Kyle's Laundromat Malfunction

Kyle's Laundromat Malfunction

Bruce Von Stiers

Many of us have had to use a laundromat to wash our clothes. Sometimes there is little fanfare at the laundromat and other times there are customers who make things interesting and possibly very entertaining.

There is a short comedy film that takes place at a laundromat. It involves a supposedly macho guy, a wardrobe malfunction and an unusually funny gaggle of customers. The title of the film is Static Cling.

Vic is trying to decide which candy bar to get. Finally, he decides on a Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar. He pays his money and waits for the candy bar to drop to the bottom of the vending machine. The only thing is that the candy bar gets stuck before it can drop to the bottom.

Then there is some guy who is grabbing things out of a dryer and throwing them into a mesh clothes hamper. This guy is Kyle. He's more than a little bit self-absorbed.

He gets a phone call, and his friend is video chatting with him. There's a party in the background and his friend is trying to get him to come over to it. He thinks about it but then sees a woman at the laundromat who piques his interest.

He throws clothes in her direction to get her attention. He comes over to talk to her, macho like. She doesn't seem too impressed. So, he is going to show her his toned upper body.

That's when the problem starts, that is the focus for the film. While trying to impress the woman, Kyle's jacket zipper gets stuck. As much as he tries, the zipper just won't budge. In fact, Kyle makes it worse by moving the zipper up to the top and getting it stuck there. You know, we've all done that. That is, move the zipper up to the top, so that it will unstick and you can completely unzip the zipper. Well, with Kyle, it doesn't work.

For the remainder of the film, Kyle's attempts at getting the jacket unzipped are futile. A food mishap, an attempt by a mom and her older teen children to help and a trio of ruffians messing with him leave Kyle flustered and dejected. Only a kind gesture by the woman he's trying to impress gets Kyle out of his confining situation. And with a whole lot of scheming and effort, the vending machine guy finally gets his candy bar and a little more.

B.J. Gruber played Kyle. He starred in the web series The Queens Project and appeared in an episode of FBI and an episode of Younger along with several film roles.

Jackie McCarthy played Sally, the woman Kyle was trying to impress. She starred in CEO's Naughty Secret, Chamomile and co-starred in a recent episode of Law and Order. When she's not in front of the camera, Jackie can be found on stage in theater productions or teaching acting classes.

Timothy J. Cox played Vic, the guy at the vending machine trying to retrieve his candy bar. He has starred in the dramatic short films After and Hard Truths along with the noir film Creatures of Habit and the drama comedy Sundays With Dad.

Mel House played the mom of the older teens who all try to help Kyle. She starred in the comedy series Hot Angry Mom and has appeared in an episode of FBI: Most Wanted. Ari, Adam and Ava Halvorsen played her kids.

Eva Visco played Faith, a woman who thinks that Kyle's trouble will go away if he just has faith. Ryan Watson played Zack, Kyle's friend whose invite to a party helped start Kyle on his downward path. Noah Berry, Iziah House and Christon Andell played the ruffians who messed with Kyle. Tim Anderson, Uzunma Udeh and Carlos Morrow all had supporting roles.

Steven Lifshey wore several hats for this film. He was the screenwriter director and editor. He previously directed the short films Life On Pause and The Masterpiece. The director of photography was Jesse Feldberg. His previous screen credits include the short films Two Spies and Late To The Party. The production company for the film was Gee Whiz Films.

Static Cling is a very funny film. The acting was well done, especially some of the facial expressions and physical actions by the actors.

Kyle is the poster boy for macho coolness. That is, until his zipper gets stuck. Many of us have had that same zipper problem, but not the same comic results. The other customers fit right in with the occasional strange and crazy world of laundromats. Sally's kind gesture, despite Kyle being a bit of a jerk, gives off a nice romantic vibe. And who has not had something stuck in a vending machine?

Static Cling was featured at the International Motion Picture Film Festival this past April where it won the Best Comedy Short award. It was recently shown at both the Williams Center Rutherford Film Festival and the Coney Island Film Festival It will be shown at the Long Island International Film Expo on July 10 th . Jackie McCarthy won Best Supporting Actress at the Hang On To Your Shorts Film Festival.

Static Cling is still being shown at film festivals, so there hasn't been an official release date for it yet.

The film does have a Facebook page where you can learn more about it. The link to the page is https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089564116266 There is also an Instagram page for the film at https://www.instagram.com/staticclingfilm/

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