Nightmare Called Off

Great news, kiddoes!

FtH will not be causing you nightmares tonight after all.  Due to a shortfall in the publicity budget, we just couldn't get the word out.  Last night we agreed with Coleman Brice that spending the night drinking is just better than banging the drum to fill the house on a Monday night - a bad night for a show anyway.

The other great news is that we had a fantastic practice last night with Ian Capilouto, a bass man we brought in from the coast to fill the over-sized shoes of Olde Leon "Dogfish" Strokes.  Ian, Patrick, and Foz put together a zippy little set list for Wednesday night, that I think you will like.

Ladies!  Check out the attached publicity pic of Ian that we got from the Publicity Department.  Another great move for the Publicity folks over at FozCorp HQ!

Happy Halloween!

Nightmare

Children.

Monday night is Halloween, and any self-respecting drunkard will have already overdone it by then.

Therefore, consider a quieter, yet scarier evening for REAL Halloween.  You won't even need a costume.

Come to Cole's (2338 N. Milwaukee, in Chicago) at 8:00 for a screening of F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), the unspeakably creepy Dracula movie with no speaking in it.  Your Pals FtH will be there (sans bass) with a cool new score.  Yes.  That means that Foz and Patrick will be playing LIVE music to Nosferatu while you watch.

We will show the movie in short, 15 minute segments, separated by Scary Nightmare Roundtable.  That will be true stories of our scariest for real nightmares.  Foz and Patrick, and at least one or two other fine storytellers will be on stage, spilling our guts about our deepest fears, as described through our dreams.

I don't know about the others, but Foz's favorite nightmare is just plain creepy!

Why don't you join us.  You'll never see us the same way again!

Larry

Hey, Babies!

As you all remember, back in 1994 Bobby and the Chuxx completed but did not release an ambitious project called Otis Hauls it In, an album that started with the subtitle A Decade of the Chuxx, but was still unfinished five years later.  Naturally, we dropped the subtitle.

It wasn't a bad album, really.  None of us liked the recording too much, but there were good good songs.  Filth Inhabiting flies of Guam is still the best song title Foz ever thought of.  Sauda Norway, 1927 is still one of the strangest songs ever written by anyone:  Olde Ole Johnson / Could Hear Tom a' coming (That's Olde Tom Catsup) / Just as the glacier foretold / Tempers raged hotter than hot / in that land so bitterly cold!  Also, My Baby Wears White Shoes came out as one of the really great Chuxxsongs ever done, mostly thanks to the Avuncular baritone of Jon Niccum as Bobby Wendalo.  Listen to it.  You'll like it!

But what we need to talk about today is the last cut from that album, Larry.  Larry is an OK song about a guy named Larry who does a bunch of stuff.  A lot of that stuff is funny.  I don't have a recording of it to share.  But tonight, at Cole's, Your Pals in FtH will introduce YOU to a guy named Larry who does a lot of stuff, and a lot of it is funny.  That's Cole's famous doorman, Larry Drennen (Pictured above), sitting in with FtH as our bassist.  Larry is a fantastic player, and I know you will enjoy hearing his set with us.

So come out to Cole's Magnificent Comedy Open Mic tonight, at Cole's, at 9:00, and see Larry play with FtH.  Watch the band!  Watch the comics!  Laugh at the doorman, and get thrown out on your butt!

It's Wednesday!  Be there.

Thank you, Larry.  Can't wait for the show!

Foz Drinks Alone

Hello Babies.

As you know Your Pals Foz the Hook generally play all together at the same time.  We do this in order to maximize the sense that the product you are hearing is "music," and that it is played by a "band."  But, sometimes we want, or need to take a break from that.

For instance, there are days when all the boys cannot be there for a gig.  Perhaps someone moved to a different city, or someone else has to go to some kind of swanky dinner event for work.  You are probably thinking, "is it even possible for music to be played by just one person?"  The answer, in our case is yes.  Yes, music can be played solo by Olde Foz by accomplishing the tickling of ivories, while simultaneously howling into the microphone.  In fact, that is what is happening tonight at Coles'.

