I remember when Michael Cornacchia (the Cornfather’s counterpart in “real life”) called me on his first day of shooting HBO’s Six Feet Under to let me know it was like stepping into my apartment when he walked onto that set. Unlike jefbot in today’s strip, I wasn’t sure whether or not to take that as a compliment when I found out the nature of his character’s demise. Note this was years ago, when Michael was still rocking the hair curl and the Power of Chub.

The first clip from Michael’s acting reel below shows the scene. Know that there’s some adult language if you’re under 17 or at work so view responsibly.

Some JEFbot readers may remember a storyline a little over a year ago where the Cornfather and jefbot were shooting a short about a couple of paranormal investigators checking out some strange happenings. Well, it’s taken a while, but the real webseries the storyline was based on, What the F&$@! Was That?!, is now up on YouTube (actually, it went up over a month or so ago, I’ve just been bad about blogging about it) and features an extremely funny, talented cast that includes creator/producer Michael Cornacchia (the real-life Cornfather!) and me. The series is a spoof on those “Haunting” shows where a team of experts (I use the term loosely) go onto “haunted” properties and try and prove the existence of ghosts with psychics, technology and whatnot.

I play Zapatos Zeddmore, a Latino-Asian, tech-savvy geek who’s a bit on the skeptical side as far as what the other team members are up to. A stretch for me, I know. My character is pretty much how I look on weekends. Also keep an eye out for my DS phat and XBOX Live headset, both of which make appearances in a few scenes.

The webseries exists as a series of episodes or as one big short. The video embedded above is from Episode 4. Check out the link below for the entire WTFWT?! short, which I should make clear contains some PG material (sexual situations, bleeped language, implied drug use, etc.), so get your parents’ permission if you’re under 12.

• WTFWT?! The Complete Short

And here’s the link to the beginning of that JEFbot storyline, which you don’t need permission to read:

• JEFBOT.75_The Short

If you haven’t seen or heard of this show, basically, it’s the entire Star Wars Episodes IV, V and VI movies performed live, in 30 minutes, by an extremely talented troupe of fast-talking and fast-moving actors. Lightsabers are replaced with wiffle bats, folding chairs become X-Wings, and each actor plays multiple roles (see Michael Cornacchia, aka The Cornfather, play Jabba the Hutt and Admiral Akbar, among other characters!). The whole thing is absolutely hysterical and one of my favorite things I’ve seen in a theater, ever. Really. When it was playing in L.A. six years ago I must have seen it over 20 times, and it never got boring and I never stopped laughing.

Also, by buying a ticket you’ll be supporting a friend of the show, who recently underwent several brain surgeries, and doesn’t have health insurance. These two shows will help with those bills, so go see both shows if you can and bring friends. You won’t be disappointed, I guarantee.

And check it out - I was asked to create the poster for the show, and jumped at the chance at this honor! I thought a riff on the classic Return of the Jedi poster would be fun, which you can see above.

If you’re interested in seeing one or both performances, I suggest reserving your tickets now, in case they sell out. Tickets are only $10 and are available by calling 323.805.9355 or e-mailing tickets@starwars30.com and letting them know the time of the show you’d like to attend. Check out the official website for details (StarWars30.com) and to see video clips and read the acclaim this show has garnered (even from Mr. Lucas himself!).

I cannot praise and recommend this show enough. Go see it!

–

August 15, 2009 2pm/8pm
K.L. Peters Auditorium
Beverly Hills High School
241 Moreno Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(on campus parking is free)
StarWars30.com

If you aren’t familiar with the series, Heather’s a vampire who lives with her dad (also a vampire, played by none other than the Cornfather’s inspiration, Michael Cornacchia!) and tells “the truth about vampires” (Twilight and True Blood have been targets, naturally) through her vlogs. She’s also best friend to Kelly, from the überpopular (and übergenius, imho) Kelly videos. And now it’s canon that Heather’s a fan of the JEFbot webcomic!? One can hope.

The chemistry between Megahn and Michael is fun to watch and each short is hilarious, so go check them out. You should also probably be over 13 to view the videos, as they have some adult language and themes (so obviously, NSFW either).

In order for a “fart joke” to be valid, does an actual fart need to have occurred? In-panel? Well, it’s been 115 strips folks, and this is the closest I’ve come to a “fart joke” in JEFbot, so enjoy it! I’ll try and get around to a proper one in the next hundred or so strips.

Oh, and yes, I did get pink eye, or something like it, last week. And since I haven’t had make-up on since Halloween, and have no idea how I got it, my roommate is still a suspect.

Something approximating the conversation in this strip happened between Michael Cornacchia (the Cornfather’s inspiration) and I a couple weeks back. He didn’t have a “Naughty List” then, but if he did, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be on it.

As documented way back in JEFBOT.20_Sith Happens, Michael hosts kid parties on the weekends, and this time of year, Mr. Kris Kringle’s his big thing. So if you want the best Santa in Hollywood and you live near L.A., send me an email and I’ll see if he and his fat pad are available. (I’ll find out if I can post his booking info here to make it easier. Check back later.)