We got Bruce!

Vilanch, that is. One of the most celebrated joke writers in the business has descended on San Francisco to mine local news nuggets, gobs of gossip and salacious stories to share on the Marines Memorial Theater stage at 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 13, for the Big Gay Comedy Show, a benefit for Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation.

“It will be a lot of comedy with a couple of cabaret performers thrown in, but they’re funny: Shawn Ryan and Jason Brock. San Francisco is such a uniquely comic town. You get really political comics like Marga Gomez, and then you get really artistic people,” Vilanch said.

Big Gay Comedy Show will also feature B.O.O.B.s, Leanne Borghesi, Shann Carr, Cassandra Cass, Ali Mafi, Katya Smirnoff-Skyy and Kitty Tapata.

The red bespectacled, wacky T-shirt adorned Vilanch is currently “casing the joint” to gather up-to-the-minute material for his portion of the show.

“I have a week to get to know all of that, which is more than usual. I will probably tell stories. That’s what I do,” he said.

After more than four decades in the business—writing for every conceivable awards show including a bunch of Oscars—Vilanch has more celeb, behind-the-scenes tales than Kathy Griffin. His “almost famous” life is chronicled in the documentary “Get Bruce,” which is now streaming on Netflix.

But while he’s made a sweet living writing funny lines for other performers to say on stage,

ilanch’s passion is performing. He’s probably best known for his years on “Hollywood Squares” and for performing in drag as Edna Turnblad in the Broadway and touring productions of “Hairspray.”

“I’ve been looking for the kind of stuff to do that Nathan Lane always gets to do because he’s the master of it right now,” Vilanch said. “The singing and dancing fat guys is what I would love to do. More acting. Playing a woman is one thing, but to get them to accept me as a straight man will be even more interesting.”

Vilanch is getting his chance with 42nd Street Moon’s revival of the Cole Porter musical, “Du Barry Was a Lady,” in which he plays a swanky nightclub men’s room attendant who wins the lottery, gets slipped a Mickey Finn and thinks he’s King Louis XV. Burt Lahr originated the role in 1939.

“Since I’ve been compared to the Cowardly Lion in looks alone, I thought it was time I brought one of Burt Lahr’s other roles out of the closet and see what I could do with it,” Vilanch said. “He was so brilliantly funny. I was a huge fan of his.”

The musical runs at the Eureka Theater April 30 to May 18.

“It’s lyrically wonderful. The stuff that I get to sing is all comic patter. The most famous is ‘Friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship!” That was written for him and Ethel Merman. People think it was written for Lucy and Ethel, because ‘I Love Lucy’ did it a couple of times,” Vilanch said.

 With Disney now in control of the future of “Star Wars,” one of Vilanch’s old projects might see the light of day. He was a writer on the much-maligned “Star Wars Holiday Special” that aired one time only in November 1978.

“Oh, my God, I have the script. I save the script to everything. Occasionally, I will go back and look at that thing and say, ‘Oh, my God, we actually did this. We really did this.’ I think there was a prop I took. I think I got a mug from the cantina on the planet Tatooine, where the aliens and Bea Arthur had a big number,” Vilanch said.

Tickets for Big Gay Comedy Show are available by calling (415) 273-1620 or online atbiggaycomedyshow.eventbrite.com. For more information on “Du Barry Was a Lady,” visit42ndstmoon.org.

Corey Andrew has been interviewing comedians and writing about comedy for the last decade and a half. He recently published the book, “Laugh Lines: Conversations with Comedians.” Corey was a writer and performer with Midwest sketch troupe, The NonProphets, before moving to the Bay Area with his family several years ago. If you have ideas for future columns about comedy, you can send them to coreywrites@yahoo.com or follow him at twitter.com/coreyshame.

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• Vilanch & Musto: Crystal or Jackman?
• James Franco and Bruce Vilanch: All is forgiven!

The post Bruce Vilanch’s Big Gay Comedy Show Lands in San Francisco first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

EMMY Award-Winner Bruce Vilanch will star in RUBBLE, a new comedy by EMMY Award-Winning “The Simpsons” writer, Mike Reiss. Broadway veteran and “The Sopranos” star Jerry Adler also joins the cast. RUBBLE will be directed by James Valletti, and run for five performances at The Players Theater on August 10th, 14th, 22nd, 24th, and 25th.

RUBBLE tells the story of Alvin, an aging comedy writer who, while on a last-chance meeting with a network executive, gets trapped under a pile of rubble due to an LA earthquake. It’s a hilarious look at TV, theater, heaven, and hell-from one who’s been there…

The cast of RUBBLE includes Bruce Vilanch, Jerry Adler, Jason Jacoby, Bryan McElroy, Amy Wilson and Jeffrey Arnold Wolf.

Bruce Vilanch is one of the most sought-after comedy writers in Hollywood, winner of multiple Emmys and noted as the “Hollywood Square” just to the left of Whoopi. Bruce spent two years as Edna Turnblad, on tour and on Broadway in the smash musical adaptation of the John Waters film HAIRSPRAY. Bruce was seen on VH1’s popular fitness and nutrition reality-series, “Celebrity Fit Club” and he has appeared in “Ice Pirates,” “Mahogany” and “The Morning After.” A frequent guest on talk shows, Bruce won his Emmys for co-writing back-to-back Oscar shows with Billy Crystal. He was also nominated for an Emmy as a lyricist on Eartha Kitt’s gold-selling album “Where Is My Man”. Bruce has spent over 21 years writing for the Oscars, as well as a number of Tonys, Grammys and Emmys. His career was documented in the film “Get Bruce!,” released by Miramax and available on Buena Vista Home Video. Bruce’s one-man show, ALMOST FAMOUS, tickled Off-Broadway audiences for three months and has made a number of appearances around the country.

