* Home
* Photos
* Interviews
* Videos
* Reviews
* Giveaways
* Jobs
The Apiary
Comedy and Beyond * Home
* Photos
* Interviews
* Videos
* Reviews
* Giveaways
* Jobs
Top * Home
* Photos
* Interviews
* Videos
* Reviews
* Giveaways
* Jobs
Advertisement
Advertise on the NYC BlogAds Network.
Contact theapiary@gmail.com
About * About Us
Meta Syndicate this site (XML)
Archives
Site built and designed by Bathrobewarrior.com
Logo designed by Tim Bierbaum
Total Nonstop News * Darrell Hammond Fresh Airs It Out | NPR
* Seth Herzog Trapped! In an Elevator | NYMag
* New Album From Andre du Bouchet | iTunes
* The 2011 New York Musical Improv Festival - November 1st - 6th
* 2011 Friars Club Comedy Film Festival Runs October 12th - 16th
More Search Video of the Day Eleven Heads on 11/11 | Koren Ensemble
Fanatical About
Entries in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary (249)
Friday Oct 21 2011 Cagematch @ The UCBT - 10.20.11
Friday, October 21, 2011 at 12:34PM Hardcore wrestling legend, standup comedian, and god Mick Foley made a surprise drop-in at Cagematch! It was insane! I tweeted "This is bigger than Diddy, right?" to which @chrisgethard promptly replied, "no way!" Okay, maybe not quite Diddy big, but on a scale of UCBT celebrity appearances from Matthew "Free Money" Lesko to Diddy, it's wayyyyy up there. It's one of those epic moments that only happens here. The UCBW has been around how long--like 5 years, right? And to get one of the most iconic pro-wrestlers of all time to not only come down to the show, but participate in a match! That's major. Can only imagine it's a dream come true for everyone involved.
"Have you heard the one about Superfly Jimmy Snuka?"
Razor Raymond (someone dressed like Razor Ramon on a Razor scooter) looks on disapprovingly as Mick tells everyone he'll be tonight's Guest Enforcer.
Zach Linder is just barely able to get back his special elbow pad from Mick.
Silvija Ozols, Gavin Speiller and Eddie Dunn of Rogue Elephant. I had a bad angle, sorry!!!
Kate Riley, Don Fanelli and Dru Johnston of Fuck That Shit, the new Cagematch champions!
Here's how the UCBW match ended... it was awesome.
Mick tweeted later:
> What an amazing time@UCBWin NYC last night - so many talented performers, and an incredibly supportive crowd! Thanks to@emilykim@charlietodd@themattlittle@robotriley@maryiampietroand all the people I missed...and everyone who sent out such spirited tweets. I would love to do another show at the historic Upright Citizens Brigade Theater!
The Apiary | 20 Comments | 130 References tagged Fuck That Shit , Mick Foley , Rogue Elephant in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Improv , Show Recap Thursday Oct 06 2011 The Jukebox @ Union Hall - 10.3.11
Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 11:23AM
Steve Jacobs and Steve Heislerare the infectious hosts ofThe Jukebox, an immensely fun comedic storytelling series punctuated with epic karaoke performances.
NOTES
--Dressed in personalized t-shirts from Steve Heisler's bar mitzvah, Steve and Steve kicked off the show with a lusty take on Boyz II Men's "I'll Make Love to You." Each edition of The Jukebox has a theme, and this one's was The 90's, thus giving the whole evening a Mortified + songs kind of vibe.
--The Jukebox format goes like this: performer tells a story > performer sings song related to that story > audience either laughs, laughs and sings along, OR waits patiently for the performer to finish.
--Chipper Eugene Mirman Festival producer,Caroline Creaghead,picked apart her sad tween journal to tell a tale of unrequited puppy love, finishing with "Don't Speak." Does Caroline know Perfect Pitch? She simply must audition for the X-Factor. Not the TV show--the mutant superhero team because of her singing powers!
