James Bewley Presents Dale Radio » Projects

Uncommon Ground

james — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:16:10 +0000

Contributed voices for a select group of plants in this project by artists Victoria Estok and Steve Lambert. It had its premiere at the Whitney Museum of American Art and was created during an residency at the fantastic Eyebeam in New York City.

Be sure to catch it if it comes to your town, but you can also watch the video below, or visit the Uncommon Ground page of Steve Lambert’s site to see and hear more. Which you should do anyway, cause Steve’s an amazing artist with some great projects up there. Victoria is equally amazing, so visit her site, too!

Copyright Basics

james — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:39:19 +0000

Performed as the know-it-all, but lovable Jim The Librarian in this series of animated web-isodes for Copyright.com. Directed by Ryan Junell, featuring the voice stylings of myself and Mara Gerstein, and others in future episodes. This guy has become so popular, they even gave him his own facebook page. Pretty funny. You can watch the whole video here.

Here’s the trailer to whet your appetite:

Dale Radio

james — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 04:24:29 +0000

Launched in 2009, now you can follow along with the exploits of Dale Seever, of The Man/Woman Show as he details his life as a solo entertainer in the big city. These 10-15 minute recordings are broadcast regularly from a third story walk up on the banks of the Gowanus. You can listen to Dale Radio from the comfort of your ipod or portable music device by visiting iTunes or simply by visiting the homepage.

Voice Overs

james — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:23:29 +0000

Yep. I do em. In addition to all the audio on this site, here’s a short digital reel with samples for commercial work.
Feel free to contact me if you need some voice stylings for your next project.

Thanks to Thessaly Lerner and Mr. Paul Hollman for the reel assist.

Hot+Bothered: Films of Temptation and Personal Destruction

james — Fri, 25 May 2007 09:24:47 +0000

In collaboration with the programmers at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, I organized this series of free outdoor screenings to complement the Eden’s Edge exhibition at the Hammer. We started with the idea of LA being a place of temptation, and it grew into something much scarier and sexier, much like the exhibition. These films will run Friday evenings as part of the third annual free summer events. The entire line up consists of: The Honeymoon Killers, Ravenous, Gate of Flesh, Seconds, and Samson and Delilah. Here’s a couple of trailers to whet the bothersome whistle.

SAMSON & DELILAH

SECONDS

GATE OF FLESH

Black Sphinx: On the Comedic in Modern Art

james — Sat, 19 May 2007 20:24:28 +0000

Hmmm…”the Comedic in Modern Art”…yeah I think I’d like to work on that. Every year the Southern California Consortium of Art Schools presents a symposium and related activities around a theme in contemporary practice. When the art historian John C. Welchman approached the Hammer, I was obviously eager to get involved. For the conference I organized a night of stand up called Live Sphinx, which featured the amazing Murray Hill on hosting duty with the following phenomenal line up: Jessi Klein, Al Madrigal, Michelle Biloon, and Patton Oswalt.

DARFUR/DARFUR

james — Thu, 17 May 2007 19:25:28 +0000

The Hammer served as the premiere venue for this important and traveling exhibition shedding light on the ongoing tragedies of Darfur. I worked closely with the passionate and talented Leslie Thomas, who was so moved by the situation, that she organized this exhibition/event that has since gone on to a number of cultural institutions worldwide. Working with imagery from Magnum photographers and people on the ground there, including Brian Steidle, who contributed to the movie The Devil Came on Horseback, the event attracted a few hundred visitors to hear first hand accounts of the atrocities being committed in this troubled region. You can find out more about the continued efforts to bring an end to this conflict at the Darfur/Darfur website.

