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david patrick kelly

Happy Birthday, David Patrick Kelly!

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Almost SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO I adopted the wonderful character actor David Patrick Kelly.

It started sort of a movement, well smaller than a movement, maybe a ripple, yes, a ripple, where other bloggers adopted their own actors.

If I had to guess, 90% of the links on the adoption roster are broken. Many of the bloggers who participated are now DEAD. Or more likely, they deleted their blogs or made them private. Oh man, some of them might have died. That’s a buzzkill. Sorry guys.

The whole adopt-an-actor thing was, to me at least, a few things.

  1. Something to do! Content!
  2. A way of promoting an artist you care about and perhaps is underappreciated by the larger entertainment world.
  3. A way of associating one’s self with a person you admire. Get some of that thespian glitter on your blog!

I’ve never met David Patrick Kelly, but from all signs I see on the Internet the guy is a gracious, grounded, delightful person.

In 2008, I (online) met another blogger, Max the Drunken Severed Head who actually interviewed DPK and allowed me to publish brief excerpts on my blog leading up to his own publishing.

Also in 2008, I invited DPK to a Feelies show I flew out from Chicago to NYC (Hoboken, to be precise).

I received a lovely email from someone who claimed to be his assistant – I don’t know why someone would pretend to be his assistant, but you never know, etc. etc.

I doubt if I will ever talk to the man or meet him, but I’m always in his corner and hope he continues to find happiness and health and all that good stuff.

Happy birthday, man.

david patrick kelly

Adopted Actor David Patrick Kelly In Louie!

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If you haven’t seen Louis CK’s new show, Louie, on FX, you really should. It’s a very nice, human show. It’s funny, but is also grounded in a very real emotional place. I have seen other people describe it better than I on the Internet, so that’s all you’ll get from me. Don’t try to wheedle any more out of me. I’ll cut ya!

Anyways, I was watching Louie last week, and in that particular episode he uses some framing scenes with a low-key but slightly disturbing therapist. You never get a close shot of the guy, but it looked kind of like David Patrick Kelly. Well, it looked a little tall for DPK, but it looked like him. A tall version of him. Of DPK. Okay, onward.

I checked the credits and didn’t see DPK’s name, so I figured it wasn’t him. I watched the show again, and decided, well, to be sure, better check out the IMDB, the font of all verified and truthful knowledge about movies and television. Sure enough, it *was* DPK playing the therapist. Hurray! I was very happy it was him.

About five minutes ago, I found this interview with Louis CK where he talks about DPK.

Interviewer: First a little quick thing. I want to make sure that that was David Patrick Kelly playing the shrink, but that’s not my real question. My real question is, looking at the pilot and then the first episode that follows it, there’s quite a bit of a difference between them that I kind of want to see, what evolved between the making of the pilot and that first episode? Which, they’re all fantastic. I mean, as somebody who has seen you live many, many times, it was amazing to see that captured, both the live stuff and then just your personality that comes through a lot of your work. What evolution took place between the pilot and then that first episode?

Louis C.K.: It’s a good question. First of all, it is David Patrick Kelly, who I love from Warriors and 48 Hours and Dreamscape. He’s an actor I always connected with. We did an audition for that therapist part and a lot of people did a really corny, kind of beard stroking Freudian therapists, and he just did this really wild, really freaky character and it made me laugh the instant I saw the audition, so he came in. We only had one scene planned for the therapist, and as we started shooting it, he was just so funny I started throwing things at him, saying, “Try saying this,” and he would do it and it was perfect. So I think we have about eight therapist segments. I’m not done editing all the shows yet so I don’t know if I’m going to use them all in this season. I think we’ve used about four.

Interviewer: It was a huge victory seeing him.

Louis C.K.: He’s so great. He’s another example. There’s actors that you love, that you’ve seen in great movies, and they’re just living in New York City, and they’re so happy to work. And it’s so much a better process to just call New York actors and pay them just a … check to come in and really work hard for a day.

