Tina Fey was once just Elizabeth Statmatina Fey from PA. You Could Be Next!

Calling All Writers, Directors, Actors, Improvisers & comedic storytellers! 

Ever listen to the news only to have the headlines playback with a comical twist in your mind? Ever stand in the grocery check out line listening to the cashier and find yourself fighting the urge to answer her mundane chatter as a silly character? Ever wondered how restaurant wait staff might react if you ordered an exotic item not on the menu and then gave the waitress detailed prep instructions?

If like me, youʼve had similar thoughts, then you have a unique perspective on life that the most successful comedy television writers, producers, directors and actors also possess and if thatʼs the case then Sketch Comedy for the Web and Stage, a six week, hands-on course, beginning Saturday October 12th, and running six consecutive Saturdays from 3-5pm, must be calling your name!

Sketch Comedy for the Web and Stage will be held at 9 Muses Art Center 7139 Oakland Park Blvd Lauderhill Florida. This course will provide the tools and insight for artists interested in creating and promoting Sketch Comedy in a professional manner. Sketch Comedy for the Web and Stage will also explore the effective use of comedic timing, character development, choosing topics that can be grown into multiple episodes easily, playing to niche audiences, the elements of story and how they relate to hitting the beats and the promotion and marketing of material created in class. ill be given a hand- out supporting the curriculum.

Sketch Comedy for the Web and Stage will be taught by Greg Philippi, a SAG/AFTRA actor from Los Angeles who has created several web series and has written and appeared in numerous sketch comedy pieces that have had extensive web hits. Aside from sketch comedy, Greg has extensive experience in improv, a comedic form that is an essential component in writing solid comedic scenes. As an improviser, Greg has trained with The Upright Citizens Brigade, The Second City, The ImprovTrick, Monkey Butler Comedy, Comedy Theater Sportz, and iOWest. Greg also has experience on the other side of the camera as a network TV executive, music business executive, and reality show producer. His varied background allows him to give insight into the business side of the industry.

Sketch Comedy for the Web and Stage cost is $120 entire course or $25 per class walk-in fee (payable at the beginning of each class). Following the 6 week course, students will have the opportunity for continued participation in an ongoing sketch group. For advance registration go to www.GotULaughing.Weebly.com and look for the paypal link. Contact Greg at soflorida.comedy@gmail.com

Fires Of August Entertainment

soflorida.comedy@gmail.com

323-829-1117Calling All Writers, Directors, Actors, Improvisers, Comedians & Storytellers!

Riddle Me this and Riddle me That?!

It was a pleasantly warm, dry southern California evening when I slipped into the City Wok for healthy Chinese cuisine (only in southern California right?!). The eatery was buzzing with activity. I spied actor/comedian Frank Gorshen across the room. I’d seen celebrities before but Frank was a legend in my book. He’d had a career spanning several decades as a comedian, often appearing on the Ed Sullivan show and he’d left an indeliable impression on my brain after all those evenings as a kid curled up in front of the set watching Adam West as Batman with Frank as The Riddler. He was the definitive Riddler, a character that Jim Carrey undoubtably borrowed from in his portrayal of the Riddler years later.

As I finished my meal and stepped out into the parking lot Frank was standing on the curb lighting a cigarette. It was just he and I and the stars on a clear night. Not wanting to disturb him I simply stopped and expressed how much I appreciated what he’d brought to the screen in his work. In legendary form he took a puff on his cigarette leaned over and said thanks kid, thanks a lot in a gritty character voice unmistakenly Frank, like a wine with a long east coast finish. A week and a half later he was dead. He seemed so vibrant, but looking back I think he knew he was on his way out and was at peace with that fact. As he stood on the curb that night outside the restaurant he was digesting a memory. I unwittingly provided the icing...

Thinking back on that evening I’m not sure why it made such an impression on me but it did and is in fact a moment in time burned into my brain. I guess cause life is like that, here today and gone tomorrow. Take it all in like a big full course dinner only not so much as to make you sick but just enough to be satisfied. Enjoy every minute, the ups and the downs. It’s always been about the journey. I know that much. For some it’s world travel and sumptuous cuisine and for others the comfort of their favorite chair and a good book. For still others there’s that space somewhere in between.

Life is an amalgam of rhythm and art. There’s art in the stars and the cracks in the sidewalk behind a lost diner. There’s art in everything. There’s rhythm in everything too from the sound of a voice to the wind to the movement of the waves on a beach. It’s all about patterns and numbers. The patterns of our life and discovery of what was and is now present.

