Surprising, absurd, delightful, and I always welcome a little teeny bit of the grotesque.Here are some favorite projects where I've tossed in my brain and sometimes my body.

Kmart wanted to make viral digital content to promote their layaway program. Everything I wrote was getting rejected by the creative team. So I gave up. And thought of the most absurd place possible for someone to talk about Kmart Layaway: right as they are about to die, after being eaten by a bat.The agency creative team loved it. So we drove out to the suburbs of Chicago, sat in a conference room, and presented it to the Kmart execs. They were confused.After a lot of discussion and a long silence, one lone client said, "I'll be cheap." They decided to make it. He quit the next week.

This spot has had a hilarious effect on the internet. Here's a favorite comment:

The bat has launched me into some surprising corners of the internet that I did NOT plan on entering. Some people had been waiting for an ad like this seemingly all their lives and I, totally on accident, made it.Life is surprising!

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The Pyramid Shew is the story of us all facing the painful bs of life without it crushing us, presented as a live audience experience.Led by me from inside a foam pyramid on wheels, it was part puppet show, part play, part aggressive crowd work. I had no arms, no legs, so could only control everything by shouting and occasionally dropping things from underneath, or having them barf out of my face hole.It all culminated in an over the top finale where we used every possible tool in the theater. Complete with lasers, fog machines, hovering drones and a nice, friendly rebirth.

This show was inspired by Daft Punk's Alive show at Coachella.I went knowing only that Daft Punk was a group that always performed dressed as robots. When they came out in a pyramid and had some techno and a fog machine, I thought "Neat. B+."

And then they kept going.They showed you the building blocks of their arsenal--this lights up, this changes color, there are these triangle things around us--and then revealed their true capabilities in a brain melting barrage of transformation and possibilities. The message being: There is more. And more than that. And more.By the end of it, we were sober, dancing uncontrollably with total joy screaming "I can't stop dancing! I'm still dancing!"Here's a picture that doesn't capture it at all:

I was stunned for a solid week, and then knew I had to be that pyramid. One open mic later, it became a show.Performed at: Chicago Sketchfest, SketchfestNYC, UCB New York, The Magnet, the Pit Theater, both in New York.Poster design by the inimitable Stefan Lawrence.

Sue Salvi and I co-created this book as a way for kids to better deal with life's poops.Since self-publication in 2016 and Little, Brown publication in 2018, the wisdom of "Someday a Bird Will Poop On You" is now available in 5 countries globally. It's even used to teach English in Taiwan.

Every copy includes a guide to help you laugh your way through the bad stuff and to somehow make bird poop reception a kind of goal, with a one-of-a-kind bird poop punch card, available for cut out.

An inventive brand activation for a the baby stroller brand Contours, I was part of the team that brought it all to life.The FCB Agency built a giant stroller, and we took it out on the town, with unsuspecting randos and a few plants getting a surprisingly delightful ride. Strollers are wonderful.We handled the scripts and the creative, the internet made it viral and Cannes gave it a Gold Lion.

Kmart was looking for viral content to push their Layaway. And they had a ton of rules they wanted to make sure we covered. I had the idea that we do it like a meditation cd. Then my pals and comrades from Hogbutcher thought "ooh, what if we danced to it." And voila, Layaway CD was born.This went on to win recognition with the global creative team within FCB, and shine in our hearts forever.

I was the director for Laura McKenzie's stage show Songs From My Ass. It was a rollicking, blow-the-doors-off musical comedy cabaret show with audience interaction, backup dancers, and keytar.This was her first time mounting the show, her first time with some of her music. This is what we sat down and did:

I see the person who created the material as the ultimate authority. My job is to help bring something to life, and to get them to the clearest version of their own artistic goal.

Laura McKenzie is a wild, unexpected brain, with a big heart and no fear. She is like Prince if he didn't love eye rolls. If he understood the appeal of a seal's catastrophic molt.

My favorite thing to do is to help writers mount new work. I've done it many times before for many groups: showcases, festivals, and regular runs of shows for writer/performer comedians.

Cox Internet wanted to sell fast internet to millennials. I started to chafe against the idea that the people in these demographics were all the same, and that millennials wouldn't know that they were being marketed to. This is the result!Originally, I wanted both guys to be played by clearly non-millennial men with dad-bods and Bill Gates haircuts, to further highlight the pandering. That idea didn't make it BUT we got to find a future star of Stranger Things, thus also pandering to Gen X in one fell swoop.

I was thrilled to get an email from Elephant Larry asking for a puppet version of their delightful script, thrilled to make these puppets and film this on a now-ancient Flip camera.

KFC wanted absurd online content, and I was very happy to oblige. Very ridiculous and hey, great teeth!

There is something unpredictable and singularly fun about working live with a crowd. The "I can't believe they are doing this" that goes both ways.I'm familiar with all sorts of crowds, here's some proof.

One of my first jobs was as a historical interpreter for the Conner Prairie Museum outside of Indianapolis. We lived and functioned like it was 1836 Indiana, and people came and toured our village.I was Abigail Bucher, the hired girl for the doctor, the richest guy in town who made his money from real estate, not doctoring. The hit joke for visitors: "Why that makes about as much sense as a two story privy!"The museum is incredibly researched, and interpreters handled visitors of all stripes beautifully.*Most kitchens at the time had a small piece of leathery calf stomach on a string to sour milk quickly.

Beaubien Elementary School's chess team had a problem:It had only one member.How to grab the imaginations of kids who think chess is boring and dull?I had an idea. Stage a battle in the middle of the kids back to school picnic, complete with town crier, swords, fake death, and triumph.Thanks to the efforts of everybody pitching in, some cardboard and a repurporsed swiffer, it worked.

The team included John Bleeden, Sue Salvi, Tim Mason, Cayne Collier, Joey Lesaik and Ed Flynn.

To promote the book Someday a Bird Will Poop On You, author Sue Salvi and I devised all sorts of things to do live and in person with kids, adults, whoever was there listening. We did readings in schools, festivals, coffee shops, and even a hospital.To bring it to life we first got ourselves some authority via labcoats, and then a brand, with some specially crafted bird hats. To keep it interesting we made a giant version of the book for readings, and a walk around bird to serve poop cookies.

We got a musican friend to write and perform a specially themed bird poop song and one special day spread our message of wisdom with an airborn sign. The Chicago Tribune was interested.We're very proud of our bird playing cards, which told you the bird's name, where they live, and a little bit about what they love about elimination. We have collectively decided this has not gotten enough respect and reverence. Please apply either or both below:

I have a long history of live performance and on camera work which is a great help in directing and producing. Here's a short I was in that won Slamdance just to give you a taste.

I am a versitile writer with experience in many of mediums, looking to add more.I can handle story, and here's some proof:Staff Writer: Showtime's Work In Progress
Moth Story Slam Winner
Live Lit all over Chicago, New York and LA
Sketch Comedy
Playwrighting: The Temp, the International Puppet Festival in ChicagoI can handle pithy, punchy, relatable content, working in advertising for big brands. How about some logos? OKAY! Enjoy a little sampling of brands I've written for. Er, I mean for whom I've written:

I draw, I paint, I build things!Here's a sampling of things that have oozed out of my hands and brain.

Need a website? Let's talk!I've designed sites and am always looking to do more.Check them out:Tonight I Am My Mother
Liz Allen Improv
Fearless Mortals

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