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Exclusive: Kevin Connolly to Direct ‘Adrenaline’
By Jeff Sneider
Published: April 01, 2010
TheWrap has exclusively learned that “Entourage” star Kevin Connolly will direct the comedy “Adrenaline” from a script by up-and-coming screenwriter Justin Ware.
Story follows a buttoned-up corporate guy who gets sucked into his crazy assistant’s scheme of seducing women by staging heroic acts. He finds he has his work cut out for him when he sets his sights on his beautiful co-worker who is immune to his seductive charm.
The project will begin casting soon, though Connolly is not expected to star. He next appears on the bigscreen as Sports Illustrated reporter Bill Nack in Randall Wallace’s “Secretariat.”
Kirkland Tibbels of Hollywood Farms will produce “Adrenaline” alongside Matthew Lillard and Queen Nefertari’s Cynthia Stafford and Jeff Kalligheri. Actor-producer Lanre Idewu will serve as consulting producer.
Connolly previously directed the star-laden short film “Whatever We Do” from a script by Nick Cassavetes. The actor made his feature directorial debut with 2007’s “Gardener of Eden,” which Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way produced.
Ware, who is represented by Gersh, recently sold a pitch for the comedy “Wake Up Call” to Fox Atomic, with Alfred Gough and Miles Millar producing. He previously wrote “The Pool Boys,” which starred Lillard, Efren Ramirez and “Twilight” actress Rachelle Lefevre, and also rewrote Rich Amburg’s script for the Nickelodeon TV movie “Best Player.” Ware often performs at Hollywood’s Improv Olympic West with his improv comedy troupe Dr. God.
Queen Nefertari, which works from a $30 million film fund represented by Gersh’s Jay Cohen, is readying production on the Butcher Bros.’ psychological horror film “Black Sunset.” The company behind the indie drama “Polish Bar” is also developing the Hyde Park drama “Risen” and the Media 8 thriller “Undying.”
Julie Powell Does Improv: Barnyard Animals & Headcheese Are Funny (LAWeekly)
by Amy Scattergood
Mon., Dec. 14 2009 @ 5:43PMJulie Powell, the writer whose blog—and book—inspired the movie “Julie & Julia”http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/julieandjulia/ , has been in L.A. on a book tour for her second book Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession . In keeping with her interdisciplinary talents, Powell took the stage this past Saturday night to try her hand at stand-up comedy, guesting in a holiday improv show with Dr. God and Matthew Lillard at iO West in Hollywood. (Justin Ware, one of the members of the Dr. God comedy group, is an old friend of Powell’s.) Proving yet again that barnyard animals and drinking cow’s blood are great comedy themes for Christmas, and yes, with a group of improv actors, headcheese can be funny. Couldn’t make it out in the Biblical downpour this past weekend? Watch the show here, via the link below.
Dr. God – Dec. 12,2009 from Neil Garguilo on Vimeo.
December 5, 2009: Comedy Show Review: Dasariski (laist.com)
No one likes the word ‘slow’, right? Put ‘slow’ in front of ‘drivers’ or ‘internet connection’ or ‘children’ and absolutely no good can come of it. And ‘slow improv’? If you’ve seen a handful of improvised comedy shows, you’ve probably fallen victim to a dullard that makes it feel like time has stopped. Slow improv isn’t exactly what you’re looking for. That is, unless you’re Dasariski.
In fact, slow is just how iO West’s premiere three man improv team, Dasariski, would like to take it. Good news if you’re a nervous prom date, but not so hot for a Thursday night comedy audience hopped up on cheap PBRs from the bar. But if that’s true, then why is the 10pm Thursday night slot so packed that people are sitting three abreast and every step deep on the large staircase adorning the western wall? Because Bob Dassie, Rich Talarico and Craig Cackowski (as in DASsie-talARIco-cackowSKI) know what you don’t, idiot: slow doesn’t mean bad. For Dasariski, slow can mean incredible.
What happens on those Thursday nights is truly a clinic for young comedy students eager to jump on stage and cram jokes down an audience’s gullet. Scenes – sometimes 8, 10 minutes long – are built organically and honestly, with a focus on characters and relationships that allow the room to fall silent at times, without ever feeling uncomfortable. In fact, even in scenes of low (but focused) energy, the breathing beats add a tinge of tension that heightens the eventual joke. And rest assured, there are more than enough jokes.
On this night, the three men embark on a journey throughout Las Vegas. They begin as tourists with little to no street savvy who are quickly taken advantage of, and as the show goes on to span 45 minutes they toggle between the call girls of the Strip, the security men who protect the casinos, and a brief interlude with the hobo group that may or may not be behind the famed tiger attack on German magician Roy. The guys are so comfortable with each other and in their own skin that, especially in the security scenes, they allow pregnant pauses and quiet moments of agony to play as a fourth character, infusing each scene with a noble desperation that is so often lacking in the laff-a-minute shows around town.
