After an explosive family revelation, an amateur stand-up comedian wrestles with his emotions during his set at a comedy open mic. At the risk of bombing, he attempts to mask truth behind thinly veiled jokes rather than exposing reality.

Writer/Director Dan Woodliff, and Producer Jonathan Melton have teamed up with Gorilla to present “Bomb!” a short film that explores the world of stand-up comedy from an unusually nuanced perspective.

We love how Dan describes it:

“Over three years ago I became fascinated watching stand up comedy. I loved watching brilliant storytellers tackle emotional/personal/touchy topics, and how effortless they seemed to find the humor in it and allow people to relate to it as well.

But I didn’t get the idea for Bomb until several months after when I went to a local stand up show.

What I found just as engaging as professional comics succeeding was watching local comics. There are some extremely talented and funny local comics (two of which make an appearance in the film), and with every performative art there are also comics who are still very green and/or testing out new material. It can be tense. Awkward. Uncomfortable for everyone involved. But I couldn’t help but empathize with who was up there: Someone who loves creating and sharing stories, trying to connect with people, but ultimately falling short.

And that’s when the idea for Bomb hit me. If pain plus time equals comedy, “What happens when someone is determined to work through something all of us can relate to, but at the wrong time and place in their healing process?”

I spent the next 2 years on and off writing the film, tearing it down, and building it back up again. Titles were changed, characters were scrapped, and for a while the film collected digital dust, staring at me on my desktop every time I booted up Minecraft.

Finally Jon Melton, who eventually became the relentlessly hardworking producer on the project, read it and was determined to help make it. We spent the next year and a half working on what would eventually become Bomb, a short drama created with the help of dozens of wonderful people, all for a little film about the painful yet essential process of trying to connect with others, even if you fall short in the process.”

Bomb! was crafted with love by the hard-working team looking pro in these behind the scenes photos.