Windy City Heat

Describe "Windy City Heat" here.

A series of robberies against sports stars has hit the Windy City of Chicago. With conventional law enforcement helpless to stop this surge of scum, the people's only hope is in the hands of Stone Fury, Chicago's hard-boiled Sports Private Eye. Criminals beware, it's time to Unleash The Fury!

...okay, now describe Windy City Heat here.

Windy City Heat is a 2003 made-for-TV comedy documentary from Comedy Central, produced by Bobcat Goldthwait and Jimmy Kimmel. Perry Caravello is a standup comedian and wannabe movie star who believes he's been selected as the leading man in the crime drama "Windy City Heat". Accompanied by his best friends Don Barris and Walter "Mole" Molinski (Tony Barbieri), we follow Perry as he ascends from screen tests to studio soundstages to his world-premiere debut...

...which is all an elaborate prank. There is no "Windy City Heat", there is no one-night-only world premiere — instead, it's all part of "The Perry Project", a series of practical jokes that Barris and Barbieri have been playing on Caravello since 1995.

Note that this is NOT a Mockumentary. Perry Caravello is a real person (albeit a Super Gullible one), and Windy City Heat captures his genuine actions and reactions as he tries to become a film star.

The movie can be seen on YouTube here. Perry's reaction to watching the movie can be seen here.

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Windy City Heat demonstrates the following tropes:

• Absurdly Short Production Time: In-Universe Perry believes that "Windy City Heat" was filmed in one week at the Los Angeles Center Studio. Of course, this is possible only because it's a prank and there's no real filmmaking involved.
• All Jews Are Ashkenazi: Parodied by Perry's contract lawyer, who is named Sol Steinbergowitzgreenbaum.
• All Just a Prank: The entire movie is about an elaborate prank played on Perry. Unlike other examples of this trope, though, he is never let in on The Reveal (Caravello has said that he eventually learned the truth on the internet).
• All Men Are Perverts: Played with; while the male characters have their moments, Perry takes it to an entirely different level. He constantly objectifies women, his relationship to Susan approaches Crazy Jealous Guy levels, and he even expresses interest in sleeping with Tammy Faye Bakker.
• All There in the Manual: The documentary occasionally makes references to past events that are never elaborated onscreen, such as Perry's feud with Yurgi. These references are from "The Perry Project", Barris and Barbieri's series of practical jokes they've been running for nearly a decade prior to the events of Windy City Heat.
• Ambiguously Gay: Santiago, the costume designer (played by Tom Kenny). He has a Porn Stache and speaks in an effeminate voice, but otherwise shows no signs of sexual orientation. That's still enough to trigger Perry's rampant homophobia.

  "Now he wants to measure my inseam. More or less what the guy wants to do is go down on me."

• Ancestral Name: Perry's personal assistant is "Burt Ward" (played by Eric Marseglia). When Perry recognizes the name, the assistant explains that he's named after his famous uncle.
• As Himself: Perry Caravello stars as himself.
  • His friend Don Barris also plays himself, though it's unclear if he exaggerates his personality in Perry's presence.
  • In addition to producing and directing the film, Bobcat Goldthwait plays the director of "Windy City Heat".
• Asshole Victim: Perry Caravello might be the star of this film, but he's also an unrepentant Jerkass and Politically Incorrect Hero. This makes it more palatable to watch him suffer through his various indignities.
• Awesome McCoolname: The hero of "Windy City Heat" is named Stone Fury.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Done repeatedly to Perry with his stunt double. Perry starts off doing his own stunts, only to demand a stunt double after being tossed into a dumpster. Then the stunt double takes his place in an explicit and highly erotic sex scene (which Perry doesn't get to watch), and he has the double fired. The day after, Perry films a scene where he is tied up and beaten with baseball bats...
• Bizarre Taste in Food: Stone Fury's breakfast consists of random cold leftovers, assorted alcoholic drinks, a raw egg, and a glazed donut, blended into a half-gallon of brown sludge and downed in one go. The director has Perry do this several times, with predictable results.

  "Another fuckin' day in paradise."