Masters of American Comics

james — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:10:08 +0000

For the Hammer, I curated a full slate of related programs for the exhibition Masters of American Comics. Many of these were reproduced in some form as the exhibition traveled the country. These included The Fifth World: An Evening of Fan Fiction, featuring Beth Lisick as host, with a cast reading from found comics-inspired fiction and a screening of a number of stellar fan-films, not the least of which were early 16mm shorts done by Don Glut (who also introduced the films); Conversations between Art Spiegelman & John Carlin, Jonathan Lethem & Gary Panter, Stanley Crouch & Dana Goodyear, and Chris Ware & Tim Samuelson; an evening with the artists of Kramer’s Ergot with Shary Boyle; kid’s comic-making workshops with Jessica Abel, Jordan Crane, and Kazu Kibuishi in collaboration with 826LA; a screening of Will Eisner: A Portrait of a Sequential Artist; and discussions on Women in Comics, Politics in Comics, and a round table with the Legends of the LA Comics Underground. Thanks to all of the artists involved (those not mentioned above include Trina Robbins, Lalo Alcaraz, David Rees, Ho Che Anderson, Robert Williams, Carol Lay, Jen Sorensen, and Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez) and to Michael Dooley who helped with hosting duties and for co-organizing some of these events.
Here’s an image from Shary Boyle’s overhead projection performance, also known as one of the best things I have ever seen…ever.

Hunter Gatherers

james — Tue, 15 May 2007 07:10:59 +0000

It was an honor to provide the poster design for the multiple award-winning play by San Francisco’s own Peter Nachtrieb. Peter directed my solo show Hover, while we were in Lowry Marshall’s Solo Performance class at Brown (I worked with him on his tour-de-force Amorphous Blob). I was more than happy to do this design though as usual, I found some things I’d do differently once it was all printed and out. I’m including both versions that I was tinkering with. Hunter Gatherers was produced by Killing My Lobster in SF and won the 2006 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award. Peter’s an amazing writer and this is only the beginning of his astounding career. You can keep up with him here on his blog.

Published Version (Green)

Alternate Version (Red)

24 Hour Armageddon Movie Marathon

james — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:24:37 +0000

I lent a Hammer Museum programming assist to this screening organized by Los Angeles photographer Walead Beshty. We screened 24, non-stop hours of movies about, during, or after the end of the world. This was an amazing endurance test, and it was fascinating to watch person after person discover they were the last beings on earth. (The process usually involved wandering through an empty department store and talking to mannequins.) Walead has since convinced a few more institutions to participate in this project and I wish them well and hope they have more comfortable chairs than we did.

24 HOUR ARMAGEDDON: A COLD WAR SLUMBER PARTY, 2006
Films included Omega Man, The Day After, Dawn of the Dead, and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.

Société Anonyme: Modernism in America

james — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 14:57:51 +0000

Produced a season of programming in association with the exhibition organized by Yale University Art Gallery. Programs included The Female of the Species, an outdoor film series featuring screen sirens of the silent era, with pre-screening music by Janet Klein and Her Parlour Boys, Curated by Miranda Banks, PhD; Short Films of the Avant Garde; Concerts of music of the 1920s; lectures and panel on the Société’s place in art history; and a discussion on how to conserve ephemeral and especially fragile works of art.

Strindberg and Helium

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:23:15 +0000

Created in 2001 with Erin Bradley (writer/voice of Helium), Eun-Ha Paek (animator/genius), and Brian Perkins (inspirational force), this series of webisodes has been winning the dark hearts of Goths and Strindberg scholars around the world. They’ve been featured in the Sundance Film Festival, listed in the Entertainment Weekly’s “It List”, and has been part of Comedy Central’s short lived late night shorts program, Jump Cuts and featured on comedycentral.com. You can view them all at StrindbergandHelium.com. The best part of this experience has been watching something that was pure fun to make become a weird kind of internet sensation. My voice as Strindberg has even been remixed in a great cut called August in Hell by the band Mercurine in Los Angeles which I’ve included here:

The fact that people dress up as Strindberg and Helium for Halloween and send us pictures is both scary and hilarious. And some people even make tribute videos! See this:

YD Industries

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:22:12 +0000

A collaboration with George Nachtrieb, I joined in on his already created masterwork of a fake corporate website, www.ydindustries.com and suggested we do live events and imagine what it was like to really work for that company. Inventing the persona of Dean Kramer to George’s Steve Musselman, I co-wrote and performed informative podcasts, generated the biting commentary in the company blog, acted and co-created powerpoint presentations for live Success! Seminars, and aided in the production of video shorts including the one below featuring the calls of the Mastodon. My fondest evening: developing the savory flavors of Condom Burst! Now available in Garlic Nan!

