Podcasts about neo futurists

The Neo-Futurists series continues with dyed-in-the-wool weirdo Emma Casey. We bond over our recovery from the hyperindividualism of mistranslating punk ideology, and she shares a walk through New York City that could only happen with the confidence of youth. She's very cool and thoughtful and lovable, and I hope you love her!Content warning: whiteness, pristine coffee shop hell, personality/worldview copes for not being wealthy or authentic, Taylor Swift, Harold and Maude, Afterlife Tycoon, notebook cartography, the spectacular gift of consciousness. If you believe in This Is Your Afterlife and want the uncut conversations and bonus episodes, become a patron for $5 or $15/month at patreon.com/davemaher. Go see The Neo-Futurists' flagship show, The Infinite Wrench, if you're in Chicago, or find a way to get to Chicago to see it. It is simply the best thing you can see.Follow this show on IG: @thisisyourafterlife, and get more info at thisisyourafterlife.com. Have thoughts on the show? Email thisisyourafterlifepodcast@gmail.com.Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter.All music by This Is Your Afterlife house band Lake Mary.Check out my other podcast, Genre Reveal Party!, where I analyze TV and movies with my friend, writer and cultural critic Madeline Lane-McKinley.

Welcome to The Violet Vulture! This episode is a little different. I'm back from my hiatus and mixing it up by being interviewed by my dear friend and colleague in the creative arts: Emmy Bean. In this episode, we'll get into the following and then some: What triggered the hiatus and what's new How The Violet Vulture will look different (we love a new era) My new new diagnoses and outlook We talk cicadas (not in the way you'd think) How masking your neurodivergence can trigger chronic people-pleasing (even if you have to do it for your survival) The tea on why I refer to myself as a Final Girl (spoiler: it has 3 meanings) And I answer my own signature question If you've been wondering where the hell I've been (loca) and what the deal is with being a self-professed Final Girl, this one is for you. About Our Guest Host: Emmy Bean (she/her) is a singer and performer whose interdisciplinary work combines improvisation, conversation, folk tunes, narrative, poetic inquiry, fabricated histories and embodied expression. Her most recent project Her Only Light is an illumination of the songs of Connie Converse, staged arranged for vocalist and chamber ensemble. She writes songs, sings, and improvises with 80 Foots and The Possible. She performed in Facility Theater's Little Match Girl Passion and created sound and music for their production of Phoebe in Winter. She has collaborated with Opera-Matic, Theater Oobleck, the Neo-Futurists, Beyond This Point, and ~Nois saxophone quartet. Her solo show You're His Child has been seen at the Pivot Arts Festival and Rhino Fest here in Chicago. She holds a Masters degree in Interdisciplinary Art from Columbia College Chicago.Her Only Light:  On the occasion of Connie Converse's 100th birthday, Emmy will be performing Her Only Light, a staged and orchestrated illumination of the art songs and folk songs of Connie Converse. These will be performed as interconnected chamber theatrical works, featuring Emmy as vocalist. The songs are arranged and conducted by composer and multi-instrumentalist Ronnie Kuller for a 6-piece ensemble of violin, viola, cello, harp, and clarinets. Story quilts created by artist Lizi Breit guide the audience through the worlds created by Connie Converse and the people and ideas that inhabit them.  After the concert there will be a celebration –with cake!– and an array of Connie's songs performed by a cavalcade of musicians who have been influenced by her trailblazing work and enduring legacy: Angela James, Emma Hospelhorn, Ami Saraiya, Eiren Caffall, Lawrence Tome, Tom Musick, Chris Schoen, Stacy Erenberg, Julie Pomerleau and more. For more information, visit heronlylight.com. ⁠⁠My website⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@la_soy_emmy⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠emmy@soyemmy.com⁠⁠ Book a reading. Resin & Scrawls on Substack. ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Spooky Sentinel on Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Shop Lively Ghosts with my affiliate link.⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Wanna support my work? Buy me a Ko-Fi. ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: ⁠https://www.purple-planet.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/soy-emmy/support

Meg, Hal and Symphony discuss episode 158 of Welcome to Night Vale: The Battle for Time. They chat about Nashville/NashVile, the bond of Night Vale citizens, and ROBOTS! They are joined by the voice of Kasper Rhodes and all around legend Rob Neill to talk about The Neo-Futurists, Rob's portrayal of Kasper and other fine podcasts. Find out more about calzones on our Patreon.www.patreon.com/goodmorningnightvaleFollow us on Twitter and Facebook.Good Morning Night Vale is a production of Night Vale PresentsHosted by Symphony Sanders, Hal Lublin, and Meg BashwinerProduced by Meg BashwinerEdited by Felicia DominguezMixed by Vincent CacchioneTheme Music by Disparition

The snap of a good jerky stick. The taste of very wet eggs. Venturing off alone to see art. Performing as a Neo-Futurist. Annie Share enjoys her life! It's a skill she's cultivated through a careful selection of little treats.Content warning: yearbook enemies, wanting to die young and riding your bike, imaginary friend Gerald Oliver Dickens (G.O.D.), solo adventures, breakfast food preferences. If you believe in This Is Your Afterlife and want fun bonus episodes, become a patron for $5 or $15/month at patreon.com/davemaher. Annie is mostly offline, so it makes sense you can follow her on Instagram @anniesoffline.Go see The Infinite Wrench at the Neo-Futurists, especially when Annie rejoins the cast in June!Donate to the Chicago Abortion Fund via my page to provide life-saving healthcare to folks who need abortions.Follow this show on IG: @thisisyourafterlife, and get more info at thisisyourafterlife.com. Have thoughts on the show? Email thisisyourafterlifepodcast@gmail.com.Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter.All music by This Is Your Afterlife house band Lake Mary.Check out my other podcast, Genre Reveal Party!, where I analyze TV and movies with my friend, writer and cultural critic Madeline Lane-McKinley.

IT'S HAPPENING IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR: Deutero-Fung, a mold spore with big ideas, attempts to rally his fellow mold spores into blooming immediately and take over the apartment-verse, but Hyphae-Fung, a mold spore with even bigger ideas, warns the community that blooming early will be a mistake. Look out! Cuz it's Happening in your Refrigerator! Written by Greg Kotis Directed by Jonathan Cook Performed by Sol Baird as "Deutero-Fung"; Brad King as "Hyphae-Fung"; and the cast of Urinetown the Musical at Le Chat Noir Theatre as the mold spore community. Intro/Outro music: JK/47 About the writer: GREG KOTIS is a two time Tony™ Award winning author of many plays and musicals including Urinetown (Book/Lyrics), The End of All Flesh, I Am Nobody, The Truth About Santa, The Sting (Lyrics), Lunchtime, Give the People What They Want, Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards, Yeast Nation (Book/Lyrics), Pig Farm, Eat the Taste, and Jobey and Katherine. His work has been produced and developed in theaters across the country and around the world, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, American Theater Company, The Apollo (West End), The Brick, the Eugene O'Neill National Theater Conference, The Geva Center, Goodspeed, Musicals, Henry Miller's Theatre (Broadway), Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Stage and Film, New Line Theatre, The Old Globe, Perseverance Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Soho Rep, South Coast Rep, The Saint James (Off West End), The Tank, and Village Theatre, among others. Future projects include ZM, an original musical about teenaged fast-food workers trying to survive a zombie plague. Greg co-founded Theater of The Apes with his wife Ayun Halliday (www.theater-of-the-apes.com), and is a member of the Neo-Futurists, the Cardiff Giant Theater Company, ASCAP, and the Dramatists Guild. He grew up in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, lives in New York City, and is the proud father of India and Milo. You can watch the full video of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@GatherbytheGhostLight Gather by the Ghost Light merch is available at www.ghostlightpubs.com (Ghost Light Publications) If you would like to further support this podcast, please visit Gather by the Ghost Light is increasing public knowledge of emerging writers and actors (buymeacoffee.com) If you enjoy this podcast, please please please leave a rating on your preferred podcast app! For more info or if you wish to contact us, please visit www.gatherbytheghostlight.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neo-Futurist Abby Pajakowski joins me for an in-person episode from my kitchen, and we get real specific on their hell, a party game, and the exact ways in which a single night in bed can change your life.Content warning: anxiety, depression, someone slowly approaching with a gun, Antz, mailed cremains, glorious limbo, losing your religion and it's chill.If you believe in This Is Your Afterlife and want fun bonus episodes, become a patron for $5 or $15/month at patreon.com/davemaher. Follow the development of Abby's prime time show at the Neo-Futurists' at their website, abbypajakowski.com. On Instagram, follow Abby, @abbypaj, and the Neo-Futurists, @theneofuturists. And if you're in or going to Chicago, see the Neos' flagship show, The Infinite Wrench, ASAP!Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter.And check out my other podcast, Genre Reveal Party!, where I analyze TV and movies with my friend, writer and cultural critic Madeline Lane-McKinley.---Music = Future: "Use Me" / James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing" / Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Christmas came early this year! We are dropping this episode a few days ahead of schedule to commemorate the 180th anniversary of the release of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.   The multi-talented Lavina Jadhwani stops by to discuss her adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which was first produced when her script was discovered on New Play Exchange. In this episode, we discuss:Adapting a well-known story for the stage, making it unique, and being faithful to the original textLavina's approach to adapting for the stageHow surviving cancer gave her a different perspective of her workthe Bollywood film list Lavina curated for Melissa on the spotAnd more!Resources MentionedA Christmas Carol by Lavina Jadhwani is playing at the Guthrie and Penobscot Theatre during the 2023 holiday season.New Play Exchange Nothing For the Group substackAbout Our GuestLavina Jadhwani is a Chicago-based director, playwright, and activist. Directing credits include Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PlayMakers Rep, the Rep of St. Louis, Asolo Rep, Mixed Blood, the Neo-Futurists, the Gift, Teatro Vista, Silk Road Rising, and Rasaka Theatre Company, where she served as Artistic Director for seven years. As a playwright, her work has been seen at the Guthrie, the Goodman, the Gift, East West Players, Cincinnati Shakes, and Indianapolis Shakes, and more. Lavina serves on the boards of the National New Play Network and the Chicago Inclusion Project. She is a proud cancer survivor, dog mom, and child of immigrants. She got her BFA/MA at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and her MFA at The Theatre School at DePaul University.Connect with Our Guestlavinajadhwani.comRead & Recommend Lavina's plays on New Play ExchangeFacebookInstagramConnect with host Melissa Schmitz***Sign up for the 101 Stage Adaptations Newsletter***101 Stage AdaptationsFollow the Podcast on Facebook & InstagramRead Melissa's plays on New Play ExchangeConnect with Melissa on LinkedInWays to support the show:- Buy Me a Coffee- Tell us your thoughts in our Listener Survey!- Give a 5-Star rating- Write a glowing review on Apple Podcasts - Send this episode to a friend- Share on social media (Tag us so we can thank you!)Creators: Host your podcast through Buzzsprout using my affiliate link & get a $20 credit on your paid account. Let your fans directly support you via Buy Me a Coffee (affiliate link).

