It's “That Guy… Who Was in That Thing” meets “The Nerdist Podcast” but with people even less well known! Sure it's fun to interview the crazy famous and ask them about the difficult years, but that's been done and they won't return our calls. Memories are plastic - we're getting the real dirt from p…
We discuss our low numbers and cost/benefit ratio. Download numbers are revealed. Laura and Jake talk about stopping regular production of the podcast. As is fitting, the sound would not work (curse you dongles) so we are using a MacPro mic and it sounds as bad as you'd expect. See https://jakescruggs.com/blog/2019/01/01/the-truth-about-my-podcast for the data we discuss. Stay subscribed if you like: We may do updates of our lives as events progress. Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Bryn W Packard and Nilsa Reyna join us from New York City, update us on their lives, and introduce us to Lauren Sowa. Lauren Sowa is an actor and independent filmmaker. In 2016, she co-founded Form & Pressure Films to tell stories that inspire and provoke thought, while encouraging diversity and equality on set and on screen. Their first film, Marisol, is currently beginning its festival journey. As an actor, Lauren has been featured in the films Café Artist, The Devil’s Well, 42 Seconds of Happiness, which won multiple awards on the festival circuit and is now available on Amazon Prime, and The Rainbow Experiment, which premiered at Slamdance and was just picked up for distribution. She is on the board of NYC Women Filmmakers, an organization in the city devoted to cultivating the careers of women filmmakers through education and community. Her interview series Women in Film Portraits can be found on Instagram. Lauren received her BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is proud member of Actor’s Equity and SAG-AFTRA. Links: Website - https://www.laurensowa.com/ Form & Pressure Films - http://formandpressurefilms.com/ Women in Film Portraits - http://independent-magazine.org/authors/lauren-sowa/ Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
This week's episode is the audio of the Friday September 14th, 2018 Three Cat Theater's Cabaret on the Lake hosted by Rob Dorn and produced by Laura Force-Scruggs. The performers were: Judy Parker (Storyteller), Matthew Lee Amyx (Storyteller), Danii Gallegos (Comedian), Bob Lawrence (Author/Reader), and Willa Moore (Musician/Poet). Willa Moore's guitar wasn't behaving so she asked us not to record her but gave us two recorded songs to insert. As always the Berger Park Cultural Center was wonderful to inhabit and the staff helpful. There is video of this event (along with 2 videos that Willa Moore provided) online here: https://youtu.be/Hz1Yokz3Pcg Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Daniela Thome is an actor, and recently writer, who has traveled from New York city for just a few months to be a part of the play "Not For Sale" which just recently opened and is Jeff Recommended. She's acted in Fru Mary, The Surprise , The Addicts, Elvira, One Minute Play Festival, Patience, Fortitude, & Other Antidepresants, Three Sisters, Cinderella, Life Without Joey, In The Shadow, and Oh de Sea! And that's just the theater. She has been in the films: God I Miss You, Fat Guy, Saudade?, and Hispanacea. Not For Sale By Guadalis Del Carmen, Directed by Sara Carranza http://urbantheaterchicago.org/not-for-sale Produced by Urban Theater Company in Chicago 9/18- 10/20 2018 Part of Destinos Festival http://www.clata.org/destinos-main A bunch of links to things we discussed in the podcast: Childrens Theater of Madison CTM - https://ctmtheater.org/ Maduka Steady - https://vimeo.com/51212982 Young Shakespeare Players - http://www.youngshakespeareplayers.org/ West High School, in Madison WI - https://www.facebook.com/WestHighDrama1/ Jay Hoggard - http://jayhoggard.com/ https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/jhoggard/profile.html AmeriCorps -https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps Northwestern University Settlement House - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwestern_University_Settlement_House The Three Arts Club - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Arts_Club_of_Chicago Janet Bentley - https://newplayexchange.org/users/1319/janet-bentley Dreamwell Theatre https://www.dreamwell.com/ The Young Lords - http://www.youngpatriots-rainbowcoalition.org/ylo-introduction/ Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
David Holcombe returns for his 3rd appearance and updates us about projects that were just a gleam in his eye when we last talked... For instance: The 3 part "Anthropology Anthology" is now finished and plans are in the works to release it as a single unit. A big part of the discussion is about "Blacksite: The Musical!" A musical that David has filmed but not finished because he needs your help to finish production. There's an IndieGoGo campaign https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/blacksite-the-musical#/ that only has 3 days left so please go there now if you'd like to help make this musical. The film is about an illegal detention/interrogation building run by the Chicago police with no accountability. The Guardian released a series of articles detailing the crimes committed by the Chicago police force a few years ago - they can be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/homan-square http://daholcombe.com http://www.softcagefilms.com https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/blacksite-the-musical#/ Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Thom Britton and Jonathan Pritchard join us to discuss "The Seance" which is best described by this quote from their recent press release: A 'spook-house' show for the smart set; The Seance is an original stage show that recreates an authentic Victorian-era seance. We will investigate the history of the seance, tell stories of the participants and demonstrate the exact techniques used by psychics and mediums who claimed to contact the dead. You will learn exactly how a seance was performed in a theatrical environment. "The Seance" is playing Oct. 13 at the Prop Theater in Chicago and in Detroit's Hilton Garden Inn Southfield on Oct. 19 & Oct. 20th. Their website is: www.WePlayWithTheDead.com We had a interesting discussion of mentalism, the origins of the seance and escape artistry, and how crazy popular mysticism was in the 1890-1910 era. Thom and Jonathan are complete pros at audience interaction so it should have come as no surprise to me that they were non-stop interesting and engaging with great story after story and yet I was almost intimidated by how smooth they were in the interview. Normally I get time to check my notes and the levels as a guest pauses or struggles to find a phrase but this was 'all killer no filler' so I think this episode will be a joy to listen to. Links for Thom: https://freakshowtell.com/ www.WePlayWithTheDead.com Links for Jonathan: https://www.likeamindreader.com/ http://www.jonnyzavant.com/ Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Classic episode from Apr 7, 2014 This week Laura brings Greg Ledger, storyteller and fellow podcaster! Greg's Podcast: A Dear School 0:01:30 Say hello to Greg! 0:02:20 Obamacare may be working for Bryn shortly 0:02:50 Nilsa already has Obamacare… because she's more organized than Bryn 0:06:00 Recorded some radio spots for Engine Lab of Tampa with Brian McKenna at BToven Studios 0:08:00 This Greg had an incredible guest on his podcast… our own Laura Scruggs. Drinking may have been involved. 