Sure there is a dark side to life but that has a pattern as well and an erie art to it but the balance of dark and light in my life keeps the patterns alive as I discover the days unfolding before me... In the days ahead I’m going to strike out on a journey in words that I’m hoping to share on these pages. For those that join me I salute you and welcome your presence for no two eyes see the same thing exactly the same way and that’s what makes life interesting. That’s what makes it a pleasure to wake up in the morning and take in the morning air, well that and a good cup of strong black coffee from a well seasoned Barista...LOL

BLOOD, BODIES and RACISM in the HEART of HOLLYWOOD!

It’s blood, bodies and racism in the heart of Hollywood Tuesday evenings for the month of September, delivered in a sweaty black box theater setting, the way urban theater should be experienced. Family values be damned ta’ hell! The Boondock Sisters is a violent, fast paced stage romp that takes audiences from the green hills of Ireland, where a phone call sets the stage for the blood-letting rampage of two lasses, to the back alleys of Boston’s North End, in a shoot first, ask questions later story that includes hitmen, priests, police the FBI and one scary badass female assasin.

Bodies begin piling up as Niela and Cassidy embark on a quest to rid the city of two legged pests while Italian king pin Joseppi Yakavetta (Papa Joe) battles russian crime lords for turf and Boston’s finest launch an investigation under the tutleage of a smug, affected FBI Investigator.

The girls, both one step ahead of the police and one step ahead of the syndicate, practice their penchant for fightin’ as they paint the city red literally, while reciting ominous latin verbage, unleashing their own brand of justice on the underworld. Unwittingly the king pin calls forth the murderous iL Duce who soon reigns more violence down upon a city already awash in red sauce and lead.

TheTuesday evening cast features Jack Starr as Agent Paul Smecker, Rebecca Crews and Ruth Allyn Anderson as sisters Niela and Cassidy, Devon Coull as the inculpable Rocco and guesting as the Chief, Ian Willoughby as Officer Greenly, Russian Mobster Checkov, the Priest and Italian mobster Geno, a man of many faces, Natalie Nastulczykova as Officer Dollapoppaskalious aka Dolly, The Dutchess (iL Duce) and Doc, Tim Stafford as Officer Duffy and mobsters Vincenzo and Hojo and Greg Philippi as Joseppi Yakavetta (Papa Joe) and Da’.

Together the cast deliver this one act black comedy to the steps of the confessional with vigor and a dash of brain splatter, culminating at the moment of iL Duce’s dance of death bringing another lawless legend to justice. The Boondock Sisters; Irish angels or societal menace? Perhaps the reality is something in between. Either way, if you’re headin’ for Boston, better strap on your kevlar vest.

The Boondock Sisters stage play is influenced by and adapted from The Boondock Saints by the show’s Director Jesse Kennedy and will be running Tuesday nights in September at 8pm at the Tre Stage 1523 N. LaBrea Ave, Hollywood 90028. Tickets are $20 at the door with discounts available. Entertainment industry professionals with business card admitted FREE. Refreshments served (maybe). For more information contact the Tre Stage theater 323-850-7827.

Grown-ups in Sandbox of Life! (as Actors in Music+Music in Actors)

In 1970 the UK art rock band “The Pretty Things” (then on the Warners label with previous releases on Fontana, EMI and Motown offshoot Rare Earth) became Rolling Stone Magazine’s only pick for album of the year that didn’t show platinum or even gold sales numbers. Hey it happens...

Nine years later (1979) a young inquisitive NYU grad (namely me), called Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song headquarters in Manhattan looking for a job and ended up booking an audition appointment to sing for Swan Song execs and with “The Pretty Things” on a Union City NJ soundstage. Still a haze after all these years as to whether they were replacing their lead vocalist who just quit, or attempting to put a frontman on “The Pretty Things” offshoot “Metropolis” (also signed to Swan Song) is not clear but there was deeper meaning afoot which I'll get to in a paragraph or two...

I do recall that many of those awaiting their audition slot that day were quite nervous. I hadn’t a clue so wasn’t nervous till I took the stage immersed in how large it was as I stood in front of several Marshall Stacks. A few were only offered one song or worse were cut off mid-song and immediately escorted off stage. I made it through one tune and was asked to do a second, confident in my command of the material and enjoying the experience. However, at the end that day, I was Pistachio and they were buying chocolate. Oh well…The best part is that I wasn’t even a lead vocalist but a guitarist!

