Praise on my eco comedy from Down Under

Got this beautiful email this morning from an eco-crusader down in Australia:

Hey Josh,
I have a green message website - converseconserve.com, and think your Enviroman identity and videos are fantastic. We had a Get Eco Creative exhibition earlier this year as part of the Sustainable Living Festival Melbourne, Australia. 
I was just wondering if you are happy for me to add one of your videos in my website? I already posted a link to one of them on my converseconserve blog.
I hope to hear back and all the best with your continuing and highly important role as enviroman.
Keep up the jolly good green work,
Cheers
-- Nicolle Kuna
Author
www.converseconserve.com

I checked out her blog and found the post that you can see by clicking here or in the attached screen grab. Nice to know Enviroman is making a difference globally. Take that, Superman. ;)

I made a video for the Live Green Toronto Awards

After his physically gruelling performance on Come Date With Me Canada, Enviroman was resting up during the Family Day long weekend. But when the Live Green Toronto Awards asked him to make a little video to solicit entries, he answered the call! Sort of.

I learned how to make a green smoothie

Here's me learning how to make a smoothie that will turn my body even more Daniel Craigish than it already is. (Hard to believe I could get any more James Bond, I know.) I probably should have cut this down to a pithy 5 minutes. But everything Lisa Labute, the founder of The Goods, taught me was so useful that I wanted you to have all the, um, goods.

A teaser for a top secret webseries

Sometimes projects take a long time to work their way through the production process. But I hate to leave you loyal blog readers starving for news. So I'm treating you to images from a webseries I've been shooting for the past couple of months. After shooting an episode, the director wanted to grab a few quick photos of us. I can't tell you much about the show until we officially launch it. But if you know anything about my lovely co-host, you might come up with some clues. Vanessa Farquharson is a well-known author/journalist/speaker with a particular interest in helping the environment. In fact, I first became aware of her when I saw her eco column in the National Post and I emailed her to say hi.
She wound up including me in a story about green dating, we later mulled over doing some kind of green show together, and, well, years later... Ok, if I say any more I'll be killed. Just enjoy the pictures.

I made one of the Top political YouTube videos of 2011!

This week I was thinking back on 2011 and wondered if my Love Song for Elizabeth May really just happened this year. Seems so long ago. But then tonight, on the last night of the year, I got a nice reminder that, yep, it happened in 2011: According to Yahoo! News, it was one of the Top political YouTube videos of 2011. Check out the article by clicking here. Glad I could be a part of a big Green step forward for Canada. Here's to more steps in 2012!

I turn down a bath with a swimsuit model to save water

A test pilot for the series My Life Is Garbage (formerly called Ecosexual) that educates about eco issues by harnessing the clean, green power of my pathetic life. Thanks to actresses Camila Mendes and Katie Uhlmann for offsetting my unattractiveness.


SYNOPSIS: Josh's passion for the environment can get him into hot water. Or not, as we see in this episode, where his sexy, Brazilian swimsuit model date takes him home and wants to have a bath with him.

Elizabeth May loves me back!

When I posted my Love Song For Elizabeth May on Monday night, I dreamed of her adding me to Facebook. Tuesday afternoon, my dream came true. But never did I dare to dream that she would love me back. And if that can happen, anything is possible. Like her winning a seat in Parliament! Looks like I'm going to be the First Lady of Canada, just like Michelle Obama! Or something like that. In any case, I better go pick out my organic hemp inauguration dress!

Success!

Last night I uploaded a song for Elizabeth May to YouTube. At the end of the song I asked her to add me to Facebook. And tada! She may be the leader of a national political party, but she's still a woman. And women like it when you write songs about them.

A love song for the leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May

There's a federal election on in Canada, and Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party, was shut out of the televised leaders debate. I, however, will debate her any time and have written a song to express this to her. On the party's website they talk about Strong Economy and Strong Communities, so that's why I sing about those things. If you can't see the video above, you can view the song by clicking here. And here are the lyrics so you can sing along:

Hey, hey, Elizabeth May

I’m an eco-guy who thinks about you every day

So when I heard the TV station wouldn’t let you come and play

I hopped on public transit and I came here to say

I’ll debate you in the morning

Over organic tea

I’ll debate you in the afternoon

As we plant a tree

I’ll debate you in the evening

As we compost scraps of food

But there’s no debating I love you

Hey, hey, Elizabeth May

I’d love to talk to you about the Green Part-ay

If the other leaders won’t then they must be afraid

But don’t worry about them because I’m super-brave

I’ll debate you in the morning

About strong economies

I’ll debate you in the afternoon

About strong communities

I’ll debate you in the evening

About whatever else you’re into

But there’s no debating I love you

I won’t debate Stephen because questions make him mad

I won’t debate Jack ‘cause I’m allergic to his stache

Gilles won’t like my accent so I better save my breath

But I owe it to the planet to debate Elizabeth

Oh, I forgot Iggy. But, well, doesn’t everyone?