I hope the men of Dasariski don’t read this and secretly think I’ve just been calling them old for four paragraphs, because nothing could be further from the truth. Bob, Craig, and Rich play a deep-dish Chicago style of improv that has largely faded from the LA comedy landscape, and that is not a good thing. But regardless of their form or their feel, these men are outright hilarious. They accept every scene with a certain amount of mystification and candor, and thoroughly seem to enjoy the discoveries along the way. There are small bumps and hiccups, as in any show, but these men do more than pass them over with a frightened grin, they embrace them and use them to propel the show forward well past the line in the sand where other teams would have fallen in on themselves. They work hard, they play slow. They are Dasariski.
August 8, 2009: Show Review: Tuesday Nights at iO West (laist.com )
By Farley Elliott
Lately, at iO West on Tuesday nights, a strange thing has been happening: they’ve been stacking the deck. With Monday nights as their cream-of-the-crop Armando shows and Saturdays reserved for Beer Shark Mice or some other formidable team, it would be entirely possible for iO to experience a bit of the mid-week improv doldrums. But instead, with the last three Harold Competition champion teams running back-to-back-to-back, Tuesdays at iO are becoming a great go-to for improv in Los Angeles.
First up to bat at 9p is Local 132 and the USS Rock N Roll, two formidable teams with a strong improv mind and a love of all things Harold. Local won the 2007 iO West Harold Competition as a relatively unknown team, and have been bouncing around on the mainstage calendar ever since. Their fast-paced, youthful energy are a welcome addition to an iO landscape that can sometimes cater to a slightly older crowd.
USS Rock N Roll, on the other hand, is the current champion after battling through several weeks and many great teams in the 2009 iO West Harold Competition. What really makes these guys shine is their proficiency to play inside the Harold, and really form a fluid show without any noticeable hiccups or miscues. Their shows are always a pleasure, and they have some of the best team chemistry going. And to think, that’s just the 9 o’clock slot.
Then and get this it just keeps coming. That’s what I mean when I say that iO is stacking the deck on Tuesday nights. They barely give you enough time to breathe (don’t worry you’ve still got plenty of time to grab another $3 PBR) before they saunter on into the 10p slot, with another hour of competition-winning Harolds. Rounding out the winning trifecta is Powerhouse, last year’s champions. Perhaps more than any other team in the 9-11p lineup, Powerhouse seems to be having the most fun on stage. This night they were welcoming back improv all-star Brian Gallivan, who had been on hiatus. The level of pure play they brought to the stage, with a Travis Henry-like willingness to support, is simply unmatched.
And the big finale? Sweetness, an absolutely stacked team who isn’t afraid to outrun any of the trophy horses on the Tuesday night track. With Jim Woods and Suzy Barrett leading a stellar group of seasoned comedians, this team is absolute top-of-your-intelligence gold. Now, that’s not to say things can’t get a little racy on stage, but there’s always a moment, flash in the pan bit of knowledge and specificity, that you don’t always find in other shows around town. And that level of commitment to craft is the perfect way to end a great night of Harold long form improv comedy in Hollywood.
No matter what shows you frequent around town. it’s great to see longtime standouts iO West not slacking off on a Tuesday night. It’s easy to do, when your bread and butter can be found on other nights, but the Harolds here are among the best you’ll find around town. And that, for the audience, is always a good thing.
iO West
6366 Hollywood Blvd.
Harolds start at 9p and run until 11p, Tuesday nights.
November 2009: Top Story’s Artemis Pebdani Featured
Shore Thing
The Emergence of Artemis Pebdani
Photo by Stacy Kranitz
Text by Brian Abrams
I’m taking a piss in the foulest men’s room in Coney Island when Artemis Pebdani bursts in. Apparently unconcerned that I might consider the act of urination to be a private moment, the actress pulls a lighter and tightly-rolled joint out from her bra.
Coney Island reminds her of her first acting gig: playing a fishnet-clad madam at age 17 in a burlesque revue at a now-defunct theme park in Houston, Texas. “I didn’t realize [the act was set in] a whorehouse until later,” she tells me. Bleary-eyed and giggling, we exit the bathroom a few minutes later and make a beeline for the nearby bar, where Pebdani orders us shots of Patron Silver. She just got paid seven grand for a small role she had on two episodes of House, she tells me, and the money seems to be burning a hole in her pocket, or perhaps I should say, bra.