--The show was supposed to feature Mike Doughty from the seminal '90s band Soul Coughing, but Doughty choked at the last minute citing a sudden illness OR WHATEVER. It didn't matter because his replacement,Andy Ross, fucking slaughtered everyone with a slow-build story about the day he called upon his thoroughly terrified teenage crush to come on stage and sing the female part of "I'm Having the Time of My Life" at his middle school talent show. As he did back then, he sang to us BOTH parts of the song alone, going between a room-shaking baritone to the kind of falsetto last heard in the movie White Chicks.
--The next edition of The Jukebox is 11/29. If you can't wait that long to watch people brilliantly nail and/or butcher your favorite songs live, Celebrity Duetsmakes its promising debut at Union Hall TOMORROW NIGHT. Or I guess you can go see Rock of Ages.There's always that.
The Apiary | 2 Comments | 6 References tagged Steve Jacobs , The Jukebox , steve heisler in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Show Recap Friday Sep 09 2011 New SNL Featured Player Rumor Alert Issued For Mary Faber
Friday, September 9, 2011 at 2:20PM
I heard a hot rumor that Broadway star Mary Faber tested for Saturday Night Live recently and is being considered for a spot on the show. She currently sings and dances opposite Daniel Radcliffe in How to Succeed and has studied improv at both The PIT and UCB.
Lorne Michaels issued a statement last month saying SNL was neither firing nor hiring any cast members this season, HOWEVER, according to sources close to the matter, they're potentially interested in making room for a female... if the right one comes along. Is Mary the one?? Mary's SNL audition reel is up on YouTube, check it out.
Seems like she'd be awesome, hope she gets it! Here's a list of 15 fun facts about Mary.
The Apiary was the first to report on the SNL casting rumors last year. Send tips to theapiary@gmail.com if you hear anything.
The Apiary | 4 Comments | 10 References tagged Mary Faber , SNL , Saturday Night Live in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary Thursday Aug 04 2011 Mike Still: Dictator For Life @ The UCBT - 8.3.11
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 5:04PM
In Mike Still's one-man show, Dictator For Life, he plays a demented dictator named Mike Still, the overlord of an island nation in the midst of an Arab Spring.
NOTES
--Over the past few years Mike Still has worked his way to the summit of improv mountain, becoming a clutch player in UCB Harold Night teams, musical improv groups and the theatre's Saturday night marquee squad, Death By Roo Roo. In Dictator For Life, he gets the stage to himself to show off some characters in his head and his versatility as a solo performer.
--In my favorite bit of the show, the stage goes dark, a smoke machine sputters, and Mike emerges from the fog in a lucha libre mask and black body suit as a yo-yo ninja who is shilling a video series called Secrets of Yo-Yo Revealed. The average person can now learn such yo-yo tricks like The Atomic Moonbeam, but Mike has paid the ultimate price for blabbing these secrets to the world: he's shunned from the yo-yo community and his street cred is in tatters.
Dictator for Life in the UCBT's inside window!
The Apiary | 2 Comments | 21 References tagged Dictator For Life , Mike Still in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Show Recap Tuesday May 31 2011 The Brooks Brothers Memorial Day Clambake @ The UCBT NY - 5.30.11
Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 10:42AM
The zany people cruising aboard the S.S. Wasp make a wrong turn in the Nantucket Sound and end up at The UCBT in The Brooks Brothers Memorial Day Clambake, a character showcase hosted by Mike Schell and Alex Scordelis.
NOTES
--Justin Purnell bestowed one lucky RANDOM AUDIENCE MEMBER with an onstage lobster dinner for playing "Which Zip Code is Better?" From my angle, it looked like the lobster could've used a little butter.
--As members of the National Inbreeding Group, Anthony Atamanuik and John Gemberling advocated family trees "in the form of straight lines" and riffed on the unusual sexual practices they're in favor of ("babies 69-ing"). Naturally, all this inbreeding has caused unforeseen mutations--John has gills! The bit then rollicked into unhinged madness, resulting in Anthony doubling over in convulsions, giving birth to a bloody egg as John fertilized it with his "mouth semen." They were both then punched out by Shannon O'Neil, who sat there with oversized boxing gloves, tasked with sacking anyone if their bits went over 4 minutes.
