 - never really been happy with it but this is as finished as it's gonna get.

Chapter 68 - Recording This Weekend

I was happy with the questions we received for Chapter 67:

Chapter 67 - Recording This Weekend

So if anyone has any queries they'd like answered about Belfast, Northern Ireland or the show in general please let us know and we'll try to answer them in this weekend's LTA Chapter 68 - Fear.

(Photo above:  Yorkgate Cinema, Yorkgate Mall, Belfast)

Captain Planet Action

For those of you out there who haven't seen it - my response to the Captain Planet haters:

Original blog post:

Letter to America - Chapter 66 - Jett Loe, I'm Going to Knock Your F**k In

Study: Iraqis May Experience Sadness When Friends, Relatives Die

Via the Onion:

Study: Iraqis May Experience Sadness When Friends, Relatives Die

Where Are The Joneses?; Inspired Or Dire?

Interesting article by Stephen Armstrong of the Times on the new 'wiki-created' internet sitcom 'Where Are The Joneses?':

Whose punch line is it anyway? Steve Coogan’s online sitcom allows viewers to write the script. Our writer joins in the fun - or tries to.

'Where Are The Joneses?' has at its core an interesting idea:  using 'wiki' technology as a gathering/filtering/collaboration tool for creating new comedy.  Their wiki page describes it thusly:

"Welcome to the Where are the Joneses? wiki site. Where are the Joneses? is a daily comedy, shot entirely for the web and it’s very funny. (To see the films go here.) But the best thing about Where are the Joneses? Is that it’s written by the Where are the Joneses? community. It’s written by you!

Join Wikidot and the Joneses community and get involved in these ways:

Ideas - Propose broad outlines for episodes, or even scenes within episodes. Can you think up a scene that makes you laugh? It might get used by our crew.

Scripts – Write for us. Whole scenes or just conversations. Jot it down. Change other people’s stuff and make it better! Get our crew to make it!

Cast - Suggest a new cast member, or comment on ones suggested by others. Do you fancy yourself as a Jones? Why not upload your audition tape to YouTube and create a profile for yourself in the cast section. If we like your tape, you never know, you might be joining Dawn and Ian on the road…."

Yes, it's an interesting idea, (especially for me as am actively involved in cutting-edge comedy  with 'Project X' - revealed this Monday!)

But my first reaction to the notion of 'collaborative comedy' is that it's a non-starter; comedy, as in any art form, needs a strong, guiding vision - and using 'crowd sourcing' to write/generate ideas for shows sounds like it would foster bland, disjointed mush.  But that's just me - a guy that's put out over 100 hours of podcasts/vidcasts all about me, copiously illustrated with, yes, you guessed it, photos of me.  So I'm thinking my obvious narcissism/need for attention is colouring my perspective re: the requirements for centralised voice in comedy.

Let me know what you think - below are some episodes of WATJ - any good?

Where Are The Joneses WikiPage

Where Are the Joneses on YouTube

(Thanks to Caroline Edwards of Sparkle for pointing me to the article)

Letter to America - Chapter 67 - Belfast Welcomes You

Wow, It's Like the Shining in Here with Letter to America - Chapter 67 - Belfast Welcomes You!

In which the Belfast Welcome Centre receives an unusual call, much is learnt about St. George's Market, we hear Al Qaeda doesn't really exist, Wayne forgets that people listen to the show, the YouTube cripples itself, racism rears its ugly head, we debate the number of continents, Maria W and PB's questions are answered, Chapter 24 is pulled out of the archives just so we can listen to Marcus Valentine, Nick Margerrison gives out handy tips for brewing the perfect cup of tea, we spoil Harry Potter, the Eloi and Morlochs are mentioned yet again and Jett starts packing for Nashville.

All this and more on your "I'm Willing to Help Out With the Re-Enactment" Podcast.

(Main photo courtesy of Rosa Blogs)

Weekly World News Ceases Publication; Alien Disappointed

Via Metafilter comes the sad, sad news that the venerable publication, the Weekly World News, has closed down. 

Those of you not from the States may not be familiar with the WWN, it was something special; not just another weekly news magazine you'd glance at for a minute at the check-out line and then forget, but a shout-out from another world - an injection of the strange and surreal - a vital dose of manic, can-you-believe-it hyperbole; a gutterised mini-Burroughs screaming at you in your narcotised state that all was not as it seems.

The WWN made a big impact on me growing up - so much so that a News T-shirt was what I wore at my first wedding, (in Las Vegas of course - Elvis, who is still alive as any News reader will know, would approve).  This morning, on hearing the sad news, I rummaged through old suitcases, not opened for years, and found the shirt; presented above to give some flavour of what we've lost.

P.S. I'm really glad the Alien saw through Bush and Perot - it's a shame he won't be around to see this Bush out.

'John Walkers Blues' - Belfast Based Drama On BBC World Service Tonight

If you can tear yourself away from Harry Potter tonight, (Wayne - I'm talking to you here), why not head over to the BBC World Service at 8pm BST for 'John Walkers Blues'. 

I love the fact that the BBC still does Radio Drama and the plot, about a young man in Belfast who finds interest in Islam after the 9/11 attacks sounds intriguing!

Click Here to Listen to the Stream on the Web, (click on World Drama - available for one week after broadcast)

(Photo above:  another pic from taken during this strange experience)

'London Eyes America' - American Asks Londoners What They Think of U.S. Then Acts Out the Result

My favourite new blog is London Eyes America.  Rachel Parish, an American living in London, (and sister of our very own Unpaid Intern Erin / Whitey Can't Dance Girl), approaches Londoners - asks them what they think about the U.S., then dramatises the result. 

From her blog:

"I've travelled around several inner London Boroughs, with several different wonderful English women (Rose, Feyza, Liz, Sophie--thanks!!). We approach people, and ask them--whats the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Americans? We then get their permission to take their picture and record what they've said. That is what you see here. But thats just the tip of the iceberg... Next, a team of fabulous makeup artists will work with me to transform me into representation of these diverse ideas of what it means to be "American."

Go and have a look around the site, I think it's a wonderful idea, very 'LTA'; I hope she keeps it up!

(Photo above: Rachel dramatising 'Immaturity')