Neo-Futurist Neil Bhandari and I really hit it off! We bonded over being big talkers and mischievous little guys (in the full convo you can hear on Patreon), and it was a joy to relate to his neuroses and listen to him describe moments of peace and LIFE.Content warning: India, Costa Rica, language barriers, extreme cold, the problem with the afterlife is figuring out the ages.Patreon supporters make This Is Your Afterlife possible and get awesome bonus episodes. Become an Afterhead at patreon.com/davemaher. Catch a Neo-Futurists show if you're in Chicago!Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Twitter and Instagram.And check out my other podcast, Genre Reveal Party!, where I'm analyzing TV and movies with writer and cultural critic Madeline Lane-McKinley.---Music = Future: "Use Me" / James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing" / Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Welcome back to another brand new Whisper in the Wings from Stage Whisper! We were joined by performers Amelia Bethel, Brent Whiteside, Maya Carter and Jezz Chung who are the newest members of the Neo-Futurists. We talked about their show The Infinite Wrench, how each show comes together, and their various amazing theatre experiences. This was such a fascinating and deep dive conversation into a fabulous show and fabulous artists. So don't miss out!The Neo-Futurists PresentThe Infinite WrenchNow-August@ The Kraine TheatreTickets and more information are available at nyneofuturists.org And be sure to follow this great company and our guests to stay up to date on all their future projects and productions:Neo-Futurists:@nyneofuturistsinfo@nynf.orgBrent Whiteside:@ohhbrentohhbrent.combrent@nynf.orgAmelia Bethel:amelia@nynf.orgMaya Carter:maya@nynf.orgJezz Chung:@jezzchungjezzchung.comjezz@nynf.org

Thanks for Hitting Play all season and listening to Hit Play. This episode: some Neo-Futurists chose their favorite Hit Play pieces from the season to highlight. Some of the plays may contain sensitive topics. For more specific content warnings, check out the timecodes below.   We will be wrapping the season with a live podcast recording on February 13th at Caveat on the Lower East Side of New York.    If you like what you hear and want to support the New York Neo-Futurists, subscribe to the show, tell a friend, and leave a review on your listening app of choice. We'd love to hear from you! @nyneofuturists on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. If you want to support in other ways, consider making a donation at nynf.org, or joining our Patreon.    1:18 - wherever, whenever, it's yours by Hilary Asare 3:08 - The: The by Jake Banasiewicz 4:53 [CW: Redacted slurs] - Neo Monologue: Constructed (Or, Questions from the Classroom) — Part 2 by Val Ramirez 8:26 - 13 by Joey Rizzolo 10:04 - Directive to those who are… by Rob Neill 12:16 - To save time, I didn't write a script for this play. An AI wrote it. by Anthony Sertel Dean 17:36 - a glance. a pain. an abstraction. ...... (a hope.) by Kyra Sims Our logo was designed by Gabriel Drozdov Hit Play is produced and sound designed by Anthony Sertel Dean

It's the first backward episode of the show, with Neo-Futurist ensemble member Cat Huck! We start with Cat dissecting one of her plays, "Hold," and I realize we've been talking about her coma moment, the death of her friend Ben.Content warning: suicide, grief, lilac leather, going to war with roosters, one person's love vs. the spirit of Love.Patreon supporters make This Is Your Afterlife possible and get awesome bonus episodes. Become an Afterhead at patreon.com/davemaher. Follow Cat on IG: @cathuckSee Cat and the rest of the Neo-Futurists in The Infinite Wrench every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Chicago.Subscribe to my newsletter, Definitive Answers, for weekly personal and culture essays, plus music recs. And follow me @thisisdavemaher on Twitter and Instagram.---Music = Future: "Use Me" / James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing" / Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Joanna Jamerson (The Neo-Futurists) records the most scatological episode of This Is Your Afterlife yet while leaving the door open to becoming a very devout Christian by the end of her life. Content warning: depression, Steve Harvey, Fifth Harmony, the curse of empathy. If you think This Is Your Afterlife is worth the price of a nice coffee or a cheap meal, fund the show for $5 or $15/month at https://www.patreon.com/davemaher (patreon.com/davemaher). Subscribers get my full convos with guests, the companion podcast This Is Your Aftershow, and shoutouts in future episodes. Leave me a voicemail to play on the show: (313) MIST-URA (647-8872). Follow Joanna on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noanna_namerson/ (@noanna_namerson). Go see https://neofuturists.org/ (The Neo-Futurists) live in Chicago 50 weekends a year, and take their classes! Joanna recommends https://www.mishkanchicago.org/ (Mishkan Chicago), the synagogue where she teared up at the bar mitzvah while doing videography. Subscribe to my newsletter, https://thisisdavemaher.substack.com/ (Definitive Answers), for weekly personal and cultural essays, plus music recs! And follow me @thisisdavemaher on https://twitter.com/ThisIsDaveMaher (Twitter) and https://www.instagram.com/thisisdavemaher/ (Instagram). --- Transcript: https://app.podscribe.ai/series/1246109 (This Is Your Afterlife on Podscribe) Music = Future: "Use Me" / James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing" / Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"

Jasmine Henri Jordan is a performer, writer, teaching artist, and Gemini. She also creates performances with a collective called Hot Kitchen. Jasmine is a Neo-Futurist ensemble member and is a company member of PlayMakers Laboratory. Show Notes: This episode was recorded this summer, a few things have changed: Joe is no longer in a job search. PlayMakers and the Neo-Futurists have resumed in-person performances of their long-running shows, respectively. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/joseph-schupbach/support

Dean Evans is a professional Actor, Mime Artist, and Clown. He has studied Mime and Physical Theater at The School for Mime Theater, The Ohio State University, and with masters Marcel Marceau, Stephen Niedzialkowsky, and Avner Eisenberg. He is an ensemble member of the Neo-Futurists and has performed with Kapoot Clown Theater, Redmoon, Chicago Children's Theater, Second City and as a solo artist. He performs a one man Clown and Mime show called The Magical Exploding Boy, and I'm happy to have him at the party. Follow Dean Evans on social media: Twitter Instagram Follow Ross Kimball on social media: Instagram Twitter This is an Audio Wool Original, produced by Byron McKoy. 