--Wearing a circus tent for an outfit, Julie Klausner played the ghost of Elaine Kaufman, the noted NYC restaurateur whose restaurant to the stars was recently closed. She described all the bold faced names she's fucking in heaven (i.e. Hitler and Yassir Arafat) and gave updates on the deceased, "Elizabeth Edwards and Patrick Swayze are an item." "This one's for the Cindy Adamses in the room," she said, before rattling off more racy tidbits about other newly dead celebs. Only in New York, kids!
Cody Lindquist and Charlie Todd
Julie Klausner as the ghost of Elaine Kaufman
Lydia Hensler teaches self defense for waspy women as David Bluvband looks on with approval.
Chris Schell and Alex Scordelis as the hosts of this clambake, The Brooks Brothers
The Apiary | 1 Comment | 2 References in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Show Recap Monday May 09 2011 2011 Summer Intensive Improv Classes Across the Country
Monday, May 9, 2011 at 2:26PM An image I found when Googling "improv summer camp" I recently wrote about what appeared to be some kind of twisted endurance test for improv newbies, but it turned out I stumbled upon the wonderful world of improv summer camp. And it's kind of exciting! Several theaters around the country now offer seasonal intensive classes that range from one week to over a month--all at doorbuster pricing too. It's perfect for college students, performers eyeing a relocation, jobless ex-cons, angsty teens who just got in an argument with their parents and are running away, drifters without families, and people with so many vacation days you want to throw up on them--basically everyone! How nice would it be to spend a few weeks in a different city, make some new buds, and get the lay of the land?
2011 Summer Improv Intensives
New York
Magnet Theater
5/16 - 6/3 - Improv Levels 1-3 - This program concludes with a student graduation show, directed by Magnet founder Armando Diaz. - $599
6/9 - 6/12 - Camp Magnet - Their annual summer retreat is back for its 4th year. Go camping in the Catskill Mountains and enjoy 4 days and 3 nights of improv, writing workshops, and adventure. - $549
The Peoples Improv Theater
7/11 - 8/5 - Summer Improv Intensive - Complete an entire improv program, Levels 1-4, in just one month. Classes are held M-F from 2-5pm. The intensive will follow with a graduation performance. - $1,000
The UCBT NY
7/18 - 7/31 - Improv 201 - Open for students who've completed 101 some time in the past 2 years. Two or more instructors teach the class jointly. - $425
Looking for an intensive 101 here? The UCBT's class coordinator tells us:
> We posted all of our summer intensives in March to give students enough time to plan travel around class dates. We listed a few sections per month, but at this point, most of them are sold out. If someone drops out of a class, their spot is opened up online and registers on a first come first served basis. You can subscribe to our RSS feed in order to be alerted when new spots are available or new classes are listed.feed://newyork.ucbtheatre.com/classes/rss . We offer intensives year round as well.
Chicago
iO Theater
7/11 - 8/11 - Improv Levels 1 - 4B - The Summer Intensive condenses the entire iO Theater school of thought into five incredible weeks. Each week, a different iO teacher instructs the class in a particular level of curriculum. - $1100
Second City
Weekly sessions running 6/13 - 8/19 - Levels 1 - 2 of Improv & Comedy Writing - Learn improv and sketch writing, meet new friends, and take advantage of Chicago's rich comedy scene. 2 weeks - $1000
Los Angeles
iO West Theater
7/25 - 8/26 - Improv Levels 1 - 5 - Condensing the first 5 levels of their 7 level curriculum into one month, you will master the Harold and have a nice tan when all is said and done. - $1400
Groundlings
Various dates 6/20 - 8/12 - Teen Summer Workshops - Get the jump on an illustrious comedy career early with weekly performance classes designed just for teens. - $350
The Apiary | 1 Comment | 8 References tagged summer comedy class , summer improv classes in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Improv Friday May 06 2011 Inside With: J.D. Durkin of 'Stephen Colbert: Hire Me'
Friday, May 6, 2011 at 2:54PM Photo: Eric Michael Pearson By Meghan O’Keefe
Everyone in comedy has their dream job: a producer they want to work with, a venue they want to sell out or a late night show they want to write for, etc. J.D. Durkin wants to write for The Colbert Report so badly that he’s created Stephen Colbert: Hire Me, a live comedy show to act as his resume.
