Send CHOP to FringeNYC

I've launched my first Kickstarter Campaign to help raise funds for taking CHOP to FringeNYC. If you're reading this and can help, please do. At the very least, please help me spread the word....

Ep 4 of BSJ is up!

Episode 4 of Bike Soccer Jamboree is online. Good talk with Liz Robinson of the Alternative Comedy Theater as well as the usual carryings-on by me and Hernandez.

Go HERE and have a listen.

The awesomeness that is 3eanuts.com

Okay, this is brilliant. Much like the awesomeness that is Garfield Minus Garfield (don't get me started on Garfield...) this 3eanuts website takes it to another level. Basically, it is the classic Charles M. Schulz comics, but with the last panel removed... so instead of a joke, it ends rather stark and bleak...

I am a huge fan of the Peanuts comics and grew up reading them. I can totally appreciate this approach without feeling something sacred has been messed with. In fact, a lot can be learned from deconstructing something great like this. This might be one of my favorite ones!

Falling-Down Funny

Genius: Stan Laurel

 I am a comedian. By which, I mean, I use comedy, in a variety of forms, to express a lot of what I have to express. That said, I remember a quote from Stan Laurel (though I might be paraphrasing a bit here):

"Comedians don't open funny doors, they open doors in funny ways

That quote says so much. And usually, it should be left at that. Comedy kinda dies if you try to analyze it too much. Ever try to explain why something, a joke maybe, was funny to someone that didn't get it. Hardly worth the effort.

this is not to say comedy doesn't have theory. I love thinking about comedy theory. Seriously. But of all the shop-talk I do, I never talk a lot about the mechanics of comedy.

All of this above has been sort of lead-up to a great article, "Falling-Down Funny" by A. O. Scott, I stumbled across lately. Check it out HERE.

"Physical comedy did not exactly die with the rise of the talkies, as any fan of the Three Stooges, Jerry Lewis or Jim Carrey will attest. But it did suffer a loss of prestige; what for Agee was the highest form of laughter is frequently seen as the lowest, fit for the amusement of children or French people.

TWO PLAYS at B&N

I just stumbled across my collection of plays, TWO PLAYS (AND SOME SKETCHES) BY BRAD McENTIRE on the Barnes & Noble website. I feel like such a grown-up author now!

Buy* the book at B&N, or Amazon or (best option) here.**

* NOTE: If you are going the used book route, which is an option I sometimes go for myself, make sure it doesn't say something like "different cover." There are a few uncorrected galley proofs floating around out there. Plus, i don't get any income when you buy used. Sad face...

** Weirdest place my book has surfaced for sale... Sears.

FUN GRIP at 2012 Big Sexy PSA

CHOP gets an official website!

After touring CHOP for the past 2 and half years I'm finally putting together a stand-alone website for the piece. I'm kinda proud to look back at some of the places I've taken the project around the country.

This site will have all the info about the piece including upcoming performances and all that jazz...

Check it out HERE.

CHOP heads for Seattle!

 So, I just got word earlier today that CYRANO A-GO-GO was invited to the Houston fringe Festival and now I find out CHOP was accepted into the Seattle Fringe. Hazzah!

It is going to be a busy summer!

CYRANO A-GO-GO goes to Houston

My one-man "oration" CYRANO A-GO-GO has been accepted to the 2012 Houston Fringe Festival. I am super-thrilled to head back after taking my solo show CHOP there last year (where it won a "Producer's Pick" Award).

Playing between August 30 and September 15, 2012.

Here's  ablurb about CYRANO A-GO-GO:

CYRANO A-GO-GO is semi-autobiographical exploration of one restless theatre artist's fascination with the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. A chance encounter with the text at a suburban public library at the age of 15 leads to a cruel and wonderful calling. Mixing the personal, historical and literary into a journey through Rostand's play and a meditation on the differences between art and life, McEntire puts a unique spin on the usual coming-of-age monologue show.