• Brick Joke: Perry gets Charlton Heston (actually Bob Legionaire) out of his trailer by offering him a cameo in "Windy City Heat". Heston ends up delivering a pizza in the final scene.
• Butt-Monkey: For Perry, filming "Windy City Heat" is just one humiliating experience after another. Justified, though, since the entire experience is a Practical Joke at his expense.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: The production team agree that the most important criteria for the female lead actress is that she has large breasts.
• The Cameo: Many Los Angeles-area comedians, writers, and actors appear, either playing themselves or as members of the production crew Perry interacts with. These include Carson Daly, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla, Tom Kenny, Laura Silverman, and Geoff Pierson.
• Candid Camera Prank: Much of Windy City Heat was filmed by having as many as 15 cameras on Perry at all times. He's even wired for sound and has a cameraman following him for the inevitable "making of" feature.
• Celebrity Cameo: William "The Refrigerator" Perry and Ernie Banks appear in "Windy City Heat" as Chicago sports stars who are victims of the crime spree.
• Character Catchphrase: Don Barris teaches Perry to assert himself by repeating the mantra "Unleash the fury!"
• Comic Sutra: Mole describes filming the sex scene this way, gushing over how Susan and Perry's stunt double did "all that stuff you have on the world-wide internet", the various accessories they used, and how nimble she was. Meanwhile, director Goldthwait bemoans that he can't use any of the footage because it was so explicit that it'd push the movie into an NC-17 rating.
• Cooperation Gambit: After the film lost its original financier, the producer secures another source of funding — "Yurgi", a Romanian porn maker who Perry has clashed with before.
• Cringe Comedy: Much of the humor in Windy City Heat comes from watching Perry Caravello earnestly go through the trials and tribulations of becoming a Hollywood star, including the embarrassing and humiliating acts he needs to perform for the film.
• Culture Clash: Exaggerated for laughs when Perry is tasked with guarding a table loaded with candy, donuts, and other American snacks to impress the film's Japanese financier. After the table is knocked over, the man arrives, is horrified at the sight, and immediately cancels the movie. Why a Japanese businessman would care so much about a table of junk food is never explained.
• Darkhorse Casting: Deliberately invoked for laughs; Perry is told that he got the lead in "Windy City Heat" by beating out Hollywood superstars such as Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, and Robert De Niro.
• Death Glare: Perry believes that he can intimidate people by tweaking his left eye and staring at them with his right. He uses it at the movie premiere to intimidate the usher into letting them enter.
• Defective Detective: Stone Fury is a washed-up Hardboiled Detective who lives in a slovenly office and drinks blended leftovers for breakfast.
• Disney Villain Death: This is how the Big Bad of "Windy City Heat" is finished off... with a little help from Stone Fury.
• Documentary: The entire film is a documentary on an elaborate prank played on Perry Caravello.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Despite the Humiliation Conga Perry had to endure while filming "Windy City Heat", he came out of it with a gala-filled premiere, the admiration of hundreds of adoring fans, being lauded by the President of Show Business, and an impressive award and trophy.
• Forbidden Fruit: Mole simply cannot resist a table piled high with snacks set up to impress the financier of "Windy City Heat".
• Hardboiled Detective: Stone Fury of "Windy City Heat" is a semi-retired Defective Detective specializing in sports crimes.
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Mole becomes very enthusiastic at filming a scene where he has to pummel Perry with a baseball bat. Perry quickly gets terrified when Mole keeps mixing up the (safe) rubber bat with the (unsafe) wooden bat.
• Iconic Item: As the director of "Windy City Heat", Bobcat Goldthwait is never without his bullhorn, and always uses it when talking.
• Idiot Ball: Intentionally carried by Don and Mole whenever it'll be funny to force Perry to be the Only Sane Man in a situation. A clear example is when the three need to attend a film premiere in less than an hour, whereupon Don and Mole start goofing around while an exasperated Perry tries to corral them.
• Improv: Most of the movie was improvised as Perry was unaware of the prank. The team would set up a scenario, bring in Perry, then riff on his responses accordingly.
• In-Series Nickname: Perry, Barris and Molinski call themselves "The Big 3".
• Insufferable Imbecile: Perry fits this to a T, being a perfect storm of gullible idiot with obnoxious Jerkass. His few redeeming qualities are far outweighed by his negative traits, and the only reason he's the star of the movie is because he's the unwitting Asshole Victim of his friends' Practical Joke.
• Knew It All Along: In the DVD commentary, Perry insists that he knew all along that the casting director "Roman Polanski" (Dane Cook) was named after "a famous actor".
• Lust Makes You Dumb: Upon hearing that there would be a sex scene in "Windy City Heat", Perry begins making extensive preparations for an erotic lovemaking session with his leading lady. The idea of just simulating the sex scene instead of filming actual intercourse (not to mention the legal, ethical, and personal ramifications of doing so) doesn't even enter his mind. Which makes it even funnier when it's time to shoot the scene...

