Who Asked You?

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There is no Who Asked You? this week… we took it off to celebrate Dennis’ birthday. ALL-NEW episodes return LIVE, this Sunday, July 24th! In the meantime, enjoy another Interview podcast with movie director, Albert Pyun.

For those living under a rock or outside of our space time continuum, you may not know this, but the latest Marvel-movie hits theaters this Friday. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, a Joe Johnston film starring Chris Evans will likely be the first in a series of blockbusters detailing the various Avenger team members. Diehard comic fans probably know this, but for those who don’t, there was a CAPTAIN AMERICA movie made back in 1990. It starred Matt Salinger as Steve Rogers — the man who would become Captain America.
That movie was directed by Albert Pyun, a really friendly guy who’s our guest on today’s Interview. Albert has made over 40 films in his career and at the time of our interview, had just finished another. We talked with him by phone as he drove to LA to deliver the final cut of his latest work, TALES OF AN ANCIENT EMPIRE starring Kevin Sorbo, Christopher Lambert and Melissa Ordway. Albert lives in Las Vegas, as he tells us in our discussion, he chose Vegas because he wanted to live near LA without actually living in LA.
It’s clear Albert is passionate about filmmaking, explaining why in fact, he prefers to be called a “filmmaker” as apposed to a “director.” He tells us about how he got started in the production business making commercials in Hawaii. He traveled to Japan to do more film work which eventually led him to making movies full time. He’s worked with a number of notable actors including Jean-Claude Van Damme in CYBORG and Rutger Hauer in OMEGA DOOM just to name a couple.
Although his resume is filled with action flicks, surprisingly, that’s not his preferred genre. He says he doesn’t really have one. Adding it’s the characters and the complexity of a story that attracts him to a script.
The CAPTAIN AMERICA movie is probably one of the films Albert is most known for. He’s taken some flack for its… lets say… “low budget” feel. As he explains, there were budget issues and among other things, he expected some ridicule when it came to the small details like the costume. He also says the studio recut the film, so what many saw wasn’t actually his vision for it. Las Vegas was included in a special screening of a never-before-seen director’s cut of the movie in anticipation for the new one. That’s where Charlie met Albert and invited him to come on the show. And Pyun notes, you see far more of the Steve Rogers character than you do Captain America in his original version because that’s what attracted him to making the film in the first place.
We cover a lot of interesting topics and tidbits about Albert’s work, directing and the film industry itself. Albert is quite honest with us on his views of the mentality of big studios these days. And it’s very similar to ours. I even squeeze in a few minutes of shop talk. Spoiler… Albert PREFERS digital over film because it makes it possible for lower budget movie makers like himself to create higher quality products cheaper and faster. Something else we agree on.
Be sure to check out Albert’s website and his Facebook page where he says he interacts with his fans the most. You can also follow him on Twitter using the links below.

SHOW LINKS:
Albert Pyun’s Official Site
Albert Pyun on Facebook
Follow Albert on Twitter @AlbertPyunFilms
Albert Pyun on IMDb.com

Charlie brings you 4 interviews with cast members and the director from the upcoming stage adaptation of DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG. The cult Internet phenomenon was originally created by Joss Whedon, who has written episodes of popular shows like BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, FIREFLY and ANGEL, Zack Whedon a writer who’s worked on recent series like FRINGE and DEADWOOD, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen whose credits both include scripts for DOLLHOUSE and SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA. The original version starred Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day.
DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG tells the story of Billy, a would-be criminal mastermind, as he tries to woo the girl of his dreams and defeat his nemesis, the self-absorbed Captain Hammer. Will he get the girl? Will he destroy his enemy? And, maybe most importantly of all, will he be accepted into the Evil League of Evil?
The Las Vegas stage-show is directed by Sirc Michaels and stars Michael Kimm as Dr. Horrible, Jessenia Paz as Penny, and Thomas Chrastka as Captain Hammer. It premieres at The Onyx Theatre May 5th – 14th, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm.
And if you’d like to buy a Dr. Horrible DVD you can right here!

