comic genealogy

I recently realized the links on my blog are quite similar to Stephen Colbert's "The Word" in terms of humor. It is important (or massively narcissistic (or both)) to know one's comic roots. I like to think I find myself on a comic family tree with Woody Allen, circa Annie Hall, circa the opening monologue, which I believe is one of his best written pieces. This places me in the same family as Larry David Jason Alexander and to a lesser extent Jerry Seinfeld. This sense blends in with my definite comedic father, Bill Murray (ignore his striking resemblance to my pediatrician's husband). A professor(no not that one) I had once described my sense of humor as recognizing the same "screaming madness" as Bill Murray, although for a period of time last winter I probably was taking things too far. Honorable mention on my comic family tree goes to Jeff Goldblum, Bradley Whitford, Ira Glass and John Cusack. The biggest philosophical drive behind my comedy definitely goes to the Bush Administration, in particular the DOJ and AGs, for teaching me there is no such thing as too destructive or too crazy, and lastly nothing, nothing is sacred. A friend of mine once likened my comic sense to Sherman's March to the Sea, and simply refers to it as, "scorch the earth".

Completely unrelated but somehow similar, in performances I tend to make references to movies or songs or anything that have found their way deep into my subconscious. It is not always overt or intentional, but I will lilt a sentence a certain way, or move a prop in a way that harkens to some piece of art I love. The most common thing which recurs is a reference to Christian Slater in the 80s teen movie, The Heathers. Heathers isnt the best movie ever made, but I think because I watched it so many times while falling asleep when I tell jokes on stage I find the same caustic dryness that Slater had at that time. The most similar resemblance is from a song, Alice's Restaurant, by Arlo Guthrie. In practically every play, I find I steal some turn of phrase from the song, normally during a long stretch of text, most frequently I return to the "you may find yourself in a similar situation" line, or the near hysterical (seinfeld esque honestly) pitch Guthrie's voice reaches when talking about files in folders in Washington DC. The man who has fused himself most closely to my cerebral cortex though is Garrison Keillor. The man who made me scream as a child because of his hypnotizing fluency, still appears every time I go on stage. Thanks WUSF.

frame of reference.

this summer I spent a good deal of time in boston. the first night I was there, I told my brother my main complaint with boston. a lack of straight lines. when I think about boston I see the curving banks of the charles river, which is much different than my experiences with rivers (see: the hillsborough, the los angeles) which are usually tamed by large concrete walls, except when things go wrong. the houses themselves have these curves and flourishes in the northeast, the interiors usually have some amount of clutter, and coat rooms and vestibules, designed to keep out the elements. when I spoke to Ben about it I described it as a city built entirely in serif fonts. when what I really crave is the helvetica-like streets of washington dc.

yesterday I was walking on hillhurst though, and I realized I live in a neighborhood of curving(I live on the right side of that image) streets, above ground power lines, hills and infringing wildlife. objectively I life in a serif landscape, but when I am going about my life, walking to the grocery store, and seeing and old professor (one of the great unexplained characters on the west wing) they all melt away and I live my ideal san serif lifestyle.

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As a side note: I was cast as Hamlet in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead performing in November in Long Beach with the Alive Theatre. It opens Nov. 5.

too much postage.

Last friday I put together a mailing a many agents and casting directors here in Hollywood. A professor(no not that one) of mine once referred to this as 'taking a shower in money' which may or may not be right. I arrived at the post office with my stack of postcards which had eaten up my day with applying labels and running around town doing dumb errands. I thought I could just hand over the stack, they would put the stack through a postage machine, and would tell me the total. This is wrong. There was a big line and the lady asked me how many I had. I started to count the stack and could hear the line at the los feliz post office groan, so I just guessed. 600, and paid the appropriate amount thinking I could just return the unused stamps. This, too, is wrong. I had $84 in $0.28 stamps this morning, and now I have $83.44 in $0.44 stamps this evening, because I could only trade stamps for stamps, but not stamps for cash.

So if you or anyone you know needs $84 in postage. I will sell it for $80. Im not a very good investor, but I do have experience scalping hockey tickets, so if you need me you can find me at Vermont and Finley selling stamps to passersby until the LAPD makes me move.

an ode to southern california modernism.

when your name is as common as wright, you learn there are many wrights in many fields(like kitty hawk). I find it to be kind of a rorschach test of a person of what famous 'wright' they identify the last name with.

the people I truly love are those who know 'wright' as Frank Lloyd Wright. who I love because of his contributions to southern california modernism, but more particularly how that movement manifested in the southern california middle class home later. my friend ian lives in one of these houses, but his beach house in laguna niguel is the best example I have ever spent much time in. here it is in a few pictures.

this american life/my american life.

this is a combination of pictures from my life, combined with the words of this american life.

may 1. los angeles harbor, san pedro, california.

september 15. los feliz boulevard, los angeles, california.

july 28th. keith and duck, raymond, maine.

july 14. boston T, cambridge, massachusetts.

sony 3d workshop

This week I started with this workshop at Sony Pictures. The idea is that there will be a lot more filming in 3D in the future so directors, cinematographers, and directors of photography all have to learn how to use this technology. So they have these little nonsense scenes on various sets for the directors to play with. On tuesday a pretty star studded cast of directors was there, not to name names but the directors of Thirteen Days, Boys Dont Cry, and Alvin and the Chipmunks were all in attendance. In the morning they were loudly arguing over the technology, some bemoaning the fact they had to be there, others wondering what would become of their critters in 3d. So me and Lauryn Cantu went through a scene with a pizza delivery boy, too much furniture and ex cons operating the cameras. In the afternoon I got to watch the footage and it was really just a cool experience all around. Today I did it again for some directors of photography and it was a completely different experience, and a room with more polaroid cameras than any room since the late '80s. It isnt paying but it is a useful experience any time you can get up in front of the best technology in the world with some of the most successful directors working today.

Track of the Day

Billy Bragg & Wilco - California Stars

drew carey walks into a bar

let us entertain conjecture of a time where you have limitless power. you have had a self titled sitcom. your glasses are a signature trait.

monday night rolls around.

nothing to do.

where do you go? the big foot lounge.

why? because its karaoke night.

what songs do you sing?

undercover angel

indian lake