The full interview

Watch Louie on Hulu (DPK’s episode is #4 — should be uploaded some time within the week)

adopt-an-actor, career retrospectives, david patrick kelly, holidays

Happy Adopt-An-Actor Day!

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My attention has been diverted a little lately, but not enough to ignore the new holiday I created.

For those who have already adopted an actor, please dedicate a post today to them. It can be a videoclip, description of a favorite performance, maybe just a picture. It’s up to you to decide.

And for you thespian empty-nesters out there, please consider adopting an actor. All that is required is announcing your intent to adopt on your blog, and letting me know about it. You may want to check the adoption roster to make sure your actor has not already been adopted.

Who is my adopted actor, you ask?

Why it’s none other than the wonderful David Patrick Kelly.

I’ll use my Adopt-An-Actor Day post to run down his career in films and television.

When I started the Adopt-An-Actor program, I said that I didn’t expect an adoptive parent to see every single thing their adoptee had been in. You’ll see that I haven’t seen a lot of DPK’s work, but my support and affection for him is nevertheless genuine and unwavering.

The Warriors (1979)
Ooh, mama. What an awesome performance. He was the best part of the movie, by far.

Sanctuary of Fear (1979) (TV) (uncredited)
Didn’t see it.

American Playhouse – Working (1982) (TV)
Didn’t see it. Apparently, a musical adaptation of the Studs Terkel book. Sounds interesting.

Hammett (1982)
Didn’t see it.

48 Hrs. (1982)
He was great as Luther. He was so angry and abusive towards Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte, but then in his final scenes you see he’s very distraught about his girlfriend being taken hostage. He didn’t have a lot of screentime, but he came across with a strong character.

Dreamscape (1984)
I haven’t seen this movie in a long time. My guess is that it hasn’t aged well, but I loved it when it was playing non-stop on pay TV. DPK was scary and cool. He had some creaky dialogue that he had to deliver, but in his hands it sounded good. He had a nice moment giving a little monologue on a dream subway, swinging nunchucks, ending with “In this world, Alex, you’re nothing. And me, I’m God.” Just as in 48 Hours, what starts as an aggressive, unsympathetic character becomes a little tragic near the end.

Tales from the Darkside (1984) (TV)
I saw at least part of this, though my memory of it has faded. DPK is the star of the episode, and I think he plays a man who slowly loses his identity, and winks out of existence at the end. I guess it’s appropriate I can’t remember it.

Miami Vice (1985) (TV)
Didn’t watch this show.

Commando (1985)
Oh, Sully. Yet another great performance. There was really no redeeming traits in this character. It’s hard to be poignant when you’re hanging upside-down, held by the pantleg by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Moonlighting (1985) (TV)
I sort of remember seeing this. I believe that the episode DPK was in sort-of went crazy at the end, where they sort of broke down the fourth wall and we saw Moonlighting behind-the-scenes, or some such thing. I recall DPK being the heavy, and Whoopi Goldberg was in it too. I think the final shot of DPK and Whoopi had them smiling as they were walking out, then it abruptly changed to a scowl. Why am I bothering you with this? Sorry.

Our Family Honor (1985) (TV)
Didn’t see it.

The Misfit Brigade (1987)
Didn’t see it.

Spenser: For Hire (1987) (TV)
Never watched this show.

ABC Afterschool Specials – Date Rape (1988) (TV)
Didn’t see it. Yikes.

Cheap Shots (1989)
Nope, didn’t see.

CBS Summer Playhouse – B Men (1989) (TV)
Nope.

Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989)
This was a really weird movie. It was sort of a narrative, but they kept on yanking you out of the story. It was kind of sloppy, intentionally so, I think. I had thought there was some commentary on DPK’s role in The Crow. At the time I had seen this, I thought Brandon Lee had died by a blank fired by DPK’s gun, which I learned later to not be the case.

