Thursday, January 07, 2010

Code Duello @ UCBNY Tomorrow Night

ode Duello returns to the UCB tomorrow night.  8pm.  New Yorkers, I hope to see you there!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Coast to Coast

’ve been a terrible blogger this month.  It’s a busy time of year, and my free time has been claimed by scriptwriting and planning for 2010, which promises to be an eventful year.

30 days’ worth of delightful milestones, condensed:

• Finished a spec script for 30 Rock, hopefully demonstrating my chameleon-like ability to write in other people’s voices.  Hopefully 30 Rock will stay relevant for another season or two.
• Obsessively read the comments for our Hard Left Choose Your Own Adventure sketch (see previous entry).  Not a lot of helpful feedback from the YouTube crowd, but lots of fun and affirmation.
• Brought Code Duello to the UCB for our first UCB show outside the Del Close Marathon.  New Yorkers turned out in spades, and we had a very enthusiastic and welcoming full house.  We’re headed back there in early January.  Matt and I are also reinventing the show itself, retaining some superficial elements of our structure while drilling deeper into the characters.
• Submitted Unbalanced to the ITVFest in LA, one of the few festivals on which I hang a lot of my hopes for the pilot.
• Watched far too much (good) television and read too few books.
• Helped Sarah build the framework for her own website.  Outlined a plan for filling it with content.
• Launched my next screenwriting project.
• Experienced Sleep No More for the first time.  Obsessed with going again.

On top of all this, I’m cautiously approaching 2010’s biggest project: moving to Los Angeles.  Sarah and I have been dancing with the specter of LA for a year, and every month it becomes more of a real thing, a plan with shape and purpose.  The latest date that we will move is July 31st, but it may be earlier depending on what opportunities we discover in the next six months.  Every snowfall may be “our last in Boston.”  It’s an exciting time.

For example: the cost of moving all of our scrappy, utilitarian furniture to LA is equal to the cost of buying all new furnishings in our new home.  Can we really sell most of our belongings in the next six months?  It’s liberating to think so.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Ghosts Are Gross

’m proud to help unveil the newest Hard Left Productions YouTube sketch, an interactive Choose Your Own Adventure!  Thanks to Robert and Taylor for the invitation to write, direct, and edit this piece.  We shot it in a single day.

If you share it with friends and family (please do), make sure YouTube annotations are on… that’s the interactive part!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Sparrow

he Sparrow launches its East Coast Premiere tonight.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

A small DCM11 Recap

s always, the Del Close Marathon became a sweaty, overstimulating blur even before it ended.  So much improv, so little time.  I can only describe it through my own narrow lens, but by most accounts, it met most Bostonians’ expectations, being alternately inspiring and frustrating (but always fun).  I didn’t see many of the “surefire” acts that I’d hoped to draw inspiration from, but Code Duello had a successful outing Friday night, and that buoyed me for the weekend.  I’ve been taking a break from improv to work on the pilot, and it was great to shake off some rust.

Code Duello’s outing at DCM11 seemed to be well-received.  Positive mentions of our show bubbled up in reputable places, and I’m too proud not to catalog them…

Recommendation in Time Out New York (“wildly popular”)
Multiple recommendations in The Apiary
A post-marathon shout-out in the Wall Street Journal (the WSJ?!)
The Onion A.V. Club/Decider (“this pair of Bostonians tends to dazzle”)
... and so many kind kudos at ImprovResourceCenter, the NY improv forum

You know you’re on the right path when improv-savvy audience members quote your show.  It’s also humbling to be mentioned alongside some of my own improv idols and rising stars (let alone noticed or congratulated by them).

When Sarah and I move to LA, I’m totes enrolling in UCBLA’s training program, bee-tee-dubs.  I have too many improv-boners for UCBers.

Many thanks, Lauren, for this snap of our show!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Bolt Blog

I’m currently on my fourth Bolt Bus journey between Boston and New York in as many weekend-days.  The in-bus wifi is slow, but steady, and before I plunge into another week of Boston-area chaos I thought I’d recap some notables from the last two weeks…

-Code Duello: Hamilton & Burr had a blast at The P.I.T. NYC.  Friday night’s theme was Separation of Church and State.  Saturday night’s was Shipwreck & the Underwater Kingdom.  Oh improv.

-Caught Three Hole Punch in their Wednesday night slot at ImprovBoston.  Four very talented ladies perform a longformy mix of improv, improvised songs, and sketch.  This Wednesday is your last chance to see the show, so get your butt out to see them.

-Bolt Bus is the Boston->NY commuter’s new hero.  As I mentioned, it has free wifi.  It also has extremely cheap fares and efficient travel times.  But best of all, it has consistently sassy drivers.  I can’t even summarize the amount of (playful, lighthearted) sass I’ve witnessed or been subjected to.  They certainly seem to be in better moods than their Greyhound/Peter Pan counterparts.

-I put the finishing touches on the production draft of “Unbalanced,” the teleplay we’re gearing up to shoot over the summer.  I’ve got a lovely team of talent comprising the core cast, and some solid, dependable visionaries on the crew.  There are still roles left to fill, both behind and in front of the camera, but we have enough of a foundation to get the production ball rolling.

And thus, the first month of 2009 speeds to a close.  If January is any indication, this year is going to be busy but very, very exciting.