Connor (The Neo-Futurists) and I ponder the possibility of handing out T-Mobile gift cards at your funeral. He talks about what a hassle life is. And he's the first guest not to bring a concrete "coma" to the table, so instead we talk through what waiting for one of these drastic life-rearranging moments is like. There are also a couple long silences. Nothing's wrong. That's just Connor thinking. Content warning: There's talk of suicidal ideation. We're not therapists, we don't solve anything, but we've both had SI before, and hopefully anyone who can relate feels a little less alone from the casual way we talk about it rather than alienated. But if you're sensitive now, that's okay! Check out Connor's extended episode at https://www.patreon.com/davemaher (patreon.com/davemaher). Transcript: https://app.podscribe.ai/series/1246109 (This Is Your Afterlife on Podscribe) --- Learn more about the Neo-Futurists: https://neofuturists.org/ (neofuturists.org) See the Neos in Chicago when they return to doing live performances of their show The Infinite Wrench starting September 18! Listen to Connor's band, PRECARIAT: http://precariat.us/ (precariat.us) Follow me @thisisdavemaher on https://www.instagram.com/thisisdavemaher/ (Instagram) and https://twitter.com/ThisIsDaveMaher (Twitter), and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, Hella Immaculate, at http://thisisdavemaher.com/ (thisisdavemaher.com). --- Intro Song = Future: "Use Me" Transitional Music = James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing" Outro Song = Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles" Support this podcast

The Neo-Futurists are a popular theater collective best known for their long-running show, The Infinite Wrench, that includes 30 plays in 60 minutes. According to the Chicago Tribune: “The Neo-Futurists have created the most successful online show of the pandemic.”  We'll hear from company members, Jorge Silva and Ida Cuttler, about their creative process and listen to short plays including "Eden" written by ensemble members Trevor Dawkins and KR Riiber, plus “Ongoing Covidspondence,” conceived by ensemble member Neil Bhandari as a series of monologues in the form of letters, written and performed by Ida Cuttler. This episode closes out with featured music artist, Jovan Landry.To learn more about Pivot Arts go to pivotarts.org or follow us @PivotArts. This episode was sponsored by FLATS, a Chicago-based apartment community, and created in partnership with Audacious Machine Creative, with editing by Jeffrey Nils Gardner and original music composed by Andrew Hansen. Graphic design by Vin Reed. Your host and producer for Pivot Arts is Julieanne Ehre.

Greg Kotis is the author of many plays and musicals including Yeast Nation (Book/Lyrics), The Truth About Santa, Pig Farm, Eat the Taste, Urinetown (Book/Lyrics, for which he won an Obie Award and two Tony Awards), and Jobey and Katherine. His work has been produced and developed in theaters across the country and around the world, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theater, American Theater Company, Henry Miller's Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Stage and Film, Perseverance Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Soho Rep, South Coast Repertory, and The Old Globe, among others. Mr. Kotis is a member of the Neo-Futurists, the Cardiff Giant Theater Company, ASCAP, and the Dramatists Guild. He grew up in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and now lives in Brooklyn with his wife Ayun Halliday, his daughter India, and his son Milo.

On tonight's final pod of November, Myq discusses gratitudes of the past week, doing podcasts with Sagar Bhatt, Bethany Van Delft, Micah Sherman, Brett Singer, Willie Caldwell, Ivan Anderson, and more. He recommends the Neo-Futurists, pinball, EmailPro, Cobra Kai, the game Codenames, Aesop Rock, the cartoons of Emily Flake and Will McPhail, and the library. He also shares some Thanksgiving movie neologisms. Alternate titles: Your Friends in Denmark or Other Places Home Alone is a Thanksgiving Movie Nightgown Days

Join us in welcoming visiting professors Genevra Gallo-Bayiates and Andy Bayiates on October 19th. Genevra and Andy are Chicago-area playwrights and co-writers of “45 Plays for 45 Presidents”, “The Lowell Offering”, and “45 Plays for America's First Ladies” which is currently running online at The Neo-Futurists and was recently named by Jesse Greene as the “Critic's Choice” in the New York Times. We discuss their work, plays, and their lives as alumni of the world-famous Neo-Futurists of Chicago. ---------- Show Links ---------- 45 Plays for America's First Ladies: https://neofuturists.org/events/45-plays-for-americas-first-ladies/ Washy Ad Jeffy?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDqCP5kQIbo ---------- Links ---------- “45 Plays for America's First Ladies" by Chloe Johnston, Sharon Greene, Genevra Gallo-­Bayiates, Bilal Dardai, & Andy Bayiates. A biographical, meta-theatrical, genre-bending ride through race, gender, and everything else your history teacher never taught you about the founding of America. Catch their recorded show: Oct 13th – Nov 2nd Tickets are only $15 and the show is appropriate for high school-aged kids and up. Find out more information at neofuturists.org See Bob's “The Resurrectionists,” October 28 at 7:00 pm. It's a dark comedy where a pair of graverobbers discover that even the bad can do some good. It's one of six plays being produced in The First Annual Firehouse Fright Night Festival. Tickets only $5 https://www.firehouse.org/event/firehouse-fright-night-festival-2/ Music by ThinkFishTank: https://thinkfishtank.bandcamp.com/ & https://soundcloud.com/thinkfishtank Balderdash Academy Merchandise: https://teespring.com/stores/balderdashacademy https://www.balderdashacademy.com/ Disclaimer: The following podcast was recorded during the Coronavirus Pandemic. The performers and guests used whatever equipment they had on hand during the lockdown. Audio qualities may vary between performers. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/balderdashacademy/support

On this edition of The Arts Section, host Gary Zidek talks to the people at Steppenwolf Theatre involved with bringing a radio play adaptation of ANIMAL FARM to life. The Dueling Critics, Kerry Reid and Jonathan Abarbanel, join the show remotely to talk about the Neo Futurists new show about U.S. First Ladies. Later, Gary chats with the co-founders of the Grammy Award-winning new music ensemble Eighth Blackbird to learn more about a new project they've created that aims to help Chicago performing artists. And Gary catches up with local soul musician Sam Trump.

Zachary Quinto, of Star Trek and Heroes, talks about the new Netflix film adaption of The Boys in the Band. Then he plays a game about famous pits and Pittsburghers. Plus, Welcome to Night Vale's Cecil Baldwin and The Neo-Futurists' Kate Jones make their triumphant return to the show, this time as friend-testants, and podcast host Baratunde Thurston and actor Kiran Deol dine on some trivia about celebrity chefs. Bon Appetit!

Acclaimed actor, casting director, and founder of the Chicago Inclusion Project, Emjoy Gavino, joins Caroline Neff on the podcast to discuss the history of her vital work advocating for inclusion in the city’s theatre scene, as well as how she approaches her craft. Learn how Gavino begins to cast a production, what is on her pre-show playlist, and why she can relate to an image of a dachshund in a lobster costume.Interview begins at 4:04Emjoy Gavino is an actor, casting director, teaching artist, producer and food enthusiast based in Chicago. Her acting credits include A Red Orchid Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Court Theater, About Face Theatre, The Hypocrites, The Second City, House Theatre, Northlight, Remy Bumppo, Victory Gardens Theatre, Paramount, The Broadway Playhouse, Lookingglass, The Neo-Futurists, The Goodman Theatre, Studio Theatre, The Village Theatre, Repertory Actors Theatre, 5th Avenue Theatre, Book-It Repertory and The Gift Theatre, where she is the casting director and an associate artistic director. She is a 2017 3Arts Make a Wave grantee and the founder and training series producer of The Chicago Inclusion Project, through which she has cast for American Theater Company, The Hypocrites, Circle Up (Jackalope Theatre), and In the Works (Theater on the Lake). She is represented by Stewart Talent.The Chicago Inclusion Project is a non-profit organization currently made up by business manager Elana Elyce, founder/training series director Emjoy Gavino, Grant Writer Stephanie Diaz, Community Organizer/Literary Manager Abhi Shrestha and facilitators Arti Ishak and Jessica Vann. CIP is a collective of artists, committed to creating inclusive theater experiences by bringing together Chicago artists and audiences normally separated by ethnic background, economic status, gender identity, physical ability and countless other barriers. By emphasizing inclusive hiring practices and season curation, cultivating a diverse audience by bringing new combinations of artists to as many communities in Chicago (and its surrounding suburbs) as possible, choosing facilities for the multiple projects that are handicap-accessible and keeping price of tickets and classes affordable, The Chicago Inclusion Project programming aims to unite diverse collections of Chicagoans. More at thechicagoinclusionproject.org. A transcript of this episode can be found here: https://www.steppenwolf.org/globalassets/half-hour-podcast/half-hour-ep11-transcript.pdfLearn more at steppenwolf.orgWant to get in touch? Email halfhour@steppenwolf.org

