Kung Hii Fatt Choi from Booby Hatch!
Sabrina stumbles into the frame, holding a tiny man in a space hat.
Sabrina: AAAAAAAAAAAAAALEX!!! Yer space phone’s ringing.
Alex pokes her head into the shot and looks around suspiciously.
Alex: Ahoy ahoy?
Sabrina: How many times I gotta tell you – save that crap for Alexander Graham Bell Assassination Re-enactment Day. The BLOG is ringing!!
Katharine runs in, holding a smoking gun.
Katharine: Is it the neighbors? I just shot their parrot.
Alex: Dammit, Katharine! He was the only one who knew my email password!!
Sabrina: (Looks at the tiny spaceman) We should probably wish them a Happy New Year or something. We’ve neglected the blog for a while.
Alex: What about the neighbors?
Katharine: Taken care of. I told you I just shot their parrot. Why doesn’t anyone ever listen to me?
Sabrina: No, no. Not Jim Nabors and his wife, who coincidentally happen to be our neighbors. It’s time to wish our blog readers a Happy New Year.
Katharine: Taken care of. That was last year. I wrote a Haiku about it.
Sabrina: No. For this year.
Alex: AGAIN??? This happens every time I drink whiskey. WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?? (sings) Sunrise, sunset..sunrise sunset…
Katharine: You really need to stop blacking out. You miss so much. Also, people keep writing “Twat” on your forehead.
Alex: This pop stand blows. Let’s get in the time machine!!
Sabrina: But…but…(looks sadly at the spaceman, who has fallen asleep in the crook of her arm.)
Katharine runs out of the frame and returns with a Vita-Mix with a large pineapple sticking out of it.
Sabrina: We can’t all fit inside there! Tiny Spaceman, you’ll have to stay behind.
Tiny Spaceman: Mumble, mumble, fart, poop.
Alex: Good job Tiny Spaceman! That’s another Adam Sandler script in the can. Stay here and write us a Steve Guttenberg vehicle.
Sabrina: Enough jibber-jabbering! It’s time to go BACK! To the fu—(she begins violently coughing. Alex slaps her on the back and a dead parrot shoots out of her mouth. Somewhere, John Cleese rolls over in his cash-filled swimming pool.)
Katharine: (stroking the Vita-Mix time machine affectionately) I have complete faith that this will work.
Alex: That’s what I’m afraid of! Never tell me the odds! Yippy kai ay motherf— (Katharine slaps her.)
Katharine: GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!
Sabrina covers the tiny spaceman’s eyes with her hand and gently carries him off-screen. She returns and the three ladies climb inside the blender, alongside the pineapple. Alex hooks the pineapple up to a computer, and the lights begin to flash. You put a bra on your head and press this link, as it disappears beneath your finger:
The screen goes dark, and one-by-one all the lights in your house/coffee shop/office/train car/box of donuts go out. You sit in darkness, wondering what in the Heckleberry Finn you have gotten yourself into, when suddenly power is restored and your screen comes back on. The moonscape is gone. You are now watching the past, a New Year’s party in an old-timey wild west saloon. The date is December 31, 2011.
Alex: (Looks around) What a dump.
Katharine: I don’t think my spleen made it.
Sabrina: It did, but it’s over there, sitting on Mark Twain’s Melba toast.
Katharine: Again?
The camera zooms out and reveals Mark Twain, Shania Twain and Damon Wayans standing in front of a poster of Dwayne Wayne, star of Michael Bay’s remake of Shane.
Mark Twain: All things change except barbers, the ways of barbers, and the surroundings of barbers. These never change.
He eats Katharine’s spleen.
Shania Twain: Men are like shoes! I ain’t got time for the flip flop kind.
Damon Wayans: I was 12 years old when I had my first job, delivering packages.
If you decide to follow Nostalgic Damon Wayans to the nearest UPS, turn to page 15. If you decide to suggest that Mark and Shania Twain are the same person, click this link:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Mark_Twain
If you think politicians have become way too political, grab some poster board, the ghost of Andy Rooney, glitter glue, and make a sign about it, why don’t you? If your name has any vowels in it, continue enjoying this space blog.
Alex: This Western SUCKS. Where are all the floozies and sarsparilla?
Katharine: Ooh check out this trunk fulla junk!
Sabrina: EXCUSE ME? Just because a lady has a curvaceous derriere does NOT —
Katharine: Wha chu talkin’ bout, Brina? I was just pointing out this mysterious trunk full of Olde Tyme Western Wear I just found.
Alex: I call dibs on the chaps!!
Sabrina: I call the tiny spaceman! Wait, what’s the spaceman doing here? I thought we left him behind.
Katharine: Don’t question it; this is fantasy. And put a kerchief on that spaceman; he’s nude, and this is a family show.
Alex: Isn’t it New Year’s Eve? Sabrina, didn’t you and Don Rickles have a gig tonight?
Sabrina: Crap, you’re right. (turns to the blog audience) Thank you all for coming to the New Year’s Eve Friar’s Club roast of Kadeem Harrison. I would like to take this opportunity to share this eggnog recipe from the restaurant formerly known as St. Elsewhere with you:
6 eggs separated
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
6oz Scotch
3oz Bourbon
3oz Brandy
1 pint milk
1 pint cream
3 tablespoons white sugar
Beat the egg yolks with the brown sugar, salt and vanilla to the ribbon stage. Add the booze and the dairy and mix until incorporated. Set this mixture aside.
Whisk the egg whites with the white sugar to the medium-hard peak stage. When ready fold the egg whites into the boozy mixture. Season generously with freshly grated nutmeg. FRESHLY!
Allow this to sit for at least an hour or two to let the drink separate from the foam a little. Garnish with a pair of round flip glasses and shoulder pads. Enjoy!
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large crowd begins to count down in unison. The Ladies of the Hatch throw on their Western wear, dress up Mark Twain as a saloon tranny floozie, and pose confidently against the flimsy backlot film set as flashbulbs pop and confetti cascades down upon them. There is a resounding cry of HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Ryan Seacrest makes out with a New York City cop and all is right with the world. Sabrina, Alex, and Katharine clink glasses of eggnog.
Sabrina: (leaning on the tiny spaceman’s rifle) God bless us, every one!
Alex: (through violent hiccups) It really is an (hic) anytime drink…Ann Jillian (hic) was right…(hic)
Katharine: Who’s the dude?
Sabrina and Alex: MARK TWAIIIIN!!
Katharine: Huh. He looks different in person.
Write your anger away…
Dear DayQuil,
Why do you hate me? All I wanted was to breathe clearly and not cough all day long. All I wanted was to be halfmy usual spunk and have the ability to speak sans frog in throat. What did taking the red pill get me? I find myself speaking baby babble while my thoughts sift through a meth withdrawal haze of pure confusion. Every time I blow my nose, my sinuses make a high pitched ‘eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh’ sound and my eyeball bleeds. My ears are growing cotton and my mouth tastes like earwax. Thank you DayQuil. You have made this day very pleasant. Instead of sleeping on my couch watching another episode of ‘Storage Wars’, I stand in my office slowly dipping to the floor in a heroin nod. You the man.
