Because It's My Blog...

...and because I'm a capitalist, and because the prior post is plugging something that's already come and gone, and because it's been a while since I've done this, I'm going to use this time to suggest that you buy a copy of my play, Infectious Opportunity, and read the living hell out of it.

Actually, what you do with it once you buy it is your business. That's your prerogative as a consumer. It's no concern of mine.

Selling you stuff you
didn't know you needed,

James "What You Need" Comtos

The New York Times, Big Vision on Infectious

Though it has more than a few reservations about the script and direction (it is, after all, what one would call a mixed review), The New York Times weighs in on Infectious Opportunity, ultimately giving lead actress Jessi Gotta a whole lotta love:

"Jessi Gotta [is] the best reason to see this drama about a high-flying screenwriter and the appalling secret he hides. … The script gives the best moments to Ms. Gotta, and she makes the most of them. … This story of a writer has several good moments, made all the better when his psyche steps onstage."

We also got a great deal of love from Big Vision Empty Wallet not once, but twice, with both write-ups from two different writers each giving the show an "A."

Anyway, the run's been going quite well, if I do say so myself. Big houses, overall positive reviews, and overall positive responses from audience members.

In short, yeah, I'm happy with how the run is going and want more people to come see what we've done.

We've got two performances left – this Friday at 2pm and this Saturday at 10:15pm – so you have until Thursday afternoon and Friday night respectively to buy your tickets.

Ready to make out with you in the lobby,

James "The Professional Face of Nosedive" Comtois

Photos by Daryl Lathon.

First Round of Reviews for Infectious Opportunity

Hey, folks! With our first sold out performance of Infectious Opportunity down, some of the reviews are already in - with many being of the "Quite Positive" variety! Huzzah!

"An enjoyable, thought-provoking play brought to life by a very talented team."
-Theatre Is Easy

"A definite must see this FringeNYC."
-New York Theatre Review

"Uses artful storytelling to show ambition at its most twisted and ethics at its lowest level."
-nytheatre.com

Like I said, our opening night completely sold out, so get your tickets now. Our next show's this Thursday at 2 p.m.

Yes, this post is about the current show that's playing. I'll most likely write about the Other Big Thing that happened last week at a later date.

And yes, I know the photo is a bit much, but fuck it. I just couldn't resist. Your mamma.

Some chump who enjoys
validation from strangers,

James "Quietly Needy" Comtois

Tickets for Infectious Opportunity are Now On Sale!

Hey, gang! Your guardian from the gulag, Little Jimmy Comtois here, very pleased to let you know that tickets for our play, Infectious Opportunity, are NOW ON SALE!

You can get them by going here, and clicking on the performance you want to see.

It's like Fandango. Only, y'know, it's theatre.

This is a show we are incredibly proud of and ultra-thrilled to be remounting it. I think I can say with confidence that it's one of the best plays we here at Nosedive Central have done in our 11 years as a company. And we're very grateful to the NYC International Fringe Festival for letting us play in their (very large) backyard!

Since the show does indeed have a limited run, and the Fringe tends to be a madhouse, it's a good idea to get your tickets as soon as possible.

See you soon, my lovelies.

Cute as a freakin' button,

James "The Type of Button You Press, Not...Wear" Comtois

Infectious Opportunity at the Fringe Festival!

Nosedive Productions Presents
in association with The Present Company

A play by James Comtois
Directed by Pete Boisvert

Featuring
Rebecca Comtois — Jessi Gotta* — DR Hanson — Daryl Lathon*
David Ian Lee* — Ingrid Nordstrom —Matthew Trumbull*

*Denotes member of the Actors Equity Association

As Part of
THE 2011 NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL (August 13-27)

@ THE LIVING THEATRE (VENUE #6)

Saturday, August 13 @ 5:30pm

Thursday, August 18 @ 2pm

Friday, August 19 @ 9pm

Friday, August 26 @ 2pm

Saturday, August 27 @ 10:15pm

Wes Farley, a screenwriter known for having HIV, is enjoying national attention with his latest film. There’s only one problem: he's faked his illness for the past 10 years to boost his career, and is beginning to comprehend the drawbacks of his plan. With the help of his friend Josie, Wes revisits his past and sees how an ill-advised white lie early in life ensnared him in his current situation.

After enjoying an extended sold-out run at the Brick Theater's Antidepressant Festival in 2009, getting nominated for a 2010 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Full-Length Script and being published by Original Works Publishing, Nosedive is remounting its darkly comic Infectious Opportunity for this year's New York International Fringe Festival.