On Episode 75 Of "Your Program Is Your Ticket" I've Begun A New Series Called “Act II…Places” Where I'll Be Speaking With Various Theater Organizations Regarding Their Response To The COVID-19 Pandemic And Their Action Plans To Move Through It Successfully. This Episode Features The Dynamic New York Neo-Futurists Who Discuss Moving Their Unique Brand Of Theater Into The Cyber World!!! Don't Forget To Share And Subscribe! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by a collaborator’s play entitled, “Play For A Friend” Jasmine’s provocation challenged us to make art for the future generations. We were to ask a child in our life what kind of art they wanted to see and then make it. We were to offer it up for their feedback and take the feedback seriously and then remake the art. In this minisode, Haddy and Yassi share their experiences embracing the playful and absurd suggestions that children make and taking them very seriously. Both art projects led to a wonderful and generous intergenerational exchange. Jasmine Henri Jordan is a writer, performer, and teaching artist living in Chicago. She is an ensemble member at The Neo-Futurists, a company member at Playmakers Laboratory, and a founding member of Hot Kitchen Collective. She is a Florida State University School of Theatre alum. Her work is overwhelmingly about queerness, Blackness, pop culture, youth, and making messes https://linktr.ee/live.laugh.blood https://www.instagram.com/live.laugh.blood --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Chisa Hutchinson is an American playwright. Her plays have won multiple awards including the 2010 GLAAD Award, a Lilly Award in 2010, as well as a Lanford Wilson Award in 2015. She was a Lark Fellow as well as a Dramatist Guild Fellow in 2010-11. She was also a cast member of the Neo-Futurists in New York. "The Subject", a new feature length film based on her play that stars Jason Biggs, Nick Abeel, Richarda Abrams,  and Anabelle Acosta, is enjoying a healthy festival run at the moment. | Watch this episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/V7-c8NuiJ3o |In Flowers Through Space streaming online July 9th: https://watch.eventive.org/2020oxff/play/5e9ca225811e53002f7dc453 | Get your Above Water CBD with 20% off using code CARYALLEN at check out: https://www.abovewater.co/ |Be a hero! Join Podhero today: https://podhero.com/denniscahlo | Merch available here: https://www.teepublic.com/user/caryallenpictureshow |Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Episode Summary: Haddy and Yassi brought the crystal ball into the gallery to discuss “Art and Future.” Then they sat down for an interview with writer, performer, and teaching artist, Jasmine Henri Jordan. Finally, this week’s provocation asks the future generation for input on your art. Bio: Jasmine Henri Jordan is a writer, performer, and teaching artist living in Chicago. She is an ensemble member at The Neo-Futurists, a company member at Playmakers Laboratory, and a founding member of Hot Kitchen Collective. She is a Florida State University School of Theatre alum. Her work is overwhelmingly about queerness, Blackness, pop culture, youth, and making messes. https://linktr.ee/live.laugh.blood www.instagram.com/live.laugh.blood Provocation: Ask a kid what kind of art they want to see. Make it. Ask for their feedback. Then re-make it. From the gallery Nahum in Space Climate Change in Art History Record on Voyager Sun Ra Amiri Baraka Janelle Monáe/Cindi Mayweather Black Panther Ruth E. Carter Satellites are Spinning by Sun Ra From the Interview Neo Futurists Hot Kitchen Collective Playmaker’s Laboratory Infinite Wrench Goes Viral Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind Futurism Marinetti Mina Loy --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

On this edition of The Arts Section, host Gary Zidek talks to the artistic director the Neo-Futurists Theatre. The company is finding success with a twist to its traditional operating model by continuing to offer relevant content online. The Dueling Critics, Kerry Reid and Jonathan Abarbanel, join Gary for an in-depth conversation about some recent developments in the local theater scene that involve some big leadership changes and a big campaign at the national level. Later in the program, Gary catches up with Chicago Reader food critic Mike Sula to talk about the publication's new cookbook, READER RECIPES. And Gary learns more about a suburban museum's new online art exhibit that aims to explore this current moment.

Full Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c7Lc2GUkog Join me as I chat with Jorge Silva, Managing Director of The Neo-Futurists in Chicago about the future of the American theatre and how The Neos are changing the game with their new digital platform. FOR MORE ON THE NEO-FUTURISTS: https://neofuturists.org/ THE INFINITE WRENCH GOES VIRAL: https://www.patreon.com/theneofuturists FOR MORE ON JORGE: https://www.silvartist.com/ https://www.nikwhitcomb.com/the-come-up.html

On this pre-quarantine episode of 2 Non Geminis, the non-Gem's (sponsored by Zevia) are joined by Chicago comedy leather daddy Malic White, who talks about what it's like being the star of the Candyman trailer, their very cool transition from performing with the Neo-Futurists to stand-up comedy, and their cool scars from getting violently hit while riding a bike on the dangerous Chicago streets. As always, sponsored by Zevia and this week, zinc lozenges. Stay at home!

Welcome to Episode 034 for the week of December 30th, 2019!This week, Dustie White and Dusty Red return from their competition and holiday break! Thank you all for being so patient with us as we get back into the groove, new and improved!In this episode we talk about geek news, some information about C.O.P.A. and our adventures to The Victor Bar and The Neo-Futurists!Did you know we were busy participating in 'Americas Next Top Podcaster', hosted by Brian Ibbott of Coverville. In Fact, Red and White took 4th and 3rd place, respectively.Support us on Patreon! Like us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Peek in on Instagram! Chat with us on Discord! A special thanks to 'Pepper Coyote' for the use the song 'Drive' for our intro! If you like what you heard, find more of his music here!

Katie Kay Chelena and Michael Improta of the New York Neo-Futurists - an acting company that does non=fiction vignettes - talk about the joy of being a part of a unique playwriting community and also put their skills to the test as criminal bears trying to steal honey from the honey convention version of the Met Gala. It gets wild, folks. The name of the game is Honey Heist, a "one-page RPG" created by Grant Howitt and available online for free. SUCH a good game. One of my favorites for people who are new to RPG-life.

Em Reaves is a wonderful friend/actor/artist/performer/multi-hyphenate-but-with-slashes-and-now-hyphens. They are a member of the Neo-Futurists and more. Please enjoy our conversation, as desired and possible.

Maryland's own Kurt Chiang enjoys a #OceanCold Yuengling. He talks about why he stans for "lagers against all odds", his social media, and Metropolitan Brewing. He indulges with some fantasy and breaks down his history with The Neo-Futurists. Including THE INFINITE WRENCH and directing a current prime time show, Remember The Alamo Chaing Tang Tallon 1.5 oz of Bullet Rye Whiskey 3 oz Black Cherry Juice Yuengling Traditional Lager Top with Filbert's Black Cherry soda

Maryland's own Kurt Chiang enjoys a #OceanCold Yuengling. He talks about why he stans for "lagers against all odds", his social media, and Metropolitan Brewing. He indulges with some fantasy and breaks down his history with The Neo-Futurists. Including THE INFINITE WRENCH and directing a current prime time show, Remember The Alamo Chaing Tang Tallon 1.5 oz of Bullet Rye Whiskey 3 oz Black Cherry Juice Yuengling Traditional Lager Top with Filbert's Black Cherry soda

My new friend Malic drops by the studio today to talk comedy, gender identity, and their time working with The Neo Futurists.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jwbasilo)

Jen Ellison is an actor, writer, director, and professor focusing on comedy and theatre. Throughout her career, Ms. Ellison performed and directed at ComedySportz, Collaboraction, The Neo-Futurists, and The Second City, the legendary improv theater where Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Key and Peele, and Stephen Colbert first learned how to be be funny on stage. As a professor, she is the former lead of an Ethics in Gaming class, analyzing how we, as players, can become somebody else, living through another point of view, experience empahty, and how videogames and cinema are powerful tools of storytelling and human connection. Jen also mentors students on how to become funnier at Columbia College Chicago by teaching comedy classes in the Comedy Studies program. You can check out her work both on stage, and throuhg "Drunk JCrew", a parody of Jcrew's adversiting shots on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook pages.

He's written more than 300 two-minute plays, but the artistic director of Chicago's Neo-Futurists doesn't consider himself a playwright. Brian James Polak finds out why.

For the first time, Virginia Arts Festival presented a series of Fringe shows on the ODU campus. Rebecca shares her thoughts on an evening with the experimental theatre troupe the Neo-Futurists.

The Holden Village Artist Residency in Ecology, Spirituality, and Social Justice awards professional artists the opportunity to work and live for six weeks in the remote mountain community of Holden Village. With a new set of Holden Village Artists in Residence arriving this week, tune in to hear from 2017 Artist in Residence: Hal Baum! Hal Baum is a writer/performer from Chicago. His work has been featured in theaters around the city including The Neo-Futurists where he is a regular performer in their show: The Arrow. To find out more about Holden Village, visit: www.holdenvillage.org To hear more from Hal Baum, visit: https://halbaum.bandcamp.com

On Episode 43 Of "Your Program Is Your Ticket" My Guest Is The Neo-Futurists' Artistic Director Kurt Chiang! We Discuss The History And Deeply Rooted Philosophies Of The Neo-Futurists! Plus, I Quickly Outline The Process Of Writing “We The People: The Anti-Trump Musical” With Leo Schwartz - Performances Start On Friday, January 26, 2018 At Stage 773 In Chicago! And I Recommend Pride Films And Plays Critically Lauded Production Of “YANK: A WWII Love Story” Now Playing At Pride Arts Center In Chicago! (Musical Intro And Outro By The Phenomenal North Coast, NYC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Corey Smith, an artist and friend, joins me for an informal chat about his recent show The New Prairie School, the Midwest, the Neo-Futurists, objects, capital-P capital-A Performance Art, art galleries, and ambient fish.   Music by SJ Roberts: Find more at sjroberts.bandcamp.com

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

We sit down with Jessica Anne to talk about her new book A Manual for Nothing, her time with The Neo-Futurists, the hellfire of DeKalb, and our cat getting into… The post Scapi Radio 04.28.17 Jessica Anne appeared first on Scapi Magazine.

