Steve Gadlin's piece of the Internet

Laughs by the gallon at Mette’s Don’t Spit the Water

1/25/12, The Wilmette Beacon, by April Dahlquist

Read this on WilmetteBeacon.com

With comedians shouting over her shoulder, Chrissy Kress was laughing so hard she couldn’t hold in the water stored in her cheeks.

A dribble of water leaking from her clenched lips turned into a geyser splashing onto the stage.

Kress, of Aurora, was a contestant on Don’t Spit the Water, a game show brought to The Wilmette Theatre on Thursday, Jan. 19.

While the game show title may be, “Don’t Spit the Water,” the comedic team was trying desperately, and hilariously, to get the contestants to do exactly that.

“We just love having it here,” said Chad Byers, Wilmette Theatre’s general manager about the game show. “We think it’s a great show. It’s hilarious, so much fun and the audience loves it.”

The hour-long game show was led by Sasha and The Noob, who kept the audience entertained with riddles, stand-up jokes and sing-a-longs between the rounds. Wearing neon, argyle pants, and red and gold sequin vests, the comedic-duo left no color out of their outfits, or their performance.

During the rounds three contestants, who volunteered out of the audience, filled their cheeks with water while different comedic characters bombarded them with jokes.

The contestants earned points for the amount of time they could hold the water in their mouths before the humor was too much and caused them to spit it out laughing.

“Anything interactive is fun,” contestant Marc Bermann said. “Some of the humor had a vaudeville flavor to it, so that was fun.”

Comedic character Mr. Glitter-fairy-disco-baby, wearing a green, shimmering dress and rainbow tube socks, used surprise and cheap humor to get contestants to laugh.

Alice “from human resources” talked to the contestants about their failings at work while character Couch Cootersmith tried to get contestants revved up for the big game.

“They were really funny,” Kress said. “It was the hardest when the HR girl came out with the bag of flour and said it was my drugs.”

While Kress didn’t last long before spitting the water, other contestants were more tight-lipped.

“There’s always some guys that are trying to be tough guys and don’t want to spit the water to impress their dates,” performer Bryan Bowden said. “It’s just part of the game, and we have to be more creative.”

Bermann was able to hold in his giggles when he was focused during the rounds, but when Sasha was chatting with him between rounds, Bermann made a mess of spit-up water on the stage.

“If he had gone eye-to-eye with that Sasha, he would have spit the water in 15 seconds,” said Janice Igra, who accompanied Bermann to the show.

The contestants also could wager their points against the other contestant, betting if he or she would spit the water or not.

While some jokes flopped, overall the comedic troupe was able to keep the audience laughing and the contestants spitting.

This was the fourth time Don’t Spit the Water has come to The Wilmette Theatre. Theater managers said they try to book the show twice a year.

“We try to bring in the best shows from the city to the Wilmette audience, North Shore audience, so this fills that need,” Byers said.

The Players: The Fifty People Who Really Perform in Chicago

1/19/12, New City, by Zach Freeman, Brian Hieggelke, Sharon Hoyer and Dennis Polkow

Read this on NewCityStage.com

With our criteria shifted back to artistic accomplishment in theater, dance, comedy and opera this year, our task got infinitely tougher. Because while the number of performing venues grows at a steady rate, the increase in the number of noteworthy artists seems to grow exponentially. For everyone we name on the list below, we had to leave off five, an embarrassment of riches for Chicago. We made a conscious effort to introduce a meaningful number of new faces to the list this year; the necessary absences should not be construed as a loss of worthiness as a consequence. We often find trends when we do the research these lists require; this year we’re starting to see a more meaningful effort to redefine performance itself in the internet age, from the runaway success of StarKids, to the more calculated endeavors of Silk Road. So what defines a “player”? Consider it some complex stew of career achievement, recent “heat” and, in some cases, rising stardom.

…

#41 – Steve Gadlin, Actor

Steve Gadlin and his Blewt! cohorts create some of the funniest, most imaginative projects anywhere, from the “Impress These Apes” show that first brought them to our attention, to his more recent “Nairobi Project” wherein he commissioned an email spammer to create plays for him which he produced. But he’s on the verge of going big-time now: his “Don’t Spit the Water” game show pilot recently aired on television and, later this month on January 27, he’s really breaking out when he appears on ABC Television’s “Shark Tank” to pitch rich investors on his project “I Want to Draw A Cat for You.” Sounds Trump-worthy to us.

