Viewer Interaction Shakes Hands With Internet Videos!!!

It’s All In Your Hands has finally found a way to combine audience interaction to it’s stories: at the end of every (three part) episode, the viewer votes on what the protagonist should do. Take the pill or not? Meet April at the cafe or “the voice” under the overpass? Many have described it as a Choose Your Own Adventure for the web generation. Awards this year alone have included the Myspace MyEmmy Award for Outstanding Drama For Broadband and Best Online Film and Video: Drama at The Webby Awards. The website currently offers four webisodes: Moonshine, Satacracy 88, Blankslate, and Find Me.

Blankslate was written by Marc Cittadino, who also stars in, co-produced and edited the series. He wakes up in a Los Angeles park with dried blood on his hands, having no idea where or who he is. In his pocket are a wallet; empty but for a hundred-dollar bill and a cell phone with a call history of strangers whom he desperately calls for anonymous advice. The episodes as a whole are compelling enough, but breaking it up into three short parts leaves endings a bit too open to actually muster up enough patience to wait another two-weeks for the next one to be released. That said, the production value and marketing tactics are enough in this new dawn of web-driven entertainment to slap It’s All In Your Hands with the credit they’ve been granted. Please enjoy today’s entry of Blankslate; Episode 1, Part 3.

Jesus gets PUNKED!!!

Mr. Deity is the work of Brian Dalton, a tongue-in-cheek, Protestant Woody Allen (if Woody Allen was God).  Released bi-weekly on youtube, this series takes the inexplicable logic behind dogmas of Christianity and glosses them over, creating a cute and light-hearted perspective on biblical typos:  “Our goal here is not to mock religion, but to use it as a foundation for the humor,” remarks Mr. Dalton in his FAQ section of the website.  The series actually exclaims its purpose as creating enough popularity in order for network executives to contract the show for a half-hour television series.

In the second episode, Mr. Deity and the Really Big Favor, God persuades Jesus to volunteer his crucifixion with perks likening the afterworld to a corporate bureaucracy (“Why hast thou forsaken me!!!!????”). 

“It’s not gay if she’s here…”

Modest Proposal started in Tempe, AZ by Ron Babcock and Ryan McKee, two buddies that met while traveling abroad.  The multi-media duo produces comedic works not only by videos on the web, but for their magazine and on the improv stage as well.  They currently hold an event the 3rd Saturday of every much called Modest Proposal Presents, where they feature fresh stand-up, sketch, and video comedies.  In November they started producing and hosting Filet o’Fish, a monthly short film and animation festival held at the L.A. Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.

Ron & Ryan Roast Jim brings us all closer to the holiday spirit, especially those of us who can’t make it home for the celebrations.  WARNING:  content may not be suitable for children or Christians.

(view Ron & Ryan Roast Jim here)

I Am My Own Carizma!

Who is Papadizi?  Some say he is a marketing ploy created by the Israeli marketing agency The Mustang.  The actor behind the Macedonian character, Menashe Noy, has an extensive portfolio of films and videos out of Israel.  Short of that there isn’t much information that Papadizi discloses to his “friends in the internet village.”  Nevertheless he is the great PAPADIZI, known for his goat-herding skills and passionate love for American women. 

Today’s review offers a slice of Papadizi’s mountain-dwelling, goat-herding lifestyle as he reaches out to Steven Spielberg for help in finding American women.  Please enjoy:  Spielberg See My Carizma #14!

Lisa Nova: Youtube’s Next Teeniebopper Heartbreaker

Lisa Nova currently stands at the 9th most subcribed “youtube channel,” among such notables as lonelygirl15 and Barats & Bereta.  Her work ranges from P-Diddy impersonations to what the ideal world would look in the eyes of Rush Limbaugh, in content that is driven by satire.  She also plays with video as a medium, producing such works as a tribute to Jackie Wilson’s Lonely Teardrops (ah, Lisa!  You are a youtube heartbreaker!) 

