Mini-series of #Comments premieres Saturday 6/13!
In exchange for this social comment-ary “entertainment,” if you can afford it we ask you give a $5-10 suggested donation to M4BL (The Movement for Black Lives). They will funnel the money where it’s needed most right now (their roster includes a number of great org recipients such as Black Lives Matter).
About the original #Comments (Mayogate)
Ever been frustrated by online comment sections? This short film is for you.
#Comments is a series of verbatim comments from online articles acted out as characters. The first in the series is a 35-minute film of musicians Eleni and Rob of the band Beloved Binge acting out comments from three articles on vegan mayo, two chronicling a lawsuit by corporate giant Unilever (Hellman’s) against tiny startup Hampton Creek (Just Mayo).
Eleni started the series to address the inhumanity of our online behavior in a humorous way, and named this new genre “sketch commenty.” She wondered:
By laughing at ourselves, can we change the conversation?
2016 Press
This 35-minute short is the first in the series, which premiered in Durham, NC on April 23, 2016. Some photos from the sold-out premiere, by Edward Wando:
Eleni was astounded by the positive reception (aka: laughing throughout).
This sketch commenty is the first in our #Comments series, where online comments are acted out verbatim as characters — here, acted comments are from three articles about vegan mayo.
- Act I expresses a range of emotion about Veganaise.
- Acts II and III closely follow a lawsuit against Just Mayo by Hellman’s.
Actors: Rob Beloved and Eleni Binge
A new commenty (#Comments: Fake Control — exploring our dialogue on what’s real and what’s fake — and how we control our diets, borders, and guns) is forthcoming.
We’re happy to release #Comments: MayoGate now for your viewing needs!
#Comments #1 premiered across the country in the summer of 2016. The event is a film/theater/music hybrid — each show included local bands.
You Big Talker #Comments Tour Dates
Backstory
After a short article about some work Eleni was up to was published, she figured she’d better get started on her idea for #Comments.
It all began a year or two ago, when after a night out with friends she read some of the reader comments from an article about vegan mayo, and became disheartened.
Her only comfort was that people generally don’t speak to one another like this in person. Then it occurred to her: what if we bring those comments to life by acting them out as real characters? How ridiculous would that be?
Eleni (and her bandmate/husband Rob) got busy and recorded their “characters” (a few pictured above) from comments on three articles about vegan mayo with various locations, accents, wigs, and other flourishes.
Eleni edited the result into three acts: 35 minutes of silliness (and comedy?) that we hope you will also find entertaining.
Trailer:
Theme song
And we have our very own theme song, recorded by the excellent Michael Wright — music by Beloved Binge (Eleni and Rob): https://soundcloud.com/beloved-binge/comments-theme-song
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Subscribe to You Big Talker to be the first to know when/where the #Comments party will be.
Interested in hosting a screening? Contact me here.
