Today is Your Last Chance to See America 20XX

This is it, ladies and gentlemen. There is only one more performance of America 20XX before it vanishes into the ether. If you're not sitting in the Players Theatre today (Monday the 18th) at 6 PM, you'll have missed it, brother.

To entice you further, I can post a link to another review we got which described Greg and my performances as "straight-faced and fantastic". It's for Theater Talks and is by a critic named Ellen Wernecke who went so far as listing our show as her "Biggest Surprise" of the first week of the festival on her Tumblr. She gets extra points because she's a book critic for the The A.V. Club.
Yeah, that's right, people from my favorite site liked our play.
Read her review here.

And, to keep this blog even-handed I'll link to a mediocre review we got as well. They described the performances as "energetic and well-intentioned but lackluster". Thanks.
Enjoy that review here.

Anyway, get the fuck out and see America 20XX!

Only a Few More Chances!

For all those people out there who have yet to see America 20XX, your chances are running out!

There are only three more performances to see myself and others in Cyriaque's deranged dose of Poli-Sci-Fi (I stole that phrase from the Time Out review...).

The three performances are tonight, tomorrow night (crazy late night show!), and Monday. All the information can be found on the show's website here.

In the mean time, check out this interview Cyriaque did for the official FringeNYC podcast. It's pretty funny and you'll learn a lot about the show. You can listen to it here. Cyriaque comes on around the 23 minute mark.

So get your ass to the city because I'm starring in a Goddamned Off-Broadway show and you need to see it!

Two Shows and Two Wildly Different Reviews In...

Well, as that picture proves, I have starred in an Off-Broadway play that went all the way through. That's right, we have now completed our first weekend of America 20XX and it was some of the most fun I ever had.

Right after I wrote the last post here I took a shower to get ready for opening night and I realized something: I was genuinely terrified about this. I think it all has to do with the fact that this was entirely different than everything I've ever done. We performed this in an actual theater in New York in the middle of Greenwich Village and that meant that the audience wasn't just gonna be our friends this time. No, we were going to be performing for impossible to please NY Hipsters and Bitchy Theater Queers.

And let me tell you, that shit it scary.

But we did it. We performed for paying customers. How crazy is that?

The Reviews

One thing that makes this show different from all the shows I've done in the past is the fact that there are actually people in the audience there to review us. So far we've had four critics come, two of them have posted their reviews and man, are these reviews wild. One is too good to be true and the other is quite possibly the worst review I've ever read for anything. To show you how different they are, I will post two quotes back to back.

From Time Out New York and Talkin' Broadway:

"The beginning of the show made me laugh until I cried"

"America 20XX isn’t inspiring - just embarrassing."

Yep, that's some difference of opinion. Fortunately the good review came from a much more reputable site (Time Out) but unfortunately, the bad review is jut insanely bad. I have no problem linking to it here because the guy clearly just didn't get the show. And I'm not saying there really is anything to get. And I think that's the point. The guy just seems to hate us personally and especially the fact that we're college students (something he brings up multiple times for some reason which is especially weird considering only three out of seven of us are).

Anyway, you should read both reviews because the bad one is hilarious (I personally will be using the phrase "and the posing, prancing, and declaiming that pass for acting" all the time!) and because the good one will hopefully get you in the seats.

Remember, there are only three more shows left before America 20XX is over and I hate you forever!

If that doesn't get you to come, maybe this picture will:

PS. I haven't gotten around to posting my August playlist yet so I might just wait till next month. Sorry.
PPS. Support America 20XX cast members in their other endeavors! Dave's got a new video on Heavy.com. This one lists the Top 10 Gayest Action Movies. His bosses really give him some interesting assignments, don't they?

America 20XX is TODAY!

The date is finally here, everyone! In just a few short hours America 20XX, the play written and directed by Cyriaque Lamar and starring members of Wacky Hijinks will premiere.

Is it good? Well, we got the primetime 7:30 pm slot on opening night of the 2008 New York Fringe Festival, so it damn well better be good.

The whole thing's really exciting. Not only do we get to be a part of this amazing festival and meet all the cool people involved (and hit up the parties...), we also get to perform in an honest to God Off-Broadway theater! Come tomorrow, I can say without fear or repercussion that I have starred in an Off-Broadway play. That's just bad ass.

