100 Interviews

If anyone is interested in seeing my stand up, this is the place to be!

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:04:23 -0500

If anyone is interested in seeing my stand up, this is the place to be!:

Myself and another hilarious lady, Suni Reyes, are putting on two weekends of shows - March 9,10 and March 16,17 at 9 pm. The shows are free, with a two drink minimum (so sodas, or booze you know you were already gonna drink, don’t lie).

Suni and I are doing this because we wanted to have the chance to do longer sets and because we wanted to do a show with two awesome, diverse female comedians on the line up. Please come out and support!

Call 646-642-1286 for reservations or just mark it down in your calendar! Let me know if you’re coming, even if we’ve never met in person I’d love to see all of you!

Yeah! Times Square! Comedy! Ladies! We’re doing it!

Woman in Comedy: A really scary thing happened to me last night at a comedy show.

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:46:12 -0500

gabydunn:

Part of me thinks it’s too soon to be writing about this because I don’t think I’ve completely processed how I feel, but I also think maybe this has happened to other women and I should talk about it in as raw a way as possible. I’m still really embarrassed and ashamed and garbled up inside, but maybe this can start a helpful discussion in terms of women and comedy.

Last night, I was on a stand up show in the East Village. The show started out with a small crowd and the host did an amazing job interacting with them and riling them up. By the time I got on stage, there were about 20 or so more people in the audience and the place had really filled up. The show was still kind of loose because of the back and forth between the host and the audience, so when I got on stage, I riffed a bit about the stuff that had happened before and then talked to one guy on the side of the audience who the host had dubbed “Banana Republic.” All joke-y. All in good fun.

Then, I start my actual set and do my first two jokes, which go pretty okay. I start another joke that is vaguely sexual - not crude, not crass - mainly silly and that goes well too. The next joke I do is about my boyfriend.

At a comedy show, when you’re on stage, usually you can’t see the audience because of the bright lights. So I’m looking into pitch darkness. As I start the joke, someone yells, “Does your boyfriend know?” referring to the sexuality joke I’d just told. I stop, laugh and say that he does because I think it’s just more of the loose environment that’s been going on at this show. I attribute it to an audience member just having fun.

I start to tell the joke about my boyfriend again, and at the midway point, the same voice yells something else derogatory about my boyfriend, homophobic and misogynistic towards me. I stop, confused. I can’t see who is talking to me so I make a HUGE mistake and say, “Sir, if you’re gonna talk to me, you need to come to the front because I can’t see you.” I think calling him out like this will shut him up.

Read More

Someone mentioned this should go here too.

Tomorrow! 6:30 pm EST - I'll be on Ustream with Alida from 'The Frenemy.'

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:34:42 -0500

Tomorrow! 6:30 pm EST - I'll be on Ustream with Alida from 'The Frenemy.':

gabydunn:

Mark your calendar!

This is happening tonight!

gabydunn: A StarKid Is Born: Joe Moses in the New York Times...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:27:40 -0500

gabydunn:

A StarKid Is Born: Joe Moses in the New York Times Magazine

Plus, the Joe Moses starter kit. All by me in this week’s magazine!

Shout out to the People’s Improv Theater and to Jaime Lyn Beatty and (especially) to Brian Holden, who gave me an amazing interview that sadly ended up on the cutting room floor. ICU Tessa Netting.

If you’re a Starkid fan and like the Internet Famous piece about Joe, please comment on the Times site! It helps them let me write more about them if the editors see a big response.

Maybe I’ll put some bonus material here if people are interested?

My second ‘Famous on the Internet’ column!

I thoroughly enjoyed your interview with James Deen. It was fun and personal with your own self-conscious thoughts interspersed. Thank you for writing it. -20 something straight male who likes NPR and good interviews

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:17:19 -0500

Thank you! I tried to be as truthful as possible as to what I was feeling - even if my parents ended up reading it. Meep.

Hi Gaby, Just discovered your wonderful project half an hour ago via Alyssa Milano on twitter- funny world we live in! Anyway, I've read 3 so far and am really enjoying your work. Having just finished your James Deen interview I feel compelled to ask: did you ask him about how he feels about the women in the porn industry? Specifically examples of Linda Lovelace and Hardcore? I'm curious and would love a reply! Many thanks! Georgia Stride

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:14:10 -0500

Hey, thanks! I didn’t really ask him about women, though he did have this to say:

“I am happy-go-lucky,” he says. “It’s a misconception that porn is just a lot of drugs or that everyone is doing it out of necessity. I mean, people do jobs they don’t like no matter what their job is but it’s really rare that someone is doing porn because they have to. Most of us are having a lot of fun. I’ve never been on a set where if a girl doesn’t want to do something, she was forced to.” Like any movie, he says, the director would have to replace her. Even if she changed her mind, James says he would feel uncomfortable going forward knowing his partner had reservations. “I might then say, ‘I’m not doing this’ because then I’d be a creepy rapist with some girl who doesn’t want to do it,” he says.

See, I'm particularly shy and an introvert, how did you get the courage to ask people for interviews?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:12:31 -0500

First, I’d say to accept that some people are going to say “no.” It sucks, but if you go into it knowing that, it’ll sting less when it does happen. I had a few people turn me down - one by saying he’d prefer not to be a part of a project he wouldn’t show his children (not that my interviews are particularly raunchy but okay). It sucks. It hurts. It’s embarrassing. But in the end, you did all you could and it’s up to them. If they don’t want to be part of your interviews, then you don’t need ‘em.

