Issue 2 contributors

Chili Challis

Chili has headlined clubs, casinos, colleges and corporate shows for 20+ years. Besides being a former staff writer for the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he's also a favorite on the nationally syndicated Bob and Tom Radio Show. Most recently he served as creative consultant on CMT's new show Mabe in America. He currently builds his schedule around teaching stand up to private students and regular classes at the Comedy Showcase in Ann Arbor, MI. He also holds regular comedy writing and performance workshops at Walter Payton's Roundhouse in Chicago.

Chili has written for and worked with the likes of Pulitzer prize winning political cartoonist Mike Peters, Jay Leno, Ron White, Fred Willard, George Lopez, Steve Harvey, Sinbad, Drew Carey, Ellen Degeneres, Gilbert Gottfried, Arsenio Hall, Bill Hicks and many more. He also has extensive experience in opening shows for musical acts such as: Todd Rungren, the late Count Basie and his Orchestra, Leno Redbone, George Clinton and the P Funk All Stars, the late Ray Charles, Kool and the Gang and the Bob&Tom national radio show to rave reviews... etc.

If you're new to stand up order and read Chili's book Stand Up Comedy With a Side of Chili, available currently thru Lulu. Also look for Chili's comedy dojo and take a class or seminar. Chili also privately coaches standup comedians. Contact him at comedyink@aol.com for details on private classes online and by phone.

Pete Weiss

Originally from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Pete Weiss certainly has the ability to stand onstage and talk and has been doing so on Michigan stages since 2004. A favorite among other comics and the occasional audience member or two, Pete enjoys intensifying his lackadaisical approach to stand up with flashes of brutal, self-lacerating honesty. A recent move to Los Angeles has done nothing to dull the edges.

Projects in the works include a comic book, a one-man show, a television pilot, and several short films. We'll see if he gets around to it all.

With fellow Michigan comics Nate Fridson, Adam Sokol, and Matt McClowry, Pete wrote and performed on a snarky commentary track for the movie Superman IV that took approximately as much time and effort as the recording of The Beatles' White Album. Look for it on rifftrax.com, and look for Pete Weiss on MySpace and Facebook if you want.

Walter Pookrum

Walter Pookrum is a Detroit-area lawyer and comedian. When he's not rolling his eyes at some lying defendant's half-assed excuses, he can be found at the forefront of Detroit's comedy scene. Walter's biting wit and understated delivery have earned him gigs at Joey's Comedy Club, Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle, and many other local venues.

One day he'll step into the 21st Century and get a MySpace page. In the meantime, if you want more Walter you'll have to catch him in the clubs or check him out on Comcast On Demand.

Stu McCallister

The outspoken and entertaining Stu McCallister hates writing bios; although he has no problems talking about himself, the act of writing bios bores him to tears and after a few sentences he just starts making things up.

He is the MC of Grand Rapid's long-running open mic at Dr. Grins, and has been a fixture in the Michigan comedy scene for years. He works tirelessly to dispel the popular myth of the surly comic by volunteering at Crash's Landing cat shelter, and by generally being a nice guy to comics who don't act like jackasses in the clubs. He's a runner, and a social worker, and...

...oh, the hell with this.

You can visit his MySpace page. There you'll find some awesome pictures of Stu doing what he loves: standing in front of a microphone, posing with other comics, and drinking. You can also put his name into the search box on YouTube and find videos of him introducing other comics.

Stu also invented a flying car that runs on air, moonbeams, and a teaspoon of Johnny Walker Red - not Black. That's very important. Don't use Johnny Walker Black in the StuMobile!

...anyway, the Big Three sent a whole pack agents around to steal the plans. You know, like when The Shop sent about 20 guys to pick up Drew Barrymore in Firestarter? Yeah, it was just like that. This was a few years back, when Stu was still living in the Bayou. The agents haven't been seen since; on an unrelated note, there were reports of widespread sightings of obese alligators in the Bayou that year.

...anyway, Stu won't talk about what happened, so you might as well not even ask him. Frankly, the whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth and he doesn't want to make the flying cars any more. So he's not gonna.