Windy City Heat
Encyclopedia
Windy City Heat is a made for TV reality film
produced by Comedy Central
. It first aired on October 12, 2003 and is shown in repeats. The DVD was released on September 26, 2006.
being played on an aspiring actor named Perry Caravello, allegedly a gullible friend of Jimmy Kimmel
and Adam Carolla
. Perry believes he has been given a chance to make a movie called Windy City Heat, a crime drama about a "sports private eye" named "Stone Fury". However, there is no such film; it is all an elaborate prank played on him by Kimmel and Carolla. Every actor, extra, or any other person who appears on the show was paid for by Jimmy Kimmel to add to the joke. The actual context of Windy City Heat is a behind-the-scenes look at the filmmaking process, which is really nothing more than a series of situations set up as pranks on Perry, playing on his gullibility and naïveté of the film industry.
Apparently, the joke had been played on Perry over eleven years of meticulous planning. Caravello was a struggling comedian and actor who was "discovered" in 1992 by Don Barris, the warmup comic
for Kimmel and Carolla's show The Man Show
. Barris allegedly promised Caravello a chance at stardom and, along with Tony Barbieri
playing the part of the perpetually stoned "Walter 'Mole' Molinski", he befriended Caravello and led him along for over eleven years. Together, Caravello, Barris, and Mole are known as "The Big Three", which Perry describes as "the Three Stooges
of the new millennium".
icon Carson Daly
, one of Caravello's biggest idols, who is also up for the role of the main character "Stone Fury" (and is dressed exactly like Perry). After a botched audition, interrupted numerous times by Barris and Mole, Perry eventually wins the role over Daly (later in the movie, Perry is shown a wall of stars that have also been considered but crossed off, including Harrison Ford
, Brad Pitt
, and Robert DeNiro). The plot of the movie he is supposed to be in is a ludicrous story involving "sports private eye" Fury trying to track down the actual refrigerator of William "Refrigerator" Perry and the pants of Ernie Banks
(Perry appears as himself and an actor portrays Banks). The film is directed by Bobcat Goldthwait
, who is the actual director, in addition to playing the director of the fake film-within-the-film, and only speaks to Perry through a bullhorn
.
Perry is followed around by at least fifteen cameras (some of which are hidden) during the filming process. Perry is told from the get go that he is being recorded and interviewed for the film's DVD extras. Some of the pranks include repeatedly dumping Perry into a dumpster filled with manure
; making him drink a milkshake made of coffee, Chinese food, raw egg, pizza, and beer, giving him a case of severe diarrhea
; and bringing in a stunt double to film Perry's sex scene with his leading lady. Along the way, Barris and Mole continue to egg Perry on—performing a balancing act of pushing his buttons and stroking his ego...only causing more problems on the set, increasingly infuriating Perry and frequently leading him to scream in a high-pitched shriek. Barris regularly tells Perry to "unleash the Fury".
Throughout the filmmaking process, Perry is introduced to several individuals, purported to be real people, whose names are identical to historical and cinematic figures. Such individuals include the producer of the movie, "John Quincy Adams
" (who Caravello never meets in person, but is voiced by Barbieri, and only calls when Mole leaves the room), casting director "Roman Polanski
" (who refuses to shake Caravello's hand, played by Dane Cook
), studio receptionist and soon to be co-star, "Susan B. Anthony
" (Lisa Kushell), Japanese "money man" "Hiroshima
Nagasaki
" (who backs out of financing the production when a table of treats is knocked over), limo driver "Travis Bickle
" (Dave Sheridan), set designer "Ansel Adams
" (Toby Huss
), and stagehands "Sacco and Vanzetti
". Perry never questions these coincidences, though he does express doubts as to the identity of a man purporting to be Charlton Heston
, who refused to leave Perry's assigned trailer. To placate him, Perry suavely offered the old man a cameo in the film, which he enthusiastically accepts with humorous results.
The film culminates in an intentionally hindered race to the fake film's "one time only screening" during which Perry is delayed by a number of setbacks, until finally making it in time to see a select few scenes of the film. The film itself (what is actually shown of it) features laughably unrealistic special effects, lines of dialogue ripped from Casablanca
and Gone with the Wind
, and even a dinosaur
(at the insistence of the film's financier). Following the screening, Perry is met with a round of applause from the audience, and is presented with a trophy from the "President of Show Business".
A running gag
in the movie is that whenever Caravello's name appears in print (on his trailer door, and on the marquee at the film's premiere), it is misspelled. When the DVD
of the film was released in 2006, the cover is listed as starring "Perry Karavello".
On Caravello's star commentary track for the DVD (recorded two years later), he acknowledges that he has since realized that sequences in the film were set up as pranks on him (he says he read about it online
), and that he knows Barris and "Mole" (Barbieri) were intentionally conniving to infuriate him, yet he continues to speak of the "film" and his acting abilities with the same gusto. He also gets emotional watching the scene at the film's premiere when he receives the trophy from the "President of Show Business", and says that he cries every time he watches it.