0:10:30 Greg tells us how storytellers do it 0:12:25 Practicing storytelling in the shower 0:15:20 Greg took a 30 year moritorium on creativity 0:18:50 Early problems with drink and fleeing the country… to paint a guy's house 0:20:05 Calgary, The Stampede, and roving hoards of intellectuals 0:23:10 Deported by the RCMP and the road to sobriety 0:25:25 Moving to Chicago and the worst phone ever 0:29:00 Getting back into artistic stuff and getting nasty 0:29:55 Writing and breakdowns 0:33:30 Schwarzenegger 0:37:55 Masking your feelings with writing may be hazardous to your mental health 0:40:15 Bag A Bag A 'Begas- the latest snack food craze and other diversions 0:50:00 We love the origin story of our podcast, we're trying to figure out how to nurture it, too 0:53:55 According to Nilsa, Bryn loves reacting to things 0:58:40 What brought Greg to improv… 1:02:00 Favorite poems 1:10:00 A rejection of popular culture 1:13:00 Nilsa auditioned for the role of... Brynn (with two n's) 1:15:00 Bryn gets to shoot a movie with a previous podcast guest… who could it be? Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Pete Blatchford has been an actor for 35 years. He has performed in Chicago, New York and Edinburgh. He has acted with Yippie Fest, On the Spot, Three Cat and many other Chicago theatre companies. Pete is an ensemble member of On the Spot theatre company. He wrote the book, "Wicked, Immoral, Utterly Bad!" an illustrated history of Chicago Theatre, 1837 - 1974. For more information about his book, visit wickedchicagostage.com. Pete is available for presentations about his book as well! He also co-wrote the play, The Night Chicago Died, with Tim Davis. It was produced by the Beowulf Theatre Company. His other scripts, The Warthogs of Wartonia, as well as adaptations of The Count of Monte Cristo and War of the Worlds, were performed by Pete’s theatre company, Pendragon Players. And he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree at Roosevelt University. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Super quick update about a new showing of "Uncle Fun: You're the One" (https://unclefunyouretheone.com) with some very interesting women at the American Visionary Art Museum (http://www.avam.org) in Baltimore. The show is September 23rd, 2018, is a benefit for the museum, and costs 100 smackers. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
01:12 - The Benefactor returns. Matt Shuemaker is Bryn’s high school friend and our first repeat guest (back from the 6th episode)! 02:18 - Yet another person comes in from out of town and paints the town red. A discussion of Rocky - the musical ensues. 05:22 - Guess which members of our crew have never seen "Rocky"? Surely not our star and focus of the show... 09:40 - "All the Way" the LBJ bio play with Bryan Cranston 13:30 - Jake tells a sports story! 20:22 - Uh... We explain the triangle offense. What happened to this podcast? 21:15 - A Death in the family http://t.co/vJGcXWf893 29:17 - Similarities between Nilsa's Dad and Bryn's Mom. 38:13 - Death chat ends with Jake transparently changing the topic to "Community." How 'bout the 2nd D&D episode, eh? 40:21 - Nilsa doesn't like one of Bryn's favorite movies: "House" the super artsy Japanese movie from 1977. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_%281977_film%29 44:44 - Matt, still lives in the "death sty" and has become "The Grain Elevator Specialist" 48:22 - Jake talks about the apprenticeship program he's starting at work 54:26 - The Benefactor's culinary good deeds are recounted. Steaks! 59:24 - The indecipherable and delightful video Jake saw in a Korean restaurant: http://youtu.be/3O9YceKnDo4 1:07:16 - Jake's review of the Veronica Mars movie. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
03:12 - When did Maureen and Daniel know they wanted to sing? 06:04 - Origin story of and what is Scapi? 10:19 - Advice on promotion, especially on social media. 10:55 - Ashley Ray: https://www.facebook.com/arayhay 13:04 - Scapi's podcast: https://scapimag.com/category/podcasts/scapi-radio/ 22:38 - YouTuber Casey Neistat: https://www.youtube.com/user/caseyneistat 25:20 - What is Scapi now? https://scapimag.com/ 30:15 - Natalia Roxas: https://scapimag.com/2018/07/24/scapi-radio-07-24-18-filipino-kitchen-natalia-roxas/ 33:47 - DIY Fest: https://scapimag.com/2018/05/01/scapi-diy-theater-and-performance-may-2018/ https://scapimag.com/2018/05/31/scapi-diy-theater-and-performance-june-2018-2/ 35:02 - DIY Chicago: https://www.facebook.com/groups/diychicago/ 36:42 - 24 Hour Concert: https://www.facebook.com/events/2191744730840136/ 40:26 - Politics and Scapi. 41:06 - Eat the Rich: A Case for Land Value Tax: https://scapimag.com/2018/07/23/eat-the-rich-a-case-for-a-land-value-tax-in-chicago/ 41:30 - Andre Vasquez: https://scapimag.com/2017/12/31/community-organizing-local-action-reclaim-chicago-conversation-andre-vasquez/ 44:06 - Socialist and identity politics. 44:45 - Divisive political topics and content people can latch onto if they're not politically active. 45:31 - Future dreams for Scapi and promotions. 48:54 - How do you make an interview show sticky? 53:23 - Promotions: https://scapimag.com/ Scapi on social media: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/scapimag/ Twitter https://twitter.com/scapimag Instagram https://www.instagram.com/scapimag/ Scapi Radio https://scapimag.com/category/podcasts/scapi-radio/ 24 Hour Concert https://www.facebook.com/events/2191744730840136/ Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
This week we welcome Dr. Walter J. Packard (Bryn's Dad) to the podcast for a heart-to-heart. Twitter: @WJPACK2 0:00:30 Bryn introduces "the big guns" 0:02:25 Nilsa's Dad… 0:03:00 Is Bryn famous, yet? No… not yet. 0:04:25 "Kinky Boots" with Dad and Broadway's survival. 0:09:00 "12 Years A Slave" worth seeing, even if you don't want to see a super-heavy movie about people being terrible in an institutionalized way. 0:12:30 Walter's first memory of Bryn: he was late. 0:13:45 Grandmothers and desperate measures 0:14:55 Bryn's relationship with classy horror movies as nurtured by his grandmother 0:21:45 "Some horrible things can't die" 0:22:35 Nilsa's in absentia observation: "I think you just enjoy reacting to things" 0:24:00 Bryn Packard is presented in "Feel Around" 0:24:35 LOUD NOISES! 0:29:30 A shout-out to Romero's "Day of the Dead" and intestine yanking 0:31:25 Nature vs. nurture 0:33:45 Bryn and his Dad love "Halo". A lot. 0:38:00 We sure talk about serial killers a lot- what is this, 1996? 0:40:00 Childhood in Florida 0:43:45 Grade-mongering, the Air Force Academy and money 0:51:15 Is Bryn in a state of financial rebellion? Is he just lying to himself? 0:54:45 The text message 1:00:05 "Bryn Packard's Dad is essentially an older Bryn Packard" 1:01:00 Bryn's mom 1:04:00 Laura's experience with Bryn's mom 1:05:25 Email scams and warning signs and Fronto-Temporal Dementia 1:09:30 Dad took care of her on his own for quite a long time 1:10:00 Yes. Bryn really said that. 1:12:00 Barry Peterson's "Jan's Story" 1:15:00 Having the resources to care for ourselves 1:18:25 Why pursue a career in the arts? 1:19:05 Go buy some of Leslie Scruggs art! http://lesliescruggs.com/ 1:21:00 Picking-up the bill 1:25:15 Shared demons 1:27:20 We've got to wrap this up, Dad's got to get to Birdland, with his lady 1:28:30 "I have to say, I like my son." Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
