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November 18, 2008
Inside With: Aaron Bleyaert, Late Night Blogger/Web Guy Extraordinaire
By: Andrew Singer
THE BEST THING "Learning how to compromise without compromising is one of the best things I've learned and continue to learn." --Aaron Bleyaert | Photo: Lisa Bleyaert
Aaron Bleyaert is the comprehensive blogger behind The Late Night Insider and Late Night Underground, the repositories for all things Internet-postable for Late Night With Conan O'Brien. But Bleyaert is much, much more than that. In fact, between blogging, filming behind-the-scenes action videos and a weekly podcast, it's a wonder he finds time to do his main job. The Apiary recently sat down with the man of a thousand pies to the face to discuss Late Night office life, as well as his love for people who love what they do.
How would you best describe your day job?
I work at Late Night with Conan O'Brien as the Late Night Blogger/Web Guy Extraordinaire. I also help out with Guest Research; I read about famous people and put any interesting stories into a file that is then used by our Segment Producers to make the awesome and hilarious guest segments you see on our show.
Continue reading "Inside With: Aaron Bleyaert, Late Night Blogger/Web Guy Extraordinaire
By: Andrew Singer"
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November 10, 2008
Inside With: Kevin Allison
By: Andrew Singer
MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT "In real life, I'm someone who always returned to chasing his dream, even after making a jaw-droppingly catastrophic mess of life on occasions" | Photo: Keith Huang
Kevin Allison has been an influential actor of stage and screen for many years, most notably for his writing and performances on The State, and more recently in Reno 911!: Miami, The Ten, Flight of the Conchords and the sketch group Big Flux. In fact, Allison has never strayed too far from sketch comedy having joined The Peoples Improv Theater in New York in 2007 as an administrator and teacher, largely to "re-learn everything and then start learning new stuff," he says. The Apiary recently sat down with Kevin to discuss his newest one-man show, "F*** Up," and how else been passing his time these days.
Please update us as to what you've been up to.
Let's just say it's involved a remarkable amount of glue sniffing. When The State broke up, I went through a period where I was thinking, "Hmm ... should I focus on writing instead?" I had this idea that that might be my stronger suit, so I should go full force that way. I started getting magazine jobs, writing articles, that sort of thing. I soon found myself saying, "I miss the crap out of performing!" It was totally irreplaceable. I felt it was a "confused-and-drunken-young-man" mistake to have veered from performing AND writing. Or, more specifically, performing my own writing.
Continue reading "Inside With: Kevin Allison
By: Andrew Singer"
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October 15, 2008
Inside With: Maria Bamford
By: Andrew Singer
"I haven't yet become the solid form that I'm meant to be" | Maria Bamford headlines the Hysterical Festival at Comix this Saturday
Comedian Maria Bamford has a unique, sophisticated style that's not easily deciphered. But after more than 20 years performing and touring the U.S., and starring in TV shows, cartoons and movies, plenty of people have found something to love about Maria. Whether it's her variety of personal and nuanced characters or the sharp divide between her own shrill voice and the professional voice she adopts when stepping outside herself, Maria draws you right into her world. Andrew Singer recently rang up The Bammer to discuss some of her favorite roles and this week's Hysterical Festival.
How long had you been performing before you found your particular style?
Around seven or eight years, but I'm still evolving. I haven't yet become the solid form that I'm meant to be. Maybe I'm still starting to pick up ideas or figuring out my style. Maybe I'm meant to be a professional jogger, but I haven't gotten to the running part.
What drew you to the Hysterical Festival?
Well, I'm a lady, and ladies are involved in organizing (although probably some men), and they said "You're a lady. Would you like to be a lady, as well as perform comedy," and I said "Yes," and that's how it happened. If that hadn't happened, I never would've done it.
Which other act(s) would you like to see while you're in the city?
I'm excited about Kristen Schaal.
Continue reading "Inside With: Maria Bamford
By: Andrew Singer"
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October 7, 2008
Inside With: Schaffer The Darklord
By: Andrew Singer
"I didn't want to be one of those rappers who gets on stage and just paces around, punctuating the spaces between songs with inane banter and shout-outs." | Photo courtesy Schaffer the Darklord
Mark Schaffer, a.k.a. Schaffer the Darklord, or STD, is a New York City-based rapper and comedian. A transplant from the west coast, Schaffer spent a few years pounding drums for a San Francisco rock band before honing his MC skills to drop nerdcore-style rhymes in The Big Apple. These days, STD blends his love for heavy metal with quirky beats. And his lyrical content, according to the "rappist," is inspired by the subversive and the absurd. Andrew Singer recently caught up with STD to discuss Nerdapalooza, a love for hosting shows and the advantages of working with the city's burlesque scene.
First of all, what exactly are you? A comedic rapper? A rapping comedian? Or something else?
I consider myself both a rapper and a comedian, but not a hyphenated combination of the two because I don't tell rhyming jokes, nor do I make jokes about the fact that I'm a rapper. Also, throwing the word "comedian" into my artist description when promoting myself on bills tends to turn off music fans, and using the word "rapper" to describe my act tends to irritate hip-hop purists. So, I've actually created my own unique term to describe what I do. I prefer to be called a "rappist."
Continue reading "Inside With: Schaffer The Darklord
By: Andrew Singer"
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September 15, 2008
Inside With: Ray DeVito
By: Andrew Singer
Ray DeVito performs at The Living Room in Brooklyn | Photo: Living Room Comedy
Comedian Ray Devito has toured all over the country for many years now, bringing his brand of warm, friendly humor to towns both large and small before finally settling down in The Big Apple to start anew. He has quickly become a mainstay in the scene, performing at showcases throughout the city and creating videos as well. The Apiary met up with DeVito to discuss his influences, favorite hot spots and his own monthly show Sacapuntas!
Where did you start out doing comedy? How did you end up in NYC? Was that always the plan?
I started doing standup in 2000. I was the house emcee at Hilarities in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. As far as moving to New York, that's a little fuzzy. My friend Jesse Joyce was moving from Pittsburgh to New York and he encouraged me to do the same. He came in 2001 and I arrived in 2003 but I went back to Ohio a few months later but then came back a few years later. So I would say officially 2006.
How much touring have you done? What are your favorite types of out-of-town gigs and how has touring impacted your career?
For the better part of the last five years, I've toured all over the country. I definitely prefer college shows, as opposed to the clubs. Artistically, I can explore more original thoughts. I do like the clubs, too, but their crowds definitely prefer more generic topics. However, there are a few clubs in towns out there that I really enjoy and are always fun: Omaha, Lexington, Denver, Tucson, Dayton, Detroit, Sioux Falls, San Antonio, Madison and Louisville.
Continue reading "Inside With: Ray DeVito
By: Andrew Singer"
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September 2, 2008
Inside With: Susan Alexander, Comic & Comedy Producer
By: Andrew Singer
Photo: Heidi Kikel
Stand-up comedian Susan Alexander is the host and creator of "5 Funny Females," a national touring show that features some of the nation's best female stand-up comedy talent. Alexander also created and hosts "5 Funny Fags," which debuted last May in San Francisco and is now starting to tour the U.S., as well. Since 2002, Alexander has been performing, hosting and producing popular live events. Before embarking on a career in comedy, she worked as an online-advertising and marketing director and is now based in New York. She has been working on a Web series in addition to television projects. The Apiary recently caught up with Alexander to ask about promoting shows, women in comedy and her hypnotizing cleavage.
How did you come up with "5 Funny Females"?
When I started stand-up in San Francisco about five years ago, I auditioned at San Francisco Comedy Club, now a jazz club or something else, and was selected to be the Friday and Saturday night host. By hosting weekly shows, I received lots of stage time, realized I loved hosting and started to build a San Francisco fan base. I noticed there were not any regular shows that just featured female stand-up comics. So, I created a monthly show at the club called "5 Funny Females" that featured a variety of female comedians from all different backgrounds.
