Best of the Booth: Waterbed Comedy Party with Mac Blake
Mascots | August 2018 - Mac Blake
Mac Blake (see Spurs jersey above) asked me to shoot the first Waterbed photo booth in February 2015. Since then, we've hosted 35 photo booths, and this Saturday night will be our last and final one (tickets here). To celebrate all the nonsensical themes and nice drunk people I've gotten to meet and photograph for the last 4 years, here are some of my favorites...

Real Housewives of Austin Reunion | November 2018 - Kim Lowery, Roxy Castillo, Ralph Hardesty, Ximena Blake, Lisa Friedrich
There's almost nothing as fun as photographing people in costume.

Phys Ed | August 2017 - Nick Saverino

Super Business Omnicon Launch Party 2.0 | October 2018 - Brett Vervoort and Tyler Groce
I'm thankful to everyone who pretended my hand-lettering on the paper backgrounds was cool.

Westbed | April 2018 - Emily Hicks, Andrew Rosas and Mike Wiebe
I think I asked Mike to be the bad guy in a western story and he immediately made these Dracula-esque, magic choking hands. It was a perfect moment. I've never laughed so hard.

Dark Arts | October 2016 - Roxy Castillo and Daniel Webb
And speaking of Dracula hands, I would happily watch a supernatural drama/mystery/comedy/anything staring these two. But besides that, I loved whenever we got to play with colorful lights around Halloween.

The Future | January 2018 - Christina Parrish

Phys Ed | August 2017 - Mac Blake and Ashley Overton

Super Business Omnicon | November 2017 - Amber Bixby, Robert Segovia, Avery Moore, Hunter Duncan, Pat Dean, and Adam Hrabik
For the past 2 years, Waterbed has hosted the Super Business Omnicon, a "conference" for those who want to succeed at being rad at life, complete with Powerpoint presentations by the comedians on such topics as "How to Start a Cult".

Heatwave | July 2017 - Marcus Wilson
A "best of Waterbed" wouldn't be complete without a shoutout to Marcus. He's been supporting the show for years.

Dark Arts | October 2016 - Mac Blake and Aaron Brooks
Together, Mac and Aaron are freestyle country western legends Knuck Deep, and they host a free monthly show at Barrel of Fun called Six Shooter. Check it out when you're in the Mueller area.

Boxing | January 2017 - Allison O'Conor

Nature | April 2016

Westbed | April 2018 - Sam Eidson and John Merriman
I'm a real fan of having people throw things for a photo. And Sam wanted to be holding everything, so it worked out perfectly.

Real Housewives of Austin Reunion | November 2018 - Nick Saverino
Sometimes it requires having other people throwing things at the person in the booth. Does anyone mind having money raining on them?

Shark Attack | May 2018

Coworkers | March 2018 - Andrew Rosas and Emily Hicks
You may remember these two from "dracula hands" above. They always knock it out of the park creating something hilarious.

Masterpiece | February 2017 - Kath Barbadoro
I had the idea for this photo while the show was happening. As soon as the show was over, I got 5 gents to help hold the frame. I was imagining an ancient greece-inspired renaissance painting with a goddess being waiting on by others.

The Future | January 2018 - Daniel Solano and Derek del Barrio
Classic reference. Another hand-painted background.

Waterbed with a Waterbed | February 2018 - Mac Blake
Then there was the time that Mac bought an actual waterbed on Craigslist and we used it as a photo booth. It was a crazy evening because lighting people lying on a waterbed is hard.

Space | July 2016 - Emily Hicks and Andrew Rosas
This might be my favorite of these two. Also, space-themed is a soft spot for me. The overly dramatic editing was an attempt to reduce the glare on the shiny space background.

Religion | August 2017 - Rachel Streitmann, Enzo Priesnitz and Avery Moore
Sometimes things come together at the last minute. I made these two nun habits (on Rachel and Avery) the day of this show, with safety pins and iron-on binding tape because I had gotten rid of my old sewing machine the year before.

Chill Zone | August 2015 - Kasey Borger and Amy Frances Wright
Almost every year, there was a summer show where Mac brought popsicles for the audience members.

War on Christmas | December 2015 - Aaron Brooks
Greg the Mailman and his salacious letters at the end of almost every show. Definitely the last time I've heard the word "turgid" used.

Bad Kids | August 2016 - Carlos LaRotta, Ximena Blake and Mac Blake
For "Bad Kids", we wanted to have a graffiti feel. So I painted a brick outline with black paint on a gray (not white so it would be edgier) paper background. When we first setup the booth, we gave everyone around a sharpie and asked them to start writing the kinds of stuff they saw doodled in high school.
Also, this was the only time we had the booth outdoors and it rained, so we ended up bringing it inside anyways.

Pop Batman | August 2016 - Melody Shifflet, Christina Parrish, Micheal Foulk, Rachel Streitmann and Samantha Stepp
Mac spray painted all the batman masks, and unfortunately, the red one left stains on people's faces so had to be retired quickly.

Wrestling | March 2016 - Redd Jefferson and John Buseman

Film Business | September 2016 - Ralph Hardesty

Busted | June 2018 - Derek del Barrio, Andrew Rosas, Emily Hicks, Ximena Blake and Mac Blake
Love all the people in this photo. I'm so grateful that Mac gave me a chance 4 years ago. Thank you Waterbed for a great run!