More details as they come in...

Me and Big Sexy

GEAR UP FOR BIG SEXY IMPROV

Here are the deets on the Alternative Comedy Theater's upcoming festival Big Sexy Weekend of Improv.
by Amy Martin for TheaterJones.com
published Monday, May 7, 2012

Brad McEntire to lead a solo improv workshop at Big Sexy

Dallas — Ready for another comedy marathon? Didn’t get enough improvisational madness at the Dallas Comedy Fest in March? Here comes the fourth incarnation of the annual Big Sexy Weekend of Improv, May 31 to June 2, produced by the Alternative Comedy Theater. Performances will be based at the Dyer Street Bar just north of Mockingbird.

Improv comedians with a theatrical bent gravitate toward the ACT and the Big Sexy com-o-sphere, even though the group does a significant amount of competitive games-based improv. Theaterical multi-talent Brad McEntire has a big presence at the festival with his duo FUN GRIP featuring favorite collaborator Jeff Swearingen, plus a couple of improv workshops. McEntire is hosting the Monologue Jam in which festival performers take a single suggestion and create a three-minute monologue. Fans of Scarborough Renaissance Festival will recognize the Shakespeare-esque parodies of the Motley Players III.

A significant nab for Big Sexy is a return appearance of BTK Band from New York City, led by Moth storyteller lead singer Peter Aguero. Described as the “hardest drinking improvised storytelling band,” these comics, musicians, storytellers and burlesque dancers fashion improvised songs and stories. They headline on Saturday night. Aguero does a Friday afternoon story-improv workshop. 

Austin sends the Latino Shades of Brown, the duo of Rachel and Dave (described as “modern-day Stiller and Meara”), Elevator Action of ColdTowne Theater, and the intriguing iZARZAMORA! who perform “psuedo-cerebral improv comedy.”  Oklahoma City provides several of the Big Sexy acts including The Big O, Red Dirt Improv, C4, and One State Two State Red State Blue State. 

Local improv acts are not neglected. ACT regulars Persons of Interest and The Victims perform. The all female Band Wreckers will be hot off a May gig at the Ladies Are Funny Festival in Austin. 

Big Sexy Weekend of Improv runs Thursday May 31, Friday June 1, and Saturday June 2 at Dyer Street Bar, 5529 Dyer St. Dallas, TX 75206. A season pass in $35. Shows are $10 and workshops are $25. 

Schedule

Thursday May 31, 7pm

The Extreme Improv Challenge Champion (Dallas)
Motley Players III (Dallas)
The Victims (Dallas)

Friday June 1, 7pm

The Big O (OKC)
Persons of Interest (Dallas)
Shades of Brown (Austin)

Friday June 1, 9pm

One State Two State Red State Blue State (OKC)
iZarzamora! (Austin)
Monologue Jam (Various)

Saturday June 2, 7pm

C4 (OKC/Dallas)
Rachel and Dave (Austin)
Fun Grip (Dallas)

Saturday June 2, 9pm

The Band Wreckers (Dallas)
Red Dirt Improv (OKC)
ColdTowne Theater Super Troupe Elevator Action (Austin)

Saturday June 2, 11pm

The BTK Band (NYC)

CHOP in FringeNYC

I have participated in the New York International Fringe Festival three different times in the past. I produced a show called SLICK KADMON VS. GOD in 2000, directed and completely oversaw my own play RED PAJAMA BLUES in 2001 and then directed and designed THE LAST CASTRATO in 2005.

This year I'll be heading back!

Just recieved the news in the mail. CHOP has been accepted into the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival. I'm totally excited about this. I have been developing and performing the piece since March 2010 and the FringeNYC will be the grand destination point for me. It is not that I will completely stop doing the show, but I'll finally open it up to the world for others to do and I won't actively pursue opportunities with the piece after this autumn.

Check back for more details very soon. Exciting times ahead, friends.