Geeks! The Musical - Star Trekker Geek
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: Write Act Repertory Theatre - www.writeactrep.org/
Topic: Comedy

"Geeks" is a cleverly written musical created for a segment of society that, up till now, hasn't been recognized on the musical stage: sci fi/comics/fantasy enthusiasts. With a slight boost in production values "Geeks" could definitely go to infinity and beyond!"Geeks" is a cleverly written musical created for a segment of society that, up till now, hasn't been recognized on the musical stage: sci fi/comics/fantasy enthusiasts. With a slight boost in production values "Geeks" could definitely go to infinity and beyond!

East West Players ACTS - You're a Good Man Charlie Brown - Linus
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: East West Players - www.ewpacts.org
Topic: Comedy

Notable director's note for playing Linus in YAGMCB - Please do not make Linus into Richard Nixon. He's only 6 years old!

Teahouse of the August Moon - Success!!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: www.glendalecentretheatre.com
Topic: Comedy
Teahouse of the August Moon opened last week, and for those of you who managed to get tickets, Thank You for Coming! - the show has been a resounding and unqualified success! We've had over a thousand thoroughly happy audience attendees in just the first week (...for a better first-time big production experience, ask, I could not). We even received a "Best GCT Show of the Year" last night! For those of you who weren't able to make opening week because we managed to sell-out 4 of the first 6 shows, there are still 4 more weeks of run scheduled before Thanksgiving, so if you get your reservations in sufficiently early, there are still plenty of seats available (and because most shows are first-come, first-served, you just arrive early enough and you can have your own front-row center seating.) For those of you already reserved - you're in for a guaranteed treat! There are discount coupons - a printable version at:
https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jlui/images/teahouse_coupon.pdf
Program info (final print version as of 10/19/05 - 1st week attendees haven't seen this):
https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jlui/images/teahouse_program.pdf
Tickets and showtimes:
http://www.glendalecentretheatre.com/2005.teahouse.asp

The Phantom of the Sunday Show - Acme Theatre 1/9/05
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Comedy
A sketch comedy in progress, opening end of January 2005.

Personally, I consider it misleading advertising because it has nothing whatsoever to do with "Phantom" - and probably is more appropriately entitled "Scary Sketch Comedy" since it begins with some parodies of horror movie scenes.

I guess I'm more into Groundling's sketch work than ACME's at the moment. These seem to be lacking conclusion - good opening and premise, but no ending. Kind of weird.

Acme Love Machine
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Acme Comedy Theatre - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Comedy
Saw Wil Wheaton (aka STNG Wesley Crusher) and company doing the Love Machine thing - it's Acme's traditional sketch comedy format. Sort of like seeing a live version of SNL or SCTV. Some blasted funny scenes, and some, well...

Fellowship - Impro Theatre
Mood:  special
Now Playing: El Portal Theatre - through Dec 18
Topic: Comedy
Lord of The Rings as a Musical Comedy!

Cory Rouse (as an excellent voiced Frodo), Lisa Fredrickson, Edi Patterson, Brian Bradley, Peter Allen Vogt, Kelly Holden, Ryan Smith, Matthew Young, Steve Purnick and Allen Simpson on Keyboards.

A 1 hr 45 min masterpiece! Choreography by Michele Spears (tap-dancing Hobbits and Orcs!) Some of the best set and design work this side of no-budget available productions - this one cries for not only an extension, but the secondary and tertiary sequels to be produced, as well.

Standup at My Company Xmas Party
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Glendale Hilton
Topic: Comedy
165 in attendance, 7 min. set - and it all worked quite nicely. [addendum] Someone complained about something - had to publish a division-wide letter of apology to "anyone offended." Just gotta love corporate environments!

The Improv Performance - 2004/11/14
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: On-line
Topic: Comedy
View the video (Windows Media Format - 12MB). Or if you're having difficulties, open up Windows Media Player (or whatever you have that plays WMV's and open the URL in that). https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jlui/images/jhl_showcase_improv_high.wmv

Fakin' it - in the can.
Mood:  silly
Now Playing: tlc.com - The Discovery Channel
Topic: Comedy
http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/fakingit/fakingit.html - Season 3 episode is wrapped. Taping was great - celebrity judges included Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers), Bobby Lee (MadTV), and Paul Hughes. Our boy did good. I ended up sitting just to the side of Paul, so there might be camera time.

