Reality Bites Back - new show on Comedy Central w/Chris Fairbanks

[heatherm]

got this email earlier tonight:

Hello -

As most of you know, I have been a party to the construction of a lot of TV over the years, much of it horrific.

My apologies.

However, next Thursday is the premiere of a very funny show I worked on - Reality Bites Back.

If you go to the Comedy Central website & watch the promo, you'll get an idea of why I'm reaching out right now.

You're welcome.

Keep hope alive,
Eric Rudnick


http://www.comedycentral.com/

Go to What's Playing on the top left and click on the first show:
"Reality Bites Back"

---

my verdict? surpisingly funny. michael ian black is the host of a comedy reality show that's (can you believe it?) actually funny. chris fairbanks does a bang-up job from what i've seen. please share your thoughts on the video.

[waxpop]

I laughed and laughed at the first ten minutes. That first challenge was hilariously fucked up.

[MrDys]

All of the commercials for this show make me want to die (big surprise, comedy central promo department), but I really enjoyed these 10 minutes. I really liked the 'twist' joke.

[smartbunny]

Chris Fairbanks is awesome.

[helloitslate]

I will watch anything involving the very funny and always awesome Chris Fairbanks.

even if it has that road rulers turned comic Theo....

[Babs]

Wow that show does look surprisingly good. Great concept. I am looking forward to the rest of it.

[Ritter]

Michael Ian Black = Perfect reality show host

[Dan B]

I thought it looked pretty bad, but I watched the first ten minutes and laughed a lot. I'll definitely watch the series. Glad to see that Chris Fairbanks is involved.

[josephlovesit]

Looks pretty good. Funny to see Kyle Cease on here, his album is top shelf. And is Theo the same guy that was on The Real World (I think the one in France a few years ago)?

[Shane]

Looks pretty good. Funny to see Kyle Cease on here, his album is top shelf. And is Theo the same guy that was on The Real World (I think the one in France a few years ago)?

Theo was on Road Rules in 2000 and seasons 5,7,9, and 12 of the Real World/Road Rules Challenges.

[Dogwelder]

I would have watched this no matter what with Michael Ian Black as a host, but it does actually seem really funny besides just his presence. And as far as contestants go at least Chris, who is consistently hilarious, is on there to balance out Theo, who I find painfully unfunny. I do find it kind of amusing that a reality show making fun of reality shows has a cast member that basically makes a living being on MTV reality shows.

[heatherm]

this is on tonight!

[ReverendMediocre]

I thought it was surprisingly good. Michael Ian Black was perfect as the smarmy reality host. Fairbanks was awesome, if mostly underused this episode. I loved the "I brought 40 hats!" line and the repeated ominous boom sound cue gag. I'm also a mostly ashamed Big Brother USA fanatic since season one though, so I may have been biased.

[smartbunny]

Since when is that Road Rules guy a comic? Oh, he's not.

Anyhoo, the mom thing was hilarious. Especially the casual, "Oh, hi mom/dad" reactions. I was sad to see Kyle CEASE to be on the show (GAH!) but I loved his exit with the tons of hats and MIB just wanting him to shoo already.

[theodoric]

Since when did you guys become a bunch of Chris Fairbanks fans? I voted for him in my top 10 in the AST Poll, but it seems I'm the only one.

Hey, big headliner-type comedians on this board: book Chris to be your feature comic, especially when you come up here to SF. The guy does an amazing verbal juggling act, with several bits happening at once in this rambling, self-deprecating manner. Definitely a force to be reckoned with in the near future.

[smartbunny]

I heard Chris on Jordan Jesse GO! and fell in love. Mentally.

[bjmoner]

Chris Fairbanks came into my lonely Pittsburgh life a few months ago when the wife and I saw him open for Greg Behrendt. Most of the crowd appeared to be women, and women who dragged their boyfriends to the Behrendt show because, "Oh muh GAHD, he is like SOOOO enlightened about relationship stuff!!!" Gun, meet temple.

Behrendt is a class act, though, and he had good presence, and was solid for his 90 minute set. Chris Fairbanks had 10 - 15 minutes and killed, in my opinion. His "handshake" bit is brilliant! Loved everything he did, and I'm kinda glad he didn't appear on LCS this year ... his material is too good to be shredded into a bunch of contrived challenges.

[ozbug]

Hey, big headliner-type comedians on this board: book Chris to be your feature comic, especially when you come up here to SF. The guy does an amazing verbal juggling act, with several bits happening at once in this rambling, self-deprecating manner. Definitely a force to be reckoned with in the near future.