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Interview with Michael Kimm

Interview with Tom Chrastka

Interview with Drew Lorentz

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Clayton Fletcher is a Jack-of-all-trades. He’s a stand up comic, actor, musician and poker player. Clayton’s comedy is described as clean, witty and sarcastic. He’s performed for a variety of audiences all over the country and around the world. In fact, he tells us he’s quite popular in Sweden… like, Michael Jackson popular. He currently has his own weekend comedy show in New York called, THE CLAYTON FLETCHER SHOW, now in its second year.
Clayton’s father was a jazz musician and so Clayton himself started playing music at a pretty young age. He tells us about the odd looks he got as an 11 year-old showing up for professional gigs. Mr. Fletcher has a band called POKERFACE and an A Capella group called STACKIN’ FORTY-FIVES.
As an actor, Clayton says he’s been very blessed to get steady work and often got more strange looks from his acting friends when he’d complain about the job while they were bussing tables. He’s appeared in films and on TV shows like SEX AND THE CITY.
Clayton kicks it with us for an hour and shares some fun comedy stories, his love of poker and playing it professionally. And even debates Dennis on which city is more violent, Detroit or his hometown of Baltimore.
Stay in touch with Clayton Fletcher through the Show Links below. Clayton says he personally answers all of his E-Mails!

SHOW LINKS:
Clayton Fletcher’s Website
Clayton’s MySpace Page
Find Clayton Fletcher on Facebook
Clayton’s Twitter
Check out Clayton’s videos on his YouTube Channel

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Sam Fedele, a former Marine is a funny dude. Growing up in New Jersey, it all started when he was voted class clown in high school. From there Sam spent 6 years in the Marine Corps then headed out west to run a highly successful blueprint business in California.
Sam tells us in this interview, somewhere along the line he realized he wasn’t happy. The money, the houses and nice cars just weren’t working for him. So with the support of his wife, he decided to get into stand-up comedy and has been doing it for 19 years now. It was a significant pay cut, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Sam performs at corporate events, parties, cruise ships and has even done comedy in Afghanistan for his fellow troops.
You may have even seen Sam on TV. He’s been on Canadian television and has also appeared on NBC, Comedy Central and PAX. He’s worked with numerous celebrities, most notably… Sheena Easton!
You can get in touch with Sam and see his tour schedule on his website in the Show Links below.

SHOW LINKS:
FunnyManSam.com – Sam’s Official Website
Sam Fedele on MySpace
Find Sam on Facebook

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What a small world we live in. As you know, Charlie has been working his way through the stand-up comedy scene here in Las Vegas. He’s met some really interesting people, not to mention a few celebrities. Rob Sherwood is one of these folks fortunate enough to cross
the path of Cheese. But what’s really funny about Rob, other than his comedy, is that he and I met and briefly worked together a few years before at the now defunct Las Vegas Television Network. Rob was the host of a show featuring interviews with comics and clips of their stand-up. It’s not until the end of our interview that Rob realizes where he’d seen me before. That’s probably a good thing. If we had gotten onto the topic of this shitty TV station early on, the entire hour would’ve been filled with horror stories of the network that could have been, but never was.
Rob does tell us about his background and how he got started in comedy. He tells us the reason he’s not one of those “on the road” comics after seeing what it does to one and their car while on a gig in Utah.
One of Rob’s favorite hobbies is golfing. He says he often times lies about his career when playing through with strangers because the follow-up conversations are always the same. There’s no shortage of joke offerings he’s “given permission to use” in his act by the guy wearing knickerbockers. Excitingly, Rob also occassionally opens for Carrot Top at the Luxor. He regails us on how the audience usually reacts with disappointment when they’re forced to wait an extra 10 minutes before the red hair takes the stage so that Rob — or whoever might be opening that night — can do a quick starting set.
And Rob just doesn’t get Facebook. He goes into great detail with us on why he’s confused as to its appeal. His argument for pointless minute-by-minute updates of your daily activities will sound strikingly similar to ours when we talk about Twitter. If you want to check out more info on Rob, just scroll down to the Show Links.
He’s got his own website. There’s also a link to Brad Garrett’s club and to the Dirty Joke Show website where Rob often performs. Oh… almost forgot… Rob’s also on Facebook.

SHOW LINKS:
Rob Sherwood’s Website
Rob on Facebook
Dirty Joke Show Website
Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club
Carrot Top at the Luxor