 "Photo: Photo courtesy Jen Lee")
Zombies just won’t die. “The Ded Dave Show,” created by Dave Taylor, Jeremy Altier, Jerry Blakeslee, Colin Duerr, Bett Donnley and Jen Lee, will be screening all of its episodes at The Burton Theatre, located at 3420 Cass Ave. on March 18.
The creators describe the show as a “horror-skit-com,” short for horror-skit-comedy, that revolves around “what zombies are doing when they’re not eating you.” The “horror” is the premise, the skit is the format (although each episode does have a story line), and comedy is the delivery.
“One angle that we’ve taken on it is that zombies are tired of hearing about the afterlife and undead all the time,” Blakeslee said. “So we try to make a little bit of topical reference (to the undead) but just more of a classic comedy reference throughout the whole thing.”
And they’ve done it with next to no money.
“We basically handle every aspect of the show, from idea generation to writing, prop building, costume design. Basically, we do it all,” Blakeslee said.
The show’s first episode caught the attention of 15,000 viewers and the number has continued to rise, according to Blakeslee.
“We’ve tripled our viewership in just basically four episodes,” Blakeslee said, “which is kind of amazing, that without a real, official marketing plan, more word-of-mouth and using the social media to our advantage, that it’s pushed us so far.”
The show is funny in a classic sense but it is also riddled with everything from hidden messages to obvious punch-lines that reference movie quotes, movie stars and musical acts.
Altier, Blakeslee and Duerr are students of pop-culture and list their influences as everything. Blakeslee and Altier said their influences include George A. Romero, The Young Ones, Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick.
“The Ded Dave Show” also features musical acts such as The 3D Invisibles, Downtown Brown, Eunuch-Horn’s Wish and Tim Pak. The connection lies within the fact that Taylor, the initial creator and star of the show, was also a member of the local band The Amino Acids, as were, at one point, most other members of “The Ded Dave Show.” Duerr became involved with the band through a movie he was filming about them.
Although each of the members works on all aspects of creation, each person has a specialty. Blakeslee works on much of the costuming and set design, Duerr works on filming and cinematography and Blakeslee described Altier as a “student of comedy.” Others have been caught up in their net of creativity and have provided their talents as well.
Zoe Brown has lent her experience as a makeup and costumer and, according to Blakeslee, has been “a major impact on what we’re doing.”
The result is a goofy, fun show that takes viewers to a place where television doesn’t have to be over-polished or safe. The jokes don’t have to be cliché and a laugh track doesn’t tell you when to laugh. It’s a group of friends having fun with attacks on Santa Claus and Jesus, fluid-spewing phallic monsters, and of course, zombies, all of which may entertain or offend the audience. That part’s up to the viewer.
Those who like shows that push the envelope of good taste while still executing a classic comedic approach should check out “The Ded Dave Show.” Those who think “Life with Jim” or Jeff Dunham is edgy might want to steer clear.
The show airs (most) Saturday mornings at 3 a.m. on CW 50.
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