The Montreal Gazette recommends THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES... in their own manner

[thehefner]

viizou and little_dinosaur both informed me that The Montreal Gazette has listed me as one of the top ten most intriguing shows at the Montreal Fringe Festival.

Immediately filled me with hope that I might just get some butts in that huge venue of mine, I sought out the article to read it for myself, finding my name there alongside TJ Dawe (the single biggest rock star of the Fringe solo circuit!)* and there, I found the notice itself:

The Hefner Monologues. A guy named John Hefner from Washington, D.C., who claims to be a cousin of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, attempts to convince us that he is worthy of attention in his own right. Tickets, $8. MainLine Theatre, June 13-20.

... wow, I love how--even when I'm listed as a recommendation to others--to me, it feels more like a challenge.

"Yes, Mister Hugh Hefner's cousin--if that's who you *claim* to be--prove your WORTH to us! Now dance! DANCE! DOOM COMMANDS IT!"

Because all Montreal theatre critics are Dr. Doom, naturally.





*ETA: Actually, it's just a play *by* TJ, and I think it's directed by my friend Laura Harris, who did the excellent Judy Holiday solo show PITCH BLOND at Orlando. I forgot, TJ himself is sitting out the Fringe circuit for the first time since he started about eleven years ago.

Comments

[emma-elicit.livejournal.com]

I know you'll knock them dead. One of these days I will get to see you do your thing - sooner rather than later, hopefully. :)

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Thankya! Hopefully you will too! I dunno when I'll ever be performing in the area again, though. We'll see. But hey, if you ever need an excuse to hit up Montreal, Winnipeg, Indianapolis, Vancouver, or possible future performances in Orlando, New York, possibly even Edinburgh, Scotland, hey, you'll have me! :)

[emma-elicit.livejournal.com]

I will always take an excuse to go to New York!

Are you going to see Measure again, or can we expect you at the next cast party? :D The horny nun bit gets better every night. ;)

Dites les grenouilles:

[suburbfabulous.livejournal.com]

"They call me...MISTAH HEFNAH."

Re: Dites les grenouilles:

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I really should have a team-up with a grumpy, undead, anti-Hefner Rod Steiger and/or Zombie Carroll O'Connor.

Re: Dites les grenouilles:

[suburbfabulous.livejournal.com]

Zerbe, baby. Nobody but Zerbe.

[musyc]

And when you fulfill that challenge with charisma to spare, will you do a victory lap around DC with your bowler hat? XD

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Hell, girl, I need that energy for Winnipeg, Indianapolis, and Vancouver! Wait until I return to DC in the Fall, THEN we can start talking about victory laps! Complete with joyous gasoline fights set to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go!"

Yes, just you wait: I'll totally be the Derek Zoolander of DC.

[musyc]

And now that song is stuck in my head. *J-j-j-jitterbugs*

Whoa, you *are* a busy Hef this year, aren't you?

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry about that. I went strolling through Dupont Circle--the gay area of DC--and someone was cruising along, playing that song on full blast. It was so perfect that I forgave him for getting it burned in my brain to this very moment.

Thankfully, the song now reminds me of ZOOLANDER, and the one scene that even people who hate ZOOLANDER seem to enjoy.

Yes, yes I am. I still can't quite believe that I have FOUR more of these fucking things to go, each one radically different from the others. An adventure every month! Why I'm not savoring this, my last night where I can sleep in as long as I want tomorrow, is beyond me.

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

Well.

Someone doesn't understand absurdity.

(shakes head) And here I am, a surrealist....

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

If the below post is any indication, he just might have at that, and is just responding in kind to the tone I put out there. Either way, I look forward to having him in my audience, assuming negative buzz doesn't generate and keep him away!

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

Ahh, you know, you're right. I never thought of that. Too used to critics being jerks, I guess.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I hear that. Which is why I staunchly avoid reading reviews unless someone else says, "It's good!" or "they make good constructive points here..."

