Professional updates

Even though you've already my last post where I quit the stand up biz, I still have some good news to report.

I've been writing for the Escapist in earnest. I have one article going up in a couple of weeks and I am tentatively assigned another due in January. I'm also trying to expand my journalistic endeavors by querying different magazines but so far no takers. If you know of any publications that need articles about night elves and dragons, let me know.

I'm in the running to land a gig writing for The Lord of the Rings Online. Last year, I heard that an old high school chum worked for Turbine and I emailed him out of the blue to say, hey, I want to be you. He told me to submit a quest design set in Tolkien's world, which I did. He was pleasantly surprised by it, I don't think he expected much from a high school acquaintance he hadn't spoken to in ten years. Turbine ended up hiring internally, but here it is a year later, the game is a moderate success, and they need more quest designers. I've got my fingers crossed.

My short play, Goodbye New York, is going to be performed in a few weeks with a bunch of other short works. The ironic thing is that the play is about quitting the entertainment industry. Sound familiar? Anyway, I think it's a funny show and the production company seems like it's run by cool people. I'll be going to the opening and the party afterwards on Thursday, December 6th.

Here follows the details:

Tickets are now on sale for Fn Productions' first production entitled, 'Stage THIS! an evening of Fn fabulous ten-minute plays'. The show runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm with Saturday matinees at 3pm at the 78th Street Theatre Lab (78th St & Broadway).

Tickets are $18.00 and there are only 12 performances! So, if you are interested, please visit www.fnproductions.org to get your tickets today!

We hope to see you in December!

FYI

I think I may be hanging up the microphone for a while.

Thus far in my professional life, I've often felt that I have too many aspirations. Just in the sphere of writing, I have put equal energy into being a comic, a playwright, an author, a journalist and a screenwriter. No one succeeds at that many professions. Shit, most people can't make it as one of them.

In order to be a successful comic, you have to get on stage. I've met guys who get up every night of the week. They make it their mission to be in front of an audience and craft their jokes over several hundred nights of experience. I don't have the ability to spend that much time. At my best, most productive stage, I was getting up once a week. And that was a just few big shows interspersed with open mics. I'd love to say it was because I have other obligations. I have a wife, I play in a basketball league, I have a weekly gaming group. But I know that, honestly, if I wanted to perform every night, I could have. The truth is that I don't possess the necessary drive. That's a hard thing to admit, but for my sanity I have to pull back somewhere and stand up has had too much of an impact on my psyche.

Getting up in front of people and making them to laugh will always be one of my joys. It's a great feeling and I'm glad that I experienced it as much as I did. I know that I will always have the ability to stand up, grab the mic, and say some funny stuff. That's a good skill to have. And who knows, I may pick it up again in a month or a year. If there is anything I'm consistent with, it is my inconsistency.

For now though, I plan to concentrate on what was my first passion, writing stories. Arguably, it's what I'm the best at. It's what I'm drawn to. When I was a kid and the grownups asked me what I wanted to do, I always answered "I want to be a writer." It's still true. I want to write the next LOTR or at least take up Robert Jordan's mantle.

There is also the possibility of attending school. Part of me would like to become a teacher and get that house in the country that has been looking so attractive the past few years. And maybe get Mephistopheles to pop out a few shorties. That biological clock is ticking honey. Let's get on the ball.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in the past and come to my shows. I know it wasn't easy and I appreciate every morsel of support extended to me. You are a big reason why doing stand up was so fun and I will miss seeing you laugh from the stage.

The microphone is on the hook.

Show tonight

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I got a show tonight. I need you people there. Enough said.

Make it happen. I love you.

Metropolitan Room
Thursday, 8.23.07, 8pm
34 West 22nd St Betw. 5th & 6th Ave.
Tel: 212 206 0440

Great news in Gregland

I mentioned before that one of my plays was a finalist for the Stage This! competition.

I'm happy to report that not only was Goodbye New York chosen to be published (in a real book!) but that, instead of a mere staged reading, FN Productions is actually going to stage a full production. The current plans are for an October three week run with a full on equity showcase contract type show.

More details will follow. Color me excited.

Show tonight, Different night next week.

I'm excited for the show tonight at Max. Matt McCarthy is a funny dude and I can't wait to show him my chops. And by chops, I mean penis.

Next week, I'll be performing at the Metropolitan Room instead of Gotham. The Metropolitan is actually where Gotham used to be, close to the Flatiron building. They renovated and changed it into a jazz club where you can play the "Yazz" flute a la Ron Burgundy.

Even though the have mostly jazz, Jessica Kirson is running a comedy show there on Thursday the 23rd. I'll be there making as manny Dizzie Gillespie references as I possibly can while cleaning out my spit valve.

Metropolitan Room
Thursday, 8.23.07, 8pm
34 West 22nd St Betw. 5th & 6th Ave.
Tel: 212 206 0440

Not just South Park

My brother just sent me this little flash movie produced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It certainly struck a chord with me.*

http://www.coldhardflash.com/swf/music_life.swf

I'll give the snippet that he pulled out as a teaser, "and you were supposed to sing and dance while the whole thing was being played."










*pun intended

Max

I've got another show booked for this month, Max at Mo Pitkin's. I went to this one last week to check it out and Matt McCarthy fucking cracks me up. The large redhead has got the kind of disarming humor you only see in guys that have been making people laugh since they were squeezed out of the womb. Or is that "squoze?" Either way, Matt's fucking funny and he hosts a great show.

Come check it out:

Max
Wednesday, August 15th @ 8:00pm
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction.
#34 Avenue A (b/w 2nd and 3rd), NYC. upstairs in Sadie's Lounge.
Cost: YOUR ETERNAL SOUL!!!!! (free)

http://redrube.blog.com/

Some good news

One of my short plays was chosen as a semi-finalist for the Stage This! Too Ten-Minute Playwriting Contest.

http://www.fnproductions.org/index.htm (Not a permalink)

The play, Goodbye New York, is about an aging actor who dramatically announces to his friend and waitress that he is giving up the life.

28 semi-finalists were chosen from 109 plays and the final 12 plays will get a staged reading and publication in a real book, complete with paper and ink. I'd actually forgotten that I applied to this thing, it was a nice surprise to get an email telling me some decent news for once. I hope I get picked for the book.