How did you get into comedy in the first place?
I knew I wanted to write for television and Googled all of my favorite writers/producers/correspondents and found out they had been improvisers as well. I took the 101 class at UCB when I was 19 and actually had a Colbert Report writer in my class named Eric Drysdale. I remember asking Eric about the best path to follow, and he basically said, "Just keep doing this stuff." And I’ve stuck with improv since then.
You first developed the show at iO West. Can you describe how it came about and what eventually brought the show to The PIT.?
In Los Angeles, I worked with a super brilliant former SNL-writer named Michael McCarthy in this weekly show he created called Comedy Lab Live. I started writing sample Colbert Report segments because I realized I wanted to be a writer for that show, and McCarthy let me perform them on stage during Comedy Lab Live on Sunday nights in the grungy Andy Dick Theater in Spring 2010. It was a very crude setup, me in a mismatched suit on stage reading off of printed scripts on the little round table in front of me. No projector, no slides, no experience.
After I moved back to NYC and hosted SketchProv at the PIT last year, the Artistic Director Jeff Lepine and I were trying to think of some kind of show I could do, so I enhanced what I did in L.A. to a full-fledged giant.
What is it specifically about Stephen Colbert and his show that inspires you?
I feel like The Colbert Report is a commentary on something bigger in the world. While tackling politics and foreign affairs isn't easy, it lends itself to the realm of education or almost social justice. I think my favorite moments in The Colbert Report or The Daily Show, aren’t the big laughs or applauses, but those eyebrow-raising moments of revelation. "Truth bombs" as Tracy Jordan would say. Jon Stewart said his show "highlights absurdity in a comical way that is a catharsis and not a sadness," so I’ve always liked that.
As for Colbert himself, I think his upbringing, which is laced with tragedy, is very admirable. I can see how his mother's insistence of having a positive attitude has served him in a very "yes, and" kind of way. Then again I’ve never met him. He could be a prick, but I doubt that.
What’s the process behind writing the show? Do you work with any other writers? How close to the performance time are you still writing and re-writing?
For good or for bad, I’ve never consulted with any other writers. Even my tech director doesn’t see the script sometimes until the afternoon of a performance. The point of the show is to demonstrate my writing and market myself as a potential job candidate. I even write guest correspondent bits verbatim. Because I want the show to be current, I usually end up doing 90% of the writing the week of the show and a good chunk that day. Even while I’m on stage during the show I make changes, but this is what real television writers and producers do every episode.
J.D. and that guy from the Rent is Too Damn High Party | Photo: Eric Michael Pearson The show uses guest correspondents to highlight topics such as sports, international affairs and domestic politics. Since The Colbert Report doesn’t feature any correspondents, why did you decide to incorporate them into your show?
The guest pieces do a few things. Firstly, they get some more people involved and let me have fun interacting with someone else directly. Most importantly, they’re a subliminal break for the audience. I know it would be boring staring at one kid behind a desk on stage reading scripts off of a music stand, so getting people involved is always good.
If Stephen doesn’t decide to hire you, would you take a job from another topical news comedy show (The Daily Show, Onion News Net, etc.)? Or is it Colbert or bust?
It’s actually either Colbert or the as-of-yet-not-announced late night show on TruTV starring Carrot Top. I’ve got a huge arsenal of firecrotch jokes I’ve been writing for years, and I hope he gets his own show so I can finally put them to good use. Either him or Julianne Moore.
Stephen Colbert: Hire Me runs the first Friday of every month at the People’s Improv Theater. The next show is Friday, May 6 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8. For more information visit www.stephencolberthireme.com.
The Apiary | Post a Comment | 4 References tagged J.D. Durkin , Stephen Colbert in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Interviews Wednesday Apr 27 2011 Inside With: Jane Borden, Writer and Time Out Comedy Editor
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 3:05PM Jane Borden's love letter to New York, I Totally Meant to Do That, is a fantastic collection of humorous essays about growing up in the South, living her post-college years in NYC, and coming head to head with the question we all have to come to terms with at some point here--where do our priorities really lie? Every NY transplant should read it. The book recently made New York Magazine's Approval Matrix, which means it's good AND culturally relevant. I talked to her about its reception, her future, and all the items on the book's backpage that got glossed over.
