Web Projects: Sites, Memes, Videos & Developing Concepts
Pokemon: The (Mini) Musical [May 3, 2011]
Pokemon: The Musical— the unauthorized, true story of the life and times of Ash Ketchum and friends. Plus singing. Plus puberty confusion. The show received press on popular gaming websites such as Kotaku, Smosh, and Escapist Magazine. Watch it here, learn more here.
Thomas Jefferson: The (Mini) Musical [April 4, 2011]
“Thomas Jefferson: The Musical” tells the entirely true story of how the greatest founding father ever founded the hell out of our nation—history books shmistory books. Somehow the experts have left out the parts about TJ as a disheveled, albeit lovable pimp who originally intended to write a “Declaration of Constitution” at a (super secret) slumber party. Fortunately, Martha Jefferson and Sally Hemmings came equipped with enough phallic jokes to save the day. Enjoy it here and read more at TJMusical.com
"Friday" A Short Play in One Act Based on Rebecca Black [March 21, 2011]
When Rebecca Black happened, the Charlottesville Community Players had to respond. Nestled in central Virginia, resisting the bucolic lifestyle of Thomas Jefferson's agrarian republic, this small avant-garde theater group has sprung up and is prepared to perform reactionary plays on the Internet to save our artistic souls.
Needless to say, the staged reading of "Friday" A Short Play in One Act by Jeff Luppino-Esposito was both a critical and mainstream success to theater/Rebecca Black lovers everywhere.
Watch the video here and expect more to come from this wild bunch!
Needless to say, the staged reading of "Friday" A Short Play in One Act by Jeff Luppino-Esposito was both a critical and mainstream success to theater/Rebecca Black lovers everywhere.
Watch the video here and expect more to come from this wild bunch!
Musical: The Online Musical [September 13, 2010 - December 12, 2010]
Musical: The Online Musical was the first-ever interactive musical. We invited you, Internet Consumer X, to contribute at every level.
The show itself is about a dude whose entire life IS a musical! But no one realizes this (except for him) and no one understands this (even when he tells them). When he accidentally causes the death of the main character, the town plunges into economic ruin. A villain takes over. He has a crippling foot fetish. Naturally, all this leads to conflict.
We posted 10-minute episodes every week on YouTube based on your input and completed the two-hour show! We received great press from Playbill, Backstage and the Washington Post along the way. It was a wild season and we couldn't have done it without our dedicated fans!
For more information and to contribute along the way, visit www.TheOnlineMusical.com
The show itself is about a dude whose entire life IS a musical! But no one realizes this (except for him) and no one understands this (even when he tells them). When he accidentally causes the death of the main character, the town plunges into economic ruin. A villain takes over. He has a crippling foot fetish. Naturally, all this leads to conflict.
We posted 10-minute episodes every week on YouTube based on your input and completed the two-hour show! We received great press from Playbill, Backstage and the Washington Post along the way. It was a wild season and we couldn't have done it without our dedicated fans!
For more information and to contribute along the way, visit www.TheOnlineMusical.com
Chillweezy [Lil Wayne meets 'Chillwave,' become friends: August 17, 2010]
Internet music genre phenomenon 'Chillwave' meets worldwide rap phenom Lil Wayne to birth an Internet-shaking masterpiece. If we may say so ourselves. As the creators. And dictators of the Internet Richter scale.
Watch the video and hear the songs here!
Watch the video and hear the songs here!
PopSense.com [Pop Culture/Humor Website: Active January 2008-September 2009]
Founded by Jeff Luppino-Esposito and Stelios Phili on the firm belief that pop culture news could be both hilarious and insightful, PopSense.com emerged in January of 2008, fearlessly taking on the new media world.
PopSense quickly gained a reputation for its commitment to promoting high quality content wherever it existed on the web and for its shamelessly honest approach to the world of pop culture. By the Summer of 2009 the web site was receiving approximately 60,000 regular visitors each month and was produced by 15 staff writers and 3 college interns under the direction of Jeff and Stelios. The team wrote between 8-12 new articles every single day to feed the culture hungry audience.
PopSense quickly gained a reputation for its commitment to promoting high quality content wherever it existed on the web and for its shamelessly honest approach to the world of pop culture. By the Summer of 2009 the web site was receiving approximately 60,000 regular visitors each month and was produced by 15 staff writers and 3 college interns under the direction of Jeff and Stelios. The team wrote between 8-12 new articles every single day to feed the culture hungry audience.
Popular & Influential Articles
• A Pitchfork-Style Review of Pitchfork
• Marriage and the Death of Jonas
• MLIC: My Life is College
• The Dead Weather: Translated
• The Life of a Trending Topic
• Cultural Rules to Live By
• So Where's Waldo Now?
• Show-Going Culture Explained
• An Ode to Twitter
• Radiohead Exclusive Release
• The Rise and Fall of Hipster Criticism
• Hipster Wife Hunting First Interview
All archived articles still available at PopSense.com although the site has been inactive since the Fall of 2009 due to new commitments for editors and staff members.
Video and Music by Jeff Luppino-Esposito
Bad Romance Gypsy Cover by The GaGa Sisterhood [Video: 6/8/10]
Under the pseudonym 'The GaGa Sisterhood,' Jeff and Stelios recorded a gypsy-style cover of the popular Lady GaGa song, 'Bad Romance.' Internet madness ensued.
Download the mp3 here:
Download the mp3 here:
| bad_romance_gypsy_cover.mp3 |
Stereotyping People By Their Favorite Indie Bands [Article: 12/21/09]
In a time of identity turmoil on the web, Jeff and Stelios did what needed to be done to the online music community-- force its members into narrow, insensitive stereotypes. The article (published on Flavorwire) took off in a heartbeat, getting retweeted hundreds of times and garnering over 140,000 page views and growing to this day. By swiftly defining listeners of particular indie bands in less than a sentence, the reactions ranged from wonderfully endless laughter to unjustifiably violent anger. One recent commenter on the article seems to sum it up best by saying, "I'm offended and impressed all at the same time." Thanks Mark, looks like we did something right. [Read the article here]
CarlesIsDead.com [Meme: Active November 30 - December 3, 2009]
When the wildly popular (albeit anonymous) blogger 'Carles' of HIPSTERRUNOFF staged his own Internet death by 'selling' his blog, Jeff and Stelios stepped up to fill the void with CarlesIsDead.com. In barely any time at all, this hilarious meme drew a huge influx of viewers, taking on the exact style of Carles' writing and pretending to be Carles in the Internet afterlife. Carles revived himself 4 days later, thus rendering the blog no longer necessary, but in that interim period, it warmed the hearts of ironic hipsters everywhere.
