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, December 30, 2008
Just Checking In
Where the heck is everybody? No emails, no phone calls. The holiday was last week!
Well, we accomplished every single thing on my sabbatical to do list and then some. The armoire and old TV are gone. A new flat screen is in our living room awaiting the arrival of a new media table. The exposed brick wall is happily staring back at us.
By week's end I should be at my two-thirds mark for my first draft. As expected, the sucker wasn't banged out. The holidays beckoned and the armoire took up more time than we hoped. But lots of writing was done and my extra one-third mark is on pace.
The then some is my all my tax stuff is already prepared and a couple of closets cleaned. I love to procrastinate from writing by doing really productive things that make me feel like I'm not procrastinating at all. It could be worse, I guess. I could procrastinate with Guitar Hero or marathons of "What Not to Wear" but how about I just sit down and write?
Sabbatical Update, Part II
The Comix questions have subsided, though, I did end up going in on Friday after a day full of errands. I dropped off my holiday cards for my assistant to stamp and mail, took care of Greg Fitzsimmons' and Patrice Oneal's press itineraries, and answered some pressing emails.
I got my passport renewed and dropped off my laptop which I'm picking up today. It had a virus on it which they eliminated before installing some protective firewall stuff and cleaned off all the unnecessary programs. All told, it cost $220. Pretty fair cost, in my opinion. I usually just buy a new version when I start to have trouble with my gadgets, so I'm pleased with myself for being frugal and taking care of what's already mine.
I only dropped off half the home videos I intended because the price I was quoted over the phone of $5 each, suddenly jumped to $20 each. Yikes! I left the longest recordings, mostly videos of plays I starred in years ago, the rest I can easily transfer to Mini DV here at home. I had just walked four avenues in an awful snow / sleet storm, was pouring down sweat and my feet were soaked and freezing due to the giant puddles on every corner. So when the guy told me the $15 price difference, I kind of had a melt down. It was funny watching him not know what to do or say to make me feel better. It wasn't his fault, I told him, but I still wasn't happy to have walked so far out of the way to HIS video store when there's dozens more convenient places around the City. I knew that $5 price was too good to be true, but I had been quoted a similar price for a back room operation that runs out of a porn shop. I figured I'd go with the legit business and, well, it cost me.
No takers on the armoire. How does anything get sold on Craig's List? I keep hearing how easy it is but we didn't get one single inquiry. It's gorgeous and a bargain. I suppose we should wait till after the holidays. Or we can just hire some of the guys that loiter around Metropolitan Lumber looking for day labor to help us carry it down two flights so Salvation Army will pick it up. (S.A. will only pick up furniture two flights up or less.)
I've gone to the gym three more times, so that's six out of ten days I've put in a good work out. I'm down three pounds total. (There's no goal number in mind, and I'm sure I'll gain it back once I go back to work. I just find it interesting to see how conscious living / eating has such immediate results.) I indulged at a comedy industry party and had sugar and lots of wine, as expected. Other than that, I've stuck to no sugar and no alcohol. I've not eaten a lot of sugar since Christian lost his weight almost 3 years ago, so it hasn't been hard, thankfully. I remember when we first "de-toxed" from sugar and it was maddening. Hard doesn't define it. Sugar is evil.
I've had a few days of non-writing thanks to the aforementioned errand running, Comix day and holiday party, but I'm still up 14,000 words. When I get home from today's errands, I'll pick up with Chapter Seven "You're a Good Horse, Charlie Brown." Now that I'm approaching chapters where the stories are ones I've told dozens of times and have much more impact on the story arc, I think the words will fly off my fingertips. We'll see.
--Kambri Headed to Rockefeller Center again during the busiest season of the year. This laptop had better work for a long while!
Link - 9:35 AM -
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Paquita's Boots
Paquita tried on her winter boots for this morning's walk.
--Kambri Link - 2:16 AM -
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sabbatical Update
Holiday cards are done. I'm still stuck answering Comix questions and taking care of press for upcoming comedians, but I hope that doesn't continue.