…

Funny Business: Talking with Steve Gadlin

1/12/12, TribLocal, by Teme Ring

Read this on TribLocal.com

Pssst. C’mere. Want some insider tips? Fill your mouth with water (coffee works if you’re reading this over breakfast) and hold it until the end of this interview. This training will give you an advantage over the competition when “Don’t Spit the Water” returns to the Wilmette Theatre on Thursday, January 19th.

Tip two: buy your cat drawings now! On January 27th, demand may grow faster than a kitten when Steve Gadlin, creator and host of “Don’t Spit the Water,” appears on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” where a panel of millionaires awards sizable investments to deserving entrepreneurs. Gadlin will pitch www.iwanttodrawacatforyou.com where he “draws the cat that your describe.” The business has already been a Groupon sensation. Unfortunately, there’s no “insider tip three” because Gadlin wouldn’t tell us who won the purrrse on his episode of “Shark Tank.”

But you don’t have to wait until the 27th to see one of Chicago’s most innovative comedy impresarios. Next Thursday, Gadlin brings Chicago’s craziest live game show back to Wilmette. Contestants fill their cheeks with water as comedians engage in outrageous shtick to make them laugh, spit the water and lose. Gadlin achieved a long-held dream this past September when the “Don’t Spit the Water” television pilot aired on WCIU.

Gadlin is also the creator of “Impress These Apes”, a comedian talent competition, “The Nairobi Project”, a play returning for its three-quel this spring penned as always by a Kenyan e-mail spammer, and most recently, for two new ventures, “I Want to Write a Song for You” and “Two Film T-Shirts.” (“The only shirt that lets you show your appreciation for two films, not just one!”)

When it comes to show business, some are better at the “show”, some better at the “business”. TribLocal spoke with Gadlin to learn what it takes to succeed at both.

Q: What was it like to film “Don’t Spit the Water” for television?

A: It was a blast. It had been so long in the making for so many people.

Q: Did it feel like a dream come true?

A: Not so much as we were taping because it was a really long and slow day, but definitely when it aired a couple of months later. It was very surreal to watch.

Q: Will it be back on the air?

A: I hope so. We’ve talked about doing more and I’ve put together some budgets to show what that would cost. Right now, it’s not on the top of anybody’s to-do list. But I’m giving it a little time before I get too pushy about it.

What always happens with me is I’ll let something sit, then something will trigger in me and I’ll get really persistent and try to make something happen. It’s definitely an experience I want to repeat, so hopefully in 2012 we’ll start talking about doing more.

Q: What sort of challenges should contestants expect when “Don’t Spit the Water” returns to Wilmette?

A: We’re bringing in new comics and people who were a part of the show a long time ago and prepping for the possibility that we might get to do a bunch more of these. So there will be some interesting comics to go up against.

Q: How can audience members improve the odds of becoming a contestant?

A: We walk around before the show and sign people up. Some people take coaxing to put their name on the list and those are people we generally won’t bring on stage, but we fast-track the people who seem really enthusiastic. We want people who want to be up there and who look like they’re having fun.

Q: What’s the craziest thing a comedian has done to defeat a contestant?

A: When Ken Barnard did the show, I would always tell the contestants, “you have a safe word and that’s spitting the water” because I was scared of what he would do to get them to spit the water. He’d climb all over people. I would get really nervous any time I’d call him up because I was afraid of a lawsuit.

Q: How did you think of “Two Film T-Shirts”?

A: I thought it was a really dumb idea and those are the ones I like to follow through on. I decided the timing was right to put it together, so I talked to [filmmaker] Steve Delahoyde and he agreed to help out with the commercial. Everything kind of clicked.

It was an interesting experience because I had to learn about drop shipment and how to work with t-shirt providers. It hasn’t been very successful at all, but that’s been kind of the fun of it, too.

Q: A lot of people have ideas and dreams, but don’t take them any further. What advice do you have for figuring out those next steps?

A: Years ago, I was frustrated that I had all these ideas and never did anything about it. Not just me, but the people around me. The improv community was all about thinking up stuff, but your shows were always show-up-ten-minutes-before-and-make-stuff-up-onstage as you go along.

So I started with this project called “Silly Faces” thinking, if I’m going to think of something dumb, I’m just going to have to follow through with it and learn what I’m doing. I’ve had a lot more things flop than work. But it’s been fun and eventually, you look back and you’ve done all these crazy things and that’s kind of cool.

