If you like comedy, PR or the occasional inside scoop on the entertainment world,
then drop by for a daily dose written by me, Kambri Crews, producer and publicist to comedians and more!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
"Au Contraire!" Rough Cut Update I finally saw the first rough cut of Christian's one hour DVD special we produced in front of two live audiences in Philly. Christian spent most of Sunday taking painstakingly detailed notes on specific cutaways, line reads, edits, sound edits, etc. After the initial negative feelings and comments that are natural for anyone putting together a special like this who isn't wholly delusional, he's pretty pleased with it. And he should be. It looks fantastic and is pretty awesome for a rough cut.
Once Warner Bros. gives us a budget for the DVD extras, we'll be busy filming those. The scripts are written, we have two different film crews lined up and people in mind to cast. (Sorry to you hopefuls but the role of our Chihuahua will go to our Chihuahua, Paquita Borgito Borgato Chorizo Jimenez.) If we use a location rather than a studio, then I'm sure Comix or Ochi's Lounge will work out for what Christian has in mind. So, now it's just a matter of how much can we spend to produce them. The Comedy Central air date is not contingent on the extras being completed so the other question is: When will it air? I don't know yet but we're aiming for Spring 2009. No matter what the date, you can rest assure that I will be the first to shout from the rooftops.
On Real Estate
We officially withdrew our offer for the co-op we liked on the UWS. The building, a lovely brownstone right on Riverside Park and three blocks from Central Park, was only 50% owner occupied. The other 50% were owned by the sponsor. Not good in these troubled financial times and our broker, attorney and accountant all felt the same. We should wait for prices to drop and find a place that has only 10% or fewer units owned by the sponsor. Or, better yet, find a condo.
We've actually got our eye on a few new condos in Long Island City right on the East River with breathtaking views of Manhattan and only one subway stop (or two?) from Grand Central Station. With LIC being the new "it" residence and new developments popping up left and right, we can afford to sit tight and see what the market does.
Christian is right: I love projects and take on new ones all the time without dropping any old ones. So, with that out of the way, I hope to spend less time thinking about real estate and more time writing. Browsing various real estate, decorating and furniture websites daydreaming about a new place was a HUGE time killer for me.
--Kambri Speaking of writing, off to do just that for another 10 to 12 hours today.
Link - 11:41 AM -
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Life's Tough. Laugh More.
My first week as Director of Publicity at Comix, I came up with an ad campaign idea tied around the phrase, "Life's tough. Laugh more." I dubbed it as our official tagline after seeing it in an email from our videographer thinking he sure did sum it up quite nicely. Now, two years later, the campaign has finally started coming to life. First up, a commercial to air on Time Warner (or RCN / Verizon Fios) beginning in the next week or two. Coming soon, more commercials and a site where you can submit your own funny examples of just how tough life can be. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy our first attempt at the theme with a piece I wrote loosely based on Christian's real life experience and starring me and Sean Crespo:
--Kambri Link - 11:44 PM -
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Hot Off the Presses Christian must be in the Dec/Jan 2009 issue of Cosmo Girl. You know how I know? He got a piece of hate mail complaining about a derogatory Jonas Brothers remark he made.
I regularly submit jokes from comedians to an editor at Reader's Digest. When a quote is used, the comedian gets paid $100. Not bad! In the December 2008 issue, they used a dating anecdote by Katina Corrao so they sent me a copy for her press kit. On the same page is a funny deaf joke I'd heard before but had forgotten about. It made me recall a few other deaf jokes that My Jailed Deaf Dad has told me over the years. I'm going to send some in on his behalf and hope they use them. How cool would that be to see his name in print? Plus, he could really use the money since I just sent him $60 and renewed his USA Today subscription for a year for $175. I told Dad that's the last I can spend on him this year until after we buy a place. Since winter is on its way and his Texas jail cell isn't heated, he needs new thermal underwear. He could stretch that $60 OR maybe he can earn some money off the stories he loves to tell and buy some longjohns with his very own cash.
--Kambri I never even had an allowance growing up, and now I'm trying to teach my dad how to budget his.
Link - 9:05 AM -
Sunday, November 16, 2008
There Are Worse Things I Could Do
I didn't write much over the last few days but, even still, I'm excited about the changes I made for Chapter Three. It was a chapter that was going to be all back story about my mom and dad.
Snooooooooze.
Back story is important, of course, but I simply can't write fluidly and excitedly about stuff for which I wasn't present, let alone born. That said, though, I was obsessed with their romance. It seemed lifted from the pages of a screenplay. Finally, after reading and re-reading, staring and daydreaming, I realized why. It reminded me of something that was very tangible, real and exciting...