Xoxo- Katharine “this snots for you” Houston, Brooklyn, NY
**************
Dear NYC Straphangers,
I call upon you this 4th day of the eighth month of the 2011th year of this calendar on my wall, to stand with me against those who defile our noses! We who silently agree to stand back to back, nose to pit and knee to crotch with those whom commute at our same hour each day have had enough! No, I speak not of the soupy body odor that guy with the short sleeves emits while holding his arm up. I speak of a simpler evil. We of the olfactory sensitive stand before the accused, grasping the pole while thumbing our smart phones pleading with you for one thing… Eat when you get off the train!! I do not mean to harass those famished or claiming hypoglycemia. Snack on some quiet fruit. Feel free to nosh on a granola bar. Close your teeth round yon trans fatty chocolate candy yum-yum. These are all non-invasive food types and we bestow them upon you. What we ask for is simple. We think you would enjoy these morsels all the more if you were not traveling in an enclosed tube with some 400 people hovering around you. So actually, we are doing you a favor by requesting that No eggs, No McDonalds and No take out Chinese should be eaten while on the subway. Chant with me, fellow Straphangers! Chant so that we might get the message through!
No eggs, No McDonalds and No take out Chinese!
No eggs, No McDonalds and No take out Chinese!
And if you can’t stop yourself from eating said food on the train, for fuck’s sake, close your mouth when you chew.
Xoxo- Katharine “your Chinese take out smells like diarrhea” Houston, Brooklyn, NY
***************
Dear MTA,
Fuck you. Sorry, that came out wrong. Fuh-huk You. That is all.
Xoxo- Katharine “raise the fair price again and I’ll cut you” Houschmitzermen, Bronxlyn, NY
Celebrate your birthday like you did the first time!
There you are in your friend’s backyard on a beautiful summer day. There are balloons and streamers as far as your eye can see. Presents wrapped in cartoon-clad paper lay in a pile on the picnic table, full of mystery and expectation. Your face is sticky from the ice cream cake melted by the sun. You watch your friend standing proud knowing that this is her special day. It is Her birthday! You see the adults laughing with each other as they refill their red party cups. You see the birthday girl watching all the other kids having fun running around and playing with each other in their sugar high hysteria. You are a bit concerned as you see her face start to melt into a self-righteous grimace. You witness her transform into a tiny volcano with steam coming from her ears and eyes as she stares at her guests not paying enough attention to her. You see her tiny hands clench into balls of fury as she starts to shake and grab at the hem of her new birthday dress, slowly revealing her sacred Wonder Woman Underoos. You start to search for the safest place to ‘duck and cover’. But it’s too late. The scream lets out. Mount St. Helens has now erupted for the second time that summer. “It is MY Birthday and You will do what I SAY,” screams the five year old birthday Nazi. It is all very awkward to say the least. Especially since I was the birthday girl.
As a kid, I believed that on my birthday all things should stop and focus on me. I was always a bit miffed when people would deign to discuss anything other than me during this day of mine. No one else was as important as me. Not even other people born on the same day, if they even existed. Of course, as I got older, the tantrums stopped. My mother informing me that I would not have any friends if I continued on that path certainly helped. I would take each turning year in stride with or without party and presents. However, with each birthday I would still feel a tad bitter and sad if people did not acknowledge me. Then came the day when I was in my early twenties and my sister forgot my birthday. The following year, my parents forgot. Not even a phone call came my way. I was starting to realize that people don’t really give a shit about other people’s birthday because to them, it is just another day. This is not to say that I have not had parties thrown for me by my best friends and husband. These were amazing times. But hell, we would celebrate a good BM if it means getting together and having a few good drinks!
So, a day came when I decided to stop my self-pitying birthday thoughts. As a way to acknowledge successfully making it through another year of life without being killed or killing myself, I started to take my birthdays into my own hands. How do I want to spend the day? Do I want to be with or without anyone else? If it is an important day for me, then I need to be my best audience and make sure I’m having a good time even if it is just watching Star Wars for the fifty billionth time.
First things first, I always take the day off from work if my birthday falls within the work week. My office has a ‘floating holiday’ and I feel that the anniversary of my birth is as good a holiday to use that on as anything.
Second, if I feel like an adventure that particular year, I see if my friends are available to come with. If they are not, I go along and have the adventure by myself. Alone is always good, because there is no one to yell at if I’m not paying attention to myself.
Thirdly, I am a whore for massages. I always say that if I become rich, the one luxurious thing I would buy myself is a daily massage. Yes, daily. I did not stutter. But until that day comes, I will always have my birthday massages. It makes my husband’s job of gift giving so much easier. I find the spa and he pays the bill. Presto change-o instant happiness! And let me tell you, there is something very special about the birthday massage. I can’t recommend it enough. If you go to a good spa, they will treat you like a Queen. You get a robe, relaxing music, sometimes a cocktail and snacks. Then you give your birthday the best acknowledgement since the day it first happened, by celebrating it like you did that first time. You physically put yourself in a position not unlike that very beginning day of your life. Your body is pushed and pulled into submission by a stranger, all while your face is peeking through a cushioned hole. And I love every minute of it.
So my dear friends, I hope you get to enjoy your birthdays as much as I do. Not like when I was a child demanding everyone’s attention, but by paying a person to worship me. Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to us all!
Behind the Behind Scenes in”The Audition”
Remember our undercover-docu-comedy video about The Way Things Are In Showbiz? Yes? No? Either way, feel free to refresh your memory. We’ll wait.
…OH HEY! Hi, sorry. We were busy eating Cheetos. Anyway, after the wild popularity of our last behind-the-scenes post, we found some more cutting room footage from ‘The Audition’ that we thought you’d enjoy. So please do enjoy. And drop a comment in the nickel box on your way out.
Sabrina: This guy was great. He was the first, third and seventy-sixth person to answer our ad in Backstage. His reel included a clip from his high school graduation ceremony and two monologues from “The Basketball Diaries.” He wouldn’t eat anything but Cheetos during the shoot.
Kath: I want to lick his teeth. Wait, did I lick his teeth? Was that part of the audition?
Alex: You did and it was. Hey, “Hot Guy” needed to have good dental hygiene – those HD cameras pick up everything! (Except, sadly, for my uncanny resemblance to a young Lee Remick. Where’s THAT footage?)
Sabrina: This is so embarrassing. Alex and I had just challenged Rita Rudner and Wayne Brady to an Improv-off at the neighboring Fat Kids camp. Our singing might have annoyed the crew and gotten us in trouble with the police that night, but man it paid off in Fat Kid trophies that summer! Plus we saved the house, and we get to keep the sailboat!