Continue reading "Inside With: Susan Alexander, Comic & Comedy Producer
By: Andrew Singer"
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August 21, 2008
Inside With: Shawn Hollenbach, Showman & Control Freak
By: Andrew Singer
"The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears" --Marianna Mayer | Photo via Shawn Hollenbach
Comedian, improviser and musician Shawn Hollenbach is a nonstop-action machine. Like most New York-comedy hustlers, he can be seen nightly, either performing or co-producing shows like The Back Room, The Kevin Murphy Show and Meat and Potatoes. An all-around nice guy with a radiating smile, Hollenbach is the host of "Busted" on here! TV. Our resident evil master Andrew "Soce the Elemental Wizard" Singer recently caught up with Hollenbach to discuss reaching out to an audience, the differences between performing for a gay and a straight crowd and his plans to take over the world.
How many different live shows are you involved in right now? How do you find manage to keep abreast of everything?
I have my hands in five shows right now. My baby, Closet Cases, is a monthly show where gay performers share their coming-out stories on stage. I also am co-producing Meat and Potatoes, a show where folks who grew up poor share their experiences with Carolyn Castiglia, The Back Room, a gay-themed comedy show at Ochi's Lounge in Comix, The Skip and Sparkle Variety Show, and finally The Kevin Murphy Show, a Straight Bostonian/Japanese/Gay variety show where I play Jodi Murphy at Hugs in Brooklyn. I love to produce because I'm a control freak. I feel really spread thin a lot of the times, but I work with great teams.
Continue reading "Inside With: Shawn Hollenbach, Showman & Control Freak
By: Andrew Singer"
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August 5, 2008
Inside With: Megan Ganz, Assistant Editor at The Onion
By: Andrew Singer
A view from the writer's seat (from l to r): Seth Reiss, Joe Garden, John Harris and John Krewson show a piece of wire bent into a dick shape that also spells Seth's name in cursive | Photo: Megan Ganz
Megan Ganz is a comedy writer. As an assistant editor for satirical newspaper The Onion, Ganz belongs to an elite group of joke writers who provide one of the most important voices in comedy every week. In their writing sessions, Onion staffers reduce several hundred jokes to the select few that make it into the paper. This time-tested process has produced faux headlines such as: "National Organization for Women Turns 39 Again," "Supreme Court Overturns Car" and "Ebert Victorious!" (immediately following Siskel's death) -- all classics that live on indefinitely as readers repeat them to each other over beers at the bar, or while passing around a bong in a living room. Ganz is a longstanding contributor to The Onion, and she not only knows what makes a joke funny, but also understands the importance of asking herself what a joke is trying to say, or where it's trying to go. The Apiary recently caught up with Ganz to discuss her writing technique, joke dissection and the art of standup.
Who are your heroes? Who inspired you to reach where you are now?
My heroes? Well, I suppose I'd have to say my mother and father. But only because they actually fight crime. If you're talking more figurative, inspirational heroes, then probably a lot of the stuff I grew up reading. Someone mentioned to me recently how it's weird that comedians always list their "influences" as people they're into now (like, for me, Patton Oswalt, David Sedaris, Rowan Atkinson, Steve Coogan and Daniel Kitson), and I totally agree. So, to be honest, my true influences were Dave Barry, Louis Sachar, Bill Cosby, Mad magazine, Charles Shultz, and Bill Watterson, because that's what I was into before I formed my sense of comedy or even knew what comedy was.
What was your first real job in comedy?
I had an internship at Mad after my junior year in college. I'm not sure I would have come back to the city if that office hadn't been such a wonderful, fostering environment. The editor-in-chief actually pulled me into his office on my last day, and straight up told me to move to New York and do comedy. I'd never had anyone with any level of credibility tell me I was funny before that. It's one of the big reasons I had the courage to apply to the Onion's writing fellowship.
Continue reading "Inside With: Megan Ganz, Assistant Editor at The Onion
By: Andrew Singer"
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July 31, 2008
Inside With: Chris Sullivan, of Freestyle Love Supreme, Cast Member of 'The Electric Company'
By: Keith Huang
Guest star Jack McBrayer stands among cast members Jenni Barber, Chris Sullivan and featured actor William Jackson Harper. Other Electric Company guest stars will include Wyclef Jean, Mark Ecko, Sean Kingston and Mark Linn-Baker (from Perfect Strangers) | Photo courtesy of 2008 Sesame Workshop
When The Electric Company went off the air in 1977, beat-box ace Chris Sullivan wasn't even born yet. But like most American twentysomethings today, Sullivan has known about the children's television show his entire life. And now, decades later, he's been hired as a cast member for the updated version of The Electric Company, which is slated to air in January 2009.
Given everything we know about Sullivan's talents as a musician, improviser and performer -- he's best known as "Shockwave" of hip-hop, improvised-comedy mash-up Freestyle Love Supreme -- we expect great things from him and the show's revival. The Apiary recently caught up with our old pal to ask about the cool gig.
How did you get cast on the show?
About two years ago, Sesame Workshop was in the works of reviving the show and the executive producer, Karen Fowler, saw a Freestyle Love Supreme show. We shot a short 3- or 4-song demo with them and a solo segment with me beatboxing various prefixes to words that contain the letter combination "ain." A year later they filmed a "proof of concept" pilot, of which most of us were a part, and I was able to explore different segment ideas. Now today, we're in production and most of the FLS boys are still involved to some extent and I have three segments a show, as well as a part in the narrative.
So what was your reaction to getting cast? It's almost too good to be true.
It is almost too good to be true! I've always dreamed about performing solo in an animated world. That's how I imagine it while performing live ... it all starts with a blank stage and I create a character with sound effects and mime, come to the end of the story and wash out my imaginary cartoon images with a rhythmic routine of beatboxing and vocal sounds. I've always wondered what it would be like to have an animator fill in the cracks later ... and now it's happening. So, actually, yes, it is too good to be true ... but it is ... too good ... and it's also true ...
Continue reading "Inside With: Chris Sullivan, of Freestyle Love Supreme, Cast Member of 'The Electric Company'
By: Keith Huang"
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July 22, 2008
Inside With: Jen Dziura, 'Pop Intellectual'
By: Andrew Singer
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New York comedian Jennifer Dziura's affiliation with competitive spelling began four years ago when she was asked to co-host the Williamsburg Spelling Bee, the bimonthly-dictionary throwdown at Pete's Candy Store. Since then, Dziura has presided over some of the most grueling spelling battles Billyburg has ever seen.
But more recently, Dziura (pronounced "Di-ZUR-ah"), who is a Dartmouth alumnus and former teen columnist for The Virginian-Pilot, has taken the reins of another adult spelling bee at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Manhattan, and also a weekly-quiz show called Chelsea Mind Games, which features competitive math and geography. A longtime blogger, Dziura is also working on a book about live game shows. The Apiary recently stopped the "Pop Intellectual" between buzzers and the looking up of $10 words to ask and learn about nerd comedy and why a quiz show is a great place to meet singles.
What value do you see in making your audience compete instead of simply watching passively?
Well, I never really planned on it, but my live game shows have become a meeting place for smart singles. Think about it -- rather than merely sitting in the audience at a show and hoping to attract someone with your looks (and perhaps allegiance to the same band or performer), you get to come up to the mic, be introduced, and show your intelligence and personality! One recent Chelsea Mind Games show generated a Missed Connection on Craigslist.
I found the Missed Connection while Googling the name of my own show, and when I saw it, I realized I actually had the email address of the person it was for, since he had signed up on the Mind Games email list. I forwarded him the post, and they actually went on a date! Mind Games generated possibly the only Missed Connection to ever result in a date within 48 hours.
Continue reading "Inside With: Jen Dziura, 'Pop Intellectual'
By: Andrew Singer"
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June 13, 2008
Inside With: A Week of Kindness
Our week of SketchFest profiles comes to a conclusion. Area favorites, A Week of Kindness, sing us out.
What's your story, A Week of Kindness?
We met as students at Penn State. We were involved in a student theatre company called No Refund Theatre which performed weekly in a classroom. Over the course of our college degrees, we had all written for/directed/acted with each other in all sorts of shows, dramatic, comedy and otherwise. We're all pretty big comedy nerds, so when we found ourselves living in the same city a year or two after college, it seemed like the right thing to do to develop a sketch comedy act together.
How would you describe your group?
What separates us is first our determination to make every show more than just the sum of its sketches. You'll see jokes, videos, and sketches folding back into themselves in all kinds of bizarre ways, and most shows have some kind of through-line whose plot is illuminated by the events of the constituent sketches, and some stuff that we hope might become even funnier to you on a second viewing. We're proud of our ability to mix some of the most retarded material you've ever seen with stuff that's more high-brow, and to make them live harmoniously together in the world of our show. As for influences, right now we're on a big Tim and Eric kick.
