Plenty of people like to knock back a few cold ones while the rest of the world is at work, but the pastime is rarely celebrated in popular culture. “Day Drinking,” a new webseries by comedian Dave Urlakis, aims to change all that.
Occupying a nameless bar where the jukebox never plays, the setting’s unexceptional ambience could double as a sunshine repellant. But in the spirit of a good neighborhood dive, decoration is not the point: the people are the ones who make the place worthwhile.
Every episode begins with a slow zoom up to a table full of regulars who persuade viewers to grab a chair.
“I’m trying to put a positive spin on the people in crappy bars,” says Urlakis, who wrote the series and also plays one of the patrons.
Since debuting Aug. 25, “Day Drinking” has scored 1,600 views and received enthusiastic coverage in the Sun Times.
The characters include a janitor, a hotel manager, an EMT, a tech support guy and Urlakis as an overnight DJ. Third-shifters who make fun of each other and don’t take it personally when the waitress uncorks a bottle of attitude, because she’s pretty much one of them too.
“In ‘Cheers,’ the bar’s always full and everybody knows your name,” Urlakis continues. “In ‘Day Drinking,’ the bar’s mostly empty and everybody’s not supposed to be there.”
Urlakis developed the concept and conducted the research while performing with groups like ComedySportz and iO for more than a decade.
“As a comedian, you do some pretty late shows and then it’s time to drink,” he says. “Sometimes it goes to the morning and you see people where that’s their five p.m.”
Combining these memories with the answers he heard from asking people one of his favorite questions — “What do you know about your job that I don’t know?” — he jumpstarted production before the script was completed, a method he follows regularly.
“I have an idea and an outline,” he says, “then I cast the show.”
He’s knows that the practice is uncommon, but he’s also proven it can be quite successful.
Urlakis’ is the creator of Awkward Spaceship, an online comedy channel that has racked up more than 4 million views with shows like “Dentally Challenged,” a comedy shot in an actual dentist’s office.
For “Day Drinking,” he used Cinespace studios, where there’s a bar set ready to go. This gave him time to focus on other challenges like, “figuring out how to juggle five characters in four minute videos.”
Fortunately, he had worked with most of the cast members on the Chicago comedy circuit and, with their help, wrote to their strengths. He had also worked with DPs Alex Sherman and Ben Sherman and editor Ryan DiGiorgi through Awkward Spaceship for years.
Urlakis admits that he doesn’t drink like he used to, but he still keeps late hours in pursuit of a whole ‘nother kind of happiness, most often with his 10-month old daughter, Roxy.