I’d say just get yourself underwater on it. Make it so you have to do something. If it’s a good idea, things will click into place. And also, for me, it’s been really easy because I’ve worked with a lot of great people who have skills that I don’t have.

Q: So you have to figure out who your team could be.

A: Yes. And you make your network as you do your stuff and find like-minded people. That’s the first step in making any of these things work.

Q: Which movies are on your “Two Film T-Shirt”?

A: Mine is “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” and “The Big Lebowski.” If it were a three film t-shirt, I’d probably throw “Waiting For Guffman” on there, but no one’s invented that yet.

Q: Has anyone ordered an unexpected combination like, “The Little Mermaid” and “The Exorcist”?

A: Yeah, that’s been kind of the game of it, too, people coming up with weird combos. Here’s one: “Troll 2” and “Showgirls”.

Q: When did you tape “Shark Tank”?

A: Two days after the “Don’t Spit the Water” pilot aired, I flew out to L.A. for a week. It was a whirlwind week because the pilot aired, we were working on “Apes” at the time, too, and then two days later, I’m out there.

Q: Wow. Do you ever take any down time or vacation?

A: Actually, that was my down time. I got out there and I didn’t have a wife and kids to worry about, so it was more vacation than work. I don’t know if I’ll ever have an experience like that again where somebody’s taking care of my food and housing and I don’t have to take care of anyone or put anyone to bed.

Q: I read that out of nine thousand applicants, only one hundred were chosen for the show. What is the secret to making it through?

A: I’m not sure. I’d sent them literally a two-sentence e-mail saying, “Hey, I draw these stick figure cats. Let me at ‘em.” I didn’t expect any response to it, but about a week later, they called me right before I was about to go on for an “Apes” show. They had me make a video and send it to them. I threw that together pretty quickly and then it was a month or two until I heard anything else. My assumption was, okay, this isn’t going to happen.

Then suddenly, these two producers were on the phone with me twice a week working through what the pitch was going to be. They kept telling me every step of the way, “Look, you could never hear from us again”. Then a week before the shoot, they sent me plane tickets. Then you get there and they tell you, “By the way, you might not even get to tape”. And then you tape and they tell you, “By the way, you might not ever get to air”. And then a couple of Fridays ago, they called me and said, “You have an air date and here it is”.

Q: What were your impressions of the “Shark” panel?

A: While you’re backstage you see them coming in. You’re waiting to do hair and make-up and they’re kind of walking around, so you try to avoid eye contact. But they were very friendly. I didn’t have much interaction with them other than the pitching. Then it gets combative, but that’s their job. They had me singing and dancing. It was crazy. I walked out of it thinking they were pretty cool and nice.

Q: What are the contestants doing right before they go on – are you talking with each other?

A: No, it’s very closed. You meet a few of them in the hotel, but they keep everybody separate and warn you not to talk about much. When you’re waiting to go on you’re in this tiny room that’s very dark and cold. You know other people are giving their pitches that day, but you can’t see them. Then as soon as you’re done, they hustle you out of there into this second hotel so that you’re not talking to people who haven’t gone yet. There’s really no interaction other than casual hellos between the contestants.

Q: What are you doing to prepare for after the show airs?

A: I’ve got extra server space ready to handle the traffic if it comes and I’m taking the week off from work after it airs. If it’s vacation, that’s great, but I’m taking it just in case I’ve got a thousand cats to draw. In all likelihood, it will fizzle pretty quickly and maybe I’ll see a handful of new orders. But I also have read stories of people who have two thousand orders of their product while their episode is airing. So I have to brace myself for that possibility. But I don’t want to seem too foolish about it and assume that’s going to happen.

Q: Any time management tips for juggling so many projects? Do you ever procrastinate?

A: Oh, yeah.

Q: How do you do so much?

A: I think there’s more time in a day than people realize and a lot of things that seem daunting, especially in terms of these projects I do, don’t take as long as they might seem. I’ve been practicing a lot of this stuff for a long time. So to turn around a web site to sell some ridiculous product isn’t like a month-long project. I can sit down and in six hours on a Saturday have something up and running. So it’s just kind of go with your strengths and stuff won’t take too long. And again, don’t do things by yourself.