  "Did I put the Spanish Fly in there?"

• The Man Behind the Man: The real Big Bad of "Windy City Heat" is revealed to be Jiggly Wrigley.
• The Merch: In-Universe example. One sequence has Perry reviewing "Windy City Heat" merchandise, including pouches, T-shirts, and action figures. For Perry, this is proof that he has finally made it.
• Metaphorically True: Perry is looking forward to filming his explicit sex scene with The Vamp... only to be told it's a job for his stunt double, because the scene is considered a stunt, and Perry had opted out of doing his own stunts the day before.
• The Millstone: Mole often veers into this role, especially when Perry is in a situation requiring things to work properly. That's when Mole will make things worse for maximum comic value.
• My New Gift Is Lame: Occurs when the trio compare what they got after contract negotiations — Mole got a wicked motorcycle, Don got a Rolex watch, and Perry got... shampoo. To be fair, his contract lawyer repeatedly advised him to tone down his requests.
• Named After Somebody Famous: Many of the periphery characters Perry interacts with are named after celebrities, historical figures, or other luminaries. A few examples:
  • Lisa Arch plays "Susan B. Anthony", who starts off as a production assistant and ends up as the leading lady.
  • Dane Cook is the casting director "Roman Polanski".
  • The producer is an unseen British man named "John Quincy Adams".
  • The movie's financier is a Japanese man named "Hiroshima Nagasaki".
  • The set photographer (Toby Huss) is "Ansel Adams".
  • Dave Sheridan plays a limousine driver named "Travis Bickle".
• Never Bring a Friend to an Audition: Don and Mole accompany Perry to his audition, with disastrous results — Mole repeatedly barges in to interrupt Perry's reading, while Don keeps pestering the casting team. Despite the mess, Perry gets the part.
• Never My Fault: After he knocks over a table loaded with snacks that Perry was guarding, Mole immediately blames the accident on Perry.
• Noodle Incident: Perry is highly antagonistic towards gays, and blames his hostility on an encounter with a casting agent in 1992.
• Not This One, That One: A variation occurs when the Lot Manager takes Perry to the trailer he'll be using. They arrive at a large, shiny trailer, only to find that Charlton Heston has locked himself inside and refuses to leave. The exasperated manager then guides Perry to a broken old trailer that he can use instead.
• Overly Narrow Superlative: After the premiere of "Windy City Heat", the President of Show Business (Geoff Pierson) awards Perry the "Van Nuys Unfinished Film Festival Palme d'Or Award".
• Paid Harem: Yurgi the Romanian filmmaker is always accompanied by two scantily-clad sexy women. He tries to get one a role in "Windy City Heat".
• Parallel Porn Title: Mentioned in Perry's costume mix-up incident — the costume designer thought he was Luke Perry being fitted for a movie called "Oklahomos!"
• Pet the Dog: On day 4 of filming, Perry defends his beleaguered assistant Burt from being mistreated by Don.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Perry Caravello may be the protagonist of the film, but he's hardly an inspirational character — he's bombastic, quick to anger, objectifies women, is fiercely homophobic, and is an unabashed Jerkass. Even his standup comedy consists of material stolen from Sam Kinison and Bobcat Goldthwait.
• The Prankster: Don Barris and Tony Barbieri, full stop. The entire movie is about an elaborate prank to convince their friend Perry that he's starring in a major blockbuster film. Not only that, but this is just the latest in a series of pranks that they've been playing on Perry since 1995.
• Production Posse: In-Universe example. Perry's friends Don and Mole are cast opposite him as the antagonists in "Windy City Heat".
• Punny Name: The Vamp in "Windy City Heat" is a buxom woman named "Jiggly Wrigley".

  Jiggly Wrigley: "Hello, Mr. Fury. I'm Jiggly."
  Stone Fury: "I ain't blind."

• Recognition Failure: Perry and his friends are stopped by an usher from entering the premiere of "Windy City Heat", even as they're standing in front of the movie poster with their faces prominently displayed.

  "You're the stars of the movie, I'm the star of this lobby."