Discuss on Reddit ➤ Support the Show ➤ Jimi and Tommy take a trip round the Natural History Museum with their favourite fab foursome - The FourBs - as they discuss their musical ‘Now. Here. This.’ They contemplate the importance of subtlety in cast recordings, high school moments that made them hot and queer representation in musical theatre for their weekly socio-political fix. Now. Here. This. (Original Cast Recording) Amazon / iTunes / Spotify SHOW NOTES What’s your name for the ‘FourBs’ - Susan Blackwell, Jeff Bowen, Heidi Blickenstaff, Hunter Bell? Tell us on Twitter! Check out ToS If you haven’t already, and you’re a musical theatre nerd, go check out the FourBs’ first work ‘[title of show]’. Those guys sure do love their punctuated titles… Neofuturists Interested in experimental fringe theatre? Have a peek at the stuff that The Neo-Futurists are getting up to! Dazzle camouflage Let musical theatre and Jeff Bowen guide you into a whole new world of education with what the hell Dazzle Camouflage actually is.Hey podcast fans, what makes you hot? Let us know over on our subreddit! Necessary ‘Now. Here. This.’ watching is the gang’s Kickstarter documentary - you can watch it here! Surprise! We got to interview the gorgeous and glorious cast of ‘Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812’ while they were recording their original Broadway cast recording (due next month!) - have a look at us speaking to Denée Benton here! A PHILOSOPHICAL QUIZ QUESTION What musical features Socrates, Jean-Paul Sartre and L. Ron Hubbard in its cast?

In honor of Chicago’s 180th birthday, Amy Guth welcomes a group of guests that are celebrating Chicago in their work. Author Cole Lavalais recently founded the Chicago Writer’s Studio, a business dedicated to helping writers both new and experienced through classes such as “Writing 101” and “Finishing Your Novel”. Amy and Cole talk about the process […]

We’re baaaaack and so excited to be here! Liz, Jose and Lindsay discuss six new shows from beyond Broadway in New York City. What we saw: The Great American Drama, created by Connor Sampson, The New York Neo-Futurists (00:59) En El Nombre De Salomé, written by Marco Antonio Rodríguez, Repertorio[...]