I’ll debate you in the morning

As we recycle all our jars

I’ll debate you in the afternoon

As we drive electric cars

I’ll debate you in the evening

Until my green face turns to blue

But there’s no debating I love you

Pop-culture site Crushable labels me the Worst Trend Ever

You may have thought Nazism was the worst trend ever. Or maybe even the Macarena. But you'd be wrong. At least according to pop-culture/celebrity gossip site Crushable. Because in this past Saturday's article, author Lilit Marcus writes that eco-comedy (or "eco-medy" as she calls it but which I refuse to call it because even though it's catchy it reminds me of email) is the "Worst Trend Ever." Now, she's basing this solely on the recent Mother Nature Network article about eco-comedians. And you'll notice that there's already a nice comment under the Crushable article saying that my bald joke is actually quite funny. Oh, after that MNN article was published I got an email was published from a guy starting a stand-up comedy site who wants a clip of that bald joke. But whether something is funny or not is obviously in the funny bone of the beholder. The other question is whether the work is indeed "green washing," as the article suggests. I can only speak for my own work, but I can say that I'm careful to insert accurate, important environmental information in my stand-up comedy and short films. Now, I know the article was written tongue-in-cheek, but I'd still like to defend what little honour I have. And so I'm happy to report that Crushable liked my Facebook fan page posting about the article and has contacted me with an invitation to convince them that they're wrong about eco-comedy. I'm up for the challenge. Though to be honest, I'm actually happy to be known as the poster boy for the Worst Trend Ever. Takes some focus off my other role as poster boy for the Worst Date Ever.

I'm a GreenHeroes category winner! Come to the Green Living Show to see if I win the Grand Prize!!

GreenHeroes is an eco web channel and television series that will be announcing the Grand Prize Winner of their GreenHero contest at the Green Living Show this Sunday. The lucky winner, selected from nominations to www.greenheroes.tv (to see my nomination, click here) will be featured in an upcoming episode of GreenHeroes. Why am I telling you this? Because I just got an email saying I'm a category winner! Which apparently means that at the very least, I'll be getting a T-shirt. Which is very exciting for me, because it means I can delay doing laundry for another day. Oh, and I'm also now in the running for the Grand Prize. To see the Green Living Show's Main Stage schedule click here, and be at the Green Living Show on Sunday at 1:30 PM to congratulate me. Or to console me. Either way, I will let you touch my T-shirt.


Oh, and for the skeptics who need proof, here's the email:


Congratulations Josh! I am pleased to let you know that you are a category winner in the GreenHeroes contest!

With this distinction, you are also a finalist for the Grand Prize winner. The winner will be announced this coming Sunday, April  17^th at 1:30 p.m..

We will be making a short presentation on-stage to all the finalists and then will be announcing the grand prize winner.  It would be great if you could join us to celebrate.

As a finalist you will receive a green heroes t-shirt, so please let us know your size, and if you will be able to attend on Sunday. We have a complimentary ticket for you and a guest. We also hope to host a little celebration afterward at our booth #337.

  

Thanks for participating and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Joan Prowse

Producer

www.GreenHeroes.tv

Watch these bits from Night For Nature 2010 and come to this year's tomorrow!

To help you get in the mood for tomorrow's Night For Nature show, which I'll be MC'ing for the 2nd year in a row, here are some eco-riffic bits from last year's show. And this year promises to be even more exciting, with dancing, music, and even a presentation by HGTV host Carson Arthur. Plus, the silent auction and raffle prizes are worth the trip alone. So come! It will be the most environmentally-friendly thing you do tomorrow night. Unless you were planning to build a solar farm between 6 and 9 PM. In which case, I guess go do that instead. But otherwise, get the ticket information by clicking here.

