Comic Con and Derrick Comedy

So Camille and I just found out we will be attending Comic Con this weekend. We're thrilled -- this is the only con we'll be attending this year. For a while there, it looked like we wouldn't be seeing any of our con buddies until 2010.

We'll be working Friday and Saturday at the Derrick Comedy booth. Derrick Comedy is a comedy/improv troupe whose videos have been viewed over 100 million times.

These guys = funny

In my opinion, they're the best comedy troupe on the web, and they're starting to reap the rewards of their talent. One of the members, Donald Glover, just won an Emmy writing for 30 Rock. They are definitely worth checking out, but be warned -- much of their material is definitely not safe for work. My fave is Girls Are Not To Be Trusted.

Camille's work, Roadside Attractions, is releasing Derrick Comedy's first feature, Mystery Team (link goes to trailer). We got a sneak peek at Roadside last week, and it's pretty damn entertaining, hilarious throughout and with an actual engaging mystery. I believe there's a Comic Con screening, but I don't have the dates. The film will be released in theaters this fall. We'll be pimping Mystery Team at the Derrick Comedy booth with the troupe members themselves. It's booth #4016 in the Exhibitors Hall.

So stop on by. From what I hear, the team's going to man the booth themselves, and we're there mostly as fillers for when they need a break. So we'll have a lot of free time, but constantly be on call.

Additional: My cell phone's still kaput, so your best bet to reach me away from the booth is on Camille's.

Update: Katy informs me that the screening of Mystery Team will be Thursday from 6 to 8pm at the Gaslight. Also, Derrick Comedy will be doing a panel on Sunday around noon, at which they will premiere a new sketch filmed exclusively for Comic Con.

Shorts for TV?

Had my first non-pitch network meeting last week. Cindi and I met with a friend of hers, an exec at G4, to discuss producing some short comedy to air as part of one of their shows. If you don't know, G4 is the video gamer geek channel, and wants comedy in its programming, so it seems like a natural fit. So over the past couple weeks, I'd been writing quite a few geek comedy shorts and sketches, standalones and serials, to throw their way. Cindi sent the material to the exec and we got a meeting that week.

The meeting went well, though I couldn't tell at first. Cindi actually called me afterward to confirm that it was "not a bad meeting," because I apparently looked like someone had drowned my cat. No, the meeting wasn't a homerun -- initial meets usually ain't -- but the exec liked some of our ideas and despite development budget problems still wanted to make something. She promised to read the 21 shorts and sketches (had to go with a lucky number) over the holiday weekend -- which I wouldn't hold anyone to, not with family barbecues and random explosions all night long. With luck, me might soon be shooting something that will air on network TV. Which, I don't have to tell you, would land firmly in the "Nifty" column. So here's hoping.