I’m not sure if I’m being at all helpful here because I humiliate myself all the time and just kind of expect it, so when it doesn’t happen I’m thrilled. More people than not will say yes and you don’t lose anything by asking!

gabydunn: Mike O’Brien Would Like to Kiss You Photo: Aliya...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:29:07 -0500

gabydunn:

Mike O’Brien Would Like to Kiss You

Photo: Aliya Naumoff for The New York Times

The news is out. I’m a new New York Times Magazine columnist. I write about Internet celebrities. It’s called ‘Famous on the Internet.’ Oh boy.

One Hundred Dates' Evan Barden on Dating, Sex, and Not Being a "Creep"

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:05:00 -0500

By: Gaby Dunn

Evan Barden is like the Eve to my Adam.

Okay, he’s not. But his project One Hundred Dates is spawned from the rib of my blog baby 100 Interviews. Where I interviewed 100 people in a year, Evan is currently seeking to go on 100 different dates this year - in an effort to meet new people, write more, increase his confidence and find out why people just don’t date anymore.

He’s a dapper fellow (see photo above), a deep thinker and a funny fellow improviser so naturally I’ve set him up with some friends along the way.

Six months into One Hundred Dates, Evan and I did a little catch-up Q&A about dating, women, sex, blogging and a man’s fear of being called a “creep.”

Are you currently on schedule to finish the project?

Yes, I am. I hit 50 dates on New Years Eve, which is the 6 month mark, so I’m right on track. The writing is behind the curve but I wasn’t necessarily holding myself to posting all 100 dates within the year.

How has OHD changed the way you view dating?

The biggest thing that has changed is my view on asking people out. Before starting OHD, I was incredibly shy about the very act of asking someone on a date. Going on dates was fine, but getting them was tough. I’ve learned that being turned down isn’t the end of the world. It hurts a bit, but there are so many worse things. It’s also been encouraging to see the array of women that will date me. It’s mind boggling. And I’ve had some awesome adventures in asking women out that I never would have made myself do without OHD. Each time, the reward was well worth the risk!

Where do you draw the line between “date” and “blog project?” You said you were turned down, but even if the girl isn’t into you, I thought they’d just say yes to help you with the blog. Are they expecting it to be a “real” date?

This might sound pretentious, odd, or just plain delusional, but I don’t view OHD as a blog, I view it as a “life project”. In that regard, every date is a “real date”. I think the line can be confusing because in my real life, I likely wouldn’t go on this many dates, with this many women. The way I keep it relevant for myself is that I look at each date in a vacuum, to a certain extent. I try to say, “If I was regular, single Evan, would I go out on a date with this person given these circumstances?” As long as the answer is “yes”, I consider it just as real a date as any other.

It’s funny because, in reference to your second statement and question, it’s more typically the opposite. Women who have like me are more likely to turn me down because they don’t want the experience cheapened by being a part of the project. The women who do it to help me out often don’t have a strong preexisting connection to me. The vast majority of rejections I get are that the women don’t want to be a date for the sake of a project, for one reason or another. None of this is across the board, but most common.

Many women I’ve been out with go into the date with below-average expectations of it being “real” but very often, at a certain point in the date, it becomes “real”. There’s usually a barrier to break through or a connection we form that makes the both of us forget about the project for a while and just be two people out on a date and it’s really nice. That happens on most of my dates.

I know you fade to black when it comes to anything sexual that happens. Was that a conscious choice?

Yeah, I’ve actually had to answer this pretty directly on the website and my stance is still the same: I simply don’t think the internet needs another blog talking about sex and my focus is dating, so that’s what I want to talk about. Guys are notoriously sex-focused, and while that’s an important part of my life, it’s not something demanding a male voice right now. We were plenty of male opinions on sex. We hear very few male opinions on dating and romance. I don’t want the spectacle and controversy of my sex life to overshadow the more substantial progress that’s made the dates themselves.

How do you handle negative feedback? (Any advice for other bloggers in that regard?)

To be honest, I haven’t received much negative feedback. When I have encountered it, I think the best thing to do is to first decide if the feedback has any kind of foundation. If it’s some juvenile comment that lacks any kind of understanding, I let it roll off my back. If it’s has any kind of legitimate argument, I like to see if they could be right. One of the ways I’ve done this is to think about what I would write back if I were just angry and yelling at them. That’s often when we make stupid points and contradict ourselves. If I can come down from that and actually think of a well thought out response, that I am *confident* in, then I think it bears comment. For me, it’s mostly about the confidence I have in myself as a good guy. I know I’m not doing anything wrong, and therefor I have nothing to be upset about. I’ve only had one real piece of hate mail. I responded to it in a fashion taken from the likes of David Cross, one of my favorite (and smartest) comedians.

What has the project taught you about women that maybe you didn’t know before?

Take all of this with a grain of salt since nothing is true about women across the board, and these are particular to my interactions with them:

Women will not think I’m a creep if I ask them out, even when I barely know them.
Women will not think I’m a creep if I compliment them, even when I barely know them.
Women will not think I’m a creep if I try to kiss them, even if they’re not into it.
Women will not think I’m a creep if I invite them back to my place, even if they’re not into it.
Women inherently think that I’m a decent guy, and therefore not a creep. “Creep” is the number one label that I, and most men, look to avoid. It’s terrifying. I know I’m not a creep, but learning that women know that has been very reassuring.
Everything else about women, I already knew.
That was a joke. I just don’t think I’ve ever assumed much about women beyond the fact that they’re humans and therefore unpredictable as a whole. This project has taught me very little about women, merely a bit about their interactions with me.

