Friday, June 30, 2006

A Brief Pause To Address Joshua James's Troll

Although wanting to reserve this blog for promotional purposes for the next couple of weeks, I would like to pause and address something I rarely do here in Jamespeak, and that’s talk about a certain cowardly retard who decided to spout invective at fellow blogger and playwright Joshua James in his Dojo.

(I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible.)

Mr. James recently wrote an entry chastising the Bush Administration and its supporters about the Big Lie of WMDs in Iraq and using the existence thereof as a justification for going to war. As I said in Mr. James’s comments section, I rarely talk/write about this subject, because doing so just puts me in a blind rage and I can’t help but froth at the mouth. However, because of a certain troll that crept its way into his blog and spouted off tired—and wrong—invective at the author, I figured I’d take a short break from my shameless self-promotion and write about this (unpleasant) subject.

Here’s the troll’s post:

yourefullofcrap Says:

June 30th, 2006 at 2:07 am

do you think a no balls liberal like you would try to wipe out terroism? We’d be fucked if a libby got elec elected into office. they’d do what clinton did when the massacre happened in Ruwanda…NOTHING!! yOU libbys scare the fuck out of me - you have not clue as to what needs to take place - the terrorist are not going to stop. YOu think 911 was bad??? Get over yourself you weaklink


Mr. James eloquently smacked this retard down.

I’m amazed at the level of denial current Bush supporters who use this line of “thought” display. This so-called argument (that we’re safer with Bush in office) is the cry of the desperate and deluded.

I remember, right when we began our war with Iraq, that several conservative friends and co-workers of mine were still convinced that the war was justified, and that Iraq had the WMDs and that Hussein and bin Laden were co-conspirators. A year into the war, after finding no WMDs, a few hardcore neo-cons I knew were still convinced that the WMDs were there in Iraq, it would only be a matter of time before U.S. Forces would find them (“They’re there,” a right wing co-worker of mine told me. “We’ll find them.”).

A few years later, I think even the most die-hard conservatives I know would be hard-pressed to admit that they believe the war in Iraq was (is) justified, since any and all justifications have dried up beyond the realm of “reasonable doubt.” (Full disclosure: although I was against the U.S. going into war with Iraq, I wasn’t 100% convinced at the time that Iraq definitely had no WMDs. Hey, maybe the CIA actually had information I didn’t.)

Obviously, I’m surprised that people like this troll are still around, spouting off wrong and evasive invective (yeah, for someone ranting invective, said invective is quite cowardly and evasive, since “Yourefullofcrap” couldn't even write what President Bush has done right).

We’ll forget, for the moment, to ask how having the terrorist attacks on September 11, Osama bin Laden being at large and New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina all happening under President Bush’s watch equate to him being a good leader that makes us safe. We’ll forget, for the moment, that we’re immersed in an unjustified war with no end in sight. We’ll forget, for the moment, that the terrorist attacks came from Al-Qaeda, not Iraq. We’ll forget, for the moment, that bin Laden, not Hussein, orchestrated the terrorist attacks on the U.S.

Okay, no we won’t, actually. “Yourefullofcrap,” it seems, will.

I have to admit listening to President Bush’s defenders is kind of like listening to someone explain that two plus two equals peanut butter. I mean, how long do you listen to someone like that? How long do you try to explain to this person that no, two plus two does not equal peanut butter, but in fact equals four, before deciding to cautiously walk away from this person who’s clearly battling mental illness?

Let’s all acknowledge the painfully self-evident before little ignorant demons like “Yourefullofcrap” resurface:

1. The terrorist attacks came from Al-Qaeda, not Iraq.

2. Bin Laden, not Hussein, orchestrated the terrorist attacks on the U.S.

3. Invading Iraq has done nothing to make this country safer from terrorist attacks.

4. Having major terrorist attacks take place during your tenure in the Oval Office and not bringing those responsible to justice does not make you a strong leader.


Because of the histrionics and evasiveness of Mr. James’s anonymous poster, I’m thinking that he or she knows the proverbial “jig” is up. I’m just wondering why s/he’s still bothering.

Anyway, I just wanted to get that off my chest. Thanks for being patient with me.

And in closing, in addition to wishing you all a good Fourth of July, it turns out I’ll be doing some shameless self-promotion after all by thanking MattJ for his nice post on The Adventures of Nervous Boy!

A left-wing nut,

James “Terror Lover” Comtois

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Extending Ourselves

Tomorrow begins our extended two-weekend run of the play.

To be honest, I’m getting a bit nervous about it (pardon the pun).

