Comedy Archives - Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer

Club Cumming • MARCH 4 • Let Enclave Entertain You • No Cover Charge

dorriolds — Sat, 02 Mar 2019 01:53:46 +0000

clubcummingnyc

“Enclave Reading Series, now in its 12th year, returns to Club Cumming with an absolutely stellar line-up of authors, headlined by the one and only Michael Cunningham, a true master of the craft. Essayist and author Dorri Olds, acclaimed novelist and filmmaker Brian Alessandro, and writer/comedian Eddie Sarfaty will all be taking the Club Cumming stage, comprising one powerhouse program of intellect and wit… As usual the lights will be down low, the drinks will be flowing, and admission is free.” — Jason Napoli Brooks, author (SHELTER), and co-creator, co-curator and emcee for Enclave’s monthly shows.

THANK YOU Honeysuckle Magazine!

It’s a night of wordplay, award-winning authors, treats and fun as the famous Enclave Reading Series rides again at a favorite Manhattan hotspot. On Monday, March 4, 7-9PM, join New York’s literati at Club Cumming (505 East 6th Street, Avenue A), for an evening to remember – with no cover charge. From somebody given to fill The Hours to an expert who knows laughter is the best medicine, a journalist speaking truth to power, and a novelist who can pin down the unmentionable, this is bound to be one for the books.

WHO’S READING? MEET THE AUTHORS:

Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize and PEN Faulkner Award Winner

Michael Cunningham is the author of novels A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, The Hours, By Nightfall, and The Snow Queen, and a short story collection, A Wild Swan and Other Tales, all published by Farrar Straus & Giroux. The Hours won a Pulitzer Prize and PEN Faulkner Award and was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. It was also made into a movie starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore.

Cunningham’s fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, the Paris Review, and other publications. A recipient of National Endowment for the Arts, Guggenheim and Whiting Foundation fellowships, he is a Senior Lecturer in English at Yale University.

Eddie Sarfaty (Mental: Funny in the Head)

Eddie Sarfaty, author and comedian, has appeared on The Today Show, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, Logo’s Wisecrack, The Joy Behar Show, and is a subject the documentaries, Laughing Matters and Heartfelt. He has been featured at the prestigious Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, the Toyota Comedy, and the New York Comedy Festival. Sarfaty will be reading from his new novel.

His first book, a collection of hilarious autobiographical essays entitled Mental: Funny in the Head, was the InsightOut Book Club’s selection of the month and his essays have been published in anthologies When I Knew, I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship, andLove, Christopher Street. In addition to offering stand-up comedy workshops at theaters around the country, Sarfaty teaches at NYU and The Theatre Lab in Washington, DC. keeplaughing.com

Dorri Olds, Author, Essayist, Journalist

Dorri Olds has been published in eight book anthologies

Dorri Olds is an award-winning writer — and Honeysuckle contributor — whose creative nonfiction has been published in eight book anthologies.

Before the Cosby and Weinstein scandals, and the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, Olds’ personal essay in The New York Times, “Defriending My Rapist,” went viral. It became required reading at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and led to frequent speaking engagements. She’s been interviewed by CNN’s Dr. Drew and on CBS, ABC and NY1; podcasts; and radio shows. She is currently working on her first full-length book. DorriOlds.com

Brian Alessandro (The Unmentionable Mann)

Brian Alessandro is the author of the novel The Unmentionable Man (Cairn Press). He wrote and directed the feature film Afghan Hound and co-founded The New Engagement, a literary journal that has published acclaimed authors. His plays were performed by the Neighborhood Playhouse, Love Creek Productions, and Monarch Theater Company. Most recently, Brian completed work on the graphic novel adaption of Edmund White’s 1982-classic A Boy’s Own Story for Top Shelf Productions, which won the National Book Award in 2016 for March.

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Don’t miss out on this night for the ages! Enclave Reading Series will present Monday, March 4th, 7-9PM at Club Cumming (505 East 6th Street, Avenue A).

To learn more about The Enclave Reading Series, visit theenclavereadingseries.tumblr.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram.

For more info on events at Club Cumming, visit clubcummingnyc.com or follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Dudes Against Violence Against Women Because DUH – Male Comics Stand Up for Women

dorriolds — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 23:30:10 +0000

Breakthrough comedy night: (l to r) Roy Wood, Jr, Eddie Sarfaty, Murray Hill

Written for Honeysuckle Magazine

The global human rights organization Breakthrough works to “change the attitudes and assumptions around gender that lead to violence and discrimination.” This year is their 4th annual Dudes Against Violence Against Women Because DUH. Featuring comedians from beloved shows including 30 Rock and The Daily Show, the evening of laughs was initially spearheaded by SiriusXM’s Dean Obeidallah (read below for more on the history of his involvement), and will be a night to remember. All tickets sold will benefit Breakthrough’s efforts to shift cultural norms to end gender-based violence. Lynn Harris, author and former VP of Breakthrough, came up with the brilliant title.

