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Past Performers - Season 1
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Melody Bates (aka "Ivy
League-Legacy") is an NYC-based actor, writer, director and teacher.
She is a National Co-Chair of
Billionaires for Bush,
and Artistic Director of the Billionaire Follies. Since 2004 she has
helped to write, direct and produce B4B shows. Sans tiara,
Melody’s legit acting work includes Mac Wellman’s Jennie Richee
(Chicago and NYC, Obie Award) and The Invention of Tragedy
(Classic Stage Co.), Robert Woodruff's Godard: distant and right
(NYC and Paris). Recent film work includes “Sum of the Parts”
(est. 2007) and “Matutinal Reverie” (est. 2006). She teaches middle
school drama at the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School and holds an MFA
in acting from Columbia.
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Dave Bennett is a member of the
Billionaire Follies of Billionaires For Bush and has performed in their
last three shows (Dick Cheney's Holiday Spectacular 2005, Spring Bling,
Summer in the Hummer). Originally from Texas and then transplanted to
Maine, David has been in New York for the past seven years performing
all over the off-off Broadway circuit. He is honored to be a part of
News to Me. Look for him as W. in Dick Cheney's Holiday Spectacular
2006 this winter. |
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Kathryn Blume
is Co-Founder of the Lysistrata Project, and has toured The Accidental
Activist - her critically acclaimed one-woman show. She founded “Earth
on the Air”, a nationally syndicated, award-winning environmental and
social justice radio program. Kathryn received her BA from Yale with a
self-designed degree in environmental studies and theater.
www.kathrynblume.com |
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Mick Casale is an award-winning
writer of works for the stage, screen and comics. Including "Into the
Woods," a film he co-wrote, currently in post-production, featuring
Debra Winger, Karen Black, Marlo Thomas and Moby. He is also the head
of writing for the Kanbar Institute at New York University's Tisch
School of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and Television. His
company, Consultant 13, has helped develop hundreds of scripts for use
on every continent of the world. |
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Mike Daisey has
been called “the master storyteller” and “one of the finest solo
performers of his generation” by the New York Times for his monologues,
including 21 Dog Years, Great Men of Genius, The Ugly American
and Stories From the Atlantic Night Cafe which he’s performed
Off-Broadway, across the country and around the world. He’s been a guest
on the Late Show with David Letterman, and his work has been
heard on the BBC and NPR.
www.mikedaisey.com |
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Dorian Davis appeared on MTV's pop
culture series MTV Hits. He has been a researcher and script consultant
for MTV's Choose or Lose special Chat the Planet: Baghdad Two-Way, and
for Elephant in the Room, LOGO's documentary on gay Republicans. He's
been a guest-blogger at Alarming News, and a special guest at Hoist the
Black Flag on Rightalk.com.
He is Editor-in-Chief of
The Republican
Spectacular, a monthly,
online magazine for LGBT Republicans. |
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Jessica Delfino is probably best known for her musical comedy act,
which combines dirty folk songs and ribald jokes. The Onion called her
"A cross between Redd Foxx and Jewel". She has been awarded “Best
Musical Act” by Emerging Comics NY, “Unsigned Act of the Week” by High
Times, and “Comedic Discovery of the Month” by
www.ComedyCentral.com. Her website is
www.jessydelfino.blogspot.com.
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Tamara Draut is
the author of "Strapped: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get
Ahead,” and Director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos, a
national think-tank headquartered in New York City. Her research and
writing have appeared in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, and Newsweek. A frequent commentator, Draut has appeared on
CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, Headline News, CNBC's Closing Bell and ABC
World News Tonight. She lives in New York City with her husband. |
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Robert A. George
is an editorial writer with the New York Post and the editor of the blog,
Ragged Thots.
