Andrew Dahl (left) and Jordan McArthur (right), two of the stars of the new web series THE DIGRESSIONS.

“Observational comedy for a generation that maybe observes itself too much.” That’s how Andrew Dahl, the creator, head writer and co-star of THE DIGRESSIONS, a new comedy web series debuting with three episodes on February 12 (and twelve more to follow, airing each Tuesday), describes his new series.

In addition to the series’ online debut, the first three episodes, plus a special bonus episode, will have a special premiere at New York’s Village East Cinemas (189 2nd Ave.) on February 11 at 9:00 PM (EST), with a post-screening party at Professor Thom’s (219 2nd Ave.). Fans of the show get specially-priced drinks.

The show revolves around five young adults (Dahl, Winslow Corbett, Jordan McArthur, Eric Pargac, and Aubrey Saverino) who are each pushing thirty, but are struggling to face the new responsibilities that come with growing older.

The cast also proved to be adept behind the scenes. Except for Corbett, each actor also served as co-producer, with Pargac serving alongside Dahl as co-director, among other roles. The series is Dahl’s first major on-camera role, even though he’s had many years of experience as an actor, but he wore many hats during the production phase, from writing, producing, to directing several episodes of the series, a process that Dahl says he thoroughly enjoys, despite some reservations about being an actor/writer, doubts which quickly faded once he realized that the rewards of playing both roles far outweighed the risks.

Whitney Corbett (left), and Eric Pargac (right), two of the stars of THE DIGRESSIONS.

“Part of the point of making your own work (rather than trying to build a career auditioning and acting in other people’s projects) is that you get to be the voice.  So, it’s immensely rewarding being involved in all of the creative decisions. I’m not sure it would work so well if we didn’t have such a talented, capable, level-headed group of people to work with but our team is absolutely fantastic to work with.

Dahl’s fantastic team of fellow actors McArthur, Corbett, Pargac, and Saverino (each of whom have extensive theater training and experience) wasn’t that hard to assemble. “I went to grad school with Aubrey and Jordan, Eric is married to Aubrey, and I knew Winslow through some mutual friends.  Winslow is actually the only actor that we auditioned. I knew that I wanted to work with Aubrey, Jordan, and Eric so we just made it happen.”

A relaxed on-set atmosphere made the production process flow easily, especially when the cast had to multitask. “I had never run sound before, but we needed someone to do it – so I learned how to run sound!  And if we had to scrap an episode because the lighting was bad, then we did it and no one got too bent out of shape over it. I think it allowed us to end up with a quality project that has a lot of sincerity and heart mixed with the humor,” McArthur says.

Andrew Dahl (left) and Aubrey Saverino (right), two of the stars of THE DIGRESSIONS.

Dahl and McArthur raised funds to produce the series primarily out of their own pocket, but were fortunate enough to have access to high quality film and sound equipment, at literally no cost to them. In addition, the cast split the costs equally, further keeping the series’ budget in line.

The show’s greatest success, though, may lie in the group’s experience in producing the show, and its appeal to those who find humor in today’s modern world, according to Dahl. “We were all very clear with ourselves at the beginning that our number one priority was to make something that we could have fun making and that we could be proud of. Honestly, anything outside of that would be a bonus. I’d love to get a vocal and loyal fanbase, people that get something out of the show and keep coming back for more.”

ON THE WEB: www.thedigressions.com

BLOG: www.thedigressions.com/blog

YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/thedigressions

TWITTER: @LeDigressions

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/thedigressions