Apparently you don't listen to Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo. Jimmy often will have Chris along with him. And unless Chris cancelled they were both scheduled at Rooster T Feathers in Sunnyvale mid-June. Where were you, it's only 45 minutes from SF?

[Valorie]

Michael Ian Black made some great faces on the show. I think Kyle Cease is funny, but he wasn't that funny on the show.

[slapstickeulogist]

Sad to see Cease go, he and Fairbanks are the only ones on the show I find interesting or funny. However, I will keep watching for, if nothing else, Michael Ian Black. He is fantastic.

[darrylduffy]

Apparently you don't listen to Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo. Jimmy often will have Chris along with him. And unless Chris cancelled they were both scheduled at Rooster T Feathers in Sunnyvale mid-June. Where were you, it's only 45 minutes from SF?

chris did not get to do that show. it was kevin camia and john hoogasian. chris did the rooster's gig with him a year ago however. and at the punchline with maria bamford back in march.

(i vote for fairbanks in my top 10 too. love when there's a chance to see him live nearby)

[theodoric]

Apparently you don't listen to Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo. Jimmy often will have Chris along with him. And unless Chris cancelled they were both scheduled at Rooster T Feathers in Sunnyvale mid-June. Where were you, it's only 45 minutes from SF?As Darryl said, Chris pulled out of that show. We swapped email and he said he had another TV filming scheduled at that same time.

But look at his booking schedule - he is woefully underbooked for live gigs. The guy should be working every week.

[theodoric]

Apparently you don't listen to Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo. Jimmy often will have Chris along with him.True. Perhaps I will start.

[helloitslate]

I love how this has become a Chris Fairbanks appreciation thread. He is awesome and hilarious he did my bday show last year killed it and when Garage went to Vegas last year I had the most fun hanging with him and well Chris is as funny or even funnier off stage as he is on. Dude is great!

I will continue to watch this show only because of Chris.

Also can Theo Von stop throwing insane and lame one line sayings around it is like he is trying to look for his "get er done"catchphrase, calm down Theo it isn't funny it just makes you look like you have no understanding of what a simile is.

[rabbitandox]

Not knowing anything about Theo's history, I found his line, "I would drag my balls through a mile of glass just to hear Kyle's mom fart through a walkie-talkie," to be very funny. Now that I know he's been on Road Rules, that line doesn't sound as ironic as it did originally, so it might not be funny anymore. I'm keeping my eye on him.

[Valorie]

Not knowing anything about Theo's history, I found his line, "I would drag my balls through a mile of glass just to hear Kyle's mom fart through a walkie-talkie," to be very funny. Now that I know he's been on Road Rules, that line doesn't sound as ironic as it did originally, so it might not be funny anymore. I'm keeping my eye on him.

That line from Theo actually reminded me of Valerie Solonas and the S.C.U.M Manifesto:

"...he'll swim through a river of snot, wade nostril-deep through a mile of vomit, if he thinks there'll be a friendly pussy awaiting him."

[olwiggum]

That's not Theo's line. I'm 31 years old now and I heard that line when I was in high school. Someone recently told me that it originated from a guitar player that was here in town that died in a car crash back in 1996... but if people like Theo are out there throwing it around, I highly doubt that it originated here in my little town.

[mike]

I'm sure lines like that have been around since both the dark and light ages.

[smartbunny]

See, a line like that to me smacks of trying too hard.

[vheath]

I am borderline in love with this show. I think having Michael Ian Black as the host of this show was a brilliant move.

Chris Fairbanks appreciation thread..hell yeah!!

I met Chris when he was in town for the Bridgetown comedy fest and he couldn't have been more awesome. He was completely cool and fun...he didn't act like he was better than everyone (like some of the douchebags who acted like anyone who didn't have a big t.v. credit, or hadn't worked with (insert big big name comic here) should be groveling at their feet or staying at least 200 ft away at all times)...and I don't think I even have to mention how funny he was, as it seems everyone here already knows this.

I can't wait for the next episode....

[ArtsyMcShitshimself]

Since this is now the Chris Fairbanks Hurray Thread, I will say that I saw him open for Patton Oswalt last Saturday night and he was very, very funny.

[theodoric]

Chris Fairbanks' upcoming gigs:

Jul 21 2008 9:00P - The Foundation Room at House of Blues Hollywood CA
Jul 23 2008 10:00P - Improv Hollywood Hollywood CA
Jul 28 2008 10:00P - Tangier Restaurant Los Angeles CA

[Liezl]

that was a horrifying yet hilarious episode.

