Listening to Legendary Comedy Directors

Tonight I went to a special SAG Film Society event. It was a panel discussion with three legendary great comedy directors, Rob Reiner, Amy Heckerling, and Garry Marshall. It was presented by the DGA 75th Anniversary Advisory Committee and called "Make 'Em Laugh: Game Changing Comedy Direction".

It was moderated by another comedy director, Shawn Levy. It was a very entertaining and informative evening with wonderful stories told by all three.

For example, Garry Marshall said in television, you have to finish no matter what. So once when he was doing a Happy Days episode, where the Fonz was on a jury, they didn't have the budget for a jury room set. But since the whole thing was about Fonz on the jury, there were many scenes for that room. So he hired a day player to come out with a paint can and whisper to the judge. The judge said the jury room is being painted and they would just stay in that room.

Rob Reiner shared a story about an episode of The Show of Shows which was live TV that his father Carl Reiner did. This episode was a satire of The Defenders and Carl Reiner played the prosecutor and Sid Caesar the defense attorney. The jury was supposed to bring back a guilty verdict, then the defendant's mother was going to jump up and offer new evidence.

Instead, the jury brought back a not guilty verdict which meant the story was ending half way through the show. So Sid, the defense attorney, jumped up and said that his own client was guilty and he knew it and then introduced the mother's new evidence, so that they could move along and finish the show.

They were asked to offer up clips of shows that were great influences on them. Rob Reiner chose one from The Show of Shows, Amy chose one from Blazing Saddles and The Producers, and Garry Marshall also chose a Mel Brooks one.

Cold Reading with Casting Director Orly Sitowitz

Last night I went to a SAG Foundation, CAP program, cold reading with casting director Orly Sitowitz. She paired us up and gave us sides to read. They were from old shows. But it was still fun to do. We got a few minutes of rehearsal and then we got to perform. Great fun. What's not to like, since it's a great opportunity to act out a scene in front of an audience.

Writing About Bruce Campbell at the Comic Con press room for Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe

Yesterday I posted my article on the Bruce Campbell interview I did at the Comic Con 2011 press room for Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe.

It was only a three minute round table with him so I wasn't in control of the questions, so there was a limit to what I could do with the article. But I did the best I could.

You can access it here, or cut and paste from:

http://www.suite101.com/content/yes-twitterverse-that-is-the-bruce-campbell-with-his-groove-on-a385931

It is always nice to see Bruce. I remember him from our parties on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, but apparently he doesn't remember me. Well, we did shoot in New Zealand and I worked in the L.A. offices.

If I can get a screener of the DVD, I will write a review of it.

SAG Foundations Event: Conversation with Sela Ward

Yesterday, I went to a Q&A with actor Sela Ward at SAG through the SAG Foundation. Her stories about the early days made me feel like I lacked chutzpah in my career, but at the end she confessed that she had begged her publicist to find out if anybody was going to come to see her, or should she invite her friends and family to have an audience. She said then that she was touched that we had shown up and thanked us. So I guess the lesson for me is that no matter how successful one is, there's always that little bit of insecurity inside yourself.