David Alan Grier performs for the crowd at the UIC Theater.
Photo by Robb Hill, UIC News.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the filming of The Alchemy of Comedy, Stupid, on location in Chicago for the week of May 2 - May 9, 2005. LA based artist Edgar Arceneaux and crew shot the artist's video project over three days at three locations: the Science and Engineering Building, local Chicago bar Zakopane and the UIC Theater.

The crowd on stage at the UIC Theater Friday night.

Starring film and television comedian David Alan Grier, the film "The Alchemy of Comedy, Stupid " will break down comedy routines into non-sequential segments in order to examine how the joke is structured, how a distinct mental process underlies what we routinely experience as involuntary response.

Funnyman, David Alan Grier, on set at the SES building, Wednesday night.

The finished video will be presented October 4 - November 19, 2005 in a public exhibition at Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, which will also include echos of the film set and other works in sculpture and drawing by the artist.

"The Alchemy of Comedy" is generously supported by The Joyce
Foundation's 2005 Joyce Award.

Thad Sattayatam and Kamilah Autmon, two of the hard-working crew members, setting the lights on Wednesday night.

The band, Dark Fog, playing for the camera at Zakopane on Thursday night.

Artist/Director Edgar Arceneaux and David preparing for a take Wednesday night.