A Letter from Apple CEO Tim Cook by Mark Colomb

Good Day Consumers,

It's Tim Cook here. I hope this letter finds you well. Are you working hard and saving your money for a new iPhone 5S or the next iPad Maxi that we plan to release this summer? Our manufacturing partners are working day and night to bring you the the slightest of upgrades on all your favorite devices. Figured I would just drop you a line about some market research we have been doing about our Apple end users.

You know all those cameras on your phones, iPads, and computers? We had them set up to send us pictures of you every two minutes for the last five years. That's right, we know exactly what you've been doing and who you've been doing it with almost every minute of every day for the last five years. It's been a fascinating project for us. Trillions of terabytes of data on how you use your phones and what you do while you use your computers. Let me share some of it with you.


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An annotated response to the response to A Letter to the C2E2 Organizers by Mark Colomb

Earlier this week, I posted a letter written by Mark Colomb that was the product of an ongoing creative project he's working on.

The letter detailed the clearly fake struggles of ​a clearly fake person who was declined entrance to the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo last weekend because he was dressed like a giant scrotum. A local nerd themed bar posted it on their Facebook timeline, initially thinking it was real, and asked their fans for some thoughts on the implications of the piece. As is often the case on the Facebook pages for local businesses, things quickly got out of hand and the post was soon removed.

Unfortunately, Mark was unable to respond to the controversy directly on the post before it was deleted, but was, thankfully, able to save a series of screenshots of the comments. Mark sent over an annotated version of these screenshots, offering his response to the numerous concerned nerds. Read More
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A Letter to the C2E2 Organizers by Mark Colomb

​​Dear C2E2 Organizers,

Congratulations on another successful comic book convention in Chicago. My name is Craig Anders and I used to really enjoy attending your convention. The previous convention in town, Wizard World, was near the airport and it was difficult to attend in costume as people on the Blue Line train would often rob those of us dressed up as characters from popular culture. At many a Wizard World I saw a Dr. Who (usually Tom Baker's Doctor) bloodied and crying on the train while his companion (usually a zaftig Rose Tyler) cried out for help as the villains escaped with their wallet and swag bag. By moving the convention downtown you have saved many a life and given the large and varied fan community in Chicago a place to rally around.

That is why it is with great sadness that I am writing to let you know I will be unable to attend the show in the future. You see, I was denied entry into C2E2 this year. When asked why I was told that my costume was deemed "inappropriate" and that I should be "ashamed of myself" and that "why would a grown ass man think that any part of this was ok?" What about me was so inappropriate? I was dressed as a character of my own creation. I was dressed as Scrotie the Sexual Avenger. He is the star of a very popular web comic.


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Poor Choices Presents: Seasick

I began listening to Mark Colomb's Poor Choices podcast almost immediately after moving to Chicago in 2010. His interviews with local performers were a great way of finding out about shows and learning more about the scene. Colomb retired the show after releasing its 200th episode, an incredibly engaging conversation with The Annoyance's Mick Napier, in the Fall of last year.

Seasick, Colomb's newest project, features a variety of segments, like interviews, reviews, and sketches all based around a single theme. The first episode explores the difficulties, limitations, and volatility of following a dream. The show's most prominent and thought-provoking component is a conversation with Beth Melewski, whose career priorities have shifted over time to something more unique and nuanced than the pie-in-the-sky aspirations of many other performers. Other segments include a pair of Scharpling and Wurster-inspired phone conversations and a short discussion about Scorsese's oddly predictive film The King of Comedy. 

There's no set release schedule for upcoming episodes of Seasick, but I look forward any more that are produced. Click here to subscribe to the show (and download past episodes of Poor Choices) on iTunes.

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A Letter to Comcast from a My Little Pony Fan by Mark Colomb

Dear Comcast,

My name is Richard R. Douglas and I have been getting comcastic service from you for the last three years. Recently I received a letter from you folks claiming that I had been downloading movies illegally from something called The Pirates Bay. I will have you know I am the victim of an elaborate plot from my neighbor Tad Crumple. Tad has hacked me. I have been hacked. I am being charged with copyright violations and I will not stand for it.

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Fleetwood Mac Men

Mark Colomb retired his in-depth chat show Poor Choices Podcast late last year after two hundred episodes, culminating with an excellent interview with Mick Napier from The Annoyance Theater. Among other projects forthcoming, Colomb has used the freed up creative energy to shoot more short films, which often feature up-and-coming performers from the city's sketch and improv community.

Fleetwood Mac Men is his latest short, and appears to featrue every male sketch performer in Chicago who's ever chosen to stay at home and get sad with a copy of Rumors. Check out the clip below, and check his Youtube channel for more well-shot gems.

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