How do your sketches go from an idea to the stage?
We typically rehearse and write at Dans' apartments in Brooklyn. The writing is very collaborative. We typically write even the first drafts together, arguing and agonizing over every line from the beginning of the sketch until it's complete, and then arguing and agonizing again a few days later when we've slept on it and realized what has to be punched up. We're fairly sure that this would be impossible for us if there were more than 3 people on our team. We are actually answering these questions collaboratively, arguing and agonizing about every line including this one.
Who are you most excited to see this year at SketchFest?
We're really jazzed to be playing a show with Trophy Dad, who are friends of ours, and who did one of the really stand-out shows of the fest last year. A brand new Fearsome show is also always an event. We first met them in 2004 when Mike was the emcee of a sketch comedy tournament that they ended up winning, and they were the first sketch group to really open introduce us to the scene.
Any other projects you're working on?
Dan writes for bestweekever.tv which just won a Webby award, and also does sketch videos with a group called Old Rich People, who host a monthly video night at Hugs in Williamsburg. Nate does his own stand-up and music-based act. And Mike is a member of the UCBT Harold team Bangs and the Maude team The Skuntz. This past weekend, he hosted the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party and sat in with UCBT's oldest team, Mother. AWOK's big project this year has been a monthly show at Pianos.
A Week of Kindness performs tonight at The UCBT at midnight.
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Inside With: The Dance Party of Newfoundland
SketchFest NYC wouldn't be an international festival without The Dance Party of Newfoundland, a troupe consisting of Canadians. One of said Canadians actually drove a motorcycle all the way from Toronto--in a heat wave, mind you--in order to get here. Though their SketchFest set happened already last night, it's still nice to learn about the people around us.
What's your story, Dance Party of Newfoundland?
Phil: I met Dave Sullivan and Jonny Harris in college. We all went to a theatre school together. They knew Steve from their hometown, whereas I knew Steve from a margarine commercial that I had seen on tv. It was amazing.
There was a meeting called to get a sketch group together. After a couple of meetings, there were only 5 of us who kept showing up. We wrote our first show called On the Nog. That was about 4 years ago. Since then we've performed in Dawson City, Yukon, Chicago SketchFest, SketchFestNYC 2007, toured our own province, played Second City at the Toronto SketchFest and won Best of the Fest.
How would you describe your group? What separates you from everyone else?
Jonny: Well, we always thought Kids in the Hall were really funny, being Canucks. We were also fans of the Vancouver Canucks--they're REALLY funny. We are all theatrically trained and bring that to our sketch troupe. Lots of sketch troupes go for the minimalist thing but we try to do as much with lighting, sound, and costumes as time (and our pea-sized brains) will allow.
How do your sketches go from an idea to the stage?
Phil: Usually, one guy has the idea and writes it. Then it gets sent around and we each weigh in on it. It gets "suggestions" and then re-writes. Our group is split across St. John's, Newfoundland and Toronto, Ontario, which are about 2,000 miles apart--so everything happens by email until we get together around 48 hours before we open a show. We get some beer, get together at one of our houses and put the show together. We always take the audience response into account. If they hate it, we hate each other and we change. Our material and our lives.
Who are you most excited to see this year at SketchFest?
Jonny: Everybody.
Any other projects you're working on?
Steve: I'm directing an interactive documentary about a country singer who was a contestant on Canadian Idol who is now breaking into Nashville.
Jonny: I'm going into a second season of a tv show called The Murdoch Mysteries.
Phil: I'm becoming better friends with Steve and Jonny.
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June 12, 2008
Kiss It Goodbye: Brandy and Sara Talk About the Beginning and the End of Their Long Running Show, The Kissing Booth
By: Eliot Glazer
Since 2006, BFFs Brandy Barber and Sara Jo Allocco have produced and performed in The Kissing Booth, a variety show that played at D Lounge before moving to The Tank. The monthly show has provided an undeniably inclusive and welcoming atmosphere that has nurtured the tastes of all different comedic tastes, providing equal support to all comics, whether they walk dogs for a living or have already landed a couple of Premium Blend gigs. Since day one, The Kissing Booth has attracted some talented people, but more importantly, it has furthered sentiments of loyalty and comraderie among New York's funniest performers. Tonight, Brandy and Sara will host the show's final installment at The Tank (starting at 8:00pm), with guests Jamie Kilstein, Eliot and Ilana, Jay Bois, Matt and Katina, and surprise guests.
Why did you start The Kissing Booth?
Brandy: We had met and begun collaborating together in 2004, and had just finished the run of our first sketch show at The P.I.T.
Sara: Directed by our mentor and great pal, Kevin Allison
Brandy: Giulia Rozzi recommended us to the Mintyfresh Collective, who hosted predominately stand-up based shows around town, but they were willing to let us do some of our character sketches there sight unseen.
Sara: It made me think about what else we could do. I mentioned the idea of us doing a monthly show, not particularly a sketch show and not particularly a stand-up show.
Brandy: Neither of us were, or are, stand-ups. We're more like performance comedy. We started to meet some really funny, really subversive comics who made me rethink my preconceived dislike of stand-up. I started pseudo-dating someone who was in that world so as a result, Sara & I started to go to some fun downtown shows--Variety Underground, Sweet, Giant Tuesday, those Tuesday NBC comedy showcases, The Shark Show, Comedy Clubhouse @ Telephone Bar--and saw that a comedy show didn't just have to be all sketch-based or all stand up. Sweet was a particularly big influence, especially Seth's having Craig Baldo DJ after the show.
Sara: I knew it didn't have to be just a stand-up show. We could host as ourselves and show that side of ourselves, the fact that we are in real life best friends. This way, we could do what we thought was funny, have monthly themes, featured sketch groups, stand up guests, videos, and of course, singing.
Brandy: Lots and lots of loud, off-key singing.
Sara: Someone once lamented that we re-branded drunken karaoke as comedy. Well, that someone was correct.
Describe the first Kissing Booth.
Sara: A real shit storm. It was like someone gave two chimpanzees keys to a space and let them loose.
Brandy: We had been lucky enough to perform at venues like Mo Pitkin's and Rififi, where a tech person was provided, so we figured "tech" meant one of our nice friends showed up and switched on lights and played iPod tracks. So we get there for the first show and, no mics worked, our performer needed her keyboard amped, the DVD player hooked up to the projector wouldn't work so we had to run things off a laptop that kept freezing...
Sara: The space was so hot, we didn't know how to turn the AC on. The tech booth was a total mess because the show prior was kind enough to leave it torn apart, and we didn't have the slightest idea how to put anything back together. In our defense, I'm not sure how many people would have known, either.
Brandy: We learned that not only were we not stand ups, we were not technically inclined.
Sara: But thank god for Law Tarello and Jon Friedman, who both helped us run our tech as smoothly as possible. The highlight of the entire evening was when we went to play this fake karoke-background video we had put so much work into, that Anya Garrett was kind enough to shoot & edit, starring our friends Party Central USA. It was supposed to be the spectacular finale to our show, and it wouldn't play.
Brandy: Oh, AND the first show started about and hour and half late as a result. But everyone was wasted by then, so that made it a bit better.
Sara: I just remembered getting rip roaring drunk off of warm, expired Bud Light cans.
Brandy: I was sure we'd be called out for being imposters after the show. I thought we'd never pull it off. But even with all the problems, it was packed and people seemed to like it.
Continue reading "Kiss It Goodbye: Brandy and Sara Talk About the Beginning and the End of Their Long Running Show, The Kissing Booth
By: Eliot Glazer"
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June 11, 2008
Inside With: Hey You Millionaires
Far away in a town called Chicago, Hey You Millionaires rehearses one last time before boarding a mode of transit that will bring them to SketchFest NYC. Time Out Chicago says HYM is famous for their "comedy experiments" and The Bastion informed us via email that we have to check them out. Read on to discover crucial facts about HYM and to learn about the sporting craze that's sweeping vast tiny pockets of Middle America, Whirlyball.
What's your story, Hey You Millionaires?