Alex: That really was a great summer.
Kath: These ladies do not look amused. Was this first dinner at 10pm or second dinner at 3am?
Alex: Who cares? We got beat up both times.
Sabrina: Oh my goodness. Funny story this one. Well, we rented out the “audition room” from this club on the Lower East Side; it was sort of a theme club, if that’s what you would call it. Kind of a futuristic sexy pony jamboree or a glow-in-the dark lacrosse game type thing, I guess.
Alex: Sort of “Rhinestone Cowboy meets TRON” – Le Reow!!
Sabrina: Anyway, our DP ate too many Cheetos at the Kraft Services table and had to go home before we finished the shoot. Luckily, one of the table dancers went to film school and he was able to jump behind the camera for the last few shots! Thanks, Ricky! We owe you big time. xoxox
Sabrina: I have no idea who these people are. Hey! Click on the word Cheetos. Now find the someone you love. Make them click on it too. Now have a conversation! Ha ha ha ha! You’re cooking with sauce! xoxoxo
Kath: I think it should be mentioned that this was taken after an all-night into the wee-morning, “let’s go get brunch since places are now open again” video shoot.
Alex: True. We had just finished filming the big musical finale with Bill Murray (which was cut from the final version due to Kath’s inappropriate hand gestures.) Someone had slipped me some horse steroids to keep me going through multiple takes of the tap dance number, and I was hungry enough to say ANYTHING for some pancakes and a mimosa. (Actually, that’s true even without the horse steroids.)
Sabrina: Two words: Horse Steroid Withdrawal.
Alex: That’s three words.
Sabrina: SHUT UP AND GET ME SOME HORSE STEROIDS!!
…Uh, yeah! Hi again readers. Aren’t you glad we didn’t save those gems for the DVD extras?? Wait don’t answer that.
Forget couples therapy, do Cooperative Gaming!
I didn’t grow up in a house with video games. After a tense game of Chutes and Ladders which ended with my father flipping the board yelling, “Stupid chutes!” we barely had board games. The first video game console that entered our house belonged to a boy my sister dated. She dumped him before we could get to a second level of any game. Goodbye Nintendo, you had such potential.
So in result, I don’t play video games. I enjoy watching them be played because it’s like watching a choose-your-own adventure movie. However, whenever I grab the controller and try to play, I seize up. I seem to be ocular-pollically impaired; my brain has problems coordinating actions between my eyes and thumbs. I hold the controller in my sweaty palms, eyes big on my confused bobble-head wondering where I’m supposed to look at the TV, while my thumbs move my avatar like it has Parkinson’s disease.
My husband Jeremy, being a gamer, would love for me to get involved with his passion. Every time a new game comes out with “cooperative playing”, he tries to pique my interest. “We both can play this one together,” he would say. “It will be like date night!” I tried playing the game Halo with him
and spent fifteen minutes trying to find my way out of a corner. Playing Sims was frustrating, to say the least. This is the game where you create a life that is better than yours and have your wee person live it and succeed more than you ever will. Jeremy and I thought it would be fun creating our own living situation within the virtual world. While he left the house, got a job and partied with the neighbors, I died of starvation because I couldn’t stop sleeping in front of the toilet.
No matter if you are playing a cooperative video game in the same room as your partner or over a headset with some 8 year old kid in Tallahassee calling you a dipshit, the way to succeed in your team mission is with communication. You have to talk through moves and help each other complete tasks. Just like real life! I feel that the gaming corporations have really missed the boat on a prime marketing demographic for these games: married couples. Then again, no dude would ever buy a game that is supposed to evaluate your relationship. Perhaps marriage counselors?
One of Jeremy’s favorite games came out with a cooperative play option and I had to try. Portal 2 is a 
puzzle game where you have a gun that…ah…shoots a portal that gets you…let me just have Wikipedia explain. “The game consists primarily of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player’s character and simple objects using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (dubbed the “portal gun”), a device that can create inter-spatial portals between flat planes.” With the co-op play option, you and your partner figure out puzzles together in order for you to continue through the game together. There is a lot of, “you put your portal there and I’ll put mine here. Put your other one there and I’ll jump through to land there…etc, etc.” What I found playing this game with Jeremy was that is totally tested our communication skills. I would ask him to explain to me in words where he wanted me to put my portal (that does sounds dirty) and he would have to practice patience as I constantly fell and died. It was a lot of fun! When we solved a puzzle, we knew we did it as a team and no one died or got divorced.
The first game I was able to really get my head around and fully enjoy was Rock Band. It bridged the gap between playing a game and my strong desire to be Joan Jett. Jeremy would play drums on the hardest level, while I would be fingering salty licks (pressing buttons) on the guitar on medium mode. So I wouldn’t get too frustrated, we would play with a “no fail” option applied. In a regular game, if a song is hard and you are not playing exact enough, the game will kill you off. You can continue to live if the other players hit certain chords or sequences of beats giving you back life. With the “no fail” option, you can suck to high heaven and still keep playing not having to rely on anyone else. My type of game!
The morning of January 1, 2009, Jeremy and I decided to start the New Year with a challenge. Rock Band has a level called The Endless Setlist where you can play every song the game has in its collection, a total of 84 songs. The difficulty of play increases with each song and you can’t play with “no fail” so if you die, the game is over, you have failed and brought shame upon your family. We said fuck it and decided to start the year as rock stars.
The day was long and our hands were cramped, but we were “performing” well. We could taste the victory of completion. We had been playing for almost 10 hours straight, had one pee break and were surrounded by cracker wrappers and any food you could stuff in your mouth with one hand between songs. Then the last three songs came to view.
These last songs were not only the hardest level, but they were songs neither of us knew, had no logical tune and no consistent rhythm. The bands and their song titles were Abnormality – “Visions“, Dream Theater - “Panic Attack” and last but not least, Judas Priest – “Painkiller“. These “songs” are total “batshit”. Until this point neither of us had come close to “dying” or had to “save” the other. When the last three songs hit, we were toast. Sweat was flying off of Jeremy’s arms as he flailed around trying to get the nonexistent beat on the drums. I was audibly grunting and begging my ears to pick out a playable tune. Panic crept in at the thought that we might start the New Year as failures and not the fake rock gods we were meant to be. We had to get through this together. These were the phrases that were yelled out by one or both of us at different times:
“I’m going to die!”
“No you are not!”
“Save me!”
“I’m working on it!”
“We should just quit.”
“We will never quit! Not after all we have been through!”
When we completed the last of 84 songs, stillness filled the room. All you could hear was our heaving breaths and the applause of our adoring Rock Band fans on the TV. Jeremy and I looked at each other and dropped our fake instruments. “Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.” And then we went to separate rooms and did not speak to each other for the rest of the day.
Behind the scenes with Booby Hatch!