Years later I became an actor today see clearly many acting parallels to the events above. As an actor you might arrive at an audition as one flavor say Pistachio but the folks hiring have a taste for another say Vanilla or Chocolate. Then there are those performances where you’re delivering Pistachio but it may be a little melted. In other words it’s not your best performance or maybe you misinterpreted the sides. At least you made a choice or did you? Choice of course is another discussion all together but one thing is for certain that with out it your audition, hell your life, is gonna be pretty damn boring. There are those who make choices but just don’t do the work and you certainly can’t deliver any flavor whatsoever if you haven’t done the work.

Last week I was prepping for an audition as the lead in a new web series. The script appeared to be well written. The sides consisted of 2 ½ pages of straight dialogue which in and of itself is quite a challenge. I was excited and worked hours on it. The dialogue began w “a greeting”. I believed that greeting put me in my scene partners’ office. I made a choice. Nowhere in the script did it say nor imply other wise. That led me to make other choices as well that would affect my approach and ultimately my performance. The day of the audition I walked in the room and was informed I was to appear on the phone not in person in someone’s office. Once again I made adjustments to my approach utilizing the new information and made a choice. Next I was told to ‘have fun’ with an emphasis on the word fun which allowed me the freedom to add further adjustments. Therefore I made even more choices which might impact an animated conversation with someone on the other end of the phone. Nowhere in the script did it say otherwise. After getting through the massive amounts of dialogue and returning home I learned my dialogue was supposed to be a long message. I was supposed to be leaving a freakin’ message!

I’ve always been taught right or wrong make a choice. No choice translates to “boring” and I’d made a definite choice only this time it was evidently the wrong choice. I received no adjustment, no light bulbs going off that I’d brought a new dimension to the project just that I’d made the wrong choice. Sometimes you eat the Bear and sometimes the Bear eats you…

I say you have two choices. Build a better mousetrap, take each challenge as a karmic lesson to overcome and meet every failure with a possible solution or you can find a dark corner and huddle in a mass of depressed flesh. It’s your choice. I’m back in the saddle. Life is an adventure and it is the journey I live for and learn from. Success is but a byproduct of an exciting journey. This boy ain’t waitin on the bench or standin’ on the sidelines. I’ll see you in the game.
Greg
To connect and say hello:
www.GregPhilippi.com
www.twitter.com/GregPhilippi
www.IMDB.me/gregphilippi
www.facebook.com/IanClearspot

SELF INFLICTED SABOTAGE, A GUN SHOT TO THE HEAD

Quite a sobering title for this weeks self deprecating diatribe. Challenges and pressures in life come at us from every direction. Sometimes we plow through and sometimes we’re stopped in our tracks in need of re-grouping. Sometimes we see ourselves as loyal subjects prepared to do battle but in reality we are far from that. Our subconscious tells us we’re not worthy and we sabotage ourselves even though we have the tools for success hand and the ability to command an audience with the king. Do I not deserve success? Do you not deserve success?

I attended a class several evenings back and came out feeling rough like an expired can of store bought chili that suddenly finds itself in the midst of a 5 star chef chili cook-off in the southwest (where Chili should be king no less)! I had died with my boots on. It was as though I’d had open heart surgery without a doctor. Ouch! I then proceeded to further add to the bruising and beat myself up on the way home and the rest of the evening before bed as well as the following day. I awoke the next morning with a sabotage hangover from the previous evenings fight and subsequent destructive behavior. There was and/or is no one else to blame but me, myself and I.

You see I hadn’t put in the time necessary for my once pristine memory to absorb the dialogue and digest (that is analyze) the subsequent objectives, moments before, secrets and so on amidst the pages of dialogue before me. Somewhere, somehow I’d allowed halitosis of the spirit aura to flush away the golden light we all have access to. In plain English I crashed and burned. You could say my flight missed the runway. You see I didn’t do the work, spend enough time on it, really immerse my body, mind and soul in it cause I didn’t think I had too for the desired results but here’s the kicker, I convinced my subconscious I had. Sly huh…

I put this out in the universe in hopes that someone reading this blog will not fall into the very same pit I allowed myself to slip into and then wallow in, not for one second. My life journey with all its’ twists and turns has the potential to deliver priceless growth. All of us have such potential and it befriends or confronts us everyday, depending upon our outlook on our constantly unfolding life experience. As performers we are for the most part sensitive creatures that all too often go through our day wearing many layers of armor just so we can attempt to appear like we’re not wearing any. I’d better go put my study hat on and get to work…I ain’t goin’ down again, at least not without a fight…


TAKING COMMAND WITH A SURGICAL STRIKE, CREATIVELY

Additionally should we not also consider the possibility that maybe our creative receptors are clogged from time to time and a rejuvenated mind might give rise to deeds of perfection?

