Urbaniak @jamesurbaniak - Tumblr Blog

My new podcast series, A Night Called Tomorrow, premiered on November 9th on Howl but I wasn't in the mood to talk about it. But as the dust and emotions settle (and the determination and activism rise), I'm about ready. It's a 10-episode sci-fi noir set in 1950s Los Angeles, written by me and Brie Williams and starring me, Azure Parsons, Andy Richter, Molly Quinn, Baron Vaughn, Lauren Lapkus, Weird Al Yankovic and many others. New episode every Wednesday. There's a nice blurb about the show in this NY Times article about podcast radio drama. Use the promo code "Night" to get a free one-month subscription to Howl. (Meanwhile you can hear the trailer here.) All of us who worked on it are very proud of the show and it might provide a moment of pleasure in these dark times. (Artwork by my brilliant s.o. Sara Pocock.)

publicschoolshow

TONIGHT AT 9PM! Public School’s theme is BLOCKED.

IT IS FREE AND IT IS STAGGERING.

These two legged talent beasts will dance for you:

Marlo Meekins * Mike Rock * Eunice Park* Kent Osborne* Brie Williams * Judith Shelton * Natasha Vargas-Cooper * Hosted by the ever-suspicious James Urbaniak

RSVP so we know how many chairs to put out for your lithe body

(vintage movie poster by Todd Alcott)

sarapocock

Love is everywhere, most importantly in our friendships.

sarapocock

My piece “Mrs. Roper’s Holiday” for the Three’s Company art show. Mrs Roper’s gotta do what she gotta do to feel satisfied! You go, Mrs. Roper.

jamesurbaniak

Proud to have pitched this concept.

sarapocock

OCTOBER IS HERE.

sarapocock

…You actually have to sit on it correctly.

jamesurbaniak

My beloved is on the ball, so to speak.

Hey LA I'm hosting this awesome storytelling show tonight at 9 at the Virgil (new location). The lineup of your dreams, erotic or otherwise. Don't miss. http://publicschoolshow.com/RSVP

natashavc

tomorrow.

jamesurbaniak

L.A.: Public School storytelling show Wed. Sept. 3rd at 9 pm at a new location: The Virgil in fashionable Silver Lake (4519 Santa Monica Blvd). Hosted by me with stories by Baron Vaughn, Jenny Yang, Dana Snyder, Kelly Hudson, Ariel Hart, Joey Slamon and Toby Huss. I mean, come on. Reserve here.

The two leading facts of the "Personal life" section of Stephen Merchant's Wikipedia.

Rolling Stone said some nice things about my podcast last month while it was on hiatus. It returns this month with a new episode by the great Anne Washburn (who wrote the much beloved first episode about an insomniac's inventory of his refrigerator). Enjoy at Feral Audio or iTunes. And if you enjoy, reblog. It helps!

publicschoolshow

Your Public School theme is BROWSER HISTORY.

We will let you touch our internet on Tuesday, May 13th at 9 PM.

Realness by:

April Richardson * Sara Benincasa * Joseph Scrimshaw * Sara Pocock

* Mary Kobayashi Connole * Julieanne Smolinski * Natasha Vargas-Cooper*

Hosted by the elegantly mammalian James Urbaniak.

RSVP NOW TO LIVE AMONGST THE TREES

jamesurbaniak

Recommended.

Me trying to buck up Andy Daly in the third episode of Comedy Central's "Review." The first episode premieres tonight at 10. I'm not in the first one but watch anyway, this isn't just about me.

andydaly

Forrest struggles through a giant pile of steaming flapjacks at a local diner. Watch Review Thursdays 10/9c, and see more Review here: http://on.cc.com/1mdsVyc

Important News! Today is National Pancake Day. Don’t ask why or what that is or what it means. What answer could possibly be satisfactory? Just watch and pass along this clip from Review, in honor of The Pancake.

jamesurbaniak

I'm in this.

GETTING ON WITH JAMES URBANIAK, Ep. 17: "Two Bits," a pair of L.A. stories by me and Brie Williams. Guest starring Janie Haddad Tompkins. Enjoy and share!

David Avallone and I co-directed this video for the NY singer-songwriter Drazy Hoops. A tale of urban heartbreak starring Ben Williams, James Hannaham and Maria Dizzia (the blueberries lady from "Louie"). Featuring artwork by Tumblr fave Sara Pocock. Also a cat. Enjoy.

Years ago, sometime in the late ’90s, I auditioned for a one-act play in NY. It was a light comedy about a playwright who had a troll who lived in his closet who wrote his plays for him. My audition for the role of the the troll went very well. I thought the character suited my strengths; I took pride in having a corner on wry, verbal oddballs. The producers loved me and I seemed very close to getting it.

I didn’t get it. I went to see the play when it opened (it was part of an evening of one-acts) and when the troll made his entrance, a young Philip Seymour Hoffman walked out. Or rather, crawled out, pulling his big body across the floor, deep voice bellowing, playing this light comedy character with a physical intensity and emotional depth that was nowhere near what I had done in the audition. It hadn’t even occurred to me that you could play the character this way. This actor was taking this troll, this secretive, brilliant, deformed outsider…seriously.

I remember thinking “Holy shit. Well…I see why this guy got the part.”

I’ve thought many times through the years about being blown away by that performance. About what a lesson it was in committing, digging deep, raising the stakes, going further. Philip Seymour Hoffman kept doing that. He never stopped doing it. He was incapable of not doing it.

I’ve reflected on so many of his performances through the years but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about that troll. I’ll keep thinking about it.

gobayside

Episode 051 with James Urbaniak, "Date Auction"

James and I watch the one where the student council decides to have a date auction to raise money for cheerleading uniforms, and Lisa starts reading Tolstoy in order to win the heart of a snobby intellectual. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gobayside/GoBayside_051_JamesUrbaniak.mp3 (Subscribe on iTunes)

jamesurbaniak

I'm the guest on the new episode of April Richardson's "Go Bayside," a podcast about the television series "Saved by the Bell."

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