Laptop is being taken in tomorrow for general cleaning and repair. I was able to take care of lots of the glitches and annoyances once I devoted an hour or two to it, but I'd still like the pros to wipe off a bunch of the crap I don't need.
Home videos sorted and are being taken in for transferring to DVD. A lot faster and less of a hassle than me transferring them to mini-DV as I had started to do. Mini-DVs just don't hold that much compared to a VHS tape.
I've gone to the gym three days in a row, haven't had any sugar or alcohol in a few days now so am down two pounds. I'm sure that will change once I hit the holiday parties. I scrubbed the skin off my office. I've been here for nearly four years and hadn't given it a thorough washing. It sparkles.
Christian bought me a beautiful floor-length mirror for Christmas. Unfortunately I figured it out when I was at our mailbox place and they showed me the package. Eek. Oops. Oh, well. He assembled it and it's in my freshly cleaned office looking dazzling.
Um, what else? Oh, yeah, I've managed to churn out 6,000 more words. Not shabby but far from my goal.
I'm on Sabbatical!
Sort of. In my line of work, I can never really be on vacation or MIA. I'll definitely try to pare down my emailing and what not because I haven't taken a single vacation since Paris last Christmas. Sigh.
There is lots to catch up on around the house like selling or donating my big armoire. It's beautiful but I've had it for 8 years and it's quite bulky by NYC apartment standards. Plus we really need a new TV. Sure, we want a new flat screen, but we actually need one. Our old tube TV is fading. A flat screen would look beautiful against our exposed brick wall that is nearly fully covered by my giant armoire. So, yeah, we're looking forward to purging.
I also need to renew my passport, finish writing out the 250 Comix holiday cards, drop of my laptop for repair, transfer some old home videos to DVD and stuff like that that simply haven't gotten my attention due to the insanity that was 2008. I also went grocery shopping for the first time in about 5 months. I'm a pretty healthy eater by nature, but not when I'm out in restaurants. I definitely like my greasy bar food. I figure if I'm home for the next two weeks, I might as well try to re-calibrate my bad eating habits that have spiraled out of control lately. (This may come as a shock but pints of Ben & Jerry's NY Super Fudge Chunk at midnight really aren't necessary.)
Finally, I'd really like to finish (or come very close to finishing) the first draft of my memoir. I'm one-third of the way through without much concentrated effort. I think if I can spend the next two weeks consistently writing for days in a row, I could bang that sucker out. I truly expect to at least get another one-third on paper. Any more than that would be amazing.
It's an awful lot to expect out of two weeks off, especially during the holidays. But if I can get at least half of what I want done done, it will have been a success. To help me stay on track, I'm keeping a daily diary of everything from what I eat and drink, to how much time I'm writing, watching television (Thankfully Survivor & Dexter have ended. Knock out The Biggest Loser & How I Met Your Mother and we're in business.), and on the internet.
--Kambri If only the cursed internet would break down for a few days. Do I really need to look up the ingredients in lip balm that make it "addictive" or famous comic book villains? No. But tell that to me when I really am curious about the answers.
Link - 10:29 AM -
Interview with Pop Rock Candy Mountain
From PopRockCandyMountain.com comes this interview:
Kambri Crews is a work machine — the publicist for several high-profile clients including the famous New York comedy club COMIX, Crews is also a performer, writer and much, much more. She recently landed a publishing deal and is working diligent...read & listen to the rest...
--Kambri Link - 10:12 AM -
Friday, December 12, 2008
Freestyle Love Supreme was awesome last night, as usual. The now rich and famous but still eternally lovely and loved Lin-Manuel Miranda was on the bill. This time, however, his "In the Heights" director, Thomas Kail, was in the audience. It became quite surreal when Miranda used his Tony Award winning role as inspiration for his freestyle rap of the audience-suggested word "smoothie". I wish I could tell you all the salacious details but you should have bought tickets since the money went to their pet charity the VideoVoice Project. You can redeem yourself this January 5th, when they return to Comix and the first Monday of every month thereafter. That's a recurring calendar entry you can guarantee is worth the effort.