Comedy Workshop's Showcase at the Improv
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: The Improv - Hollywood
Topic: Comedy
Ok - bottom-line: I **RULE** stand-up! On the other hand, the pay stinks, so it's just another tool in the kit bag. 220-seats filled (out of 230), and lots of neat compliments from complete strangers after the other 23 comics finished. (2-1/2 hour show) Extra kudos to LA Theatresports' Michele Spears for beating into my head "...MOVE before you open your mouth!" Works wonders for act-outs. Also, Thank You to Samsung for making a cheap MiniDV camcorder so I could practice my brains out at an affordable cost and find out how much of a difference that movement makes during scenes. And finally to Judy Carter - you are incomparably great at bringing out the best in people - especially me!

Capital - Globe Theater Center
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: Globe Theater Center - Burbank and Garden Grove
Topic: Comedy
A light and refreshing comedy presented by the Globe Theatre Group, Capital is a smart and funny political satire of shenanigans at the State Capital building of no particular state. Cast includes Vince Cefalu, Frank Simons, Terri Homberg-Olsen, Jeana Blackman - as America (yes, as in "the nation"), Anthony Palermo, Meleney Humphrey, and Rick Batalla. Playing next in GTC's Garden Grove location.

World Cup Comedy - PAX TV M 9-10 TU 8-9
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: PAX TV
Topic: Comedy
Okay... So, Lisa, Michele and Edi were blown out in the first round - but let's face it: the 2 min. format sucks for trying to do musical comedy - and to-date, no group that has drawn that challenge has won a round, so I think it speaks for itself. Kari is coming up in Round 5, and you'll find Tracy in Episode 2, 2nd half. So far, the 1st season hosts are lukewarm, and the format is actually *too* fast for good Impro work - it just ends up choppy and a bunch of one-liners. By the 3rd episode, we've added the encouragement for the other team to "help out" the team under challenge, but that isn't helping the format much either. Mike McCafferty from the USS Improvise project (one more Saturday left 10/30 @ 10 p.m. at the ACME Theater) hit on Ep. 4, and went away quickly. Basically, I agree with Michele - US audiences have simply too short of attention spans to give decent Impro work a run. Season Two is just wrapping up (there are a few Saturday AM/Afternoon taping sessions available for Studio audience attendance available in the LA PAX studios left. Hopefully, the format will be improved because the rapid fire 2 minute limits are plain useless for developing any rich content (or at least give them 1 minute to prepare before they launch into the routines). I bet there's a lot on the cutting room floors during post- in these tapes.

USS Improvise
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Acme Comedy Theatre - www.ussimprovise.com
Topic: Comedy
Mike McCafferty creates a wonderfully fully improvised comedy 60 min. episode from Star Trek Original Series. Also starring Seth Brown, Lisa Fredrickson (absent at the performance making more money elsewhere), Kitt Kirasaki, Jennifer Eaolin and Mark Tracy.

Great costumes - visit the website www.ussimprovise.com for their Flash sound effects board.

PAX TV - World Cup Comedy [10/6/04 - M 9/8c Tu 8/7c]
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: PAX TV
Topic: Comedy
Visit http://www.pax.tv/shows/worldcup where the incredibly Inflatable Betties get to compete against what appear to be some pretty damned good competition (check out the promo reel on the PAX TV site for World Cup Comedy. This will be the day after my first class with Michele, so fingers-crossed they do well!

Sacred Fools - Laura's Bush [2004-09-25]
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: www.sacredfools.org
Topic: Comedy
Laura's Bush is a spontaneous send-up of the Bush Administration's most uniquely robotically-bizarre characters - the First Lady. This was opening night, so while having need of some minor tune-ups and tightening of the pace, it really worked well to convey the message - "All that is... is probably not what you think it is... In fact, it's what we want you to think it is."

OAUG Orlando - Judy Carter in Concert
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: www.comedyworkshops.com
Topic: Comedy
9/13/04 - 6:30 p.m. Orlando, FL at the OAUG 2004 Connection Point - the midst of the hurricane (Ivan - it missed the whole area...) Judy's a stand-up "commercial comedienne" who spends a great deal of effort to custom-tailor her routines to the specific audience requirements (plus, she's technically-saavy, so it isn't faked...) - visit her website for more details and demos www.comedyworkshops.com