We (James Asmus, John Bohan, and Jim Fath) met in Cleveland in 2003. In 2004, after each moving to Chicago, we formed a group called The Leading Brand. Our first effort, The Unbearable Lightness of Death, was a sketch show molded into a narrative following the story of a terminally ill man named Charlie Peeler and the seemingly oblivious characters around him. After a brief hiatus, we resurfaced under the new name Hey You Millionaires (HYM). We've performed at the Annoyance, Playground theatre, i.O. Chicago, Chicago Underground Comedy and various other Chicago comedy venues.
How would you describe your group?
We aim to create comedy that entertains and surprises both our audiences and our comedy peers. One of our biggest influences was where our name was taken from--the first sketch of the first episode of The Kids in the Hall. Speaking of, we recently played Whirlyball with The Kids in the Hall when they came through Chicago in April. No, we're not kidding, and if you must know, we fought them to a tie. And yes, we will use any excuse to mention our chance meeting with the Kids in the Hall.
How do your sketches go from an idea to the stage?
There is no "one process" for creating out material. Much of what we've done is a direct result of collaboration on stage and as we write. Some of our best content has come from an idea or a concept where we each added something at various points. Many times it erupts from conversations during pitch sessions or even conversations elsewhere. In some cases whole scenes were written entirely by one person but even those end up being change or polished by the group.
Who are you stoked to see at SketchFest?
Each of us has seen many of the groups separately so we all have groups that we are interested in seeing. James and I are looking forward to seeing Summer of Tears and the Apple Sisters. John wants to see Rue Brutalia. We are incredibly excited to be a part of this year's festival.
Any other news?
James Asmus' Love is Dead: A Necromantic Musical Comedy will play at the New York Fringe Festival in August. The show had a critically acclaimed run at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago this past year. Also, HYM will be performing at the DC Comedy Festival and the Austin Out of Bounds sketch comedy festival later this summer.
Hey You Millionaires performs at SketchFest NYC at The UCBT this Saturday at 6PM.
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June 10, 2008
Inside With: Dirty Jeans and Thunderchief
Our weeklong interview series with the stars of SketchFest NYC plods ahead with Dirty Jeans and Thunderchief, Biz Ellis and Livia Scott's brand new MEAT splinter group which features a small legion of bubbly performers on backup. SketchFest marks the world premiere of their first full-length show, chronicling a week in the lives of two 1970's housewives and their fantasy alter egos.
What's your story, Dirty Jeans and Thunderchief?
We met 8 years ago at the auditions for what would eventually become MEAT... along with Becky Poole and Reggan Holland, fellow MEAT members. As Becky prepared for a move to Seattle, we started talking about a duo project. The two of us had always worked well together handling the production aspects of MEAT and over the years we became best friends. We had no idea what the hell it would be or what we would do.
One day we were hanging out in a diner with our friend Mike Balzer (the Associate Artistic Director of Improv Olympic in Chicago) and the AC/DC song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" came up on the jukebox. He said that as a kid he always thought the words to the song were "Dirty Jeans, Thunder Chief!" and we looked at each other and instantly knew we wanted that to be the name for our show, about two characters named Dirty Jeans & Thunderchief.
How would you describe your group?
For right now and with this show, I'd say it's "Thelma & Louise meets Easy Rider meets the song 'Mother's Little Helper.'"
Even though we are a duo, we really wanted to bring in other people to this show who we respect and could bring something cool to what we were trying to create. (Alex Pearl (director), Anya Garrett (film goddess), Chris O'Connor, Arthur Meyer, Barron Vaughn, Stefan Lawrence, Reggie Watts, Todd Hanson, Alex Goldberg, Jon Friedman, Aaron Kheifets and Greg Walloch. Everyone was someone who we'd worked with in the past or were really excited about working with. For example, Todd Hanson played a huge contributing role to the voiceover that introduces the characters, and the part of "Taco" was written specifically for Reggie Watts.
How do your sketches go from an idea to the stage?)
We write separately and tweak the scripts together. Sometimes we will brainstorm the concept together but then whoever feels the strongest about it will go and get it fleshed out. In this show, Biz really connected with the Dirty Jeans and Thunderchief characters and had a real vision of what that should be, while Livia felt incredibly strong about the Joyce and Jocelyn characters (the two 70's, unhappy, housewives, who seek inspiration from their favorite TV characters, Dirty Jeans and Thunderchief. We then took a step back and saw how they were all connected.
Who are you most excited to see this year at SketchFest?
We always want to see Troop! and Third Floor. It's like seeing old friends who have a new record to share with you and you know its going to be amazing. We're both excited about the Birthday Boys, who we've never seen, but have heard good stuff about. To be honest, the whole fest is such an amazing experience that you want to see every group, because they each bring something so different and cool. We are sketch junkies.
Any other projects you're working on?
We were just on the new CNN comedy talking head show, Not Just Another Cable News Show. Biz has always wanted to be a talking head at least once, so it was very exciting to check that off of her dream to-do list. MEAT is having their big reunion show out in Portland at the Best of The Best Festival in August. Livia does stand up all the time now and has been given some nice recognition for that this year, an ECNY nomination for Best Emerging Comic. Biz and Stefan (of Elephant Larry fame) are getting married in September.
Dirty Jeans and Thunderchief take the stage this Thursday, 10PM @ The UCBT
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May 29, 2008
Inside With: Bob Powers
Bob Powers | Photo: Lisa Whiteman
Bob Powers is many things to many people, but for the purposes of this Q&A, he is an example of blogging success, a writer for the Huffington Post's 23/6.com, and now, a two-time author. He follows up Happy Cruelty Day, a collection of invented holidays culled from the Web pages of Girls Are Pretty, with his new work, You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero--a book marketed to the robust "Failing 33-year olds" demographic. Though his writing tends to swim backstrokes through an Overcast Gray color of the comedy palette, Bob claims he has no problems accepting that people can be happy and content. Things are just much more amusing when we're not.
In a 5-star review for your new book, You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero, Rachel Kramer Bussel raves, "Bob Powers has written a hilarious and very adult version of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure type of book... He somehow manages to cram in all kinds of current events with a general sense of generational angst and relationship drama, all while you flip around madly trying to find the best ending. Except all the endings here are kind of messed up." We have questions. One: Is it impossible to beat this book? And two: What do you have against humanity?
RKB is pretty awesome isn't she? That was an Amazon review but I wish I could get it on the book jacket somehow. To answer your two-parter: If by "beat the book," you mean get a positive ending, yes it's possible. There are a few endings where you save the girl, find love, get rich, all that crap. But there are many more where you get murdered, or worse, give up your dreams and end up working at an Ecuadorian nick-nack shop or something. In one ending your life doesn't change one bit except you stop waiting tables and switch to temping. But yes, there are a few endings where everything works out, but just a few.
For the second part, I have nothing against humanity. I just think humans who fail are very entertaining.
Did you learn anything while writing your first book that was helpful the second time around?
The first book was very different from this one, since the first was just a pile of individual stories and this one has a whole bunch of plotlines to keep up in the air. The big thing I learned, maybe, was to just keep spewing words on the paper no matter how crappy they might seem. You write fifty pages you're going to have at least a few that are okay.
I guess I like book writing enough. It can be scary to spend a lot of time on something without that immediate feedback letting you know if it's any good. But when it looks like it's taking shape it's nice.
By our calculations, you have over 1700 entries logged on your site Girls Are Pretty since 2002. What got you into blogging? Why didn't you quit? And what entry has garnered the most hits?
I got into blogging because I had the idea for the Girls Are Pretty format of daily holidays for a while, but I had no knowledge of how to make a website. Blogging was the easiest way to do it without learning anything. I kind of did quit more recently, at least I don't do it every day like I used to. For the first three years I never missed a day, now I just do it a couple times a week. I think the thing that kept me going was when I started getting an audience.
No clue what got the most hits, on its own. My biggest hits came on days when more popular blogs linked to me, but they'd usually link to the whole blog rather than a particular post. I do remember that "19 Ways To Tell A Cajun Chef To Go Fuck Himself" seemed to get a lot of links over time.
We heard you work at 23/6.com. What do you do there?
I write for the news section at 23/6. Started back in March. It's a good place to work. Each day, we basically just go through the headlines in the morning and then pitch our ideas for how we want to cover which stories. I usually put up a couple pieces a day.