We’re not going to assume anything here, but we’re pretty sure that if you’ve been keeping up with the Joneses, you have a computer and a bunch of free time on your hands. And, it’s not like we’re tracking your hits to our website or Facebook page or anything (Hi Jim), but we totally know that you like to sit and look at pictures of us sometimes. Maybe you even let your mind wander and try to imagine what was going on in some of the shots? A few of you may have even signed up for a class at the Learning Annex and are working on some short stories based on them. Well, step away from that there imagination, friends, because we are about to give you the true, behind-the scenes story…
WHO IS THIS KID? 
Sabrina: All I can say is that this kid is everything I want to be. If I do a decent job with this life, perhaps I will be reincarnated as this kid. Check him out. He has some kind of onesie superhero costume going on, complete with a padded six-pack, a Freddie mask, a Zorro sword, and reasonable shoes. If he is not my hero, his mother sure is. The best thing? The thing you don’t know? This kid was growling when we took this picture. He had this low, consistent, wolf-growl going for about three minutes. We told him that this picture was of him “protecting” us, and he just knew what to do. You can’t make me stop loving this kid. Just try. Just you try. That kid will show up and karate chop you in the balls.
Katharine: Yah, I didn’t want to work with the kid at first. I mean, his mother was standing just out of frame. Such a Stage Mother too! Here she is enjoying a lovely sunny day when three freezing (it was early March) obviously crazy ladies come traipsing by and demand that they take her child. And she said yes! What a demanding diva! The boy? We’ve been dating for six months now.
Alex: All true. But this kind of stuff happens to us all the time: we were just minding our own Weewax, being fabulous in Brooklyn (as we do), when this pocket-sized Jason/ penguin/ Inigo Montoya approaches us, growling. We immediately recognized his high-Q potential and asked if we could pose seductively behind him. I was surprised that his Mom said yes so quickly! I was even more surprised when he said yes to a date with Katharine. When she gets out of jail we’re holding a little reunion at the Outback Steakhouse.
WHERE IS THE FOOD?
THAT’S NOT OUR FOOD, SILLY!
Sabrina: All I can say is that this pizza guy is everything I want to be. If I do a decent job with this life, perhaps I will be reincarnated as this pizza guy. I mean, are you kidding me?? Check him out. This sweet man was trying to deliver a pizza, and three crazy ladies in formal wear show up and assault him verbally. “What’s in that box?” they demand. “It smells like pizza!” they accuse. This Zen warrior is unfazed. His smile is like a butterfly on a raindrop, even when it appears that he has been screwed over by the nerdy guy who didn’t tip him and that strange women are trying to do prop improvisation with his bicycle . His heartbeat murmurs “all will be well,” and, as soon as his detachment kisses the face of the universe, the door immediately pops open and Professor Nerdington remembers to hand him a tip. The butterfly’s wings flutter gently in the wind as the pizza guy reaches over our mugging faces and takes his three dollars. The universe makes sense, especially when it doesn’t make sense, see?
Katharine: Typical New York City. No one blinks an eye at yet another photo shoot being done on top of their bicycle. Another day, another dollar that isn’t worth crazy people running up to you and posing with your transportation. The least we could have done is bridge the gap and hand the dude his tip. Did we? No! Because it would have ruined the shot. Dammit people, you have to understand that when opportunity knocks, only the strong and demented survive.
Alex: The guy in the hoodie is my biological father. I THOUGHT WE AGREED NOT TO USE THIS PICTURE!!
THE AUDITION: A Totally High-Tech Video Shoot
Sabrina: All I can say is that this director is everything I want to be. If I do a decent job with this life, perhaps I will be reincarnated as Lila. Check her out. She has turned a Broom into a BOOM with an exclamation point. And she is able to hold it steady as that hot guy unbuttons his shirt. That’s the way–uh huh, uh huh, I like it!!! Also, who was that hot guy? Did anyone get his number? Ring-a-ding! Soup’s on!!!
Katharine: This is an example of why I love being involved in video production. At no point did anyone sit and cry out “Why couldn’t we find a sound person?!” Ok, well maybe that one person asked. But she was a jerk. The rest of us decided to work as a team! When we realized we could not mic a stripping man, we got to problem solving. We put our heads together and looked at Lila for an answer. Lila, the ukulele playing super director, didn’t sit in her non-existent director’s chair and let everything fall apart. NO! At 4AM, her arm and the friggin broom were going to be the best sound capturer in the history of sound capturing! Hizzah!
Alex: Ah yes, this old chestnut. The old “tape a mic to a broom” sound-recording technique. It’s how I do all my audio surveillance, except that I cleverly disguise the broom handle in the sleeve of a veeeeeeery large trench coat (what? I used to be a Little Rascal we were always getting into hilarious scrapes!) I’m just glad those wacky adventures finally came in handy at the business end of a night shoot, when we were all out of bourbon and good ideas. Let’s hear it for American ingenuity!!
There it is. You’re welcome.
So, now, true believers, it’s YOUR TURN. Come up with a story for this shot and win a prize. You can’t win if you don’t enter! We’ll reveal the true story in next month’s BH blog, so, until then, keep stalking!
I give up.
First of all,
Secondly,
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! (Sabrina falls down a shaft, screaming and thrashing as Russell Brand throws up on her childhood memories)
Okay, I’m sorry. It’s a Tuesday. It’s early. For me. That means before noon. Perhaps we are all a little slow today. Let me just make this clear to everyone.
Firstly, watch this:
Secondly,
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! IT BURNS!!!
I don’t know know why I draw the line here, but this is where I draw the line. Eighties remakes make me wonder why, but I never get too crazy over them. I had my eighties. You can’t take that away from me. Up until this point, I have been very good at just avoiding them. Karate Kid with Will Smith’s son? Okay. I’m never going to see it. A-Team? Whatever. Go ahead. Make it a musical while you’re at it. I won’t be there. Clash of the Titans? Fine. You know what? You got me. I watched that one. But it was on HBO, and my remote wasn’t working. Plus, it just gave me the opportunity to engage in one of my favorite activities, yelling at the TV while my husband looks uncomfortable.
So, why am I so mad when I walk past these Arthur posters on the subway?
Is it that I LOVE the original Arthur with Dudley Moore? No. I do not. I like that Christopher Cross song a lot. I remember my mom’s ex-boyfriend, the one with the jean jacket, singing it while he made grilled cheese sandwiches in the toaster oven. But other than that, it’s not the most well-constructed movie I have ever seen. Mostly, I just sit and yell at the screen. I question how Arthur knows that he loves Liza Minnelli after one shoplifting run-in at Nordstrom’s and one crappy date. I repeatedly say that I “can’t beeeeeeeeee-lieve” that she wants to marry an alcoholic with no life skills, a man who knocks at her door at three in the morning and parks on her front lawn. When the only conflict in the entire movie is magically resolved for no reason other than the need for a happy ending under the credits, I mumble something about my ass and go into the kitchen for a bowl of brownies. (That said, I do love me some John Gielgud. That man is a genius. And the fact that he makes an appearance as the butler’s ghost in Arthur 2? BRILLIANT!!! Yes, yes, and MORE yes. All that classical training FINALLY paid off, sir.)