This episode is a recording of the July 13th, 2018 Three Cat Theater Productions’ "Cabaret on the Lake" performed at the Berger Park Cultural Center, sponsored by this very podcast, and hosted by its own Laura and Jake Scruggs. Video of the event is at: https://youtu.be/dhsijBYDU9E T’was a hot night so we had a box fan blowing on the performers which, unfortunately, was picked up extremely well by our microphone. Our audio engineer did his best to filter out a fair amount of the "box fan sound" but it is still pretty audible. We are sorry about the audio quality of the episode. That being said, it was a great show with a packed house, heaps of emotion and laughs so please do enjoy. Performers: 1) Deborah Hines - Storyteller Deborah is native Chicagoan, a former South Shore-ite, transplanted to the strange land of the North Side. Since childhood she's been a writer and a lover of writing, throughout stints working as a long lines telephone operator, a typesetter, a licensed esthetician and a devoted spa manager through boom and bust economic cycles. She earned her BA with an English major and a French minor at Southern Illinois University and worked on a Master's in Creative Writing at Columbia College in Chicago. A Storyteller with 2nd Story, Deborah's twice been admitted on the merits of her writing into Northwestern's Apprentices Writing Program. Threecat's “Cabaret on the Lake” is one of her favorite places to perform. Deborah's always thrilled to be at beautiful Berger Park, sharing her writing with threecat audiences. 2) Chels Harvey - Storyteller Chels Harvey is an agender writer, podcaster, storyteller and UX designer from Atlanta. As a marketer, their writing highlights the many contradictions that fuel our relationship with the Internet of Things around us. (After the show, please resist telling them to watch Black Mirror.) 3) Cameren Rau - Singer Cameren Rau prefers most foods dipped in honey mustard. 4) Nestor Gomez - Storyteller Nestor Gomez has won the Moth Story Slam over 30 times, and is the current Chicago Grand Slam Champion, he also host/curates and produces his own storytelling show 80 Minutes Around the World Immigration Storytelling show. Find out more about Nestor at Nestorgomezstoryteller.com 5) Amy Sumpter - Comedian Amy Sumpter has done stand up for 11 years. She has traveled all over the midwest doing shows and she loves making people laugh. She was one of the top 100 comics chosen for season 9 of Last Comic Standing. You can find her at the Book Cellar with the Kates and performing with her band, She's Crafty at City Winery on July 16. They are an all-female Beastie Boys Tribute band. Note, these artist declined to have their performances recorded for the podcast: RC Riley - Storyteller Brittny Congleton - Musician Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
We interview Nilsa's childhood friend and “Sextra” from the movie “Shortbus" Janie Martinez http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2554808/ @MartinezJanie 01:44 "Can anyone truly know Janie Martinez?” No. 03:34 How Nilsa and Janie met 06:15 And almost destroyed their high school 12:30 Chicago suburbanites marvel at the well funded and versed South Texas high school drama program Janie and Nilsa come from: Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School 15:23 The College of Sexual Frustration 17:15 On not getting cast b/c costumes cost too much to make for a large woman 22:15 Making $186 to be wardrobe supervisor on the original production of “How I Learned to Drive” 26:45 Walking away from a paying gig to pursue more 38:00 Working once or twice a year on something artistic 39:22 Fat Sex by Details magazine comes a calling 54:51 “I just want to hug the screen right now!” screams Laura 59:00 And Janie does a public access TV show once a month called Goddesses: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/goddessbbw 01:05:36 We bring it back around to Bryn 01:12:40 We are blown away by a famous follower of the podcast 01:15:00 Bryn talks about working out. A Lot. 01:22:16 Prince Rupert's Drop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe-f4gokRBs Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
This week we welcome Shawn Wickens and Gavin Starr Kendall: founders of The Bad Theatre Fest and Bad Film Fest Gavin Starr Kendall: @TheStarrKendall Shawn Wickens: @shwickens 0:02:00 Our guests are the founders of "The Bad Film Fest" www.badfilmfest.com 0:02:39 Starr hails from Texas, which he has in common with Nilsa 0:03:00 Turns out Shawn has actually listened to an episode of the podcast and proves it 0:04:46 Starr Fellows a woman to New York, as one does, and falls-in with some cool artists 0:07:33 Performing arts, ice sculptures and ephemerality 0:09:55 Twigs and "True Detective" 0:10:27 The Brick Theatre and its "dangerous" beginnings 0:19:13 What's Shawn's story? 0:22:08 "I immediately thought: this guy is interesting." 0:28:18 Tell us about the Bad Theatre Fest and Bad Film Fest Mr. Kendall and Mr. Wickens 0:38:30 Where's My Cereal? 0:41:20 We're targeting people that share the same definition of the word "bad" 0:44:40 "There's things that get in that we're scared of…" 0:48:20 BadFilmFest.com - 2014's Bad Film Fest is April 11 and 12 at Cloud City in Brooklyn 0:49:40 "30,000kHz of Sound" - Shawn's Improvised Podcast - Bryn wants in 0:51:35 The Polar Vortex returns to wreak vengeance on Chicago. 0:54:00 How has stuff been going for Bryn and Nilsa? Perhaps an audition had happened… 0:56:30 A side business for Nilsa and Bryn? 1:05:00 Bryn's going to be shouting into his closet again 1:06:15 Bryn Packard in "Pain and Gain 2: More Pain, Less Gain" 1:15:45 Starr asks the hard question on everybody's mind about our twitter handle… Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Jake and Laura sit down for an quick chat about Laura's new job at Chicago Trolley & Double Decker Co. - http://chicagotrolley.com, recent film premiere, cabaret, and fairy training events. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
02:37 - 2PM Q&A session begins 26:25 - Gentleman John Battles start paying 39:53 - Captain Ambivalent performs 52:11 - Gentleman John Battles spills some water and plays a bit more. 56:36 - 7PM Q&A session begins Video of all this is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ALQ6knI-o3o 1000 thanks to Chicago Filmmakers for handling all the logistics of 2 shows at 50, then 60, 75, then a third show, then building risers in time for the show before us (and therefore us too). Please donate to https://www.chicagofilmmakers.org/ if possible. All of their personnel were very supportive and helpful. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
This episode was recorded live at the fabulous Berger Park Mansion on June 8th, 2018. Curator/Creative producer Laura Scruggs made it all happen and Jake Scruggs hosted and told some comedy jokes. If you like what you hear, the show is presented the 2nd Friday of every month except January. Video of the event is here: https://youtu.be/WUZT5xC0EtM Jake Scruggs - Jokes about being married to Laura Jake grew up in Lansing, IL the son of a sculptor and a writer and spent his pre 30s getting 2 degrees in education and teaching for the better part of a decade. In 2004 he turned an apprenticeship into a career as a software developer. Executive producing his wife’s documentary “Uncle Fun: You’re the One” has involved mostly sound editing, tech support, and funding. He also co-hosts and produces the podcast “Are You Famous, Yet?” (also with his wife Laura Force Scruggs). Jake took a stand up class 5 years ago and this will be his second performance ever. Writer Amy Crider (special thanks for filling in for an artist who had to cancel) Amy is a Chicago playwright whose work will be in the Chicago One Minute Play Festival June 26 and 27 and also has a play reading at the Jarvis Square Pottery on June 27. Slide Guitar Master Jon Spiegel Jon Spiegel has been fascinated with music and storytelling since he was a small boy. His mother was a great musician, and his Pop was a confirmed long-form joke teller. Jon grew up telling all kinds of stories from the stage as a musician (his primary career). He moved to Chicago from the East Coast after graduating from Harvard thirty years ago and has worked with The Old Town School, the Goodman Theatre, Blue Man Group, the Lyric Opera, the Northlight and many other others. He is a songwriter and a playwright and most recently rediscovered storytelling. He has told stories in Chicago at Story Jam, Do Not