Dear People of every kind, we recently found the little-known and magnificently recorded “Four Hits” CD put together by Eli Crews for Miriam and Helen, the first characters Beth and I ever created. They were child stars who went through 25 bands in 25 years, hoping to find the right fit (big time loss when they both emotionally detoured after a spoken word mishap fueled by feminist superstar Regina McGillicunty). If you caught our extremely popular live show or short film “Fumbling Toward Rock: The Miriam and Helen Story,” you probably still have “My Turtleneck” stuck in your head. Would you like to venture down that wonderful road again? Perhaps displace “We Built This City on Rock and Roll” for a minute in the ole noggin?
Brainstorming session to name our new short film
We figured it out over a gchat session…and for the record, Beth always names our films and other projects. She’s a freaking pro.
beth lisick
9:10 PM
hello!
beth lisick
9:11 PM
let us BEGIN
me
9:12 PM
Hi!!!
Sorry what was I doing but texting Zari about my cats
Okay I’m going to pull up the script
in case there is a line we should use
beth lisick
9:13 PM
got a glass of wine!
me
9:13 PM
Done. We should call it The Big Dong
beth lisick
9:14 PM
DONE
seriously though. something about the big one. the big dong. the biggest dong
me
9:14 PM
Bowling Ballz
HAHAHAHAHAHA THE BIGGEST DONG
beth lisick
9:14 PM
the biggest dong in town
swinging dongs
me
9:14 PM
Run With the Big Dongs
beth lisick
9:14 PM
hahahahaa
me
9:15 PM
Ding Dong Throng
The Dong Throng
beth lisick
9:15 PM
just realizing that maybe we should build on some tension that we have to get to the comedy club by a certain time
me
9:15 PM
All the Holes
beth lisick
9:16 PM
all the holes!!!
Use the Holes
me
9:16 PM
Yes we should build on the tension because what is the point of our movie anyway
beth lisick
9:16 PM
right
me
9:16 PM
realized that when explaining it today!!!
What is the actual story!!!
beth lisick
9:16 PM
right
in dfp we had a much bigger story
more was at stake for mitzi’s future!!!
me
9:17 PM
but on the other hand we did it right because we didn’t get the story complicated
it’s simple
beth lisick
9:17 PM
true
but maybe we need to write a few lines about how we have to get to the open mic
me
9:17 PM
should we run into troubles while finding our clothes
beth lisick
9:17 PM
that is why we are sprinting
without our clothes on
me
9:17 PM
we should do that
beth lisick
9:17 PM
is it a contest?
me
9:19 PM
Oh!!
I like that!
The nature of the contest.
beth lisick
9:19 PM
maybe we have to get there on time to enter a contest
bucky could say a few lines about it
me
9:19 PM
Maybe the contest somehow leads to us defining women
or designing women
beth lisick
9:20 PM
sprinting for holes
me
9:20 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT ARE YOU
YES
THAT IS THE TITLE
beth lisick
9:20 PM
A hole to fill
me
9:20 PM
Sorry for the all-caps but come on
I’m not made of stone
beth lisick
9:20 PM
LOOSE SLOTS
me
9:20 PM
PERFECT
beth lisick
9:20 PM
EMOTY SLOT
EMPTY SLOT
me
9:21 PM
From Slots to Holes
beth lisick
9:21 PM
hahahahahahahha
me
9:21 PM
All My Slots-n-Holes
Poles Slots Holes
beth lisick
9:21 PM
Slot and Hole
me
9:22 PM
Oh my god Slot and Hole
beth lisick
9:22 PM
Countdown for something or other
Tick Tock for the Big Dong Award
me
9:23 PM
Finger Holes
AAAAAHHHHHHH
Tick Tock for the Big Dong Award
beth lisick
9:23 PM
Tick Tock for Ding Dongs
me
9:23 PM
Shut it
oh my god
These are all incredible
beth lisick
9:23 PM
i wish we could call it all of these things!
me
9:23 PM
ME too!!!!
beth lisick
9:24 PM
Tick Tock for Ding Dongs is pretty good.
me
9:24 PM
I think Tick Tock for Ding Dongs??
beth lisick
9:24 PM
do we have it???
me
9:24 PM
GREAT MINDS
beth lisick
9:24 PM
cause then we can get dong in there but it’s not so donglike
me
9:25 PM
Totally
beth lisick
9:25 PM
is the comedy award called ‘the big dong’, at least in our minds
me
9:25 PM
Although Tick Tock for the Big Dong Award is so Ready Freddie? Teddies!
beth lisick
9:25 PM
wait was is that? ready freddie? teddies!
me
9:26 PM
Yes it is the big dong
That was one of the options for DFP
or Rusty Citation
beth lisick
9:26 PM
OH MY GOD
okay so tick tock for ding dongs or tick tock for the big dong award
me
9:27 PM
I think we can’t call the award the Big Dong or rather we can, but if we do we would need to change the joke, right?