Like for “Two Film T-Shirts”, I did a lot of the set-up and writing ahead of time and then when it came down to shooting and editing the commercial, that’s pretty much someone else doing all of that. The more projects I take on, the easier it gets to execute them. It’s pretty much a matter of practice.

Q: What can we expect next?

A: A whole bunch of crazy things. Once this thing airs at the end of January, there will be very little coming out from Blewt! [Gadlin’s production company] for a while as I deal with the aftermath or lack of it. Then we’ve got “The Nairobi Project” again and we’ve got “Apes” again. There are another couple of web sites coming out, too, with some goofy things. Or maybe there aren’t. There are little projects I’m trying that may or may not go anywhere.

So hopefully, in 2012 we get to revisit “Don’t Spit” and getting it on TV. Or again, we might not. We might not have any success there, either. I think 2012 will be about trying to close the deal on a lot of this stuff and doing some cool things. But we’ll see. I’m as curious as you are.

“Don’t Spit The Water” returns to Wilmette at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 19th at the Wilmette Theatre,1122 Central Ave. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. For more information or for tickets, call 847-251-7424 or go to http://www.wilmettetheatre.com/events/.

I don’t have a good memory for years. I remember 2010 as being a bit of a downer. Hope for any success moving Don’t Spit the Water! to television had been fizzling out fast. Then I hit my lowest point at the top of November, when Paul Luikart and I took 2nd place in the Andy Kaufman Awards. We had just given what I think was our best performance ever… and came so close to the prize… so when we walked away with 2nd, I was just about ready to throw in the towel.

I had peaked! It was over! The universe had given me a pat on the back and a 2nd place certificate, and said, “now get back to work.”

And then, as 2010 was coming to a close, Groupon ran a deal for my silly cat drawing project, and the world opened up again. Suddenly, over the course of a week, I was in the Huffington Post, Chicago Public Radio, all sorts of blogs and podcasts, and had appearances on WGN Radio and NBC News. That boost gave me the life and drive to turn 2011 into one of the best years of my life, and as it comes to a close, 2012 is looking mighty fine.

In 2011, I decided to take the fate of Don’t Spit the Water! into my own hands. Since its exciting peak in 2008, where we performed for Comedy Central and got to pitch the show out in LA, I had been leaning on other people to make something out of this show. We had an option deal with Syd Vinnedge productions for a while. Then with some guy named Jeff. Then with a guy in New Zealand. And as that dried up, I came to a realization that I come to often:

Nobody gives a shit about your shit but you.

Maybe that’s something I made up. Or maybe that’s something Don Hall told me one time. Either way, it’s a far more optimistic maxim than it sounds. And it gave me the energy and impetus to look at things differently. I schemed. I cooked up a plan. And just days before my 35th birthday, I put it into action.

I stayed late and hung around my boss’s door on a Friday, and luckily caught him as he walked from one office to another. In one of my more gutsy moments, I asked him to make me a deal. I asked him if he would guarantee me that if I raised enough money to finance my own pilot shoot, that he would give it at least one airing on one of Weigel’s stations. I caught him on a good day. He said yes – and with that guarantee, the Don’t Spit the Water! Kickstarter project was launched. 101 backers later, we raised the money we needed… and on September 3rd, at midnight, on WCIU, The U, Don’t Spit the Water! had its television debut.

It was a fine, fine moment, watching that show on television surrounded by people who’ve contributed to its success. The whole experience was great – from the months of preparation, to the day long shoot, to the actual airing… that was my 2011, right there.

It’s almost a shame that an experience that was years in the making would be so quickly overshadowed. DSTW aired on a Saturday. Two days later I was on a plane to Los Angeles for what would be one of the coolest experiences of my life…

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Photo by Johnny Knight

‘Don’t Spit the Water’ crew hopes to hook viewers with wacky show

9/2/11, Chicago Sun-Times, by Mike Thomas

Read this on SunTimes.com.

If you tune in to WCIU-Channel 26 Saturday night at midnight, don’t expect to see “Cheaters” host Joey Greco moderate a parking lot spat between a furious wife and her philandering husband.

That precious parcel of broadcast real estate belongs — for one evening only, as of now — to a wacky comedy game show called “Don’t Spit the Water!” The greatly condensed version of a live 90-minute yuks-and-talent extravaganza that ran weekly at Chicago’s Playground Theater between 2004 and 2008, “DSTW” is the brainchild of Chicago comedy fixture and Blewt! Productions proprietor Steve Gadlin.

