Mad Science: Smart Grid

History’s First Christmas Newsletter

Nazareth, December, 18 A.D.

It’s been another blessed year for us here in the Holy Land. For summer vacation, we spent a week at the Bethlehem Ramada. I told Joseph that this time he better call ahead for reservations — otherwise there’d be more than one jackass sleeping in the stable! ; ) The boys have loved the Ramada swimming pool since they were kids, but even to this day, Jesus only walks on the shallow end. When the boys were beachcombing, James cut his foot on a conch shell. Jesus carried him all the way across the beach, back to the hotel infirmary.  That night, He wrote a poem about the experience — “Footprints.”

Jesus continues to excel in college. He made the honor roll (again) and won first place the intramural fishing contest (again). In His spare time (ha ha!), He volunteers at the local hospital, where He heals the sick, and one time, a dead guy.

This year, we started celebrating Jesus’ birthday in July. It’s just unfair for kids who have birthdays so close to Christmas. The “wise men” showed up again, which means another year of re-gifting frankincense. Oy vey!

The other kids are fine. I’ve never been a big believer in the whole birth-order thing, but it’s been a struggle for James growing up in Jesus’ shadow, what with Him being the eldest — and the Messiah. Last month when James was reprimanded for toilet-papering the band locker room, the principal hauled him up in front of the entire class and asked him, “What would Jesus do?”

Please write and let us know what your kids have accomplished.

Merry Christmas,

Mary, Joe, Jesus, James and Fluffy

Illustrated by Garth Beams, written by Tim Washer, inspired by Luke 2:1-20.  SDG.

Mad Science

Our new video series featuring John Cohn, from Discovery Channel’s “The Colony“

Thanksgiving Comedy Show

On Saturday night, November 21, $10 buys you a five dollar dessert and nearly two bucks worth of comedy, yielding a net loss for the evening.   “Weekend Update – Thanksgiving Edition” will be co-anchored by Bob Tedeschi, New York Times columnist, and Tim Washer, whose influences include Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams and Ted Baxter.  Special musical guest Elza will play a few tunes from her new CD, Gettin’ Free.  Childcare and a movie will be provided for the kids and any adults who get bored. In Martin Hall underneath Jesse Lee Church, 207 Main St. Ridgefield, CT, 7:30PM.  Tickets available at the door.  All proceeds benefit the Jesse Lee Youth Mission trip to New Orleans, LA.

Night of a Thousand Stars

To be fair, it wasn’t a “thousand” stars, but more like two or three.  And, it didn’t happen all in one evening, but was spread out over almost a fortnight.  The celeb-fest kicked off when I had lunch with Spider-Man creator Stan Lee in Santa Monica.  He was attending a small storytelling conference in Santa Monica, where I was speaking on a panel about comedy film. 

The following Thursday back in NYC, I went with Daily Show producer Ian Berger to Carnegie Hall to see Ricky Gervais, as part of the New York Comedy Festival.   We went backstage after the show, and had the opportunity to critique Ricky’s act, and a few episodes of “The Office.”  Also met Todd Barry and Janeane Garofalo, who is a lot less political in person.  We hit the After Party at the Empire Hotel Rooftop bar.   I don’t think I’ve stayed out that late since senior prom.

Photo: the WSJ gang Rhona Seymour, Melissa Magdits, Nancy McDonald and Ian Berger. 

Then, Friday night, my wife and I attended the NYC premier of THAT EVENING SUN.  Hal Holbrook and Ray McKinnon were at the theater for a Q&A.   On Saturday night, I saw the film for the fourth time, and had drinks after with Scott Teems and Carrie Preston.

THAT EVENING SUN Opens in NYC

UPDATE: selected as New York Time’s Critic’s Pick, The Hollywood Reporter says Holbrook deserves an Oscar nom, and Hammer to Nail compares Teems favorably to Clint Eastwood!

I first saw THAT EVENING SUN at a screening in Tribeca.  The second time I drove three hours to the Newport Film Festival.  (Disclosure: part of the reason was to hang out with writer/director Scott Teems, who is also my comedy filmmaking partner.  Scott wrote a part for me in the film — a stand-up comic bombing at the nursing home, but the scene was cut before shooting.  Not to brag, but the director said I would have been “perfect for this role.”)

Characters such as Abner Meecham (Hal Holbrook) and Lonzo Choat (Ray McKinnon) reminded me of some of my own flaws that I’d prefer to hide from myself. I saw a story of how regret can crush a man and fuel hatred making forgiveness almost impossible. Because of this film, I’ll work harder to extend grace to others, and to myself. The movie also stars Walton Goggins (“The Shield”), Carrie Preston (“True Blood”), Mia Wasikowska (Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice In Wonderland), Barry Corbin (No Country for Old Men), and Dixie Carter.

The film won at SXSW and about 10 other festival awards, received a glowing review from Variety, and several of the Hollywood critics added to their Oscar prediction list Holbrook for Best Actor, and Scott Teems for Best Adapted Screenplay.   It opens this week in NYC at Cinema 123; purchase tickets online from Fandango. There will be a Q&A with the cast and director after the 7PM show on Nov 6th and 7th.  I’ll be there on the 7th, for the third and fourth time.

See the trailer below on YouTube, or in HD on Apple.com

BtoB Mag: “Comedian Tim Washer and IBM’s viral campaign”

From BtoB Magazine:

COMEDIAN TIM WASHER RARELY TAKES HIMSELF seriously, appearing     everywhere from “Saturday Night Live,” to Budweiser commercials, to a plethora of late-night talk shows. But in 2004, the strictly humorous man landed a new job—this one with IBM Corp., whose brand would hardly be considered comical. IBM, in an attempt to poke fun at its newly established Mainframe Division, hired Washer for a series of viral videos featuring absurdist marketing humor for IBM’s then-new System z technology. The campaign took off, garnering almost 500,000 views for the six-part series on YouTube—with each video providing a link, and driving traffic, to the Mainframe informational Web site. Last month, Washer appeared at a Business Development Institute seminar on corporate social media practices. Though now several years removed from his Mainframe campaign, Washer praised IBM’s willingness to embrace creative absurdity in the corporate marketing world and warned the audience that fear was the greatest hindrance to a company’s ability to maneuver successfully in the social media realm. —Dillon White

Comedy, Social Media and Big Business

David Wenger and I had a conversation recently on the role of humor in the corporate world, social media, and “stretching the boundaries of comfort when talking Big Business.”  Read or listen to the interview on his blog.

Advertising Age: IBM’s Zany Viral Video Chief

Earlier this week AdAge reported on the case study I discussed on the use of humor in corporate web video.  I showed a few clips including one from our Smarter Planet campaign.  “Mainframe: The Art of the Sale” earned some great press coverage.  The San Francisco Chronicle blog “What are They Drinking in Armonk,” ZDNet compared it favorably against Microsoft’s broadcast ads with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, industry luminary James Governor blogged “Selling big iron the David Brent way,” and Comedy Central selected it as a finalist in its Test Pilot’s contest.

I am NOT a Horndog

In David Griner‘s post on ADWEEK’s blog, AdFreak, “Horndogs hit on Zeta-Jones in T-Mobile ads” he writes:

I know I shouldn’t encourage the “Husbands are ugly imbeciles” ad cliché, but I laugh at the T-Mobile spot above every time I hear the guy tell Catherine Zeta-Jones, “I like it when you say things.”

While I’m tired of being labeled by the Press as a “horndog” (Wall Street Journal, Poughkeepsie Democrat, Christianity Today)  I can’t really argue against the “ugly imbecile” tag.