HappyFunTime's Blog

AWESOME AMERICA!

Curious things are happening in the wonderland just south of the Commonwealth of Canada. Mysterious cultural phenomena are gurgling a wee bit north of the sovereign nation of Mexico. This little-known and oft-neglected republic is gurgling with cultural ether.

   Come with us to a magical motherland…a realm known to many as the United States of America. This is a kingdom filled with big appetites, big hair, and big hearts. It’s all here in AWESOME AMERICA!

   Nationally touring improv and sketch comedy troupe HappyFunTime has been on the road for over half a decade, criss-crossing the country performing at all types of venues for all sorts of folks. They’ve been nearly everywhere in the contiguous forty-eight. HFT has driven on American roads, eaten American food, and consumed American lattes. They’ve even transferred jpegs from American Blackberries to American iPods using good old-fashioned American Bluetooth. And now HappyFunTime has finally vacuum-sealed their observations of the U. S. of A. and deep-fried it into a new sketch show that’ll make you realize that America isn’t just great…it’s AWESOME!

...Come see HappyFunTime’s AWESOME AMERICA!

Where: Loring Playhouse (map)
Address: 1633 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55403
When: Fridays and Saturdays, March 10-11, 17-18, 24-25 @ 10 pm.
Admission $10 ($2 off with student ID, or Fringe Festival button)

Reservations: 612.486.5757 or info@happyfuntime.com

P.S.
Check out the show The Cubicle, while you're at it. They go on right before us...and if you see their show, you get into our show for a measely 5 bucks! They're show is amazing. Check out their website for info on their show and other shows in our little "mini-fringe."

What's the deal with HFT these days?

Hey HFT Nation...

This is Wes, here. We’ve been getting a lot of emails lately saying things like,

“Yo, HappyFunTime, why is your website devoid of information about shows and/or blog materials”

...and, “Dearest HFT...Where are you? Are you trapped in a well?”

...and, “Hey, HaFuTi, I haven’t seen you guys around lately. Are you retiring? If so, can you at least come back one more time and clean up the mess you left in our youth room?”

...and, “Dear Sir/Madam, Congratulations! You have been selected for an exclusive refinancing opportunity!...”

So we’ve decided to answer the real question that is at the root of all of these very personal emails. The question, of course, is thusly summarized: “Dearest, most beloved HappyFunTime, I’ve been weeping in my mom’s basement for nary a month because I hath caught wind of the most wicked of rumors. Please, I must know...Is HappyFunTime retiring? I’ll love you either way. I just need to know the truth. Yours truly, Kofi A. Annan.”

Well, Mr. Annan,...and everyone, really.... We definitely are slowing things down on the HFT traveling-around-doing-the-monkey-show front. That part of the rumor is true. We're not really "retiring" as much as "morphing"... or "scaling back"... or "manipulating the space/time continuum."

There are a lot of good reasons for this:

Some of the personal reasons:

1.) Mike just got married! Yep. Our little Mikey is all growed up. He was wed to the lovely Sarah on December 30th...I’m guessing for tax reasons.

2.) Nate is getting married very soon! Yep. Our little Natey is going to be all growed up in a couple of months! Nate is marrying the lovely Ericka. (Editors Note: We do not subscribe to the notion that only married people are grown up. In fact, we don’t subscribe to any notions. We do, however, subscribe to a handful of podcasts)

3.) Nica and I are already married! Yep. I’m still not growed up. And Nica is lovelier than ever. But, wait, there's more... We recently found out that we're going to have a baby next year! In fact, we heard the little nipper’s heart beat for the first time a week ago. Wow. That was incredible. God is good. And smart. And extremely creative. And very, very, very good.

4.) Hiro has found a new styling gel that really keeps it’s hold without getting in the way of his busy lifestyle! Yep. Hiro is all growed up and lovely. Creamed Corn! Editor’s Note: "Creamed Corn!" is the name brand of Hiro’s new-favorite hair product, not a bad translation of a Japanese expression.)

Some of the professional reasons:

1.) HappyFunTime is writing and performing a sketch comedy show! (That's right, it's not improv but written material!) The sketch show will be Friday and Saturday nights in March at the uber-chic Loring Playhouse. The show is part of a mini-faith-based-fringe-festival-in-the-spring type thing. In fact, the Minnesota Fringe Festival is totally getting behind it, supporting it and promoting it. We’re very excited. We are also going to be doing a sketch show at LiFest this year, too. But more about that later.

