Happy Halloween! (I)

 

Halloween Radness 2022! (I)

Eleven years of me and my birthday twin, the lovely and talented Adam! This year's costumes are inspired by two of my favorite shows from this past year - can you guess what we're dressed as? Click here for last year's drawring, and follow them back from there if you're so inclined. Happiest of birthdays to us both! BEST MONTH!!

Morty's Biography (V)

The lovely and very talented Laura Jane Bailey returns to the Non-Permanent Parliament for a FIVE-PART anniversary Morty saga! Believe it or not, Morty, my older Man of the Theater character, turns 15 today. He was the subject of my first-ever video when I started making them in 2007. WOW! Click here to view his latest, and scroll down past the pictures to read a little more about this Morty person. And whoever you are, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Enjoy!

Morty, as a character, has been in development since 2001. That year I played Hamlet, and after a show, one of the producers of the Laurence Olivier movie came backstage to tell me I "reminded him of a young Laurence Olivier," adding quickly after, "You have a ways to go." 

After years of riffing with various artistic geniuses on this ready-made character of a man and those two sentences, 2007 found me performing in Richard the Second in Virginia, and trying to figure out, having just left New York City for the last time, where I was going with my life, and if I wasn't going to be an actor, which I'd decided, what was I going to be? I was drifting towards the idea of living in San Francisco and figuring it all out there; I wrote my first Morty video and used it to apply to the SF Sketchfest.

The Sketchfest, unknown to me at the time, was and continues to be a big deal, so in retrospect I'm not surprised I didn't hear back on that particular application. But I discovered an artistic outlet I had been increasingly afraid I was going to go without. I made two more videos that year, S.O.F.A. (featuring the Queen of the NPP) and Hamlet in Rehearsal, and then I kept going!

Not only did I love writing, directing, acting in, and, to a lesser extent, editing (grr) these videos, I also found that they had the power to pull people I loved close to me for a bit, to share a unique experience with them, and I've been extremely lucky to work with so many truly excellent people. Check out all the people that came together at my mom's house to make Morty's Christmas Carol, including my incredible cousin, who passed away in 2020. Or my mom and stepdad, gamely jumping in for some zombie video action. And then again, with another wonderful cousin, in a Mermaid Chair movie review with outtakes that will make your whole year. Or Bobby Conté Thornton, currently on Broadway, graciously agreeing to appear as an only slightly fictionalized version of himself. Or my AIDS LifeCycle Rest Stop 2 family. Or my writer friend Erik and his bizarre creation, Morty Against Humanity. (Still one of my absolute favorites.)

Or go back to the beginning and get a taste of what would turn out to be one of the best afternoons I've ever spent, filming the first Morty with two of my oldest friends in the world. I watch this video probably more often that I should, but it does bring me great joy. Man, I've been so derned LUCKY!

I hope Morty, or any of my creations, has brought you even a little bit of happiness over the past fifteen years. We could definitely use it, just as humans beings in general. I don't plan to stop making art any time soon, so check back in for further adventures!

Spring Awakening (GD)

The second round of posters for Utah State University!

Kim Jung Gi, Rest in Peace (OPP)

One of my favorite artists passed away today. Kim Jung Gi was absolutely incredible, known for live-drawing huge, intensely detailed pieces from his head, an absolute inspiration. He also seemed like a very nice person, and I have profound respect for nice people. To commemorate his passing, I pulled an image from the Lotte Museum's 2021 exhibit of thousands of his works, and used it to decorate a flower pot, which is now sitting right outside my window to inspire me. Watch this video if you want to know more about this amazing man.