His written work has appeared in National Review, The New Republic
Reason and The Huffington Post. He is a weekly contributor on National
Public Radio’s “News & Notes w/ Ed Gordon.” A regular political
commentator, he has appeared on CNN’s “Late Edition”, Fox News Channel’s
“Newswatch”, NBC’s “Meet The Press”, ABC’s “This Week” and other
broadcast and cable outlets. |
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Julia
Gorin is among the most recognized names in conservative comedy. She
was profiled in the 2005 book South Park Conservatives, and her
humor was featured in "Penthouse" magazine. Julia's jokes are among the
"1,500 Best Jokes Ever Told" in Penguin Group's newly released
Complete Idiot's Guide to Jokes. She has appeared on “Politically
Incorrect,” Fuse TV,” and news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC.
www.juliagorin.com
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Katie Halper
is a comedian, documentary filmmaker, and activist from New York City's
Upper West Side, who has worked as development director for DCTV, a
non-profit media education center and documentary production house, and
coordinated living wage and labor campaigns in NYC and Florida. Katie
performs comedy throughout the city, and hosts the monthly Tank
presentations of Laughing Liberally and her own show Red Diaper Baby
Presents.
http://katiehalper.com
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Jamie Jackson is an actor, writer, comedian working in film, theatre
and TV. He worked with all of Sydney’s major theatre companies before
moving to New York where he gained his MFA in musical theatre writing
from NYU. He appears on the Onion Website as satiric newscaster, Dick
Kukov, and he was recently nominated for Best Solo Performer in the New
York Innovative Theatre Awards for The Pigman of Delancey Street.
www.jamiejackson.com
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Eric Kirchberger is an actor,
writer and comedian who has appeared on HBO Comedy and Comedy Central's
Premium Blend. He is a fixture of the downtown comedy scene in
New York City, where he sometimes performs as his conservative alter-ego
John Stodge. Eric can also be seen in the one-man-show Eric
Kirchberger Punching Tigers. He cannot be seen in the
so-far-unreleased movie Wild Girls Gone with SNL's Amy
Poehler, so don't even try. |
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Gersh Kuntzman
was a reporter at The New York Post during the long-forgotten decade of
the 1990s, first covering the entertainment industry and, later,
covering news. Gersh's freelance work has appeared in such esteemed
magazines as Salon, Cosmopolitan, Modern Humorist, Radar, Redbook,
George, New York Observer and New York magazine. Gersh is also a
playwright. His comedy, "SUV: The Musical!" played the NYC International
Fringe Fest in 2005. |
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Jonathan Leaf is a playwright and journalist. His play "The
Caterers" was recently nominated for Best Play of 2005 in the
Innovative Theater Awards, and he was profiled in Time Out New York
as one of America's Ten Up-And-Coming playwrights. A former New York
City public school teacher, he's written for The New Yorker,
National Review, The Weekly Standard, The New York Press,
New York Post, and The Daily News. His next play opens at
the Arclight Theater on January 5th.
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Evan Coyne Maloney
is the editor of the website
Brain Terminal.
Now over five years old, Brain Terminal was one of the first
politically-oriented blogs and has now registered tens of millions of
visitors. In 2003, Evan posted his first video, “Protesting the
Protesters,” to his website. Several media outlets took notice.
Since then, Maloney has released two award-winning shorts, “Brainwashing
101 and Brainwashing 201”, that document the politicization of
college campuses.
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Laurence O’Keefe
(musical guest) won the 2004 Ed Kleban Award for lyrics, and the
2001 ASCAP Foundation’s Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and a 2001
Jonathan Larson award for music and lyrics. Off-Broadway credits
include: music for Sarah, Plain And Tall; co-author of book,
music and lyrics for Cam Jansen And The Curse Of The Emerald
Elephant; and music and lyrics for Bat Boy: The Musical,
which won both Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics’ Circle awards for Best
Off-Broadway Musical.
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Joanna Parson is
a performance artist, actor, writer and producer. Her musical
monologues have been heard on WNYC’s public radio program, "The Next Big
Thing". Joanna has been producing and hosting The Happy Hour Salon, a
bimonthly new works variety show, for five seasons, providing
development opportunities for comics, actors, performers and
writers. She produced and hosted three successful performance benefits
for the Red Cross less than a month after 9/11.
www.joannaparson.com |
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Nomi Prins is
a journalist and Senior Fellow at Demos. She writes about politics,
money and relationships. Nomi is the author of Other People’s Money:
The Corporate Mugging of America, a devastating exposé into
corporate corruption, political collusion and Wall Street deception.