Would you say you’re more or less of a romantic?

I’m probably about the same, to be honest, but my range is more broad. I’ve always been romantic when I want to be and pragmatic when I don’t. I’ve become much better at being up front and frank with women concerning my inability to become their boyfriend. I’m more objective about relationships now. I’m picker than ever. Those things aren’t particularly romantic, I’ll admit. On the other side, I’ve become better at the little things like approaching women, complimenting them, and surprising them with a kiss. Also, I’ve gone to great lengths to get some of my date. I wasn’t brave enough to do those romantic things before this project.

What would the ideal ending to the year entail? (ie: You found the one during this year and now you’re married or…something else!)

In terms of romance, I’m at a loss. I honestly don’t know if I want to find someone, find a few people, or just start my dating life over again. All three have their appeal and they’re all just as likely. I’m still trying to figure that part out. Professionally, I want to feel like I can actually write something that entertains and moves people. I want to pick up some writing gigs. I want a book and a movie starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I want to inspire other people to date more. Most importantly, I want to be proud of what I’ve done.

If I remember correctly, part of why you started this is because “people don’t date anymore.” (They just hook up or hang out or whatever.) What are the benefits of actually going on dates instead?

One of my favorites things about dating is that it nudges people to take little risks. In order to really date, you have to put yourself outside of your comfort zone fairly often. Sometimes that simplest and scariest thing is to just put yourself out there. It’s not so safe as hooking up or hanging out, where the investment is lower - less time, less money, less emotion, less commitment. The stakes are lower there, and often, so are the rewards. When you take a risk and actually ask someone on date, that alone can have a profound effect on them. Many women I know love just being asked out by a real human because it’s flattering. Getting a text message, asking if she’s at XYZ bar because he’s in the area, isn’t nearly at flattering. It’s a basic principal of any investment: Higher risk, higher reward.

Hang outs are boring, typically. They take place in bars, restaurants, cafes, apartments, and bedrooms mostly. Granted, many dates are had in these places too, but there is far more variety of activities available for dates. You can do most anything as a date, which is one of the things I want to show people with this project. Why the heck not do some community service on a date? Why not see a burlesque show? Why not be someone’s date to a wedding? These riskier, or atypical, activities make for really fun dates and your partner will very likely appreciate the effort you put into planning it. You’re automatically more creative and interesting for going on a non-standard date. In the hook up world, most of these activities are strictly avoided for fear that they’ll be too “date-like” therefore defining the couple as a couple, rather than friends with benefits, fuck buddies, or whatever nicer label you have for them.

The problem is that people don’t want to suggest these dates because they think they’ll be viewed as “weird”. They don’t want to take the risk of a better date because straying too far from the norm might make you an odd ball. The thing is, everyone has read plenty of inspirational quotes about how normal people aren’t that great and being different is the key to success, so why do we still hesitate so much? I don’t think we should be so scared of planning fun dates.

Another really nice thing is that dating contextualizes things differently than whatever else we’re talking about (hooking up, etc). It’s far more acceptable to pause a date and tell someone how gorgeous they are, because you’ve both agreed to do something mildly romantic. If we’re on a limbo hang out, that can’t necessarily happen because then the relationship is too “real”. Hookups, et al , are like unspoken dating. I think outspoken dating is far more fun. It allows you to get to things faster because you’re cutting through a lot of the bullshit. And they’re more romantic, which I always think is a plus.

If all both parties want is a hook up, then sure, dating is not necessary. But if there is, or might be, anything else there, I think the date is always worthwhile.

gabydunn: Hey guys! First: read this really well-done and...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:29:44 -0500

gabydunn:

Hey guys! First: read this really well-done and parsed out Mashable article about SOPA (I know if you’re reading this you didn’t black out your blog, but you can still sign a petition and make your opposition known.)

Next! Let’s love Internet freedom with the next episode of ‘Why Are We Not Best Friends?,’ my UStream show. (Note: Not connected to SOPA in any way! But we’ll talk about it for sure - important issue, how could we not?)

My guest today at 5 pm EST is HelloGiggles writer and comedian Meghan O’Keefe.

GO HERE THEN AND WATCH.

Wikipedia’s down. What the hell else are you supposed to do? (Scary, right? OPPOSE SOPA.)

Episode 2 is on today at 5 pm EST.

Hustlin’: Inside the Podcast Renaissance I interviewed...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:32 -0500

Hustlin’: Inside the Podcast Renaissance

I interviewed some podcasters (Marc Maron, Molly Knefel, Matt Ruby, Pete Holmes, Raul Aguirre Jr., Cole Stratton, Aaron Gleeman) about the medium’s benefits and its over-saturation for GOOD.

Photo by: Dmitri Von Klein, courtesy of WTF With Marc Maron.

gabydunn: keithhuang: gabydunn: WHY ARE WE NOT BEST...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:41:43 -0500

gabydunn:

keithhuang:

gabydunn:

WHY ARE WE NOT BEST FRIENDS?

My new Ustream show’s first episode with comedian Myq Kaplan. Watch the recording!

oh my dear god the first five goddamn seconds of this shit is hilarious (hit ya F4 buttons, macs!) … still laughing

UGH KEITH. I HAD SO MUCH TO LEARN.