Do you still talk to Todd Levin? How's he doing? And are there any collaborations in the works?
Todd is doing very well. He's getting married soon, as am I. We're not getting married to each other. We're marrying girls. No collaborations in the works presently.
See Bob read from You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero at the official release party on June 3rd, 6:30 @ Lolita Bar.
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May 20, 2008
Character Sketches: Jamie Lee
By: Neil Padover
When Jamie Lee moved to New York after landing a job in public relations, she had no inclination toward doing stand up. It was 2005 and the twenty-two year old Texas native was busy spending her nights and weekends DJ-ing at clubs and dabbling in digital animation. But after being booked on Rob O'Reilly's "True True Train" show at Mo Pitkin's, essentially riffing on stage about an awkward romantic encounter in high school, Jamie Lee had caught the bug. She signed up for Comedy 101 through Caroline's on Broadway and started on her pilgrimage of open mics throughout New York City. Her beginning material was more sexual, more crass than her act is now, a fact she chalks up to being a newer comic who hadn't tested the waters yet. "I used a lot of shock humor and I felt like I wasn't getting a really honest response. I thought, 'Is this only funny because these audiences are guys?'"
The move for Jamie from the tough, small rooms around the city to the more promising and burgeoning scene of independent shows produced by comics came soon after. Lee remembers being new to the scene when her friend Sean Patton decided to let her perform on his show at Kabin. She cites Patton as having been somewhat of a comedy mentor for her over the past year and a half. Although the two don't write together or workshop bits, Lee says that Patton's encouragement has been indispensable. "He told me never to doubt myself or my 'funny,' almost like a comedy big brother... He'd never seen me perform before [when] he agreed to put me up," she says. The gamble paid off big as Jamie Lee has become a fixture of the downtown comedy scene, performing on booked shows almost every night of the week, a noteworthy feat in a city where stage time is scarce and the would-be performers seem innumerable.
Still, there are undoubtedly challenges for a young female comic trying to break into an industry that is often characterized as one big boys' club. On her recent trip to the New Orleans Comedy Festival, Lee was one of three female performers (out of the thirty plus comics on the bill). Her ability to break through, winning over audiences and fellow-comics alike has much to do with ignoring labels altogether. Talk with Jamie about comedy for just a few minutes and it becomes clear that she does not view herself as a distinctly female comic. "I try not to dwell on the gender differences because it's something that's always going to be there. There's no reason to focus on a bias that existed before you even started. You need to focus on being funny, because if you're funny, you're funny."
Continue reading "Character Sketches: Jamie Lee
By: Neil Padover"
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May 8, 2008
Character Sketches: Ruhbin Mehta
By: Neil Padover
There's no shortage of talented performers putting on great comedy shows every night of the week in New York City. The trouble it seems comes in filling all those seats in the house. Ruhbin Mehta has played plenty of small rooms. He knows what it's like to do his act for a sparse audience, to keep morale high among crowds of four, five, six people. For Ruhbin, a show is a show and it's just another reason to get up in front of someone who is willing to listen. For the native Canadian, there's a special aura that comes with doing a New York room even if it's barely populated. It certainly helps with crowdwork. "When you're playing to a crowd of five you get to talk to every person individually," he says.
When Ruhbin, who's been doing stand up for four years now, takes the stage, he seems ready to have a conversation with the audience, like old friends teasing each other over dinner. When I went to see him perform at The Laugh Factory back in March he immediately launched into a playful rant about every segment of the audience (the group from Texas, Mexican tourists, the drunk girl, two kids named Matt). And they ate it up, mostly because it seemed so natural. The ability to relate jokes and stories without so much as breaking a sweat is something Mehta has aspired to ever since watching Bill Cosby at a young age. "So much work goes into just a ten second bit and Cosby could just make it seem effortless," he tells me.
Continue reading "Character Sketches: Ruhbin Mehta
By: Neil Padover"
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May 1, 2008
Inside With: Lonny Ross
By: Keith Huang
By his own admission, actor Lonny Ross says his alter ego, Josh Girard of NBC's 30 Rock, is not so different from himself: "We are both dudes who do weird voices, make funny faces and enjoy wearing hoodies." But stripped to their cores, Lonny and Josh are simply two young actors-slash-writers who appear on a popular weekly-televised comedy.
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Perhaps more coincidental is that roughly seven years ago, Ross worked behind-the-scenes for Sex and the City at the Silvercup Studios, the same soundstage in Queens where much of 30 Rock is shot. A native of Wantagh, N.Y. ("The Gateway to Jones Beach"), Ross also spent a number of years as a production assistant for Late Night With Conan O'Brien, followed by a few roles in comedy flicks "College Road Trip" and "Good Luck Chuck."
The Apiary recently snagged Ross for a hot minute to ask him about getting booked for the show, his celebrity-impersonation skills and what it's like to make Tina Fey laugh.
The Wikipedia entry for Josh Girard is twice as long as the entry for Lonny Ross. What do you make of that?
Tina and I were talking during one of the first episodes we ever shot about who would be more popular in the real world, Josh Girard from TGS with Tracy Jordan, or Lonny Ross from 30 Rock. Because essentially, we are both actors on comedy shows. But being that 30 Rock is on in primetime, and TGS would be on Friday night, we assumed it would be Lonny Ross ... but perhaps that is not the case. And Wikipedia would know, too. After all, they are the most trusted and well respected faux encyclopedia on the net.
Maybe it's because Josh is an easy character to relate with -- most of us want nothing more than to avoid our boss's glare. Are there elements to Josh's character that are your own creations?
Well, I was the one who decided that he be devilishly handsome. So I take credit for that. I think when Tina was casting for the show, I just really fit the profile of what she was looking for in the character -- energetic, young actor who could be believed as being a cast member on a sketch comedy show. But I really did go into the audition just being myself. So in that case, I guess there aren't many differences -- we are both dudes who do weird voices, make funny faces, and enjoy wearing hoodies. I do, however, like to be believe I'm not as dimwitted as Josh. I guess I'm not because Josh might not know what the word "dimwitted" means.
Continue reading "Inside With: Lonny Ross
By: Keith Huang"
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April 24, 2008
Inside With: Greg Johnson
Greg Johnson is a pretty chill dude. His jokes run around inside your head long after he's left the stage because in addition to being funny, he sprinkles his set ups and punchlines with vocal treatments that vary cartoonishly between the brotastic and the screecheriffic. Originally from Massachusetts, Greg settled in NYC after school and started the aptly titled Greg Johnson Show at Rififi in 2005. Now, on the eve of his 3 year anniversary of anchoring Friday nights at Rififi, Greg promises to delight fans and friends alike with a bopping blowout tomorrow. We asked Greg the most pertinent FAQs of the hour, but we failed to inquire about "security in the basement." You'll have to learn the answer to that one for yourself.
What's your story? How did everything come to be?
I grew up in Wellesley, MA. I first did stand-up when I was 16. My mother enrolled me in an adult education class in stand-up comedy. It was mostly women in their 50's trying to get over their fear of public speaking. However, we got to do a performance at The Comedy Studio in Boston at the end of the course. I started doing comedy regularly in Boston when I was 19 while I was going to college. I moved to New York at the end of 2003, where I met The Whitest Kids U Know on the first night I was in the city. They were starting a show at Pianos and we started hanging out together. Eventually, in 2005, by chance, I began splitting a 2 bedroom apt with two friends next door to Rififi. I really looked up to my friend Eugene Mirman at the time (still do) and thought there would be nothing better than to have a comedy show at Rififi. So, with Eugene's help--and help from Trevor Moore--Antonio [Rififi's booker] gave me a gig hosting Friday nights there. That's been my main comedy focus since.
We feel like we don't see you on TV enough. Do you have an agent?
I have a team of agents. Jeremy Piven, Lou Reed, Bob Sugar, Andy Kaufman (he's still alive). And others. But none of them have ever gotten me any work. That is kind of you to say. I am hoping to get my stand-up act and some other projects on TV sometime. Maybe you could text blast The Industry for me?
Done. Hey, is it true you take down your site whenever you have job interviews?