Couple that with the ever crush-worthy Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan (The Electric Company!!!), Anthony "Two Touch" Veneziale (the ridiculously generous, effervescent and gracious founder of VideoVoice Project), and Utkarsh "UTK" Amudkar (eminent rapper/ actor whose birthday was also yesterday), and you have yourself a magically delicious night.
--Kambri
They really make me want to eat my face just to get the extra taste of smiles and happiness that I devour after looking at a room full of their audience members.
Three Quick Things Katrina Bowden from "30 Rock" is our special guest tonight at Comix for Freestyle Love Supreme's special charity shows to raise money for the Video Voice Project. I'll be at both shows so say hello if you come by.
I'm filming a fun promo piece with Michelle Buteau where she'll taste test three different key lime martinis made by our Comix bartenders and choose her favorite. The winner will be added to the specialy cocktail menu, too. I think it's a fun way to promote comedians, the Comix staff and, of course, sell some booze. We'll see how it turns out.
Meanwhile, the other thing I wrote, directed and starred in, aka The Fart Commercial, begins airing in NYC today. Fun! I can't wait to see it at the gym while I'm on the treadmill. That's the only time I see our commercials, without fail. I guess because it's the only time where I'm on one channel for an hour with no remote control to click fast forward.
--Kambri Link - 10:41 AM -
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Kiss Fist Magazine
I'm featured on pages 36 & 37 of this month's issue of "Kiss Fist", a beautifully laid out magazine that caters to the Deaf Community. All contributors and those featured are either deaf or a CODA. Check out the third issue here: http://read.kiss-fist.com/issue-03 and be sure to bookmark it to read about all the wonderful things happening in the Deaf world.
--Kambri Link - 5:03 PM -
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Holy Holiday Crapness
It feels like not much is going due to the holidays on but where the hell did the time go?
We're working on updating Christian's bio, resume and what not in preparation for the big PR for his DVD. After his photo shoot, we've narrowed down his promo shots to 50. The cover of the DVD is already designed and the second cut of his hour special was delivered yesterday. So, all is chugging along on that end.
Brian Posehn and David Alan Grier are in town back-to-back weekends so I'm busy with their PR schedules, designing the Comix holiday card, updating the mailing lists and planning the annual holiday party. With all that and Thanksgiving in Boston, there wasn't much time to focus on writing even though it's all I want to be doing. While in Boston, we stayed at the Parker House across from the Granary Cemetery. The Parker House has a rich history which includes notables such as Ho Chi Minh, Malcolm X, JFK and the like. The Granary boasts the remains of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Sam Adams and Mother Goose. Quite the spot to spend some time meandering around on Black Friday.
Christian's family all live relatively close to one another so they all drive to eat turkey, call it a day and pfffttt, that's it. Couldn't we just do that some other Thursday when no one else is traveling and, therefore, traffic and prices are normal? Holidays...I don't get 'em. That said, we of the kids' table, had a great time doing a TDay pub crawl through Boston with Christian's cousin, his fiance, his other cousin and his sis-in-law. The six of us created a new tradition from here on out, and I look forward to the next time we see them. You know, just for fun and because we actually like each other and not because the calendar dictates it.
I'm going to dub one random day a Festivus-type holidy and shake things up. We can pretend it's a tradition in my family and Christian really needs his family's support to make me feel welcome. It will involve chanting, candles, robes...oh, wait, that's just church. Hmm...guess nothing's weirder that what's already out there.
--Kambri Truth is stranger than fiction.
Link - 11:47 PM -
First Friday Roundup - Lone Star Beer & FREE Sunburns!
Join us for FREE Sunburns (tequila, triple sec & cranberry) cocktails and $4 Lone Stars this Friday!
There are other cheap drink specials, $4 Lone Star Beer while supplies last, and delicious food at a discount. Bring your business cards and a smile as this is a great mixer, meet & greet opportunity.
Discounted food and drinks available from 6:30 - 9:00.