Submit, Illinois Storytellers, TenX9, and Cabaret On The Lake! Storyteller W.C. Williams, accompanied by Ramblin' Rose W.C. Williams, known professionally as Afram Bill Williams, is a native of the Mississippi delta, and is a playwright, poet and short story writer. He has appeared with Steppenwolf Theatre in such productions as Balm In Gilead, Tracers, Curse Of The Starving Class, Of Mice And Men, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. He helped to adapt and appeared in Remains Theater's production of Moby Dick, and has appeared on Broadway, The Kennedy Center, The Royal Shakespeare Theater in London, as well as on stage in Los Angeles. His film credits include Flatliners, The Fugitive, and Chain Reaction. Mr Williams resides in the Englewood community of Chicago, with his wife, Lydia Bledsoe Williams. Ramblin’ Rose is a Blues Singer, Composer, Musician, Goodman Theater GeNarrations Storyteller, Line-dancer & Fashion Designer. Her band, Ramblin’ Rose & The 290 East Ramblers, just finished an 8 concert series with Chicago Park District (Night Out In The Parks). She has performed as one of the “Chicago Women In The Blues” for many years, as well as the 2010 Blues Festival in Grant Park. Rose will also be performing at 3 Chicago Park District Concerts: Shedd Park, July 3rd; Welles Park, July 10th; Brown Memorial Park, August 18th and Willie Dixon Blues Heaven, August 2nd. Timelord band vocalist and guitarist Ronen Kohn Raised in upstate New York by a pack of wild folk musicians, Ronen later graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in theatre. Fae went on to appear in shows with The Right Brain Project, The Living Canvas, and The Runaways Lab. Faer solo singer/songwriter album, Cracks, was released in 2013, and fae fronts the trock band Time Crash, which has released a full album, Regeneration (2014) and an EP, The Empty (2016). For more information, visit masshysteriamusic.com. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
http://bigfunbigfun.com 03:27 - Steve has the largest piece of Whoops fake vomit. If it were any bigger, there would be a failure in the physics of creating the product. 05:12 - The first time Steve walked into Goodies, it changed his whole life and career path. 08:55 - We discuss Ted Frankel, known as “Uncle Fun,” former owner of a now-defunct store that bore his nickname. 16:13 - Steve returned to Cleveland and worked with people with special needs 18:28 - Big Fun Columbus 19:05 - Steve called Ted/Uncle Fun and said he wanted to start a store like Goodies and told him about the warehouse (a very unusual thing for a collector to do) 22:14 - Big Fun has been open for 24 years. 25:28 - Steve went from stock (market) to (selling) schlock. 27:15 - A mini tornado knocked out a window in a warehouse and ultimately helped him start his Big Fun empire. 30:55 - Mile High Comics. 33:54 - Nilsa asks for a visual tour of the store 36:38 - Ernie Anderson Giulardi - Paul Thomas Anderson's father. He was the voice-over guy on the "Love Boat" 39:38 - Steve's mom told him not to have stained underwear; he says no one would know, because he has tie-dyed underwear 49:26 - The story of the David Cassidy poster and Ted. 54:28 - Dan the Coffee Drinking Man 57:52 - One of Ted's best finds: A warehouse of pulp art in New Mexico. 59:48 - Closing his Cleveland store location, his Cleveland Heights location will remain open 65:56 - Jake has never seen anyone do high and low end side by side like Big Fun 68:34 - There is a Fun Rockin' in New Orleans. 71:56 - Shop local, local stores near Big Fun: Mac's Backs & Tommy's Restaurant 72:36 - Steve is going to open up an e-commerce website so he can ship anywhere. 73:48 - Steve has been on "Market Place" 72:26 Steve's advice for Bryn and Nilsa 81:31 - Visit Ted Frankel at the BEST museum gift shop in the world. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Martin Felshman is a freelance baker who has been doing stand up for the last 7 years. His proudest comedy accomplishment was when he was invited to Wizard-con 2015 in Madison Wisconsin where he got to tell jokes while wearing a very pretty dress. He is a co-producer of the Cupcake Comedy Cabaret every Thursday evening at the Gallery Cabaret, and a co-host of the machine culture podcast "Podzooky" where a bunch of comedians get real tired and talk about kaiju monvies, and co-producer of the new Dungeons & Dragons themed Comedy Show "Slide into your Dm's" the third Thursday of every month at Bonus Round Cafe in Boystown. Also, he loves thrifting and you check out his odd finds on Instagram @weirdthriftshopfinds. He's been presented on The Three Cat Cabaret on the Lake and The Chicago Digital Arts and Music Fest as well as being a co-producer and contributor to the Ghost Planet’s, a defunct surealist talk show. And he is a fellow member of Uncle Fun Nation, has co-custody of the Wishbot and is featured in the documentary, "Uncle Fun: You’re The One!" Cupcake Comedy Cabaret https://www.facebook.com/CupcakeComedyCabaret/ Podzooky https://www.machineculture.com/podzooky-pod/ Weird Thrift Shop Finds https://www.instagram.com/weirdthriftshopfinds/ Slide Into Your DMs https://www.facebook.com/events/889916997855497/ Martin's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mfelshman Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Laura and Jake discuss Laura’s new fairy workshop at the WasteShed (Saturday June 30th 3-5pm) after they catch up on some “Uncle Fun: You’re the One” premiere news and events. Laura is excited to teach 7-13 year olds about the ways of the faerie and Jake is excited to see some of the larger bags of ‘tiny fairy things’ leave the house. Does Jake look like the Maxell 'blown away' guy in chair? Laura thinks so. Here's the image: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/areyoufamousyet/maxell_guy_in_chair.jpg for the curious. Also, Laura announces her new summer job at the last possible moment in the episode. https://unclefunyouretheone.com http://www.thewasteshed.com Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
First: Sorry about the sound quality on this one. Second: This the second of two episodes where the hosts talk about failures. 0:02:00 Jake's turn to pour his heart out. 0:02:15 "I was bored in school and developed NO study habits" 0:05:00 Let the begging begin. 0:06:40 Failing at relativity 0:12:15 Colleges want to take your money 0:13:38 Taking the leaving the gang beating… or not. 0:14:10 The hard lesson of learning how to manage upward 0:15:30 Dead teacher walking 0:16:10 "When things are hard it makes you try harder, but that's not always a good thing." 0:22:15 Nilsa had a completely different college experience 0:23:35 I don't like this anymore... 0:30:45 Cheap suits + Draconian Rules = Remedial Love and the rise of Hitler 0:34:15 "You must love inspirational teacher movies…" 0:37:40 Laura's most recent teaching experience: name deleted to protect the guilty 0:38:20 Over-preparing and bad vibes 0:43:00 "This is going to be an awkward phone call…" 0:45:20 "One of the evil-est people out there are mothers." 0:49:15 Bryn and Jake ask Laura to identify a time where she felt she'd failed 0:50:20 Laura felt like she'd failed by not following her true desire to go into theatre 0:56:20 Surrounded by mountains of practicality 0:58:05 What is a school with no clocks and bells? 1:02:50 Guilt about not bringing-in the money 1:03:30 Bryn calls-out Laura for being unwilling to talk about the things that trouble her and she's saved from answering the question by Jake getting an urgent page from his job. Alas, we may never know. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