Infectious Opportunity will be performed at the Living Theatre (21 Clinton St. in New York) as part of The 2011 New York International Fringe Festival on Saturday, August 13 @ 5:30pm; Thursday, August 18 @ 2pm; Friday, August 19 @ 9pm; Friday, August 26 @ 2pm; and Saturday, August 27 @ 10:15pm. Subway: B D F or M train to 2nd Avenue or F J M Z train to Delancey Street. For tickets ($15 in advance, $18 at the door), visit http://www.fringenyc.org or call 866-468-7619.

Tickets will be on sale beginning Friday, July 22.

• • •

Infectious Opportunity in the Fringe!

It's official. Pete just got the confirmation email. Infectious Opportunity is going to be rocking the 2011 New York International Fringe Festival this summer!

That's right: Nosedive's doing three shows in three months. Huzzah!

All theatre all summer,

James "Insane Idiot" Comtois

Shameless Script-Plugging Time

Well, gang. I've been having a great deal of fun guest blogging over at the NYIT Awards' Full of IT blog this week, and it looks as though I've got one blog entry left in me before I hand the torch over to the next guest blogger. It should be appearing tomorrow, provided I finish it in time (I'm almost done, so I really should have it ready for a Friday post).

Although I still don't see myself returning to long-form blogging on a regular basis, it's been kind of fun to return to it for a bit, even if my entries may be a tad insipid and redundant (I know, I know, what a shocker). Paradoxically, it's reminded me why I enjoyed it and why I've kinda stopped.

So, while we all wait for my final entry to be posted on the Full of IT blog, I'm gonna go ahead and do some shameless plugging for my play, Infectious Opportunity.

That's right, campers. The NYIT Award-nominated play by Yours Truly about a guy faking being HIV-positive is available for sale both as a hard copy and for your Kindle for a song.

So be somebody and buy your copy today!

Awright. Enough shameless self-promotion for one day. Real blog entry for the IT Awards tomorrow.

Pissing in the sink,

James "World's Best Roommate" Comtois

Why Not Buy a Script to Pass the Time?

Before I officially announce the schedule of Nosedive Central's upcoming shows (we've been given the dates unofficially, but we need to remain mum for the time being so they can get confirmed and solidified), I just wanted to humbly remind you that while you wait for that info, you can buy Infectious Opportunity for your Kindle.

Same goes with Suburban Peepshow.

They're good plays. They're inexpensive. Just sayin.

Helping you wait for big news,

James "Cyber Life-Coach" Comtois

11th Season, Ho!

Holy shit that was fun. Nosedive's Red-Ribbon Gala, which took place this past Saturday at the Bowery Poetry Club, far exceeded my expectations in every way, and was a rousing success (as well as a previously-mentioned damn fun time).

Many thanks to everyone who came out this weekend and to everyone who made it happen, from writers Jeff Lewonczyk, Qui Nguyen, Mac Rogers, August Schulenburg and Crystal Skillman; musical act the Dye Violets, burlesque beauty Mme. Renee Rosebud; poet extraordinaire Brian Silliman; director John Hurley; performers Alisha Spielmann, Ryan Andes, C.L. Weatherstone, Joe Mathers, Felicia Hudson, Melissa Roth and Martin Denton (yes, Mr. Martin Denton); everyone at Nosedive Central and of course, our host and MC, Bastard Keith.

(Jesus, as long as that list appears to be, I'm sure I'm forgetting some folks, so I apologize in advance and thank you as well.)

Thank you all so much. Seriously, you guys are awesome.

And for those of you who couldn't make it out on Saturday but would like to donate to the cause (the cause being Nosedive's 11th season), you can do so by going here.

And now with the first item of the season out of the way, we can prep for our upcoming season, which will include our annual Blood Brothers present... horror anthology show, this time to go up in May instead of October (as it will be a co-production with EndTimes Productions). That'll be happening at the Gene Frankel Theatre in a matter of months.

Then, the plan is to remount our 2009 NYIT-nominated play, Infectious Opportunity, perhaps in the summer, depending on space availability.

We've also applied for entrance into a theatre's annual festival with another script of mine, but to mitigate the risk of jinxing that, I won't divulge any details until we get the response back from the theatre.

So suffice it to say, work is now underway for Nosedive Central's 11th season, about which I'm quite happy and enthusiastic.

This of course means I need to finish up my damn entry in the impending Blood Brothers show.

