Tag Archives: press

Interview with Lauren Flans (of Titled Sketch Project, Lost Moon Radio)

Here’s an interview by Serial Optimist of Lauren Flans, my cohort in Titled Sketch Project & fellow cast member of the Lost Moon Radio stage show I just did for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. The interview was done for the new season of Nick Cannon’s WILD N OUT, of which Flans is one of the newest cast members (congrats, Lauren!)…

Funny, Filthy & Neurotic: Lauren Flans Is The Newest Cast Member Of ‘Wild ‘N Out’ | Serial Optimist

Lauren_Flans_Interview_SerialOptimist

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Other Lauren Links :
Lauren’s TitledSketchProject Bio
Lauren’s WILD-N-OUT Bio Video on MTV.com
Lauren Rapping Vs. Any Milonakis (VIDEO)
Article about Lauren on AfterEllen.com

Review: “Roger Wodehouse” in Huffington Post

Fantastic review of the show I recently wrapped-up, published this week on The Huffington Post:

Lost Moon Radio’s Androgymnasium

( Review Link

What is it about a comedy that draws an audience? It should be funny, that’s a given. But perhaps there is something deeper. Something much more mystical that excites the attention of audiences. There is an energy to comedy. Sometimes it feels dangerous or magical or luminescent. When done right, comedy feels how magic shows advertise themselves. It becomes a seductive charisma with an electric heartbeat. It becomes irresistibly magnetic. And people instinctually want to be a part of it.

Lost Moon Radio explodes into art. The comedy ensemble becomes a carnival of sight and sound and spectacle. Their recent offering of Roger Wodehouse’s Androgymnasiumhas a spirit that is incomparable. It is rock and roll comedy that exceeds expectations. The premise itself is fantastic: an iconic, androgynous glam rock star’s short-lived children’s show. The execution of such a premise can go in many awful directions. Instead the end product is silly while avoiding stupid, edgy without being obnoxious and fresh without feeling forced. The ensemble is a seamless display of talents in absolute cohesion. There is not one misstep to be witnessed by this immensely funny theatrical feat.

Beyond the flashy, fun-filled good time, there is something to be said for the subject matter. To say transgender is a taboo may be overstating it, but it is definitely an area ripe with confusion and misunderstanding. There were moments throughout the glamorous music and energetic antics where genuine truth existed. Though it was an absurd representation, the theme of the performance remains: be true to yourself. As far as a thematic takeaway goes, the show was a celebration of individuality. A love letter to those letting their freak flag fly high. A rather (dare I say) poignant portrait of not giving a fuck. A masterful piece of pop-culture eye-candy punctuated with laughter and underlined with a wonderful message of it being it okay to be yourself.

Ryan Harrison is consistently charismatic as the enigmatic title character. Frank Smith delivers performances of shaded comedic nuance with surgical accuracy. Will Maier provides some of the biggest laughs of show as the rock star’s best friend and band leader. Lauren Flans dazzles with a wide range of characters, from the infamous German model and singer, Nico to a puppet of a dog that feels more like a cat. (Or was it a cat that felt more like a dog? Species reassignment is whole other world of confusion.) Overall, the ensemble is tight, well-worked group of colorful talents.

So what is it that draws people to comedy? In a word, fun. There are infinite possibilities and factors involved in theatricality. It takes an immense depth of skill to balance and orchestrate those components. The sum of which is enjoyed, but the strategy and direction that made caused it is unknown. Critics can guess at it or (as seen much more often) can declare it as fact. However, for the purpose of leaving that incredible energy to speak for itself, here it will be an ever-mystery. It is somewhere between love and violence that enigmatical act is set free. And that freedom should be experienced firsthand, without outside influence. So seek out the fucking thing, and see it for yourself. You won’t regret it.

– Posted by Tony Bartolone 07/08/2013 10:01 am

Review: “COOKING WITH WERNER at the 2010 NYTVF” – The Onion AV Club

CookingWithWerner_Herzog_Jarmusch

“. . . It may be too out there even for Adult Swim. I just want someone to pick this up and put it on at 3 in the morning, so everyone up at that point will wonder what the hell is going on.”

– THE A.V. CLUB BLOG

“New York Television Festival, Day 3: Everybody hates drama”

By Steve Heisler And Todd VanDerWerff September 23, 2010

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Cooking With Werner
Creators/Point of origin/Running time:
 John Webb, William Maier, and Garth Mueller/Los Angeles/seven minutes
Cast: William Maier, Scott Rodgers, Gian Molina
Program: Comedy
Headline: Finally, a show Scott Tobias will laugh at!
Todd’s take: Cooking With Werner has a one-joke premise. Fortunately, it’s a very funny joke. In it, acclaimed director Werner Herzog (Maier) decides to host a cooking show, wherein he tries to bring his dish closer to the truths of eternity by finding just the right honey. His special guest? Well, that would be Jim Jarmusch (Rodgers). Cooking With Werner sends Herzog on a quest to Peru to get just the right honey, and while I have no idea how this would be a series (Maier suggests Herzog can and will host several different types of TV shows every week), I like how incredibly, incredibly weird it is. Maier’s impression is spot-on, the jokes are all surreal, an advertisement for beer crowds the screen at inopportune moments, and a laugh track punctuates essentially dramatic moments. This is TV made for a very specific audience, but I’m pretty sure I’m in that audience. The only reason I didn’t laugh as hard as I did at some other things was because it was so short. (But I’m definitely tuning in for a future episode Maier pitched wherein Klaus Kinski returns from the dead to terrify and host an automotive repair program with Herzog.) Grade: B+
Network this is perfect for:
 I honestly don’t know. It may be too out there even for Adult Swim. I just want someone to pick this up and put it on at 3 in the morning, so everyone up at that point will wonder what the hell is going on.

Link: http://www.avclub.com/articles/new-york-television-festival-day-3-everybody-hates,45515/