We are back after a week off and Laura has just gotten off a plane from seeing the last ever "Spoutwood Fairie Festival" http://www.spoutwood.org/fairie-festival/2018-may-day-fairie-festival/ where she interviewed many and got lots of footage for her next documentary project. She also went to see a certain "Uncle Fun" in Baltimore and has a bit to say about that. Get your tickets for the June 10th showing of "Uncle Fun: You're the One" soon because over half of the tickets are already sold: http://unclefunyouretheone.com Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
We talked about social media, Chels' writing, podcast, Sell Me A Pup; and graphic novel, Dead Weight with Brooklyn-based illustrator and "Lenny Letter" contributor Danie Drankwalter. http://chelsnotchelsea.com https://www.machineculture.com/chels-harvey/ Sell Me A Pup podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sell-me-a-pup/id1259048087?mt=2 Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Originally released Feb 24, 2014. The first of two episodes where the hosts talk about failures. 0:01:40 - Josh Force (http://forcedesignhouse.com/) is the graphic designer behind Laura's impending website. Note from the future Laura’s website is done and here: https://lauraforcescruggs.com/ Jake is very proud of the SSL/TLS certification. 0:02:15 - Laura Force: Porn star? 0:04:50 - What happened to Bryn and social media? 0:09:13 - Apparently Facebook is . Jake breaks it down courtesy of Veritasium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ZqXlHl65g 0:15:50 - The theme of this podcast is Failure. Nilsa goes first. 0:22:20 - Nilsa is a complete professional. 0:22:58 - Bryn talks about how getting laid off from Motorola was heralded by a spooky "subjectless meeting" with his boss appearing on his calendar. 0:27:20 - "Arsenic and Old Lace" may have gotten Bryn promoted. 0:30:00 - Nilsa married her college sweetheart - a division III basketball player. Oh yeah. 0:35:27 - An early mid-life crisis. 0:37:40 - It happened in tech. 0:39:55 - Now she has this theatre company 0:42:30 - Bryn's failings in relationships and jobs 0:46:30 - The School at Steppenwolf 0:50:30 - How did Bryn's marriage go from nice suburban house and wine parties to divorce? 0:54:40 - "You guys were awesome roommates." 0:59:30 - Bryn and relationship overlap 1:02:45 - Breaking the overlap cycle 1:11:40 - Laura is performing at "Loose Chicks" Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Links to tickets for world premiere screenings of "Uncle Fun: You're The One" at Chicago Filmmakers: 2 pm showing http://chicagofilmmakers.org/screenings/2673 7 pm http://chicagofilmmakers.org/screenings/2674 Facebook event pages for Chicago Filmmakers' screenings: 2 pm https://www.facebook.com/events/210131949752110/ 7 pm https://www.facebook.com/events/212771492644835/ Website unclefunyouretheone.com Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UncleFunYoureTheOne/ Twitter https://twitter.com/UncleFunYoureT1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/unclefunyouretheonedocumentary/ Big Fun http://bigfunbigfun.com https://bigfuntoystore.tumblr.com State Street Stuff https://www.facebook.com/State-Street-Stuff-228217517276287/ Uncle Fun was officially declared done by Laura Scruggs on Thursday March 15th, 2018. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Originally released Feb 17, 2014. 0:00:52 Jenn Mello founder of the first networking event Bryn attended in NY 0:01:50 "Nat Geo" and other mysterious abbreviations and acronyms 0:03:50 A mysterious text to Jake from Nilsa 0:09:20 Film Interchange and the origins of it's founder (http://www.filminterchange.org) 0:14:50 "Let's talk to filmmakers about film making…" 0:17:20 "No one stands alone at my events" 0:20:45 K. Lorrel Manning and "Happy New Year" (http://happynewyearfilm.com/) 0:34:00 A tribute to the bygone Bryn-O-Plex 0:36:20 "Bring out the gun show, Bryn…" 0:38:20 Producing Class with Indie Producer Rich Guay 0:42:10 Jenn what does Bryn need to do to become famous? 0:50:50 What did Bryn think of Dan's training comment in the last episode? 0:58:38 Alexander technique 1:01:49 Voice and speech and probation 1:06:33 Film Interchange- all set for friendly world domination 1:08:15 More love for Rich Guay 1:12:45 Phil 1:14:30 "I'm having a lot of fun not working."
00:38 - Presenting: Jon Spiegel! https://www.facebook.com/jonspiegel 02:20 - Someone wants to make a movie of Jon's life! 03:07 - Ten x 9, http://www.tenx9.com 05:39 - How Jon is famous. 10:23 - Jon's favorite gigs and other musicians he's met. 18:40 - How Jon got involved with music. 26:36 - An important story. 36:45 - Storytelling! 40:17 - Jon tells a story! 45:15 - Fairy wands and Do Not Submit http://www.donotsubmitchicago.com 57:51 - Jon the playwright. 59:33 - Jon has been working with Brigid Murphy, creator of "Millie's Orchid Show." http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/media/94054265-132.html 1:01:41 - Jon's circus story. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Recorded at the Pride Arts Center on "The Condition of Femme” set minutes after their 3/16/2018 performance. 00:35 - Presenting: the playwright, director, producer, sound designer & several cast members of Circle Theatre's "The Condition of Femme.” www.circletheatrechicago.org 00:58 - Inspiration for show. 05:17 - Highlights of rehearsal process. 13:58 - Holding space for each other. 16:24 - Favorite parts of script or moments played. 22:33 - Jake's compliment & video montages. 26:43 - Interesting what makes people feel uncomfortable and why. 28:29 - Police officer moment in play and how men are learning from the show. 38:12 - Playwright Lauren Powell is calling people in, not out. 39:23 - Did Lauren consider writing male characters into the script? 49:41 - Rachel's story. 51:57 - We're taught to mind our own business, but need to look out for and truly see each other. 56:40 - A few of Laura and Jake's thoughts about the show. 58:30 - "The Condition of Femme" runs through April 1st. Tickets are available at: www.circletheatrechicago.org Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Ryan Snow hails from Stanford, California and has his B.A. in Politics and his B.M. in Jazz Studies from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music. He is a former member of Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds and was a professional trombonist based in Brooklyn from 2005 to 2014 and is now pursuing law. Rosina Snow is from New York, New York. She attended LaGuardia High School and Oberlin College. She is a singer and environmentalist. She is currently working on her thesis about the environment and the divine. Check out her website at: https://rosina-snow.squarespace.com/ Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Originally recorded late March 2014 02:13 - Introducing Dan and a glimpse into his history with our group 04:00 - Dan and Nilsa and The Women 07:38 - "…it started when I was 11, 12 years old…" 10:45 - Encounters with soon-to-be-famous campers 14:28 - The Notorious C.T.S. 19:25 - Dan goes method 22:04 - Going to Chicago Academy for the Arts and meeting Ronnie 33:01 - "…I can drink more than anybody else, all of a sudden people like me..." 40:44 - The Great and Terrible NYU 47:55 - Acting vs. Directing and Teaching 53:35 - Seymour 59:33 - A Warlock's Dark Magic 1:04:15 - "We want to start a theater company and we want to name it after a Bruce Springsteen song." 01:09:41 - Finding the opposite 1:12:20 - "I was so engrossed with all of this stuff that I had to pull myself out of it." 1:17:07 - Summer of 2001 1:20:42 - Fools for love 1:24:56 - A lot of chaos leads to a Wonderful Life 1:30:24 - Mystery Science Theater 3000: An Obsessive Odyssey 1:37:44 - Why aren't you auditioning? 1:43:10 - Dan Taube's advice to Bryn 1:47:59 - Baby With The Bathwater and other upcoming coolness 1:50:37 - A sincere discussion about the title of our podcast 1:52:41 -"I've done what I've done because I love it and I can't imagine doing anything else…" Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