Its premise: contestants attempt to hold water in their mouths while being comically accosted; points are awarded at the rate of one per second of retention. Toward the end there’s a “speed round” in which two contestants face off.

By day a web guru for WCIU owner Weigel Broadcasting, Gadlin tried to shop his unabashedly off-kilter invention to high-profile networks such as Comedy Central and MTV, but to no avail. After three years of near and not-so-near misses, he and his cohorts decided to take matters into their own hands. More than $6,000 in production funding was raised via an online kickstarter.com campaign, and airtime came courtesy of Weigel’s executive vice president (and Gadlin’s boss) Neal Sabin.

“I watched it, I laughed a couple times and I said, ‘Why not?’ It’s worth a shot,” says Sabin, who colors himself “pretty impressed” with the final product. He selected the midnight time slot because that’s when “Saturday Night Live” ends and there are plenty of wide-awake viewers (in a comedy state of mind, no less) flipping around for other fare.

“There’s a seed of something very interesting there, and it’s worth exploring.”

(“Cheaters,” in case you’re wondering, will air immediately after at 12:30.)

Depending on cost, Sabin says, more episodes might get made. Gadlin would love to tape the program on a regular basis locally “for a very long time” in the vein of WGN-Channel 9’s venerable “The Bozo Show,” but for adults.

“I think Chicago could use a show that’s kind of a rite of passage for people in their 20s and 30s to get tickets and go see Chicago’s crazy live game show,” Gadlin says. “I’m very passionate about Chicago’s comedy community. It’s a group that is continually being siphoned to one coast or the other to do bigger and better things. So I loved the opportunity, when we were doing this as a stage show, to showcase these people who were doing work that I saw as so innovative and so smart, and I want to give that community a television venue, some exposure on-air.”

As the Blewt! website proudly notes, past “DSTW” cast members include accomplished comedians T.J. Miller (“Cloverfield”), Nick Vatterott, Jared Logan and Robert Buscemi.

“I want it to be the hipster date of the century, to be a member of our studio audience,” Gadlin says. The show could be valuable — to WCIU or another outlet — from a business standpoint, too, he notes. “I don’t see this as just a bunch of goofballs screaming for attention.”

Neither does Al Parinello. A New York-based entrepreneur, Parinello has done business with big-name comedy types (Steve Allen, Andy Kaufman) during his long career in the electronic media and broadcast field. He also co-helms the Andy Kaufman Comedy Award talent competition, which annually receives hundreds of taped submissions. Along with his “DSTW” co-host and “Sasha and the Noob” comedy duo partner, Paul Luikart, Gadlin took second place last year.

“Their brand of comedy is so absurd that you can easily dismiss it as being sophomoric and neophyte-ish, but I look at it and I see absolute genius, which absolutely comes through all the time,” says Parinello, who donated $1,000 to the kickstarter.com campaign — the largest single donation of 101 total. “There’s nothing funnier than a comic who gets the balance right about making a point with the audience and making fun of themselves, and they do it brilliantly.”

Despite the program’s less-than-splashy late-night debut on a local station in the country’s No. 3 television market, Parinello sees considerable potential.

“How many comics are sitting around who have great talent and who don’t have a show on at midnight on a television station?” he says. (The obvious answer: a lot.) “So I think their chances are enhanced greatly. They’re doing everything in their power. One of the things I love about those guys is that they don’t sit back and wait for it to happen. They are aggressively on the front lines, being as creative and innovative as I’ve ever seen.”

But even if his brainchild never airs again, Gadlin says, “That’s fine. It was a very fun, long, eight-year journey.”

The whole cast!

On Tuesday, we shot a pilot episode of Don’t Spit the Water! The actual taping was just one small part of a day that started at 6am and ended at midnight. And that day was just one small part of a project that began months before, the day before my 35th birthday. And that project was just one small part of the legacy of a show I’ve been performing with friends since October, 2004. And that show was just one small part of my quest for attention through absurdity that began when I was about 1-second old. So as you can see, I felt there was quite a bit at stake.

The shoot day went as well as I think it could have. I had put together about 7 different documents for the day – the shoot schedule, the running order, a production assistant agenda, the comic/contestant match-ups, promo scripts, etc. I was more organized for this day than I’ve been for anything in my whole life. A lot of people had donated money to make this all happen, and a cast and crew of 25 people would be working on this shoot all day. And about 100 people would be showing up to watch it happen. I didn’t want anyone to feel that their time, money, or energy was poorly spent.

