b-r-double o-k-lyn drama

“Eli, celebrity chihuahua, star of the reality series...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:01:37 -0400

“Eli, celebrity chihuahua, star of the reality series ‘Doggie Moms.’” “Eli, celebrity chihuahua, star of the reality series ‘Doggie Moms.’” “Eli, celebrity chihuahua, star of the reality series ‘Doggie Moms.’”

Actually probably the greatest joke of all time.

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 20:17:07 -0400

Actually probably the greatest joke of all time.

2013 Book #26 Yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes - a very...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:33:11 -0400

2013 Book #26

Yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes - a very well-written book about just a nightmare of a mother.

2013 Book #25 What I thought would be airplane-friendly chick...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:51:02 -0400

2013 Book #25

What I thought would be airplane-friendly chick lit turned out to be a morally ambiguous political thriller. Mediocre, but fascinating.

2013 Book #24 Soapy young adult novel about Old Hollywood...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:42:24 -0400

2013 Book #24

Soapy young adult novel about Old Hollywood written by the author of Vulture’s Smash recaps? Doy doy doy, delightful.

tinsely: if you haven’t watched the Tony’s opening number yet,...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:39:38 -0400

tinsely:

if you haven’t watched the Tony’s opening number yet, you should. It’s cool, I’ve only watched it like 600 times and plotted my move back to New York and wept tears of joy over and over again.

Neil Patrick Harris is a god among men.

This opening number makes all other award shows look like child’s play.

This made me so happy.

larhunter: In case you missed it, here is the AMAZING opening...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:52:06 -0400

larhunter:

In case you missed it, here is the AMAZING opening of the Tony Awards, starring Neil Patrick Harris (and Mike Tyson).

I thought this year’s Tonys were great, except for the weird thing of having characters from running shows introduce the new shows. Also, I desperately want to see Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike. DESPERATELY.

nprfreshair: Mitch Hurwitz, who worked on The Golden Girls...

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:49:30 -0400

nprfreshair:

Mitch Hurwitz, who worked on The Golden Girls before creating Arrested Development, tells Terry Gross about how the pressure of a writers’ room can lead to great jokes:

I remember Jim Vallely, as I said, one of the executive producers of Arrested, I remember being in a room with him [on Golden Girls] and there was a scene where Blanche was opening up birthday presents, and Jimmy yelled out, It’s a blouse! And everybody looked at Jimmy and he took a second, ‘You said you wanted something crotch-less!’ I remember saying to him, ‘Did you know you were going to say the crotch-less thing?’ And he said, ‘No, I had no idea, I just painted myself into a corner.’ And I love that. I think that’s such an important part of comedy. We do it all the time on Arrested, just paint ourselves into corners and try to get out. It’s all about constraints.

"when your little girl asks you if she’s pretty your heart will drop like a wineglass on the hardwood..."

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:46:41 -0400

“when your little girl
asks you if she’s pretty
your heart will drop like a wineglass
on the hardwood floor
part of you will want to say
of course you are, don’t ever question it
and the other part
the part that is clawing at
you
will want to grab her by her shoulders
look straight into the wells of
her eyes until they echo back to you
and say
you do not have to be if you don’t want to
it is not your job
both with feel right
one will feel better
she will only understand the first
when she wants to cut her hair off
or wear her brother’s clothes
you will feel the words in your
mouth like marbles
you do not have to be pretty if you don’t want to
it is not your job”

- it is not your job | Caitlyn Siehl (via faintestglance)

Again: terrified to have daughters.

(via youtastelikenachos)

"In a rare admission by a politician, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said he got “quite drunk” the..."

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:45:24 -0400

“In a rare admission by a politician, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said he got “quite drunk” the night after suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured at the end of a dramatic, daylong manhunt.”

- CNN. We’ll allow it, Gov. (via newsweek)
You and me and everyone we know, Deval.

eecunnings: ucbcomedy: Every young boy’s fantasy of the...

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:25:44 -0400

eecunnings:

ucbcomedy:

Every young boy’s fantasy of the teacher’s lounge brought to life by UCB’s Muddleberry.

Muddleberry produced this piece from a special guest writer: 7th grader David Mason.

I love this so much.

My grandfather (seen hereabsolutely destroying with his toast at...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 18:46:00 -0400

My grandfather (seen hereabsolutely destroying with his toast at our rehearsal dinner) Leon Cohan passed away this morning. My grandpa was, no joke, one of the coolest, most interesting people I’ve ever known - born in 1929 soon after his parents emigrated from Poland, he served as a spy (!) in the Army, did a few terms as the Assistant Attorney General of Michigan, was the founding senior legal counsel of Detroit Edison, and served on the boards of several art, religious, and social justice organizations. He and my grandmother had a true love affair that was beautiful to witness and when she passed, he was lucky enough to find a second love with his companion, Miriam.

My grandfather and I were very close and he taught me so much: the importance of family, the love of literature, art, music, politics, and learning, the value of working hard and, most importantly, caring for others and working to make the world a better place. I’m glad any suffering he went through is over (and if there’s an afterlife, I hope he and my grandma are currently eating gelato and catching up on the past nine years), but I will miss him a whole lot.