First off, I really loved the book--you completely nail the feelings and emotions I went through as a transplant in New York and the struggle to explain or relate my existence here to those back home. Does everyone tell you they feel a kindred connection with you after reading it?
I have had a lot of people say that, yes. And it means the most when the person is not from the South. Underneath all of the jokes and details about New York and North Carolina, the book is just a story of transition, and of growing up. So I definitely wanted that to transcend the specifics of my own experience.
Do you find that it reads well to people who haven't lived here? I saw on Amazon one reviewer who admits to never living in NYC write, "I don't believe Jane Borden; at all." There was nothing that rang untrue or out of the ordinary to me, even the part about sharing a whoopee cushion with a tranny hooker.
That review really made me laugh. Part of what compelled me to write this book is that the South and New York are such interesting places. The former is quirky and eccentric. And the latter is straight up crazy. So to hear someone, who has visited neither, say they don't believe any of the stories...it's like, "Yeah, I know--exactly!" Also, regarding the the tranny hooker, I'm secretly hoping s/he will find me on the Internet someday, just to go, "I was the one you played whoopee cushion with!" But that will never happen: A) I sincerely doubt I'd be popular in that community and B) s/he is probably not on Facebook.
I like how the stories all tidily wrap up in a way that calls back details laid out in the beginning of them. Is that your improv background at work there? Or is that just good storytelling and editing?
I think that stories--in print or spoken, written or improvised--have more fundamentally in common than they do different. However, I'll also say that improv classes are the only formal creative training I've had in any genre or medium. And also, my experience with it in the beginning was cult-like, to say the least, e.g. my parents were concerned. So, yes, in general, as someone who is obsessed with improv, I see its stamp on every facet of my life, in ways large and small. In fact, we should change the topic before I totally nerd out and embarrass myself by using words like "therapy."
I know you as the Time Out comedy editor but the dust jacket says you've contributed to SNL, Comedy Central and VH1. Since you don't talk about any of these jobs in the book, what did you do at these places?
I was a freelance joke writer for Weekend Update for six (seven?) seasons. So I submitted 10 to 15 jokes per show in the hopes of getting one read by, through the years, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, or Seth Meyers. It was a blast. But it was also a labor of love; freelancers rarely get stuff on the air. Or, at least, I rarely did. VH1: those talking-heads shows, you know about the '80s or a reality star or an old brand of cereal or something. And Comedy Central: Back when I was barely old enough to drink, I was cast in a sketch on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. We improvised most of the audition, so when I came back for the taping, he asked me to help him rewrite it. I remember being late to meet him in his office because of hair and makeup. I was sitting in the chair thinking, "I don't care what I look like, just let me out of here so I can go upstairs!" An early sign that I should be a writer and not an actor, I guess. And actually, it was right around then that I stopped pursuing auditions and focused on words.
How did you become the Time Out comedy editor? How long have you been there?
Six (seven?) years--I swear that was not an intentional call back (unless that is some really deep-seated subliminal improv training). I had been writing a humorous column about New York for the L Magazine for a year when the job at Time Out opened up, and because I had also been entrenched in the New York comedy scene for a number of years, I had the right combination of qualifications.
Not to spoil it for those who haven't read the book, but are you really leaving New York?
I spent five years and 230 pages figuring out where home is. And then I went and got engaged to an academic, which means that we will live wherever he teaches. I invested all of this time and energy into
making a decision, and the big-cosmic-joke is that it's not up to me. But I needed to make that decision, to stop being a coward and grow up. So I'm glad I did before the deus ex machina swooped in. It was an opportunity for "therapy"--okay, that call back was intentional.
Well, I think before you go, we should create and sell the rights to a "Would You Rather?" type of party game called "What's More Ladylike?"
Okay, but only if it's a drinking game: If there's anything my book proves it's that I would always lose at a game like that, so at least let me get drunk.
The Apiary | 1 Comment | 14 References tagged Jane Borden , Time Out New York in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Interviews Page 1 2 3 4 5 ... 32 Next 8 Entries » Copyright © 2011, [theapiary.org]. All rights reserved.