Tag Archives: john osebold

Arts & Entertainment, Music, Theatre

On Pickwick, Seateeth, and Portishead

October 25, 2011 Audrey 2 Comments

A packed house at the Crocodile for Pickwick. (All photos Peter Majerle.)

It wouldn't be a Pickwick show without "Hacienda" Hands.

The Croc's famed poster wall.

Tip your bartenders.

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Given City Arts Fest, along with the already busy fall music calendar, last weekend brought a wide variety of music and art acts to the stage with varying amounts of time and experience in the business. But that doesn’t mean they all can’t be successful in their own way. Look no further than Pickwick, John Osebold’s Seateeth, and Portishead.

Saturday night Pickwick played a sold-out headlining City Arts Fest slot at the Crocodile. Not bad for a local band celebrating the first anniversary of their debut EP. The six-piece R&B indie popsters kept the crowd at a strong simmer for most of the night before kicking it up a notch for the tambourine rattle and hands in the air during “Hacienda Motel,” of course. Damien Jurado showed up to act as hype man during the encore, and as goes Jurado, so goes the rest of Seattle. Pickwick has had a whirlwind year with no signs of stopping, as they’ll be at work recording their first full-length soon and departing on a national tour currently set for next spring.

Newly-crowned Stranger genius John Osebold, aka Jose Bold, used his two City Arts slots (Thursday and Saturday nights at the Theatre Off Jackson) to premiere his new performance piece Seateeth. The work starts out as a literary reading before transitioning into a nautical tale a la Moby Dick by way of the magical realism of Haruki Murukami, with both influences fairly clear.

As always, it’s hard to take your eyes off John and his glorious man-locks, his writing is both playful and strong, and he does some impressive physical acting, as when he plays a man floating in a water-filled elevator. But surrealism doesn’t excuse inconsistencies in tone, and as is often the case with the “Awesome” crew, some of the humor is a little inside baseball. It’s nice to see Kirk Anderson show up in a small part, but if you’re viewing this piece without knowing the actors, does it make the same impact? You’ve got at least one more chance to see Seateeth, as Osebold will reprise the show Friday, October 28 at SAM Remix.

Meanwhile, Portishead has only made three studio albums (plus one live release) since 1994, and yet somehow they’ve never been bigger–like they’re frozen in time and adulation. Fresh off curating All Tomorrow’s Parties in Asbury Park, the seminal trip-hopping Bristolers are now on their first US tour proper in fourteen years (the occasional one-off don’t count). And Sunday night, they defeated the terrible acoustics of WaMu Theater to put on one amazing show.

Portishead drew from all three albums–“Wandering Star,” “Cowboys,” “Mysterons,” “Machine Gun,” “Glory Box,” “Sour Times,” and “The Rip” all made an appearance in the setlist–as spastic video, both pre-recorded images and live footage of the show, played behind the band. Beth Gibbons was all pointed elbows and hunched shoulders, her strong yet fragile voice her only weapon against her still obvious stagefright. Portishead came to work and didn’t stop till they filled that cavernous arena with crisp drums, theremin-like wails, and scratched vinyl. The video below gives a taste of what it was like. Behold the professionals:

Arts & Entertainment, Literature, Theatre

Seth Suggests Seateeth by John Osebold

October 17, 2011 Seth Kolloen

The one City Arts Fest event I’ll be sure to hit this weekend: Seateeth, the new production by Stranger theater genius John Osebold.

I thought about emailing John to ask him some background about the production, but thought better of it, partially because City Arts already did, but also because of this: Much of the fun of Osebold’s shows is that you never know what to expect.

The most recent Jose Bold show I saw was his Christmas show, which ended up being a ton of songs (some funny, some sad, all beautiful) only tangentially related to Christmas, set to a bunch of old weird videos from The Prelinger Archives.

Then there was Spidermann, his parody of the dangerous Broadway musical. I missed that, but here’s how The Stranger described the show’s opening:

Projected onto a large screen, over darkness, the words ‘Jose Bold’ with botanical flourishes blossoming in the corner. Then a lens flare wipes the screen clean. Then ‘presents.’ Then in big, shapely, inspiring, timeless red letters, moving slowly up the screen, one at a time, S-P-I-D—eeeeeeeeeeerp!—an error sound over an error screen, a long awful beep over ‘PLEASE STAND BY,’ and then a janky white screen with Spidermann written in what looks like the clumsy square paintbrush on MS Paint.

As for Seateeth, as you’ll see from the trailer above, who knows? Osebold says the inspiration came from reading his first Haruki Murakami novel, and from seeing a giant whale skeleton at Honolulu’s stellar Bishop Museum. He describes Seateeth as “the Jose Bold version of a literary reading,” which is like saying “the Lady GaGa version of a three-piece suit”–it raises more questions than it answers. I don’t want to ruin the show for myself or for you by trying to figure it out. Go and enjoy as the mystery is revealed.