In this episode Jake and Laura talk about last night's showing of her Uncle Fun documentary to "The Benefactor" and "The Benefactor Jr" (see http://areyoufamousyet.libsyn.com/the-benefactors-identical-twin-episode-55) and some lessons learned. Then they discuss two recent readings of Laura's play "The Magic of Ladie M" which is MacBeth from Ladie MacBeth's point of view with lots of magic and set in an alternate modern world where politics are even crazier than now. Finally they reflect on the amazing Chicago stand up comedy scene now that they live within walking distance of 3 open mic comedy shows. More importantly, they reveal the secrets of getting free drinks at said shows. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
00:38 - Presenting Richard J. Miller: richardjmiller.org 01:16 - How we met Richard and his relationship to previous podcast guest, Lauren Miller. 02:01 - How Richard got into his field. 04:24 - Story of Richard attempting to mix up his own drug. 09:11 - Proliferation of various drugs from morphine. 12:51 - Origin of the name of heroin. 13:22 - Bayer and heroin. 16:58 - Part of opioid crisis. 21:36 - Can drugs be made less addictive through chemistry? 26:03 - Kratoms. 27:14 - Harry Potter. 38:02 - Is magic real through medicine? 38:54 - How Richard and Lauren met. 40:12 - Love is a drug and it's hard to get a grant to study love. 41:05 - Romanticism. 44:23 - Richard's theory about Christina Rossetti. 47:06 - Symphony Fantastique by Berlioz. 48:16 - Heroin. 53:55 - Promotion time - Richard's blog: richardjmiller.org Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
amycrider.com 02:18 - "Leda." ledaplay.com 06:37 - Oedipus. 08:05 - Prophecy and fate. 10:04 - Thoughts on what it was like to self-produce "Leda." 15:29 - Lines Bek improvised! 18:06 - Would Amy self-produce again and breakdown of expenses for "Leda." 22:02 - Some of Jake and Laura's self-producing experiences. 25:47 - A funny thing that happened during "Leda." 27:14 - Amy has a reading of the opening scene of "Charlie Johnson Reads All of Proust" at the Make Ready with Dandelion Theatre Tuesday, February 13th at 7 pm at The Galway Arms in Chicago: https://www.dandeliontheatre.com/make-ready 33:49 - Amy's play, "Metadata," in Three Cat Productions' Next Draft Reading Series on Sept. 17th: http://threecatproductions.com/next-draft 38:20 - Some of Amy's thoughts about play writing. 43:02 - Amy's play, "Metadata" and the Steppenwolf. https://www.steppenwolf.org 45:13 - Baby steps/in-between you have to go through as a writer. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Audio Note: Bryn used a decent microphone and recorded the episode on his computer. I used the built in MacBook Pro mic and so this is one of the few episodes where the New York side sounds much better than the Chicago recording. Guest: Andrea Prestinario http://andreaprestinario.com/ and Twitter: @aprestinario 01:10 Introducing Andrea 03:45 Intro to Meisner 08:50 Bryn and Andrea reconnect 10:14 Jake calls-out Bryn on living with women who are not his girlfriend 14:00 Finally, we let Andrea talk 20:20 Three early survival jobs 22:32 *Name deleted to protect the guilty* 27:07 http://www.eddieshrake.com for web design 30:10 "You have to be worth it for a producer to pay more for you." 40:05 Working with a legend 45:13 A worthy derailment 49:00 Finally moving to New York… and leaving again. 51:52 "The highs are higher, but the lows are lower" 52:43 Bryn asks Andrea if saying "Yes" to everything was helpful 59:05 Nilsa's New York perspective 1:03:00 Advice to the aspiring actor 1:07:43 Bryn plugs Andrea's next big show- with a falsetto. 1:12:05 Laura Scruggs: Documentary Filmmaker 1:21:54 Bryn's first Vine https://vine.co/v/hlBxVYhhIbt Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
02:30 - The story of how our guest's first name became Corson 05:00 - The movie "Ladybird" felt very familiar. 08:00 - University of Chicago's pre-orientation program and how it helped Croson transition from rural small town to a big crazy city. 10:31 - The value of seeing shows you don't like. 13:50 - Corson's plan for college and how that quickly changed during her freshman year. 18:15 - Sophomore year. 19:26 - Music directing "Urinetown" in her 3rd year. 25:04 - Having the best Halloween costumes b/c your mom is, amongst many things, a costume designer. 30:13 - Picking up the guitar after a long absence to break through some songwriter's block. 31:42 - Junior year vs senior year 34:35 - Composing the music for an adaptation of "The Great Gatsby" 36:50 - A "pipe dream thesis project" to adapt "A Wrinkle in Time" as a musical. 40:16 - First job out of college: Assistant musical director on Victory Garden's production of "Fun Home." 45:04 - Working on "Josephine the Mouse Singer" at Rhino Fest. Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
A trip back to Nov 25, 2013 with a bit of audio magic to make it all a wee bit more listenable. Orignial notes: Until 3:15 Bryn's mic is misplaced and his voice is quiet - sorry. Robot Voice is discussed and observed. Laura Scruggs is generally a delight but also plays the piano while singing a potential theme song. (Future note: Eventually our permanent theme song) In the social medial section, Bryn discusses a tweet he almost made about a movie that has delighted him. At the time of the podcast we were not on iTunes, which we mention. We are now. Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Laura and Jake discuss the previous year (2017) and their hopes for 2018. Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Happy New Year, loyal listeners. On this Jan 1st 2018, we take a trip back to our very first episode released Nov 17, 2013. Full disclosure: I poured myself a stiff drink before the start of the show and the start was delayed. I made the mistake of continuing to drink while waiting what turned out to be enough time to get me slurring my words and meandering in conversation. Even though I remastered the sound, it is pretty bad. We recorded this first episode using Apple FaceTime, Quicktime player, and the built in MacBook microphone on Chicago side. Bryn was in New York City receiving the call on his iPhone 4. I think he was wearing the headphones that come with an iPhone of the time. Later we would record both sides of the conversation, use decent microphones, and mix the tracks together in the edit. We discuss how there was currently no way to see "Children Without Parents," which Bryn had just finished shooting. It is now on Amazon and free with Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Children-Without-Parents-Bryn-Packard/dp/B076N285VJ/ Original show notes: The players are introduced: Bryn Packard: Aspiring Actor recently moved to New York from Chicago Jake Scruggs: Bryn's left behind friend, podcaster, and chief interrogator. Laura Scruggs: Innocent bystander and musical producer. Why Bryn is not famous yet is discussed. Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
