Yes, I do seem to have an affinity for bad guys that forget they're bad guys.
The latest issue of Astonishing Adventures has hit the internets. Soon, the hardcopy will be available at Amazon.com. Previous issues are still available.
Continuing my unbroken streak, this issue contains yet another adventures of The Auslander, this time with art by Larry Nodolsky. "My Hostage, My Hero" finds the mysterious foreigner with a debilitating injury and minutes to stop a diabolical plot. Whats a good guy to do? Force somebody to help him, what else?
It was not the first time the white-haired foreigner had heard the crack of bone. It wasn’t even the first time in the last two minutes. It was, however, the first time that the cracking sound had emanated from his own body.
And check it out, the Mad Pulp Bastard himself, Bill Cunningham has a story in it. It's called "Passover" and I think I'll go read it right now.
These are things I could have written about but didn't because I was all wrapped up doing Mastermind.
PALEYFEST - DOLLHOUSE
Pretty cool. A lot of the rightmost panelists didn't talk a lot, but Joss did. It's easy to listen to him talk about anything on account of him being, you know, witty. Nothing major in the way of news that came out it, but it was certainly interesting from the perspective of a series with network troubles and a somewhat disgruntled exec.
Matt Roush, Joss, Eliza, Fran, Dichen, Miracle, Craft & Fain
Saw five people I know there. Probably missed another five.
In other Joss news, he won the Bradbury Award at the Nebulas.
PALEYFEST - PUSHING DAISIES
Certainly benefited from the more-fun-with-an-audience effect. Not that I didn't like Pushing Daisies in the first place. Very cool to see the last three episodes on the big screen. I'll not spoil them as they will air next month or so and be out on DVD.
Except to say that closure is provided, abruptly, but not unsatisfyingly.
Fuller was present and unofficially announced a 12 "episode" continuation of Pushing Daisies from DC Comics.
Watched with Josh and Jul Weiss-Roessler (who can be found at Boring Future Generations and Pink Raygun respectively) and an Unidentified Individual of Some Import. Cat and Fiddle. It was warm and there was an unusually high douchebag quotient outside, so we got the big corner booth. We spoke of pilot progress, sobering realizations, live theatre, job opportunities, lack thereof, and the fact that the J's had seen both my evil twin and the UISI's earlier that day.
There was some question that I am the evil twin and he was the good one, but...no.
WRITING
Returning to it after having been preoccupied. Thinking about not finishing the Leverage spec. I'm not sure it's working. Though maybe finishing, subjecting it to the writers group and a rewrite might cover things. Wanted to get it done for the programs this year, but might go with Mad Men instead...or Southland. If I get to that quickly.
Yeah, seriously considering Southland. It's looking pretty viable at the mo'. Holding off though, while I finish my own (Chicago) cop show...now called Area Four. I settled on Area Four because it's the police region that covers a lot of gang territory while also covering the gentrified/hipster/white collar neighborhoods like Humboldt Park and Wicker Park. Midtown and West Side.
And I've been convinced to attempt a feature script again. Haven't done in some while. It'll be a feature version of Mastermind.
RANDOMISH VIDEO
You've probably seen this by now. If not...here it is. Carousel by Adam Berg.
Mastermind's premiere performance went off pretty damned well, if I say. And I do have a tendency to just remember the things that went wrong, even if no one else was aware of them.
However, I'm scarcely objective. So look at these couple of reviews (in the links), from people who are generally really objective about stuff and not just people I know.
With a twisty "am-I-a-supervillain?" story and rapid-fire dialogue that plays like a strange, cool marriage between JossWhedon and Aaron Sorkin , Sullivan's play is equal parts tense and funny, with wit and creativity to spare.
Their checks are in the mail. Their PayPal is being processed. A great thanks to all those who found the time to come to a fairly warmish little theatre on a very nice Saturday night to check out my endeavor. And it looks like I'll have made back my expenses.
I've had work on the stage before, but this is the first time I was solely responsible for getting it up on its feet and doing so in three weeks was nerve-wracking to say the least, but my cast and crew pulled it all together in awesome fashion.
Mastermind will hit the boards again if I have anything to say about it. Hopefully with the original cast intact. They rock.