So, is it that I HATE Russell Brand? No, I do not. I even read his book. Yes, THE WHOLE BOOK. Well, okay, MOST of the book. At least half of it anyway. And I’ve been known to sit through an hour of his stand up without changing the channel, promising everyone else in the room (AKA, my husband) that “it’s gonna get better.” I mean, I really liked him in that Paul Rudd movie, you know, the one with the surfer that was Paul Rudd, and some other guys did something with a girl or something. Brand seemed pretty convincing as the substance-abusing, narcissistic guy in really tight pants. SOLD.
So, why exactly am I so mad?
Because, COME ON!!!! COOOOOOOOOOOOOME ON. Really, Hollywood? Have you gotten THAT lazy? ARTHUR???? It wasn’t a movie in the first place. It was just Dudley Moore dinking around on a piano and coming up with jokes like:
LADY: Take my hand, Arthur.
ARTHUR: But that would leave you with one.
And that was fine. FINE!! Worth a remake? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Put it down!!!
I just like to imagine these writing rooms and pitch meetings. I don’t get it. Do writers just pick up a People magazine in the waiting room and wing it? Is EVERYBODY stoned?
“Um…let’s see here…well, it’s Goonies, see? But with Justin Bieber and Hilary Duff!! Or, um, wait, hold on. It’s, um…well, see…it’s The Toy, but with Jack Black!”
COME ON!!!
In conclusion:
I give up. I turn this blog over to my husband to finish. I am going to look for brownies.
Kris:
Oh…yes…well hello there. You must be Sabrina’s blog followers. I see. Well, she seems to have shuffled off to the kitchenette to find herself a little treat. Sweetums just loves her treats. Gosh, I suppose I should take this opportunity to thank you all for the unwavering support you provide for our family. With the money Sabrina has made from this blog, we have set aside a generous college fund for our five children. I had no idea bloggery was such a lucrative business. Heck, gang, I better skedaddle. Sweetums went and got her fist stuck in the peanut butter jar again. May God bless your journey. Toodle oo.
My name is Ka(mumble) and I was an infomercial shopper sucker.
“You’re going to love my nuts” was the phrase that almost got me to buy a Slap Chop off the TV. I didn’t need a Slap Chop, as I had knives and never cooked; but the spokesman Vince said “you’re going to be in a great mood all day, because you’re going to be slapping your troubles away with the Slap Chop” and I wanted to believe him. But as I reached for my phone, I paused. Something started brewing in my mind and it felt like a warning.
This wasn’t my first adventure with telephone shopping. By this point I was an old pro at calling within the next three minutes in order to get my free gift with purchase. I kept a pad of paper and pencil next to my couch for easy access when a toll free, ten digit number flashed on my TV screen. I had developed a theory that if I saw a commercial more than once and I still really wanted the thing they were pitching, it was meant to be and I should call. I was destined to own this or that bric-a-brac made in Taiwan.
When I was six, my mother opened my eyes to the world of television shopping. I don’t remember the name of the object she bought, but I do recall that it was made of four red, plastic bungees that attached to a door handle and you were suppose to be able to do a full body workout with it. You may recall a similar product written into the Larry Sanders Show called “The Hankerciser 200”. “Too good to be true” should have been the lesson I learned from my mother’s purchase. Especially after I watched her give an assertive tug to one of the bungees, only to have it slip off the door handle and smack her in the face. Unfortunately, the lesson I mistakenly learned was that with a little piece of plastic, you could order anything over the phone and have it delivered to you like a present from God in only seven days.
When it was my turn to start making the calls, I was the perfect demographic for television shopping. I was just out of college, lived alone in a studio apartment and had my first credit card. I was going from one “romantic” three month relationship to the next and rarely saw my friends due to an odd-hours job in retail. Good times. I also might have been slightly depressed.
So there I would sit, futon facing the TV and take out on the table. Zoning out and barely watching the show I had flipped to, I would be jarred awake with a flashing light and booming voice. “You NEED to BUY this!” yelled the commercials. You are a cigarette smoking, morbidly obese, stressed out, old and ugly, overly busy person who needs a quick fix! You will be so happy with the results you see with this plastic metal machine miracle video and/or dvd!
I knew these commercials were lying. I knew that what they were selling would most likely not work. But I wanted to buy into the hype. I was unfulfilled and needed something to fill that void. And it worked, for a while. I got presents that occasionally did what they advertised they’d do. I would say 1 out of 5 items worked, as long as I used them as directed. The other 4 were pieces of shit and only good as a pre-paid “surprise” in the mail.
Luckily for me (and my wallet), my life started to change and the hold that ‘As Seen On TV’ had on me started to fade. One evening, two of my closest friends who had been actively working on getting me out of my self-inflicted seclusion came over to my studio for a visit. After getting really, very high and watching embarrassing childhood videos, I decided to up the ante by showing them one of the items I had purchased off the TV. Not only were they surprised that I had outed myself as an infomercial junkie, but they could not believe what I had paid actual money for: “Facial Magic”
“Want to reverse sagging facial muscles, and maintain your youthful appearance-without surgery? Then you must try Facial Magic! It tightens and firms double chins, jowls, sagging lids, droopy necks and more.” I was 23. I didn’t know what a jowl was. But I haaad to buy ‘Facial Magic’! I mean, it has the word magic in its name and it comes with white freakin’ cotton gloves! Basically, you stick your fingers in your mouth and make faces as you tighten your face muscles. Please enjoy a demo of the Facial Magic technique by clicking “MAGIC”.
It didn’t matter if I was high as balls or not, the faces the women were making in the instruction video were mesmerizing. My friends asked me if I bought stuff off TV often. I shrugged nonchalantly and said, “Nah.” But then they asked me to list what I had purchased. The list kept growing and growing and I got more embarrassed and ashamed. That’s when I started to realize I needed to get a grip on my purchasing habit, put the phone down and lock up my credit card. Four years later, memories of our laughter kept me from buying that Slap Chop.
Let me just say, I feel for the people who are still trapped in infomercial hell. Those packages that appear on your doorstep (even though you paid for them) sure do make you feel special. But it is a false happiness. What’s really special is experiencing life outside of the television. The good news for me is that I can laugh at myself now! God damn, I bought some stupid shit. So, for my personal development and for your entertainment, here is a list of some of the crap I bought through infomercials in no particular order. Enjoy!
- A ‘stop smoking’ device that punctured holes into a cigarette’s filter. -The theory was that less smoke would reach your lungs because it would go out the hole in the filter. However, if you cover the hole with your lips, you get the full drag and the plastic piece of crap you bought is a waste of money.
- Facial Magic -I pulled a cheek muscle and stopped using it.
