piss.jpg (Working Title) is an absurdist play written and performed by Justin Jager and Michael Gardiner. The play began as a fun writing exercise, with Jager starting a google doc and comically labeling it “piss.jpg” as a placeholder title. Throughout the writing of various drafts, the name stuck.
In April 2025 the pair performed a staged reading to a private audience, leading to a public script-in-hand performance in October 2025. This led to the production being picked up by Diamond Mesh Inc., headlining their inaugural “manifestival” in July-August 2026.
The play developed a cult following, largely due to its social media presence. It was praised by audiences and critics alike.
“Absurd, unhinged, and delightfully stupid.”
“Absurd, unhinged, and delightfully stupid.”
"an inventive, delightfully offbeat comedy that fully embraces the absurd."
"an inventive, delightfully offbeat comedy that fully embraces the absurd."
"a superb show that's as hard to sum up as it is easy to recommend.
"a superb show that's as hard to sum up as it is easy to recommend.
"how absurdism should be done."
"how absurdism should be done."
I began marketing the show prior to the October 2025 reading. I composed an initial press release and listed the show on various event sites. While the one-night event sold out, the goal of the initial marketing was to create a digital footprint, with the idea of this eventually helping a future full production. Most notably I started the instagram account that began branding the show. Jager and Gardiner contributed to some of the posts and engaged in multiple brainstorm sessions. When Diamond Mesh selected them to headline their inaugural summer festival, I was also brought on as Social Media Manager. Starting in January 2026, I fully took over the account and had free reign to create and post content, turning to the writers for assistance in writing captions and filming clips. By the closing performance on August 9, the account had organically grown to 1,141 followers.
“She’s thinking piss. She’s locked in and she’s made incredible content that people should be jealous of.” (Gardiner to Sarah Francis-Soutar for Theatre’s The Word podcast)
The Manifestival had a Press Rep, but I conducted additional marketing and outreach for piss.jpg (Working Title). I submitted the listing to additional event sites and sent out my own press release. I connected with Stephen Kearley of TheBroadGAYS on instagram, and they became our first reviewer - having those quotes the first weekend was key for publicizing the rest of the run. I coordinated a podcast appearance for Jager and Gardiner on Theatre’s The Word where they talked about the show’s development and what they hope for the future, as well as giving backstage insights. I reached out to Theatre Index to feature the show on their site, and they sent an influencer to see the show and post about it. I had the show listed on ShowScore so audience members could share their thoughts with the theatre community. I interviewed Jager and Gardiner and wrote about how this piece fits into the current state of comedy.
Thinking long-term, all of these efforts not only helped the successful run at the Paradise Factory, but have also set up a clear brand for the future of the show (and comedy duo).
I additionally created the set. Director Daniel Yaiullo had the idea that it should be cardboard, and I executed this to rave reviews:
“The production’s design complements its imagination beautifully. The black box theater is transformed with furniture covered in cardboard, creating a simple yet effective visual landscape that reinforces the show’s handmade, anything-is-possible spirit.” TheaterPizzazz
“…all made to look as if constructed from cardboard (an additional layer of unreality on what is always already a simulacrum of a real-world space).” ThinkingTheaterNYC
“The cardboard kitchen is the perfect setting for this nonsense. The table, chairs, cabinets, drawers, and sink look as though someone raided a recycling bin and decided to mount the next great American drama. It immediately tells us that realism has left the building and probably taken the budget with it.” The BroadGAYS
“She did so much for the set and for social media as well.
People keep asking me who’s running the piss instagram and I have to be like ‘no it’s not me it’s Danielle.’
If it’s gonna be sparse and it’s gonna be cheap, then let’s make it look cheap and sparse and just make everything look cardboard. So what we did is we have physical chairs and a table (the same ones that the other shows we’re running in rep with are using) but we have cardboard slips that go over them to make them look completely cardboard so that the other cardboard furniture all just sort of look like that. And it’s very impressive. It looks like the table is just a big block of cardboard, but it is an actual table out there. We made it look cheaper than it is.” Jager for Theatre’s The Word