Posts Tagged ‘Roast’

Proving there’s no accounting for taste…

…the fine folks over at DVD Geeks actually liked the DVD of The Third Annual Shore Leave Comedy Roast for Charity: The Character Assassination of Robert Greenberger!

Go figure.

Their review starts about 13 minutes into the November 14, 2011, DVD Geeks podcast, which is available on their website as streaming audio, and also for download or streaming via iTunes.

If you’ve been on the fence about ordering your DVD of the show, I hope this will tip you over into the “buy” zone. If you’re still feeling undecided, remember you can watch free preview clips of the DVD on YouTube.

And in case you’ve forgotten: As soon as I recoup my costs on this project, I’ll be donating fifty percent of the proceeds from subsequent sales of the DVD to the American Red Cross. So give the gift of laughter this holiday season — and while you’re doing that, give someone a copy of this DVD, too.

Today’s shameless roast DVD plug

Fun fact about the new Bob Greenberger roast DVD: For a number of reasons that are explained in the producers’ commentary track, I decided to produce this show in classic-looking black-and-white, with color footage only for the opening and closing credits.

Has the experiment proved a success? Watch the teaser clips I’ve uploaded to YouTube and decide for yourself. Here’s the first one, featuring some of the opening remarks by roastmaster Alan “Sizzler” Kistler, the creator of host of Crazy Sexy Geeks: The Series.

To buy a copy of the DVD, go to my website: https://davidmack.pro/dvd/

The new roast DVDs are here!

Let the revels begin — I’ve just received the first batch of DVDs of The Third Annual Shore Leave Comedy Roast for Charity: The Character Assassination of Robert Greenberger! It sells for the eminently reasonable price of $10, plus $5 shipping and handling (for U.S. customers ONLY — for international orders, contact me via e-mail.)

Have a look at this spiffy packaging —

 

 

Need more? Here’s the text from the back cover of the DVD case:

A ROAST THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY

Editor, politician, and bestselling author Robert Greenberger — hailed by many as “the nicest guy in the business” — proves he gives as good as he gets when he serves as the target for 90 minutes of good-natured abuse by a panel of his peers, all to help raise money for the American Red Cross.

Taking aim at Bob’s foibles and failures are authors Michael Jan Friedman, Marco Palmieri, David Mack, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Peter David. Also catching Bob in their verbal crosshairs are his daughter, Kate Greenberger, and roastmaster Alan “Sizzler” Kistler, the creator and host of Crazy Sexy Geeks.

The result is a take-no-prisoners comedy crossfire!

More details are available on my website. Preview clips will be up soon on Facebook and YouTube!

Caption Contest for the new Roast DVD

In my copious spare time, I am working diligently to finish the DVD for The Shore Leave Roast of Robert Greenberger. The picture is locked, the sound mix is done, and the packaging is designed. Now we just need to cook up the bonus features.

At this year’s show, we presented Bob with a special gift: a caricature of himself as Han Solo being roasted on a spit by Ewoks, drawn by legendary comic-book illustrator Gordon Purcell and lettered by the inimitable John Workman. The caption was by none other than Peter David. This was the result:

This is where you fine folks come in. For one of the bonus features, I plan to present a slideshow of this piece of … “art” … with the rejected alternate captions that were proposed prior to the show — and a few new ones. If you can think up a funny caption for this image that we haven’t already thought up ourselves or received from someone else, and I choose your caption for use on the DVD, you’ll get a free copy of the DVD after it’s released.

The contest ends Monday, October 3, at 11:59pm ET.

If you’re already on the comp list, you’re welcome to submit captions, but it won’t get you extra DVDs.

Leave your captions in the comments, or on my Facebook profile or author page, and may the Farce be with you!

A peculiar notion…

Long story short: the camera that was set up at Bob Greenberger’s roast to record the reactions of the roasters during the show ended up yielding less than wonderful footage. There were two problems with it.