- ProActiv acne treatment -I got it so long ago, Judith Light from “Who’s the Boss” was the spokeswoman.
- A “magnetic reflexology” shoe insert made of plastic. -A piece of plastic with sharp magnets glued to it. It was bumpy and hurt to walk on.
- Tony Little’s Gazelle “You can do it!” -I didn’t actually get this off of the television, but I wanted to. I got it for $150 cheaper on Craig’s List.
- 8 Min. Abs and Buns VHS video -Turns out 8 minutes were too long for my lazy ass.
- Winsor “Gotta keep both cheeks even” Pilates -The plastic band that came with the dvd snapped in half and hit my face. (like mother, like daughter…)
- Billy Blanks Tae-Bo VHS -Lots of fun, but one must continue to use it for results to happen. I chose pizza.
- Q-Ray -I have pain, I thought it could help. It didn’t. It also made my wrist green.
- Smooth Away: removes hair instantly and pain free -Who really thought sandpaper was a good way to remove hair?
- Abtronic Electronic Fitness System: Tones and tighten your muscles with gentle electronic stimulation! -Yes, I tried to shock the fat off my stomach. However, this was the last thing I bought off the television. My future husband’s finger pointing and laughter was shame enough for me to never do it again.
Get the Fax! with Hoyt Bobach
Hello and thank you for joining me. I’m Hoyt Bobach and welcome to “Get the Fax!”, the only news show powered exclusively by obsolete technology.
(*applause*)
Tonight I have the special pleasure of sharing with you a conversation with the ladies of Booby Hatch, conducted via carrier-pigeon messages, Morse code, and semaphore.
Hoyte Bobach: First things first, who are you? Please try to describe yourselves physically because all women are the same on the inside. Also, try not to talk too much about your feelings, because all women talk too much about their feelings. Oh, and also, if any of you have your periods–
Sabrina: Newt…do you mind if I call you Newt?
HB: Well…my name is Hoyt.
Sabrina: That’s not what I asked. Look, Newt. Little known fact if you haven’t dated me: I ALWAYS have my period. And that, I guess, is how I would describe me. “Sabrina? Oh yeah, the one who ALWAYS has her period.” Oh, and I like raisins. Yep. I think that pretty much sums it up. Sabrina. Period. Raisins. Oh, and since you asked, those things make me feel like my pop-pop didn’t love me enough, and that makes me want to read “To the Lighthouse” again. Out loud.
(Sabrina begins rummaging through a large bag of tampons. She pulls out a tattered book and begins leafing through it. Katharine takes the book out of her hands and tosses it through a window.)
Katharine: Don’t mind Sabrina, she has her period. Who am I, you ask? Whoooo aaaam I? Good question, but irrelevant. You see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain…and an athlete…and a basket case …a princess…and a criminal. Does that answer your question? If not, I’m the redhead.
Alex: …and I’m the drunk. I mean Judd Nelson. I mean Charles Nelson Reilly. I mean a King Charles Spaniel: loyal, flat-faced, and luxuriously furred.
HB: How did you come together as a group?
Sabrina: Newt, I don’t know if you’ve heard of esteemed guru Mordecai “Gravy Stains” Humunculus, but he has a saying: “All you need to do is make waffles and wait.” Well, I don’t always know what things mean or if they’re good ideas, but that never stops me from blindly committing to them. So for about three years, I just stayed home and made waffles. Sometimes I took a break and watched the TV. Finally, one cold Sunday in the January of 2009, my doorbell rang. It was Alex. She was drunk. Then Katharine showed up with something in a paper bag. I knew that my ship had finally come in.
Kath: I had taken the N train from Queens (I had not moved to Brooklyn yet) and transferred to the G. I then got champagne for mimosa. I believe I was wearing a hat. At Sabrina’s house we had brunch, drinks and wrote five episodes for a sketch television show. Alex was drunk. But don’t tell her that.
Alex: I was drunk. but since no one told me, I went ahead and drove a tractor to Sabrina’s apartment. Thousands were killed, but the poppy fields of Brooklyn have never been so well-tilled. Everything has trade-offs. And can you blame me? I SMELLED WAFFLES. But seriously, I the real truth is that we were assembled by Lou Pearlman like a Lady Menudo. Once our testicles drop we’re out of the band.
HB: Who are your influences and what is your favorite sketch?
Sabrina: The book “A Wrinkle in Time” really stuck with me…um…what else? Mr. Show, Kids in the Hall, Tim and Eric, old SNL stuff. OLD. Favorite sketch? That’s hard. That’s like asking me to pick which of my kids is my favorite. Um. “The Audition” is up there. Oh, I should probably list some women too, huh? Yes, yes, funny women. Maria Bamford makes me laugh a lot. “The Maria Bamford Show” was really great and scary. That’s the kind of thing I go for: funny and disturbing. Oh, I saw this great Murderfist sketch live at UCB. It was about the devil and candy and suicide and was just so disturbing that it was hilarious. That one’s up there. I just don’t know the name of it.
Alex: Hmmm, Kids in the Hall and Mr. Show for me too, plus The Ben Stiller Show…and because of my dark English roots I gotta go with French & Saunders and Benny Hill – yep, there I said it. Kath and Sabrina are always “reminding” me that not every sketch has to end with a Yakety Sax bikini chase. In the event that I was ever kidnapped by Mitchell and Webb or The Mighty Boosh…well let’s just say I wouldn’t struggle. And I’d bring snacks for everyone.
Kath: Kids in the Hall, Monty Python, SCTV and early SNL influenced my desire to do sketch comedy. Television shows like Police Squad, The Young Ones, Mr. Bean, MST3K and later Mr. Show, Arrested Development and Spaced all tickled me in my funny privates. Parodying Jodie Foster in Nell kept me entertained… I quote the movie Anchorman more than any person really should… What was the question?
Sabrina: Did I mention that I want to take Tina Fey to the prom? If she says no, I would consider taking Katharine doing her Nell impersonation.
HB: Speaking of Tina Fey, did any of you see the last episode of 30 Rock? What did you think?
Sabrina: I don’t know what to think. At first I was excited that they were addressing the fact that “The Girly Show” is primarily written by men and only has one female character, which makes it somewhat similar to 30 Rock, but then I wasn’t sure where they went with it. I think Tina Fey was acknowledging something about the situation and making fun of herself, but I’m not sure what thoughts about women in comedy I was supposed to come away with (if any).
Kath: I too had some good hopes for this episode only to be left with a fizzly fart at the end. I feel like NBC decided that the topic of “women” should be lumped into one episode just to get it over with. The writers had to figure out how to smoosh ‘women are not well represented in comedy’, ‘women are judgmental of each other’, ‘men like sexy woman’ and ‘stalking’ all in one bow wrapped 30 minutes. This said, I don’t think 30 Rock is around to be an educational tool for a sociology class. It is just a TV show. However, if they are going to attempt to discuss a hot button topic (at least to some of us gals in comedy), try to at least have a point or an ending. Or hire another woman.
