Reid Levin is a New York City writer, actor and comedian who is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia in his hometown of Denver, CO.
Reid writes and acts in sketch comedy videos and performs with Better Than The Machine around the country. He is a regular contributor to the humor website Smosh.com. Reid is also the co-creator of the NBC comedy webseries The Guys in 3A.
Reid acts in commercials and films, and has lent his voice to several cartoons.
Christopher Thomas, Professor Emeritus and former Chairman of Pace University’s Theater Department, passed away last week. Chris was Chairman of the Department during my four years at Pace. There’s a lot to be said about him, and a lot of things to say to him.
Chris, you may not have been one of my favorite professors, but you were always one of my favorite people. You treated theater students as if we were your grandchildren, and I don’t mean because of an age difference, but because there’s a relationship between grandparents and grandchildren that is very different from the one between parents and their children. You were always proud of our accomplishments and you always wanted better for us. You went to bat for me when I needed help, you made me feel at home in a wounded city nearly 2,000 miles from my old home, and you always had a new fascinating and animated anecdote up your sleeve–which you always made time to tell.
As of Saturday, June 12, I have eleven months to go in my chemotherapy regimen. Performing in New York City at The PIT with Better Than The Machine again, with lots of great friends in the audience who then came to celebrate afterwords, was a great way to mark this day!
Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for a grammar revolution! This revolution will not be won with guns and aero-planes, but with a spin on a classic comedy routine. English Majors, Word Nerds and Grammar Nazis: this one’s for you. Step right up and watch folks, no need to be afraid; you’ll either feel really smart or really confused–either way, you’ve got nothing to lose!
This sketch was written by me and was directed and edited by Ballard. We shot it one night while I was in NYC earlier this month.
I’m very happy with how it turned out. When I wrote this (with the somewhat confusing title “Vaudeville Grammarians”), I had Matt and myself in mind to play the two characters. I consider the two of us kindred Word Nerd spirits. I don’t know if the term “Word Nerd” already exists–but if it doesn’t, here’s one on me, English language. When I say “Word Nerd,” I mean that, for instance, I really like the “gay bar” line at the end of the sketch. It’s a homosexual homonym. So… yeah. Word Nerd.
Matt plays Lou in this sketch and I play Alex. These names are direct references to Louis “Lou” Costello and William Alexander “Bud” Abbott, respectively. The popular Abbott and Costello Vaudeville duo is probably best known for the routine that this sketch pays homage to: Who’s On First?
We shot this in Ballard’s apartment. It was originally to take place in a bar, but a) we’ve had a lot of bar scenes this year and b) we didn’t have access to a bar. It didn’t really matter anyway. Ballard shot from only two angles, which served the sketch very well. I’m trying to pickup on lessons from Ballard so I can start directing some things again soon. I would’ve covered this thing all over the place. Two shots, up shots, down shots, spinning shots, outside shots, shots galore! We would’ve been there all night. Needless to say, I’m glad I did not direct this sketch.
Like I said, we filmed this when I was out in New York earlier this month. It’s the second of three videos we shot. Unless there’s some unforeseen amazing new video that pops up out of the woodwork this week, the third of these Reid videos will be released next Monday. My biggest regret with these three videos is that I waited to get a haircut until after my trip. My extreme shagginess is most apparent in the next video. I felt like a lion! But I don’t know if lions should necessarily be doing sketch comedy.
Actually, I was showing this and the next video to my dad tonight, and while I was queuing up the next video, the first frame of it appeared in QuickTime. My dad responded to the image on the screen with equal parts revulsion and horror. “What is this all about?” he asked. As my shaggy visage was the only thing on screen at that moment, I could only assume he meant, “You look like the bum that sits outside my office who wears really nice Broncos gear and begs for change.” Except, I don’t have any nice Broncos gear.
Oh well. As my dad put it, I’ll have all week to worry about the next video. So I’ll do my best to prepare for the ruthless taunts of anonymous 14 year old Internet bullies. I just have to keep telling myself that they’ll get their comeuppance soon enough, soon enough. I can’t say how, but soon. The plans are already underway. There’s nothing you can do to stop us from turning the tables! Now you will finally die, Mr. Bond! Mwa ha ha ha! Mwa ha ha!
◦—-◦Later, that same night.◦—-◦
Excuse me, hoooo. I’m sorry, I’ve gotta catch my breath. Now where was I? I think I might have gone a little overly megalomaniacal there; the evil laughter just started and didn’t stop until I passed out. I’m just so damn excited for the upcoming comeuppance giving.