The Man Woman Show

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:21:38 +0000

Again teaming up with the insanely talented, Erin Bradley Perkins, I played Dale to Erin’s Ginny, life partners (he was afraid to commit) who sang love songs in the key of wrong. Never really grasping the meaning behind the words, but full of good intentions, they covered everything from Sandman by Aerosmith to Nothing Compares to You by Sinead O’Connor. We did a monthly show for about a year at the Make Out Room in San Francisco, but sometimes Dale flew solo hosting the Killing My Lobster Kabaret, or dodging flying beer cans in Minneapolis at the Bedlam Theater Romp. Dale started a blog at one point called Some Things I Enjoy, but then he and Ginny split up for good (Erin went to nursing school) and it’s been hard to keep enjoying things. He did find a new partner with Connie, a former casino hostess, portrayed by Liisa Ingimundson, but after their one and only show in SF, they went their separate ways.

Theatre de la Jeune Lune

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:19:19 +0000

Of the three companies I would want to be on stage with, this one was at the top. If you’re ever in Minneapolis, go see a show by these terrific pranksters. I appeared in an election year satire Ubu for President, based on the Ubu Roi plays by Alfred Jarry. The important thing was that I played Ma Ubu, which meant a lot of stage combat in pumps and a six foot drop onto a wrestling mat wearing a corset. Best three months ever.

The photo on the projects page features the amazing Steven Epp and Vincent (Vinny) Gracieux in THE MISER. This show was happening and winning awards at the same time that I was at Jeune Lune. I helped put up that set and I can easily say that it was the heaviest thing I have ever carried. Vinny was my host (and my husband in the play) for most of my stay in Minneapolis and it was an honor to perform with him.

Me as Ma Ubu:

The Bat Series

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:13:29 +0000

The first incarnation of this set of 22 drawings was created for a group exhibition at White Columns in New York, curated by Marisa Olson. The second time around, I made new work based on the same concept for Characters, Scene I and II, (one exhibition, two locations) curated by Helianthe Bourdeaux-Martin. The show also included James Jean, R. Crumb, Cindy Sherman, Philip Guston, and many other giants, and it was a true honor to have work on the same walls with them. The concept was that instead of happening to Bruce Wayne, the Batman mythos happened to me, minus the shooting of the parents and all. But what if I had taken up the mantle of the bat? I tried to portray my own fears and insecurities faced by a super hero, but in the end he ended up just being as vulnerable and threatened by it all as I was.

Lovesome

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:09:56 +0000

I was doing a lot of internet dating at the time, and this was my tribute to that form. The red head completely obscured my face as I went on “speed dates” with members of the audience. Our interactions were broadcast for the rest of the audience via a couple of mics. I performed this first in San Francisco at the Exploratorium and then later at Blackbird Space as part of exhibition, The Love Show, and finally at Mills College for an evening of Erotica for Valentine’s Day event. None of my experiences resulted in any real dates.

Moon Transfer

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:06:16 +0000

Space Man ends up on the moon. Space man finds a moon slug. Space man is saddened by the loss of all his friends and family so far away. He sings I Still Miss Someone after describing the feeling of leaving someone at death’s door. The costume is a hand-sewn version of comic book hero Adam Strange, and ultimately was featured on the cover of SF Weekly, with me in it, for a Killing My Lobster group profile. The photos here were all taken by Jack Toolin during the performance at Works San Jose.

Boys of Summer

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 22:04:11 +0000

Gabe Weisert, director and friend to the earth, had a sad idea to make a new video set to Don Henley’s classic. I play the love struck bear remembering the greatest summer ever. Also featuring the beauty of Tonya Glantz. So far like 15,000 people have watched this on YouTube.

