Anthony Oberbeck's Short Film "Six Messages"

I first became aware of Anthony Oberbeck as he played “Doggy Daddy,” in the short film “Visualization Exercise: Walking Your Dog in the Park.” He has mastered the art of the straight man, just as he had mastered the art of petting dogs as doggy daddy, where no dog owner can dare compete with his compassion for pups, nor earn the associated “doggy daddy” memorabilia.

Later I saw his short film, “Seven Dreams,” where he again pushes absurdity while testing us with sad eyes, and a childlike eagerness to become a stand-up comedian. His character shows up at movie theaters to test jokes on a trapped audience, which, of course, the actor had to do as well.

After this I contacted Anthony to see if he would be interested in creating a film for the Charm City Fringe’s experimental short film block, where the filmmaker receives a complete score and has to construct a film to match the score. Anthony was all in, and “Six Messages” was the result of that. *The score was composed by Rick Szybowski.