We finally got to go to the actual venue last Monday and it really is perfect. It's one of the best venues in the entire festival (out of the 18 involved). It's literally right on the edge of Washington Square Park in this real trendy area so we're sure to get a lot of walk-in audience members. And we may get even more with some of the publicity we've got coming up.

Cyriaque did an interview today which will go on the Fringe Podcast (I'll link to it when it's up) and they told him that some of the Media Passes have already been reserved for our show which is absolutely terrifying. I've never before been reviewed by anyone except my parents.

I've gotta keep my mind off that stuff though or I'll freak myself out. So, instead, I'll think about this awesome sketch. Here it is with the picture it was based on:

The drawing was done by Dan Pillis for the show's program. He's the guy who did the great drawing of the publicity photo which I posted a while back. He made sketches of all us and you can see them at the site or, even better, when you get your program at the door.

So yeah, get the fuck out and see America 20XX at some point over the next couple of weeks. You can buy your tickets online for added ease and if you're extra nice, you might even get to come out for drinks with us afterwards!

Anywho, I'll leave you with this tantalizing teaser: if you come to America 20XX, you'll get all the extreme political science fiction you crave, and you'll even get to find out what scene this song is in:

God, why don't today's music videos have as many nipples as that one?

The Power Patriots in "The Right (Invisible) Hand of Doom!"

A few weeks ago I wrote about the video sketch we filmed as a trailer for America 20XX (which opens in a week and a day, motherfuckers!) and now you're all lucky enough to be able to see it!
Even better, it looks fucking awesome (special props to Dave on the editing). So enjoy!



Of course, I didn't even need to post this video since you've all already bought your tickets online at Ticket Web, right? And you've all been checking the website religiously, right? And you all know that the show dates are as follows, right?

Friday 8/8 @ 7:30
Sunday 8/10 @ 3:00
Thursday 8/14 @ 9:45
Friday 8/15 @ 11:45
Monday 8/18 @ 6:00
(All shows are PM)

Good. Just making sure.

Lets All Buy Our Tickets Now!

How awesome is this picture?



Anywho, that was done by a guy named Dan Pillis and it seems like the best way to get your attention for these: THE AMERICA 20XX SHOW DATES (with added commentary from writer/director Cyriaque!


Friday 8/8 @ 7:30 - The opening night of the festival!
Sunday 8/10 @ 3:00 - The Sunday matinee!
Thursday 8/14 @ 9:45 - Thursday is the new Friday!
Friday 8/15 @ 11:45 - Barhoppers delight!
Monday 8/18 @ 6:00 - The worst time! Thank God it's last!


Now, if we all remember the last few updates, the show will be held at The Players Theatre @ 115 MacDougal Street in NYC and you can buy your tickets at the Fringe website.


Anyway, if that drawing was a good way to bring you into this post, here's a good way to bring you out: our awesome poster!


ps. I can't believe I typed up that dream post last night? I think the fact that transcribing a nightmare for the internet comforted me says more about my generation than a thousand thesis papers combined.

Some Random Thoughts

• I have an air conditioner now! Last night, Sam and I slept with a cover. A cover!!!
• At work yesterday, I was passed along this article about Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to his "classic" Phantom of the Opera. Not only will it feature the ridiculous title "Phantom: Once Upon Another Place" it will also have 100% more robot fucking.
  My guess is he's just ripping off Zipperface...
• The Emmy nominations are up and The Wire, y'know, the greatest American drama in the history of television, got one nomination in its final year. One! That means that it will have only recieved two nominations in its entire run. I'm used to shows I love not getting respect from the retarded Academy (Kristen Bell, if only they had a category for Most Adorable...) but The Wire is different. To not nominate a show that good, is to ruin the relevence of the entire awards. Oh, but thank God they remembered to nominate Entourage, a show that hasn't featured a decent episode in three years.
  As TV critic Alan Sepinwal noted, According to Jim got its third nomination this year. According to Jim is officially "better" than The Wire.

