Jack Calvert

I am a satirist, freelance writer, and former film critic, currently collaborating with writer and comedienne Jacqi Bowe on a situation comedy entitled "Canon Law," set in a neglected Catholic parish in Los Angeles.

I previously spent two years writing, shooting, and doing the rough cut of a feature-length documentary about exploitation filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis, for Los Angeles producer and film historian James Maslon. New York Filmmaker Frank Henenlotter ("Basket Case," "Frankenhooker"), is currently putting the finishing touches on the documentary, along with a humorous narration. "Herschell Gordon Lewis: Just For the Hell of It," will be broadcast on Comcast and will also be available on DVD.

At present, I am writing a series of scripts for a proposed BBC comedy series entitled "221B," which is intended as a bitingly irreverent parody of Sherlock Holmes. (Despite the oft-heard admonition against writing parts for particular actors, I have difficulty imagining anybody but Rowan Atkinson & Tim Mcinnerny in the respective roles of Holmes & Watson.)

British comedy is light years beyond American comedy in the witty, laughing-out-loud, wet-your-pants-funny department, and my pentultimate dream is to write for the BBC. My favorite writers are Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, as well as Graham Linehan, and all of the supernaturally gifted writers and actors who made "The Day Today," "The Brass Eye," and "Smack the Pony" such deliriously funny shows.