Shawn Westfall
@shawnwestfall.bsky.social
Writer, improvisor, stutterer, USAF veteran; once described as "a bright high-energy guy" by The Washington Post. Being born and raised in Indiana is not something I recommend; leave as soon as you can. Currently writing a memoir about my speech impediment
Me, a Matthew Lillard stan since "SLC Punk," when I got to S3 of "Halt And Catch Fire"
a man in a yellow shirt is sitting in a chair holding a cup and pointing
ALT: a man in a yellow shirt is sitting in a chair holding a cup and pointing
media.tenor.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Me, a Matthew Lillard stan since "SLC Punk," when I got to S3 of "Halt And Catch Fire"
I’m now six episodes in, and as a card carrying Dan-Fan, I can’t be the only one noticing the similarities/analogues between “Pluribus” and Steely Dan’s “King Of The World,” even down to the geography #iykyk
December 6, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I’m now six episodes in, and as a card carrying Dan-Fan, I can’t be the only one noticing the similarities/analogues between “Pluribus” and Steely Dan’s “King Of The World,” even down to the geography #iykyk
Some of you plan to have the Roku 24-hour Yule Log channel on during holiday events this year. I plan on having that classic late-'70s claymation-Santa-riding-a-Norelco-electric-razor commercial on a loop.
We are not the same.
We are not the same.
December 5, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Some of you plan to have the Roku 24-hour Yule Log channel on during holiday events this year. I plan on having that classic late-'70s claymation-Santa-riding-a-Norelco-electric-razor commercial on a loop.
We are not the same.
We are not the same.
“A Christmas Carol,” but it’s just three books from my TBR pile, one of which is “A Christmas Carol” ruffling its pages in disappointment
December 5, 2025 at 4:50 AM
“A Christmas Carol,” but it’s just three books from my TBR pile, one of which is “A Christmas Carol” ruffling its pages in disappointment
Only two couple episodes in on #Pluribus, but so far it seems to me as if its an exploration --- given the cult-like collective "group mind" of the "infected" and Carol's vehement antipathy to them -- of how everyone hates improv.
(😉I say this as an improv teacher and performer)
(😉I say this as an improv teacher and performer)
November 29, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Only two couple episodes in on #Pluribus, but so far it seems to me as if its an exploration --- given the cult-like collective "group mind" of the "infected" and Carol's vehement antipathy to them -- of how everyone hates improv.
(😉I say this as an improv teacher and performer)
(😉I say this as an improv teacher and performer)
Wanna know what goes hard? Toots Thielemans’ harmonica solo in the outro of the original “Sesame Street” theme song. I was seated in front of a black-and-white Philco (yes, aluminum foil on the antennae) when the show debuted, and that solo is still with me. Note for note. GOATed.
November 28, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Wanna know what goes hard? Toots Thielemans’ harmonica solo in the outro of the original “Sesame Street” theme song. I was seated in front of a black-and-white Philco (yes, aluminum foil on the antennae) when the show debuted, and that solo is still with me. Note for note. GOATed.
I heard Mamdani is going to institute Stanis-Law (ski), where you have to constantly mine your own sense memories to locate motivation for your character
*sorry not sorry*
*sorry not sorry*
November 7, 2025 at 2:40 PM
I heard Mamdani is going to institute Stanis-Law (ski), where you have to constantly mine your own sense memories to locate motivation for your character
*sorry not sorry*
*sorry not sorry*
3-D Chess, I’m tellin’ ya. Right before the busiest travel season. People whose emotions are frazzled and whose dollars are stretched are going to be stranded, rerouted, forced to pay additional nuisance fees because of cancelled flights/reservations/accomodations. Masterful gambit, sir.
November 5, 2025 at 10:29 PM
3-D Chess, I’m tellin’ ya. Right before the busiest travel season. People whose emotions are frazzled and whose dollars are stretched are going to be stranded, rerouted, forced to pay additional nuisance fees because of cancelled flights/reservations/accomodations. Masterful gambit, sir.
I’m at a Buc-ee’s in rural Virginia. My first time.
I’m never leaving.
I’m never leaving.
October 29, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I’m at a Buc-ee’s in rural Virginia. My first time.
I’m never leaving.
I’m never leaving.
“Fate specializes in practical jokes in bad taste: fate very seldom pulls out a card from the pack to help you” — Northrop Frye
October 28, 2025 at 12:23 PM
“Fate specializes in practical jokes in bad taste: fate very seldom pulls out a card from the pack to help you” — Northrop Frye
Reposted by Shawn Westfall
This is very good
October 22, 2025 at 11:52 PM
This is very good
The funniest novel ever written.