Wild at Heart (1990)
I saw this, but I can’t remember him in it. All I can see in my head is the grinning menace of Willem Dafoe’s Bobby Peru.

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
Andrew Dice Clay kept me away.

Twin Peaks (1990-1991) (TV)
I saw a couple episodes, but I don’t think DPK was on it yet. I don’t remember him from it, at any rate.

A Marriage: Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz (1991) (TV)
Didn’t see.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) (scenes deleted)
Didn’t see.

Malcolm X (1992)
I saw it, but I don’t remember DPK from it.

Exterior Night (1993)
Nope.

Ghostwriter (1992-1993) (TV)
Nope.

The Crow (1994)
I saw it, but don’t remember it very well. I don’t recall DPK having an awful lot of screentime. I was bummed out about the Brandon Lee accident.

Crooklyn (1994)
I didn’t like this movie too much. There was a stylistic thing Spike Lee did in the middle of the movie that didn’t really work for me, and it was kind of obnoxious. I remember DPK from it, one particular shot of him playing an organ and wearing very thick glasses.

Cafe Society (1995)
Didn’t see it.

Heavy (1995)
Didn’t see it.

Flirting with Disaster (1996)
He was one of the best parts of this movie. I was very happy to see him in a movie again.

The Funeral (1996)
An Abel Ferrara movie I haven’t seen. I have heard it’s good, just haven’t seen it.

Last Man Standing (1996)
Another Walter Hill movie for DPK! (The Warriors and 48 Hrs. were the previous two). Didn’t see this, mostly because I was sick of Bruce Willis.

Trojan War (1997)
Nope.

Twelfth Night, or What You Will (1998) (TV)
Didn’t see.

Mad About You (1998) (TV)
Saw this a few times, but didn’t see his episode.

In Too Deep (1999)
Didn’t see.

Songcatcher (2000)
Didn’t see.

K-PAX (2001)
Kevin Spacey kept me away from this one.

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)
Didn’t see.

Hack (2002) (TV)
Didn’t see.

Justice (2003)
Didn’t see.

Third Watch (2005) (TV)
Never watched this.

The Longest Yard (2005)
Didn’t see it. Adam Sandler kept me away.

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
I like a lot of Clint Eastwood films, I just didn’t see this one. DPK plays Harry S. Truman.

Babylon Fields (2007) (TV)
Didn’t see.

Kidnapped (2007) (TV)
Didn’t see.

Gardener of Eden (2007)
Didn’t see.

Law & Order (2008) (TV)
Didn’t see.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2008)
(TV)
I actually was flipping channels and caught some of this. It made me smile.

david patrick kelly, feelies, yeehaw

We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together

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Phew!

I’m back from my whirlwind trip to NY/NJ. I’ve got two or three posts in me to describe my journey, but I might as well start out with the whole purpose of the trip: The Feelies!

After a long day of travel, blogger-lunching and wandering around Manhattan, I caught the PATH train to Hoboken late Tuesday afternoon, the location of Maxwell’s, where the Feelies were playing that night.

Hoboken seemed very nice. It reminded me a lot of Evanston, a northern suburb of Chicago. For those from Hoboken reading this unfamiliar with Evanston, Evanston is a lot like Hoboken.

I had been to the NYC area one time before, with MizSplotchy back in 2000. At that time I was subscribed to a Galaxie 500/Luna mailing list, dedicated to the band Galaxie 500 and all its offshoots, run by the lovely and talented Brit Andy Aldridge. I’m not sure how it happened, but I must have mentioned on the list that I was going to New York. I then corresponded with fellow listmember Chris, and he trusted me enough to not be a stab-happy Internet psychopath, and was willing to actually meet me in person.

He and his wife took MizSplotchy and I to their favorite Mexican restaurant in Greenwich Village, and then gave us a great little driving tour of Manhattan before dropping us at our hotel. It was a great pleasure getting to meet and talk with them. They is good people.

