Photoshopped Penguin Signs

December is lovely in Carroll Gardens Brooklyn, partly because so many of my neighbors decorate their front yards. 

Every day I'd walk by this inflatable penguin and think of something else for the sign to say (i.e. "Global Warming is REAL!")

I decided to ask the Facebook community to help photoshop this image.  

Recap of my guest lecture at the School of Visual Arts

On Monday night, I gave a guest lecture at the School of Visual Arts.  The students said it was "very entertaining" -- because when I lecture, I put on a show!

The class is titled "Careers in the Industry", so I spoke about my various writing jobs.  During the 90-minutes I covered a ton of topics including:

cliches in writing, the dangers of advice, my best jobs, my worst jobs, working at CNN, never say you "want to be a writer", what happens when you don't set goals, writing a polite email, writing for Leslie Nielsen, how topical humor is like a kidnapping, figuring out what the monster wants, the evil Genie, creating characters like you're paining self-portraits, Charles Willeford's tip about writing a page each day before you urinate, finding symbolism in everyday life, trying to fit 10 jokes into a :30 video, unpacking an assignment when someone says it should be "short" and "funny", coming up with a show that's cheaper than "Pants off Dance-Off", and so much more.

I was thrilled that when I mentioned Rod Serling, everyone knew who he was.

LONE DRIFTER: a look back. Also - help save UNDER St. Mark's

Kevin Maher is LONE DRIFTER

Recently I was profiled as a star of "new vaudeville" -- which is a very nice thing to say.  Most anyone who visits this site is probably more familiar with my "geek out" theme nights and writings on popular culture.  (Or you came here searching for images of Soleil Moon Frye.) 

But I started as a solo-comedy artist (aka an "alternative comedian") 

Today's entry will look back my 2001 solo show LONE DRIFTER.  (see below, there's video and photos.) 

But first, I need to talk about two New York City institutions that were essential to my development: 

Surf Reality and the UNDER St. Marks

Both spaces fulfilled New York's promise of the possibility of theater.  I'm not one to romanticized my past, but I saw and participated in some one-of-a-kind shows at those spaces. And I'd hate to think of what my youth would've been like without them.  

Today the UNDER St. Marks needs your help.  Learn more here.  

As for my show, I set out to do an anti-one-man show.  I wanted to skewer the cliches and present sketch comedy bits with the gravitas of legit theatre.  

Some of the pieces were grotesque pseudo-psycho monologues in the spirit of Jim Thompson novels. Many of the characters were decidedly not "likable" (probably not the best approach for a new comedian), I followed Joe Coleman's approach to painting -- he said every grotesque image is a self-portrait, he finds himself in each one. (see below) I tried to do the same with my comedy.