Grease.
They went together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong. Which when you think about it, doesn't go together at all.
Chapters Four and Five are humming along with no problems because they're all about spiders and snakes. Now that's something I know about.
--Kambri Chang chang changity chang shoo bop that's not the way it should be!
Link - 10:03 PM -
Thursday, November 13, 2008
TO JOIN OR NOT TO JOIN? - New York Post How do you handle finances? Separate but equal or pool them all together? That's the subjct of this feature article in today's New York Post. Pick up a copy and turn to page 67 & 68 or check it out here. My quotes aren't long but they used my mugshot.
Photo by Liz Sullivan for the New York Post article on marital finances.
--Kambri Link - 9:13 AM -
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Wow, Some Day!
Yesterday Jackie Hoffman (Xanadu), Julie Halston (The Class), David Rakoff (This American Life), Peter Frechette (Tony Nominee), Maria Thayer (Strangers with Candy) spent the entire day at Comix rehearsing for tonight's performance of "Posteriors" @ Comix. It's a fully staged reading of a movie classic (in this case Woody Allen's "Interiors") and from what I saw, it's going to be a hoot.
Because they were rehearsing, I had to tiptoe around the showroom with the producers of a Discovery Channel show. They're scouting Comix and its staff as a potential episode for one of those makeover type TV shows. This one is about being green. I really don't think our chances of getting picked are high because Comix is fairly new. That means all our machines are efficient, plus we use local vendors for our produce, we recycle our oil, we're very conscious about our electricity consumption, etc. But, we would make for *FUN* episode, that's for sure. We'll see.
While I was giving them a tour and the rehearsal was going on, MTV came by to go over some tech stuff for the show "Man & Wife" which is not only becoming a huge hit, it was all filmed at Comix. Sweet!
What a day! As for today, I'm gtting dressed early for a photo shoot with a New York Post photographer. Look for the story about married couples managing their joint finances in tomorrow's paper. Tonight is "Posteriors" and a comedy show my pal / former producing partner Molly is putting up at Bowery Poetry Club with the most insanely great lineup. With all these things, I'm still trying to figure out when to carve out time for writing. I might have to take up a few offers from friends to use their country homes for a week. Until then, my Saturdays and Sundays are spent in silent isolation on my couch writing non-stop for hours. That's not very glamorous! But as friends have told me, I gotta "keep my eye on the prize!"
--Kambri Something's gotta give!
Link - 9:01 AM -
Monday, November 10, 2008
First Friday Roundup Tex in the City hosted another successful First Friday Roundup at Comix and raised $300 for a need Texas high school theater student!
Thanks to all who came out and enjoyed the FREE tequila and cheap Lone Star Beer we brought up from Texas for the party. Look for a roundup of the Roundup in Tex in the City's Diaries.
Link - 1:23 PM -
Friday, November 07, 2008
--Kambri Link - 9:18 AM -
Monday, November 03, 2008
First Friday Roundup - Lone Star Beer & FREE Vodka
No matter what the outcome of tomorrow's historic election, Bush will definitely be gone. Sooooo....why not raise a chilled Lone Star Beer or a FREE drink to celebrate?
That's right! We have five cases of some of Texas Tea coming up to the Big Apple and FREE Pearl Vodka cocktails to quench your thirst.
Join us at the First Friday Roundup for FREE cocktails courtesy of Pearl Vodka from 6:30 - 8:00. There are other cheap drink specials & yummy *discounted* food. Bring your business cards and a smile as this is a great mixer, meet & greet opportunity.
FRI, NOV 7 from 6:30 - 9:00. Comix's Main Bar 353 W 14th Street New York, NY 10014
--Kambri Space is limited. RSVP REQUIRED . We burst at the seams at the last event! RSVP here on Facebook or an email to kc@texinthecity.com kc@texinthecity.com Link - 10:37 PM -
On Race
I listened to a particularly depressing This American Life podcast yesterday. I won't ruin it for you or drag you down to my level (entirely), but it is about the last days of the election in Pennsylvania. Basically, racism is alive and well and it's fu*king disgusting and bolstered by a mind-boggling level of ignorance and paranoia. Of course we already knew that but listening to an hour of reporting on it was tough. Hearing ostensibly decent people rationalize their racism was even tougher.
--Kambri Can't wait to cast my ballot for a black man not because he's black or in spite of him being black, but because he shares my views on issues that are important to me.
Link - 8:11 AM -