I can't promise a bunch of FtH songs.  Some of our songs are so good when played by the whole band that playing them alone would just seem sad and pathetic.

Sad and pathetic.

So join Olde Foz tonight at Coles' at 9:00, and I will sing you a batch of Sad'n'Blue songs that will make you laugh or not, until you are so drunk and depressed you will want to watch a whole evening of Chicago's most awesome comics just to lure your head back out of the oven.

Like I says, Olde Foz begins howling at the moon at 9:00, and Cameron Esposito and Adam Burke bring The List right into your thin thin bloodstream at 9:30.

Drink alone, if you must, but never drink by yourself.  That's what I always say sometimes.

(Another awesome photo from the "Green Wall" session by Erin Nekervis, October 15, 2011).

A Green Wall

It doesn't look green in this picture, but I promise you, the wall is green.

More to the point, the green wall was chosen by Erin Nekervis, the fantastically funny photog of Chicago's comedy scene, as the back drop for a new series of FtH publicity shots. Soon Patrick will meet will meet with Erin for another publicity session.

All I can say is Wow! So should you. You think this photo is great! You like how Foz is standing there with a Martini glass, and with a frightening ukulele on the ground a few feet away. You like how he is scratching his face pensively (I think I was actually taking my glasses off, but you can't see them). You like how Erin pasted F.O.Z. in huge letters to my lapel (no Photoshop here). Fer cryin' out loud - you love everything about this picture!

Well, don't blame me. Erin Nekervis did all the heavy lifting on this one.

Tomorrow night Foz will perform solo at Cole's, because we are a little short on sidemen. We will be back up to strength by next week though.

In the meantime, come back to FozBlog frequently to look at this swell picture of Foz. You have such a crush on that old chap.

Scary Dreams

I had a scary dream last night where Javier Bardem wanted me to stand still while he knocked me in the head with a pneumatic hammer. I asked if it would result in my death. He said I should stop being such a dick, and hold still because "it would be cool." Then he wanted to flip a coin, and that sounded fair enough, so I said "ok."

I don't know who won.

No, I do! FtH wins, because tonight our friends Andy Oloffson and Maria Wojciechowski have agreed to return to Cole's stage for another feature performance! We worked out some new tunes at practice this week, and it sounded surprisingly good.

You know where this is leading. Meet us at Cole's tonight at 9:00 as we get the room ready for Cole's Comedy Open mic. Cameron Esposito and-or Adam Burke will be there to host, and the room will be filled with the funniest comics The List can hold.

A Little Help From our Friends

Olde Leon "Stinkeye" Strokes has been gone to California for less than a week, so we're still in a little bit of withdrawal. Fortunately for Coles', FtH will not be missing a beat, due to a helping hand from a couple of good friends.

Andy Oloffson, who has been spotted playing Fender Rhodes for The Sweats, will be handling bass duties tonight, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the stage.

Also, you know how I promised you a beautiful and talented special guest for tonight's show? It's not Andy. He's a heck of a player, but he's also a dude. No! Meet your special guest for tonight! Returning to the FtH bill for the first time in a year! Come on out to Cole's to hear FtH with Maria Wojciechowski! (That's pronounced "Wojciechowski"). Here is a picture of Maria that I found on her Facebook page. Quite a looker, eh? But, she also plays Ukulele, Accordian, Kazoo, singing, dancing, song writing, and dressing up like a ghost.

We promise much, but we always deliver. Don't we?

Get to Coles' tonight at 9:00! I don't care if you have Doug Stanhope tickets! Come and see FtH instead. Like I sez - we start at 9:00; the hosts get your juices flowing at 9:30; and a hot list of cool comics will make you scream ALL... NIGHT... LONG.