The co-creator and co-writer of the #1 international hit podcast Welcome to Night Vale and New York Times bestselling co-author of the novel of same name, Jeffrey Cranor, dropped by the show to talk about the importance of collaboration, deadlines, and bad writing. In addition to producing and touring with the theater ensemble The New York Neo-Futurists, the playwright and author tours with live shows for the Night Vale Presents production banner, co-created with Joseph Fink. Night Vale Presents now produces four podcasts that regularly sit at the top of the charts — including Within the Wires, also created by the author — and recently published two volumes of episode transcripts that include extras for fans of their original show. Welcome to Night Vale has been described as “NPR meets The Twilight Zone,” a sci-fi broadcast about a small desert community where strange mythologies abound, and all conspiracy theory is potentially real. If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. In Part One of this file Jeffrey Cranor and I discuss: Why writing collaboratively can help you become less ‘precious’ about your work How a hit podcast producer and novelist divides his time An author’s comforts in coffee and sports talk radio Why the law of averages says you won’t always find the words The import of building a platform and setting a deadline for publish Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes Audible is Offering a Free Audiobook Download with a 30-day Trial: Grab Your Free Audiobook Here – audibletrial.com/rainmaker How #1 Hit Podcast ‘Welcome to Night Vale’ Co-Creator Jeffrey Cranor Writes: Part Two Welcome to Night Vale Welcome to Night Vale on Facebook Night Vale Presents Jeffrey Cranor on Amazon Jeffrey Cranor’s website NY Neo-Futurists Theater Company Jeffrey Cranor on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter The Transcript How #1 Hit Podcast Welcome to Night Vale Co-Creator Jeffrey Cranor Writes: Part One Voiceover: Rainmaker FM. Kelton Reid: Welcome back to The Writer Files. I’m your host, Kelton Reid, here to take you on yet another tour of the habits, habitats, and brains of renowned writers. The co-creator and co-writer of the number one international hit podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, a New York Times best selling co-author of the novel of the same name, Jeffrey Cranor dropped by this week to talk to me about the importance of collaboration, deadlines, and bad writing. In addition to producing and touring with the theater ensemble, The New York Neo-Futurists, the playwright and author tours with live shows for the Night Vale Presents production banner co-created with Joseph Fink. Night Vale Presents now produces four podcasts that often sit atop the charts, including Within the Wires, also created by the author. They recently published two volumes of episode transcripts that include extras for fans of their original show. Welcome to Night Vale has been described as NPR meets The Twilight Zone. A sci-fi broadcast about a small desert community where strange mythologies abound, and all conspiracy theory is potentially real. In part one of this file, Jeffrey and I discuss why writing collaboratively can help you become less precious about your work, how a hit podcast producer and novelist divides his time, an author s comforts and coffee and sports talk radio, why the law of averages says you won’t always find the words, and the importance of building a platform and setting a deadline for publish. If you’re a fan of the Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews as soon as they’re published. This episode of The Writer Files is brought to you by Audible. I ll have more on their special offer later in the show but if you love audiobooks or you’ve always wanted to give them a try, you can check out over 180,000 titles right now at Audibletrial.com/Rainmaker. We are rolling, today, with a very special guest, Jeffrey Cranor, co-author and co-creator of the international phenomenon that is Welcome to Night Vale. Thanks for coming on the show, Jeffrey. Jeffrey Cranor: Thanks for having me, Kelton. Kelton Reid: I’m just fascinated by kind of what you guys are doing and all the writing projects you must have in the hopper just is inspiring to see. It looks like you ve just recently released some new books. They look like transcripts, so those are collections of kind of the transcripts of the shows. There are two collections now, is that right? Jeffrey Cranor: Yeah. We put out the first two volumes which would be the first two years of Welcome to Night Vale episodes. That gets us through June of 2014. Kelton Reid: Wow. Jeffrey Cranor: We’ll hopefully have the next two years published pretty soon, and then we’ll, hopefully our goal is just to have an annual volume of Night Vale episodes each year. We added a bunch of, just so it wasn’t just transcripts, we added a bunch of kind of director s-notes-style background info on some of the episodes, and things like that. Kelton Reid: Right. There’s some bonus stuff in there for the die hards and they can kind of see, like glimpse into your brilliance as a writer. You’ve done so many things as a writer. I understand you have a theater background, you’ve been a playwright and a theater producer. Now you are a best selling author, a New York Times bestselling author of this novel, Welcome to Night Vale, of the same name. So you’re a busy guy, and you have all these other projects in the hopper with the Night Vale Presents, it seems like you have four shows now under that banner. Jeffrey Cranor: Mm-hmm (affirmative). The Challenges of Being an Aspiring Playwright Kelton Reid: Just a lot going on. Maybe to start out, for listeners who aren’t familiar with the Night Vale international phenomenon that is the podcast and the best selling books. Give us a little bit about your origin just as a writer, and how you got here. Jeffrey Cranor: Sure. Origin as a writer is really just, I don’t know, I think kind of just like origin of any other sort of career, you just sort of like it a lot. I can t remember when I started writing, I remember as early as elementary school, just writing satires of some of the books that were read to us in classes by teachers. You would write these little goofs on that and it would be a thing that you would, that I would just pass it to a friend and they would laugh and giggle and stuff. It would be a one page deal. It wasn’t like I was writing books as a ten year old. So yeah. For me, I read a lot of just whatever seemed fun to read. I remember reading Hardy Boys. I remember reading a lot of Choose Your Own Adventure books. I read Alice in Wonderland over and over as a kid. I visited my grandparents a lot as a kiddo, and they had a lot of humor books, people like Erma Bombeck and Dave Barry and Lewis Grizzard, and I read a lot of them. I really liked comedy. I just always thought, I just realized at a young age I wanted to be a comedy writer. And I wasn’t really sure what course that would take, because I’m not really a get up in front of people and make people laugh type of person, but writing seemed a lot of fun. So yeah, I got really into Dave Barry all throughout high school, and I tried to be a humor columnist for my high school newspaper, and got into journalism, and that is what my degree was in when I went to university. I think that was sort of my goal, but I got really invested in theater in college, I just enjoyed it so much. I enjoyed watching stage plays. I enjoyed reading them, so I started my hand at playwriting and trying that, that’s been kind of a long process for me, because the world of making theater is really expensive. There’s a lot of gatekeepers along the way. It’s a very tough field to break into. It just takes a long time to get your work accepted there’s a lot of different stops along the way. It’s not like submitting a manuscript to a publisher and saying, “Hey. I’d like to print my book.” You just get a lot of no, no, no, no. Then, eventually someone will say, “Sure. We’ll print this book.” In playwriting it’s just a lot of people going, “Sure. We’ll get some actors together and do a staged reading,” and that’s fun but also a little disheartening, just because it takes so long to produce stuff. Why Writing Collaboratively Can Help You Become Less Precious About Your Work Jeffrey Cranor: Anyways, I got involved, like in my early 30’s, so almost ten years ago I got involved in a theater company called The New York Neo-Futurists here in Manhattan. It’s a collective of writers and performers, and we do this weekly show called Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, and it is basically 30 plays on a timer of 60 minutes. We do a show where we have 30 short plays. Kelton Reid: Wow. Jeffrey Cranor: We do them in a random order every night based on every play, the audience just calls out the next play that they want to see, and we do that play. We have a timer on the wall that is 60 minutes long, if it runs out before we’re done, well too bad, we just stop in mid-show and say, “Goodnight, everyone,” and send you home. It becomes this kind of theater-as-sport sort of thing as competing against a timer, and we write new plays every week for it, too. Kelton Reid: Amazing. Jeffrey Cranor: It was just really a wonderful thing for me as a writer to do that because it forces you to not be precious about your work, it forces you to make new things constantly, to always think about reinventing yourself. That was really good for me. That really helped take a lot of the load off because as a playwright, it’s all about this one work, and you spend months and months, and maybe years just trying to make a thing, and the Neo-Futurists sort of taught me that, that’s not really necessary. Just find a stage and get something up, just make something happen. Be in the now. Be in this moment. Podcasting was really that way, too. Then, I met my co-writer Joseph, who created the concept of Welcome to Night Vale through the Neo-Futurists and we just loved podcasts a lot, so we started making the Welcome to Night Vale show. Kelton Reid: Amazing. Yeah. It s exploded from there into this number one international podcast and best selling book, and more to come. Do you have another novel in the works? The first one is really cool. Jeffrey Cranor: Thank you. Kelton Reid: It’s a standalone story, right? Jeffrey Cranor: Yeah. Kelton Reid: It’s kind of an offshoot of the podcast. Jeffrey Cranor: Yeah. Our goal in writing that novel was to make a novel that anyone could read. We’re not trying to supplement the expanded universe of Welcome to Night Vale. Although, expanded universe is such a weird loaded term. That, and canon, and things like that are always sort of stuff we avoid saying. But yeah, we didn’t want to write a novel that only fans of the podcast would like, because that just seemed sort of dull. I think the podcast develops it’s own fans, and I think we wanted to write something that, if you liked the podcast you would like the novel. I don’t know. It’s been really interesting. We’ve met a few people that never heard about the podcast, saw the book, liked the cover, or something like that, or had vaguely heard about it and read it, and just thought it was wonderful. That was sort of our goal, was to make something that you didn’t really need any other context for. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Jeffrey Cranor: We are working on another one. We are working on a second novel. I don’t have a release date for it yet, but we’re almost finished writing it. Kelton Reid: Cool. Jeffrey Cranor: That’s going to be exciting. It will be set in the same universe, I guess, is the right word to say, for Night Vale. But yeah, we’re just going to try to follow different stories, and kind of create a separate kind of standalone piece that kind of connects to the podcast, connects to the other novel, things like that, but ultimately is it’s own thing. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Amazing stuff. Congrats on all the successes that you all have had. Joseph Fink is the co-author and co-creator of Welcome to Night Vale, and now you’ve been on a book tour, you re doing live shows. You have, now, these four other podcasts, and you re producing Within the Wires, is that correct? Jeffrey Cranor: Yeah. That’s right. Yeah. We’re down to our last two episodes of that show. Kelton Reid: It is quite a ride. Jeffrey Cranor: Thanks. Kelton Reid: I was really enjoying it, today, this morning over breakfast. Jeffrey Cranor: Awesome. I hope you got your breathing exercises in Kelton Reid: I wasn’t sure if I was feeling relaxed afterwards, but it was a lot of fun. It’s amazing, amazing stuff. The newest addition is the Mostly Void, Partially Stars. I’m totally mispronouncing that. Then, The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe and those are those collections that can be found at welcometonightvale.com. And where else can we find your writing? I understand you have a couple of other websites where you put stuff. Jeffrey Cranor: Yeah. Mostly I would say if anything, like my writing is mostly through Welcome to Night Vale, and also through the Within the Wires podcast, and then we have these books out. I occasionally post to my website, but I say occasionally. I may have not updated in the last four or five years. I bet if you went to my personal website right now it would say, “Working on a new podcast idea with Joseph Fink.” We’ll see how that goes. Then, I have my Tumblr blog, Happier Man on Tumblr, so I post to that occasionally. Then, also my writing through the Neo-Futurists I don’t get to perform as often as I used to. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Jeffrey Cranor: We’re going to be, I’m pretty excited, because the first three weekends in London, the first three weekends in November I’m going to be in London, and we’re going to be doing Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind performances at the Rosemary Branch Theater in London for the first three weeks in November. I’m really excited about that, because I one, get to do Too Much Light, again, and two, will get to perform in a totally different country. Kelton Reid: Yes. Jeffrey Cranor: Which will be great, so anyway I’ll be in London at the Rosemary Branch the first three weekends of November, performing my own original writing and the original writing of everyone else in the company. Kelton Reid: Love it. Wish I could be there. I’d love to dig into your process a little bit as a writer. I’m fascinated by kind of the depth and breadth of the stuff you do. I know that I have this memory of someone asking, or Neil Gaiman writes about kind of like people asking him, “Where do you get your ideas?” I’m sure a lot of people ask you that, but I’m not going to ask you that, here. Jeffrey Cranor: Great. Because I don’t know. Kelton Reid: Right. He said, “I make them up out of my head. What else is there.” Jeffrey Cranor: Mm-hmm (affirmative). How a Hit Podcast Producer and Novelist Divides His Time Kelton Reid: I understand that the hard part is the execution, and kind of getting your butt in the chair, and actually getting those ideas down. How much time per day would you say that you are reading or doing research for stuff? Jeffrey Cranor: I guess it’s pretty loose depending on how much, I guess, it’s depending on how strictly you define research. Right? Kelton Reid: Yeah. Jeffrey Cranor: There’s some days where I don’t write a single thing, and I don’t read a single thing, but it may be a day where I’m listening to podcasts all day, or I’ve got an audiobook on in my head, which is sort of like reading. