Kevin Geeks Out About Dream Sequences (sort of)

by Kevin on

How often do you get to produce a show with one of your favorite people/ inspiring peers?
Next Friday I’m getting to do just that, with the always wonderful Tom Blunt.  He’s has been hosting MEET THE LADY an excellent video variety show.  (named after Tom’s photo blog about women he would like to meet.) 
This month he invited me to co-host and co-curate the show.
MEET THE LADY is like my “Kevin Geeks Out” series, a video variety show arranged around a theme, with guest speakers/performers, rare film clips, trivia and prizes.
The March 25th show is all about that wonderful trope: THE  DREAM SEQUENCE.  Our 2-hour extravaganza will include dozens of clips, plus:

    Women’s weirdest dream sequences (in films that range from the obvious to the obscure) Tenebrous Kate looks at dreams from Italian giallo films Classical Harpist Riza Printup John Epperson (as seen in Black Swan!)   Presentation by burlesque dancer Iris Explosion Free Snacks by “The Food Daddy” Cas Marino Joe’s Pub cabaret star (“The Shells Show“) Roslyn Hart Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab donated “Somnium” fragrance samples. Each one is meant to have a different effect on your dreams. and plenty more! 
BUY TICKETS HERE — there’s no service charge, and this show will be sure to sell out.
MEET THE LADY: DREAM SEQUENCES
hosted by Tom Blunt and Kevin Maher
Friday March 25 @ 8pm
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street
tickets at $12
P.S. the very next night I’ll be emcee’ing 92Y Tribeca’s MOVIEOKE — that’s karaoke but with movies.  Come by, bring a DVD of any movie and we’ll show it on the big screen with subtitles (and no sound) so you can star in the scene, performing all the voices.  It’s a fun night of trivia, prizes and surprise stars.

* * * 

BONUS MATERIAL/RELATED VIDEOS: 

Here’s one of my favorite episodes of THE SCI FI DEPARTMENT, shot by Jeremy Carr, edited by Eric Hendricks and co-starring Mike Birch.  In this dream-like episode, Kevin falls asleep at his desk and  recalls the scariest science-fiction films he’s ever seen: 

Another dreamy project: HAL’S NIGHTMARE, directed by Whitney Melton and co-starring Livia Scott.

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Kevin Maher hosts The Oscar Screening Part at the Paley Center

by Kevin on

On Hollywood’s most self-important night, I hosted New York’s only official screening of the Academy Awards, at the Paley Center for Media.   It was a weird night with a most eclectic-audience (not my usual downtown/Brooklyn regulars.) But it made for a fun evening.  Audience members enjoyed plenty of food and booze, while watching the pre-show and the ceremony.

From 8 o’clock until the end of the live telecast, I did comedy bits, movie trivia, dramatic readings of #Oscar tweets. Plus interactive games like “The Google Algorithm Quiz: Oscar Edition” (where audiences had to guess which actor’s name brought up certain keywords when being entered in the Google Search enging.  For example, “Which actor/actress brings up the word “terrorist”?  Answer: Mark Ruffalo.) 

On stage  was joined by my old Kevin Geeks Out producer M. Sweeney Lawless, plus old friends from Best Week Ever: Norman Baker and Caroline Waxler, and from Lucky Magazine fashion expert Christina Anderson.  The commented, tweeted and even joined two audience members for a live throwdown battle of “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” (In the end it was an audience member who linked Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth in only three degrees.)

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Kevin Geeks Out About ROLLERBALL

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(Click Here to hear the VIDEO DEATH RAY podcast about ROLLERBALL)

I love 1975’s Rollerball.

I first saw the Norman Jewison movie as an adult while writing a comedy screenplay that was set in a 1970’s vision of the future.

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About KEVIN MAHER

by Kevin on

Kevin Maher is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer, whose work has been seen on HBO, AMC, CNN, Comedy Central, VH1, TV One, FEARNet, and Nickelodeon.  His short films have been shown everywhere from MOMA to Troma, with screenings outside of Sundance and Cannes.

WATCH KEVIN’S REEL

Working with Kanbar Entertainment, Kevin co-authored seven treatments for animated feature films, developed two animated television series and co-wrote a sequel/Holiday special to the hit animated movie Hoodwinked!

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Oscar Party @ The Paley Center – hosted by ME

by Kevin on

One of my favorite places in all of New York City is the Paley Center (formerly the Museum of TV and Radio.  I will always call it that, the same way I’ll always call The PNC Bank Center “The Garden State Arts Center”) because there’s something amazing about communal TV viewing.

You can imagine how flattered I was when they invited me to host their screening of the Academy Awards.  It’s going to be a party with food and drinks, oscar voting, trivia and comedy bits during commercial breaks (with me!)  Plus I’ll be joined by old friends M. Sweeney Lawless, Norman Baker and Caroline Waxler. 
Rub elbows with film fanatics, TV geeks, drunk bloggers, and media-ecologists like myself as we watch Hollywood’s most self-important night. 
Sunday February 27, 2011
(doors open at 7pm, with a red-carpet walk and historic footage of the Academy Awards)
screening begins at 8pm
The Paley Center for Media
25 West 52 Street
New York, NY 
Get tickets HERE and use discount code “KEVIN” and save five bucks. 
P.S. here’s a video I did about OSCAR WINNERS STARRING IN TRASHY B-MOVIES

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SHOCK WAVES: or How I learned to overcome zombie fatigue and love undead monster movies

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(NOTE: The following post first appeared on the SF Signal website, when editor-in-chief John DeNardo asked me the question: What was the last science-fiction film that surprised you in a good way?)  
An optimist might say that we’re experiencing a zombie renaissance, with zombie-themed TV shows, literature, flash mobs and conventions.