Sabrina: I agree. It was weird and fizzle-farty. And does anyone know why the “girl writer” character has a creepy Eastern European accent? And now she’s gay? Was she always gay? Who is she and why does she hardly ever speak? I am confused.
Alex: I just keep waiting for them to give her some lines besides the occasional “yergen fjurgen?” It is kind of creepy the way she’s always lurking in the background of shots of the writers room. And I thought she was Swedish. I adore 30 Rock though. I still think it’s got the goods. If Tina Fey goes to the prom with Sabrina I’m gonna show up drunk and knock over the punchbowl table.
HB: What animal best represents your personality?
Sabrina: Goat.
Alex: Bugs Bunny dressed as a girl.
Katharine: Friendly’s Wattamelon Roll.
HB: Name your favorite movie and how many times you have watched it.
Alex: Shit. You’re gonna make me get all sappy and ruin my street cred. Fine. My favorite movies are The Apartment and The Graduate. They both have great hair, snappy dialogue, and I will always be in love with Jack Lemmon in the sixties. I’ve probably watched both of those a hunnerd times or more (yep that’s a number, look it up Poindexter!) Movies without Jack Lemmon or a Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack that I like are Wet Hot American Summer, Young Frankenstein, and The Impostors – which could all be filed under “highlights from the comedy geek cannon.”
Kath: The Star Wars movies and I have no idea how many times I have watched them. However, I do believe they should be watched in this order, please take notes:
IV:A New Hope, (The introduction to our heroes and their plight against the Empire.)
V: The Empire Strikes Back, (love, struggle and revelations…The prrrfect movie.)
After you hear, [SPOILER] “Luke I am your father” go back to the beginning of the saga and learn about the start of the Empire and Vader… but watch in fast forward.
I: The Phantom Menace, (Unless you are a child, only view pod race and fight scene.),
II: Attack of the Clones, (Unless you are a child, only fight scenes, if that),
III: Revenge of the Sith, (I personally like this movie enough to watch the entire thing, but I know I’m in the minority. So have your finger hovering on fast-forward.)
Then jump in time and see Luke and Vader face off (literally)
VI: Return of the Jedi, (Close your eyes at the end during the bonfire if you are watching the special editions.)
Ahhhhhhh….pure magic. For those of you who have heard me rant about this before. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it biznaches! I also like the movie The Notebook. That is a lie.
Sabrina: Have you heard Patton Oswalt’s bit about killing George Lucas with a shovel? Good stuff. Yeah, the Star Wars was big for me too, but “favorite” movie? I would have to say Cocoon. Seen it 67 times, and it just keeps getting funnier. I’m kidding. The Brimley makes me nervous. I guess I would say Groundhog Day. It’s just kind of perfect. I like Royal Tennenbaums too. Bill Murray is, of course, in both. Oh, and how do you not love Ghostbusters? I’ll take “Murray” for 600, please.
HB: What else do you like?
Kath: CHEESE! Sorry, cheese. I like cheese.
Alex: Kittens, vodka, and judging people based on their subway etiquette.
Sabrina: I believe I answered this one already, Newt. It starts with a famous blind singer who is not Stevie Wonder, subtract the “new boy in the neighborhood” who is “in Charge,” and end with the reason that people go to hell.
Kath: I think Sabrina is having a stroke…
Sabrina: Is someone making toast? Oof. Hand me Newt’s wallet, Kath. I need something to bite down on.
HB: Do you mind if I call you later?
Sabrina: No way, Newt. That’s not my name.
Kath: Are you threatening me?
Alex: Would you like me to seduce you? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?
Kath: That’s not what I asked.
I made this mix tape for you…
I have one finger on Record and one finger on Play. For the past hour I have been pressing Pause, Record, Play, Stop every three to four minutes. Any guess as to what I’m doing? If you were born after 1985, you have no idea what I’m talking about. You never felt the panic of running to your boom box after hearing your local DJ introduce your new favorite song on the radio, just to miss the first few seconds of the song as you slide over your Teen Beat magazines and feebly press down on Record/Play. You will never have to work at rewinding to the beginning of your “breakup song” for the fifteenth time. *whirl of tape* Stop. Went too far *whirl of tape* Stop. Different song *whirl of tape* Stop. *whirl* *whirl* Play “…out from the inside, In your Eyes, the light the heat, In your eyes, I am complete…” close enough.
I happen to have in my possession a magical machine that turns tape cassette recordings into digital files on my computer. That’s right! That tape that’s the copy of a copy of that band that was so hip at one time can now be listened to again. Those mix tapes from boys of days past can now be played on my iPod!
Dang man, getting a mix tape really meant something back in the day. You knew the person really liked you when you got that tape in your hand. The hours spent syncing the blank tape with the song recordings. Making sure each song flowed well with each other. Possibly taping your own voice in a message of adoration. Making sure your mother was not recorded yelling “Dinner!” God help you if you didn’t have a dual cassette boom box. Mastering the Pause/Stop technique of ending a song, so that there were no harsh mechanical sounds corroding the mood. Handwriting each artist and song title in different colors in marker on each line of the liner note cards for visual stimuli. Making a mix tape should have earned some college credit. I spent more time making tapes than studying anyhow.
So now I’m turning the tapes of my youth into digital files. My angst-ridden, walk-down-memory-lane mix tapes from the 90’s will shortly be uploaded onto my iPod. ‘Shortly’ is a relative word since this is taking… shit, stop. STOP!
(five minutes later)
Sorry, the song ended and I had to press stop on the tape machine. With four songs recorded and eight more to go, soon one of my 12 tapes will be done! *Sigh* This is not an instant gratification process because the transferring happens in real time. The machine plays the tape while the computer program records it. Once the song ends, I press stop on both the machine and my computer. I could keep the tape playing, but that would create one 45 minute track rather than individual songs. The next step is to edit the newly dubbed digital song so there’s not too much dead air play before and after the song ends. You have to then export the song into MP3 format. And, of course, always press Save. Yeah, man… good times. Totally brings me back… Craaap…
(five minutes later)
Terrible news… Seems some of my tapes are dying. In the middle of the song the tape suddenly gets slower and the sounds of Satan take over. Then the tape picks up steam and the song is back in tune. So, my MP3 recording now has a message from the Netherworld embedded in it. Well, might as well keep at this…
(presses Record/Play)
This is kind of fun. Remembering my high school years…
Huh, now that I’m reading the liner notes, I’m finding that a lot of my mix tapes have the same songs on them. Not so creative after all. I also uploaded most of the albums these songs were from onto my computer a few years ago. Why am I recording these songs again? I don’t need duped songs with shitty tape sound quality! I can just make a playlist off the liner notes. And dudes, some of the songs on these mixes are making me hate the 15 year old me. Get over yourself! Pain?! You don’t know pain. Wait until your 20’s!