Time's Up, Pencils Down: Small Men Drafts: Security Questions

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:55:43 -0400

Time's Up, Pencils Down: Small Men Drafts: Security Questions:

iamachilles:

improvnonsense:

“Security Questions” is about a guy who is not able to answer any of the pre-set questions that guard his password. This is inspired by real life security questions like these:

I think I can answer ONE of those with confidence?

If “Liberty Plaza” was our labor of love…

I like these series of posts Will has done about Small Men. And, like Rachael says, it’s SO beneficial for beginner sketch students to read for a few reasons.

In the beginning, students feel so protective of their sketches and are defensive to notes because 1. they’re not used to receiving feedback on their work so they make that version of the sketch too precious and 2. they’ve poured all their ideas into that one sketch that any note on it feels like an attack on their own sense of humor.

In Will’s posts about Small Men, you see how they integrated the feedback they received from their director (Delaney) and RE-WRITE based on those notes. Then they re-write some more. Then more feedback. And more re-writes. Feedback. Etc.

They’re secure enough in the WORK and process of re-writing to change what needs to be changed and confident enough in their own sense of humor to push for things that are a little more self-indulgent. (It seemed that any time they pushed for something, it was to define their own taste, not because they felt like the sketches couldn’t be better.)

I was in a sketch class with a dude who was constantly shutting down the teacher’s notes by saying “I don’t want to change it,” “Nah, I don’t think so,” and simply “Nooooooo.” He was doing it not because of confidence, either, but insecurity. And his sketches never progressed beyond the first draft.

To sum up:

1. The first draft is the worst draft
2. Listen to your director
3. RE-WRITE
4. This isn’t the only sketch you’ll work on
5. Your taste + Your work = Your voice

Not to mention, if you want to do this professionally, literally most of your job is figuring out how to address notes in a way that makes everyone happy.

"Approaching and befriending women who I identify as smart and powerful (sometimes actively pursuing..."

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 02:08:31 -0400

“Approaching and befriending women who I identify as smart and powerful (sometimes actively pursuing them, as with any other crush) has been a major revelation of my adult life. First, there’s the associative property of awesomeness: People know you by the company you keep. I like knowing that my friends are so professionally supportive that when they get a promotion, it’s like a boost for my résumé, too, because we share a network and don’t compete for contacts. Also, it’s just plain tough out there — for all the aforementioned reasons about the economy and the dating scene and body-image pressures. I want the strongest, happiest, smartest women in my corner, pushing me to negotiate for more money, telling me to drop men who make me feel bad about myself, and responding to my outfit selfies from a place of love and stylishness, not competition and body-snarking.”

- From Ann Friedman’s essay for The Cut, “Shine Theory: Why Powerful Women Make the Greatest Friends.” (via quintessentiallyquirky)

Photo

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 18:30:18 -0400

"There were a lot of cover songs on SMASH and Scott & I had NOTHING to do with the choice or..."

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 13:19:00 -0400

“

There were a lot of cover songs on SMASH and Scott & I had NOTHING to do with the choice or arrangements of any of them (the “Bruno Mars thing at LaMama”, I’m looking at you!).

When we read a script that called for “There’s No Business Like Show Business” to be sung (without irony!) for a montage, we were flabbergasted. Then we had to fight to get me to be the arranger, since up to that point no cover song was chosen, arranged or produced by either Scott or myself (despite our experience doing those things…Google us!). I didn’t expect to produce/arrange every cover, but I didn’t expect to do none of them, especially “There’s No Business Like Show Business”!

Yes, get out your violins, because at this point in the making of SMASH, where suddenly I wasn’t worthy of arranging “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, I actually broke down and cried.

Well, we persevered and at least got the song changed to “Another Opening”, which was just as corny but at least fit the moment more. I decided to give Christian (“Tom”) his Barbra moment, and did this “The Broadway Album” style arrangement. Our assistant Richard Read took this recording and cut together a fabulous montage of SMASH Season One moments, but at the time, we were not allowed to post it. Well, who cares now, here it is!

”

- This Mark Shaiman debriefing of Smash is a must-read.

codylindquist: Lou Dobbs explains how working women are ruining...

Fri, 31 May 2013 16:30:52 -0400

codylindquist:

Lou Dobbs explains how working women are ruining the country. Classic.

I guess the problem with this sketch is that the baseline reality is really unclear.

rookiemag: Ooooh. BRAND NEW ICONA POP SONG ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE...

Fri, 31 May 2013 12:58:07 -0400

rookiemag:

Ooooh. BRAND NEW ICONA POP SONG ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR GIRL FRIENDS. They know us too well. Total BFF summertime power chill anthem. Nah nah nah nah.

—Jessica H.

2013 Book #23 Funny and smart and bitchy, bitchy, bitchy. A...

Thu, 30 May 2013 18:36:00 -0400

2013 Book #23

Funny and smart and bitchy, bitchy, bitchy. A delight!

officialdollyparton: I hope people realize that there is a brain underneath the hair and a heart...

Thu, 30 May 2013 17:25:26 -0400

officialdollyparton:

I hope people realize that there is a brain underneath the hair and a heart underneath the boobs! ;)

Dolly Parton and I have many concerns in common.