00:45 - Presenting: Dolores Diaz, Wendy Schmidt, Lisa Scott and Laura Scruggs, playwrights of Three Cat's Holiday Radio Show. All female playwrights, actors and even stage manager. http://threecatproductions.com/201718-three-cat-season/the-holiday-radio-show 02:05 - Main concept of each short play. 09:32 - When was A Kidnapped Santa Claus written? Originally published in December of 1904. 10:44 - Favorite part of each play. 14:25 - This is done as if it was a radio show in the 40's, a live recording at a USO. 15:06 - Favorite foley and sound effects. 17:10 - Highlights and challenges of experience. 23:01 - The letters. 26:44 - Favorite parts of working with Jason and Three Cat Productions. http://threecatproductions.com 32:55 - Three Cat is devoted to the development of new artists. http://threecatproductions.com 34:05 - The cabaret! http://threecatproductions.com/upcoming-season/cabaret-on-the-lake 34:46 - Promotions! Lisa Scott's "The Inner World of Christmas Trees:" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ5qKkS4knI 37:26 - Jason Paul Smith has been on the podcast twice: http://areyoufamousyet.libsyn.com/a-home-to-fail-or-jason-paul-smiths-unexpected-gift-to-artists-episode-58 http://areyoufamousyet.libsyn.com/jason-paul-smith-in-a-beulah-box-episode-100 38:00 - Dolores has a reading at the New Works Festival at Three Cat! Sat., Feb. 3rd at 12 noon "Man of the People" 40:26 - Laura has a play for the first time in the New Works Festival at Three Cat! "The Magic of Ladie M." Jan. 20th at 3 pm 43:01 - More about the New Works Festival 43:46 - Wendy has a reading in NYC at La Mama on Jan. 18th - a reading of her new play http://lamama.org 45:13 - Wendy started writing hew new play on the La Mama retreat. http://lamama.org/programs/la-mama-umbria/international-playwright-retreat/ 46:26 - Lisa has a storytelling performance at The Fillet of Solo in Jan., with Serving the Sentence! Friday, Jan. 12th at 8:30 pm http://www.lifelinetheatre.com/performances/17-18/filletofsolo2018.shtml https://www.facebook.com/servingthesentencechicago/ 47:48 - Laura is on the brink of finishing her Uncle Fun documentary. https://www.facebook.com/unclefunchicago/ 48:40 - Do Not Submit http://www.donotsubmitchicago.com 50:19 - Why people should come and see our Holiday Radio Show! http://threecatproductions.com/201718-three-cat-season/the-holiday-radio-show We are listed in the Chicago Tribune as one of the top holiday shows to see in Chicago: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-ott-holiday-shows-guide-1124-story.html and all of the beautiful music and cider and cookies! All ages and something for everyone! And veterans are free! Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
0:00-7:05 The perils of wireless in a city where the signals never sleep 09:10 - Laura arrives and we discuss the new song 15:16 - The interruptions of a scrambling actor 19:16 - Dealing with powerlessness 22:20 A discussion of being "Equity," AKA in the Actors Union, vs. Non-Equity. 30:14 - USPS interrupts the podcast and we hear from Bryn's roommate 31:20 - Brief discussion of "The End of the World" 33:02 Social Media section: The fate of the "Almost Tweet" is revealed and I try to convince Bryn to post more shirtless photos. 40:00 We discuss an important 50th anniversary Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
00:46 - Devri Chism, Rachel Livingston, Lauren Miller, Beverly Munro, and Steph Vondell are the cast of this show that they just finished performing and will start again in about an hour. 01:41 - What is "Three Cat's Holiday Radio Show"? 02:59 - Letters from the audience. 07:54 - Favorite audience interactions. 10:29 - Favorite moments of playing various characters. 12:46 - How do the actors interpret the parts? (as themselves or as their main characters) 14:41 - Another favorite moment: geese noises 15:19 - Favorite foley moments. 16:48 - What it's like to work with Director Jason Paul Smith and Three Cat Productions. 20:12 - Most challenging moments. 24:44 - Why should people see the show? 29:17 - Promotional time: Steph will be in a show with Fierce Theatre at Columbia: "Mary Shelley Sees the Future" https://www.facebook.com/fiercetheatrecollective/ 30:41 - They sing us out with "Auld Lang Syne!" Devri Chism https://www.devrichism.com Rachel Livingston https://www.actorlivingstonipresume.com/ Lauren Miller https://www.facebook.com/lauren.miller.3154284 Beverly Munro https://www.facebook.com/beverly.munro.5 Steph Vondell https://www.facebook.com/steph.vondell Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Re-release of the classic episode 6 from Dec 23, 2013. Our sound was a bit off back in those days (mac standard microphones recorded through FaceTime) so please do forgive us. 00:34 Nilsa, Bryn's girlfriend who is also an actress, joins the podcast 01:05 The guests keep coming! Matt Shuemaker, who's known Bryn since high school, shows up. 02:40 Some auditions for Bryn 05:34 The Time To Live calculation! How long until Bryn runs out of money? 07:04 Bryn's whirlwind week sponsored by: The Benefactor. 10:53 Matt causes the first ever censor's beep to be heard on an already explicit podcast... 13:36 All bridges are burned 14:24 Jake fulfills a 20 year long quest to identify a song: "Perpetuum Mobile" http://youtu.be/6E3znZoFnN8?t=19s 16:47 Simon and Simon theme song again. For some reason. 19:04 Bryn's rendition of "Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band" from Return of the Jedi 22:08 Matt gets Bryn to hum the melody from Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story http://youtu.be/vx89RcYZC5A?t=1m33s 26:26 An expensive and memorable play is, well, remembered. 30:00 The difference between comedy half nakedness and sexual half nakedness 30:36 New Theme song by Laura! 33:15 Jake and Laura and Baz Luhrmann's "Great Gatsby" 40:54 Laura talks about a time she was "forced" to make out with Bryn 44:41 Jake promotes the TV show “The Fall” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_%28TV_series%29 44:54 Social Media corner 46:44 One last impersonation demand from Matt concerning a beer choice: Heineken or PBR? 49:25 Potential podcast money maker? 50:00 Laura's brief "Piano Bar" job 53:32 Nilsa goes on some print media auditions or "casting" Other Links: "Mary and Max" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978762/ "Prince of Darkness" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Darkness_%28film%29 Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
01:58 - Origin story of group and name: "Courtesan and the Cabin Boy" https://www.facebook.com/courtesancabinboy/ 03:25 - International Cosplay Corps https://www.facebook.com/InternationalCosplayCorps/ 07:58- How they developed the name of the group. 13:12 - Colonel Quick Stitch. https://www.facebook.com/Colquickstitch-669213319832513/ Picture of them meeting: http://traffic.libsyn.com/areyoufamousyet/CourtesanandtheCabinBoy.jpg 21:09 - What was the first song they felt they really gelled together on? 21:31 - Renaissance period music and a demonstration of a round. 23:24 - Shilling song to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." 24:03 - Court and Country. https://www.courtandcountry.com https://www.facebook.com/CourtAndCountry/ 24:14 - Society for Creative Anachronsim http://www.sca.org 31:05 - In studio performance of their song "Well-oiled Beef" 33:09 - Upcoming Krampus album! 34:13 - Two, exclusive to this podcast only, songs from their upcoming Krampus themed album: "Carol of the Bells" and "Dreidel" 42:23 - Next year, they'll probably have a Krampus show! 42:33 - Ludicrous Theater Company https://www.facebook.com/LudicrousTheatreChicago/ 48:30 - They do Renaissance Faires throughout the Midwest and are looking for other opportunities. They also play conventions. They have their Chicago Street Performer License. They have a Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/posts/here-we-go-14110908 They do house parties and weddings. Their first album is on CD Baby https://store.cdbaby.com/artist/TheCourtesanAndtheCabinBoyAndT YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1cf1hHSyNE&list=PL7xK6jbLj8Cqz9ZYAfWhnQEHhUqsfeaVz Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/6X1KDxIFn8xtcH82O4hW5L They'll be at Christkindlmarket in Chicago http://www.christkindlmarket.com and are looking to release their Krampus CD at the end of the month. A Renaissance Christmas at the Prop Theatre on Dec. 22nd http://www.propthtr.org https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/Prop-Thtr-Presents-A-RENAISSANCE-HOLIDAY-20171121 Benefit Concert at the Wellness House on Dec. 20th http://wellnesshouse.org/ Capricon in February, playing various parties. http://capricon.org/capricon38/ Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