The WMEAC Blog asks if my eco-comedy is effective

Click here to read a nice piece about my eco-comedy in the WMEAC Blog (oh please, stop pretending you don't know WMEAC stands for West Michigan Environmental Action Council). The article ends by asking the reader to decide if eco-comedy is an effective tactic. Well, I sure hope it's effective, 'cause otherwise hosting Night For Nature in two days will be a waste of my Friday night. Oh, who am I kidding... I'd just be spending Friday night crying into my pillow as usual. So at least I'm getting out of the house. If you, too, need an excuse to pry yourself from your tear-salted bedding this Friday, get ticket info at the Facebook event listing by clicking here. I'm not saying you'll see a live performance of my new love song for Green Party leader Elizabeth May, but, well, ok, yes, I'm saying that.

America's Comedy reports on MY comedy!

If any U.S. customs agents are reading this, I want you to know that having a video featured on the site America's Comedy grants me permission to work in America. After all, did you hear that Conan O'Brien got his start by having a video featured on America's Comedy? He didn't, but I was wondering if you'd heard that. Ok, ok, fine, ouch - Enough with the cavity search. Just check out the article by clicking here.

My eco-comedy is profiled in The Ottawa Citizen!

The Ottawa Citizen. Leading newspaper in our Nation's Capital. Keeping us informed about the most important issues in our country since 1845. And today, I am one of those issues. Well, ok, maybe the environment is the real issue in this story. But still, it's me getting the word out. I don't see any trees winning eco-comedy film awards. Trees are so lazy. I'm just kidding, I love trees. I mean, not THAT way. I'm into women. Although, come to think of it, I'd probably have more success with trees. Anyway, what was I happy about a second ago? Oh, right. The article. Check it out by clicking here.

Mother Nature Network profiles me in eco-comedy article!

Recently, a writer from Mother Nature Network asked to include me in a story about eco-comedians. And today that story was published. You can see the section about me by clicking here. And that's that. I can't think of anything witty to add. Which kind of undermines the story's claim that I'm one of the funniest eco-comedians. So I'll just end this post now and hope nobody notices that it wasn't funny. (Although, hey, by writing that this post wasn't funny, I'm supporting her claim that "Josh Rachlis specializes in his own brand of self-deprecating eco-irreverence." Ok,  whew. Reputation salvaged.)

My eco-comedy video wins eco-comedy video contest!

So, I heard about an eco-comedy video contest. Of course I was happy about this, because it means the eco message is getting spread. But it made me feel less special to know I'm not the only one making eco-comedy videos. Fortunately, my feeling of specialness returned upon receiving notice that I won the contest. Yah, that's right - Bring it on, eco-comedy videomakers! Bring it on!!! Wait, that's not very Gaia of me, is it? Ah, screw it. It's every environmentalist for him/herself. So I'll paste in the announcement email below to intimidate any future eco-comedy videomakers who might be getting any bright ideas. Like they used to put heads on poles to warn people what would happen if they made eco-comedy videos. Or something like that.

---

Subject: Winners of the Eco-Comedy Video Competition

Dear Friends,

I want to share with you the short, humorous video projects submitted to the Third Annual Eco-Comedy Video Competition.  We launched this competition as a way to encourage the use of humor in the fight for conservation.

All submissions are now available for you to enjoy here under the "Video Responses" heading.  I’ve included the four finalists at the end of this e-mail.  

I thank the Sierra Club, Eco-Sense, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Mill Reef Productions for making this competition possible through a partnership with SOC's Center for Environmental Filmmaking at AU.  I especially thank the Sierra Club for putting up the $1,000 prize money.

Congratulations to all our participants, and a very special congratulations to the two winners, Josh Rachlis for An Inconvenient Ruth, and Ben Zolno for Plastic State of Mind.  Josh and Ben will split the $1,000 prize from the Sierra Club.

Best, Chris

2011 Finalists:

ScamWOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMQCj9UHCpM 

The Energetic Energy-Saver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDMha4-DQwA

Plastic State of Mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0D0c4qXV90

An Inconvenient Ruth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mmkOF9qJAU&feature=email 

Professor Chris Palmer

Author of Shooting in the Wild: An Insider's Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom  (Sierra Club Books, 2010)

Distinguished Film Producer in Residence

Director, Center for Environmental Filmmaking

School of Communication, American University

4400 Mass Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20016-8017

palmer@american.edu

cell 202-716-6160; office 202-885-3408; home 301-654-6137

Center website: www.environmentalfilm.org

SOC profile: http://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/palmer.cfm

