Viewers have been so overwhelmed by the palpable and uproarious on-camera chemistry of Jeff Lewis and Corey Blake that they actively seek out less prominent parts of the episode in an effort to contain themselves. Comments such as “Jerry Lambert + Jeff Lewis= Epic” and ”Alex Albrecht is da bomb!” and “What an awesome cast, Clara from the Guild, the guy who plays Kevin Butler for Sony, and Alex Albrecht from TRS” and “Was that burnie burns? AKA church from rvb?” are akin to looking away from the sun, which is so bright and amazing and hilarious that you have to look elsewhere or go blind.

Audiences are expected to go blind from awesome hilariousness this Wednesday and Thursday at the Slap and Tickle Holiday Show, which will present a night of sketches, one-acts and other forms of entertainment attempting to distract from the wonder that will be Jeff Lewis and Corey Blake teaming up once again for an equally memorable night of extensive interaction and lengthy dialogue exchanges.

When? December 14 and 15, at 8 PM, doors open at 7:30
Where? The Lillian Theatre, 1076 Lillian Way, Los Angeles 90038
(South of Santa Monica Blvd., between Cahuenga & Vine)
How much? $10 includes complimentary drinks and snacks
Reservations: 818-782-5683
Facebook event

This Friday the Magic Meathands return to the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica for an hour of made-up funnies. We’re on the stage at 8 PM. Each $10 ticket is good for the entire night, which means that you can also see The Waterbrains at 9 PM and Mission: IMPROVable at 10 PM. Oh! And by the way, the Magic Meathands are now blogging!

Then Saturday night, things turn creepy to get you ready for Halloween. Drama After Dark: A Night of the Macabre with Poe and Gorey is at The Huntington Gardens in San Marino from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM. I’m in one of the Edward Gorey pieces. We’re bringing 5 Gorey works to life. This year, we’re debuting 2 new pieces. Come on out with your flashlights and explore the grounds. (Although it looks like it’s sold out, so hopefully you already bought your tickets.)

Me being creepy for Drama After Dark

For the third time, I’ll be performing several Edward Gorey stories for Drama After Dark: A Night of the Macabre with Poe and Gorey on Saturday, October 8. Click that link to buy tickets but do it soon because it sells out surprisingly fast every year. Tickets are $35.

The entire event is held all over the grounds of The Huntington. Bring a flashlight to make your way around and discover different performances of Edgar Allen Poe and Edward Gorey stories. At times creepy, at times funny, at times both at the same time, it’s a great way to get into the spirit of Halloween.

Edward Gorey combined his wicked prose with Victorian-looking cartoon sketches to produce a twisted and peculiar world of perpetual bad luck for its inhabitants. While his work seems to come from the 1890s, his work was created and published starting in the 1950s. He remained active right up to his death in 2000. He’s not typically considered a comics artist since his work was structured closer to childrens books (no word balloons, one image and text combination per page, no panel borders), but I think there’s room to argue that point since there are plenty of comic books and graphic novels that have used those elements.

Excerpt from Edward Gorey's The Listing Attic

$7 gets you in for the whole night! Only $3 if you’re 12 or under!

The show starts at 8 PM at The Spot Cafe & Lounge in Culver City! See you there!

Also be sure to check out our new sketch comedy videos, the Magic Meathands Originals at the group’s YouTube channel!

As before, I will appear as multiple characters inspired by various works by fellow New Englander Edward Gorey. We’ll be bringing to life three delightfully dark stories of his: The Dwindling Party, The Fatal Lozenge and The Listing Attic.

You’ll also be able to enjoy stories by Edgar Allen Poe while walking around the beautiful grounds of The Huntington Gardens. It’s a great way to kick off Halloween! Hopefully you’ve gotten your tickets because I’m told it’s already sold out! How cool!