You know, recording in real time is getting old. I mean, I’m trying to enjoy the nostalgia of recording tapes, but come on, I got shit to do. I’m no kid procrastinating from homework. I have real responsibilities now. Freakin’ NCIS is on in ten minutes! This is no one-click, “Create CD” wham bam thank you ma’am, there is your mix deal. It’s seriously record, play, listen to the entire song, pause, stop, next song.
And now I see the downfall of this magical tape to digital machine. I just found one of the albums I was dubbing online for sale! I think my time is worth $9.99. BUY! Woot, one click and I gots me music! Sorry mix tapes. You are losing my favor. You’re still a good set list, but you’re becoming just another faded memory for me.
These are new, instant gratification days my friends. Why struggle to make a mix? Especially if it is a gift! It is the thought that counts. Right?! Dragging and clicking doesn’t necessarily change the intention. I care! I just care in less time. Perhaps I don’t want to push my music taste on you? Yeah! And tapes sound like shit. Also, writing on the tiny liner notes makes my arthritis act up. I would much rather just print out the song names off the internet. And now I have time to watch my shows. You wouldn’t want me to miss my shows, would you?
Sausage and Booby Hatch. Do you really want to know how they are made?
If you’ve seen Booby Hatch on stage, in a questionable internet video, or at a potluck dinner you’ve probably wondered the same thing: “Wow…how’d you…come up with that?” The answer is complicated. But mostly it involves the four pillars of good sketch comedy: writing, re-writing, improvisation and vodka. We come up with fresh material by stretching our minds and dunking our hands into uncharted waters hoping to find a floater of fabulosity. In this post, you the reader can listen in as we plumb the depths of our own creative methods with the plunger of TMI:
* * *
INTERIOR: A plastic pink playhouse in the wilds of Central Park. Twilight.
Alex: Is this the part where we tell the nice people how the magic happens? Hmmm, ok. Hand me the tape recorder. (Fumbles with the buttons) So clothes are important. My writing wardrobe of choice is pajama pants, a Playtex 18 Hour Bra, and a foil beanie (it keeps the voices quiet.) If I’m writing alone, Bob Ross is on the TV and there’s a family-size martini nearby. (Actually, that’s probably true if I’m writing with Kath and Sabrina too.) I come to the table with a notebook of random ideas scribbled down while drunk on the subway or bored at funerals – you know, comedy GOLD! I recite my ideas out loud in French and if they’re not immediately greeted by a standing ovation, I storm off to pout in the bathroom for at least six hours, leaving broken lamps and (emotionally) shattered pets in my wake. Once the other ladies coax me out with Oreos soaked in wine, the sun has set and we fall asleep in a kitten pile. There, we mind-meld and write a sketch. Fun Fact: the idea for The Audition came from a sex dream we all had while watching Fame.
Sabrina: It’s true. Another Fun Fact: Booby Hatch was formed because Kath, Alex and I discovered we have joint sex-dreams, and we either had to form a sketch group to deal with the awkwardness or never speak again. Personally, my comedy juice is orange soda. And I know what you’re thinking, but you are WRONG, because you are thinking of one of those cheap, over-the-counter orange sodas like “Crush” or “Shazoo”–one of those neon orange deals that cures hangovers or strips the paint off of your imaginary car–and I am RIGHT, because I’m talking expensive, organic orange soda. It’s Nom de Rue’s “God’s Sunrise” and it costs $900 an ounce. I drink that stuff until the funny just bubbles out of me. Organic orange soda seems to kill subjectivity. We don’t need to ask ourselves “Is this funny?” because the answer is always yes. Do all the people who listen to “Suck It” on their iPods know that the “G” in the “props to the G” line refers to Robert Goulet? You bet they do. Is a Bea Arthur reference still funny if Bea died after we wrote the sketch? FUNNIER. Her ghost told us so in a sex dream. This soda is so great, it got me kicked out of the Eagle Scouts.
Alex: I had no idea you were an Eagle Scout.
Katharine: Right? And to think, my Girl Scout ass changed clothes in front of her, him, her. I’m so confused now…
Sabrina: I’m not sure that actually happened, Kath. I think that was sex dream #234. Remember? The one with all the Thin Mints? I kept yelling “Get a Hat!”? I think we filed that one under “Winky Funkerbeans.”
Alex: Yeah, that was the dream that won us the Honorable Mention at the Beaded Shag Amateur Burlesque Contest. Kath sure was flexib—(Kath wrestles the tape recorder from Alex.)
Katharine: I come to our writing sessions with notes and plans and the ability to throw it all away. Swallowing my pride is how I contribute to Booby Hatch. That and amazing poop/vomit jokes. There was this great sketch we did where we went to Narnia through a wardrobe to perform our rap ‘Suck It’ for all the woodland creatures! On our return home, we jumped up in joy from having such a wonderful adventure and I threw up on the floor. It was funny, trust me. And we filmed it in only five takes! Five times I kept warm creamed corn in my mouth, to do a spit take that we never ended up using. That is what I bring to Booby Hatch. A masochistic desire to F myself in the B.
Alex: The ‘F’ is for Fudgsicle, right?
Katharine: Yes. And the “B” is for balls.
A bear (in chaps and a Frankie Say Relax t-shirt) bursts into the playhouse and eats them.
* * * FIN * * *
So, as you can see a lot of effort and brainjuice (mixed with vodka) goes into the brilliance that you eventually watch on the computer while shelling peas or taking a crap. Sweat, tears and whole lotta Bloody Mary mix. And not all ideas make it from the page to the soundstage (hands off Busta – that rhyme is copyright-protected!!) Believe it or not, many ideas borne of Stoli and pillow fights can seem…less funny the morning after. Some even bring on a kind of “comedy blackout” where we read the garbled notes the following morning and have NO idea what we meant. Some of those gems are pasted below – maybe you can explain them?
- Pee Purée
- ‘Print is Dead’ the musical
- Empaňadas at the last supper
- Small Wonder: Slavery of a White Girl
- Immigration Comedy Hour
- Night Court with Puppets
- Wii Kegels
- The lesser known Disciple, John the Cheapskate bringer of Tupperware.
- The demure G spot
- Need to rehearse a murder? There’s an App for that.
- Schundler’s Lust
Launch of ‘The Audition’! You’re welcome.
Get your motors running (your internal heart motors), cuz we’re headed on the highway (the fun time expressway), to uncomfortable hilarity. After months, weeks, days of longing, Booby Hatch has brought you your gift. The gift of JAZZ! Ok, not so much jazz. More like “did that girl just fart” smirks and eyeborw lifting. More like “I get this reference, but it’s so wrong in so many ways” wrap yourself in your binky blanket time. We hope you like it. We hope you can hear it. Our holiday gift to you! THE AUDITION
Booby Hatch
graylex
Katharine Houston
sabrinav