Before becoming a journalist, Nomi worked on Wall Street as a managing
director at Goldman Sachs and running the international analytics group
at Bear Stearns in London. She left after 9/11.
www.nomiprins.com |
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Michael Roberts (musical guest) is composer/lyricist of the
2006 Best of Fringe-winning musical, “The Fartiste,” and the
off-Broadway hit “Golf: The Musical” which has played across the U.S.
and will debut in Tokyo this fall. His music for film and TV includes
the Tri-Star feature “Love Walking In,” starring Denis Leary and four
seasons on AMC’s Remember WENN.” |
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Heather Robinson -- New York
City-based independent journalist. She has written for The Wall Street
Journal, The New York Post, New York Magazine, The Philadelphia
Inquirer, The Los Angeles Daily News, Heeb magazine, and other
publications. She has also appeared as a pundit on Mid-east affairs for
CN8 network's "It's Your Call With Lynn Doyle." |
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Joshua Rosenblum (musical guest) is
the composer and creator of the Off-Broadway musical phenomenon BUSH
IS BAD, now in its second smash year at the Triad Theater. When he
is not busy bringing down the federal government with musical satire, he
moonlights as a Broadway conductor, with a specialty in flying vehicles
(Miss Saigon, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, How the Grinch
Stole Christmas). Also a classical pianist, he has appeared with
the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. |
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Dave Rosner is
the Jewish Marine Comedian. His mix of experience and background have
created a truly unique performer. On the entertainment stage he’s a
stand-up comedian, actor and political and military commentator. On the
world’s stage he’s a U.S. Marine that has served in the First Gulf War
and Iraq. He can be spotted acting on MTV and performing stand-up all
over New York.
www.daverosner.com
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Alexander Rovang
(musical guest) is a pianist and a graduate of the Oberlin
Conservatory. He has played tango in Argentina, opera in Israel, and
swing in Chatham. He may or may not be from Nebraska. |
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Chris Rozzi has been writing and
performing comedy in NYC for over ten years. Over the past few years
his one-man show, Outre Island, has acquired a confused but loyal
following. Currently, Chris can be seen expressing himself wildly as
William Shakespeare on DirecTv's "The Fizz". |
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Karol Sheinin
is a Russian-born, Brooklyn-raised political consultant for Republican
candidates and causes. She blogs at
www.alarmingnews.com and maintains a calendar of events for New
York's non-liberals at
www.rightevents.com.
She has worked on political campaigns in several states including the
2003 US Senate race in Georgia for Herman Cain and on the Bush-Cheney
2004 campaign in Colorado. Karol holds a Master's Degree in Political
Management from NYU. |
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Mark W. Smith
is an attorney, former professor of law, and the New York Times
bestselling author of several books including the Official Handbook of
the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (Regnery 2004, 2006). Mark appears
frequently in the national media as a conservative political and legal
commentator. Mark's website is
www.marksmithcommentary.com
. (Photo by Joe Henson) |
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Clay Zambo (musical guest) Clay’s music, lyrics, and arrangements
have been heard Off-Off Broadway, on national tours, in regional and
university theatres, and on NPR's Car Talk. He has served on the
faculties of Carnegie-Mellon University in NYC. A member of the
BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and the Dramatists Guild, he
is an alumnus of Ohio University's Honors Tutorial College. |
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Zero Boy -- Entertainer,
performance artist, stand-up comic & "vocal acrobat" Zero Boy recounts
his zany adventures through a unique blend of sound and mime, the
results being something akin to a performed comic book. From his New
York base Zero Boy has written, directed & performed numerous
productions on both coasts and Europe MTV's M2 network has featured his
unique work and he was recently featured on WNYC’s ‘The Next Big Thing’
and Good day New York.
www.zeroboy.com |
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