3 new speakers added to the list of speakers at Mastery:
Paul Provenza
Provenza grew up in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx and graduated in 1975 from the Bronx High School of Science. In high school, he started performing stand-up comedy, making his stage debut at age 17 at the original The Improv in Manhattan. He continued performing while attending the University of Pennsylvania, taking a year's leave of absence to study in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. While at R.A.D.A., he joined a classical repertory theater group, becoming one of the few Americans to perform the role of Romeo on the London stage. [2] He graduated in 1979 from the University of Pennsylvania, the year it awarded its first Theater Arts degree. At Penn, he wrote for the Pennsylvania Punch Bowl and was a cast member of The Mask and Wig Club, where he has returned numerous times to perform in the annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival.
While working as a stand up, Provenza also found work in both theater and television, appearing on TV shows including Northern Exposure and Empty Nest. [3]. He received critical acclaim for his work on stage, with his performance in the Off-Broadway play Only Kidding! being nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Actor and winning the Theater World Award for Best Actor in a Play.[4] He was honored with a caricature by the legendary Al Hirschfeld.
After decades as a stand-up comic and actor, Provenza found a new calling as an interviewer of other stand-ups, culminating in his 2005 directorial debut The Aristocrats (made with Penn Jilette). At the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Provenza held a nightly show at the Underbelly, Talk of the Fest. Held at 11pm each night of the festival, the set up was described by Provenza as that of a "green room for the whole festival". Guests included Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park. The show was reprised by Provenza at the 2007 Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, where guests included Billy Connolly, Eddie Izzard and members of The Kids in the Hall. In 2010, Showtime picked up the show and on June 12, 2010, The Green Room with Paul Provenza debuted with many of the same festival guest line-ups.
In May, 2010, Provenza's book ¡Satiristas!, with photography by Dan Dion was released by Harper-Collins to much critical acclaim. It features in depth interviews with Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, George Carlin to name a very few.
Provenza is currently based in Los Angeles.
Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Provenza
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Tom Wilson
Internationally, he's appeared on Tonight Lin in Australia, Good Morning, Great Britain, and literally hundreds of local television and radio programs around the world. He's starred in comedy specials on NBC, Global Television in Canada, and on myriad cable networks, and has written and performed his one man show, "Cowboy Tommy" to critical acclaim and full houses across North America.
Fanatically eager to get onstage, when Broadway didn't answer the door quickly enough, he began performing stand-up comedy in his teens, while studying to be an actor in New York. Within a short time, he was headlining in comedy clubs up and down the east coast, and moved to Los Angeles soon after that. Accepted as a regular at the world famous Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip on his first audition, at 21 years old he became a member of the "Comedy Store Players", improvising onstage with the likes of Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, and the large group of comedy colleagues who formed the nexus of the modern comedy boom.
He's appeared in some twenty-five feature films, including his "Saturn" award winning performance in the now classic Back to the Future trilogy, and has recently been a part of the now SpongeBob Squarepants phenomena, performing many voices in the Nickelodeon series, as well as The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie. He's been a recurring character on many television shows, including Ed, Freaks and Geeks, Do Over, Titus, Maggie, Fired Up, and been a guest star on Cold Case, Still Standing, Reba, George Lopez, Boston Public, Zoey 101, Rodney, The Facts Of Life, and many more. Early in his television career, he was even chased by international mega-superstar and recording artist David Hasselhoff on the show Knight Rider.
But the stage is where he feels most at home. He has performed as a headliner at the top comedy clubs in the country for years, and for tens of thousands as an opening act for Rodney Dangerfield, and rock bands such as Three Dog Night, Fleetwood Mac, Missing Persons, and The Tubes, and has performed his act for corporate events of every kind, from a small, select group of one hundred or less, to Las Vegas conventions of many thousands, with his trademark blend of energy and fun, without the use of easy vulgarity and material met with fewer laughs and gasps of discomfort. He's performed for audiences as diverse as a screaming rock and roll stadium, to a large conference made up largely of priests and nuns. And he had both crowds roaring.
His combination of storytelling, solid stand up, and hilarious music, combine to make a unique package in the arena of live performance. A pop cultural icon who doesn't rest on his laurels, but reaches out to connect with and entertain every audience, Tom Wilson is one of a kind.
Visit Tom Wilsons website at http://www.tomwilsonusa.com
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Alan Havey
Allan Havey started his stand-up career in New York City in 1981. Up until that time he had been part of the comedy duo TWO FOR NOTHING which he co-founded with John McFarland, a classmate at Florida State University.
The two were busy actors at the School of Theatre, but the sizes of their roles gave them ample time to goof-off and discover their mutual love of getting laughs.
After graduating in 1978 with a BFA in theatre, Havey took off for New York with McFarland close behind. For the next two years they performed their act in small clubs and coffee houses around the city. They were well received but Havey, jealous of stand-ups who did not have to rely on anyone but themselves, lit out on his own. He first passed at the Improvisation in the fall of 81. Bartending, waiting tables and finally answering phones at the Improv he started to make a living at stand-up in October 82 and never looked back.
He played small clubs and Jersey one-nighters for awhile. Getting small parts in commercials and hustling any gig he could. In January 1984 he was cast by Lorne Michaels in THE NEW SHOW Michael’s first venture after leaving SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE in 1980. For the next 10 weeks Havey worked with Steve Martin, John Candy, Buck Henry, Gilda Radner Dave Thomas and some of the best writers and comic actors in the business. Unfortunately the show was canceled and Havey went back to the clubs.
He made his national television debut on November 13th 1986 on LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN. By this time Havey was headlining in colleges and clubs all over the country. He went on to make several appearances on the Letterman show in the eighties and nineties. His latest shot aired on July 18th 2003.
As an actor he has appeared in the films: INTERNAL AFFAIRS with Richard Gere, CHECKING OUT with Jeff Daniels, ROUNDERS with Matt Damon, as well as the soon to be released WILD THINGS PART 2 "THE GLADES" with Isaiah Washington.
Over the years he has appeared on television acting in SEINFELD, THE LOUIE SHOW, and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and as a blonde-haired DJ on VIPER.
In November of 1989 he was hand picked by HBO to be one of the hosts of THE COMEDY CHANNEL which later became COMEDY CENTRAL. He created, hosted and produced NIGHT AFTER NIGHT WITH ALLAN HAVEY. It ran for just over three years and became a cult classic that is remembered fondly for breaking new ground and talent in comedy today. During this period his stand up flourished shooting two half-hour specials for HBO both being nominated for cable ace awards.
He has taken part in the JUST FOR LAUGHS comedy festival in Montreal on several occasions as well as the KILKENNY comedy festival, ASPEN comedy festival, and the NEW YORK comedy festival. He has made tours of Australia and Europe and continues to be one of the best comedians working today.
More information can be read about Allan Havey at http://www.allanhavey.com/index.html