This is new ground for Nosedive, and despite the really good response we’ve had for the first three weeks, I kinda don’t know how these next two will fare attendance-wise.

Why? Two reasons.

1. I’m not 100% the word has fully gotten out about the extension.

2. I’m wondering if we’ve overstayed our welcome.

These may just be annoyingly paranoid thoughts, I know, but hey. Those are the rules of the game when you’re a self-producing indie playwright who’s used to “success” being a matter of degree. (Such as, “You guys didn’t force your parents into foreclosing on their homes with this show. SUCCESS!”)

I think it's best to treat these final six performances as icing on the cake; as a chance to let those friends of the procrastinating persuasion who haven't yet seen it do so.

(I’m sure, dear reader, you may now be thinking, “Only you, James. Only you could have a show of yours get staged, have it be warmly received, and respond to such things with fretting and gnashing of teeth. Szymkowicz is right. You really do need a date.” Well, you may be right. Ladies, I’m currently accepting applications.)

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad we’ve extended the show. As I said on Saturday night to the cast and crew, “I’m so glad tonight’s not our closing night,” to which everyone agreed. We’re all super-proud of this one and still want to show it off, so to speak.

But obviously, since we’re treading into new territory, those niggling concerns arise. (Such as, “Shouldn’t you be busy bankrupting yourself and everyone around you?”)

Ah, hell. Screw it. It’s gonna be fun.

So in case you haven’t caught on with this semi-coherent rambling, if you’ve missed The Adventures of Nervous Boy (A Penny Dreadful), we here at Nosedive Central have given you a second chance.

Six second chances, in fact. (Don’t…don’t analyze that sentence too hard. Just…shhhh…)

June 29, 30-July 1 & July 6-8, Thursday through Saturday. All shows at 8 p.m. at the Gene Frankel Underground on 24 Bond Street.

See you there.

Always externally calm,

James “Nervous Nellie” Comtois

Friday, June 23, 2006

Hunkafied!

George Hunka came to see the play last night (along with Fiona Jones and Jen Gordon Thomas from Estrogenius, his wife, Joanne Tzanis and fellow playwright & theatre blogger and all-around cool guy Dan Trujillo) and wrote this about the show.

Words fail me. I’m honored, especially since Mr. Hunka’s blog is, as Mac put it, the industry standard of the theatre blogosphere. And man, I really don’t know how he does it. It takes me all freakin’ day to write something along the lines of, “Woo-hoo! See my show! Baba Booey Baba Booey!” yet he manages to write a well thought essay of quality every morning.

It was a delight going out to the bar and talking/drinking with them after the show (they all seemed to really like it, which is of course a relief). Thank you, Mr. Trujillo, for the beer, and good luck in Montana (possibly the first time I’ve ever said that sentence or anything like it). I look forward to seeing Mr. Hunka’s play, In Public, when he stages it in October.

Tonight I’m again relinquishing my cameo duties yet again so that friend, roommate, regular Nosedive actor and overall alien Christopher Yustin can play my small role (he drunkenly begged to play it one night and promised he’d give himself a Mohawk, so Pete and I said okay).

And also big thanks to friend, Backstage editor and other all-around cool guy Tom Penketh for coming to see it and coming out afterwards (to buy me an additional beer).

Trying to scam as many free beers as he can,

James “Resourceful” Comtois

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Back to the Grind

So begins our third weekend for The Adventures of Nervous Boy. What was once our final weekend is now our middle. Do we here at Nosedive Central have the stamina for a five-week run (something we’ve never attempted)? Tune in to find out, dear readers.

It seems that a number of the theatre bloggers are coming to see it tonight, which both excites me (because they can see what the hell Pete, Nosedive and I do in this bizarre bohemian shtick called indie theatre) and terrifies me (they are, after all, the online John Ruskins of the indie theatre world). Also, a number of my fellow co-workers are seeing the show this weekend, which again excites and terrifies me (for different, yet obvious, reasons). Guess I should wear pants for the occasion (unless, Adam, you think that would be seen as a sign of weakness).

Again, congratulations and great job, Matthew Freeman! It was super cool to (finally) meet you in person and to (finally) see your show. And thank Steve for me for letting Pete and I use the elevator.

Unable to come up with a decent closer,

James "Witty Nickname" Comtois

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Wow!

Thanks, Sean!

Been Seein' Some Shows...

Rather than actually take time off during Nervous Boy’s dark nights, I’ve been off seeing shows this week.

Thank God they’ve been good.

