Plugs = Free Stuff? Hmmn...

So, a while back, I wrote a piece for the then-still-alive-and-kicking Jest Magazine, titled Highlights From the 1st Annual Softcore Porn Awards (and boy am I ever so glad that this hi-larious article lives on via the Internet, for my mom to see). All of the movie titles and names of stars were made up except one: Misty Mundae. Those of you who are connoisseurs of late-night programming on off-brand premium cable channels like Showtime and Cinemax should recognize her from a series of titles put out by ei Independent Cinema, home of the Shock-O-Rama and Seduction Cinema imprints.

My fondness for Ms. Mundae is based on her looking like an actual, honest to god human, rather than some sort of surgical experiment. Additionally, she can actually act, as witnessed by her appearance in the recent Showtime's Masters of Horror episode "Sick Girl," directed by Lucky McKee. So I tossed her into the fake article, as a quiet little shout-out.

Months later, the completely delightful Paige Kay Davis, V.P. of Publicity at ei, contacted me to get her hands on the piece (apparently they keep all the press clippings that mention their movies/ stars). I sent her one of the now-out-of-print and sure to be a collectors' item issues (have YOU collected them all?), and, in return, she was kind enough to mail me a few DVDs. So I am now the proud owner of Bite Me, Screaming Dead, and Spiderbabe. See what comedy writing can get you, kids? It's a gold mine, I tells ya!

I am the darling of the exploitation film world.

In other news, I'm moving to another neighborhood in Brooklyn at the end of this month. Please give me all your cardboard boxes.

Jest Onward

So, Jest Magazine is no more, at least as a print publication ("What? Didn't it just go national?" Yeah. Such is the tough world of publishing).

However, like a phoenix rising from the etc., Jest will live on. I don't want to spill the details yet, but we're talking all-new daily content, and probably a weekly column from yours truly. Watch this spot for more.

In the meantime, you can still find the last print issue of Jest out there. I've got less material in it than usual, but I'm still in there. On page 19 you can see another in my oh-so-popular (with me) feature "Ways to Make TV More Entertaining." Also, on page 26, you can see my contributions to the "Jest Writers' Summer Reading List."

And, in some sort of bitter symmetry, the last issue is also the first featuring a fan letter for me. I quote the letter, and our editor's response:

-Hi there,
I loved Dan McCoy's "Softcore Porn Awards"
in the May/June issue of Jest (I happen to be
a big fan of Misty Mundae). Will he be doing
more pieces for you guys in future issues?
Lucas A. Matt
Fort Wayne, IN

Hmmn. Hard to say, Luke. Writer/actor/
comedian/sketch player Dan McCoy is a
busy man and a much sought-after talent,
but he did want me to pass along the news
that he'll be appearing in a new Off-
Broadway musical with Mia Farro, Tia
Carrere, Rhea Pearlman, and Pia Zadora,
titled Mia, Tia, Rhea, Pia, and Dan.

Break a leg, D!
-Frank

As I have a good friend who hails from Fort Wayne, and a low sense of self-worth, my immediate thought was that this "fan letter" was my friend screwing with me. However, despite having two first names, Lucas A. Matt appears to be genuine. And if he's anything like me, he spends endless hours on the Internet at work, googling himself. So perhaps someday he'll stumble across this entry and confirm his existence. In the meanwhile, Lucas and others, with any luck my contributions to Jest won't die along with the ink-and-paper magazine. Stay tuned.