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Great news! I’m excited to announce that I’m going to be in the Joshua Tree International Improv / Comedy Festival! I’ll be   part of Standup Saturday at the Blak Box Theatre in Joshua Tree. The festival is sponsored by the Hi-Desert Cultural Center. I’m stoked because this happens right near my birthday (yes I will be turning 25 yet again!). If you’re out that way come for the show on July 8th – we start at 3:15 in the afternoon, I’m on at 3:45, and the show runs all the way to 8 p.m. Looking forward to seeing other comedian friends and meeting new people! If you’re out that way, I hope to see you there. If you need info about the festival, which features over 40 different acts, you can check out their website here: Joshua Tree International Improv / Comedy Festival.

I’m on a roll with festivals! As of this moment I’m proud to announce I’ll be headlining a show as part of Laugh Riot Grrrl Comedy Festival. This festival was created by Bobbie Oliver, and is inspired by the early 90s punk rock feminist movement Riot Grrrl (which I didn’t know this, but they inspired punk activists Pussy Riot). The festival ideology is:

• 

  Tao Comedy Studio before a show

  Encouraging more grrrls to do comedy and supporting the ones who do

• Supporting the boys who are down with the cause
• Using our comedy powers for good and not evil
• Following the long standing adage that good comedy punches UP, not down
• Creating safe spaces for women
• Political activism supporting Feminism and Civil Rights for all

I’m looking forward to appearing a part of this festival, Bobbie Oliver does a lot for our comedy community here in Los Angeles. I’m honored to be invited to perform. All the shows are at Tao Comedy Studio, and happen the week of June 5-12th. I can’t wait. To quote the festival info… “START A FUCKING RIOT!” And of course, if you want to learn more about the festival, you can check out the website: Laugh Riot Grrrl Comedy Festival.

Ya can’t always do stand-up, so I joined a dance troupe. Some of our numbers are comedy numbers, like this one. I had a blast performing as part of Intrepid Dance Troupe at Scot Nery’s Boobie Trap!

It was a magical evening – it started with me bringing a dress that didn’t suit the theme due to a miscommunication. I didn’t have an outfit so I wasn’t sure what to do. Then I happened to look in the convenience store next door and find the dress I’m wearing on sale for $10! I lucked out. I put on the dress which was a little big, so we pinned it… and I got help with my hair. I’m thinking about doing a beehive a lot more often now. I was pretty psyched with how high we got my beehive to go with only a few minutes to put it up and spray it. I’m posting a picture here. My favorite thing about Intrepid is the group’s mission statement which is ‘Anyone can dance’ … and it’s true. We all had a great time dancing for this routine. 🙂

I’m so excited! We put together the set! This is what it looked like during the filming of Unicorn Dance Party 2!

Our production designer Wendie Goode Dox came up with the design and everyone pitched in to build the set. I sewed the columns – they are made from brightly colored silk sewn around small exercise hoops. Wendie suggested we try this to get the shape. There are lights at the base of each column to give an illuminated effect. Sky Adams and the stage manager nailed the flats together. The stage manager added the silvery curtain in the back, and Pierce Cook worked on the lighting. A fun piece of trivia – the couch apparently used to belong to Burt Reynolds! Haha!

The unicorn is actually too big inflated to fit in a car. Wendie had to go to a gas station to blow it up, and then walk down the street carrying the unicorn back to the theatre.

We have a lot of editing to do, so the special will hopefully be out in the first half of 2017.

I applied for a comedy grant. Quoting from the website: “The Martin Grant was established by Steve Hofstetter and Next Round Entertainment in order to identify and reward up and coming stand-up comedians. It was inspired by Hofstetter’s work on Laughs, and the loss of his father. Read the full story here.

The grant was named in honor of Hofstetter’s father, Martin. The grant will be awarded in order to aid a talented comedian with rent, car payments, or anything else that will help them focus on developing their art. A panel of some of the most influential television executives, comedy club owners, talent agents, and managers will view applications and eventually decide a winner.

The grant is funded thanks to Reddit.com and their wonderful store. A unique comedy tee was designed exclusively by Inkventive, and 100% of all proceeds from sales are used to fund the grant.”

Today was exciting, because I found out I was accepted as a finalist! Woohoo!

I’m super psyched – I’m going to perform on Nerd Night with Don McMillan! I’ve wanted to be on a show with him forever, so this is pretty awesome. Performing with us are some of my favorite bay area comedians like Tim Babb and Norm Goldblatt!

Here’s a piece I’ve posted about before called “Shivers at Midnight.” It’s about a pathetic guy who wants to be a werewolf so he can kill his terrible girlfriend. It was first published in the Antipodean SF. They usually only take Australian writers, but were kind enough to include me as well!