I had exchanged emails a couple times since then with Chris, but hadn’t really kept in touch. Still, after I found out about the Feelies shows at Maxwell’s, I emailed him and asked him if he was going (and if he remembered me). Yes, he remembered me, and yes, he was going. He suggested that we meet up at Maxwell’s for dinner prior to the show (there’s a restaurant there as well).

So, I walked the relatively long walk from the PATH station up Washington Street to Maxwell’s. Chris was running a little late so I just milled about on the corner in front of the bar. Then I saw Dave Weckerman (one of the freakin’ Feelies!) round the corner and my already happy day brightened up considerably. I walked up to him and introduced myself. We talked for ten minutes or so, about the Feelies, Maxwell’s, Roky Erickson, etc., then he went on his way. I had personally met a Feelie! Yayyyy!

Soon after, Chris and his wife showed up and we headed into the restaurant. It was around 8:15pm, and the show was scheduled to start at 9:00pm. It took a long time to get seated, so we stood around a bit and had some drink. Chris had some friends with him, too — Bowman, a really nice guy from Brooklyn, and Jen, a fellow Galaxie 500 listmember, also very nice.

So, I see bassist Brenda Sauter having dinner. Singer/Guitarist Glenn Mercer walks past me. Chris introduces me to drummer Stanley Demeski. Holy crap. I am here. The Feelies are here. We are both here.

I think Chris was a little bemused by my starstruckedness. He plays in a band with Brenda, and he works with Stanley. The Feelies are people he knows, and has known for years. Hey, I’m a dork. What can I say?

So it’s getting close to 9:00pm and we have just gotten our food. I eat my delicious crabcake sandwich as quickly as humanly possible, and excuse myself from the table. I am not going to miss a single damn song.

The music venue part of Maxwell’s is a small, cozy rectangular room. I really couldn’t have asked for a better place to see a show. It was crowded so I didn’t really have room to dance, but I did a lot of whiteguy head-bobbing, so that’s something.

The Feelies played two sets, and pretty much played every song I could ever have wanted them to play. I had wanted to nab a setlist but I didn’t have any luck. So, I can give you the songs that I remember them playing (I’m probably going to miss a couple), though not in the order they played them in.

From Crazy Rhythms:
Fa Cé-La
Original Love
Raised Eyebrows
Crazy Rhythms

I do remember that Crazy Rhythms followed Raised Eyebrows, and that Crazy Rhythms was the last song in their first set. The two songs fit together so well on the album, and the song transition is so “magical” for lack of a better word, I was a little giddy when they did the same song transition live.

From The Good Earth (perhaps the best album ever made — yes that’s right, that’s what I said):
On the Roof
The High Road
Slipping (Into Something)
Let’s Go

From Only Life:
It’s Only Life
Deep Fascination
The Final Word
Away
What Goes On

From Time For A Witness:
Sooner or Later
Doin’ It Again

Non-album songs:
We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together (VU cover)
Outdoor Miner (Wire cover)
Barstool Blues (Neil Young cover)
Dancing Barefoot (Patti Smith cover)
Fun To Be Happy (Love Tractor cover)
She Said She Said (Beatles cover)
TWO NEW ORIGINAL SONGS! — One of the songs they did was kinda punky. Had the word “Time” in it. I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do for you folks. Chris said he thought they had four new original songs cooked up, and they played two of them during the show. I must have not recognized the other one as being unrecognizable.

When they took a break from their first set, despite the fact that my legs were tired, despite the fact that I had to pee, despite that my inner thighs were raw from walk-chafe, I moved closer to the stage. And there I stood until the second set began. Bowman came up and hung out with me for the second set. The second set was even better than the first. They played a lot of the songs hellaciously fast. It was really quite wonderful.

So, after a few encores (yayyy!) the show finally ended. We hung around after the show. Yes, I talked to every single damned Feelie after the show.

Here is a list of Feelies I spoke with and the degree to which I embarrassed myself by my fanboi babbling.