J. Claude's mom was there. I thanked her for having him.
Mastermind is tomorrow, April 18 at 8PM. Details if you click the logo.
I want you to come. I want you to bring your friends. I want you to bring your enemies.
It's been a peculiar three weeks as I've gone from thinking "there's no way I can put on a play from scratch in three weeks" to putting on a play from scratch in three weeks. And I owe the three faces below immensely for joining me in this mad endeavor. I'm also grateful to Hollie Overton for hooking me up these guys.
Meet the cast of the premiere of Mastermind.
J. Claude Deering got his BFA from NYU's Tisch School, studying primarily at Stella Adler Studios.
He's appeared on Entourage and Criminal Minds and just finished shooting the ABC pilot Inside the Box. He also appeared in the film The Ugly Truth. This summer he will join the 2009 Williamstown Non Equity Company.
Katharine Brandt is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has studied at the Stella Adler Studio and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Recent film and theatre credits include Tape (the Elephant Theatre), Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare in the Cemetery), the stage premiere of Federico Fellini's Il Bidone (Rushforth Productions), Twelfth Night (Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre, London), and Deception (LA Int'l Short Film Festival winner).
She is the co-founder of Tall Blonde Productions and a co-creator of LA's Shakespeare in the Cemetery at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Jonathan Runyon is a graduate of the Stella Adler Theater Conservatory in New York City. He recently finished a four month run of the play Taking Steps at the Odyssey Theatre.
His television credits include appearances on Criminal Minds, The West Wing, and Mad Men.
Word is that Sorkin is mulling over the idea of a new TV drama that takes a behind-the-scenes look at a cable news program (think: Keith Olbermann's show on MSNBC).
Yes. That would be good. That would be perfect. It would let Sorkin get all Sorkiny on issues like he likes to do and actually be in a place to do it. Not, like...say a late night sketch show in LA.
And since he did Sports Night, in which Josh Charles played a character not entirely unlike Keith Olbermann, he should get Charles (he's not really doing anything) and get him to play Dan Rydell again.
My first inspection of the venue last night. Checking out the technical specifications. Being that The Black Box is a black box, the tech specs are pretty minimal and there are certain things that I had in mind when I wrote Mastermind that probably aren't going to work out that well in this particular venue. Some changes are in order. Not so much to the text, but the visuals.
I'd conceived of the play as being primarily literal in its set, that is actual furniture on the stage. A real couch, a real table, etc. Complete black outs and a spot would change the scene. For this particular production, though, I may go more representational, using the venue's large black blocks, steps, etc.
There will be (well, 90% will be) another Mastermind staged by the end of the year. That one will be straight up literally as I envisioned it when I wrote it. No artsy elements, other than the darkening of the stage to evoke past locations.
Problem solving is ongoing, but I still like what I've got.
Some of this may not make complete sense without being familiar with the play. Guess you'll have to be there.
Ticket info should be forthcoming.
Mastermind is running as part of a festival of one-acts at The Black Box Theatre (12420 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A., CA 90025-2522). April 18 at 8PM.
Both are accomplished actors, Deering having been seen in Entourage as Brett Ratner's assistant and he's shooting a pilot this week, so perhaps we'll be seeing a lot more of him soon.
Brandt is a founding member of Tall Blonde Productions, who put on the Shakespeare in the Cemetery productions, in which she appeared, as well as having starred and directed several other stage works.
Mastermind is running as part of a festival of one-acts at The Black Box Theatre (12420 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A., CA 90025-2522). April 18 at 8PM.
Following on such wild successes of things that were cancelled after short runs, like Battlestar Galactica and...
Okay, following the trend of remaking cancelled stuff like Cupid, V and The Human Target, comes the latest foray into televisionary resurrection. Fox has realized their mistake when they cancelled Firefly and they're remaking it. But they don't trust Joss Whedon as much as they say they do and he's kinda busy, so they apparently got Steven Bochco to take the reins and he's already gone ahead and cast Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Captain Mal Reynolds.
Yes, I do seem to have an affinity for bad guys that forget they're bad guys.
And since he did 
There will be (well, 90% will be) another
Following on such wild successes of things that were cancelled after short runs, like