Our show is called, “Awesome America!” It’s HappyFunTime’s look at every day life in this weird western wonderland just due south of the Commonwealth of Canada. If you’re in Minneapolis, check it out! More info will be available on this very blog soon...very soon.

2.) Nica and I are doing some recurring character work as...I hesitate to even put this in writing...Martin and Katherine Luther. ...But it’s funny, though...and serious...and totally not weird at all...except weird in a good way. It’s for Augsburg Fortress’s Lutheran Handbook curriculum for adults. Yes, adults.

You can check out the clips here.

3.) HappyFunTime is writing a mountain of sketches for Augsburg Fortress Publishing. Like, over a hundred. We’ve lost count at this point. We like writing them because it helps us stay home. And it pays the bills. And it’s fun. And the courts are counting it as part of our “Community Service.”

4.) Mike is working at Northwestern College in their theatre department. He really digs it. I think he's in charge or something.

5.) Nate is writing curriculum for a character-building baseball program called “True Sports.” True Sports is now officially a part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Nate and his dad are taking this regionally successful faith-based baseball league nationwide. Very cool.

6.) Nica is doing some design work, working in the Northwestern College stagecraft arena, and consuming vitamins and nutrients...mostly in the form of “food”... in attempt to make our baby bigger. Currently, the child is extremely small...about the size of a cocktail shrimp...but a lot cuter. And smarter. And artistic. And I'm not allergic to him/her. This is a great kid, here, people.

7.) I’m working with Life! Promotions, creating a new division of their ministry called “Life! Entertainment.” This is a monumental task, of course, but my three main projects, as of now, are...

A. ...I wrote a screenplay for Jenkins Entertainment. The screenplay is a full-length feature, based on a short story written by Jerry Jenkins and made into a short film by Dallas Jenkins. It looks pretty definite that it will start shooting in the next month or two. This is an amazing feat. It was an honor to be able to do this for Jenkins Entertainment. And it was a good way to kick off Life! Entertainment.

B. ...I’m currently writing a pilot for a TV show. The show is about a suburban church making the switch from Old School to New School. It’s got great potential, I think, because I’m writing it with a guy that doesn’t really know "The Church World" at all. We compliment each other well and bring both “sides” to the script. Rich Kronfeld, the guy I’m writing with, has done a TON of things but his most recent success was the show “Let’s Bowl.” It aired in Minneapolis for a few years, then got picked up by Comedy Central for two seasons. Anyway, this show could be really great. We want it to be an honest look at what goes on at church...not cheesy "churchy" platitudes...but not the cynical, mainstream, network TV, “all Christians are big fakes and/or evil and/or stupid." (R.I.P., B.O.D)

I’ll keep you posted on this one.

C. ...I’m creating/hosting an all-comedy stage at the Christian music festival Lifest. Lifest is a huge festival in Osh Kosh, WI. We’ve already booked all of the comedy acts that will appear on the stage ... And the stage, called “The HappyFunTime Lounge,” will be hosted by HFT, naturally. Plus, we’ll do our new sketch show and some good old-fashioned improv. Should be a hoot.

D. ...I’ll be starting up a podcasting show at some point in the future. After the other projects get off the ground, this will become a bigger priority. But the potential for podcasting, especially video podcasting, is enormous.

...And the final Professional Reason HappyFunTime is “scaling back”:

We were never really that professional anyway.

In conclusion...HFT will still be doing shows...just not as many as we’re all used to. We are, however, very confident that God is leading us in our new ventures. And we are confident that He is leading you in your ventures, as well. So let’s keep in touch. And, if you’d like to have us out, feel free to ask us if we’re up for an old-fashioned HappyFunTime show. We’re still going to be doing a handful of shows every month...no matter what our website calendar says!

So...Thanks for your time. Now get off the computer for a while. You’ve been reading this for way too long.

God’s Peace.
Wes.
HFT.

P.S.
Check out our new shirts! They are probably the awesomest garments that, like, ever have existed, or whatever.

But do you have "The Cool/Dork Theorem of Hipness?"

Yes, we have that shirt.

How's about HappyFunTime written in Japanese?

Yep. Got it.

A bunny floating in a blue sky, shooting lasers out of it’s eyes?

Don’t insult me. Of course we have that.