UPDATE: 130,000 viewers on the ‘Tube.
And that may be why the fine people from Don Henley’s office has asked that it be removed.
Sorry folks, trust me. This was a good one.

Gilly G’s Goodtime Showcase

james — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 21:52:34 +0000

This project was a tribute to a Philadelphia morning show called Al Abert’s Showcase. With the help of Michelle Dean (director/editor) and Jon Wolanske (actor) I filmed what was the last episode of this fictional children’s show hosted by Gilly G. Grasshopper. It was supposed to be a Dick Cavett for the youngsters, wherein talented individuals would perform and then talk about their craft with Gilly. Mostly it was just about improving this scenario with Jon, who is hilarious as Randy Shortwell, the Tap Dancing Bandit. We did two takes and Michelle edited the best together. The video was included in exhibitions at 667 Shotwell and Stephen Wirtz Gallery, both in San Francisco. I also did a comeback tour talent show as part of Multiverse, a one night only art event at Rx Gallery, also in San Francisco.

The Good Word

james — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 07:59:59 +0000

I am proud to have been part of the first Neighborhood Public Radio broadcast held in January of 2004 at 21 Grand in Oakland, CA. I had a short set to premiere my own religious themed radio show, called The Good Word, with me as a variation on my grandfather, Rev. Vernon Smythe. In this episode, the right reverend was talking about redemption along with his breakthrough, using puppets on the radio.

You can read more about NPR at the site run by Lee Montgomery. We did a broadcast on the Berkeley radio station one Sunday morning and it was glorious. I think one person listened.

Boostamonte Series

james — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 06:45:47 +0000

These are the original drawings that I later used for posters designed for trumpeter and band leader, Ara Anderson and his amazing ensemble, Boostamonte. The Circus Kids one was included in a little zine project of Ara’s not long after it was completed. I’m not sure what that pink thing is supposed to be, but I was fond of the Minister of Sound. Most all of these are still around if anyone’s interested in purchasing one. They’re all about 4″ x 8″ or so and are gouache on paper.

Minister of Sound

Circus Kids

Pink Bean Man

KML Party Stories

james — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:22:31 +0000

A rare filmed sketch from the days of Killing My Lobster. Directed by Jon Wolanske, Party Stories stars Mara Gerstein, Abby Paige, Paul Charney, and Mitch Goldman, and features a very intense recap of a holiday shopper’s quest for an elusive George Foreman Grill. The sketch was first presented as part of KML Circus of Failure.

Enjoy in the company of friends:

Killing My Lobster

james — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:20:46 +0000

I performed for 4 years in short films and original theatrical productions in various states of dress and undress, mostly involving bear costumes, while in San Francisco. I knew most of the folks from Brown almost all of whom were in a production of Six Degrees of Separation with me my sophomore year. Writing that here makes that coincidence suddenly eerie.

Oh…and we always closed the show with a stunning dance number. Here is a dance montage put together by the erstwhile Paul Charney.

The International Language

james — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 10:28:35 +0000

The International Language was a featured sketch in Killing My Lobster Tales of a Lonely Planet, 2002. It features me, a hot tub, and hearty screw.

Directed by: Kelleth Chinn and Marc Vogl
Starring: James Bewley, Marc Vogl, Gabe Weisert
Written by: Paul Charney
Music: Steve O’Reilly/Glass Records
Edited: Kelleth Chinn
Crew: Michelle Dean
Directed for the stage: Daniel Lee

The film has screened at the following:
NewFest – New York Lesbian, Gay and Transexual Film Festival – June 2002
Out on Film – Atlanta’s Gay and Lesbian Film Festival – November 2004
L’envers MLIF – Lilles, France – 2004
Microcinema/Independent Exposure 2004 Screenings at 111 Minna – San Francisco
21 Grand – Oakland, California
Chaos Studios – Colorado Springs, Colorado
Cleveland Institute of Art – Cleveland, Ohio
The Revival House – Providence, RI