"my butt is wet."

[yumitree]

m.i.b.'s line about having to count the bananas cracked me up, but as a facial hair afficionado, i was torn about chris' commitment to the date.

[smartbunny]

I liked MIB's "I'm going to go shower now."

I also like C-Fair w/o the stashe.

[Bobaganoosh]

I'm not exactly sure that I fully understand this show on any level, but I'm going to keep watching it for MIB.

[Seafairing]

Just wanted create a profile on here so I could log in and say thanks for everyone's kind words about me. Feels good.

Also, I think you'll be pretty surprised at how funny Theo Von can be. He and Amy had me laughing harder than anyone on the show.

Thanks again,
Chris Fairbanks

[smartbunny]

We'll be watching!

[BFH]

Lots of comedians and creative types, some of whom you need look no further for than the AST board, got their start or paid the bills through reality television. There have been many reality shows that entertained me, and didn't make me feel like a louse for watching or working on them. There have been even more scripted dramas and sitcoms that were as painful to watch or had even less redeeming social value. So, if you must judge Theo Von, do so on his comedy alone, not his resume.

Of course, reality programming is no sacred cow to me, so please, chop that thang like this were "Apocalypse Now." Enjoying the show, and Fairbanks-love, always, always.

[sparkiepop]

Theo is funny, super sweet, and a great guy. I did a website for him a few years ago and I think it's cool to see him doing well in the comedy world. He's wanted to do comedy his entire life. Good for him. I think certain people should give the guy a break instead of readily dismissing him for being on Road Rules. Jesus fucking Christ already.

[theodoric]

I just want to say that I hipped C-Fair to this board, and he does not Google his own name to see if people are saying nice things about him.

That I know of.

[helloitslate]

Chris is awesome I talked to him on Friday and told him it was cool to create his own profile on AST. I'm glad he did. Also I'm kinda of liking the C-Fair nickname.

On Theo Von. I gotta admit on the road rules challenges I also found him entertaining and slightly chuckle worthy. The editing of this show makes him look like he is trying too hard. I saw him perform once and it wasn't even slightly chuckle worthy but this was a year ago so I guess maybe he has improved.

Again I continue to watch the show for Chris and MIB.

[Scammy Davis Boogah Jr.]

You guys gonna fight over who's responsible for Fairbanks' posting now? How bout Belknap, for creating the thing in the first place.

(This is my entry in the 2008 kiss-ass awards)

[smartbunny]

I'm taking responsibility for everyone dissing Theo Von. It's all my fault. I haven't found him funny yet but maybe soon!

[Hated Milk Machine]

I'm taking responsibility for everyone dissing Theo Von. It's all my fault. I haven't found him funny yet but maybe soon!

That'll teach you to think thoughts!

[FF Woodycooks]

Oh man, I just watched the new one and AD Miles is in the preview for next week, doing commentary on an American Gladiators style thing with MIB. Hooray I love him!

Also, Theo doesn't seem that bad to me, I don't know what the big deal is. He says funny stuff consistently enough to warrant his presence. Fairbanks is definitely the funniest, though.


edit: shit, two odenkirk characters from mr show posting in a row.

[Shane]

MIB was hysterical when whatever that chicks name was that got kicked off got kicked off. how's that for a sentence?

[gigglechick]

MIB was hysterical when whatever that chicks name was that got kicked off got kicked off. how's that for a sentence?

Tiffany is no longer with us...

at least Amy Schumer is still eating Hamsicles on the show!

[BananapeelWilliams]

MIB is brilliant on this show.

[Dogwelder]

I was pretty damn impressed by Fairbanks packing on over 9 pounds. Well maybe not impressed. Just amazed. Also I just caught up on last week's episode and I can't believe Lunell didn't like Chris' pick-up line. That was absolutely hilarious.

I still think Theo's jokes when he's in the confessional or whatever they call it on reality tv feel a bit forced, but some of them did make me laugh this week, particularly the airport glory hole comment after the custard challenge.

And I am continually impressed by MIB's ability to be such a funny asshole. My one complaint about this show (and I never thought I'd say this about a reality show) is that I wish it were an hour instead of a half hour. The entire show is dedicated to challenges and feels really packed in. I guess I'd like to see the comedians just hanging out and being funny on their own time occasionally.