• Re-Cut: Several cuts of Windy City Heat exist — these include the original Comedy Central version, the uncensored DVD version, an extended version with another Running Gag prank war between Perry and Mole, a six-hour cut, and a rumored 12-hour cut.
• Right in Front of Me: Deliberately invoked in the casting room. When the production team discuss the traits they're looking for in the movie's leading lady, Susan Anthony walks in, matching their description perfectly. Everyone except Perry is oblivious to this, prompting him to suggest casting her in the role, and they applaud his brilliance.
• Running Gag: Any time Perry's name appears in print, it's misspelled. This extends to the DVD cover pictured above.
  • Many of the people Perry interacts with are named after celebrities, historical figures, or other luminaries. He never notices anything unusual about this.
  • Perry's assistant Burt keeps bringing food to him, despite Perry saying that he doesn't want it. Exacerbated because people nearby tell Burt to bring food for Perry.
  • In the extended cut, there is an ongoing prank war between Perry and Mole.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: When Perry becomes very agitated, he shrieks in a high-pitched voice. As a general rule, the angrier he gets, the higher the pitch.
• Secret Identity: Tony Barbieri plays both Perry's friend Mole and producer John Quincy Adams. Naturally, any time Perry talks to John (via speakerphone), Mole makes an excuse to leave the room beforehand.
• Sequel Snark: While filming his movie, Perry crosses paths with people from other projects, such as Air Caligula ("It's like Air Bud, except he throws spears.") and Schindler's List 2.
• Show Within a Show: "Windy City Heat" is the fictional movie that Perry thinks he's starring in.
• Slipping into Stink: Perry's first day of shooting has him repeatedly thrown into a dumpster full of garbage and wet manure.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Perry Caravello believes he's a leading man comparable to Steven Seagal, a stunt performer comparable to Jackie Chan, and a comedian funnier than Jimmy Kimmel.
• Spontaneous Choreography: Already late to the film's premiere, the trio stop at a convenience store to get some water. The manager reveals himself to be a fan of Don, then calls his twin teenage girls to come out and perform a belly dance for them. Naturally, this just aggravates Perry even more.
• Stage Names: Inverted. In an epilogue video on the DVD, Walter Molinski tells Perry that he's now using "Tony Barbieri" (actually his real name) as his Hollywood stage name.
• The Stoner: Walter Molinski is perpetually stoned and acts like an overexcited Manchild. His Iconic Outfit is a T-Shirt with the word "H*A*S*H" on it.
• Super Gullible: Perry, full stop. Bobcat Goldthwait and Don Barris repeatedly insist that Perry is genuine, and the film captures his real-life personality. Possibly justified in that a 1979 auto accident put Perry in a coma and left him with brain trauma.^note 

  Daniel Epstein: Is Perry Caravello the stupidest guy on earth?
  Bobcat Goldthwait: Perry is pretty oblivious and arrogant.
  Epstein: You can parade anything you want in front of him and he doesn't seem to get it.
  Goldthwait: Pretty much. (source)

• Take Our Word for It: Perry and Don return to the soundstage where the explicit sex scene was being filmed, only to be met by everyone leaving and gushing about how erotic and awesome it was. The only unhappy bystander is Bobcat Goldthwait, who can't use any of the footage because of how explicit it was.

  Stunt Double: (grinning) "I just got a raise."

• Tempting Fate: When Perry is freaking out about missing the premiere of the film, Mole tries to calm him down.

  Mole: They're not gonna start the movie without us, okay?

  (phone rings)

  Mole: Hold on a second. Hello? (listens) Yeah? (listens) They started the movie without us.

• The Vamp: Jiggly Wrigley, the Dame with a Case in "Windy City Heat", offers Stone Fury some Sex for Services within two minutes of meeting him.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: This is the relationship between Perry, Don, and Mole. On the one side, there's Don and Mole, who have no qualms about running a decades-long campaign of practical jokes on Perry. On the other side, Perry doesn't hesitate to yell and insult the two when they irritate him.
• Vocal Dissonance: Jiggly Wrigley, The Vamp of "Windy City Heat", introduces herself with a loud nasally whine. It's even funnier because it doesn't sound anything like Susan B. Anthony's normal voice.
• The Voice: John Quincy Adams, the producer of "Windy City Heat", only interacts with Perry via speakerphone or prerecorded messages.