I awoke this morning with a call to arms ringing in my head, amass the Teddy Bear army and ready them for battle! As Supreme Commander of the magical realm my mind stands at the ready on the edge of a vast alternative reality as far as one’s imaginative radar extends. I thought soon I shall command loyal legions of a stuffed menagerie, my stuffed menagerie, loyal legions that responded in turn with a resounding silence. They can not talk. But first I must arm these battalions of the battle hardened so their dance on the edge of darkness will be devastating for all who stand in their path. What powers shall we deliver unto them? Take your place atop The Suitcase Throne, center of the garage universe, where decisions of merit are made and orders carried out. If life were only that simple…However, on screen we can make it appear that way. Its’ called film making and the demand for content is on the rise as the small screen begins to take hold of a market in turmoil.

Study and create. Do the work before it does you. Get back on your feet and never leave yourself for dead while there is still a creative breath to be had. O.k. so now that I’m out of my head let’s go to work!

IN THE BELLY OF THE BEAST! (Sometimes You're On-Fire and Sometimes You Get Burned!)

Villains are fun to play. They have so many intricate layers and they’re usually quite intense. Utilizing your character as the vehicle for your actions, you can act upon thoughts in films and/or on stage you wouldn’t dream of acting upon, let alone even thinking, in real life. It all starts out rather fun but eventually the laughter shared backstage envelopes a more serious tone which in this case affects my sensibilities as an actor. A villainous character portrayal on stage night after night begins to meld the realities of the character into your own temporarily. It is at that point the nuances of darkness in my character tug a bit at my soul and my inert sense of right and wrong. The situation is both fascinating and a bit disconcerting.

Last week I played the “motivation” game. That is giving my character a unique motivation and captivating moment before in that short space in time I waited offstage to enter the scene. The last couple of performances I’d adjusted the darkness of my character dialing it back slightly. I began playing to several comedic moments which had been getting results from the audience in the form of laughter albeit fleeting and fractious on occasion and raucous on others.

There is a scene where I write a check for a fairly large amount of money. The other day the audience seemed to be in a near death trance. All quiet on the western front I said to myself under the lights, with the exception of a gentleman somewhere in the front breathing with the help of an oxygen tank. It gave the scene an ominous fleeting Darth Vader frame. It was at that moment I began writing the check. I wanted the audience to feel me writing that check, to feel what it’s like to have such a check written to you and in your hand.

The audience remained silent as I wrote and wrote and wrote…The seconds ticked on like hours but I was determined to elicit a response from them. After quite sometime the laughter finally came for I was no longer pretending to write this large check but I delivered and not a moment too soon. I was up on that stage to be real and to entertain and I damn well did. The entire cast did. It’s moments like that where each cast member drives the next upward and then all are as one. It’s a taste of eastern philosophy on the boards…I like to think I accomplish this every evening. It’s just that some audiences are a bit more challenging than others.

We’re now in the belly of the beast, halfway through our run. I keep thinking of this analogy that life is like a merry-go-round. Sometimes you’re up and sometimes your down but the cycle continues either way. Sometimes you fall off but you can always get back on and sometimes on a really good day, you get to stop along the way, take a breath and appreciate your mount. Eventually the music stops and we all get off…

THE DRESSING ROOM DYNAMIC AS A HOLDING CELL

Sometimes it bugs me when I’m sitting in the dressing room, a room full of actors who auditioned to be part of a production, actors who have rehearsed for weeks and then they state nonchalantly that they’re not really actors as they sit there applying their makeup just before stepping into the spotlight. I think they’re giving themselves a license to fail cause they are saying I don’t have to be professional I’m not really actor.

In case you haven't heard, I'm in a play. My subsequent appearance on the boards clarifies any misconception of who I am for I am an actor. I have been and still am a music supervisor, a professional musician, a producer with experience producing musical artists and even an occasional project in the realm of television, a marketing specialist including traditional, street and digital marketing as well as promotion and also including work in the realm of branding strategies.

My only experience in a holding cell (thank god) has been my appearance in the windowless, hot box dressing room which I find somewhat comforting in this show with it’s lack of rodents and roaches that so many Hollywood dressing rooms offer at no additional charge.

