CAMP GIRLS reading

Summer 1991. Sheila and Allie meet at Camp Gentile. They would seem to be BFFs forever if it wasn't for some strange goings-on this summer. Like, what's with that deranged camp director Ms. Kagle, or those ghost sightings, or that creepy cool guy Johnny Castle, and definitely that ancient, magical amulet? Seriously, what's with that stuff?

I'm pleased to get my little theatre company, Audacity Theatre Lab, back up and cooking after nearly half a year of nothing. This is but the first of a whole slew of good things coming down the chute. I am also pleased to return to the weird, warped little world of playwright Matt Lyle (author of HELLO HUMAN FEMALE). He is collaborating with ATL's Jeff Swearingen and our wonderful colleague in Austin, Chris Humphrey, this time. The result will be a quasi-musical mess of awesomeness called CAMP GIRLS AND THE GHOST MONK.

We're doing a reading - sans the music stuff - at Nouveau 47 Theatre, April 8, 2013 at 7:30 PM. More details coming soon.

At Nouveau 47 Theatre in the historic Magnolia Lounge (Margo Jones Building), Fair Park, 1121 First Ave., Dallas, TX 75210. More info HERE.

CARTER STUBBS poster

The good folks at Sundown Collaborative Theatre just released their poster design as well as a few promo pics for my play CARTER STUBBS TAKES FLIGHT. I saw a rehearsal last week and it is totally coming along. Should be an awesomely fun evening of theatre! Ticket info available on their website ( HERE ). Opens April 11th!

[...as always, click on image to see it larger ]

DINOSAUR AND ROBOT this summer at the FIT

So, I wrote this play a few weeks ago (back when I had a laptop to, you know, write plays on) about a dinosaur and a robot who get sucked through time and space and wind up saving a little girl from a speeding train. It is appropriately called DINOSAUR AND ROBOT STOP A TRAIN. I wrote it for my friend Jeff Swearingen and I to perform. He's always wanted to play a dinosaur and I totally don't mind being a robot.

Anyway, I submitted it for a local theatre festival here in Dallas and I just got news before the weekend that is was accepted. So, stay tuned, 'cause there's going to be a kick-ass play about a time-traveling dinosaur and robot in this summer's 2013 Festival of Independent Theatres.

More details to come...

Comedy is Aggression

I remember seeing the movie WIRED when I was a kid. At the time I was a hard-core comedy nerd and had digested all the Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, Chaplin, Danny Kaye, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, SNL and Kids In The Hall (which was really just starting here in America) I could find. I was just starting high school and I remember being bowled over by the sheer ferocity of Belushi. He was big and loud. He was an honest-to-god Wild Man! 

I remember thinking that that was what I wanted to be. But, you know, without the drugs and death. But as comedians we don't pick the form our comedy self comes in. Since the comedy stems from us, we just kind of grow into the kind of funny we become. From time to time, I open the lid on my id enough that my inner Belushi comes out. On occassion, I unleash the Wild Man. But it is not the place I live 24-7.

I do not know who the teacher is supposed to be in this clip (Del Close?), but I agree with the remarks. Comedy IS aggression. It is a penetrative kind of performance. I've also always kind of considered it, in its most powerful, most pure state, a touch with transcendence.

Think about what happens when you laugh. You head falls back, your mouth opens and you let out a laugh. You eyes water and then close. Your brain short-circuits, it stops and is stuck in that one sublime moment. Time stops. If it is a big enough laugh you can't breathe. You can't catch your breath. You gut hurts.You may even lose control of your bodily functions.

For a moment while you live, you die. That's transcendence.

Anyway, I love Belushi, the blessed monster!

WATCH THE SKIES at Waco Independent Media Expo

I did some acting in a great short film early last year. It is called WATCH THE SKIES from Stump Films in Dallas. It is receiving its festival premiere at the Waco Independent Media Expo tomorrow night (March 6). At the Dancing Bear Pub at 7:30 PM. If you are around there, check it out. HERE is the FB page for WATCH THE SKIES.

No Shame in Austin

Brad McEntire performs BURDEN OF A LIGHT BLUR SHIRT at No Shame, Mach 1, 2013

My awesome host, Tyler, put up Ruth and I in Austin. The first night there, trying to narrow what to do on a Friday night in Austin, we settled on, among other stops, No Shame at the Salvage Vanguard Theatre. No Shame is a kind of open mic for performance pieces (sketches, monologues, conceptual pieces, works-in-progress, etc.). We got there in time to sign-up. The last No Shame I did was more than a decade ago.

I ended up unexpectedly presenting a piece. I read my monologue BURDEN OF A LIGHT BLUE SHIRT. Through the wonders of technology, I was able to bring it up on my phone. 

The performance was nice. I was mostly pleased with the impromptu nature of it. I had not expected to perform anything. But the opportunity arose and I had something to step up with. So, hazzah.

STAPLE! Expo is here!

I'm selling Brad McEntire stuff at table 51. Stop by to chat or buy or both. HERE is the info.