Back to writing,

James "Worker Bee" Comtois

Infectious and Peepshow Available on Kindle

Did you know you can now read Infectious Opportunity and Suburban Peepshow on your Kindle?

Well, now you do.

Keeping his (and your) thumb on
the pulse of the publishing scene,

James "Digital Valtentine" Comtois

Hard Copies Waiting in the Mailbox: A Nice Welcome Home Gift

Well, I just got my copies of Infectious Opportunity. Have you?

A delightful stinker,

James "Hey, Does He Still Blog?" Comtois

1,000th Post, Publishing News

I've been away from this site for a while for two reasons. The first is I realized that this would be my 1,000th post on this site, and in predictable OCD fashion, didn't want to completely waste it on a "Check out this YouTube video of a singing taint!" (not that such a video wouldn't be completely awesome to watch; I'd just rather use the 1,000th post to feature one of my singing taint videos).

The second is that I wanted to wait for the official green light to announce that news I had hinted at a couple weeks back. Now that it's on their site, I suppose I can blab about this.

Shortly after its NYIT Award nomination, Original Works Publishing has decided to publish Infectious Opportunity as part of its catalogue.

Copies are available for pre-sale now. There's also some information on the publisher's Facebook page.

I mean, look. I know this isn't what you'd expect for a milestone post or anything, since I'm offering no sort of retrospective on this site. But really, if I'm not offering any taint-dancing videos, who really cares about what the first blog post on this site was?

No time to reminisce,

James "Anti-Romantic" Comtois

Infectious Opportunity Nominated for an IT Award

Well, the announcement's been made public, so I can blather about it here. Infectious Opportunity has been nominated for a 2010 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Full-Length Script.

The rest of the nominees, which include Crystal Skillman's Vigil, Heather Cohn for directing Flux's The Lesser Seductions of History, Piper McKenzie's Craven Monkey and the Mountain of Fury, Vampire Cowboys' Alice in Slasherland, Paco Tolson for his acting work in The Brokenhearteds, and most of the cast for MilkMilkLemonade, can all be found here.

Congratulations to all my fellow nominees!

Just happy to be nominated,

James "Nom Nom Nom" Comtois

Wrapped Up And VIRAL Trailer

Our final performance of Infectious Opportunity has come and gone, and I'm of course experiencing those obligatory mixed feelings of relief and sadness. This was such a fun show to stage and show to people, and we'll most likely revisit it again in the future (once the bounds of Equity rules free us). Many, many, many thanks to everyone who came out to see this. And to everyone on the team who made this show, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations to all you sexy bitches. You guys all brought your A+ Game to this, and I love you for it. Congratufuckinglations.

I'm getting ready to head off to Maine for a week, where I'm hoping to do precious little except stare at the ocean and write my Blood Brothers pieces for this October and perhaps another episode of my upcoming Vampire Cowboys Saturday Night Saloon serial, Entrenched. I kinda need to step away from the Rotten Apple for a little bit, if only for a little while.

And holy crap, how psyched am I to see this:

The answer is very. Very psyched.

Living under a cyberbridge,

James "Internet Troll" Comtois

Note of Congrats, Final Plug

Before I begin my final plug for Nosedive's show, I wanted to offer my congratulations to all my peeps who have been nominated for New York Innovative Theatre Awards, including Johnna Adams and Flux, Mac Rogers and the cast & crew of Universal Robots, Gyda Arber, David Ian Lee, a bunch of people from the Brick, and actually many many others.

Now, onto the shameless self-promotion, for the last time. For this show, anyway.

Well, gang. The time is upon us. We've come to the end of the road, as the Boyz once said. Tonight is our final performance of Infectious Opportunity before it goes up into the Great Production in the Sky. There will be no extension of the extension, sadly, so this really is your last chance to catch it.

"Cheers, fuckface."

It's tonight at 8 p.m. at the Brick Theater in Williamsburg. Buy your tickets here. And come out and drink with us afterwards.

And finally, damn, Qui and Abby. That's an adorable baby in person. The photos don't convey how tiny that little guy really is.

All over the map,

James "Theatre Explorer" Comtois

Interviewed by Flux

Gus Schulenburg from Flux Theatre Ensemble interviewed Pete, David Ian Lee, Kid Sister Comtois and Yours Truly as part of Flux's "Exploding Moments" series, where we break down the nuts and bolts of one scene from Infectious Opportunity from the writing, directing and performing angle. Check it out here.

And thanks again for asking us to participate in this, Gus! It was a lot of fun.