Ha! No. I had an interview at a highly respectable establishment back in January and I thought I might as well take down my site while the hiring process was going on. Although I was chastised by some of my peers for not staying true to myself for taking down the site, at the time the job seemed more important than keeping my blog about "chillness" and hot babes up that given week. But it's up there. You can check it out. I'm adding a podcast!
In Rififi's post-Invite Them Up era, The Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy Show has positioned itself as the venue's must-see weekly show and party. Tell us about your 3 years at Rififi. What's different about your show now than when it started?
Um, well, it's much more well attended now. When I started we would barely get anyone to come to the shows and now the crowds are really great. Everyone seems to have a really great time. When I started doing the show, Eugene Mirman assured me that it took him almost 2 years until people he didn't recognize were coming to the show. I couldn't believe him, but the same turned out to be true with my show. I was lucky enough to have the backing of Rififi and, also, Invite Them Up at the same venue while Rififi began to build a sort of built in crowd and a rep as a great spot for comedy. Which it certainly is. All things considered, it might be one of the best ones. And Eugene and Bobby Tisdale are responsible for that. I remember hanging out there one week in 2005 and David Cross, Janeane Garofalo and Patton Oswalt were all there. And I was like, "Where am I?"
There's also willingness to do the show now pretty much across the board from any comedian I may be lucky enough to meet. I recently met a popular guy I'm a big fan of from The Howard Stern Show and we were talking about Rififi and he said he'd love to come by. I was almost like, "Really? Why? For a drink ticket?" But it's really cool to have comedians with all different styles interested in the show because it debunks the myth of "alternative comedy" vs. say "mainstream comedy". Our show at Rififi is not really an "alternative" comedy venue. It's just at a bar with the show in the back and great crowds.
What do you look for in a comedian before you'll book them on the show?
Well, I like to have seen their act. Which is fair, right? I have a lot of comedians asking me to be on the show everyday and a lot of them, I've never seen their act. Some of them are friends of mine. Plus, I am less likely to book someone who's not understanding of my position trying to manage everyone. I have comedians who, like, seemingly hate me (literally) because I have trouble getting back to everyone or they haven't done my show in, like, a year. It's astonishing. PLUS, I have very little to do with who gets booked for the shows anyway. It's a myth! There is a young comedienne named Kate Berlant who books the shows. I think--I could be wrong--it's best to be casual about it and when it comes your turn, you'll get booked. Nick Kroll used to tell me the reason he booked me on shows was because I never asked. Whodathought? Nick's so chill. He totally gets it.
He does seem chill. Speaking of, help us out here--what can readers do to be more chill?
Great question! Tons of things! Blaze. Play lax. Toss the Fris. Do Yoga. Run a 5K, then blaze. DJ. Volunteer. Constantly wear flip-flops. Talk about your girlfriend (a lot). Carry a Nalgene. Wake up to NPR. Call movies films. Rip butts. Drink Miller Chill. Prefer vinyl. Dig sports (but ironically). Rock the Vote. "Never Forget." Read gregjohnsononline.blogspot.com. Pretend to not care about celebrities...
Anything Else? Summer plans? Plugs?
BIG plans this Summer. Please read my website and check out some of our shows EVERY Friday this Summer. The guests are gonna be awesome. Big ups to Larry Murphy, Neil Padover, Darren Trumeter, Vince Averill and Jesse Popp.
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April 3, 2008
Character Sketches: Larry Murphy
By: Neil Padover
Larry Murphy would like to tell you about his new business venture, a children's entertainment company called Puppets & Such; Larry's primed and ready to puppeteer at kids' birthday parties across all five boroughs. The problem with birthday parties though, is that there's not much repeat business; turns out they only come around once a year.
The failing entrepreneurial puppeteer is just a character--one who made his debut in May of 2007 when Larry performed for the first time on Invite Them Up, the downtown show which put Rififi on the map as a hub for contemporary comedy. Murphy's bit pits an outwardly very nervous Larry against a foul-mouthed, arrogant Boston police officer named Dennis Gazza, who also happens to be a puppet. When Gazza tires of bantering with Larry he offers up his own repertoire of "cop stories" which hilariously end up going nowhere. It is the way in which Larry shifts effortlessly between the voice of the shaky puppetmaster and his dead-on caricature of a Boston cop which reminds us, "Oh yeah, this is an act." This man on stage is not a nervous failure at all, but a smart performer, adept at creating a familiar, yet absurd, world around him onstage.
Born and raised in Abington, Massachusetts, Larry Murphy was "always a clown," but a rejection letter from the Massachusetts College of the Arts turned him towards a more serious path. He joined the Navy at age nineteen and upon discharge, took a job in sales with Bose, a Framingham based audio equipment manufacturer. It was a few degrees of separation which finally brought Larry to the stage: a girl he was dating in 1997 had a cousin who lived in Somerville, Massachusetts, who just so happened to be roommates with Patrick Borelli, who at the time, was just starting out in comedy himself.
Through Borelli, he connected with Eugene Mirman and Brendon Small (who later became Larry's sketch partner). He started going to Mirman's shows at the Green Street Grill for a couple of weeks before finally getting up on stage to perform. When I ask him about early characters Larry is hard pressed to remember any specific premises.
"Those first outings were really just extremely uncomfortable," Larry admits. He never did a traditional stand up act but neither, it seems, did anyone else at the Cambridge restaurant. "Everyone at that point was doing whatever they wanted really... it had as much to do with people having no idea what comedy was supposed to be, so it was really, really outlandish." Borelli and Mirman's bits were always the most outrageous, Larry recalls.
When the trio of Borelli, Mirman, and Small formed P.S. Absurdo, a Friday night show at The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square, Larry became a frequent performer collaborating on sketches with Small. Larry spent the next few years working for Bose by day and honing his sketch chops at The Studio every Friday night. Every now and again he would record character tracks for the animated shows Home Movies and O'Grady, both produced by Soup2Nuts (the people behind Dr. Katz).
Continue reading "Character Sketches: Larry Murphy
By: Neil Padover"
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March 27, 2008
Inside With: Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld
We've interviewed a lot of folks here, but none as ace as Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld, the CollegeHumor officemates responsible for the site's hit series Hardly Working as well as their creative outpost, which is immensely popular amongst the Tumblr community, JakeandAmir.com. If you don't know much about them yet, prepare yourself for a couple days of mindlessly clicking through their video archive. Their tight and quirky vids are packed with real laughs and the sketches are never 10 seconds longer than they need to be. Today, Jake and Amir face the toughest QQs of their lives, including questions such as, but not limited to: "Who are you people??" and "Do you really have an MTV deal?"
How did all of this happen? What are your backgrounds and how did you get started at Connected Ventures?
Amir: I started writing for CollegeHumor in 2003 when I was a sophomore at UC Berkeley -- sending them articles every couple weeks. As I was getting ready to graduate in June of 2005, CH had signed a book deal and used some of the money to hire me, so I moved to New York to work there as a full time writer right away.
Jake: I started writing articles for CollegeHumor in 2005, a year later I moved to New York and started as an intern. Eventually I started working all the time and getting paid. We moved offices last April and Amir and I got seated across from each other.
Do you actually still do actual work there? Or has work become writing and shooting Jake and Amir videos all day?
Jake: We do other work for CH, some people might not call it that, though. For instance, I am in charge of keeping up the Cute College Girl section.
Amir: My actual job is to help with the videos on the site. Finding popular internet videos, uploading them, captioning them etc. We also help come up the original videos that we shoot around the office that aren't "Jake and Amir based. The one's we call Hardly Working. We usually save the actual shooting/editing of Jake and Amirs for after work.
It's truly awesome how in recent years, CollegeHumor has birthed its own stable of talent. If the Internet's not buzzing about the CH founders, it's talking about you guys or the Prank War or Moberg or the latest video on CHTV. CH/CV is creating and defining our collective web experience as well as our culture in a number of different ways. Has that been the business plan all along? And are you all a part of The 250?
Amir: Wow, thanks. I don't think the business plan all along has been to hire people to get the internet buzzing. I think that's just a byproduct of 50 creative/talented/funny people who work together and encourage each other. Eventually somebody will create something or do something that a greater audience becomes interested in.
Jake: What's the 250 thing?
Amir: Don't worry about it...
Continue reading "Inside With: Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld"
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February 14, 2008
Inside With: Kurt Braunohler
By: Eliot Glazer
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Are you actually a carpenter? If not, how do you make a living?