Have you watched this hilarious live stream yet? The first 18 minutes are a disaster so skip ahead accordingly.

NO FUN GABY DUNN: Why Are We Not Best Friends? MY USTREAM SHOW

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:38:14 -0500

NO FUN GABY DUNN: Why Are We Not Best Friends? MY USTREAM SHOW:

gabydunn:

Super fun announcement:

A little bit ago, I wrote this piece for Thought Catalog about how I’ve never really had a long-lasting best friend. There are tons of amazing people in my life, but I always find it awkward transitioning from friendship to SUPER BEST FRIENDSHIP. How can I find a true…

I’m interviewing people on video now guys! Tonight, 7 pm EST - my Ustream show “Why Are We Not Best Friends?” kicks off with comedian Myq Kaplan.

NO FUN GABY DUNN: I've lost the ability - or will - to criticize anything.

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:26:52 -0500

NO FUN GABY DUNN: I've lost the ability - or will - to criticize anything. :

gabydunn:

It’s because of Internet comments.

When Gawker first posted links to individual stories, mocking writers for Thought Catalog, I felt confused. How does it benefit them to make fun of TC? Do the two sites’ audiences even converge that much? What do they have to do with each other? The post was…

Can I Live?: Interview with Jay-Z Expert and Author of "I Will Not Lose!"

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:56:48 -0500

by: Gaby Dunn

Duane Lawson is a Jay-Z super fan, but it wasn’t the rapper’s catchy hooks that hooked him; it was Jay’s deeper, cutting lyrical game.

Plenty of people draw inspiration from Shawn Carter’s life story — he came up a poor kid in the Marcy projects whose father abandoned him, got caught up in drug-dealing, and finally, redeemed himself through music. Duane was a year out of high school when Jay-Z released his debut album ‘Reasonable Doubt.’

“That album spoke to my ambition, my desire to hustle in life and succeed,” Duane says.

But at 19, Duane dropped out of college and spent the next few years “street and white collar hustling” until his late 20s when he “squared up,” got married, and had a son. This was during the dotcom boom of the 1990s and so Duane tried to turn his street hustle into a digital hustle. He made some money online before finally, going back and finishing college.

A long-time admirer of Jay-Z’s more serious tracks, Duane wrote a book, ‘I Will Not Lose!’, about how the rapper’s lyrics could be applied in real life. He was shopping it around when it was announced that Jay-Z was going to write his own book of lyrical analysis, which later became Jay’s autobiography ‘Decoded.’ I read ‘Decoded’ and it’s fantastic but there’s a difference between the man himself telling you what he meant when he wrote a song, and a lifelong fan telling you what he has interpreted from the lyrics for use in every day life. Both are interesting concepts, and useful if you take Jay-Z way too seriously (which I do).

Not to be discouraged, Duane released ‘I Will Not Lose!’ as an ebook on his Web site, Book of Hov. He reached out to me through this site to talk Jigga and the elevation of hip-hop to an intellectual level. I told him I’d run an interview, if he provided me with some examples from his book. Turns out, I loved them!

Here’s an edited excerpt from ‘I Will Not Lose!’ with five lyrics and Duane’s analysis, for you to enjoy:

Jay-Z Lyrics Analysis by Duane Lawson

1. “Dark Knight feeling: die and be a hero/Or live long enough to see yourself become a villain/I went from the favorite to the most hated/But would you rather be underpaid or overrated?/Moral victories is for minor league coaches/And ‘Ye already told you ‘We Major’, you cockroaches…” -From Kanye West’s “So Appalled”

When you become successful others are inspired but as your success grows, it’s more likely those around you may become distant and even critical as if your success is a bad thing. If you “live long” (in terms of being successful) you will go from being loved to hated. That’s the gift and curse of success.

Lastly, don’t play the game of life to get a moral victory. Play to win. Some people will let themselves off the hook, in terms of whether they’re successful, as long as they have convinced themselves that they “tried.” Life is all about results and nothing brings more clarity to your hustle than winning (eg: accomplishments).

2. “Lock my body, can’t trap my mind/Easily explain why we adapt to crime/I’d rather die enormous than live dormant/That’s how we on it!” -From “Can I Live”

If you want to understand the mindset of “enterprising” criminals, just check out this rhyme. An enterprising criminal, such as a drug dealer, can “adapt to crime” because even if he gets locked up, his mind is still free to think of ways to get paid upon his release. Though this lyric is about the criminal mindset, it can apply to the hustle of anybody that’s in a challenging situation. You may be in a tough environment but you can escape your condition if you utilize the power of your mind.

I think this rhyme applies best to people living in rough environments. There’s a tendency to attach toughness to physical prowess but Jay reveals that true toughness comes from the strength of your mental game. You can adapt to any situation when you rely on mind power. I can relate to the last line of the rhyme. I would rather have great achievements in life even if it meant to die before my time than to live a long life without meaning or purpose, to be a dead man walking.

3. “All I need is the love of my crew/The whole industry can hate me/I’ll though my way through” -From “All I Need”

I think love (both “unconditional” love and “tough” love) and support from those close to you such as your family, friends, and colleagues is important when overcoming struggle and finding success. Taking on a “me vs. the world” mentality may make you feel tough, but we all need support and guidance from those who truly have our best interests at heart.