It’s this carefree attitude that made Pebdani a perfect choice for the FX hit It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Pebdani plays a juvenile, if somewhat pervy, thespian-cum-barfly who tries to pick up men by bragging about her “bleached asshole,” solves the mystery that enveloped an entire episode titled “Who Pooped the Bed?” and perhaps even more disgustingly, hooks up with Danny DeVito’s character. Her character is as bawdy and inappropriate as Pebdani herself, so it’s no surprise that the show’s scribes opted to call her “Artemis.”
The 32-year-old acknowledges the parallels between the two Artemises, but is quick to clarify that she is interested in expanding her range. “Even though my character is of the same name, I don’t want to be known as my television persona. There’s other stuff I do.”
Now seated at the bar, Pedbani happily munches on a piece of funnel cake she purchased earlier in the day to cheer her up after she was deemed “too big” to ride a mechanical horse inside one of the boardwalk arcades. I can’t help but wonder how her conservative Iranian parents back in Texas feel about her four salacious seasons of Sunny, her raunchy comedy shows at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre and the I.O. West in L.A and her upcoming appearance as a psychic with an all-seeing third eye nestled in her cleavage for DeVito’s horror website, Thebloodfactory.com.
“I don’t talk about sex or drugs in front of them,” she said, “I don’t even curse in front of them, even though they obviously know I do.”
Pebdani’s parents left Iran before Pebdani was born, five years before the Islamic Revolution in 1979. When I ask if she’s ever considered going to visit Iran, she says, “The [government] started imprisoning these Iranian actresses [in Iran]. After that my parents were like, ‘Oh, hell no—you’re not going.” And while she doesn’t particularly connect with her heri- tage, when we suggest that Pebdani get stoned (with rocks, not pot) for her photo shoot, she is not amused. “I have family that died that way,” she replies.
The sun is setting as we leave the bar and head out onto the boardwalk. Pebdani spots a tall drag queen fumbling with a tripod, attempting to take a picture of herself by the ocean the actress immediately runs over to lend a hand. As I watch Pebdani snapping shots and directing the queen to a sassy pose in front of the sunset, I can’t help but see her again as her fun-loving character, not thinking twice about jumping into a random-ass situation for pure sport. Pebdani returns after planting a big kiss on her new friend’s cheek, and I ask her about the outerspace parody she’s working on with the gang behind Sunny, in which she plays an alien communications officer. “ [I’m] getting paid to be a freak. It’s awesome,” she tells me.
In case you’re wondering, the character is named Startemis.
June 2007
June 2005 – Comedy Festival
Los Angeles Times – June 2nd, 2005.
"They make up stuff and get honored?"
Comedians converge for the third annual Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival next week.
If you hear people howling near Hollywood Boulevard next week, don’t panic. It’s just the hilarity that should erupt when comedians converge for the third annual Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival.
For a week starting Sunday, improvisational comedians from stage and screen will perform, teach and stop by for a while to honor contributions to the art of being funny on the spot.
"This year the majority of the groups are from Los Angeles, and these are people who headline around the country," says James Grace, executive director of the festival. Featured acts include Beer Shark Mice, Mission Improvable, Lloyd Dobbler’s Boombox and reunions of casts from "Saturday Night Live," "MADtv" and Second City.
It wasn’t so long ago that improv was more of a tool than an art form in its own right. That’s partly why the group has created awards in honor of the late Del Close, the performer, teacher and director who is said to be the first to consider improv a legitimate and teachable art form. On June 11, Martin Mull will present Fred Willard ("A Mighty Wind," "Best in Show") with the Del Close Lifetime Achievement Award.
"I’m honored, but it makes you feel like, ‘Thanks, your career is over. Now you can start a ranch in Idaho,’ " Willard said from his home in Encino. Willard never studied improv, though he said that 98% of his dialogue in the Christopher Guest movies was improvised. He also co-founded the improv group Ace Trucking Company and performed with the troupes the Committee and Second City.
On June 10, longtime Second City accompanist Fred Kaz will receive the Del Close Advancement of Improv Award, and no doubt will play a tune.
Though the festival offers audiences a chance to see performances by top troupes, aspiring improv artists can attend workshops that fine-tune skills for auditioning, musical improvisation and more.
According to Grace, improv is about learning "to work as a group onstage to make each other look the best that you can." Even if you’re not a pro, that’s a life lesson we’d all do well to learn.
—Valli Herman
Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times
All Rights Reserved
LA Weekly – June 2nd, 2005.
On the seventh day, God was a blind man on acid lost in Disneyland. Yep, it’s the Third Annual Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival — a week of the best improvisational comedy this town has to offer, plus some special visitors. This year, the Del Close Award goes to Fred Willard (on June 11), and there will be performances by John Cleese, Andy Dick and the Upright Citizens Brigade, plus “an old-school improv bash” with members of Mad TV and Saturday Night Live.
—Libby Molyneaux
Copyright 2005 LA Weekly
All Rights Reserved