Stanley Demeski – No embarrassment
Bill Million – Mild embarrassment
Dave Weckerman – Mild embarrassment
Glenn Mercer – Moderate embarrassment
Brenda Sauter – Extreme embarrassment

Brenda, if you happen to read this, sorry! Y’know, I was geeking out talking to everyone. I don’t really feel that bad at all about it, though one never wishes to look like a doofus. What the hell. I think my appreciation of the band came through, at least.

As I carefully pointed out to each Feelie, I had gone to great lengths to see them play live. This was the script I started with — “Hello [Feelies member]! It is so nice to meet you! I came all the way from Chicago for this show!” But wouldn’t you know, some guy flew in from Belgium and another guy flew in from Japan for the Maxwell’s shows. So, of course my trip from Chicago looks completely puny in comparison. Damn you Belgium and Japan! Damn you!

When I crept up to Brenda to speak with her, she was having a conversation with Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo. I sort of weaseled my way into their conversation (in my defense, Chris told me I should go talk to them, so he should be held fully responsible for whatever damage I have done to my cred with the Hoboken Musical Illuminati). I had seen Yo La Tengo a few times but had never spoken with Mr. Kaplan. He was a very friendly guy. It was kind of weird that I was talking to him and never even mentioned Yo La Tengo or indicated I knew who he was. Hey, it was all about the Feelies that night.

Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, formerly of Luna and currently of Dean & Britta (I wonder how they came up with that name?) were also milling about after the show, talking to Stanley (Stanley was Luna’s first drummer). I own pretty much everything Luna has ever put out. Dean glanced in my direction and I could have talked to him, but I didn’t make any effort to speak with him. As I said before, it was all about the Feelies that night.

I wish I could have talked to Stanley a bit more. He seemed like a really nice guy. Hey, he even introduced me to his wife and friends, saying “This is SPLOTCHY!” After a little chitchat, I got an unexpected spell of social shyness and excused myself to move on to the next person to embarrass myself in front of. Oh well, perhaps next time.

I was a little nervous speaking with Bill Million, but he was quite friendly, and seemed to really appreciate (perhaps touched by, even) the fact that I made the trek to the show.

I am really encouraged that the Feelies are working on some new material. It’s pretty darned nifty. I spoke with a few members of the band about the possibility of touring, coming to Chicago, etc. They had mentioned getting some offers for coming there in August, but it sounds like they’re just going to see how things organically grow or don’t grow.

Whatever happens, I am so happy to have finally been able to see my favorite band play live. It was wonderful.

UPDATE:

Oh, I forgot to include this in the original post. David Patrick Kelly actually contacted me last week via his assistant regarding my extra ticket. He appreciated the offer, but was unable to make it. I ended up giving my extra ticket to a friend of Chris’.

As DPK said in the email, “The Feelies are great!”

david patrick kelly

DPK On Record

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In his interview with the Drunken Severed Head, David Patrick Kelly had mentioned his intent to collect some of his musical recordings for a future release.

Well, the future is now!

Rip Van Boy Man is currently available for purchase as a CD or MP3 download at CD Baby.

He’s got a really nice voice.

Samples are available for your listening pleasure on the bottom left of the page on CD Baby.

david patrick kelly, feelies

A Reminder To David Patrick Kelly

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Hi, this message is for my adopted actor, David Patrick Kelly. As mentioned previously, I have an extra ticket for the Feelies’ July 1st show at the Hoboken, NJ bar Maxwell’s.

If you’re interested in using the extra ticket, send me an email on the address listed on my profile.

Whether I hear from you or not, I’m planning on leaving the ticket for you at Maxwell’s, but if you don’t show up by 10pm (the show is supposed to start at 9pm), I’ll probably just go outside and hand the ticket to the first Feelies fan that will take it (I would want someone to get some use out of it).

I hope to see you there. If you can’t make it, you will have missed what I’m sure will be a great show.

Peace out!

Splotchy