I am about the furthest thing from a carpenter you can imagine. I am VERY, VERY bad with my hands. But I've always wanted to be good with my hands and have befriended many people who are good at making real physical things, simply because I could never do that and it fascinates me. So, if you were to ask me what I would be in a different life I'd say "carpenter" much the same way a bird might say "a fish" when asked the same question. It would just be a totally new experience.
Right now, I'm about 80% making a living through comedy which is mind blowing to me. Kristen and I just got a development deal with the BBC, which is thrilling, and hopefully that will lead to me being able to not have to work 2 days a week fixing computers. Or Animal Planet could just pick up Penelope as a TV show already. (Hint! Hint!) Did I say Animal Planet? I meant Adult Swim. (Bigger Hint!)
With projects like Chengwin, Neutrino, Kurtbot and 24 Hour Road Trip, you have carved a niche in a mix of guerilla comedy and performance art. However, you also perform stand-up, sketch, improv and you teach. Where do you see the lines blurred between the different genres, and do you prefer one to the others?
Here's what I like about performative street experiences--it's about fucking with the mental landscape of a city. [Chengwin co-creator] Matt Murphy and I were always motivated by this idea that we wanted to take urban spaces that might only be defined in someone's minds as "place in between my apartment and starbucks" and drop a half-chicken, half-penguin battling a half-chicken, half-skunk right in front of them. Then all of a sudden, for that one person, this ordinary, routine space is forever changed. It now has a new title in their mind, something like, "Animal Battle Arena" or something. Nothing about the physical city changes--in fact, we prided ourselves on disappearing immediately after performances. (We had this giant cube truck just waiting out of site and it would zoom in and we'd hop in the back and we'd take off. That also helped us not get arrested.) I really like that idea of reinforcing the mutability of New York City. Because when I moved here I was kinda bored. I wanted to feel like ANYTHING was possible all the time. And I didn't. And Matt felt the same way. And that is what kind of motivated Chengwin and Chunk (and Chabio and Chixon and Chove) to make New York City fucking EXCITING. I think now is a very different time in NYC, and now I do think it is exciting again. Which is very cool.
And that's where it ties in with the comedy stuff I like. I like comedy that makes me feel like anything is possible. I want it to surprise me and take turns I would not have expected, but in hindsight seem to make sense. And at the heart of all the street stuff I was doing was its spontaneity and ephemeralness. This thing just popped up, changed you in some way, and disappeared, almost as if it had never existed. And that's why I love improv so fucking much. I have had experiences improvising that felt like we changed the world. And then you walk off stage, you realize it is nothing. There's no record. Only about a handful of people experienced it. No one's writing about it. It's just a pure aesthetic experience. And that's so beautiful to me.
But all of this brings me to Psychogeography, and kind of ties in with all of these "guerilla theatre" things I've done in the past. I've been doing Psychogeography experiments with my two good friends, Calvin Johnson and Scott Knowles since 2000, under the name "Psychogeography Project" which is purposefully vague. Our big events that have been the most popular are the "24 Hour Road Trip"--in which we have the all-American road trip, but without a car, in a single city. We explore the city for 24 hours straight without stopping, using all public transportation. We try and get ourselves in all the nooks and crannies of a city that you never have time to explore. We've done 3 here in New York, 1 in Philadelphia (in conjunction with The Next American City) and we're doing 1 in New Orleans on March 8-9 (which I will not be able to go to unfortunately.) We've also done something we call the "Urban Disorientation Game" in which we blindfold three groups of people, take their cell phones and wallets, throw them in a van, drive them to a part of the city they have never been in and leave them there [Interviewer's Note: I was invited to participate, but chickened out.]. They are not allowed to talk to anyone outside their group, or take public transportation, and it is a race back to where they started. We did one in New York City as part of the Glowlab Conflux and one in Rome as part of another arts festival. Those are really fun. We'll be doing one again this summer here in New York.
And I guess that's how I want my comedy to feel--like I blindfolded the audience and threw them in a van and dropped them off somewhere they'd never been before, but it's ok because they're gonna have a party. I want it to feel like that, or like eating ice cream and taking a shit at the same time. Either or would make me happy.
You've acquired a reputation for being an especially desirable improv teacher and you recently won an ECNY for Best Director, illustrated in your somewhat avant-garde methodology that results in a show like Big Black Ballet. What is your approach to teaching and directing?
First off, to give credit where credit is due, I didn't have that much to do with the creation of Big Black Ballet--that was all Big Black Car. I just directed them a few times and tried to help them out. I did help create "the Soundtrack" form with Mother back in the day when I was directing/coaching them though--so I already had a LOT of thoughts about music based improv. I kind of feel like Big Black Ballet is an extension of "The Soundtrack" into the non-verbal realm which is where I always thought the power of the form existed. I love the Ballet though and am thankful to Big Black Car for letting me perform in it with them when I could. It was a cool show.
I think teaching really helps me direct. I'd recommend it to any director. When you're teaching you’re being paid to watch performances and then give them very specific and easily understandable notes to make that performance better. So after hundreds of hours of watching improv and giving notes, you just start to be able to articulate what everyone else can feel. And once you can articulate what IS happening, it's relatively easy to change it.
As for my avant-garde approach, I usually start a Directing Session by letting everyone get real familiar with each other, just touching and looking into each other's eyes. Then I encourage them to take their tops off and just kinda rub around on each other. That usually is awkward until I bring out some beer and then we REALLY get to work, just rubbing all up on everyone and really making some creative juices flow. Then I shut off the lights and berate them, just really verbally abusing them. Then I demand my money and I leave. The success rate of this technique is shocking.
Continue reading "Inside With: Kurt Braunohler
By: Eliot Glazer"
Posted by The Apiary in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary at 1:32 PM | Comments (2)
January 31, 2008
Inside With: Pete Holmes
By: Eliot Glazer
Pete Holmes is a special brand of comedian: he's boisterous, sharp, and he fills a room with his energy and physical presence (he's like 7 feet tall!). Trained in improv, Pete's erratic self-deprecating observational humor carries with it a specific charisma that makes him one of The Apiary's favorites around town. In between namedropping, Pete found some time to gab about his Chicago background, the artifice of stand up, and some other things.
How long have you been doing stand-up? Did you start at home in Massachusetts?
Whenever I read an interview on here--and I think I'm not alone in this--I tend to scan it for my name to see if the person mentions me. So I'm going to pepper this with some names so other comics read it. Roger Hailes.
Anyway, it's been about six years. I did start in Boston, but only briefly before I moved to Chicago, so I feel like I was a product of the Chicago scene more than my hometown. John Mulaney.
How did you find the comedy scene there as compared to here?
The scene was wonderful. It was a terrific place to start. No industry, which was good because none of us were really ready to been seen by industry, so we just got to try out standup in a low-pressure environment. Well, starting comedy is high-pressure, but without the added pressure, let's say, of having some execs in the crowd. I started the same exact week as Kumail and Rob Buscemi, two wonderful comics (and Kumail just moved to NYC). It was like we were a class, and we all graduated from the scene at the same time and continue to keep in touch. It's real cool.
The crux of the Chicago scene was the Lyon's Den, an open mic that hosted somewhere between 25 and 50 comics a night. For serious. Everyone who signed up got on, and a lot of people signed up. This was our Monday night. We'd put our names in the bucket, hope to God that we were picked to go before 2:00am, and hang out after our sets. There was a real sense of community and a lot of great friends were made during that time. We were less focused on making it, because, well, there's no TV there, so it was just about the ha-has.
That sense of community exists here, too. When I went to Fifty First Jokes, I think all the comics would agree, we all felt like a nice little clown commune. That was a fun night. John F O'Donnell.
I love watching you on stage because you self-edit, but unlike so many comedians whose self-editing feels undeniably prepared in an effort to make them look "quirky" or "off the cuff," yours rings true because you actually get mad--sometimes furious--at yourself. Is that something you've always done or was adopted into your stand-up?
