Everybody loves it when an idiot gets what's coming to him. Sometimes it's considered justice and other times it's downright funny, but Windy City Heat could easily be called both. This 2003 Comedy Central "movie" is set up to be kind of a Truman Show meets Crank Yankers and according to the feature has been in production for the better part of a decade.

Perry Caravello is the seemingly unsuspecting soul at the butt of everyone's jokes. All of his friends are out to humiliate him and some of comedy's finest get in on the action as well. The concept is simple really. Perry is an aspiring actor, and a terrible one at that. Miraculously he lands an audition for the lead role in a major motion picture based on a sports private eye.

From beginning to end the believability factor in Windy City Heat is what makes it work. At first everything was so far fetched and out there that it was easy to write off as being scripted. I found myself having a hard time getting into it because the atmosphere was too asinine to be anything but planned. As the cameras continued to role though and Perry continuously proved what an idiot he was, I found myself starting to believe that someone would go to this length to make an ass out of this guy (more than he already does himself, that is).

As Perry "unleashes the fury" to get into the role of Stone Fury, the lead you can't help but chuckle at him. Time and time again this guy wears his stupidity on his sleeve and does whatever he can to stay in the good graces of the people who could make his stardom happen. Situations where you would think a normal person would think "this is too much" go unquestioned by Perry. At one point Bobcat Goldthwait (he plays the director) has Perry tossed repeatedly into a pile of manure just for the sake of "realism".

After his crap pile stint Perry finally gets into working out the details of his contract and finds his way to his trailer. In both of these scenes he lets us, and those around him, know that he's both lactose intolerant and homophobic. This only makes the bits where a gay man dresses him up in cowboy chaps and he's forced to drink a blend of cheese pizza and other junk even funnier. He stuck through these bits looking forward to the big pay off sex scene only to get replaced by a stunt double and be hit with a case of diarrhea.

From there the adventure continues with more guest stars and more ambitious jokes. The bits that I found most hysterical were the simple introduction of other characters with historical names. From the financer Hiroshima Nagasaki to the casting director Susan B Anthony and even producer John Quincy Adams it's unbelievable that none of these clicked for Perry. For an hour and a half this guy continues to prove how much of a moron he truly is.

I don't want to give too many of the gags away though since most of them are shock value, but there are some truly classic moments here. One of my favorite bits includes a wall of stars that were rejected for the role of Stone Fury, though they don't appear in this film. As far as who is here, you can expect to see Carson Daily, Adam Carolla, Jimmy Kimmel, Dane Cook, and even William "The Refrigerator" Perry. Comedy Central aficionados may recognize some others but there are no "big name" stars apart from the ones I've already mentioned.

In many ways Windy City Heat succeeds at what it intended to do; portray Perry as the biggest idiot on the planet. There are a lot of laughs here though to be fair many of them have a slight twinge of pity behind them. My only real complaint with the manner in which the feature was put together was the fact that there was no revealing to Perry that he was the butt of a joke by the end of it. Anyone who's a fan of prank comedy or wants to see a jerk get what's coming to him will get a kick out of this film.

Originally aired in 2003, Windy City Heat is presented with a 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. With a variety of footage from over the years and use of different cameras the image quality ranges from decent to poor. Some of the "professional" shots are fantastic with a great deal of clarity and a sharp picture. For the most part though the feature is filmed with hidden cameras and lower grade film so there's quite a lot of grain and softness. If you're used to these kinds of shows then you already know the quality that you can expect.

Presented with an English stereo track and no other options Windy City Heat is pretty barebones in terms of audio prowess. The sound is rough at times with very little diversity in the front channel and a volume that pitches wildly once Perry goes on one of his creepy screaming rampages. Again, if you have ever seen a hidden camera show before then you already know the kind of quality that's here. For what it is it's not bad but compared to more professional productions it falls drastically short. There are no subtitles included on the disc.

Most Comedy Central releases include previews for other DVDs and some Quickies from their various shows; Windy City Heat is no different. Aside from these standard inclusions this DVD offers up a 19 minute collection of deleted and extended scenes. Thankfully they cut the montage of Perry burping and farting from having too much dairy but I'm sure some of you will get a kick out of it being here in the extras.

"Classic Big Three Moments" is a smattering of homemade videos of Perry, Don and "Mole" doing stupid stuff. These run the gamut over the course of the years but some of them are pretty funny and even include Jimmy Kimmel in on some of the action. A short video is included of The Big Three watching Windy City Heat, the movie, for the first time. It's kind of funny but kind of creepy too as Perry goes on more of his screaming tirades. Finally Perry chimes in with an Audio/Video Commentary and talks about various things. He claims to have known that he was the butt of this big joke, but some of the things he says while talking about various events makes it sound like he was reminisces the production of the movie. It really makes you wonder whether the project was real or not.

Whether the practical joke played on Perry is authentic or not is kind of a moot point by the time the credits role in Windy City Heat. If he truly had no idea what was going on then he got everything that was coming to him but if he did know (as he claimed he did) then the man is a comic genius and should have gotten an award for his performance. Either way you look at it this feature is hilarious from start to finish and will make you laugh your ass off if you enjoy Jackhole productions.

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