It’s archived here: SHIVERS AT MIDNIGHT

And I’m just going to post the story here as well:

“Wait,” the shackled werewolf whimpered. “You don’t understand. It’s not like what you think. It’s a terrible curse! I — “.

Samuel cut his pleading short by punching a needle into his neck. The werewolf screamed.

“Now, your fiendish powers will be mine!” Samuel cackled as he drained a blood sample, removed the needle, and plunged it into his own arm. “I can feel the power coursing through my veins already!” Laughing wildly, Samuel tore from the apartment, everything forgotten now except his newfound joy at becoming a werewolf.

***

The little man chained to the wall sighed. Awkwardly, he transformed, slipping his shackles. He padded out through the open door of his apartment into the moonlight to retrieve the evening news.

***

In his car, Samuel sped along a dark, wooded road. He was almost at the trailhead where his girlfriend was supposed to meet him.

Samuel’s phone rang.

“Where are you?” Samantha screeched.

“Nearly there, dear, for 11:45 as planned.”

“Oh. Alright. I thought you were going to be late again.”

“Wouldn’t miss tonight for the world,” Samuel said.

Samuel disconnected the call and grinned. Yes. Tonight, he would deal with Samantha. He’d broken up with her at least seventeen times, but she always came back — like a stubborn wart. But not tonight. Because tonight, Samuel would transform into a werewolf, tear Samantha to shreds, and eat her.

“Let’s see her come back from that,” Samuel giggled. He wondered if girlfriend tasted anything like steak. He licked his lips in anticipation and almost missed the turn for the trailhead. Damn. It wouldn’t do to be late. He’d read about werewolves. His first transformation was involuntary, and would happen around midnight.

Samuel brought his car to a screeching stop at the trailhead at 11:46.

Samantha tapped her watch as Samuel approached. “Just as I thought,” she said, “late.”

Samuel ground his teeth. “But not too late to show you a wonderful surprise!”

Samantha’s face softened. “I think I know what it is.”

He winced. The idiotic woman thought he was going to propose. Samuel made an attempt to give her an adoring look. Just a few more minutes now. “Let’s hurry,” he said.

“Samuel! My shoes!” her voice was shrill.

Samuel took a moment to examine Samantha’s outfit. She’d picked heels and a miniskirt for a walk in the woods. He grinned. A silver lining. She wouldn’t be outrunning him in those.

“No trouble,” Samuel said and hoisted her off the ground.

Samantha squirmed in his arms and whined, “I hope we’re not going far. How far in do we need to go to be romantic anyway?”

A strange hush fell over the woods.

Samuel yelped. He dropped Samantha and fell to the ground, writhing, his lips skinned back into a fierce snarl. Within seconds Samuel morphed into a chihuahua with glowing red eyes.

“What —,” said Samantha with a wide-eyed grin, “Samuel! You knew I didn’t approve of you becoming a werewolf and you’ve found a lovely compromise! You’re just adorable.”

Samantha scooped him into her purse. “You’re the perfect size for a supernatural being.”

Samuel snuffled and growled. He licked Samantha’s hand and howled — forever doomed to transform into a Werehuahua on the night of a full moon.

Hey Nerd Legion –

I’m excited to announce I’ll be taping my first comedy special at Rooster T. Feathers! Come on out and support 12/12/12 …you can get tickets for this special event here: TICKETS

Or call: (408) 736-0921

I put together a show at the SF Punchline with my friend Dave Sirus (he appeared as his alter ego Brick Stone on the show). The night of the show it rained really hard but we still had a good crowd turn out. I think the best part about putting on your own shows is picking the line up – we had a fantastic group of comedians: Nina Daniels, Alison Stevenson, Tapan Trivedi, Keith Lowell Jensen, and Larry “Bubbles” Brown did a guest set since Sammy Obeid couldn’t make it.

Larry was pretty hilarious backstage. My favorite line of his was “I like girls with glasses. You know why? Less credible eye witness testimony.”

Another cool part of doing this show was we made pick of the week for what to do with your Tuesday Night. Keith Bowers did a great write up on our show and here it is (there’s also a lovely picture of Keith dressed as a banana in it!):

http://www.sfweekly.com/2012-04-04/calendar/holding-the-bag/

I made it into the New York Post on April 1st. I wonder if anybody will actually click the link to check it out or if they’ll think this is a joke. Also, three people have already played the ‘this link didn’t work’ prank on me… so that’s enough of that one!

I’m on page 5 of the NY Post for a one liner I wrote about the hotness 1-10 scale people use. My mom made my dad get hard copies of the paper, pretty cool! I’m on page 5: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/april_fools_d6Dj4yDHyq9B5MPoFDr3IL/4