I’ll go ahead and call it a success. It was a delightful, albeit exhausting, day. As Paul and I drove home from Weigel Broadcasting at 11pm, where we had just reassembled a bunch of heavy curtains, he likened the show to a clutch sports performance. In a high pressure situation, the whole team came through in a big, big way. All of the comics, Erica, Ken, and Robert, put on awesome performances. Fuzzy, Bryan, and Paul were spot on. Greg was aces on sound, and the Stock Yard Films crew made us all feel like rock stars. Despite a few last minute format tweaks, everything went so well. I felt the same way after our performance in LA on the Comedy Central stage. If this does not lead to bigger things, it is not because we phoned anything in, or for lack of trying. To borrow another sports analogy, everybody “kicked some major ass” (a popular Karate phrase).

Twice during the day, two different people looked at me and said, “you know, this isn’t my first rodeo.” For a lot of us, it was. I’m glad my first rodeo was in such good company.

So how does it look? I have no idea. It felt fantastic for a live show. The audience seemed to enjoy themselves, and there was much laughing and screaming. We had some great spits. But I have no idea how that will translate to television. The live audience and the TV audience want completely different things. Here’s hoping we can deliver both in one fell swoop.

We should have a peek at the final edit in a couple of weeks, and then hopefully soon after that we’ll have our air date. And after that? Well hopefully it spawns something new. New chapters are always nice.

Game show dreams really do come true: Talking with Steve Gadlin

4/29/11, TribLocal, by Teme Ring

Read this on TribLocal.com.

Fellow game show addicts! Have you dreamed of hearing your name proceeded by, “Come on down!” or of shouting, “No deal!” at Howie Mandel? The Wilmette Theatre and Blewt! Productions have good news for you. On May 7th, Chicago’s crazy live game show, “Don’t Spit The Water!” (“DSTW”) returns to the ‘Mette by popular demand. DSTW features Chicago’s top comedians doing their best to make contestants laugh and spew cheekfuls of water. Anything can happen and it usually does.

But wait, there’s more!

On June 14, DSTW becomes a television show. It is believed to be the first to use a social media fundraising site, in this case, www.kickstarter.com, to raise production costs and to earn a coveted on-air slot. With the funds secured, Weigel Broadcasting (WCIU, Me-TV) has promised Blewt! president Steve Gadlin an airing for DSTW this summer.

It has been a good year for Gadlin. In addition to the long-running DSTW and numerous other successful productions, Time Out Chicago named him a “Chicago Cultural Curator” alongside Kelly Leonard (Second City), Charna Halpern (iO) and underground comedy icons Dan Telfer and Mark Geary.

TribLocal spoke with Gadlin about preparing DSTW for television and how Wilmette residents can play a role.

Q: How are you getting DSTW television-ready?

A: As a game show, it should translate pretty well. But we have to work with the pacing and timing so it fits in a twenty-three minute format with natural breaks for commercials. We’re trying to make sure we don’t cut out too much. We want to keep the heart of the show intact.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge?

A: The biggest challenge always is getting people to pay attention. It’s been all about persistence and pushing and pushing and pushing, even when we weren’t getting any response. Now that we have this chance, our biggest problems are behind us. Tweaking the format around is tricky, but it’s a great problem to have.

Q: Please tell us about the online contestant search for the television show.

A: We’re building cool things like where you can audition to be a contestant on our web site. Go to www.dontspitthewater.com, click the “contestant” button and make a video right there with the webcam. Tell us a joke.

Q: Any insider tips about what you’re looking for in a contestant?

A: Yes, definitely. We want people who enjoy laughing, who can make fun of themselves and have a good time.

Q: Are you looking for any particular kind of joke?

A: We’re not sure what we’re looking for, to be honest. We’re curious to see what happens. But I think it’s a cool opportunity. There are no game shows shot in the city of Chicago. Now there’s one and you can be a contestant. When I was a kid, it was always depressing to hear at the end of the game shows, “if you’re going to be in the Burbank area …” or “if you’ll be in Los Angeles …”

Q: When is the deadline?

A: We’ll be looking at auditions until June 1st. Then we’ll get in touch with people and select our contestants.

Q: If you could have anyone as a contestant, who would it be?

