John OConnell - Comedian - Writer

"The Abduction of Jesse Bookman", a film I cowrote just won Best Film and Best Actor at the American Black Film Festival in L.A. I have had a lot of dreams in my life, but being a black filmmaker was never one of them.

"Pineapple" is now available on DVD. You can get it at Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster, pretty much anywhere. I didn't realize we were making a dark erotic thriller, but if that's what it takes to sell units, wtf. The distributor put a picture of a girl in lingerie on the cover that wasn't even in the film. We were pissed at first, then we saw it on the new releases shelf in Blockbusters all over the country, so I suppose we can overlook that. An amazing amount of people have rented it thinking it was "Pineapple Express". They are idiots if they made that mistake and deserve to lose their rental fee.

Oct 2006 - Post-production is almost complete on "Pineapple", the independent feature film I wrote and co-starred in. You can see the IMDB page here . Brian Vander Ark, of The Verve Pipe, is putting the finishing touches on the music and there is a little more work to do on sound design and titles. We should be having a screening in Austin sometime in October, then it's off to the festival circuit. Check back soon for more details.

Aug 2006 - I just returned from two weeks on the road with Ron White. Myself and the other members of The Texas Hill Country Writers Association were in our own tour bus and we followed Ron thoughout Texas, taking turns opening for "Tater" at night and writing during the day and partying 24/7. In case you don't know the, T.H.C. Writer's Assoc. is a group formed and financed by Ron so we can all write jokes, scripts, pitches and screenplays. Since it was Ron's idea and he reaches the biggest audience, he is the benefactor of a lot of the best standup we come up with. But, all of us had added to our acts and are writing more and better material than we have in years. Hopefully there will be a T.H.C. comics tour in the near future. For more on the Texas tour see Ron's sister Shea's blog on her myspace page Myspace.com/pitgirrl . Careful, there may be some adult and NSFW content there.

Feb 2006 - Great News!! I just got a call from Ron White and he is hiring me and some friends as writers. Don't know many details now. We'll all be getting together soon to iron them out. I think the idea is to make it a comedy think tank of sorts, but knowing Ron, myself and friends , it will be more of a drunk tank.

Jan 2006 - We finished shooting "Pineapple" the indie feature Steve Prince and I wrote. The shoot went very well, the only snag in three weeks of filming came when weather threatened an outdoor train trestle scene. We rescheduled it and got it in on the last day. A great wrap party started at Kenichi sushi bar moved to other bars downtown and ended up at our house in the wee hours, drunk and playing guitar. What a wild ride. It was a pleasure to work with so many professionals. We had a star-studded cast considering the budget. Lee Tergesen . a veteran actor that most will recognize from his role on desperate Housewives as Bree's A.A. sponsor and lover. But his skills run far deeper than that, as evidenced by a great perfomance. Anther great performance was turned in by Skye McCole Bartusiak , she already has some impressive film credits, but look for a long successful career from her.

I'm exhausted but have no time to rest. I'm off to Mnnesota and Wisconsin for two-week tour. See you on the road!

Sept 2005 - I'd been trying to organize and plan a benefit show since I watched helplessly as the Gulf Coast was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

I called Ron White, from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. He quickly agreed to come to Austin and headline the show. Margie Coyle, from CapCity Comedy Club and I began seeking a venue that could host an event of this scope. The Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas Performing Arts Center was our first choice. After an enormous effort on the part of the Bass staff, we secured the state of the art theater and sponsors KLBJ AM-FM and the Austin Chronicle.

When I told Turk Pipkin what I was up to, he said Harry Anderson was in town. Harry had been living in New Orleans where he owned a home, a magic shop and a nightclub. He, along with his wife and dogs had ridden out the storm at the nightclub. After three days they evacuated to Austin and Harry agreed to perform at the benefit.

Ticket sales were going very well, but I wanted one more comic to really make the show a star-studded affair.

I had met Tommy Chong a few times through my friend, comic Nancy Reed. I asked Nancy to put me in touch with Tommy. I told him what we were doing and he said he'd be glad to fly in from LA for the show.

The show was a huge success. We raised $85,000 for the American Red Cross. The crowd was fantastic. A packed house got to see some incredible performances by top-notch national talent. Everyone had a great time. Many people were responsible for making the show a success. Everyone volunteered their time and services, from the headline acts to the ushers and bar staff. I'd like to especially thank the audience for ponying up the cash for a good cause.

The generosity of all involved is what made this event such a success. The staff at PAC were instrumental in getting this show together, especially Tim Neece, Cameron Smith, Brette Lea and Charles Leslie. The Austin Chronicle, Dudley and Bob on KLBJ-FM , Sammy and Bob on KVET and The KGSR morning show all helped tremendously by promoting the show. I'm proud to be associated with all these people and to be a part of a community like Austin, Texas.