It's somewhat new. I feel like the crowds I perform for in NY respond well to honesty. All crowds do, mostly, but especially here where the rooms are smaller and more intimate. So I stopped censoring my thoughts on stage (for the most part). Sometimes I offend myself, or catch myself saying something stupid, or trip-up a word, or realize some secret bad thought was coming through me subconsciously, and instead of marking that as an accident and trying to hide it, those moments become the most important parts of the show for me. It's weird, and hopefully funny, to watch someone at odds with themselves, kind of a "how can this be what my brain gave me to say right now?" thing. We all feel that way sometimes, but a lot of folks are trying to look smart and put-together, and I've found a lot of joy in letting go of that idea and just saying, "Hey, we're all dumb some of the time." I know I am.
Your self-deprecation is at its funniest when, in the middle of a bit, you'll stop and say how much comedy "sucks." Explain what is it about comedy that you find so frustrating (when this happens).
Sometimes it bothers me, the convention in standup of talking about something you've talked about before and acting like it's the first time. So I like to let the audience in on that feeling. I often say "Don't you hate comedy?" while I'm trying to change topics and be smooth about it. I'm not smooth, and it's an awkward thing to do, change topics. It's just about being honest. I feel like I'm trying to get away with something and it's funnier to me to point that out.
The video below is an infamous account of having bombed at a mainstream comedy club in suburban Illinois. What are the strongest differences between playing mainstream clubs, colleges and alternative venues?
Continue reading "Inside With: Pete Holmes
By: Eliot Glazer"
Posted by The Apiary in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary at 1:12 PM | Comments (6)
January 22, 2008
Cloverfield Superstar TJ Miller Talks To Us
**This article sort of contains SPOILERS about Cloverfield**
While a creature destroys Manhattan for the lulz, Hud (TJ Miller) takes time out of his day to tend to a friend's boo-boo.
Cloverfield took in over 41 MILLION DOLLARS at the box office this weekend, due in no small part to the brave camera work of TJ Miller's character Hud who a) "couldn't [ ] frame a shot if his life depended on it" and b) "ranks among the greatest war photographers in history." In review after review, we've found that Hud has truly resonated with critics. The NY Times called him a "nitwit." The NY Daily News says he's "an obnoxious guy." Salon's obstreperous film critic Stephanie Zacharek, called him "a rather annoying spud," but that's okay, she measures a film's greatness by the level of diarrhea squirting out of her at any given time. We thought Cloverfield was awesome--delete the comments from your brain of anyone who says differently. FourFour does a great job of describing what's so good about the movie.
Anyways, this breakout role for TJ Miller has sent the young comedian bouncing like a pinball from one press junket to the next. We lobbed a couple of questions at him before he scooted off.
Continue reading "Cloverfield Superstar TJ Miller Talks To Us"
Posted by The Apiary in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary at 5:59 PM | Comments (6)
January 16, 2008
Inside With: Sam Means, Writer for The Daily Show, Author
Though Daily Show writer Sam Means has been striking and out of a job for a few months, no labor dispute can put a stop to his enthusiasm for producing written words. His first book, A Practical Guide to Racism, just came out. Don't be confused that Professor C.H. Dalton got the author byline. Dalton, like Richard Bachman or Jennifer Blowdryer, is the product of a Colbertian device called a "literary double" which allows Sam to cheerfully freewheel racist thoughts and ideology in a way that doesn't confine him to the character that is himself. We talked to Sam--or was it really Dalton?--about the book and about some other stuff that's on our mind.
You seem like an unusually intelligent person. You have degrees I didn't know exist, you've written headlines for The Onion, cartoons for the New Yorker, won an Emmy for writing on The Daily Show, and written a book all before the age of 30. You can retire and sit around the rest of your life collecting lifetime achievement awards if you wanted. Is there something you're not doing that you'd like to do still career-wise?
Um.. thank you? I've been very lucky so far--working at TDS has been an amazing experience with an amazing group of people, especially our boss. Eventually, I'd love to pitch an original show, but for now I'm enjoying myself too much working there. That is to say, I was enjoying myself, and I will again whenever this awful strike is over. I'm also kicking around ideas for a screenplay, and possibly another book. I go a little stir-crazy if I don't have a lot of different projects to work on.
And when you meet smarmy new people who ask, "So what do YOU do?" what do you actually say to them?
Actually, right now it's pretty easy; I'm an "unemployed writer." Which might be the single largest demographic in this city.
Why write A Practical Guide to Racism? And how'd you get the Maakies and Perry Bible Fellowship illustrators on board?
It was mostly in response to this trend of dumb, offensive racist jokes passing for "edgy" humor--people like Carlos Mencia trading on cheap stereotypes to get a laugh. I wanted to do something a little smarter that dealt with racism, as opposed to just being racist. And I got pretty excited about the character, C.H. Dalton, this blowhard of a professor. He's a lot of fun to write for, kind of like a sad, racist John Hodgman.
As for the illustrations, I was really lucky to get so many fantastic artists involved. I was in touch with Tony Millionaire because he had done the poster art for the "Ten F@$king Years" show that my colleague Scott Jacobson and I organized last year, but the rest were all just illustrators that I admired, and that I was able to get in touch with through mutual friends or colleagues. Michael Kupperman is one of the great underrated comic artists of our generation, and we'd been talking about working together on a project together for a while.
Do you feel that all racists will love this book? Doesn't it take one to know one? Is Professor C.H. Dalton your alter-ego or is he like a metaphorical mirror?
I think Dalton would be a really creepy Fight Club-style alter ego. I'd wake up wearing a white hood, surrounded by lawn jockeys, with no idea how I got there. But this book was more about pointing out the absurdity in a racist world view, and drawing those sorts of stereotypes out to their logical conclusion. There's a chapter on Merpeople, because I feel like hating Mermen and Mermaids makes just as much sense as hating all black people, or all Jews. Also, because Merpeople are filthy, fish-fucking freaks.
What have you been doing during the writers strike to occupy your time?
I've mostly been trying to do publicity for the book, including writing weekly content for the website, apracticalguidetoracism.com. I'm also spending a lot of time worrying about money and health insurance. Yesterday, I had to wake up at 6:30am to picket The View, so that was fun.
Sam's TDS office-mate, Rachel Axler, is organizing a benefit show on January 22nd at Ars Nova called There Will Be Comedy. It features writers and staff from The Daily Show. Videos of Dan Bakkedahl lecturing as C.H. Dalton are scheduled to be shown. All profits go to non-writing staffers affected by the strike.
Posted by The Apiary in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary at 5:24 PM | Comments (0)
January 4, 2008
2007: A Year Just Happened
The following are the best articles and items over the past year that appeared on this site. A couple of FAVORITES appear at the end too for those of you with strong scrolling fingers. Thanks for reading The Apiary.
THE MOST COMPELLING HEADLINES OF 2007
Jordan Carlos on Being Steven Colbert's Black Friend
Dane Cook, In What Appears to Be a Bad PR Move, Rips Powerful Blogger 2nd Butthole
Post 9/11 World Furious At This Guy, Rightly So
New Artistic Director at The PIT Named
Smoking Gun Discovered in Budweiser Superbowl Commercial Ripoff Scandal
What the Heck Happened to You, Ned Holness?
From Behind the Bar of the UCBT - The Finale
The Aspen Report: Comedians Tell All as They Shred Their Way Down From the Slopes
Susie Felber Rattled By Poor Food Quality at McDonald's
Whitest Kids U' Know Debuts Tomorrow On FUSE
The Onion News Network Arrives; An ONN Reacts
Popular Comedy Nightspot For Sale
The MySpace Friend Overnights Are In For Human Giant
Invite Them Up: Looking Back on 5 Years, Part 5
MTV Wows Audiences | Human Giant Marathon a Bold Success
In Which We Finally Learn How To Kick People
Lovebirds: Michelle Collins & YouTube Billionaire?
Charge of the Andrew Wright Brigade: International Blog Feud Turns Ugly
The New York City Open Mike Guide
Find He-Man.com Urges Area Pedestrians to Be on Lookout
Andres Du Bouchet to Write for Spike Feresten
Julie and Jackie: LOLing With the LGBTS
Totally IN | Creepy Southerner T-Shirts
Rob Corddry SPOTTED Inside The Corddry Triangle
Stephen Colbert Announces Bid For Presidency
What the World is Searching For
Plot Against Rififi Confirmed, Venue Soldiers On With Liquor License In Tow
The Writers Guild of America Strike of 2007: A Special Report - Week 1