This might be a mouseover test.

While we love being the creators of comedy, we also love being the audience of it as well. In fact, its just like any other craft or business; once you work in it, you gain a greater appreciation and critical eye for it.

While this is technically a lottery type commercial, I find it hysterical.  I appreciate it for its premise, execution and its creation given its subject matter.

I salute the writers who wrote it, the producers who made it and the stations who aired it.

~ Dave

In this post, there is no thumnail or feature graphic.

The system will automatically create both from an embedded graphic IF that graphic is roughly in a landscape format.

Test Link!

Check out some of our favorite links!

For a variety of reasons.  First of all, its funny.  Not just funny in what it says, but funny in the fact that they said it.

I saw this sign outside of a popular chain restaurant, outside the to-go entrance.  Its marking (or guarding?) the to-go parking.  You know, those good spots for the folks just hopping in quickly to pick up their orders and run.   I have not seen a lot of these signs, but then again I don’t eat at lot of chain restaurants…or maybe it was because was in Jersey…who knows (ask me some time about my getting lost in south Manhattan).

I applaud their creativity, the chutzpah to put it up, and the implied message it attempts to convey.  Of course I doubt they would actually crush your car and melt it…maybe just crush it (if in Newark, prolly both).

I think I like this sign not just for the humor, but also its distant appeal to a kind of cultural justice system, saying “hey jerkface, don’t park here unless you are here for the to-go” ….maybe I want something like this for the carry-on luggage abusers at the airport…who knows.

Either way, I like that sign.  So, what do you think about it?
Anyone out there seen any funny signs recently?

~ Dave

I had never really given much thought to possibly how difficult it might be and all the nuances that go along with hosting a show. I soon learned though.

Just a few things that I have learned in the past three years that I would like to impart unto those unfamiliar with what goes on while hosting.

1. In the split second it takes to raise a whistle from in your hand by your side to your lips, you can and WILL miss a good close. Guaranteed. If you are not Johnny on the spot with that whistle you are going to find all too often that you will have an unexpected GREAT close to a game and miss it.
2. On closing a game, if you are laughing too hard, you will NOT be able to blow a whistle to close a game. Now true, the audience loves to see a group having fun and enjoying themselves, but when one of your players says something so funny or outrageous that you literally blow the whistle from your mouth while trying to close a game…lets just say that its embarrassing picking your whistle up off the stage.
3. The players on stage, much like a lot of other people in the world, need and want structure. The look of fear and terror in their eyes as you tell them, as the host, that you will be calling the game list from the stage and not giving them a set list, is almost priceless. That is, until you figure out that throwing your players into games they are not ready for or even want to play is a good way to kill your show.
4. Never get adversarial with some of your audience, especially when they are armed with water balloons! Yeah, its all in fun but if you have never been hit with a 90 mph fastball balloon, you have never performed in one of our shows. Its always a good idea for the host to be on the same side as the audience.

Hosting, much like performing improv itself, is an art. I am continuously learning new things that will help during my hosting. I love performing, don’t get me wrong, but there is a very satisfying feeling to hosting a good show.

There you have it. Just a bit of wisdom from someone who has stood at the front of a stage with an audience just looking for a reason to throw a balloon. Those guys on Star Trek with a red shirt have NOTHING on me!

~ Beavis

Well, we could just not stop ourselves, and here is our third MPIII Podcast!!! (ok, well, it excited us…).

In our usual style of comedic wandering we managed to produce yet another podcast.   In this particular episode we ramble about such fascinating topics as :

• Our hybrid format ‘11:30 show’
• Hacking on Beavis
• Junk Mail
• Counterfeit Viagra
• Dubious research
• The reasons why we don’t take all suggestions
• Then some hacking on Dave! (Rob is soooo next).

Give this bit of laughable escapism a try, and let us know what you think!  Of course, if you have questions or suggestions for future podcasts, let us know too!

~ MPIII

MPIII held its fourth annual Rescu Charity Show over Memorial Day weekend, raising over $500!

We wanted to thank everyone  contributing to this event.

Special Kudos to:

• Dr. Kaboom
• Patrick H.
• Richard P.
• Jill H.
• Amy and Steph!

We especially want to thank the management and performers of SAPA for enabling us to help RESCU, a great charity for supporting modern traveling artists.   

We were lucky enough to meet several individuals who were helped by RESCU (from pneumonia to life saving chemotherapy treatments) and this really hit home with us that it was a great cause.

Now Booking New Shows!

We are in the process of booking shows in the DFW area, so keep an eye on our site, subscribe to our malining list (see below) or get our RSS feed!

If you know of a great place you would love to see us at, or even book a special event let us know!  

A Faire Season…

We had a great run at scarby this season, and wanted to thank all our fans that came by and saw our shows!   Even with some rough weather we made a lot of laughs and had a lot of awesome shows.

We made a lot of changes to our shows this year, from both our short-form water balloon shows to our ‘11:30′ mixed format show and were very happy with the results.   There were a lot of new games and several new players and tons of new laughs this season…and of course, bunches of new fans!

Speaking of fans, our recent t-shirt give away winners are:

• Christian the Firefighter
• Jennifer E.

(we are contacting them…)

Of course, anyone else interested in a shirt (or a mug, or a shot glass, etc.) can just contact us on our website and let us know what you want!

If anyone had a chance to see our shows at Scarby, leave us a comment and let us know what you liked or didn’t like!

Until next time, live, love and laugh ~ MPIII

We had some amazing shows this past weekend, and want to thank everyone who braved the elements (the monsoon on Saturday) and saw us.

The crowds were a bit small but dedicated Saturday, but we had tons of fun with our ‘ultra-casual’ (not to be confused with ultra-sensitive…that’s something else) shows of the day.