Okay. I now need to shower, eat, then head up to the Brick for our penultimate performance of said show. Hope to see some of you there, if not this afternoon, then on Tuesday.

Slapping his cast and crew around,

James "Cruel Mistress" Comtois

Last Two Chances To Catch Infectious Opportunity

Hey, gang. Well, it's been a fun run, but the final two performances for Nosedive's latest portrait of a likable sociopath, Infectious Opportunity, are upon us.

Because there are only the two shows left (Sunday, July 19th at 3 p.m. and Tuesday, July 21st at 8 p.m.), and because space at the Brick Theater is limited, now's the time to get your tickets. We still have tickets available, but that's looking to change in the not-too-distant future.

I'll see you soon!

Your captain of creepiness,

James "Ambiguous Touch" Comtois

* * *

Nosedive Productions
in Association with
The Brick Theater

Presents

Infectious Opportunity

By James Comtois

Directed by Pete Boisvert

Renowned screenwriter Wes Farley realizes that having AIDS would solve a whole lot of his problems...

"Comtois turns the perception of HIV+ on its head and makes it the mandatory element in building a successful career. What's more, he does so convincingly and with nuance in a neatly structured, witty drama populated with a talented cast. What more can you ask for?"
— nytheatre.com




"Like any good roller coaster ride, Infectious Opportunity leaves the audience with a racing heart, exhilarated, and a little bit nauseated."
— stagebuzz.com

At The Brick Theater
575 Metropolitan Avenue
(between Union Avenue & Lorimer Street)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Two Additional (Final) Performances:

Sunday, July 19 @ 3 p.m.
Tuesday, July 21 @ 8 p.m.

For Tickets Go Here.

Photos by Aaron Epstein. Featuring DR Mann Hanson, David Ian Lee, Andrea Marie Smith, Matthew Trumbull

Infectious Opportunity: Round Three

Finally, I'm back to using this weblog as an outlet for shameless self-promoting. And you all thought I'd forgotten. Pish-tosh, dear readers. Pish. Tosh!

So yes. We here at Nosedive Central are in fact gearing up for our third round of (extended) performances for Infectious Opportunity at the Brick Theater. I'm really glad we're able to have more than just four performances for this show, as it's been playing like gangbusters. I'm quite pleased and humbled by the very favorable reviews and enthusiastic audience responses to this one.

Considering Patrick and I were wondering with genuine sincerity how this would play in front of folks about a week before we opened, I'm also pleasantly surprised by the audience reaction. We thought some people may find it curious and introspective, but we didn't really expect overall approval. It is, after all, a show about a guy faking being HIV-positive that's not quite a comedy (although there are parts that are funny), definitely not an "issues" play and certainly not an outrageous carnie geek show (although a few people have found it outrageous).

These next two shows — on Sunday, Jul 19 at 3 p.m. and Tuesday, July 21 at 8 p.m. — really are our final performances before this goes up to the Great Production in the Sky, so don't make the mistake of thinking a re-extension will be taking place in August. Perhaps, sometime next year or the year after, we'll revisit/remount this show, but for all intents and purposes, we close on Tuesday.

For reals this time.

As I type this, there are still tickets available, but judging from past experience, that will change soon, so it's a good idea to get your tickets as soon as possible so as to not be left out on the skin-crawling fun that is Infectious Opportunity.

A shoulder for the world to cry on,

James "Sympathetic Confidant" Comtois

Wow, Thanks, Daniel!

Hey! In all the hubbub I totally missed this. The best thing you’ve seen in a goodly amount of time? Wow. Awesome. Thanks, Daniel!

And of course, many thanks to everyone who's come out to see the show and has said nice things about it, both in person and electronically. I'm so glad there's now a Round Three coming up.

Pretty soon, I'll be taking a (short) break from plugging my own stuff to plug upcoming events from other folks, including this and this.

What, you were expecting a break from self-promoting to discuss Howard Barker? That's for those smart theatre blogs, you silly (albeit sexy) readers!

Hitting on his readership,

James "Cyberslut" Comtois

StageBuzz Reviews Infectious Opportunity

Byrne Harrison has written a very nice review of Infectious Opportunity for StageBuzz.com.

He writes:

"Like any good roller coaster ride, Infectious Opportunity leaves the audience with a racing heart, exhilarated, and a little bit nauseated."

He also says a lot of very nice things about everyone in the cast and crew as well. Read the whole thing here.

We've got two more performances. Do as the man says, and buy your tickets early.

Making reviewers sick,

James "But In A Good Way" Comtois