BROKEN LIZARD'S MOVIES work because they're rowdy, vulgar and instantly quotable. With modest big-screen success, "Super Troopers" and "Beerfest" have gone on to live cult-like lives on DVD. Its members — Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske — met at Colgate University in 1990, where the group formed.
During the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, the troupe revisited its indie roots, shooting "The Slammin' Salmon" (out Dec. 11) on its own. In it, the five work at a restaurant owned by a head-case former boxer (played masterfully by Michael Clarke Duncan).
On Thursday night, Broken Lizard returns to the stage with a performance at the Lisner Auditorium. We talked to all five members in a six-way phone interview.
» EXPRESS: Where did the idea for "The Slammin' Salmon" come from?
» HEFFERNAN: A couple of the guys — Jay, Steve and Erik — waited tables together in New York City on the Upper East Side. I think from there they started collecting funny stories while waiting on tables. … We ended up putting together this plot basically because we were writing "Beerfest" at the time and we wanted to put together an idea for a lower-budget alternative movie.
THURSDAY: You'd think Al Gore would be sick of Washington by now. Or maybe that Washington might be sick of him.
It appears that neither is true, though, since he'll be speaking at Lisner Auditorium tonight about his new book, "Our Choice," which details what his own press releases describe as his "years of experience as a student, policymaker, author, filmmaker, entrepreneur and activist to comprehensively describe the real solutions to global warming." Maybe he's counting on the District's college students to take up the torch of responsibility for saving the planet. Good luck with that, Mr. Vice President.
» George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Thu., Nov. 5, 7 p.m., $10; 202-994-6800. (Foggy Bottom)
Written by Express' Anne Polsky
Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images
FRIDAY: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon has been plastered with just about every laudatory phrase there is. But we're gonna call "copycat" on this one — months after his wife Ayelet Waldman comes out with a book on her life as a parent, Chabon does exactly the same thing. Wonder where he got that idea.
Nonetheless, we're excited to see Chabon's musings on fatherhood — his new book is called "Manhood for Amateurs" — at Lisner on Friday. No hard feelings, Mike. Shakespeare totally stole the plot for "Romeo and Juliet," and look how well that turned out.
» Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Fri., Oct. 9, 7 p.m., $7 or get two free tickets when you buy the book; 202-364-1919. (Foggy Bottom)
Photo courtesy Harper Collins
FATHER, HUSBAND, PARTNER, even grown son — it's not easy being a man. That's part of the reason former boy and current beloved author Michael Chabon wrote "Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son."
Chabon — who signs, reads from and discusses the new book at Lisner Auditorium in a Politics & Prose-sponsored event on Friday — is known for his novels, from "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" and "The Wonder Boys" to "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" and "The Yiddish Policeman's Union," but he is equally at home with autobiographical fiction, which he's tackled before in short essays. "Manhood for Amateurs" concentrates on one thorny subject, that of how to be a man in the world.
Continue Reading "Notes From a Work in Progress: Michael Chabon" »
AUTHOR APPEARANCES CAN be staid affairs, typically involving a short reading and a Q&A session followed by a long line to get just a few words with the writer. Margaret Atwood is upending that expectation on the tour for her latest novel, which incorporates music and drama into her readings. It's not simply an appearance, but a real literary event.
"Year of the Flood," Atwood explains, lends itself to such treatment. It follows a sect called God's Gardeners, who grow crops on abandoned rooftops, have canonized Al Gore and Rachel Carson, and "are trying to join religion, science and nature back together the way they once were," Atwood explains before adding an ominous qualifier: "The results are somewhat mixed."
SATURDAY: Maybe you've seen "Ratatouille." Y'know, that sweet rat-turned-chef movie that won an Academy Award? No? Well, you must have caught an episode of "Seinfeld," "King of Queens" or "Reno 911" then, right?
Actor and comedian, Patton Oswalt, who's appeared on all those shows and starred as the voice of Remy the rat in Pixar's smash hit, will be at Lisner Auditorium spewing out some not-so-sweet comedy. Apparently this Virginia native is a fan of not-so-family-friendly topics, such as booze, pot and porn — so maybe you should leave the kids at home.
So, get a babysitter if you have to, but just make you go because we hear Oswalt is planning on recording his third comedy album at the Lisner.
» George Washington University, Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Sat., Feb. 26, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., $20; 202-397-7328. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Written by Express contributor Nicole Ocran
Photo by Matt Carr/Getty Images
YOU KNOW HIM as Dwight Schrute — that bumbling, plotting, pompous beat farmer with a passion for paper and uptight blondes, but surprisingly versatile actor Rainn Wilson cares about other stuff, too.
This Sunday, he talks about acting and his work on NBC's "The Office," all to benefit a cause much more important than Dunder Mifflin's Web site sales numbers — the Tahirih Justice Center, an organization providing legal service to women fleeing violence.
» George Washington University, Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Sun. 2-4 p.m., $35; GW students: $15; 800-551-7328. (Foggy Bottom-GWU)
Written by Express contributor Jason Koebler
TALK ABOUT wrapping yourself in the flag! In "Stars and Stripes," the Luther W. Brady Gallery presents charming and egregious examples of the American standard used as a campaign device throughout history. The flags are on loan from the collection of Mark and Rosalind Shenkman for the political season.
Photo courtesy Luther W. Brady Gallery
IT'S ALWAYS MORE fun to see a hometown band than some out-of-towner, and while Jukebox the Ghost has relocated to Pennsylvania, these three G.W. graduates still have a healthy following here.
They sound ... well, they sound a lot like Ben Folds. It had to be said. But in a good way! Enjoy strong, interesting melodies and lyrics that make sense after the lengthy explanations the band delivers before each song.
» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW; 9 p.m., $12; 202-667-7960. (U St.-Cardozo)
GET EXCITED, Y'ALL! It's National Poetry Month! And the National Endowment for the Arts decided the best way to get kids to like poetry was to make them learn it in school. 'Cause kids always love things that are forced on them.
Anyway, through the Poetry Out Loud program, high school students memorize and recite poems by the likes of Langston Hughes, E.E. Cummings and Maya Angelou. Throughout the day on Monday you can see the finalists from every state perform, and at Tuesday's finals the winner gets crowned Top Poetry Reciter. Or something. Plus, the top three get money for college — including $20,000 for the first-place finisher.
It's actually very cool — and let's just say you won't truly appreciate T.S. Eliot's "Preludes" until you've heard it recited by a stentorian, Stanford-bound 17-year-old.
» Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW; Mon., all day, free; Tue., 7 p.m., free; 202-994-6800. (Foggy Bottom)
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