beth lisick
9:27 PM
right
maybe too much for the award to be the big dong
me
9:27 PM
How is it real that we might call it Tick Tock for the Big Dong Award
beth lisick
9:27 PM
if it were an episode of strangers with candy maybe
me
9:28 PM
I can’t stop laughing
beth lisick
9:28 PM
if it were longer there could be an explanation of why it’s called that.
like the comedy club is called Ding Dongs
me
9:28 PM
HAHAHAHAHA YES
beth lisick
9:28 PM
samara could say SAVE IT FOR DING DONGS
me
9:28 PM
Samara can say “save it for Ding Dongs”
beth lisick
9:28 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
me
9:28 PM
WAIT WE TYPED THAT AT THE SAME TIME
beth lisick
9:29 PM
I KNOW LOVE IT!!!!!!
me
9:29 PM
I got confused when both our names popped up with the same words
beth lisick
9:29 PM
me too
absolutely amazing
and perfect
okay, so is it Tick Tock for Ding Dongs?
me
9:30 PM
SEriously so real so okay, how does this work with the joke and film title…?
God I almost think we should write a new joke
beth lisick
9:30 PM
if we called it TTFDD we don’t have to worry about the joke so much as if the award is called the big dong, right?
oh yeah maybe!
me
9:31 PM
Because Ding Dongs is such an amazing name
And the title TTFDD is fantastic
But do we even know any other jokes?
beth lisick
9:31 PM
or is the comedy contest for sing dongs a contest to see who can use the word DONG best in a joke?
me
9:31 PM
YES YES YES
Oh my god
beth lisick
9:31 PM
then clearly they are the winners!
me
9:32 PM
that is the perfect ending for the scene is that they are winners
beth lisick
9:32 PM
our ending scene eating the chips is a victory lap!
me
9:32 PM
“YOU GUYS ARE WINNERS”
this is so good
beth lisick
9:32 PM
wait who says you guys are winners
me
9:33 PM
I don’t know but it seems funny
Bucky!!
beth lisick
9:33 PM
right. maybe c&m even say something to c&d when they pass on the street
me
9:34 PM
Definitely
I want to make all these updates to the script before I forget
beth lisick
9:34 PM
do they win a golden dong trophy?
me
9:35 PM
Surely we can scoop one up in the Castro??
At Does Your Father Know
beth lisick
9:35 PM
they walk down the street with the bag of chips and the golden dong award
me
9:36 PM
So perfect
beth lisick
9:36 PM
yeah!
PS this chat should be posted on our website.
me
9:37 PM
How do I take a picture of it with my computer?
beth lisick
9:40 PM
oh! let me look it up.
me
9:40 PM
By the way this is consistent with your naming prowess of yore
You always name our stuff
It’s so great
beth lisick
9:41 PM
well, at least now we have a record of the incredible brainstorming that led to it because on my own, i would NEVER be able to do it.
me
9:42 PM
Okay where should we talk about the contest? In that opening scene?
beth lisick
9:42 PM
yes. when we’re rehearsing.
Lady in a Kid Car
Maybe she lost her license or someone else has the car and she didn’t want to walk to the store.
Driving with Voices
My role in this is deplorable but Beth’s just ruins me every time.
Punchy drive from L.A. to S.F.
Beth Lisick and Tara Jepsen

Beth Lisick and Tara Jepsen began their collaboration over a 12-pack of Pabst in the summer of 1999. They have performed their super maxi comedy in an exhaustive list of venues and events, including San Francisco Sketchfest (2009, 2010, 2011), UCB Theater LA, the first Homo-a-Gogo in Olympia, WA, Billionaires for Bush, NYC’s Dixon Place, and in a vegan’s living room in Santa Barbara. Their award-winning short Diving for Pearls was removed from YouTube for an unknown offense, possibly nudity and an inability to let anything be precious.
Two recent highlights:
Finishing in the top three of SF MoMA and Tony Labat’s “We Want You” competition as their gay man characters Don and Phil (who are always shirtless) during election time in 2008. Artists were invited to come in and sloganeer for one minute. Candidates delivered messages pleading for more bike lanes and an end to human rights abuses. Beth and Tara came in third after 1. a sex workers’ rights message, and 2. end racism, with “We want YOU to have a little class.” Followed by a brief debate regarding the merits of decorating with Hummel figurines versus Lladro figurines.
Tara and Beth recently appeared in conjunction with Tammy Rae Carland at Yerba Buena’s Bay Area Now 6 opening as Carole and Mitzi. They lead unsolicited gallery tours, offered uneducated opinions, repeatedly cleared the dance floor with their hot moves and did the splits. A sea of incredulous onlookers earnestly filmed and photographed the gals.