In today’s review Lisa plays out the fantasy of road rage that we all, she claims, experience from time to time.  As of today it has been viewed almost 165,000 times still holding 4/5 stars!  I hope we all can live vicariously through Lisa’s example…this means:  don’t pull your gun out on rude drivers, unless they pull theirs first!

view Don’t be a Douche Bag here

Hooray For Free Television! Take your pants off!

Mediocre Films is the creation of Greg Benson, a filmmaker whose shorts offer quick bursts of shoulder-shrugging laughs.  His podcast made iTunes’ Top-100 Comedy Podcast list and can be seen on youtube or his myspace account.

Swappin’ Heads debuted on his podcast.  Best friend fun ensues when Greg and David Hussey (Cecil, the Anti-Drug Mascot, That’s My Bush!, ep. 1, 2001) discover a newspaper ad for Carlosita, a “steamy hot mexican transexual.”  The adventure also stars Alan Alda and Parnell Davison.

(view Swappin’ Heads here)

Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe…oh my!

Commentary on bad television in the form of youtube shorts?  But wait, doesn’t youtube have a bunch of crap as well?  Yes, they do.  NBC Universal, Inc. flirted with the idea of giving Derrick and Will (producers of nobodyswatching.tv) from Union, Ohio a contract to create a webisode, then backing down to the young producers’ dismay. Ten Years of Friends in 90 Seconds sums up the progress of Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe sharing the hard times of being young and single in New York City.  We can finally relive the progress of love, jealousy, and love again in under two minutes with no commercial breaks in this touching glimpse into NBC’s biggest moneymaker, Friends.

view the entire clip of Derrick and Will’s introduction with a ”metrosexual headtouch” and giving NBC a playful reaction to NBC”s decision to reject a contract

Laughing at Love Corner

Boston-based comedy troupe Zebro hosts their own show Tuesday nights at Improv Boston.  The comedy nightclub’s host and Zebro member Elisha Yaffe says, “the majority of the Internet world has too much time on their hands, making it a great tool to connect with a larger audience. I mean, YouTube tells us we have fans in Japan. I bet we’re huge in Asia.”  Zebro has received recognition from MTV News and the BBC for their rap video about Snakes on a Plane, which is…uh…cute.

Love Corner is a romantic tale of a bird’s eye view at the corner of Patience & Understanding, where lonely pedestrians minding their own business are caught in Cupid’s crosshairs.  It, along with other Zebro shorts, will be featured in a pilot in collaboration with Kevin Bright (Friends, In Living Color, Dream On) and The Emerson Channel.

(view Love Corner here)

Olde English Says: Video Art Can Be Funny!

Olde English is a comedy troupe that formed at Bard College in upstate New York in 2002 with their first performance, The Number One Show, which didn’t receive any acclaim whatsoever.  One of their first sketches that aired on the internet, Gym Class, gained the group popularity with its satirical perspective of competition in badminton. 

Olde English’s One Picture Every Day was released on October 13th, 2005.  It was inspired by artists Noah Kalina  and Jonathan Keller, both of whom took pictures of themselves each and every day for enough time to show a bit of aging on the face as well as a variety of hairstyles (and both of which are totally awesome and genius ideas).  Olde English’s version rocketed them to fame by having the honor of watching their piece aired on Good Morning America.

(view One Picture Every Day here)

I Love “I Love the 30s”

I Love the 30s is a co-production between Littleman Creative and Disposable Television, two production companies specializing in new-media formats, both of which are based out of New York City.  The collaboration has resulted in a series that can be watched via podcast or on Comedy Central’s broadband-supported website, Motherload. 

Today’s review showcases one of the episodes in the series I Love the 30′s looking back on the Berlin Olympics in 1936, famous for the Nazis’ loss of four gold metals to American Olympian (and black guy) Jesse Owens. 

(view I Love the 30s: Berlin Olympics here)