Also on the commentary, he claims that he was playing along during his audition, when Dane Cook introduces himself by the name "Roman Polanski", stating that he had "fucked with everybody" (he says he did a report on Roman Polanski in elementary school), yet he speaks as if he thinks he was actually on a real audition and won the part.
On June 1, 2007 Perry Caravello filed a lawsuit against Jackass
star Johnny Knoxville
alleging that Knoxville, along with Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, promised him ten million dollars to put his genitals in a mousetrap
to show that Perry F. Caravello could prove his "Stone Fury" worthiness live on The Adam Carolla Morning Show on 97.1 FM KLSX as a stunt, and to promote the recently released DVD, and also for payment for his performance in the movie. Caravello dropped this lawsuit on June 10, 2008. It is not known if Knoxville, Kimmel, or Carolla settled with Caravello monetarily.
As of early 2009, the settlement had to do with Caravello starring in Windy City Heat 2. There is no knowledge of when that filming will begin, or if it will be filmed again as a prank on Caravello.
In October 2010, Windy City Heat was spun-off
into a weekly podcast
called "The Big 3 Podcast". It features the same main characters, and many of the same concepts and running gags as Windy City Heat.
Reality film
Reality film or reality movie describes a genre of films that have resulted from reality television, such as The Real Cancun, MTV's film version of The Real World, which was originally titled Spring Break: The Reality Movie...
produced by Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. It first aired on October 12, 2003 and is shown in repeats. The DVD was released on September 26, 2006.
Background
The movie is presented as a practical jokePractical joke
A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...
being played on an aspiring actor named Perry Caravello, allegedly a gullible friend of Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel is an American television host and comedian. He is the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show and Win Ben Stein's Money...
and Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...
. Perry believes he has been given a chance to make a movie called Windy City Heat, a crime drama about a "sports private eye" named "Stone Fury". However, there is no such film; it is all an elaborate prank played on him by Kimmel and Carolla. Every actor, extra, or any other person who appears on the show was paid for by Jimmy Kimmel to add to the joke. The actual context of Windy City Heat is a behind-the-scenes look at the filmmaking process, which is really nothing more than a series of situations set up as pranks on Perry, playing on his gullibility and naïveté of the film industry.
Apparently, the joke had been played on Perry over eleven years of meticulous planning. Caravello was a struggling comedian and actor who was "discovered" in 1992 by Don Barris, the warmup comic
Opening act
An opening act or warm-up act is an entertainer or entertainment act that performs at a concert before the featured entertainer...
for Kimmel and Carolla's show The Man Show
The Man Show
The Man Show is an American comedy television show on Comedy Central. It was created in 1999 by its two original co-hosts, Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, and their executive producer Daniel Kellison.-Format:...
. Barris allegedly promised Caravello a chance at stardom and, along with Tony Barbieri
Anthony Barbieri
Anthony J. Barbieri is an American comedy writer and performer. He has appeared on television programs such as Crank Yankers and Jimmy Kimmel Live...
playing the part of the perpetually stoned "Walter 'Mole' Molinski", he befriended Caravello and led him along for over eleven years. Together, Caravello, Barris, and Mole are known as "The Big Three", which Perry describes as "the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
of the new millennium".
Plot
The film begins with the audition process, in which Perry is introduced to MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
icon Carson Daly
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly is an American television host. He is the host of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, a late-night talk show that began airing on January 7, 2002. Before his role as host of that program, Daly was a VJ on MTV's TRL, and a DJ for the Southern California based radio station KROQ-FM...
, one of Caravello's biggest idols, who is also up for the role of the main character "Stone Fury" (and is dressed exactly like Perry). After a botched audition, interrupted numerous times by Barris and Mole, Perry eventually wins the role over Daly (later in the movie, Perry is shown a wall of stars that have also been considered but crossed off, including Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
, Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, and Robert DeNiro). The plot of the movie he is supposed to be in is a ludicrous story involving "sports private eye" Fury trying to track down the actual refrigerator of William "Refrigerator" Perry and the pants of Ernie Banks
Ernie Banks
Ernest "Ernie" Banks , nicknamed "Mr. Cub", is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and first baseman. He played his entire 19-year baseball career with the Chicago Cubs . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.-High school years:Banks was a letterman and standout in football,...
(Perry appears as himself and an actor portrays Banks). The film is directed by Bobcat Goldthwait
Bobcat Goldthwait
Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film and television director. He is commonly known for his energetic, ravenous stage personality, his dark, acerbic black comedy, and his gruff but high-pitched voice.- Early life :Goldthwait was born in Syracuse,...
, who is the actual director, in addition to playing the director of the fake film-within-the-film, and only speaks to Perry through a bullhorn
Megaphone
A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped horn used to amplify a person’s voice or other sounds towards a targeted direction. This is accomplished by channelling the sound through the megaphone, which also serves to match the...
.
Perry is followed around by at least fifteen cameras (some of which are hidden) during the filming process. Perry is told from the get go that he is being recorded and interviewed for the film's DVD extras. Some of the pranks include repeatedly dumping Perry into a dumpster filled with manure
Manure
Manure is organic matter used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Manures contribute to the fertility of the soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are trapped by bacteria in the soil...