America 20XX Preview on NYTheatre.com

Just what the title says. The website, dedicated to all things, well, involving theater in New York, has posted previews of all the shows from this year's Fringe Festival including our very own America 20XX!
Check it out here and remember, you know the site is prestigious because they spell it "theatre".*

And now, because we have the word "America" in the title, here are some one-day-late Fourth of July multimedia goodies:







* In my first week of working at McCarter, I asked if there was a rule for when they use "theater" and "theatre" since they had literature using both. I was told that the general McCarter rule involved using the "re" whenever dealing with a proper noun like the name of a specific building. So, in theory, I could have a sentence saying, "I went to the Jon Bershad Theatre and performed some theater."
Fascinating? I thought so.

America 20XX Has a Venue and a Date (and no, I'm not referring to "America" or "20XX")

Exciting news for all you cool people getting ready to see me (and probably a few other people you know) in Cyriaque Lamar's original comedy play America 20XX: FringeNYC has given us our venue and our show dates!
You can read all about it here, at the play's totally rocking official site. The short story is that we will be performing at The Players Theatre located in Greenwich Village right by Washington Square Park. Take it away, Google Maps!


View Larger Map

We'll be performing in a 180 seat theater in Greenwich Village. That's a bit of a step up from Scott Hall. Check out this picture:


Hells yeah!
Like I said, we also received showdates but I shouldn't post them until the official announcement on July 5th as they are subject to change. I hope they don't as their pretty plum times (one late night weekend show in perticular).

For those of you who missed my last post on the subject, America 20XX is a comedic post-apocalyptic one-act about the world's last superheroes, The Power Patriots. It's written and directed by CAP alum and current Cracked writer, Cyriaque Lamar and stars many current and former members of Wacky Hijinks, the sketch comedy group I'm in. It also is awesome.

Now that we have all the specifics worked out, I need to start learning these fucking lines. Cyriaque's the best director in that he keeps bringing liquor to rehearsals. And we're the worst cast in that we keep drinking it.

Keep checking america20xx.com for all news regarding the play! And, y'know, this blog.

A Few Quick Notes

• The new Sigur Rós album is absolutely amazing.
• Mansour Pourmand, the director and producer behind the original film, Zipperface, has written Dave, Andy, and I an e-mail giving us his blessing to bring Zipperface!!?!: The Hobo Musical to the next step.
• Did you read that second bullet point?! That's fucking crazy!

Putting the "Music" in "Zipperface!!?!: The Hobo Musical" (plus a rather exciting announcement)

A month or so ago I went to New York to interview for an internship with the Colbert Report in the fall. It's was an absolutely massive long shot. Like Eugene O'Neill stage directions long. So I decided not to write anything about it here since I didn't want to jinx myself and I also didn't want to spend months telling everyone who had read the post that I eventually didn't get it.
But I got it.

Yay, hooray for me. I'm awesome, I know. But, yeah, this fall I will be spending three days a week trying to bring Stephen Colbert coffee without accidentally making direct eye contact. It's easily the coolest thing that's happened to me in years. However, I'm going to my best not to get too excited about it since the amount of joy and excitement I feel about something is directly related to the amount of ways it will fall apart right in front of my eyes.

So, to keep from thinking about it, I've been thinking about other cool things Like the fact that the music from Zipperface, the musical I co-wrote, is online! That's right, Brent, resident CAP documenter has uploaded a bunch of songs and soundbites from the show and they're absolutely great.
Of course, let me do my paranoid creater thing and point out the deficiencies right off the bat. Unfortunately, these were taken from the worst performance so I can hear all kinds of problems. Most obviously, this was the night that the guitar was knocked over back stage and was then out of tune for Terry's song (one of my favorites in the show, dammit) so that Dave had to stop playing. Also, you can hear people stumble over lyrics and pacing a few times and somehow we lost the recording of the title song.

Oh, I'm gonna shut up. The songs sound great and it's fantastic to finally get to hear them again. Dave, Andy, and I (and I hope Zach, as well) will be giving them and the eventual video (when it's edited) our undying attention as we try to rewrite the script and bring Zipperface to the next stage. Until then, you can enjoy these as they are and you people who missed the show can kind of see what I've been talking about for the past few months (and be really fucking confused by the references to robots and dinosaurs).