Kingsley Amis, gone three decades ago today.
Kingsley Amis, gone three decades ago today.
October 22, 2025 at 11:59 AM
The funniest novel ever written.
Kingsley Amis, gone three decades ago today.
Kingsley Amis, gone three decades ago today.
Reposted by Shawn Westfall
Sunday President diarrheas on the country, Monday President bulldozes White House, Tuesday President steals $230 million, Wednesday President... fucks a horse? Let's see if he fucks a horse.
October 21, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Sunday President diarrheas on the country, Monday President bulldozes White House, Tuesday President steals $230 million, Wednesday President... fucks a horse? Let's see if he fucks a horse.
Hey, fam -- let's say you couldn't make the rally in DC today due to a prior obligation. Do you have to return George Soros' money? Asking for a friend who already spent it on a really bitchin' Camaro
October 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Hey, fam -- let's say you couldn't make the rally in DC today due to a prior obligation. Do you have to return George Soros' money? Asking for a friend who already spent it on a really bitchin' Camaro
Tonight at the DC Arts Center: the improvised Shakespeare show I direct/perform is back as part of the Rails Comedy 8 pm block of shows. Ticket link in replies!
October 14, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Tonight at the DC Arts Center: the improvised Shakespeare show I direct/perform is back as part of the Rails Comedy 8 pm block of shows. Ticket link in replies!
Eating at Minetta Tavern this evening. I know the original in NYC was named after the Minetta Brook in Manhattan, but I always like pretending the one in DC was named after former US Secretary of Transportation (under the Bush I administration) Norman Y. Mineta.
October 11, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Eating at Minetta Tavern this evening. I know the original in NYC was named after the Minetta Brook in Manhattan, but I always like pretending the one in DC was named after former US Secretary of Transportation (under the Bush I administration) Norman Y. Mineta.
Perhaps the best insight into Hamlet's character I've come across is from Auden's "Lectures on Shakespeare": "He is fundamentally bored, and for that reason he acts theatrically."
October 10, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Perhaps the best insight into Hamlet's character I've come across is from Auden's "Lectures on Shakespeare": "He is fundamentally bored, and for that reason he acts theatrically."
“The history of libertarianism in the United States cannot be separated from the business of selling collectible coins” — Quinn Slobodian, “Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right”
October 9, 2025 at 9:30 PM
“The history of libertarianism in the United States cannot be separated from the business of selling collectible coins” — Quinn Slobodian, “Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right”
Tonight at Studio Theatre, 7pm
October 5, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Tonight at Studio Theatre, 7pm
"The other day I had a dream where capitalists created terrorism in order to force the state to better protect the business community" - a character in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "The Third Generation" (1979)
October 5, 2025 at 2:59 AM
"The other day I had a dream where capitalists created terrorism in order to force the state to better protect the business community" - a character in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "The Third Generation" (1979)
Reposted by Shawn Westfall
Sorry we had to cancel your cancer treatment, but the Secretary of Defense had to fly all the generals in so he could call them fat.
October 1, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Sorry we had to cancel your cancer treatment, but the Secretary of Defense had to fly all the generals in so he could call them fat.
Tonight at the DCAC in Adams Morgan, 8 pm. Tix in the link!
The Merely Players: Improvised Shakespeare • Rails Comedy
Shakespeare! But improvised! Watch DC's funniest comedians improvise the bard's play, all while incorporating Shaksespearean tropes, themes, characters, settings, and language. 🎬 CLICK HERE TO GET ...
www.crowdwork.com
September 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Tonight at the DCAC in Adams Morgan, 8 pm. Tix in the link!
The Merely Players had a blast at last night’s show @ Studio Theatre as part of Washington Improv Theater’s ‘s run. Missed us? No worries: tomorrow night we’re back at The DC Arts Center as part of Rails Comedy ‘s run of awesomeness. Tuesday, Sept 29, 8 pm in Adams Morgan. Tix link in comments!
September 29, 2025 at 6:26 PM
The Merely Players had a blast at last night’s show @ Studio Theatre as part of Washington Improv Theater’s ‘s run. Missed us? No worries: tomorrow night we’re back at The DC Arts Center as part of Rails Comedy ‘s run of awesomeness. Tuesday, Sept 29, 8 pm in Adams Morgan. Tix link in comments!
Tonight at Studio Theatre!
September 28, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Tonight at Studio Theatre!
Yep. All of this. When people ask me why I joined the military, I tell them because I had nowhere else to go.
September 27, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Yep. All of this. When people ask me why I joined the military, I tell them because I had nowhere else to go.