Sunday night, as mentioned, was Sheila Callaghan’s excellent Dead City. Monday night I went to see Adam Szymkowicz’s very funny play, Nerve, a show that reminded me yet again why I don’t date. Adam has been kind enough to give me pointers over email on how to “get back out there.” So far, he’s given me: a.) Lose the self-deprecation, and b.) Lose the pants (“Pants are for pussies with no confidence.” Can’t really argue against that one). Since I often wander around town sans pants, I guess I’m halfway there.

But seriously, folks. Adam’s play is pretty damn good. I had read it beforehand (it’s downloadable from his Web site) and was glad to see the live performance of it. Check it out if you get the chance.

Last night I finally saw Isaac Butler’s Rapid Response Team, which is odd that it’s taken me so long, considering that a.) I know a number of people involved in the group, and b.) I live two blocks away from the venue. It’s just had to do with scheduling conflicts as well as mixed signals as to when the thing started (the Web site says 8 p.m., until recently, the sandwich board outside of Galapagos said 10 p.m.). There was some funny stuff there. (Daryl Lathon, who acted in Nosedive’s Good Night, and Get Laid fundraiser show, performed in this and damn. He makes me laugh.) And it was cool to talk to Dan Trujillo for longer than thirty seconds and finally meet Isaac in person.

Tonight I get to see Matthew Freeman’s The Most Wonderful Love, which has been getting some really good press (hell, I was floored that Martin Denton’s review of Mr. Freeman’s show name-dropped Nervous Boy). I am very much looking forward to it.

I am not, however, looking forward to climbing those damn stairs at the Access Theater again. Maybe I’ll just hover by the freight elevator and sneak up with the cast…

Totally lying about taking time off to watch Wife Swap,

James “Hey, Baby, It Was Just A Little Fib!” Comtois

Monday, June 19, 2006

Extending!

The Adventures of Nervous Boy is extending its run!

Yup. You heard it hear first, kids. Nosedive’s latest production of my current play is adding two more weekends (six more shows) to its run.

So, the rest of the run is thus:

June 22-24, June 29-July 1, July 6-8 (Thursday through Saturday).

All shows are still at 8 p.m.

This is the first time ever a show of ours has merited an extension of its run, so we’re all pretty thrilled. And by “thrilled,” I of course mean, “tired.”

No, I’m just playin’ witchoo. We really are thrilled.

Tired,

James “Thrilled” Comtois

Dead City

Just saw Sheila Callaghan's play Dead City last night. It does indeed live up to the hype. And, despite it taking place in modern-day New York, having the names and genders of the main characters switched around and being called a "riff" on James Joyce's novel Ulysses (a book I absolutely love...no, seriously), it's surprisingly faithful to the source material (something I thought would be absolutely impossible).

(And Campbell Robertson is wrong about one thing: there is indeed a counterpart to Buck Mulligan [the Beatrice character].)

If you get a chance, check it out. No, seriously. It's excellent. If I do end up doing another "Top Ten" list by the end of the year (I need to see about 15 more shows before I fit my self-created criteria for doing such a list), I wouldn't be surprised to find Ms. Callaghan's play on that list. It's being extended another week.

I'm off to see Matthew Freeman's play The Most Wonderful Love on Wednesday...

Taking tonight off to watch Wife Swap,

James "Prioritize" Comtois

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Front Page of NYTheatre.com!

We're on the front page of NYTheatre.com today. Woo-hoo! Now you can see the touched-up photo we decided on.

And on a side note, congratulations to fellow playwrights and theatre bloggers Matthew Freeman and Adam Szymkowicz are in order for their positive write-ups in The New York Times. I'm hoping to see both (I've read Mr. Szymkowicz's play, Nerve and really enjoyed it), since they both run a little longer than Nervous Boy.

Tonight begins our second of three weekends for the show. Back to getting latexed up.

Taking tomorrow off,

James "I Actually Want To SEE

What This Play of Mine Looks Like" Comtois

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Martin Denton Just Made Our Day

Mr. Denton posted his review of Nervous Boy on NYTheatre.com yesterday and…wow! We here at Nosedive Productions are floating right now.

Here’s the quote I’ll be sending to all the girls in high school who wouldn’t date me:

“…the real achievement of The Adventures of Nervous-Boy — which in addition to being beautifully written is one of the best directed and best produced indie theatre shows I've seen this year — is the way Comtois has his finger so precisely on the pulse of a disaffected generation.”


Thanks, Martin!

Elated,

James “WUBUBUBUB!” Comtois

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Photos!