The word “thug” is seen as negative, but we flip the script in hip-hop culture. Jay-Z uses the word “thug” in the context of this rhyme to mean aggression or persistence to achieve a goal. He’s stating that even if he’s hated, he can continue to be successful partly due to support from those he trusts. You can “thug” your way through in your industry or in any situation in your life. Embrace the love, support, concern and wisdom from others to help you get through challenges in your life.

4. “Got a strange way of seeing life like/I’m Stevie Wonder with beads under the du-rag/Intuition is there even when my vision’s impaired/Yeah!/Knowing I can go, just switching a spare/On the highway of life/N*gga, it sharpened my sight/Oh!/ Keen senses/Ever since I was a teen on the benches” -From the “Intro” off the “Dynasty” album

This is a very deep lyric. Jay rhymes of “having a strange way of seeing life” like the musical genius, Stevie Wonder, who, of course, is blind. I think the way we “see” life is based on our experiences, but, also, how we live our lives, and the choices we make are often driven by instincts. Jay states that his life is directed by intuition. Even when he can’t physically see where he’s going, in terms of life, he moves intuitively. Jay tells us that intuition sharpens sight. The lyric is about the importance in having good instincts in order navigate through the highway of life…even if you’re just a “teen on the benches.”

5. “This is the number one rule for your set/In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets/On the, rise to the top, many drop, don’t forget/In order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets.” -From “Regrets”

These lyrics send a simple yet powerful message. In the lyric, Jay’s referring to the dangerous nature of the illegal drug trade, but the words apply to those of us living the “square” life. These lyrics hits home for me personally because I’ve struggled with dealing with my struggles, if that makes sense. I still find it very difficult to deal with things that have happened in my life in the past. I regret many of the things that I’ve said and done but the reality is I have to “learn to live” with those regrets and move on.

No one lives a perfect life. Some people are haunted by their past. I think it’s telling that Jay states that you have to learn to live with regrets “in order to survive.” You can become prisoner to your past and if you don’t break free, it can impact your present and your future.

Keep in mind that the regrets that you have can be self-imposed or brought on by the words or actions of others. Regardless, you have to take ownership of regrets and keep moving forward. Regrets can keep you down or make you that much more determined to right the wrongs in your life.

—

Gaby Dunn is the editor and founder of 100 INTERVIEWS and a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine. Photo courtesy of MTV.

I Love My Nose

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:13:18 -0500

by: Gaby Dunn

I have my mom’s nose.

My dad’s family is blonde and European, but the maternal side has strong features that manifest in fiery red manes, sharp schnozes and body hair so dark it grows back instantly after it’s shaved, like in a Chia Pet commercial.

My nose isn’t large so much as it’s a little bit crooked with a small, distinctive bump. From the front, no problem. From the side, ‘Hava Negila!’

While my mother’s genetics shaped my beak, my father’s borderline negligence had a hand in it too. As a kid, I fell on my face from the top of a tree branch while I was camping with my dad. My nose was probably broken, but we didn’t want to cut the trip short so he helped me ice it and that was that. It just sort of healed on its own.

All this hardly makes me Owen Wilson, whose nose I actually find quite charming. It’s not even that I’ve got a bad nose: it’s just not the up-turned All-American ideal. Over the years, a few blunt individuals have mentioned it to me with weird compliments like, “Your nose is so distinctive and ethnic” and “Is it weird that you kind of remind me of Anne Frank?”

About six months ago, I was asked to write a treatment for a TV show based around this blog project: 100 Interviews. The production company and network, who shall remain nameless, were interested in my blog, they told me on the phone, because I seemed like an ambitious, socially conscious girl who would be a good role model for their viewers.

“We’re trying to atone for [name of popular but less-than-stellar televised representation of twenty-somethings redacted],” joked the woman I spoke to.

I ultimately pitched them an interview show, where I would host a panel of diverse, interesting, intelligent people centered around a theme; sort of a visible “This American Life” for the younger set.

A week later, I heard the network wanted to see head shots of me. In my head shot, which is from 2009, I have a short, Velma-from-‘Scooby Doo’ haircut and black-rimmed glasses. I’m wearing a yellow blazer. I thought I looked professional — maybe like a female Gideon Yago. (I wish.)

A few days went by. I left New York to perform stand-up at the Women In Comedy Festival in Boston. On the Thursday night of the festival, I’d finished my set and was outside the ImprovBoston theater when my cell phone rang. It was one of the women from the network.

She asked if she could be frank. I said she could. “They don’t know if you’re pretty enough,” she said.

The production company wanted to see me in person and have me “audition” to play myself. In the meantime, she told me, I should think about being head writer and producer, and writing the words coming out of a better-looking mouth.

As obvious as it sounds in retrospect, my looks weren’t something I’d considered when pitching the 100 Interviews show. Any time I’d talked to the executives, they’d stressed to me that the show was to be intelligent, honest and starring “a normal girl.”

Sitting in the lobby in a short floral skirt, I couldn’t help feeling like all the effort I’d put into writing the blog was being ignored in favor of whether or not my earlobes were too long, or whatever physical flaws these executives were looking for. Idly, I worried about my nose, using my index finger to push it up and eliminate the bump — a nervous tick from childhood.

After my “audition,” which I thought went well, even though I sweat through my shirt, the same woman called to tell me the network people had found me cuter in person. They thought I was pretty enough to host my own show.

“But,” she said, “they were wondering if you’d be able to make a few changes.”