[viizou.livejournal.com]

Lol, yeah, I also sort of picked up on the "challenging" note in there... I'm pretty sure the critic was just responding to the self-deprecation implicit in your show's summary, though. Fringe people LIKE self-deprecation: one of the shows with the biggest buzz this year is "Figure Skating Is for Little Girls", an autobiographical bit by a male (and very hairy) figure skater.

Btw, the online title of the Gazette article is just "Suggestions: theatre", but the printed title was actually "Some Wilde, a little Bard, and a touch of Hef"...

[viizou.livejournal.com]

Scratch that last remark, which you were already aware of, since the original title pops up in the searh (which I just realized). Still, pretty cool!

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Actually, I wasn't aware of it at all! All I see is "Suggestions: theatre," so I didn't see that headline anywhere! That's pretty awesome, really!

I certainly do hope people like self-deprecation. As I say below, I sometimes wonder if I just exude this lack of confidence in my own work which keeps people from seeing my show, and when they do, many are genuinely surprised by how much they enjoy it! Meanwhile, I know another Fringe performer who's great but hardly brilliant, yet he packs the house just by his sheer charisma and confidence that seems to silently say, "I don't care if you come see my show, *you're* the one who'll be missing out."

Which is why I need a pimp, clearly.

... sssssaaaay, would you perchance be up for Henchgirling for me a day or two, passing out postcards and whatnot? I'll supply beer!

[viizou.livejournal.com]

Weird... If you search "hefner" on the Gazette's site, you should be able to see the original headline in the search results. Anyways, it doesn't matter...

Hmmm... Sure, I'd be up for Henchgirling. I'm not entirely sure how effective I'd be (for someone who loves performing and teaching, I'm paradoxically reserved), but then again I've done my share of Henchgirling for my troupe's shows in the past. Maybe if you give me the beer BEFORE... :-)

Anyways, my schedule's pretty flexible, let me know.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Huzzah, then! Yes, beer before if needed, happily shall I provide it! Drop me a line at: curseyourichards at gee male dot com!

[little-dinosaur.livejournal.com]

That guy's actually apparently a "cultural critic", whatever that means. But I bet he'll be at your show to have his tiny expectations drop-kicked back at him.
Yeah, forgot to tell you you made the headline too.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping! I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't drop him a line and say something like, "Hey, thanks for the mention! And by the way, when you see the show, you'll see there'd be absolutely nothing to gain by pretending to be Hugh Hefner cousin!"

It's funny, about five or six times now over the years, I've had people respond to my show with genuine surprise that it was that good. There's this contingent of people who come to my show pretty much to be nice to me, because we've met and they've liked me enough that they'd come support me. And then, holy hell, at some point my show actually turns out to be GOOD! How the hell did that happen?!

I dunno what it is about me that causes expectations to be lowered, and I certainly hope that doesn't keep audiences away as I suspect it does, but I think I do like that feeling of surprising an audience member. It's just a weird pattern, I dunno.

[2sick2pray.livejournal.com]

LOL.

I don't want to state the obvious here but I'm going to anyway.

That was really Hefnerian.

I wonder if the person who wrote the notice, after he sees the show, will even get how meta it was to write a notice about the show about Hefnerianism in such a Hefnerian fashion.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Hell, I'm glad YOU did it! Lord knows the thought occurred to me, it felt a little self-serving if I outright said it myself. This is actually the second Hefnerian press notice I've gotten, after the review of HOW HEFNERIAN which essentially read, "How could this lisping, mincing man-child possibly carry a solo show? Oh wait, turns out he's actually really good!"

I have a feeling this tone wasn't that intentional, that I just manage to attract things like that because that's my life!

[heleneotroy.livejournal.com]

Wait . . . soooo, you're not really who you claim to be? Then who called me the other night? Did I just give up my Jervis Tetch trade secrets to *gasp* A STRANGER!?
*faint*