Jerry Adler is a veteran of over 50 Broadway productions as Producer, Director and Production Stage Manager, including the original MY FAIR LADY (The revival of which he directed), COCO, THE HOMECOMING, ANNIE and many more, as well as the Tony Award- winning GOOD EVENING which he directed with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook – before he began his new career as an actor. He then appeared in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan Murder Mystery” and “The Public Eye” with Joe Pesci. He has since been seen on many teleVision Productions, including “The West Wing”, “Law and Order”, “Northern Exposure”, “CSI:Miami” and was a regular on “Mad About You”. He is an original cast member of “The Sopranos” and was “HESH”, Tony’s mentor/advisor throughout that award-winning HBO Production’s run. His recent films include “In Her Shoes”, “Prime”, “Find Me Guilty”, “Synecdoche” and the soon-to-be- released “Last Angry Man In Brooklyn” with Robin Williams. On TV he was the Fire Chief in “Rescue Me” with Denis Leary, and recently is Howard Lyman on “The Good Wife”. He is the 2013 recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts awarded by the University of Connecticut.

Jason Jacoby is currently starring Off-Broadway in AVENUE Q as Nicky/Trekkie. Other credits include: CABARET, THE PRODUCERS, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Park Playhouse); LE HOT BLUE (New York Theatre Workshop); THE PIPER (Capital Repertory Theatre); G.B.S. (Clockwork Theatre, U.S. Premiere); RECKLESS (The Gallery Players).

The post Bruce Vilanch To Star In “Rubble” At The Player’s Theater first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Bruce Vilanch is ready to rumble at Broadway’s Nightclub 54 Below on June 13 and 14 as (in his own words) he “is currently celebrating his fifteenth year as Lindsay Lohan‘s sobriety coach.”

Vilanch is surely old enough to remember when . . . and is set to make with the funnies and sing a little this and a little that.

A veteran of Broadway’s “Hairspray” and TV‘s “Hollywood Squares,” Bruce has a lot to say about a lot of things!

Come laugh along on June 13 and 14 at 54 Below, 254 West 54 Street (Cellar), NYC

The post Bruce Vilanch Six Time Emmy Award Winner to Appear at 54 Below first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

From Mr. Vilanch: “Currently celebrating his fifteenth year as Lindsay Lohan’s sobriety coach, Bruce Vilanch is descending to 54 Below, which he is old enough to remember when, to dispatch more updates on his bizarre career behind, before and squatting over the footlights. A Hairspray star, a Hollywood Square and the latest success story on Christian Mingle, (who just hooked him up with a guy who used to be Pope), Bruce has more than a few songs to sing and stories to tell.”

Event website
PHONE (646) 476-3551
PRICE $25 – $50

The post Bruce Vilanch At 54 Below June 13, 14 ~ New York first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

BRUCE VILANCH – one of the most sought-after jokesmiths in the entertainment industry – is performing LIVE at the EXDO Event Center as Tracks presents “Gay Comedy Night with Bruce Vilanch” on Friday, May 17th at 8pm (doors open 7pm). Also performing are Denver-based comedians Chuck Roy and Hippieman.

Tickets for this comedy spectacle are only $15 presale ($20 at the door) and all presale ticket holders get to meet Bruce. All ticket purchases include free entry into the Tracks Nightclub.

ABOUT BRUCE VILANCH

Known for his eclectic eyewear and collection of unique T-shirts, Bruce Vilanch began as a child model for Lane Bryant, but soon he became an entertainment writer for the Chicago Tribune. Impressed by his review of her cabaret performance in 1970, Bette Midler hired him to punch up her act where he gave birth to Midler’s famed Sophie Tucker jokes. He later moved to Los Angeles where he wrote for variety shows like the original “Donny and Marie” and “The Brady Bunch Hour” (both ABC) and provided material for Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin and Joan Rivers. He maintained his connection with Midler through the years, working on such projects as the feature “Divine Madness” (1980) and the TV special “Bette Midler–Diva Las Vegas” (HBO, 1997), as well as writing for her short-lived but lively sitcom, “Bette!” (CBS, 2000).

Bruce Vilanch began contributing to Academy Awards telecasts in 1989, collaborating with the likes of Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and David Letterman, graduating to head writer in 2000. He has roasted celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and President Clinton. He has also scripted most of the Academy Awards telecasts over the last decade, two of which won Emmys, including the one featuring Billy Crystal’s Hannibal Lecter entrance. Mr. Vilanch has also written for The Tony’s, The Grammy’s, and The Emmy’s, to name few. He also participates and volunteers at almost every charity function, especially those dealing with GLBT issues.

ABOUT CHUCK ROY

Chuck Roy is “The Bear”, a comedian and host of some of the biggest shows at Comedy Works. Chuck’s TV credits include “Will & Grace,” “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “Last Comic Standing.” This year Chuck co-stars in EUGE!, a new internet radio show starring Eugene Kenny Monday nights at 6pm on tRadioV.com. Chuck joins this podcast of veteran comedians to quiz an amateur comic about upcoming gigs, joke ideas and PR strategy.

ABOUT HIPPIEMAN

John Novosad, a.k.a. “Hippieman” is a stand-up comedian based out of the Comedy Works in Denver, Colorado. John has performed in clubs, theatres and weird little coffee houses across the country for almost three decades. Yes, there were some day jobs along the way.

John grew up in Boulder, Colorado – which is a damn good place to be from if you’re Hippieman. He made his comedic debut sometime around 1980 at the Blue Note in Boulder. John has toured extensively over the years and continues to do so. He’s also a featured performer at The Comedy Works, sharing the stage with some of the biggest national acts working today.

The post Comedy Night With Bruce Vilanch At Tracks, Denver, May 17, Friday first appeared on We Got Bruce!.