Wrap: Catherine Black and T’Shaun Barrett

Our guests for the evening were actress and Canadian person Catherine Black and actor/comedian/Magic Castle insider T’Shaun Barrett.

Who can resist a nice smile like that? Certainly not us. Watch this show at www.thestream.tv.

For the first time in, oh, several shows, our core commando team of Stu, John and Jessie were in the house and working an episode together. To commemorate this increasingly special occasion, the three sang a commemorative song to open the show and greet the audience – “Hello”, in which they all, uh, sang “hello” both solo and in harmony. We have a sneaking suspicion that whoever wrote the lyrics didn’t spend a lot of time on their work. Following that, a brief recap of our three leads’ respective Valentine’s Days revealed that Stu spent the night alone thinking disturbingly sub-sexual thoughts about John’s hair.  Keep the pomade far away from that man, we beg you.

John, working hard and earning his pay on another set of lyrics... ummm, maybe not.

Fabulous hair was on full display with our first guest, Canadian actress Catherine Black. True to her name and hair color, Catherine has appeared in several movies/TV shows of a dark nature. Her most recent filmic effort, the fact-based The Donner Party, concerns a group of California settlers falling prey to cannibalism in a desperate bid for survival. Since she often appears in grim material, we felt it appropriate to throw the quiz “I Goth It Right” her way. Catherine had to guess which nearby word or name was replaceable by “Goth” (e.g., “Lead singer of Van Halen – David Lee Goth”). Would anyone like a bowl of chicken goth while you read this, by the way? Ha ha. We’re such wordsmiths.

Catherine looking bright and perky, at least before we forced her to take the Goth quiz.

There was nothing Goth-y about our next guest, actor and funny guy T’Shaun Barrett. T’Shaun’s been acting and comedian-ing since his very early teens, when he scored a part in a play being performed at his dad’s church. He’s since made it into film, TV and commercials, perhaps the most known of which is the current McDonald’s spot where he plays a penny-pinching, jack-hammering husband desperate to save money.

T'Shaun challenges Stu to a ninja fight in the parking lot. Good thing Our Host stashed a pair of nunchucks in his crutches.

T’Shaun confessed to us his childhood dream of becoming a ninja, which made him a perfect candidate for our quiz game requiring deadly stealth and nerves of iron, “Power, Fame or Fatty”. T’Shaun had to identify whether a named person was a current Olympic medalist, a president of a country, or a champion competitive eater. He somehow guessed that guy who holds the record for eating the most ears of corn at one sitting, but only broke even on the overall quiz. Obviously, he isn’t ninja material after all.

Stu falls for T'Shaun's old "I just made your paycheck disappear" trick.

It’s good that he has other talents, then. We provided a deck of cards for this aspiring magician (and Magic Castle apprentice – get us in, T’Shaun!) in our segment “Useful Skills With T’Shaun Barrett”, and he correctly guessed the card Stu picked. Rumors that our Houdini for the evening put small mirrors on the suspiciously placed set of crutches used by Stu for his “foot injury” have been strenuously denied by T’Shaun’s representatives and lawyers.

John can't hide his seething, rivalrous hatred for Stu. Good thing our guests are saner.

We wrapped the episode with one of our (okay, one of Jessie’s) favorite bits, “Strictly Platonic”. This edition of our old chestnut included lovelorn posts from one man with “all sorts of crazy fantasies about being a gay slut” and another who’s offering women to “meet for coffee i could rub your feet their or out in public”. This gentleman is particularly generous – “YES IT FREE” he writes.

Go ahead and watch this show. YES IT FREE. www.thestream.tv

Quick: who’s Clicker.com’s best of 2009 in the live TV category? We’ll give you a hint – us! Damn, we accidentally gave it away.

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