We just went through our first weekend of shows after a 12-14 week rehearsal schedule which is the longest I’ve ever rehearsed for any show. By the time we were on stage muscle memory had taken over after so many rehearsals. Opening weekend ticket sales were brisk which was very positive cause we’ve got a fairly good sized theater to fill. It is amazing how varied the energy has been at each show thus far. It affects all of us up on stage. The other day I heard an elderly woman talking loudly during a pensive moment in the stage action. I thought perhaps we had some improvised dialogue spew from one of the cast members. There was brilliance in the performance when a fellow cast member had a meltdown forgetting his speech but made something up and recovered beautifully with the help of another Thespian who entered at an appropriate moment feeding that actor the comfort of familiar lines to get him back on track. The audience was for the most part none the wiser. At another performance one of the cast could barely get his lines out as thoughts of hot juicy tender fried chicken with a fresh crispy outside kept popping into his head while on stage. I wanted to work fried chicken into my lines in a salute to his gourmet consciousness. After our last show a woman came up to me in the parking lot. As she approached I readied myself for a compliment on the show. She asked me how to retrieve her hidden key from key device used to start a keyless ignition that wasn’t cooperating. Turns out the manufacturer hides the key within the keyless device itself for rapid deployment in the event that their electronic door command doesn't respond. There was no mention of the show but I’d done my Good Samaritan deed for the day.

And what of those actors in the dressing room stating "I'm not really an actor"?! An actor is an actor, if only for those fleeting moments he or she appears on stage and in front of an audience. If you look at it any other way you're robbing your yourself and more importantly your robbing your audience, many of whom may have just paid to see you perform and they want to see an actor! An actor who makes such statements cause they’re not earning a living acting would benefit from a look at the actual statistics with regard to earning a living as an actor. Most of us should actually be called “professional auditioners” cause we spend a much greater percentage of time auditioning than actually acting in projects. And with regard to earning a living I'm not speaking of background work but actual jobs with dialogue.

Literally only 1% of actors earn the exciting salaries we all hear about and dream about someday earning while 11% of all actors roughly earn enough to scrape by. The majority of actors make under $35,000, way under. 80% of all actors don’t even have professional representation cause there are not enough agents or professional management companies to go around. It’s a tough racket made even more challenging these days with less pilots being shot overall and of those an even smaller portion being shot in Southern California. Add the damaging effect of reality television to the shrinking list of available roles and the growing number of film stars accepting television roles which was once practically nil and the challenge is even greater. Sharon Stone is appearing in Law and Order SUV in the next couple of weeks, Lawrence Fishburn is a CSI cast regular, Forest Whitaker is appearing on television and even Dustin Hoffman is slated for television. In todays marketplace, even if you have a brilliant audition and look the part there is a greater possibility you will still not be cast. However, opportunities for actors to create their own vehicle to showcase their talents on the small screen are rising to offset disappearing opportunities in other areas. Content is king in the digital media marketplace and digital media is demanding an even greater amount of it…


Appearing in a stage play there is plenty of time in the dressing room to exchange stories about the goings on in your week. This serves several purposes. It can provide possible source material for any standup comics amongst the cast, is rather uplifting when you compare notes and hear that other actors in the cast are in the midst of similar struggles to your own and such conversation can provide an inspiration for new goals and a greater focus in your own life. Dressing room banter can also provide a source of guy time for those actors such as myself who don’t have a lively social calendar of buddies they hang with and lastly an opportunity to pimp information on any number of subjects from subject experts in those fields as the opportunities arise.

After a recent show I was attempt to relax and began seeing people in the halls of my home that aren’t really there. One might wonder, were they ghosts? angels? spirit guides or maybe just leftover digestive enzymes swimming about in the brain from an over stimulation of my frontal lobe during the performance? I’ll let you know when I do.

Should you attend you may find my character a bit un-likeable. What can I say except, there’s only so much you can do with your like-ability quotient when you’re a greedy, murdering adulterer. Se la vie. I’m really not a bad guy. I get to let out all that darkness under the lights so I sleep well at night. For tickets go to www.conejoplayerstheater.org. and don’t forget to use GOD12 for a discount. See you under the lights! Feel free to write me, comment or stop by after a show to say hello. Was hoping to work in a picture of my dogs but I’ll save that for another post. Oh and if you do stop by after the show or write me please feel free to recommend the winning lottery numbers, there’s a big jackpot in the coming days!