Seateeth plays Thursday October 20 and Saturday October 22 at Theatre Off Jackson, at 10:30 p.m. both nights, as part of City Arts Fest. (Tickets). Osebold will reprise the show Friday, October 28, as part of SAM Remix, at 9:45 p.m. in the Porcelain Room.

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

5 Questions with Seattle Comedy Group The Habit

September 12, 2011 Seth Kolloen 1 Comment

The Habit perform Friday 9/16 (8 p.m.) and Saturday 9/17 (8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.) at the Bathhouse Theater. Tickets!

Seattle’s The Habit were kings of the local sketch comedy scene in the early 2000s. Now, older and wiser and bearded-er, they’ve come together to write their first all-new show in ten years and perform it for two weekends. Weekend the first just passed–earning a rave review from the Seattle Times (and everyone I talked to after the show). This Friday and Saturday are the final shows. Anyhoo, chatted with the guys, including Newly-minted Stranger genius John Osebold and comedy cabaret master Mark Siano, about the past and present of sketch.

1) I know you guys used to do comedy on the same bill as Reggie Watts…what happened to that guy?

John: Now we manage him. He’s our #2 client. After Dale Earnhardt.

Jeff: Conan asked us to perform on his tour with Reggie. I forgot to tell you guys. But I told him no.

John: To his face, I hope.

Mark: I remember those shows. The Habit would take turns farting into a sampler and loop it as a beat. Reggie Watts stole our act.

2) With John being named a Stranger Genius in the middle of your rehearsal process, have you had to change the show at all?

David: We’ve had to learn his name.

John: It’s pronounced “Magical Wonderkind Wizarding Orgasm Machine.”

David: Seriously though, we’ve all worked with Johnny since the mid-’90s, so we’ve gotten to see his genius up close and watch it grow into the amazing life force that it is now. However, many people might be surprised to learn that he can’t rhyme. Doesn’t even understand the concept.

John: But I can’t being the french doors simple put together having I think thoughts regular help me.

3) Can you please describe for The SunBreak audience what it was like trying to break into sketch comedy in L.A.?

Jeff: So, this is an unfair question, because it’s like asking us to dig into a gaping wound. Basically asking, “What did you do wrong?”

And the answer to that (sorry to not have a funny response) is…just about everything. We were obviously unprepared about how much effort we’d have to actually put in. And how “the industry” works, and how to best position ourselves, and what steps to take to increase our likelihood of succeeding. We performed shows for three people. That was humiliating. Plus, we didn’t know as much about comedy as we thought we did. We really weren’t ready to make that leap.

Also, in hindsight, I think it’s wrong to assume that a group can pack up and move to L.A. and find success. To be “successful” (in the Hollywood sense of the word) in L.A. you have to be an individual and a whore. A good whore, I don’t mean that in a bad way. You have to create every opportunity for yourself, and put yourself out there as much as possible, and network nonstop and go to every improv joint or comedy club, and just keep plugging away for years. Luck is about being in the right place at the right time. 99 percent of those individuals will never get a shot. But, 100 percent of groups who pack up and move will never get a shot. L.A. isn’t looking for unknown groups. Groups don’t succeed. You have to prove yourself as an individual comedian, and then you group together with other successfully networked individuals who are themselves proven.

Quick story–to this already too-long answer–when I first moved to L.A., I was doing freelance training for Adobe software. Completely coincidentally, I showed up at a guy’s house to help him with his computer, and it was Ross Shafer of Almost Live! fame. I was flabbergasted. (This was like meeting my idol at the time.) Instead of accepting money from him, I insisted on being paid in advice.

My question to him: Any tips to succeed in L.A.? His answer: “You don’t need to move to L.A. If you have a good product, people will find you. Stay where you are and build a crowd and word will spread if your product is truly good.” (This was two months after packing up and moving. Insert sad trumpet music: “Wah wah wah wahhhhh.”) You know what–he was right. Too bad for us!

David: I would also say you have to work 24/7. You have to meet people and audition and do open mics and perform, perform, perform. You can’t have a real job and try on the side. It has to be what you do, and even then, you need luck. The thing that amazed me was how many funny people there are in L.A. going nowhere. I mean FUNNY, amazingly funny. People performing at Improv Olympic, who just blew the roof off the place every week, and maybe I’ll see one of them in a commercial every once in a while. Whenever they talk about athletes making the jump from college/AA to the majors and getting lost, I know what they’re talking about. I guess if you really want to know what it’s like to make it in L.A., go to a batting cage and try and take a few swings in the 100mph cage.

4) You wrote all-new material for this show. What’s different about comedy writing in the 2010s?

Jeff: We can no longer rely on our bread and butter: Y2K jokes.

Mark: Writing comedy is more difficult now that television is no longer the god of entertainment. If someone suggests a commercial parody, half of us haven’t even seen the commercial in question. You have to be more clever now, and not rely on pop culture to do the funny for you.

Also, now that we rehearse in a mansion and not a crumbling basement in Wallingford, there are a lot of distractions.

John: Like gorgeous sunsets over the Olympics. Thanks a lot, God.

(Apparently the fifth question is for Elijah.–ed.)

Curious Georges in a conversation with Seattle