wliiaart

I’ve gone absolutely improv/ whose line/ Nashville mad recently and created characters that were sort of (absolutely) inspired by (a beardy) Chip Esten and Jeff Davis. I called the Chip character Travis and he is basically a closeted, country music singer, and former teen heart throb whose career has started to wane. His secret Boyfriend is Desmond, who doesn’t really have a back story, all I know is that he is pretty cocky and a chain smoker and probably drinks a lot.

“Greg Proops”

11” x 14”

acrylic on canvas

2014

(Theater shot by @stokes617 on instagram)

(Proops holding up painting shot by @horse_trash on twitter)

I work a boring, repetitive production job. Thankfully it is one that is somewhat artistic, and I am not complaining as I would be happy to work almost any job that pays the bills and gives me time to paint. However, a little over two years ago, I was feeling the job was particularly tedious and unbearable. None of my music was keeping me happy (not even the joyous sounds of Sparks, T. Rex, or Devo...) and I was invariably way too flustered to listen to long audio books. My fiancee suggested I try some podcasts, and though skeptical and hopelessly behind the times as I was, it seemed as good an idea as any other, except maybe hurtling myself in front of a moving bus. The one she immediately suggested was by improv master, Greg Proops: The Smartest Man in the World. I remembered liking Greg Proops from the British version of Whose Line is it Anyway?, which they aired on Comedy Central on weekday afternoons in the 90s, which means I’d have to skip school to watch it, which I did occasionally, which is the most pathetic attempt at being a badass ever.

Anyway, The Smartest Man in the World is an absolutely brilliant podcast and my favorite. I listen weekly, have never missed an episode, and went back in the archives to listen to all of the episodes that predated my introduction, (the podcast began in late 2010). It is an amazing mix of hilarious, informative, and heartening. And, for a production worker with at least 10 dull hours to slog myself through a day, a podcast that is practically always thoroughly entertaining for at least an hour and a half every week is a rare gift indeed. It’s a part of my life and one I look forward to.

It has been a goal to attend a live taping of the podcast for awhile now, and I got the privilege last Saturday night at the Bell House in Brooklyn. It couldn’t have been a better experience. My fiancee and I got to meet and talk to Greg briefly before the show. I gave him a painting. He wasn’t horrified and he thanked me. I was particularly impressed by how he met with almost the entire line waiting to be let into the theater individually. I have never witnessed another celebrity doing something like that.

A picture I drew of Greg Proops.