Shooting in the Wild on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/gOTUlc

Shooting in the Wild website: http://bit.ly/a4L3LU

Chris’s Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/#!/chrispalmer47

Follow me on Twitter @chrispalmer_au

Chris’s blog: http://soc-palmer.blogs.american.edu/

---

And here's my winning video, to reinforce to eco-comedy videomakers what they're up against when they mess with me:

Eco stand-up I wrote while delirious from a cold

Here's an eco stand-up act I did at The Eco Laundry Room on Oct. 16, 2010. Watch below or click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut917lKLUbI. I'd had a cold all week, but I persevered, in order to help the environment. Unfortunately, this act might have wound up hurting the environment.

I recycle a school project into eco stand-up comedy

Here's my eco stand-up comedy act from Sept. 17, 2010. Watch below or click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDGCSJZ9Ejc. Some background: Last summer, my friend Victoria was bored. So I got her interested in eco pursuits. Then I suggested she might enjoy taking a stand-up comedy class. Then I suggested she produce her own show so she could have a place to perform. She actually listened to me and started a comedy night The Eco Laundry Room. Though I'm the only one actually there who actually does eco-comedy. And this video may show you why. For my 1st appearance at this venue, I dug out and re-presented an old school project by young me (a.k.a. Little Josh). Wow, that's professional. Also, you'll note that the video is of low quality. What happened was, I saw that someone was filming it, so I didn't set up my tripod and camcorder. But as a back-up, I had my friend film it with my digital camera. But the microphone area was in shadow. And it turns out the camcorder footage from that person was so grainy that you can't even make out my face or my drawings. And my friend's hand was not only moving around, but she decided to film vertically, to get my whole body in. But of course, you can't just flip footage like you can a photo. So a friend who dabbles in editing helped me cobble together this video, so that you can at least get an idea of what was going on. Perhaps it will lead to my own eco-comedy show on Discovery Channel, so you'll be able to see me in crisp, well-lit, properly-oriented HD. Unlikely, though.

My eco vid airs on Comedy Network - and is reviewed as best video!

My eco hip hop music video was just featured on the Series Premiere of the Comedy Network's new Upload Yours TV show. You can see it at around 2:11 in Clip 2 of 2 by clicking here.


You can see the video mentioned in an article about the show that ran at dose.ca and canada.com and The Ottawa Citizen by clicking here and here and here. The quote is:

With Upload Yours, both established comedians and comedy hopefuls have the opportunity to exhibit their material to a national audience. And because the videos have been chosen from thousands of entries collected over the past several months, for the most part, they’re funnier and of a better quality than some of the sketches you’d see on a regular weekly sketch show. One video, called “The Owl and the Man,” features, well, a man in an oversized owl costume dealing with an intellectually deficient man; another, “An Inconvenient Proposal” is a rap ode to An Inconvenient Truth producer Laurie David.

And TV reviewer Cameron Archer says my video was the best on the show in the review you can read by clicking here. The quote is:

Upload Yours‘ debut features the works of Josh Rachlis, Pot of Coffee, Lars Classington, Jeff D’Silva and Perrodue5. Kelsey Anonsen performs some scats, earning four segments for some reason.

Josh Rachlis’ “An Inconvenient Proposal” is Upload Yours’ best sketch so far. It’s a white boy rap, but Rachlis forms the rap around his hard-on for An Inconvenient Truth producer Laurie David. His Upload Yours clip is well-edited and professional, if a bit obsessive over Larry David’s ex-wife.

Let's think about this. All the best Canadian comedy videos were uploaded to the Comedy Network site. The best of those were chosen to be in the TV show. And the reviewer says mine was the best of the videos on the show. So, I'd say that makes me the funniest person in Canada. And everyone knows that Canada produces the funniest comedians of any country (Jim Carrey, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen, all the SCTV members, etc.). So the way I figure it, I'm officially the Funniest Person On Earth®. Confirming what my only blog reader - my mom - has always told me. Strangely, though, I still can't get a girlfriend to save my life. So maybe something's a bit off in my calculations. Or maybe comedians just don't get action. Nuts. I should have become a rock star.

P.S. After I posted this blog post and tweeted it, the Comedy Network retweeted me, as you can see in the pic above. And they quoted my line from the end of the video! Which means they actually watched it! And remembered it! I mean, come ON!!! That's probably the highlight of my life. My sad, sad life.