On Sunday we had the awesome mix of gorgeous weather, high creative energy plus great crowds, which lead to some of our best performances of the season. We had at least two different people tell us after the shows they laughed so hard they cried. Had tons of fun

Some of our improv structures of the weekend:

• Try that on for size
• Evil twin
• Foreign Movie
• Forward & Reverse
• One Brain (Oracle)
• Set Line
• Slideshow
• Three things
• World’s worst

Some of the interesting moments of the weekend: the ‘off the wall’ Canadian tuber smugglers bit, the classic tale of ‘Die Hard Hamlet’ and a high energy game of set line inspired with lines from ‘Gone with the Wind’.

If you had a favorite game, a request, or just wanted to let us know what you thought of some of the games, leave a comment on this post!

Have fun and see everyone soon!

~ MPIII

Special thanks to ScottR for the picture!

Hey everyone, welcome to the Motley Players Three second Podcast!

Yes, we finally managed to get our collective butts together and finish off our second podcast.  In this particular episode we ramble about such fascinating topics as :

• Scripted Improv
• Proof that Dave can’t memorize lines
• The fact that Oranges and Latex do not mix!
• Why we don’t hand out whistles
• Ugly People getting fired
• Super secret lottery numbers (well, maybe not that one).

So give our podcast a listen to, and let us know what you think, and especially other topics or questions you would like us to answer in the future!

~ MPIII

Hey everyone! We recently had a few comments about Beavis’ stein (no, not about the contents, but the stein itself).
For those that don’t know, we have a webstore on Cafepress, where one of the MPIII items you can get is a large stein (its about 22 oz.).

Occasionally we sell some of the merchandise from cafepress at our shows, and a few people have requested we order some stirns for them.

If you are interested in getting a MPIII stien, please contact us here (either with a comment, or on our contact form) and we will happily get one for you, and you can pick it up at one of our shows!

The cost at one of our shows will be: $16.50

If you would rather order one on your own, or look at our other nifty stuff, check out our MPIII Merchandise at CafePress

Thanks, and remember, the more you drink, the funnier we get!

~ MPIII

Hello everyone!  Awesome to see a lot of our fans at some of our recent shows, and we even picked up a few new ones as well!!! (The brave, the laughing, the few…).

Thanks to everyone who had good words to say about the new website and our last podcast.  The next one should be out very soon, so keep an eye out, or just subscribe to our rss feed (that way you don’t have to check back here…).

In show news, we worked in a few new(er) games, and brought back a few old classics.
Here is a sampling:

• Beat poet – have not done this one in a long time, it is huge fun for all the players involved!
• Slideshow – reviving another great classic game
• Lines from a box – Sure, Dave as Aphrodite was scary, but the game rocked!
• Try that on for size – this new game is going very well, and is well liked by performers and audiences alike.
• Evil Twin – another new game, we are having fun with, only recently added.
• Forward / Reverse – this is a total fun fest for the audience and host, and another new game for us.
• Combat Props – We are currently building up a new prop inventory, but this game is just plain fun!

We have not played Combat Props in a while, but brought it out special for one of our shows, due to a special request!  If you come to a show and want to see a specific game, let us know!

If you have any comments on any of these, or want to make a request, let us know!
Either here, on our contact page, or twitter us!

Twitterific! (is that really a word?)

Just because you can’t get enough of us (there are safety and legal reasons, we assure you) MPIII is now on twitter!

Check out there for random musings of the acutely funny and chronically insane, show comments or even send us a note about something your would love to hear us ramble about.
Catch us at motleyplayers3

Haz Shirtz!

At our live performances (as opposed to our dead performances) we collect names for our mailing list, and every one who ponies up their email gets a chance to win a genuine MPIII Tshirt!

Congrats to our two most recent T-shirt winners!

• Stephen B.
• Erica

Both are being contacted, and we hope to see you at future shows…(or we can mail em, so watch for your mail carrier wearing our colors)!

Thanks for coming to our shows and joining our mailing list.

Until next time, laugh until it hurts!

~ MPIII

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players;

they have their exits and entrances;

and one man in his time plays many parts…”

As you like it, Act II, Scene 7 – Shakespeare

Today is the celebrated birthday for William Shakespeare!

(Actually, scholars are not exactly sure, but hey, it’s not like we are going to miss his b-day party or anything).

We, MPIII salute the bard, heralded as the greatest writer in the English language, and inventor of cheese wiz! (ok, we made the second one up).

Shakespeare wrote a ton of stuff (well, there is even some debate there too…man, these theatre types), and we have to say, we dig it.

Well, maybe not all of Titus, especially when we have to do an excerpt from it…it feels like Julia Childs meets the Sopranos. 

We have a special respect for Shakespeare, as one of our first stage productions (together as MPIII) was the Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged, by the Reduced Shakespeare Company.  It is an absolutely brilliant and hysterical conglomeration of the bard’s works reduced down to a single play.

Even more astounding was the fact that we did it LEGAL (i.e. paid a royalty and all that), which is only slightly more amazing than the fact that Dex was able to occasionally remember his lines (He can’t remember squat, that’s why his focuses on improv). 

As part of the remembrance of the bard, and our history of doing the show, we have put one of our favorite props up on the site (no, its not the dummy we used in : The complete Shakespeare sonnet collection!  This is from the part of the play where Beavis was trying to read the sonnets to the audience…and yes, we actually got them all on there!  Check it out for yourself…MPIII Compilation of Shakespeare’s Sonnets

None the less, the work of the great bard can be truly inspiring, especially if you have ever seen a serious high quality production (i.e. not one of ours!).

So Mr. Shakespeare, until we meet again…