First, a pair of backstage lights were in the shot, and the camera’s iris shut down because of the bright light shining into the lens, turning the footage kind of magenta and murky.

Second, the camera got turned a few degrees somehow during the time between rehearsal and the show, and the lectern and guest of honor ended up intruding upon the left edge of the shot—causing the camera to lock its focus on them in the foreground instead of on the people in the background. So the focus is a bit … soft.

Tweaking the focus in post-production is not easy but can be done to a small degree. Color correcting the footage to match that of the other cameras, however, is going to be all but impossible.

I despaired of salvaging the footage … and then, earlier tonight, I had a moment of inspiration:

What if I turn all the roast footage black-and-white? No more color-timing mismatches, and it will look like one of those classic comedy films that used to be produced back in the ’60s or ’70s. I could even add some old-style film grain (not scratches or damage, just a bit of texture) in post-production.

Yes, I think this just might work….

Last chance for BOB Roast Schwag!

We’re less than two weeks away from The Third Annual Shore Leave Comedy Roast for Charity, an event held to raise money and recruit blood donors and volunteers for The American Red Cross.

This year’s event will be held Friday, July 8, from 7pm-9pm in the Valley Ballroom of the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn, in Hunt Valley, Md., and its guest of “honor” for the roast is beloved scribe, editor, and politician-turned-educator Robert Greenberger. Our roastmaster will be Alan “Sizzler” Kistler, and our dais consists of Michael Jan Friedman, Marco Palmieri, myself, Kate Greenberger, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, and special guest Peter David. There will also be a few special surprise guests!

If you’re among those who plan to attend the show, and you want to show your affection for Bob while also becoming eligible for some of the best reserved seats in the house, you should buy a BOB T-Shirt from the Shore Leave Roast Store on CafePress.com. These won’t be sold at the convention, so if you want to guarantee yourself good seats for the show, order now to allow time for production and shipping!

As with last year’s roast, I am inviting anyone interested in helping me pay for this absurdly (and increasingly) expensive event to make donations in exchange for “special thanks” or producer credits on the DVD of the show, as well as a free copy of the DVD, which will go on sale this fall (if the Fates be willing and the creek don’t rise).

My thanks to everyone who’s already bought merchandise or made donations. I’ll look forward to seeing you all on July 8!

Shore Leave 33 & The Roast

Shore Leave 33 is a mere two months away! First of all, I hope that any of you who live within travel distance of Baltimore who’ve been on the fence about attending the convention will choose to join us, as this year’s author/scientist guest list is truly impressive. To name just some of the scheduled attendees:

Rigel Ailur, Lorraine Anderson, Mike W. Barr, Christopher L. Bennett, Kirsten Beyer, Greg Cox, Ann C. Crispin, Peter A. David, Keith DeCandido, Kevin Dilmore, Michael Jan Friedman, Dave Galanter, David R. George III, Allyn Gibson, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, Kevin Lauderdale, William Leisner, David Mack, Marco Palmieri, Scott Pearson, Aaron Rosenberg, Lawrence M. Schoen, Paul Simpson, Amy Sisson, Dayton Ward, Howard Weinstein, and Richard C. White!

I’m also told there will be some actors at the con: Christopher Judge (Stargate SG-1), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica), Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13), John de Lancie (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Emilie Ullerup (Sanctuary), Gary Lockwood (Star Trek – TOS), Sally Kellerman (Star Trek – TOS), and Cliff Simon (Stargate SG-1).

Plus, the con will kick off Friday, July 8, at 7PM with this awesome event:

For those of you who plan to attend the roast, special premium seating in the front rows will be reserved for guests who come to the roast wearing one of our official BOB T-SHIRTS from our Shore Leave Roast store on Cafe Press.

If you’d like to get your name in the credits of, and get on the comp list for, a free DVD of the show, visit my website to learn EDIT: Link removed.

Here’s hoping to see many of you this July in Baltimore!