03:37 - "Avenge Our Blood:" inspiration. http://threecatproductions.com/201718-three-cat-season/avenge-our-blood 08:08 - How David and Bec found each other and how they made "Avenge Our Blood" a one person show. 11:12 - How does David Finney relate to this play/is he religious? 13:00 - As a director, how does Bec portray this solo show? 18:51 - Collaboration between the playwright and director in development of "Avenge Our Blood." 24:12 - What surprised David and Bec about the process of doing "Avenge Our Blood?" 29:14 - Bec's experience assistant directing "Southbridge" under the direction of Russ Tutterow. 31:23 - Bec has a great idea for "Frankenstein" with Bower Theatre Ensemble. 33:13 - What goes into starting a theatre company. 36:13 - Origin of the name of Bower Theatre Ensemble. 42:05 - Promotion time: See "Avenge Our Blood" http://threecatproductions.com/201718-three-cat-season/avenge-our-blood Check out Bower Theatre Ensemble: https://www.facebook.com/bowertheatre/ https://bowertheatre.com https://twitter.com/bowertheatre https://www.instagram.com/bowertheatre/ Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Jake and Laura Scruggs talk about: Laura's new Job working with the mentally disabled. Moving to Logan Square. Selling their Rogers Park Condo and losing 10k on the deal. Living next to their niece. Trying to be more happy. Laura's documentary, full length play, 10 minute holiday play, monthly storytelling show, and other artistic endeavors. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
06:34 - Origin of “Captain Ambivalent” 09:41 - “Precious” a song about “Lord of the Rings”’s Gollum in the style of country 15:05 - Almost all of Captain Ambivalent’s music is up on SoundClound as free samples 23:09 - How Captain Ambivalent’s costume & persona came about 28:09 -Video of Cafe Vivaldi performance in New York City 31:00 - Discussion of Capt. A’s song “Everything” 33:48 - “If I Were A Pirate Ninja Zombie” & how it is possibly the most romantic song Capt. A. has ever written 37:04 - Constructive feedback from worst performance Capt. A. ever had - a Sat. night at a pizza joint, at an intermission for a jug band performance. 50:09- Capt. A’s performance at Neo Futurist benefit at Metro - Special Guest and Neo Futurists 51:09 - “Pizza Girl” and Dungeons & Dragons 55:19 - Torturing Barbies and Capt. A.’s song about it 56:44 - Capt. A. plays “Everything” Live in studio 1:00:18 - “Crazy Picasso-Eyed Lady” 1:01:16 - Exploration of “Run, Will Robinson, Run” 1:03:00 - “Ray is not the Name of the Accordion” animation in the video by Capt. A.! 1:05:35 - Origin of the song - “Irv!” - about the inventor of dental floss Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
02:21 - Debate about the pronunciation and the basis of 'Leda,' Amy's play. www.ledaplay.com 06:31 - Julia Swift. 08:16 - Reading in Ann Arbor, Michigan. http://www.a2ct.org/shows/the-play-s-the-thing-2015 09:40 - Director Pat Henderson! 11:31 - All ticket proceeds will go to the charity, Mercy Corps! https://www.mercycorps.org 13:01 - Amy's next project, "Charlie Johnson Reads All of Proust." 15:22 - Amy has applied to the Millay Colony to work on her Proust play. https://www.millaycolony.org 15:51 - Various artist residencies: McDowell in New Hampshire http://www.macdowellcolony.org and Yaddo in NY https://www.yaddo.org and Ragdale http://ragdale.org 17:01 - What is Amy's writing process? 18:14 - Used to be more concerned about selling her writing. 20:00 - Amy doesn't consider herself a novelist. 23:28 - Amy's evolution in being able to provide constructive criticism. www.ledaplay.com www.amycrider.com/ Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
01:33 - "Stuffing the Turkey." Workshop a version in 2014. Coming again next year. https://www.meetup.com/Chicago-Film-Lover-Exchange/events/172385132/ 05:29 - Tony's theatre experience. Illinois Theater Center http://www.ilthctr.org 07:11 - Studying play writing at Milliken https://millikin.edu/theatre 23:06 - Differences between performing onstage and on film. 25:09 - Seven Deadly Sins https://www.facebook.com/SDSCHICAGO/?hc_ref=ARQvMUmNVMmzmLOaV6FbIRoeTliZiMTPDF9MZqEUPnW7FSCWTmmZYeNfm3NH12m_MsM 25:28 - South by Southwest - 20 by 2 https://www.sxsw.com/conference/experiential-storytelling/ 26:00 - Radio plays Tony did with his brother at the ages of 7 and 11. 28:27 - Broad Shoulders Productions http://bspfilm.com 32:38 - Why Vimeo instead of youtube? 33:52 - The Wire. https://www.hbo.com/the-wire 35:23 - Graham Cracker. https://vimeo.com/212592718 https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/graham-cracker/Event?oid=26366305 46:26 - Graham Cracker will be released over the next couple of weeks! 46:47 - Promotions: www.bspfilm.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/bspfilm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topcat136/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1298754493487272/ Tony's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/jantonio.mendoza1?fref=ts Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
Apologies for the "blow outs" and the "thumps" - it was a great interview with a few recording issues. 01:55 - How the Q Brothers started writing and performing hip hop using Shakespeare as the source text. 07:50 - GQ on how he got involved with "Drumline." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303933/ 09:40 - Video for "White Nigga from Drumline" by the Retar crew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1dQOZY1KiM 10:38 - Genesis of "Funk It Up About Nothin'" and how it came to Chicago Shakespeare Theater 19:16 - The Q Brothers' heritage 27:05 - "Othello: The Remix" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. https://www.chicagoshakes.com/plays_and_events/othello_the_remix_2016 28:43 - GQ gives Jake the business about having a hefty serving of salt with his pepper. 31:12 - "Othello: The Remix" was commissioned by The Globe (of London) in 2012 53:40 - The Q Brothers' shaving business and Small Flower TV: https://www.youtube.com/user/smallflowertv 1:04:35 - "Q Gents" and "Mad Summer" 1:05:49 - GQ flips the script and ask us how "Are You Famous, Yet?" began. 1:08:54 - Q Brothers Freestyle!!! Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz
00:35 - Presenting: Brittany Meyer! http://www.brittanymeyerdoesthat.com 01:37 - Strip Joker w/You are Beautiful https://www.uptownunderground.net/strip-joker https://www.facebook.com/stripjoker/ 04:22 - You are Beautiful campaign. https://you-are-beautiful.com 08:43 - The Kates http://www.thekates.org 11:52 - How Brittany's act changed from before she took Feminine Comique with Kelsie Huff. https://www.femininecomique.com 13:44 - Arm wrestling. 14:52 - Hari Kondabolu http://www.harikondabolu.com 15:56 - Stone Cold Jane Austen with Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestling http://www.sideshowtheatre.org/performances/productions/cllaw 20:55 - Design experiences. 23:56 - We're Not Gonna Take It. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xmckWVPRaI 25:31 - Events. https://fireflyfestival.com 26:41 - Various comedy shows Brittany has been a part of: The Kiki https://www.facebook.com/TheKikiComedy/ Freakfest https://www.facebook.com/Freakfest-With-Stalter-1246863708773444/?fref=ts VHS: Tape Fear https://www.facebook.com/events/116939252321319/ 31:40 - What else is Brittany working on right now? Performances in the frame of TED Talks. 36:50 - Promotion time Strip Joker https://www.uptownunderground.net/strip-joker https://www.facebook.com/stripjoker/ and Her fake TED talks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoGZhnBVzFg Follow us on Twitter or Facebook Intro Music: "Are You Famous, Yet?" - Laura Scruggs. Outro Music: "AYFY 1" - Christopher Kriz