“Changes?” I asked. “Uh, like what?”

“Just appearance things,” she said. “Clothes and hair and teeth whitening and maybe some minor plastic surgery — maybe the nose.”

As a Jew, I’m familiar with nose jobs though they’re not exclusive to our tribe. At my small religious high school alone, every other girl had gotten her nose done before our senior year. This is not an indictment on plastic surgery; for some people I know, getting work done made them more confident and happy. But nose jobs were common at my school because the idea of the “Jewish nose” wasn’t considered attractive. Some of these girls, despite coming from money, had shoddy work done and were left with weird scarring on their chins and cheeks. Some looked natural.

The real reason I’ve never gone through with a nose job, even though my mother did offer one time after I got my nostril pierced in college, is going to sound so incredibly “after-school special.” I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.

I decided to never “fix” my nose after watching the “Saturday Night Live: Best of Gilda Radner” DVD in middle school. I remember watching Radner act in sketches and I was fixated on how telegenic and funny she was. Her goofy characters lit up the screen. She was a fantastic, smart entertainer with frizzy hair, a high-pitched voice and yep, a “distinctive” nose. Without all of those things, she just wouldn’t have been the whole package of Gilda Radner. She was adorable, but more importantly, she was talented.

If Gilda Radner could keep her nose, I thought, then who the hell did I think I was changing mine? I’m not playing a weird children’s game of “Gotcha Nose” with a network television executive. It was a stand for my talent, over “created” beauty. I’m keeping what’s in the middle of my face.

On the phone, I told my liaison to tell the production company I was drawing the line at teeth whitening. I’d take wardrobe suggestions and get a hair cut, but I wasn’t going to subject my face to elective surgery for a TV show that might not even get picked up.

After that, the network stopped talking to me. I don’t know exactly why, but nothing ever went further with creating the show. Maybe it had nothing to do with my nose. In fact, it probably didn’t even factor in. They probably just decided the show wasn’t right for their network, which is their prerogative. But what if I’d agreed to change my nose?

I’d honestly rather have heard that they hated 100 Interviews, than what actually happened: telling them I didn’t want to change my nose and then never hearing back.

So you know what? Thanks, but I’ll be keeping my nose.

—-

Gaby Dunn is the founder of 100 Interviews and a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine. Photo courtesy of radner-gilda.com.

Beer Personalities: Tom Bull Has Moves Like Jagger

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:35:00 -0500

by: Dylan Joffe

Tom Bull has been perfecting the Portland Lager recipe for 15 years.

“I started brewing when I was 19 with my Dad. I saw a demo at the Common Ground Fair and thought it looked fun.”

I met Tom Bull of Bull Jagger Brewery at the Great Lost Bear in Portland a month ago. I was feeling tired, just coming off a 5 day Halloween binge in Vegas. I needed to rest.

However, anyone who knows me at all knows that I have difficulties saying no.
So, when my friend invited me to a beer event, out I went.

GLB was hosting Bull Jagger for Brewers night. By the time I got there the beers were being packed up. The Bull Jagger team set a record for the most cases demolished on a single night. An acquaintance happens to work with one of the guys at Trader Joe’s and brings him over to talk with me. I tell him about my blog and that I’ve wanted to interview a local brewery for a while now. He asks me to hold on and comes back with one of the owner, Tom.

The first thing I did was complain about missing out on the beer.

“You didn’t get to try it? We’re bottling tomorrow morning. You should come by and help us out! Come by anytime after 11.”

Well… that was easy.

Bull Jagger is a brand-spanking-new brewery in Portland, Maine. They started in-store distribution only about a month ago and only produce one brew currently – the Portland Lager.

I showed up to the Portland Brewery around 11:30 with my roommate, Ashley, as a tag along. I was taking an extended lunch break from my real job.

Bull Jagger is located in the Riverside Industrial Park in a garage bay. There is a small office attached and the garage door is completely open. When we walk up there at half a dozen people there, some bottling beer, others are talking. Tom extends a big handshake and introduces us around. Ashley immediately befriends the two who are bottling beer – a clear in for some free samples, in my opinion. Tom starts to give m the tour.

Tom Bull and Allan Jagger met through mutual friends. Tom had been around the block with basically every brewery in the area. Allan owned a company that took old wood from Maine and brought it across the country. From there, they started Bull Jagger, moving into the garage space earlier this year. Tom is the beer; Allan is the business.

But why the Portland Lager? Why a lager in general? Tom explains that the Portland Lager was a dead trademark – it had been owned but was not in use at the time. The Portland Lager had been a beer brewed in Wisconsin and New York, but had never actually set foot in Portland.

“We wanted to make right on that – to bring the Portland Lager to Portland,” explained Tom. And why not? Brooklyn has its own lager. Boston has a lager. Didn’t Portland deserve a lager?

Tom takes me on a tour of the place – from the beginning stages of where the beer is brewed, to the two separate cooling systems that the lager goes through. What I never realized is the amount of time that goes into a lager versus ale. While a typical ale can be drank 2 – 3 weeks after brewing, a lager takes 6 – 7 weeks. This means that brewers have to wait longer to taste and perfect their beer. If a batch is horrible, or something wrong happens during brewing, it takes that much longer to know.