[SailRacer]

I thought the Biggest Chubby episode was great. It was the first one I'd seen. MIB is a fantastic host for the show.

I thought Theo was pretty funny. He seems to be taking it slightly seriously, while making fun of the whole thing at the same time. I haven't seen him on anything else (not a watcher of the eMpTy V), so maybe not knowing any background is making a difference.

[Scammy Davis Boogah Jr.]

(not a watcher of the eMpTy V)

Do you think that makes you better than me?

(It does)

I agree with everyone that Men In Black is a great movie. And the host of this show is good too.

[Babs]

This show is absolutely hilarious. Mostly the stuff with MIB, especially last nights episode. Him and AD Miles were great together. When they started interviewing each other about interviews, and also the part when they were right in the middle of the action and MIB says "this would be a terrible time to cut to commercial break" and of course it does just that. So many jokes! I can't imagine how much it must have cost though to have a different reality show theme every single episode.

[Shane]

I almost peed my pants when AD Miles said "This isn't the first time I've seen a black guy beat a white girl, but it was the first time I enjoyed it."

[Bobaganoosh]

With each new episode this show grows on me more and more. AD Miles helped make this one the amazingest. Can't wait 'til next week.

[Liezl]

boo.

[squeek]

I enjoyed the finale.

[Mindyjoy]

This show better be renewed again and again and again.

[Cankerblossom]

I enjoyed this show a lot more than I expected. I'd love a second season.

[Shane]

boo.

What's to boo?

Also, MIB's chopping of the brush was hilarious.

[Liezl]

I boo because I was hoping Amy would win. This series as a whole was a lot of fun though.. I liked the little editing jokes they made, especially when they showed how Fairbanks had lost the challenge and the camera pans to the audience, showing them completely apathetic to the show.

Does anyone know when this series was taped?

[Toddler]

I loved every episode of this damned show. Truly wonderful stuff. I worry though, boy how I worry, about how a 2nd season would work. Do they do 10 new reality show spoofs or the same ones? Will the editing jokes and production in jokes wear thin? Will Chris Fairbanks become a permanent fixture on the show due to his innate awesomeness?

[vphuoc]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share an interview I did with Chris Fairbanks back in mid-August. He's just as awesome in person as you would imagine, if not more so!

Comedian Chris Fairbanks Shares Laughs, Insight on Stand-Up<o></o>
By Vania Phuoc<o>
</o>
The first time I watched Chris Fairbanks perform stand-up, he opened for Greg Behrendt at the Laff Stop last September. I remember his set distinctly for its stream of consciousness style ramblings interspersed amongst the endearing self-deprecating anecdotes and unique wit. You can see him on Comedy Central’s Reality Bites Back where comedians compete for $50,000 in challenges spoofing every other popular reality TV show. Unfortunately, Chris was the sixth out of the ten contestants eliminated from the competition after facing difficulties involving wrestler Chyna and a bum air gun in the episode “Hunting with the Stars.” <o></o>A former Texas resident and incredibly nice, down-to-earth guy, Chris was amazing taking the time to answer my questions.<o></o>
<o></o>
How did you get your start in comedy? <o></o>
I was approached at a party when I was in college while breakdancing in some women’s clothes I’d found. After I knocked a glass off a table, the girl who lived there asked if I had ever done improv comedy and if I’d please take off her dress and leave. I ended up being in an improv ‘troupe’ with her for three years after that.<o>

</o> Who has been the biggest influence on your career? Do you have a favorite comedian?<o></o>
Back when Mtv wasn’t horrible television, they had a show called Half Hour Comedy Hour, and I used to record it on the VCR…that, and The A-List on A&E. Both those shows were just a random showcase of up and coming comics whose names I’ve forgotten, but watching that was a pretty big influence. My favorite comic right now is Paul F. Tompkins.<o>

</o> How was your move from Montana to Texas and then from Texas to Los Angeles?<o></o>
Until I moved to Austin, TX, I didn’t realize it could be socially acceptable somewhere for a person to go out and drink every single night of the week and then drive home at 100mph on a horribly designed freeway. Every day there was geared around having fun somehow. I miss Texas, but I had to move to L.A. for the career opportunities. Austin was a good primer for moving out to L.A. because if I’d moved there from Montana, I think it would have been too much of a big city shock, and I would have moved back home by now.