; making him drink a milkshake made of coffee, Chinese food, raw egg, pizza, and beer, giving him a case of severe diarrhea
Diarrhea
Diarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and...
; and bringing in a stunt double to film Perry's sex scene with his leading lady. Along the way, Barris and Mole continue to egg Perry on—performing a balancing act of pushing his buttons and stroking his ego...only causing more problems on the set, increasingly infuriating Perry and frequently leading him to scream in a high-pitched shriek. Barris regularly tells Perry to "unleash the Fury".
Throughout the filmmaking process, Perry is introduced to several individuals, purported to be real people, whose names are identical to historical and cinematic figures. Such individuals include the producer of the movie, "John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
" (who Caravello never meets in person, but is voiced by Barbieri, and only calls when Mole leaves the room), casting director "Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
" (who refuses to shake Caravello's hand, played by Dane Cook
Dane Cook
Dane Jeffrey Cook is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album...
), studio receptionist and soon to be co-star, "Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
" (Lisa Kushell), Japanese "money man" "Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
" (who backs out of financing the production when a table of treats is knocked over), limo driver "Travis Bickle
Travis Bickle
Travis Bickle is a fictional character from the 1976 film Taxi Driver, played by Robert De Niro. He is widely considered one of the most iconic characters in film history, and De Niro earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of him....
" (Dave Sheridan), set designer "Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
" (Toby Huss
Toby Huss
Toby Edward Huss is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Artie, the Strongest Man in the World on the cult hit Nickelodeon TV series The Adventures of Pete & Pete, for his voice-over work on the long running animated series King of the Hill, and for his role as Felix 'Stumpy'...
), and stagehands "Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
". Perry never questions these coincidences, though he does express doubts as to the identity of a man purporting to be Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
, who refused to leave Perry's assigned trailer. To placate him, Perry suavely offered the old man a cameo in the film, which he enthusiastically accepts with humorous results.
The film culminates in an intentionally hindered race to the fake film's "one time only screening" during which Perry is delayed by a number of setbacks, until finally making it in time to see a select few scenes of the film. The film itself (what is actually shown of it) features laughably unrealistic special effects, lines of dialogue ripped from Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
and Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, and even a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
(at the insistence of the film's financier). Following the screening, Perry is met with a round of applause from the audience, and is presented with a trophy from the "President of Show Business".
A running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
in the movie is that whenever Caravello's name appears in print (on his trailer door, and on the marquee at the film's premiere), it is misspelled. When the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of the film was released in 2006, the cover is listed as starring "Perry Karavello".
Outcome
Unlike typical prank shows, it is not revealed to Caravello at the end of the film that the entire thing was a prank. However, included on the DVD for the film is a video recording of Caravello watching the actual film for the first time in his home, alongside Barris and Barbieri (still in character as "Mole"). He does not seem to react as if anything is unexpected, and does not even acknowledge the fact that the finished product he is watching is not the film he thought he was going to be in.On Caravello's star commentary track for the DVD (recorded two years later), he acknowledges that he has since realized that sequences in the film were set up as pranks on him (he says he read about it online
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
), and that he knows Barris and "Mole" (Barbieri) were intentionally conniving to infuriate him, yet he continues to speak of the "film" and his acting abilities with the same gusto. He also gets emotional watching the scene at the film's premiere when he receives the trophy from the "President of Show Business", and says that he cries every time he watches it.
Also on the commentary, he claims that he was playing along during his audition, when Dane Cook introduces himself by the name "Roman Polanski", stating that he had "fucked with everybody" (he says he did a report on Roman Polanski in elementary school), yet he speaks as if he thinks he was actually on a real audition and won the part.
On June 1, 2007 Perry Caravello filed a lawsuit against Jackass
Jackass (TV series)
jackass is an American reality series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, self-injuring stunts and pranks...
star Johnny Knoxville
Johnny Knoxville
Philip John Clapp , better known by his stage name Johnny Knoxville, is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, stunt performer, best known for being the co-creator and principal star of the MTV reality series Jackass, with the catchphrase "I'm Johnny Knoxville, and welcome to Jackass."-Early...
alleging that Knoxville, along with Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla, promised him ten million dollars to put his genitals in a mousetrap
Mousetrap
A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch mice; however, it may also trap other small animals. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. There are various types of mousetrap, each with its own advantages...
to show that Perry F. Caravello could prove his "Stone Fury" worthiness live on The Adam Carolla Morning Show on 97.1 FM KLSX as a stunt, and to promote the recently released DVD, and also for payment for his performance in the movie. Caravello dropped this lawsuit on June 10, 2008. It is not known if Knoxville, Kimmel, or Carolla settled with Caravello monetarily.
As of early 2009, the settlement had to do with Caravello starring in Windy City Heat 2. There is no knowledge of when that filming will begin, or if it will be filmed again as a prank on Caravello.
In October 2010, Windy City Heat was spun-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
into a weekly podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
called "The Big 3 Podcast". It features the same main characters, and many of the same concepts and running gags as Windy City Heat.
External links
- Windy City Heat at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- A Suicidegirls interview with Bobcat Goldthwait about the movie
- Review at eFilmCritic
- Perry Caravello's Official Website