Tom explains to me that lagers, by definition, were always meant to take a while. Lager comes from the German term for resting. A lager must rest, for many, many weeks. A lager must rest, at very low temperatures. Lager, as a word, every sounds lethargic. We go into the final cooling chamber. This is where the beer sits for 5 weeks at near freezing temperatures. It is cold and smells vaguely like country club – alcoholic and chlorine-y.

Tom shows me the final steps, which includes carbonating the beer. When we are done, Tom takes a phone call and I find my roommate being put to work. I make a joke about being her pimp – they’ll have to pay her the average hourly wage at Bull Jagger. (Why do I make prostitution jokes on first impressions?)

“Are you kidding me? We don’t get paid! My boss pays me in put downs and beer.” This is when it hits me… this is everything. These people have put everything into this brewery, with a dream and a hope that it will be wildly successful. I like to talk about the idea of making beer… or wine… or buying a bar. My running joke is that when times get tough, the only thing to do is buy a bar. I imagine this glorious life of good friends, good booze, being your own boss, making your own rules, etc. This is a fantasy. These people come back to this garage every day to work for free because they love making beer and believe in the Portland Lager.

“This is the first month we’ve actually paid our bills from beer money,” Tom explains later.

While Ashley helps cap some bottles, I decide I am going to ask the rest of the Bull Jagger team some questions while Tom answers a phone call.

I ask the question I am most excited for. I have realized that I personify beer. I give it decidedly human characteristics. I have called some “talk, dark and handsome;” I have describes others as arrested development characters.

“So… if you could describe this beer as a person. Who would it be?”

The two look at me. Look at Tom.

“I am going to ask him this too – don’t worry. I would just love to hear your opinion. We can start simple. Is this beer a boy or a girl?”

“A boy… wait. No. A girl. Definitely a girl,” they both agree.

“Did this beer go to college?”

“Yes. This beer is refined. It probably didn’t get into an Ivy… but it definitely went to a good school. This beer – she went to Bates.”

It doesn’t take many more questions to get us all going back and forth on the characteristic of this female beer. She is a lady – the kind you would bring home to mom but can also hang out with all her guy friends. She was a varsity athlete – probably softball. She has a slight wild side, but has settled down since college. Ashley suggests that she was a LUG (Lesbian Until Graduation) at some point over her four years at Bates. The boys let out an audible giggle and agree. Portland Lager definitely played for both teams in college.

“Yup. Portland Lager. A well-education, bi-curious softball pitcher.”

Tom has a different answer to the question. “Chuck Norris.” The rest of the Bull Jagger boos his answer. “That is a damn dirty lie,” someone yells playfully.

Tom thinks about the question for a second. “This beer is me,” he says. Oddly enough, even after the previously group description, everyone in the make-shift garage brewery seems to nod in agreement.

It is time for me to taste it. I realize that Ashley has a good morning buzz going on from the few free samples she’s been given. She gives me at thumbs up, a clear sign that she really likes it.

They pour me a glass. I take a sip.

I might have gone bisexual for this beer in college, too.

The beer pours a hazy gold with a good amount of head. I can tell by its look that it is thicker than I expected. It smells sweet and malty – with a touch of earthiness. I pick up on fresh cut grass and sugar. The taste is very similar, but with a slight bitterness that pricks through on the tongue. It goes down smooth, and I am not ashamed to ask for another.

After a few more tasting glasses (oh come on, they are small), I put down my note pad. From that point on and help bottle some beer. They teach me how to put the caps on without loosing a finger. I occasionally write down some good quotes, but in general, we start to shoot the shit. I become the interviewee for a bit.

“So, why are you doing this? What made you want to write this.”

Before I can answer, Ashley jumps in with a response.

“Are you kidding me? This is so something she would do. Did you know she was class president in high school? Voted most outgoing. It’s like she can’t help herself.” I blush, keep my head down and continue to bottle beer. If I don’t react maybe they will stop talking about me…

“I was voted most likely to brew beer,” Says Tom. We all laugh. Ashley has a look on her face like she actually believes him.

“My high school superlative was “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” chimes in one of the other guys.

We talk more about beer – them giving me suggestions and talking about their favorites. I tell them about the ones I’ve had so far – the good and the bad. After two hours, I decide I probably need to get back to my real job. The guys seem genuinely sad to see us go and extend an invitation to come back and help them brew some morning. We agree and leave.

When we get in the car, Ashley looks at me and says, “I just had so much fun… Didn’t you have fun? Oh, good thing you are driving and not me. Do you think we can invite them to come out drinking with us sometime?” I laugh and agree. So, if you read this, guys – invitation in on the table. Let’s have a beer (we will actually pay for them this time).

And for everyone else? Try the Portland Lager – if only to help a group of really phenomenal people get one step closer to paying their employees.

—

Dylan Joffe is a recent graduate of Emerson College and resident of Portland, Maine. By day she tweets for a large supermarket chain (@hannaford), by night she drinks beer and blogs about it (www.myyearinbeer.com). You call follow her on Twitter: @DylanJoffe.

Thoughts On Samuel L. Jackson's Twitter Feed

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:29:00 -0500

by: Josh Gondelman

Samuel L. Jackson is a cool guy. He was involved in the civil rights movement. He was in Jurassic Park. He has impeccable hat style. As teenagers, my cast of oddball Jewish friends and I gravitated to his movies largely because of his insurmountable cool. He brings swagger and poise to each of his roles. Even when he’s not playing a “cool” role, he does it in a badass way (Case in point: “YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE, AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL!”)