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I spend a lot of time without a book, or even a computer in my hand, and it might just be because I’m going for a run or mowing the lawn or something, and I’m just plowing through some podcasts. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Jeffrey Cranor: Which is, in a lot of ways, given my job in writing podcasts, is the equivalent to a writer reading a book. Right? Kelton Reid: Yeah. Jeffrey Cranor: It’s just getting in the flow of that. Listening to a lot of podcasts, and reading a lot of books. I spend a good chunk of each day trying to do a little bit of that. Some days, like the past couple of weeks, I’ve tried to be in front of a computer every day, writing several thousand words a day, so we can finish the novel. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Jeffrey Cranor: So I can finish the last few episodes of Within the Wires, and all that kind of stuff. It kind of varies, but yeah, I try to get down a few words every day, just because it just feels good to just kind of spit out a few things, and a lot of those are just in a file I call rough material on my computer. It’s just a text file full of miscellaneous junk. Sometimes I’ll try and write a little traffic report for a Welcome to Night Vale episode, or something. Kelton Reid: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Jeffrey Cranor: Maybe it’s just a diary thing. I don’t know. Talking about the leaves changing here in New York. It’s really beautiful out, right now. Just to kind of get a little bit of that out. Kelton Reid: We will be right back after a very short break. Thanks so much for listening to The Writer Files. This episode of The Writer Files is brought to you by Audible, offering over 180,000 audiobook titles to choose from. Audible seamlessly delivers the world’s both fiction and nonfiction to your iPhone, Android, Kindle or computer. For Rainmaker FM listeners, Audible is offering a free audiobook download with a 30 day trial to give you the opportunity to check them out. Grab your free audiobook right now by visiting Audibletrial.com/Rainmaker. I just hopped over there to grab Stephen King’s epic novel 11/22/63, about an English teacher who goes back in time to prevent the assassination of JFK. You can download your pick or any other audiobook free by heading over to Audibletrial.com/Rainmaker. To download your free audiobook today, go to Audibletrial.com/Rainmaker. An Author s Comforts in Coffee and Sports Talk Radio Kelton Reid: Are you brewing a pot of coffee before you sit down to write? Jeffrey Cranor: I brew a lot of coffee. I try to stop drinking coffee once it s past 12pm, just for general health, but yeah, I mean I just love coffee. Yeah. I’ll brew coffee every morning. My morning is kind of my time that if I’m going to just not do anything, I will sit and have a coffee. Sometimes I’ll go out and sit on the porch, if the weather is nice, and just drink coffee, and maybe put on a podcast, just listen to that for a little bit. Maybe do a crossword, just kind of unwind from the stress of sleep, and then kind of once I’ve kind of gotten through my morning coffee, I’ll run downstairs and start actually typing on things. Kelton Reid: Nice, nice. Once you get going and kind of get into the writing mode, then do you still have the headphones on? Do you listen to music, or do you prefer silence? Jeffrey Cranor: For a long time I used to just have headphones on all the time. I’ve gotten to the point now, especially in writing, in writing the novel, I’ve kind of gotten out of the habit of listening to anything while I write. Now, I kind of try and work in silence if I can, but for many years I would write while listening to sports talk radio. I would tune in to, and I don’t know why that is, I think it’s because I’ve listened to, I’m a sports fan, so I would listen to sports talk for a long time. I don’t know that sports talk radio is good or good for you, however it’s kind of relaxing to me. I don’t know. It just sounds like people in the background chatting. It is kind about the same thing, over and over again. Every now and then there’s a moment when I can stop and hear a really interesting story, like this person really did some research and has this interesting story to tell, so I’ll stop and listen to that. A lot of it is just, I don’t know, callers calling in complaining about the Cowboys defense or something. It’s like, okay, this is just comforting. This is just a thing happening. It feels good to just kind of type with some energy happening in the background. Music is hard for me, because I will start getting into the music, and then will forget to write. Kelton Reid: Yeah. That’s an interesting one. I haven’t heard it before. I imagine it’s kind of like those guys you meet in a bar who are just total strangers, but all of a sudden they want to share their opinion with you. Jeffrey Cranor: Right. Kelton Reid: It’s okay, it’s like, Yeah, totally. Yeah. All right, man. Go on about the defense. Jeffrey Cranor: You hear the same thing over and over again. I mean there’s only so much you can hear about, worry about any usage of the Red Sox middle relief rotation. It’s like I’ve heard all these arguments before. This is great. It’s very comforting because it’s something from childhood. Why The Law of Averages Says You Won t Always Find the Words Kelton Reid: Cool. Here’s the million dollar question for all writers. Do you believe in writer s block? Jeffrey Cranor: No. I don’t. I mean, let me hedge that a little bit by saying, I believe if you feel that you have writer s block, then I guess you do. I’m not saying that you can overcome any moment where you can t think of a good idea. There are some days, I don’t know, just writing is harder than other days. Some days running is harder than other days. Some days I don’t want to have to mow the lawn. You just do, and some days you just do a better job at mowing the lawn than others. I think the thing with writers block is that, I don’t know, let’s go back to the sports analogy, it’s like a batting slump. Right? The law of averages in baseball is just that you are not going to constantly hit 300. You are not going to hit three out of every seven, or three out of every ten at bat. You are going to have stretches where you’re only get three hits out of 20, or 25 at bats, some days you’ll have ten straight at bats with a hit, or getting on base. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it s not going to come back around. You always, like in baseball, as in writing you just sort of trust your process, trust your body, trust you mind, that you’ve been doing this for years. It’s going to come back around and I don’t think there is any shame in taking a step away from your computer for a little bit and saying, It’s just not there. I think you have to give yourself a fighting chance, and not give up after 30 minutes. Some days it’s not there for you, and go out, clear your mind, do something else, come back later. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. Do something to kind of help start it up. I don’t. Writers block sounds so, has always sounded so, like, permanent and that this is a condition that you can t get over. Neurologically, maybe there is something to that. Chuck Knoblauch of the New York Yankees once just stopped being able to throw the ball to first base. He literally could not throw the ball to first base. I think the same thing happened to the Red Sox catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who just stopped being able to throw the ball correctly. I’m sure there’s some neurological thing that says, oh suddenly you cannot remember how to do a really basic function. Kelton Reid: Right. Jeffrey Cranor: I don t know, I think there are a lot of ways around it. I think if you are writing all the time, that’s great. I think where writer s block seems really profound is when you are on a deadline. You re like, I have until 8am tomorrow morning to finish this ten page paper due for my econ class. I have writer s block. Well, of course you have writer s block now, because there s a lot of pressure on you to finish it immediately. Kelton Reid: Can we see a note from your doctor? I’d love to take in your workflow because, I mean, it seems with the different types of writing you are doing that you have some processes in place. Are you a Mac or a PC guy? Jeffrey Cranor: I’ve been on a Mac for the last, probably the last seven years, now. Kelton Reid: Yeah. And are you working in Microsoft Word or Scrivener primarily, or do you kind of bounce around? Jeffrey Cranor: I have a program called TextWrangler, which is a software developing platform, it’s basically a text only platform. It’s made for programmers. I usually just set it to text only, and not HTML, or Java, or C++, or whatever it’s wanting to do it’s programming. I used to make websites as a freelance job. I used to code websites, back when web coding was really simple, like back in the late 90s and early aughts when it was HTML CSS sort of stuff. I’ve always had a program like this on my computer and I started writing in it because there is no formatting. Kelton Reid: Right. Jeffrey Cranor: There is just, you just have your letters, and spaces, and paragraphs, and that’s it, It kind of keeps me from messing with all the bells and whistles of Microsoft Word. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Whereas my friend Sonia says, “The dancing bologna.” Jeffrey Cranor: Right. The Import of Building a Platform and Setting a Deadline for Publish Kelton Reid: Cool. Do you have some organizational hacks that kind of keep you in line with your multiple projects, multiple deadlines that you can share with us? Jeffrey Cranor: I think the number one, and this seems sort of obvious, but I think the number one thing to keep me organized is deadlines. And that seems really obvious, because it’s built right into your question, which is deadlines. But, I think on the outside of any project, when I want to do something and I cannot tell you how many times in my life I’ve said, I want to do a thing, and then I just never do it. And you tell people, I’m thinking about this kind of project, I’m going to write, a thing where it’s like this, and people are like, “Cool, cool.” But, then you don’t every really actually do it. And I found in theater once I sort of, you know, talking about the Neo-Futurists earlier this idea of just getting your work out there, finding a platform upon which to put your work, and not wait around for like submitting it to places or going through this longer process of just saying, “You know what? I’m going to self produce this,” or “I’m just going to find a place that I can do this, and I’m going to take it on myself.” Once you do that, you have a deadline. You’ve rented a theater. You’ve set a place to do a thing, and now you have to do it. Once you have a deadline that solves 90% percent of your problems, because after that you know just have to make it. I feel like, for me anyway, having the responsibility to actually make something, because then it’s no longer about whether or not I have a good idea, now it’s whether or not I’m going to fulfill the promise I made to the theater that I rented, and the people I invited to see the show. Now it has nothing to do with the quality of my idea. I just have to trust that I’m good at writing enough to execute it. Kelton Reid: Right. Jeffrey Cranor: That helps a lot, and I’ve done a lot of bad writing and a lot of bad theater. I’ve done a lot of bad of those things, but that’s fine. You just do it and you move on. I think the other thing that I’ve found really helpful, in podcasting and theater you just sort of naturally have to do this, which is working with collaborators, and having collaborative efforts as a writer is really, really great because it just … One, it broadens your own horizons as a writer. It makes you think about the way other people write, and other people have good ideas. There is someone else in the process to be like, “I don’t know that that’s a good idea,” or “I’d kind of like to avoid this particular trope.” Kelton Reid: For sure. Jeffrey Cranor: That’s really good to hear in a collaborative process. Plus, they help you stick to you deadlines. It s one thing to let yourself down, it’s totally another thing to let other people down, and I don’t like doing the latter. Kelton Reid: Yeah. Jeffrey Cranor: So that’s it. Other organizational hacks, when I sit down to write I’ve taken to turning off my phone, and my WiFi on my computer. I don’t write by hand anymore, because it s just too slow. Sometimes I jot notes in a notebook, but mostly everything is done on the computer, now. I will shut down my WiFi and I will close everything but my text editor. Then, I’ll just write. If I have a question that I need to look up, I will just highlight it with a series of pound signs, so I can go back and search for those later. So yeah, I do that just to keep me from going down the rabbit hole of, You know what I’m going to check, I just got a text message, let’s see what this is, or, Oh, somebody needs this from me on email. I’m going to go ahead and do that. I’m just trying to go back to the 80s and 90s when you just couldn’t reach everyone all the time, whenever you wanted. Kelton Reid: Right. Yeah. That’s fantastic. Because, you know, I hear writers say that they’ve got these apps that will shut off the internet, or whatever, but the easiest way to do it is actually shut off the internet. Jeffrey Cranor: Yeah. Just go completely off the grid. Kelton Reid: That’s the way it should and there’s no going back. Thanks so much for joining me for this half of a tour through the writer’s process. If you enjoy The Writer Files podcast please subscribe to the show and leave us a rating or a review on iTunes to help other writers find us. For more episodes, or to just leave a comment or a question, you can drop by WriterFiles.FM. You can always chat with me on Twitter @KeltonReid. Cheers, talk to you next week.

