Category Archives: Killer B’s

Accumulation of Activities

May 15, 2013 13:00 ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I have been ridiculously busy as of late. In a nutshell, here’s what I’ve been up to:

webcomic_341The Webcomic Beacon: A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to lend my film expertise to a recording of The Webcomic Beacon podcast about James Bond. The episode also features comic artist Rich Morris, who does webcomics about gaming, Dr. Who, and now James Bond.
kongAnimation Aficionados: I was also asked to lend my film expertise to the Animation Aficionados podcast about the original 1933 version of King Kong. The episode was recorded about a week before Ray Harryhausen passed away, so I unfortunately spend part of the episode waxing poetic about the fact that he was still alive. Still, that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying giant stop-motion gorillas.
TGL LogoThe Geek Life: The Geek Life podcast is nearing its 200th episode! A few weeks ago, we also started recording the show live online, via Google Hangouts. If you are free on Tuesday nights around 8:00pm Central Time, you can watch us nerd-out in live video. Just watch the show’s Twitter feed or Google+ page for the weekly link. If you want to comment at us while we are recording, use the #thegeeklifetv hashtag on Twitter. You can also see us live — as in, live live — at CONvergence.
Drinking with GeeksDrinking with Geeks: The new Drinking with Geeks podcast is now running full-steam ahead! Four episodes are up, and more are on their way. If you are a Twin Cities local and want to join in the Drinking with Geeks social hour and see the podcast recorded live, simply show up at the Bryant Lake Bowl at the appointed time. (Watch the web site for dates and times.) Also, if you are attending CONvergence this 4th of July weekend, you will be able to see the usual gladiatorial Drinking with Geeks panel, followed by a brand-new experiment called Hungover with Geeks.
KillerBsThe Killer B’s Improv Movie Show: The Killer B’s show will also be back at CONvergence this year! Once again, you will be able to watch in awe as improv comedians, musicians, and a sound effects artist create a brand-new live soundtrack for films they have never seen before.
PowerPoint KaraokePowerPoint Karaoke: This PowerPoint Karaoke season is wrapping up! Our last Bryant Lake Bowl show until the autumn will be on Thursday, May 30th. After that, we will be returning to CONvergence to use up all the slides that are simply too nerdy for a general audience. Show up at either venue to watch improv comedians give PowerPoint presentations about slides they have never seen before.
FirstIssueFirst Issue: The First Issue video podcast continues to chug along, and more updates are on their way. You will also be able to see the show recorded live at CONvergence, as we interview Mark Stegbauer about his work and take a look at his very first comics inking gig.
CVG2013logoCONvergence: Speaking of CONvergence, it looks like I will be on around 20 panels again this year. Madness! Once the schedule is firmed up, I will make a separate post of what is going on and where.
soundandfoleyThe Sound and the Foley: My new blogging endeavor, The Sound and the Foley, is up and running strong! It seems that other folks are as fascinated by memetic sound as I am. I have a list of blog post ideas as long as my arm, so it seems I will have no shortage of material to write about.
CollegeOfCuriosityThe College of Curiosity Conference: Finally, I will be speaking at the Conference of Curiosity in Chicago, IL on May 25th, on the subject of The Sound and the Foley project. The other speakers are folks like Hal Bidlack and magician Dennis Watkins, so if you’re in the Chicago area, you should feed your curiosity and join us!

Posted in: Appearances, CONvergence, Drinking with Geeks, First Issue, Killer B's, PowerPoint Karaoke, The Geek Life, The Sound and the Foley

CONvergence Highlights

July 13, 2012 15:00 ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅

Tim Wick made a lovely list of random CONvergence highlights over on his blog, and it sounded like a lovely idea. This is me, totally stealing that idea.

WEDNESDAY

I spent the 4th of July drinking massive amounts of gin and vodka (not in the same glass) in a Burnsville hotel room with my friends Jason, Pam, and Poe. I’ve known J since I was about 15 or 16, which is when we met on the Benden Weyr BBS back in the mists of ancient history. Stories were told. Twitter was flooded with quotes. Many pizzas were demolished. It was perfect.

SWEDING

Jerry Belich, Cargill, Kelvin Hatle, Eryn Hildebrandt, and several others decided to swede a film during CONvergence. On Thursday afternoon, I got to help them film for a while. Not only did the start and finish all the filming on Thursday, Jerry had a rough cut by Friday morning. HOLY HANNAH. It will need a little post production, but it should be done soon. I’ll post it when it’s finished.