The show happens Wednesday, July 18, 2018 at the Gotham Comedy Club at 7:30 PM; doors open at 6:30.

THE DUDES

Judah Friedlander (30 Rock)

Roy Wood, Jr. (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Comedy Central’s This Is Not Happening)

Dean Obeidallah** (Host of SiriusXM radio’s The Dean Obeidallah Show)

Josh Gondelman (writer, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver)

Jordan Carlos (The Colbert Report, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore)

Rob Paravonian (Comedy Central, Dr. Demento, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn)

Eddie Sarfaty (Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, Logo’s Wisecrack)

with special guest and emcee

Negin Farsad (NPR, HBO, Fake the Nation)

Negin Farsad. Photo © The Standard.

More About Breakthrough

Manager of Business and Development Operations at Breakthrough, Jason Fluegge, told Honeysucklethat this is not just any human rights organization. Fluegge said, “In the U.S., there’s this idea that human rights are about oppression in faraway lands. But we’ve got ’em right here, too.”

Breakthrough uses pop culture to make human rights real, relevant, urgent, and actionable.

“We believe,” said Fluegge, “that we can change our culture.” The emphasis, he underscores, is on promoting human rights values—dignity, equality, and respect—you know, how we all should treat each other. “We’ve made online games about immigration and racial justice, and videos about gender norms with puppeteers from Avenue Q, so it makes total sense that we’d do comedy intended to challenge gender-based violence.”

It was Dean Obeidallah who approached Breakthrough several years ago and came up with the idea of doing a comedy show to support the organization’s work. Fluegge recalled, “We decided on a comedy fundraiser that made a statement. It wasn’t only about making money; it was about taking a stand. Of course violence against women has long been an issue, but the show feels particularly relevant and urgent this year. Wow, do we need a laugh.”

Fluegge credited the #MeToo movement for shining a light on what women have endured—and are no longer willing to endure. “There is a need for men to act, not just by questioning their own past actions but to stand up with women and fix this problem in our institutions and our culture.”

In March of 2013, with the launch of Breakthrough’s Ring the Bell: One Million Men, One Million Promises campaign, Breakthrough asked men worldwide to step up and make violence against women their issue. Dean Obeidallah did just that, pledging to devote his skills—comedy and advocacy—toward helping launch the first Dudes Against Violence Against Women in 2014.

Today Breakthrough is asking you to step up and let the world know that gender-based violence isn’t just a women’s issue, but that it is everyone’s issue. Even if you can’t attend the show (though we hope you do!), you can still take part in #Dudes18. Sign up below and for more information on how you can get involved. The time to act is now.

DUDES AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN BECAUSE DUH

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18TH, 2018 AT 7:30 PM

Gotham Comedy Club
280 West 23rd Street
(7th & 8th Aves)
New York City

Watch comedian Rob Paravonian explain why this show matters:

For more information on Breakthrough and #Dudes18, visit us.breakthrough.tv or follow them on Facebook and Twitter (@BreakthroughUS) or Instagram (@breakthroughtv).

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‘The Big Sick’ NOT Just Another Ho Hum RomCom

dorriolds — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 11:36:28 +0000

Call it a romcom or a dramedy but I confess, what really drew me to this movie was hearing that Holly Hunter and Ray Romano were in it. I had a vague notion of what to expect from the star—comedian Kumail Nanjiani—based on his role in HBO’s “Silicon Valley.” So, I knew what he looked like and that he was funny, but could he carry a whole movie?
The answer is a big resounding YES.
The Big Sick is based on Nanjiani’s true story of his rocky romance that led to marriage. He co-wrote the script with his now-wife, Emily V. Gordon, who is played by the talented actor-playwright-screenwriter, Zoe Kazan. The co-producers are big names: Judd Apatow and two-time Academy Award-nominated Barry Mendel. Hunter shines as Emily’s mother, Beth, and Romano shows his acting chops as her father, Terry.
Technically, this film falls into the genre of romantic comedy but that label seems limited here. So many rom-coms bore us to tears with formulaic ho-hum-ness. This flick is not one of those. There are tears but they’re for the right reasons. It is a dramatic tale that explores everything from the ignorance behind the ridiculous fear of Muslims to being too chicken to stand up to family pressure.

Kumail and Emily lived through a strange route to romance. It began with what was intended as a one-night stand. Without meaning to, they fall for each other. Life throws in big obstacles, which creates the high drama and deliciously dark humor.