How was your time on Reality Bites Back?<o></o>
I was super stressed out the whole time. I was always worried about whether or not I was being funny, if I was seconds away from being eliminated, or if I was really going to get paid. I wish I had known the whole thing would be edited down so much that it didn’t even matter…22 minute episodes without commercials for two to three 12 hour days of shooting each one! The best part of being on that show was hanging out with a bunch of comics I would have never otherwise met. I stay pretty confined in L.A. to the alternative comedy scene, the UCB and the Hollywood Improv. Now I feel I need to open my mind to other comics a little more. Maybe even go up at the horrible Laugh Factory one of these days. <o>

</o> What is an average day for you like?<o></o>
I wake up late, 10 am at the earliest, and start emailing people, trying to drum up work. Usually go skateboarding at about 4pm at the Venice skatepark. Sometimes I do artwork and logos for people. That’s what I used to do for a living…Illustration, sign painting, and T-shirt designs. I go to bed too late….wow, what have I done with my life? I’ve never written it out like this.<o>

</o> Is it better to be smart or charming as a comedian?<o></o>
Good question. It depends on where you are. I don’t ever want to seem like I’m talking down to an audience on the road…I’d rather look stupid than do that, ‘cause at least stupid people can make you laugh…so I never TRY to seem smart. Too often in L.A., or otherwise, comics are trying too hard to be thought provoking and forget to be funny on stage. As far as being charming, that never hurts I suppose.

Are you religious? <o></o>
I still haven’t figured that one out. When I was young, I tried some youth groups and bible camps, even though my parents were atheist. That all just kind of drifted away as I learned more. I just always knew to try to be honest and friendly, and to only talk badly about people behind their backs…never to their faces, right? I’m pretty sure I’m not a fan of organized religion though, but I like Jesus and would love to meet him…or Gene Wilder.
<o></o>
Do you Google yourself? Have you found anything interesting?
I Google.com myself all the time. I actually found my name attached to Reality Bites Back on some industry trades site before I was even told I’d gotten the gig in person! Also, when I type in my name, up comes a fairly celebrated fireman, a champion body builder, and an L.A. actor all with my name. I think there should be a reality show where I live with all of them in a house based simply on the fact we all are named Chris Fairbanks.<o>

</o> If you could have dinner with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be, and what would you order?<o></o>
I always wanted to meet Gene Wilder…or Abe Lincoln. Jesus Christ maybe, but he might be kind of judgey…and I can’t even decide what to order when I’m alone.<o>

</o> If you could go back and tell your 21 year-old self something, what would it be?<o></o>
I’d say this; “Don’t worry Chris, the 16 year old version of us thinks we’re both really cool. But you could stand to lose a little weight…and why are you going to college right now? You need to start doing stand up tonight before you get too old! Break up with your girlfriend! It doesn’t end up working out with her... she ends up marrying someone else in ’06.Wait…no! Stay with her…she makes you move to Austin where you start doing that stand up thing I mentioned. I’ve said too much… just stay in school. And quit drinking too much, you don’t know it now, but you’re kind of fat. O.K. I need to get back to 1985 in my Delorian now.”…That’s what I’d tell me.<o>

</o> You went to the University of Montana and studied fine art/drawing and painting. Did it help you in life?<o></o>
Going to college was really important for me. My mind was opened up big time in college, and I gained a lot of confidence and made pretty good grades…except with math. I was never good at math. I’ve been finished with school for ten years now, and I still have sweaty nightmares about impossible math problems that I make up in my dreams. <o>

</o> I don’t think college helped me much with being a comedian though, other than it being a series of experiences that made me what I am today…that sounded like an army commercial.<o>

</o> What can we expect to see coming up from you?<o></o>
My goal is to spend a little more time going to comedy clubs in different cities, trying to get more work headlining. I’ve been featuring for a lot of years now, and I know it’s time for me to take the next step. I’m also working on a series for Fuel TV called “Skate Shop” in which I’m a main character. It’s kind of a “Clerks” inspired half hour comedy series. Still working on the scripts and casting, etc. for that one, but I’m excited about it.<o>

</o> After seeing Chris feature for Kyle Cease at the Houston Improv two weeks ago, I feel he is a rising alt-comic who could easily skyrocket while honing his timing and audience relation techniques as a headliner himself. With his understated, dry comedy not for the narrow-minded, Chris Fairbanks makes absurd imaginings and “word jokes” work. Hopefully we will see more of him both on television and onstage in the near future. You can check out some of his material on his myspace page, youtube, and effinfunny.com and clips of Reality Bites Back on comedycentral.com.<o></o>