One year ago this week, The Chris Gethard Show made the transition from being a monthly stage show at the UCB Theater to a weekly live broadcast on Manhattan’s public access cable system and the internet. It was a rocky switch – the fan base of the stage show didn’t come with us, the bits we were used to didn’t play in the new medium, and we were definitely in over our heads right from the start.
BUT – it’s one year later and I am proud to say that I wouldn’t trade the last year of my life for the world. We – and by we I mean myself, all the comedians on the show, the show’s brain trust of organizers, our crew, our studio audience, our callers, our guests, and our fans – have come together and built something pretty odd and unique. We haven’t taken over the world just yet. We haven’t put a huge dent in the side of the traditional entertainment industry. But we have had so much fun, and seen so much creativity unfold during our one hour a week together. We’ve had good bits and bad bits, wonderful films, unexpected animation, beautiful poems, sandwiches made with passion, mindblowing performances from bands, votes of confidence from people we respect, a presidential run, warped animations, and so much more.
On the occasion of our one year anniversary week, I want to thank EVERYONE who has been a part of this show for making this all happen. From me and JD and Noah and Dru sitting in diners outlining episodes to nervous kids who watch the show but are too scared to call in, THANK YOU. A million times over, THANK YOU. I hope this strange experiment we do together lasts forever – but even if it doesn’t, I think we would all agree that we were part of something weird.
I have two requests for our one year anniversary show -
1) If you watch the show and have been nervous about calling in, make this the week that you call in. 212-757-1393. This show revolves around a community of participants and I would love for you to be a part of it.
2) It would be amazing to me if this show was the one that had our most live viewers ever. If you are a supporter of the show, why not make this the week that you convince a buddy or two to check it out live? It feels like our first year celebration is a good occasion to try to trigger some momentum that way.
As for the show itself, we will have two major things happening in the studio -
THE DOLCHNAKOV BRIGADE shall return. Our palevish driven friends will grace us with their presence once again. I discovered the Dolchnakov Brigade by googling the phrase “the weirdest band in the world”. I booked them as soon as I saw them. We’ve gone from that distant relationship to recognizing each other as kindred spirits, then becoming frequent co-collaborators, and most importantly friends. I am so happy they are returning for this show.
THE HUMAN CRANE IS BACK! Viewers of the show may or may not know that the worst bit we’ve ever done – BY FAR – was called the Human Crane. It was a poorly conceived and even more poorly executed idea where I would be hung upside down and would grab prizes with my mouth, a la an arcade claw game. Al that really happened was that I got dropped on my head about six times on a concrete floor.
Well WE ARE GETTING THAT SHIT BACK. I am intent on doing the Human Crane again and getting it right, erasing one of our show’s lowest moments and replacing it with a positive and more optimistic version of that memory. They say it can’t be done! They say there’s no way to do the Human Crane in a way that will be exciting.
Well I’m going to Home Depot later today and I plan on spending as much as it takes to construct some sort of contraption that will allow this thing to happen the RIGHT WAY. I don’t know what it will involve, but probably some combination of wheels, piping, and chains.
It’s all about REDEMPTION this week when it comes to the Human Crane. To quote Bananaman, “Let’s do this!”
If you are in the New York area and want to be in the studio audience for this show, I’d LOVE to have you there. I think it is going to be such a fun, positive night. Email zerolaughs@gmail.com for tickets.
It’s been a great year.