A pessimist would point to the cliché novelties, crossover comics, books, gimmicky poetry, etc., as though the undead-merchandize is a zombie plague in itself, with mindless products walking (or running) across the multi-media landscape.

Having suffered from “zombie fatigue”, I was surprised and delighted by the movie SHOCK WAVES. (1977).
We’ve seen adaptations of “Tales from the Crypt” (anthology movies, feature films and the HBO series) but SHOCK WAVES is like a “WEIRD WAR TALES” movie!  The film’s faux-documentary opening sets the tone nicely:



The premise is simple: a small group of tourists abandon their stranded tour boat and seek shelter on a creepy island.  One-by-one the tourists are killed off by a platoon of un-dead Nazi-monsters. But what makes this film so special is the haunting synthesizer score, the winning lead performance by Brooke Adams, and the abundance of big ideas in a B-movie. 

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Hey Tanzania, we got COMMANDO covered….

by Kevin on

There’s an excellent video that’s making the rounds, aimed at subverting the stereotypes of Sub-Saharan African Communites.  What better way to illustrate that point than to showcase a 9-year-old boy recapping the plot of Schwarzenegger’s 1985 classic COMMANDO?

A very cool project, no doubt. (Learn more about the project here)

But just for the record, my 2-year-old boy was reciting “kill lines” from COMMANDO way before this other video went viral.  I recorded it last year, as part of a short-lived series called “Diary of a Cool Dad.”

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F.A.Q. FOR THE GUY WITH THE HUGE NUTSACK (old comedy sketch)

by Kevin on

Today’s “old comedy sketch” was written for Giant Tuesday Night of Amazing Inventions and Also There is a Game, the weekly comedy-variety show created by Andres du Bouchet (who now writes, and frequently performs, on Conan.)  I wrote this routine and it was performed by Mike Birch, one of the most gifted comedy-actors I know. He can be seen performing in One Man Hamlet, which is the best showcase I’ve seen for Mike’s awesome talents. But now let’s go back to 2005 and a routine called…

Q&A WITH HANK

ANDRES: If you read the papers or watch the news, then you’ll recognize our next guest.  He has become an overnight sensation and darling of the media.  Ladies and gentlemen I give you the one and only Hank Robeson! 
(MIKE enters as HANK, a self-described “ordinary kinda guy”  He gently sits down on a chair, delicately holding the large hat-box which rests on his lap) 
HANK: Hi folks.  I’m Hank.  Hi.  I guess I said that already.  I’m not used to public speaking.  I don’t like to call a lot of attention to myself, I mean I’m just an ordinary kinda guy.  But I’ve been getting a lot of attention lately so I thought I’d save us all a little embarrassment by answering some of your usual questions about my incredibly huge nutsack. 
(HANK reaches into the box and takes out cards at random.  His delivery is very natural, never trying too hard; he’s gentle and “aw-shucks”-like) 
(reading card) Have you also got a huge cock or penis?
I didn’t realize there was a difference between cock and penis.  But, no, I was blessed with this super-huge nutsack, but my penis is pretty average.  If anything I guess it looks small next to my enormous nutsack. 
(reading) Does the nutsack speak?
No. But I’ve always thought it was a great listener. 
(reading) Where would you and your nutsack most like to live?
I’d like to move to a cold climate.  The cold makes my giant nutsack get smaller, hot weather makes it balloon up.  Also, I wouldn’t have to wear shorts. 
(reading) Did Macy’s really try to get your nutsack in the Thanksgiving Day Parade?
No.  They didn’t, that’s another rumor on the Internet. 
(reading) Dude, I bet you get a lotta chicks with that huge-ass nutsack.
Yes and no.  A lot of women are flirtatious, like, they really want to see my big nutsack, but the women I’ve been in relationships with really like me for who I am, not cause I’m the guy with the enormous nutsack. 
(reading) What’s your favorite movie? 
“The Princess Bride.”  I could recite the whole thing, but I don’t want to bore you. 
(reading) Can you get an operation to fix your enormous nutsack?
Well if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  Also, my health insurance won’t pay for it. 
(reading) Does having a monster nutsack hurt?
Only when I laugh.  Or when I get punched in the nutsack. And one time when a guy tried to put a cigarette out on it.
(reading) Do you support capital punishment?
That’s not really a question about my nutsack, so I’m not going to answer. Well I did answer the Princess Bride question, so – (pause) – uh, I feel uncomfortable discussing politics.  And realize, I’m used to a lot of discomfort, so I’m gonna pass. Sorry. 
(reading) Is there a website for your mega-nutsack?
I haven’t gotten around to it.  A friend of mine offered to make one for me, but I couldn’t find a good name.  There’s a lot of Big Nutsack sites out there that are just gross or it’s porn or some kind of fetish freak show.  My goal is to promote understanding, which is why I do this. 
Okay, we’ll do one more question. 
(reading) Do you have a big cock too?
Sorry.  One more. 
(reading) Is one ball bigger than the other?
I don’t think it’s bigger, but the left nut hangs a little lower by about two inches. 
You guys have been great, have a great night. 
(HANK gets up, holding the hatbox in front of his crotch.  He walks off-stage as though its contents are at once heavy and delicate.) 
ANDRES: There he goes, Hank the guy with the huge nutsack! (possible joke about how HANK can be seen on the upcoming ABC reality show “The Bachelor with the Huge Nutsack”) 

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