Yeah, I Can’t . . .

. . . tell you how many times I've been in exactly this situation with Mark Shea.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

18 thoughts on “Yeah, I Can’t . . .”

  1. I didn´t get that trailer. What was the point? Why he coudn´t show it?
    Without understanidng it, I can´t understnad Jimmy´s comment about it.

  2. I think he meant being held at gunpoint by Mark Shea (who’s playing the gun-wielding character here).
    Dale Ahlquist has done a lot of good work, but I’m not sure why he wanted to turn Manalive into a movie.

  3. From reading Mark’s blog, seems about right to me…
    Dale Ahlquist has done a lot of good work, but I’m not sure why he wanted to turn Manalive into a movie.
    Because “Watchmen” was already taken..
    Because Streisand wasn’t available for a remake of “The Way We Were”…
    Because Mark Shea held him at gunpoint!

  4. You can only understand this scene if you know the story in Manalive. As Chesterton goes, this is a particularly quick easy read. Get the book. You can even download it free online. It’s one of the most uplifting and fun stories you’ll ever read. Fantastic!

  5. I think he meant being held at gunpoint by Mark Shea (who’s playing the gun-wielding character here).


    Not just being held at gunpoint by Mark Shea!
    Being held at gunpoint and forced to sing “If You’re Happy And You Know It.”
    . . . or the “Hokey Pokey.” I forget which it was last time.

  6. It’s okay, though.
    Next time I had the gun and made him do “The Chicken Dance.”

  7. Hilarious post! 🙂
    I think that the other gentleman (besides Mark Shea) is a Catholic actor who I have seen interviewed on EWTN. However, I can’t remember his name or the name of his production company, and a quick Google search isn’t turning up any helpful links.

  8. Heh! How do you think I got Jimmy to give the first presentations on the Alaska cruise while I took a walk on the promenade?
    The other guy in the scene is Kevin O’Brien, who turns up a lot on ETWN and is a very gifted actor. You can see oodles off his good work at http://www.thewordinc.org/
    Plus, he’s a mensch!
    By the way, the real comedic whiz in this scene is never seen: it’s Kirk Gillon, the guy who edited the trailer. The editing is what makes this thing so funny, I think.
    Your prayers are appreciated. This week Dale, Joey, and I will finish filming “Manalive” (a bunch of montage shots) and then Joey starts the process of editing the film (with the very gifted Kirk), as well as adding sound, music, etc. We are shooting for a fall release.
    PS: Why “Manalive”? Because it’s a funny tale that is small enough you could film it on the budget we had ($100,000). The Man Who Was Thursday would be fun to do, but would require a colossal budget (and be very hard to adapt to the screen). The Napoleon of Notting Hill, dittos. Most likely future candidates: the Father Brown stories. Kevin’s already done one for EWTN that I know of (Eric Kaiser Johnson and Andy Weir, two my castmates, where in it, if I’m not mistaken). Our hope is to do more! And, if all goes well, I might have a crack at some more character roles (Chesterton writes great roles for fat guys) and maybe even a shot at another film that our Assistant Director has written and is trying to get backing for.
    Fun!
    Right now, though, we need to finish this and (just as important) figure out how to distribute it. Your prayers for success in that venture would be much coveted.

  9. Is Mark acting? Just kidding. Got my attention. *clap* *clap* *forced smile*
    Seriously, this would be one I would like to watch. Praying for the best.

  10. Jimmy wrote:
    It’s okay, though.
    Next time I had the gun and made him do “The Chicken Dance.”

    Hey, that’s not fair! Do I get any film residuals? My name as guest choreographer? Bird seed??
    Hmmph… 🙁
    The Chicken

  11. I’m sure Mark was pretending that the person on the other end was Dick Cheney; otherwise, he never would have gotten into character.

  12. Get thee to Librivox and download Manalive on MP3! It’s a fantastic story and well worth a listen. (Librivox also has some of the Father Brown mysteries, The Man Who Was Thursday, and others available!)
    You can also read or download a text version of Manalive here.

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