MAD ART LAB PANEL - Panel 1 of 20

Mr. @wdonohue gave me scotch wrapped in MATH! #cvg2012Wdonohue from the world of Twitter turned into a Booze Genie and simply gave me an entire bottle of scotch at this panel, and it was WRAPPED IN MATH. Best scotch ever! (For the record, it was Balvenie 14 year, which had been aged in rum casks. Also, I only drank about 1/3rd of the bottle at the convention.)

The Mad Art Lab panel was excellent! The other ladies from the site put together individual bags full of craft supplies for each audience member, and everyone was instructed to make art while we all talked. Hundreds of photos were taken; I’ll link to them when they go up. Continue Reading →

Posted in: Appearances, CONvergence, Dr. Blink, Drinking with Geeks, First Issue, Killer B's, Mad Art Lab, PowerPoint Karaoke, The Geek Life

Killer B’s and Funny Ladies

July 11, 2012 14:00 ⋅ 4 Comments ⋅

Around seven or eight years ago, Jerry Belich and I founded Killer B’s Improv Movie Show. For those of you who don’t attend CONvergence or shows at HUGE Theater, Killer B’s is something like a hybrid between Mystery Science Theater 3000, J-Men Forever, and Comedy Sportz. I find clips of oddball film footage, edit them together, and remove all the sound. Then, a team of comedians and a Theremin player replace the entire soundtrack during a live show. Since the people doing the sound work have no idea what is going to play on screen, the comedy is pure improv.

The project started, oddly enough, as a sort of avant garde music format. Originally, I was just going to find the movies and strip the sound, and Jerry was going to play Theremin to the footage. I can’t remember who thought of adding voice actors, but that’s really what made the show come together.

See, I’ve been a longtime fan of the Twin Cities’ improv comedy community. I’d see Improv a Go Go almost weekly at the Brave New Workshop, watching actors forge experimental new improvisational formats for the pittance of a $1 admission. (IAGG is now at HUGE and costs $5, but this Wild West attitude toward improv comedy continues today.) While I have some stage experience myself, I always knew that stage improv was never my strong point, so I always watched in awe as I saw friends form strange comedic alchemy in front of me. I could see how the gears fit together, but never could get to the point where it felt natural to do improv comedy myself.

The Killer B’s format, though, was a eureka moment for me. I could contribute back to the community that I loved so much. I just had to play to my particular skills: a vast knowledge of obscure films, competency at Final Cut Pro, and friendships with other talented people.

The team sprang together. I was the editor. Jerry was on Theremin. Three talented comedians from Soylent Theater, all geeks and all very funny, formed the core of the voice talent: Joseph Scrimshaw, Kelvin Hatle, and Tim Uren.

Other voice actors have joined us for various shows: Nels Lennes, Aric McKeown, Amanda Schuckman, Wally Wingert, Chuck McCann, Richard Fish, and Phil Proctor. We’ve also been joined onstage by guitarist Scott Keever and foley artist Tony Brewer. All have been fantastic to work with. Everyone brings something different to the table.

However, do you notice anything about that lineup? I sure do. Continue Reading →

Posted in: CONvergence, Killer B's

CONvergence Is Imminent!

June 21, 2012 16:00 ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Drinking with Geeks 2011, photo by Bill Stiteler

Two weeks from today, CONvergence will rock Bloomington, MN. I suspect that nearly everyone who reads this blog (all five of you) knows what CONvergence is, but in case you just stumbled past, here’s a description. CONvergence is a four-day smorgasbord sci-fi/fantasy/music/movie/party convention that strikes every 4th of July weekend. It currently draws around 5,000 attendees, and features everything from people in costumes to live music to panel discussions to live theater to movies to anime to blacklight mini-golf to cricket lessons.

Many of you are also familiar with the fact that I contribute huge amounts of time to this convention. This year, I am going to break the record for sitting on panels. Normally, Programming only lets people sit on a maximum of about eight panels, but for some reason, they let me sign up for pretty much everything. This year, I’ll be on a whopping nineteen panels, beating the record previously held by game designer Kenneth Hite (who did 18 panels in 2008).

Because of this, it’s unlikely you’ll find me anywhere outside a panel room during the weekend, so I’m including my schedule below the jump, along with pithy comments. Stop by and say hello!

(I should also note that CONvergence has a fantastic online scheduling tool. If you want to see all of this year’s events, make your own schedule, and otherwise plot your nefarious weekend plans, that is the place to do it.) Continue Reading →

Posted in: Appearances, CONvergence, Dr. Blink, Drinking with Geeks, First Issue, Killer B's, Mad Art Lab, PowerPoint Karaoke, The Geek Life