Twitter, on the other hand, is not cool. It’s fun, sure. At times, it’s even useful. But cool? No way. It’s too accessible. Anyone can tweet. And most Twitter feeds are pretty mundane affairs. Things like: “Three hours at the DMV? #FML” or “Chicken confit with a red wine reduction! Best boyfriend ever!” Shaq has the closest thing to a “cool” twitter feed, but his charm is less hip tastemaker and more jovial uncle at this point. Other celebrity twitter feeds range from promotional (@KimKardashian) to embarrassing (@kanyewest).

The medium just makes it hard to be a badass. It provides only minimal opportunity to create context. Being on television is cool. People can see you on Letterman or Conan or Ellen and be aware of your prestige. Even if you are on television, tweeting about it makes your TV appearance less impressive. Any person can tweet about being on television. Anyone can say anything. If you follow us all, my tweets could show up on your timeline sandwiched between Lady Gaga and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman.

When Samuel L. Jackson joined Twitter, there was a flurry of excitement. In a few short weeks, @SamuelLJackson has accrued over 300,000 followers. His tweet “Can-a muh fukkasay fuck on here?” was retweeted a zillion times. He kind of blew my mind by responding to my friend Lamont (@LPizzle) who had just tweeted about watching ‘The Long Kiss Goodnight.’ He’s doing all the right things to cultivate a popular, entertaining Twitter feed. There’s just one problem: Samuel L. Jackson should not be on Twitter.

I’m always happy to hear good things about people, whether a celebrity or a neighbor. The urban legends surrounding Bill Murray are delightful. They suggest the actor has a sense of humor and is a pretty nice guy. That’s the nature of Bill Murray, though. He’s always been a likeable smartass. The kind of guy that you’d like to be friends with. The stories have a mystical, apocryphal nature to them too. It’s not like they circulated through Murray himself. His legend was enough that the story moved from mouth to ear on its own.

Samuel L. Jackson has never seemed approachable. He’s never given the impression that he’s a jerk at all, but he’s always been a little intimidating. If I saw him in an airport, I would definitely agonize over whether to talk to him. In the end, I probably wouldn’t. The conclusion I’d imagine I would draw is: “I don’t think he’d be a dick about it, but I don’t want to bother him.”

Back in the day, celebrities didn’t have to be accountable to their fans 24/7. As long as they signed a few autographs and tipped well when out on the town, they maintained their likeability. In fact, there was even something charming about the general aloofness that fame entailed. Real life encounters with the rich and famous were stories that were worth seeing and hearing. “Frank Sinatra gave me a hundred dollars for an apple I was holding,” is way more impressive than “Nicki Minaj retweeted a picture of me in a pink wig!” There was a mystique.

For me, Samuel L. Jackson was one of the last holdouts of old-school cool. He seemed affable yet unattainable. You are drawn to approach him, but an equally powerful force keeps you at bay. Twitter evaporated that illusion. Jackson’s Twitter presence is good-natured and genial. When he responds to regular people, it feels like an event, as much as a 140-character comment can seem like an actual occasion. Still, it’s not the same as it was. Paradoxically, his accessibility to his fans makes him a less desirable figure of celebrity.

In a Groucho Marxist way, I think the biggest issue is this: How can Samuel L. Jackson be an unassailably famous person if he has time to respond to my tweets? I know this is backwards logic. All it really means is that Sam Jackson is a pretty nice guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously. There’s nothing empirically negative about his Internet presence. It’s not self-aggrandizing nor is it falsely humble. It seems like he’s in charge of it and not just using it as a marketing tool. If that’s the case — if @SamuelLJackson puts some positive energy into the world without taking anything away — then what the hell is my problem?

I guess it’s just like that old saying. Never tweet your idols. You can only be let down.

—-

Josh Gondelman is a writer and comedian who incubated in Boston before moving to New York City. His debut CD of stand-up comedy is called ‘Everything’s The Best’ and is available on iTunes. Photo courtesy of Dailyfill.com.

Some Thanksgiving reads!

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:29:00 -0500

Gaby Dunnsgiving, everyone! (I stole that from Myq Kaplan but I will now use it for the rest of forever.)

Here are some 100 Interviews reads for if you get bored/wine-drunk/exasperated with answering, “So what are you doing with your life?”

Some of my most thankful interviewees, to make you appreciated your life:

Someone who was awarded a Purple Heart

Someone born in a third world country

A little person

Someone who runs a women’s crisis center

Someone who has been shot

A bus driver

Someone over the age of 100

Someone who has had a lot of plastic/reconstructive surgery

Someone on food stamps

A recovering heroin addict

Someone who has been to jail

A mute person

Someone who is banned from their home country

Have a great day everyone!

gabydunn: Shipwrecks, Mirrors, and My Dad’s Hero Complex This...

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:25:10 -0500

gabydunn:

Shipwrecks, Mirrors, and My Dad’s Hero Complex

This is a piece I’ve been working on for a while, up today on The Good Men Project — it’s about the time my family got “shipwrecked” when I was a kid because my dad was too drunk and impulsive to rent a boat guide in the Keys, and what it means as a daughter to mirror a dad who’s constantly pushing you to be brave. http://ht.ly/7CA9m

I love my dad, but he’s not perfect and he’ll be the first person to tell you that. This piece is really personal for me, and I’m pretty happy with how it came out.

As Thanksgiving nears, 100 Interviews founder Gaby Dunn reflects on a time her family was in peril.