So, here are a few samples.


First off, is the opening tune by a couple members of the Hobo Band:

I can't say enough about how much these guys added to the show. They were made up by members of the New Brunswick band, the Seal Club and were led by Zach Wiseley. Zach is an absolute genius. He also arranged the songs and was able to make them sound like actual musical tunes. I would ask him to do ridiculous stuff like, "Hey, Zach, could you arrange a mixture of all the songs in the first act into one tune to play at the beginning of the second act?" and he'd just do it. Absolutely amazing.

Next we have Morese singing one of the best songs in the show:

Again, this is the night with the shitty guitar. You can hear it right at the beginning. It's so depressing because I absolutely love this song. Fortunately, Morese sells the rest of it and the band sounds great otherwise so it still works. Brent included some dialogue at the end with the punchline of the song. It's a visual joke, so you people who missed the show are gonna be lost, but the rest of us can have fun reminiscing.

Unsurprisingly, I also am posting the Cuban Robot Wars medley, which Brent kept in its entirety. It may be seven and a half minutes long and utterly nonsensical to anyone who didn't see the show (and some who did) but it includes my cameo so, whatever. Plus, it's pretty damn rocking:

For you people who are really confused, here's a brief explanation. I'll try my best to make it simple. The play Zipperface is narrated by a hobo. In the beginning he states that the reason he is able to create the show is because he has software implanted in his head from something he calls "the Cuban Robot Wars". The audience usually shrugs this off as just silly dialogue from a crazy character, however, in act two, the play is interrupted by the narrator having a seizure. Another hobo takes over, however, he doesn't actually know the plot of Zipperface so, when the show starts up again, the audience gets treated to an entirely different musical set during the fabled wars and starring all robots. I played the lead robot.
Understand? Eh. I tried.
In the things that go wrong category, this was the night that I started to laugh and then said "robat" instead of "robot" during my first line. Pretty embarassing to fuck up one of lines when you only have about eight. Especially if you wrote it.

And finally, the best song in the show, the Finale Song:

Nothing went wrong here. This song rules and it will always rule. Plus, this was the night Izzy came to see the show and she was nice enough to hoot when I came onstage to deliver my line. This makes it sound to the untrained ears like I'm some kind of super stud. If only.

If you want to listen to the rest of the songs, you can download them here:
Download: Zipperface!!?!: The Hobo Musical - Music and Soundbites
Again, it's missing the title song but there are a few well-chosen soundbites to make up for it. Like this one:


God, I love this show.

And, hey, I'm interning at the Colbert Report!

Satirical Political Commentary...TO THE MAX!!!

For the past few weeks, this has been my Facebook photo:



I have given no explanation for this picture. Until now. You see, I may have a job and I may be heading down to Atlantic City to film a horror movie. But what do I do with the other 0.037% of my time. Well, I go to New Bunswick to rehearse America 20XX, an original comedic one-act appearing in this year's New York International Fringe Festival!


The play was written and is being directed by Cyriaque Lamar who currently writes damn funny articles for Cracked.com, a couple of which have been linked to all over the fucking place. Hell, you mit have even read one by now. More importantly, however, Cyriaque is a former member of Wacky Hijinks sketch comedy group at Rutgers. And, not being one to forget his roots, when his play got accepted to the festival, he casted it entirely with current and former Hijinks people (plus Matt Herron for the hell of it). I'm lucky enough to be one of those people and my profile picture is an outtake from our publicity photo session where we took bad ass pictures like this one:


You can see more pictures and lots of other cool stuff at the play's official website, America20xx.com.


At this point, your probably wondering what the plays about. Well, it's set in an apocalyptic future where the country's last super heroes, the Power Patriots, have to use horrible secrets from their past to destroy an evil mp3 player because a Clint Eastwood look-a-like told them to. Now, at this point, you're probably looking at me like I'm crazy and slowly backing towards the door. I don't blame you. However, trust me when I say it will all make sense when you see it. And if it doesn't, it will still be bad-ass awesome and damned funny!


The publicity materials describe the play as "star-spangled satre" and "extreme political science fiction!". I describe it as "a comedy so gay it took a bunch of straight people to produce it".