Although, granted, having a photo of your show ready is something you should do weeks before you open, we've only just now had time to do one, which is what we did last night at my place. Here are a couple of outtakes.

Cat* Johnson did the makeup, and Ben VandenBoom took the photos. Pete's doing some finishing touches on the one we've chosen this evening, and with a little luck, we'll have something presentable for the press.

And yes, that is me on the left.

Addicted to latex,

James "Redman" Comtois


Monday, June 12, 2006

Our First Review Is Up!

And it’s a positive one at that. WOO-HOO! From Offoffonline.com.

Feelin’ priddy good,

James “Stoner Demon” Comtois

Friday, June 09, 2006

Open For Business

The Adventures of Nervous Boy opened last night. So far, from the reactions from the opening night crowd and the crowd of Dish people who came to see the opening dress (thanks to all of you who came out to see it Wednesday night), I think we got a pretty damn good show on our hands. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the run, and hearing what people think about it.

And best of all, I didn't mess up my lines too badly!

I hope to see you all there (aside from Matt Freeman, who just opened his own show The Most Wonderful Love and is justifiably busy. Same goes for Adam Szymkowicz).

Still picking bits of

latex out of his hair,

James "The Crap I Do For This Company" Comtois

Monday, June 05, 2006

Buy Tickets For The Adventures of Nervous Boy (A Penny Dreadful)!


Nosedive Productions Presents

The Adventures of Nervous Boy (A Penny Dreadful)

A new play by James Comtois

Directed by Pete Boisvert

The Gene Frankel Underground (formerly Juvie Hall)

24 Bond Street (between Bowery & Lafayette)

June 8-10, 15-17, 22-24 (Thursday through Saturday)


“Poor Grendel has had an accident… So may you all.”

—John Gardner


“Living in New York, I’m around a lot of people who are stressed out. Always stressed, always freaking out and always living in a constant state of self-created panic. I’m not really like that. I don’t really stress out. At least, not in the way that people I know do. I don’t feel stress. It’s more of a constant feeling of steady dread…”

So opines the eponymous hero of The Adventures of Nervous Boy, a horrifically alienated New Yorker who’s slowly and steadily losing his mind. In the new black-as-death comedy-horror play from Nosedive Productions, the cruelly-named Nervous Boy wanders around a grotesque nightmare version of the city and comes across New Yorkers of every kind, from rude cell phone users, belligerent alcoholics, pretentious academics, screaming couples, demons from the underworld and brain-dead zombies as he tries to burn a recently earned paycheck in order to maintain his sanity.

The Adventures of Nervous Boy features graphic violence and strong sexual situations and is recommended for adults only.

All shows are at 8 p.m. and tickets are $15. Subway: F/V/B/D to Broadway/Lafayette; 6 to Bleeker; or R/W to 8th St. For tickets call 212-352-3101 or click here.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

The Top Ten Reasons Why You Should See The Adventures of Nervous Boy opening next weekend:

10. Because you’ve had it up to here with lame theatre and need a change.

9. There are now only reruns on TV.

8. You’re (not so) secretly in love with playwright James Comtois but have yet gathered the nerve to ask him out.

7. That Comtois guy not only appears in the show, he doesn’t wear a shirt (that’s right, ladies).

6. Qui Nguyen, the guy behind Living Dead in Denmark, choreographed the fight sequences.

5. There are, indeed, fight sequences.

4. Let’s just admit it: our director Pete Boisvert. He’s pretty cute.

3. Zombies, vampires and demons.

2. It offers a cathartic release from the shitty week you’ve been having.

And the Number One reason you should see The Adventures of Nervous Boy (A Penny Dreadful)

1. Because this is going to be one of the best shows Nosedive Productions has put on in years and it’s about high time you come and see what all the fuss is about.

* * *

The Adventures of Nervous Boy (A Penny Dreadful)

a new play by James Comtois, directed by Pete Boisvert

June 8-10, 15-17, 22-24 (Thursdays through Saturdays)

The Gene Frankel Underground at 24 Bond Street (between Bowery and Lafayette)

All shows are at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.

For tickets visit www.theatermania.com or click here.

Adults only

www.nosediveproductions.com

Congratulations to Qui Nguyen...

...from Vampire Cowboys for the big article/spread in this week’s Time Out New York!

He must be ecstatic. He's also someone for whom I feel absolutely no jealousy/rivalry (seriously, folks, his stuff is just that good).

I guess it's time for us Nosedivians to ride his coattails and pump up the fact that he choreographed the fight sequences for Nervous Boy.

Shaking the pompoms,

James "Head Cheerleader" Comtois

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