Mads Mikkelsen Goes From Hannibal to the Chickens

dorriolds — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 02:26:39 +0000

Danish stunner Mads Mikkelsen from NBC’s recently axed “Hannibal” stars in the twisted dark comedy “Men & Chicken.” The film, by Oscar-winning writer-director Anders Thomas Jensen, makes its North American premiere today, Friday, Sept. 11 at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
My movie crush on Mikkelsen began with his 2012 lead role in the Oscar-nominated steamy romantic thriller, “A Royal Affair.” Starring opposite Alicia Vikander (“Ex Machina”), he sizzled a message onto the screen: Hot!
His next starring role was in the award-winning “The Hunt.” Mikkelsen told me during our exclusive interview that he never planned on being an actor. He was a gymnast who just fell into it. After telling everyone I knew about the hot Danish actor, they saw for themselves when he became TV’s “Hannibal.”
In the hilarious “Men & Chicken” (“Mænd og Høns”), Mikkelsen plays drastically against type. Here we see him as Elias, a hare-lipped, prosthetic-nosed, purposely repulsive, mentally compromised, compulsive masturbator.
The movie begins with Elias’ also harelipped-but-slightly less-peculiar brother, the wiser Gabriel (David Dencik). After the death of their father, they receive a message from ole dead Dad. We see only his feet in the poorly aimed video as we hear his startling secret. The sons were both adopted and had different mothers.
Naturally shaken, the now half-brothers set out on a journey to meet their biological father. He is a 100-year-old scientist who lives on Ork, a sparsely populated island, in a crumbling mansion that was once a sanitarium. It is here they find out they have three hare-lipped, large-nosed and mentally bizarre brothers, Franz (Søren Malling), Gregor (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and Josef (Nicolas Bro). This is where the film becomes a cross between the hillbillies in “Deliverance” and “The Three Stooges” on crack.
With no access to females on the island of only 40 inhabitants, Gregor describes the pleasures of doing it with chickens, sheep and a bull. Elias, the guy who’s constantly excusing himself to go yank his weenie, calls Gregor disgusting.
This genre-bending comedy also sneaks sci-fi into the mix via malformed chickens that stroll by on odd feet.
Gabriel, the only bro with some semblance of normalcy, functions in the real world teaching evolutionary psychology and philosophy at a university. In an attempt to civilize his subhuman sibs and teach them morality, Gabriel grabs a dusty Bible off of their father’s bookshelf and instructs Josef to read it out loud. Josef interrupts the tale with an outburst. Because Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac, Josef states he was clearly mentally ill (pot calling the kettle black) and there was nothing to learn from him. It is a Quentin Tarantino-type message about mankind’s search for meaning — and the hypocrisies of religion and society — underneath a comic delivery.
Suprisingly, behind all of this madcap hilarity is a tender story about humanity and existentialism. The ending satisfies and the five misfits, despite their unique brands of oddity, prove to be mostly lovable in the end.
Mikkelsen is a household word in Denmark, and “Men & Chicken” is already a smash hit in theaters. Drafthouse Films just purchased the North American distribution rights. To find out when and where you can see the quirky, oddball movie gem, stay tuned on the “Men & Chicken” website or Facebook page.

Opening in New York & LA on April 22nd.

In Danish with English subtitles. Not rated. 104 min.

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Yay for a Female-Driven, Pro-LGBT, Pro-Choice Comedy Drama That Delivers and Stars Icon Lily Tomlin

dorriolds — Sun, 17 May 2015 15:55:56 +0000

Photos by Dorri Olds
“Grandma” is Lily Tomlin’s movie. She is in top form in a role created just for her. Writer director Paul Weitz (“American Pie,” “About a Boy”) confirmed that he had written the part for Tomlin after the two had worked together on 2013’s “Admission.”
Yay for a female-driven, pro-LGBT, pro-choice comedy drama that delivers. “Grandma” is Lily Tomlin’s movie. She is in top form in a role created just for her. Writer director Paul Weitz (“American Pie,” “About a Boy”) confirmed that he had written the part for Tomlin after the two had worked together on 2013’s “Admission.”

On the red carpet at the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere last month, Weitz smiled as he referred to Tomlin as “so punk rock” and added that she was great as Tina Fey’s mom in “Admission.”
“She was so hardcore, funny and smart that I wanted to do a whole movie with her as the lead.” said Weitz. Before “Admission,” he hadn’t known Tomlin well, “But her intelligence rang like a clear bell,” he said. “It made me think of a character and how much that character would have to offer a young woman under duress.”
Tomlin’s smile lit up the red carpet — corny-sounding, I know, but it did — and she exuded a natural air of hippitude. As I stood next to her on the carpet, she seemed tickled by the grin plastered on my face. I’ve adored her since “One ringy-dingy” and loved her decades later on FX’s “Damages.”

Julia Garner costars with Lily Tomlin in ‘Grandma’

Watch a hilarious clip from the “Grandma” here:
Watch one of my YouTube channel’s most popular videos with Nat Wolff:

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