The pictures were taken a few weeks ago in my basement (it has the feel of some place war-torn) by Cyriaque's girlfriend, Annie. They needed to be in to Fringe in the next few days so we had to get something together soon. While we only had one costume finished (the eagle mask which has Cyriaque inside it and is basically the whole costume for Super Eagle, who Cyriaque describes as "the Chewbacca of the play") we had to just gather together whatever we could find from the CAP prop room. So, while Greg and I make up the other two members of the Power Patriots in the play, those costumes have nothing to do with our actual characters. Unfortunately, the other membrs of the cast couldn't make it, including the girlfriend, Sam, who was horribly sick and was curled up in a ball in my room upstairs. Sorry you missed out, sweetheart!


Anywho, we'll be performing in this summer's Fringe Festival in New York. We will be in one of the off-Broadway theaters involved (the first time I've ever been in a play produced somewhere not affiliated with a school of some kind!) for five performances in mid-August. We'll know the exact where's and when's on July 5th when Fringe releases the final schedule.


Keep posted, America!*



*"America" being the eight people who read this blog.

Senior Citizen

So the school year ended. I am now a senior in college. I am forced to confront the fact that the utter terror that is the real world is a very concrete and nearby future. And I don't even get a prom to soften the blow this time!

However, to take my mind off that, both theater groups I'm involved with at Rutgers had their annual awards ceremonies!

For those of you that don't know, the Cappies (College Avenue Players) and the Cabaret Ball (Cabaret Theatre) are the annual back-pat-a-thon/circle-jerks that we in the theater community throw to help celebrate how awesome we are by giving out awards. And by drinking and wearing goofy costumes.

And now a run down (with pictures!):

The Cappies

Last year's CAP awards ceremony was kind of lame. The theme sucked ("Mythological creatures"? What the fuck?) and we were stuck in the tiny basement of Tumultis on George Street. This year, however was much better. We were at the local elk's lodge and the theme was "Classy 80s Coke and Whore Party" which was a shit-load more fun. Plus I was 21 this time!

In the end, Wacky Hijinks won Best Show which was pretty damn exciting. It would have been even more exciting had 7/8 of the cast all been on the voting committee. But whatever, we won! Whoo!

The Cast of Hijinks (minus Dave)

Next came the after party which was at Jamie and Holly's house and was a Rubics Cube Party. For those of you that don't know, a RCP is when everyone comes wearing all different colors and keep trading until they are wearing only one. I ended up completing seven damn colors (all of a rubics cube plus black) and I only ruined two girls' shirts in the process.
















Halfway through, someone asked me why I was getting so into the game. I told them it was because I had a girlfriend now so there really wasn't anything else to do at a party.


By the end of the night, things devolved into a pantsless dance party both inside and out. This may have been based on my suggestion and campaigning. At least that's what people tell me. I don't remember.

All in all, a fun night.

The Cabaret Ball

My freshmen year, the Cabaret Ball was absolutely amazing. Then last year, it sucked. I blame that mostly on the fact that the theme was "Dress as a drink". What on earth does that mean? I ended up throwing bunny ears on and carrying a hammer. I was a Harvey Wallbanger.

This year the theme was a little bit more interesting. It was "Guilty Pleasures". It took me forever to come up with something and then finally I had the perfect costume. I went as the movie Love Actually. See:

Basically, I didn't know how to dress up as lesbian porn.
Ha! You think that's gross, try this:


Anyway, my costume was simple and also a big hit with the ladies. I was making hearts melt left and right with my actual love. Here are the pictures:

One with Sam
One with Rachel
One with Maddie
One with Jade

One with Ali

And one with...uh...Bassem
In the end, Hair won Best Show which was pretty damn exciting. It would have been even more exciting had we not had the biggest cast and therefore the biggest voting block. But whatever, we won! Whoo!
Then the after party where, I don't know, we all drank more.

Wrap-Up

Anywho, junior year was a really great year for me. I became much closer with a really great group of people and we worked hard and created some great stuff. And now I have a cute girl whose butt I can grab at any time without getting in trouble. Much love, Sam!

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to leave college. Oh God, I don't want to leave college.