This Saturday, November 21st, at 2 PM at the Santa Monica Public Library, four directors will be putting up various works for the general public. I’ll be in a very funny satire on realtors. The one-act takes place in Arizona about 3-4 years ago when the whole housing market was just on the verge of going bust. I play a young husband looking at a house he can’t afford. From the press release:

Misti Barnes will be directing a scene from her original webisode series entitled, It’s Your Up, a satire about realtors who’ll do anything to make a sale in a small town where the competition is fierce.

The Santa Monica Public Library is at 601 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401. Visit SMPL.org or call (310) 458-8600 for more information.

Click through for the full press release.

Live!  Theatre!

Directors’ Showcase

Santa Monica, California –Saturday, November 21^st at 2PM, Santa Monica Public Library presents a live theatre showcase featuring four award-winning directors.  Edward Edwards will be directing a scene from Sure Thing, a comedy one-act about two people who meet in a cafe and find themselves falling in love during a conversational minefield, written by David Ives; Misti Barnes will be directing a scene from her original webisode series entitled, It’s Your Up, a satire about realtors who’ll do anything to make a sale in a small town where the competition is fierce; Nancy Linehan Charles will be directing a scene from her original screenplay, American Circus, a Secret Service love story.  Louis Yansen will be directing a scene from a play by Hugh Fitzgerald called Father’s Day about two brothers preparing themselves for a visit from their father who abandoned them as children 20 years ago.  Each scene will run approximately ten-minutes in length. At the conclusion of the four scenes, there will be a Q & A with the audience.  The Showcase is being produced by Gerry Welles.

This program series is free and all ages are welcome.  Space is limited and on a first arrival basis. For more information, visit www.smpl.org or contact the Santa Monica Public Library at (310) 458-8600.  The Santa Monica Public Library is wheelchair accessible. For special disabled services, call Library Administration (310) 458-8606.

The Q&A/screening takes place on Saturday, July 25, 6:30 PM, in Room 26AB in the San Diego Convention Center, during Comic-Con International. As previously announced, we have been accepted into Comic-Con’s Independent Film Festival.

We’re very excited about this world premiere screening taking place at Comic-Con, the biggest annual celebration of comics. I’ve been going to Comic-Con every year since I moved to Los Angeles almost 10 years ago. I think I missed one year because of a show I was in. So it’s particularly exciting for me.

The bad news is that Comic-Con is completely sold-out. However, Comic-Con is selling passes on eBay. If you’re on Twitter, closely follow Comic_Con for notices of new auctions getting posted. They go REALLY fast. Good luck!

If you’ve already got your passes, I’ll see you there!

The piece is part of the debut production of Moveable Piece, which sneaks theatre performances into unconventional spaces in Los Angeles. This show will take place at the Mandrake Bar & Gallery in Culver City on Monday, March 30 at 7 PM. 

See you there!

Actors from the Guild of St. George troupe should scare the pants off you with a dramatic presentation of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe and Edward Gorey on the moonlit grounds of the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, natch. “Drama After Dark: A Night of the Macabre With Poe and Gorey” will feature more than a dozen works by the spooky pair, including “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” “The Gashlycrumb Tinies” and “The Evil Garden.” 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. 6-10 p.m. Sat. $25-$30. Recommended for ages 10 and up. (626) 405-2128, www.huntington.org.

It’s also listed in The Guide as a Best Bet:

Over a dozen chilling tales by Edgar Allen Poe and Edward Gorey will be acted out on the grounds of the Huntington: “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” “The Gashleycrumb Tinies,” “The Evil Garden” and more. The actors of the Guild of St. George promises to give you goosebumps. Not suitable for children younger than 10.

I’ll be there! Will you?

This is from Edward Gorey’s The Listing Attic, which is full of characters that range from murderous to lecherous to just plain peculiar. It is one of five Gorey stories we’ll be performing on October 18th at The Huntington starting at 6 PM. More details here.

Tickets are selling out fast, if they aren’t already, so call 626-405-2128 to make reservations. I hope you’ll be able to make it.

(Thanks to BookLust for the image scan.)