In this episode, George chats with Cecil Baldwin, the Voice of the Welcome To Night Vale. They discuss the origins of the podcast, the Neo-Futurists, longform storytelling, his experiences as a writer and performer, and the appeal of horror and the macabre...

This week, Bill is joined by Kate Hardiman, Bilal Dardai, and Trevor Dawkins to discuss The Neocade, a video game fundraiser for the Neo-Futurists coming up on Thursday November 12th. Along with showings from Bit Bash and the Video Game Art Gallery, they are producing a video game themed edition of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind titled Game Positive. The 3 talk to Bill about their personal game interests, the event, and the growing cultural weight of video games.

Kevin and Kornflake are back in Chickentown, but can't stop screaming about FuMPFeST! This week we review our whole crazy weekend at this funny music convention in Wheeling, Illinois (a town Kornflake would visit just to have breakfast). Highlights include: Kornflake's water breaking (what?), an Inspector Gadget chorus, Kenny Rogers-themed water aerobics, a Pod of Destiny field trip to see the Neo-Futurists, The Logan Awards, a shocking allegation from The Boobles, Dumb Parody Ideas, Dementia Smackdown Wrestling, Doornail spilling stuff, and the ancient art of "padlockigami." Plus, of course, performances by Insane Ian, Bad Teenage Moustache, TV's Kyle and Lindzilla, Tim Cavanagh, Drew Jacobs, the great Luke Ski, Steve Goodie, Carla Ulbrich, The Arrogant Worms, Smashy Claw, Matt Griffo, Todd Chappelle, Devo Spice, Carrie Dahlby, Power Salad, Rhiannon's Lark, and more! Also: Apparently we have to wear sparkly fairy wings this week. One of us is not happy about this.

We talk to the creators and cast of Night Vale, a bizarre and beloved fictional podcast, about the extreme enthusiasm of their fans and taking the show on the road. Then we get to know trans women who made history in the fight for LGBT equality.

Composer and multi-instrumentlst John Szymanski who is an artistic associate with The Neo-Futurists and also plays with My My My and Bethany & The Two Johns stops by to talk about composing for theatre, producing and engineering albums, and playing many roles in many bands.   We also discuss the self-titled album by Emitt Rhodes

How -- and why -- would you tell the tragic story of the 1903 Iroquois Theatre disaster as a clown piece? Playwright/actor Jay Torrence and director Halena Kays join Anne Nicholson Weber to discuss the development of their unlikely and haunting hit, Burning Bluebeard, which was originally created at The Neo-Futurists and is now being remounted by The Ruffians at Theatre Wit.

In this episode of Jughead's Basement, John and friends resuscitate the Mr. T Experience's 1996 album, Love Is Dead. This edition features interviews with all of the '96 era member's of the band; Frank (Dr. Frank) Portman, Jym Pittman, and Joel Reader. Along with producer Kevin Army, and Lookout Records Representative Christopher Appelgren. Also featuring performances pieces from Michael T. Fournier and Evan Hanover. "Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba" : Michael T. Fournier has written a novel titled "Hidden Wheel" as well as a book-length discussion of the Minutemen's "Double Nickels on the Dime" album (for the 33 1/3 series). He is the editor of Cabildo Quarterly, a broadsheet literary journal, and plays drums in Dead Trend. He and his wife Rebecca live in Western Mass with their cat. "Thank You (For Not Being One of Them)" : Evan Hanover is an anthropologist by day and a dramaturge and photographer by night. This is the latest in a string of collaborations with John Jughead, many of which have been with the Neo-Futurists, with whom he is an Artistic Associate. Also, he sincerely would like to thank you for not being one of them. Please support Jughead's Basement by becoming a patron at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4145447

In this episode, John and friends put Operation Ivy's Energy LP under the microscope. Featuring pieces by Tim Stafford, Joe Jacob, Bradley Adita, Matt Ellin, Connor Kalista, and Sonja Amazonka. Also, interviews with Operation Ivy's lead vocalist Jesse Michaels, and Lookout Records co-founder Larry Livermore. WHAT IS OPERATION IVY: Jesse Michaels 01. Knowledge (Intro by John Jughead Pierson) 02. Sound System (Jesse Michaels Interview) 03. Jaded (Tim Stafford) 04. Take Warning (Larry Livermore Interview) 05. The Crowd (Joe Jacob) 06. Bombshell (Bradley Adita) 07. Unity (Matt Ellin) 08. Vulnerability (Jesse Michaels Interview) 09. Bankshot (Larry Livermore Interview) 10. One Of These Days (John Jughead Pierson) 11. Gonna Find You (Jesse Michaels Interview) 12. Bad Town (Connor Kalista Part I) 13. Smiling (Larry Livermore Interview) 14. Caution (Jesse Michaels Interview) 15. Freeze Up (Sonja Amazonka) 16. Artificial Life (Jesse Michaels Interview) 17. Room Without A Window (Jesse Michaels) 18. Big City (Connor Kalista Part II) 19. Missionary (Larry Livermore Interview) Last Question (Jesse Michaels Interview) The Cast Jesse Michaels: was the lead singer and songwriter for Operation Ivy. His other bands have included Common Rider and Classics Of Love. He is now working on a novel to be released sometime this year. Tim Stafford: is a Chicago writer, performer, husband, and Father. He can be seen regularly with the Chicago based The Encyclopedia Show. Larry Livermore: is the founder of Lookout Records. He has also written for Maximum Rock N Roll. He is also working on a book. And has a website with much writing: www.larrylivermore.com Joe Jacob: is a professional motion graphics animator living in Chicago. He also engages in various forms of writing, the results of which tend to toil in obscurity and fuel his narcissistic martyr complex. Bradley Adita: is a punk house survivor, juggler of miscellania, publisher of A Day In The Air zine, and "Head Butthead" at Pop Punk Dot Com. Matt Ellin: is the youngest writer we have had on this podcast, 13 Years Old! He discovered punk rock and its various offshoots a few years ago through exposure to The Ramones and The Sex Pistols, and it’s changed his life for better or worse. He immediately took to singing (And more recently playing bass) in bands. He listened to punk rock religiously and studied its stories. As a musician, He has no desire to be generic and he wants to do things in punk that haven’t been done. As a writer, he likes to bring new ideas and philosophies into the scene. Connor Kalista: was born and raised in Texas. After he finished school there and abroad, he lived in Chicago, where he worked in museums and made lots of theater. Mostly with the Neo-Futurists but also with Theater Oobleck, Plasticene and Schadenfreude. He now lives in Brooklyn where he works as a film and video editor and most recently completed work on Without Shepherds, a documentary about Pakistan that will premiere at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival. He is currently at work on a documentary about Somali pirates. He still makes theater and in 2011, he co-created and performed with the New York Neo Futurists in the Drama Desk nominated production, The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions on Eugene O’Neill, Volume One: Early Plays/Lost Plays. He still goes to lots of live shows and wishes he had more time to draw. Sonja Amazonka: Sonja always felt that there was something inherently wrong with the world, and was happy to discover likeminded people in the Belgrade punk scene when she was a teenager. Punk rock inspired her to try and understand society and the way in which people make it up in their heads, thus she became a social anthropologist. Sometimes, when she’s not too busy writing academic papers, she writes short fiction. She is certain that her voice sounds more nasal when she’s speaking English. Please support Jughead's Basement by becoming a patron at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4145447

Our podcast this week features Greg Allen, founding director of The Neo-Futurists, and Bilal Dardai, one of the ensemble members. They take Anne Nicholson Weber through the history of the company that has been playing Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind for 23 years and explain its unique aesthetic and methodology.

In this episode: The Neo-Futurists are back with a new performance piece. THE SOUP SHOW celebrates the 30th anniversary of Women's History Month, and the three writer/performers, Desiree Burch, Cara Francis and Erika Livingston stop by to talk about their racy and provocative production. The Prospect Theatre Company's new musical, THE HIDDEN SKY is underway, and we talk with Composer/Lyricist Peter Foley and Book Writer Kate Chisholm about their futuristic musical based on a short story by Ursula LeGuin as well as hear a couple of songs from the show. The Queen's Company is known for their all-female productions of classical plays, and they are back with THE WONDER. Director Rebecca Patterson and actors Virginia Baeta and Abbi Hawk stop by to chat about their production, what it means to be in an all-female cast, and stigmas still facing women playwrights. Marty Cooper is back with ON THE POSITIVE SIDE Diagnosed with HIV about three years ago, Dan Horrigan has turned his experiences into a one-person show, MY AiDS, as a fundraiser for various LGBT groups in the NY Metro area. He discusses his journey as well as his group, At Hands Theatre Company. STUCK, (presented by Bulldog Theatrical) a play about people stuck in a dead-end job in the middle of nowhere, is currently running through this weekend. Director Marshall Pailet and Actors Kate MacCluggage and Athena Masci discuss the show and their own experiences (or lack thereof) of their own similar situations.

In this episode we talk with Stephanie Shaw. Fun fact: Matthew and Connar met during Stephanie's Realism class. We talk to Stephanie about growing up with her "tornado" of a dad, life at Columbia when she was a student, working with the Chicago Reader, her time at the Neo-Futurists, giving birth to dragons, Urinetown, and the role of theatre. It's a WILD time!