A: It would be neat to have Andy Kaufman as a contestant. It would be neat to have Steve Martin as a contestant. Okay, the best would be Paul Reubens. If we could get Pee-Wee Herman as a contestant on this show, that would be fulfilling several childhood fantasies.

Q: You’ve done a lot of groundbreaking things. How does it feel to be named a curator of Chicago culture and to be making television history?

A: This has been a really good year. I turned thirty-five in February and felt a new resolve to get a lot done. So it’s been very satisfying to see things click into place. That nod on Time Out was pretty humbling.

Q: Will Wilmette be one of the show’s last stops before television?

A: It’s going to be our last show before the pilot.

Q: So the Wilmette audience is getting a sneak preview?

A: You could say that. Erica (Reid), who has been with the show from the very first, is writing some new bits. Ken Barnard, one of the most innovative comics in Chicago, is trying out a new character. We’re not sure what he’s going to do. He’ll go to great lengths to get people to spit the water and demean himself in any way possible to get people to laugh. There’s nothing he won’t do. I’m sure it’s going to be great.

Q: It sounds like the contestants are in for a challenge.

A: Yes.

Q: Anything else you would like the Wilmette audience to know?

A: It’s exciting to go back to Wilmette. It’s a fun place to perform. It’s been great every time and Chad and Jenny treat us so well when we get there. It’s a very hospitable place. We love it.

Q: Everything you do has to require a lot of energy. I have to ask, what do you eat for breakfast?

A: Breakfast is usually a can of Coke. Occasionally, a bagel, too.

Don’t Spit The Water is at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 7th at the Wilmette Theatre,1122 Central Ave. Tickets are $12 in advance, $ 15 at the door. For more information or for tickets, call 847-251-7424 or visit http://www.wilmettetheatre.com/events/

Niles North Grad’s TV Show Will Air After Raising $6K On Kickstarter.com

4/25/11, SkokieNet

Read this on SkokieNet.Org.

How Steve Gadlin earned the money to make a TV pilot could provoke a spit-take.

This 1994 Niles North grad and Weigel Broadcasting (WCIU, ME-TV) web development manager raised more than $6,000 at www.kickstarter.com to turn his smash hit, live comedy game show, “Don’t Spit The Water” into a television pilot.

And because his bosses had so much faith in him, they promised Gadlin that they would broadcast the show if he successfully raised the funds. Now “Don’t Spit The Water” will become the first television show to have used the project-funding website.

But Gadlin is already proven he can produce comedy. His shows include:

• “Impress These Apes,” a talent show for comedians;
• “Talkin’ Funny,” a CAN-TV talk show featuring wacky live callers (“it’s like reverse prank calling”), and
• “The Nairobi Project,” launched when Gadlin commissioned a stage play from a Kenyan e-mail spammer and ended up with a comedy soap opera drama about the Jewish holiday Tu B’Shvat (currently at the Annoyance Theater).

“Don’t Spit The Water” is hosted by Sasha and the Noob. (Gadlin is Sasha. Comedian Paul Luikart is the long-suffering Noob.)

Contestants fill their cheeks with water while some of Chicago’s comedic best try to make them spew. Sasha and the Noob became national sensations when they took second place in the prestigious Andy Kaufman Awards in 2010.

Don’t Spit The Water! coming to a TV near you
Funny guys land the money for pilot

3/28/11, The Onion AV Club, by Sophia Ahn

Click to read this on AVClub.com.

Photo by Johnny Knight

It was just weeks ago that The A.V. Club was interviewing Don’t Spit The Water’s founder Steve Gadlin about his dream of getting his live stage show on TV. Since then, in true American dream fashion, Gadlin raised enough money through Kickstarter to kick-start his pilot episode for the game show/stage show hybrid Don’t Spit The Water! The pilot is scheduled to shoot this summer at ComedySportz Theatre, a mere five-minute walk from the late-night stage show’s original stomping ground, The Playground Theater. It will feature some familiar faces in the eccentric world of Chicago stand-up comedy, such as Robert Buscemi, Ken Barnard, and the show’s hosts, Sasha And The Noob. The pilot will also feature all manners of water spitting, drool, and slobbering, as evidenced by the show’s title. If you’re interested in being a participant, you can swing by the show’s website to give a virtual audition.

So now I’m a TV producer.  Even if only for one episode of late night programming, I am, technically, a TV producer.  And so now I go about the task of taking a show I’ve produced for stage and making it entertaining and cohesive in a 26-minute chunk.

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