Make sure to check http://bttm.net next week for our last video of the decade! It’s another one I wrote, and more so with it than the video this week, Ballard “encouraged me” (with that adorable puppy dog look he knows I can’t resist and also with his brass knuckles) to make some revisions. It’s got a message and it’s very silly. I mean, the message isn’t silly, but the video is. At the very least, you’ll get to see, in beautiful high definition, why I needed a haircut and some beard corralling last week.
In Better Than The Machine’s latest sketch comedy video, Christina is running for her life. We have unleashed “Prowler.” Can you resist it?
The answer is, of course, “no, you cannot.” Discover the truth for yourself:
Directed by Ballard C. Boyd last week. Edited this evening. I wrote it and I was the bottle master (I found the bottle, I bought the bottle, I kept the bottle safe, I delivered the bottle to the hands of the director… phew, a hard day’s work)! The sketch turned out different than I imagined it, somehow. Which is fine; I think Ballard and Christina did a really good job of making the whole thing drip with suspense. Matt Gallo looks like the worst wrestler ever, but I’ll let it pass since he has a giant knife. Good work, all three of you!
Despite my wishy washiness (or, perhaps, due to my wishy washiness), I think I want to start directing some sketches again. Not a ton, but here and there, I think it might be gratifying.
We started rehearsing for Philly tonight. We’re gonna do a lot of singing. I think we picked out all the sketches we want to do, and everyone seems in general agreement about them. There were only one or two vetoes that I heard. One was for a sketch from the half of unLEVINed to which I did not contribute any writing or ideas. It features the cast as pigeons. I thought it was really funny and visually interesting when I saw the show. I’m glad I got to see a BTTM show–I just wish everyone else in the group could see one too! It certainly gave me a totally different take on sketches I had been in when we first started writing the show. Even though the pigeons may feel crazy, they looked great and were funny!
Make sure to check bttm.net next week for a brand new sketch comedy video!
1) Good news to bring light to a dark day that really needs it should definitely come first. Raquel and James Bedell are the proud new Aunt and Uncle of a beautiful baby girl, who James’ sister gave birth to several days ago. Congratulations to both of you and especially to James’ sister’s family! This is truly joyous, wonderful news! I am glad I found out about it today of all days. Thank you Raquel.
2) Reports on television indicate that the leader of the shootings at Fort Hood was a Major Malik Nadal Hasan. I have few words with which to express the horror and sorrow I feel about this horrendous act of violence. Unfortunately, the 24 hour television news networks seemingly have even fewer words. With no further information available at the moment, news commentators seemingly have nothing else to do beside dancing around this man’s heritage. “I know we should be PC but…” and “I know we shouldn’t speculate about his name, but…” and worst of all, “I know we should wait for more facts, but…”. We get it: he’s Arab. He’s probably Muslim. So what? I fear the tide of racism rising. Whether that wave be visible or under the surface, we must not allow one man’s (or two or three men’s) actions, no matter how horrific they may be, to define an entire group of people.
3) My cousin is in Fort Hood right now. We are awaiting news from her. My thoughts and my prayers are with you, Kristina. Please be safe.
4) Psychological care for the men and women of our armed forces is in pathetic shape. To anyone that knows someone who has been deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, this is not news–this is one more in a long list of failures to help those in need of psychiatric help. While today’s slaughter has been far worse than anything we’ve seen at a base in the United States, there have been issues of spousal abuse, issues of the inability to readjust to normal non-military lives and too many issues of suicide among soldiers for many more years than many will want to admit. These are people who risk their lives for us, and today, we have truly failed them.
5) “Absolutely despicable” is the only way to describe Wall Street institutions getting the H1N1 vaccine to inoculate their employees while high risk people across the country are still unable to so much as find somewhere to wait in line just for a chance to get vaccinated. Absolutely despicable.
6) Even as a staunch left-wing, commie, pinko, Jewish, fag-loving, liberal, progressive, Democratic, part-time New Yorker, I would prefer President Obama serve only one term and ensure health care for all Americans, ensure equal rights for all Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Americans, enact measures to ensure the future health of our planet, and ensure that our soldiers get the psychological care that they need–rather than have him serve two terms and miss enacting even one of those four things. No more bullshit about needing 60 votes to do anything. What is needed is the courage and the wisdom to do the right thing, which might mean “the thing that makes you lose your next election”. Step up, Mr. President and step up, Sirs and Madams of the United States Congress. It is long past the time to put your responsibilities to the citizens of this country before your own personal interests.
Friday October 23rd 2009, 11:11 pm
Filed under: NYC, Who Knows?
I did not go to New York City for a long weekend due to fears of my catching H1N1–yeah, way to go Health Department; stir everyone into a panic and then don’t offer vaccinations within any sort of reasonable time frame! Way. To. Go. Right, so anyway, I didn’t go to New York and then I ended up getting sick in Denver. I won’t say sick as a swine, but definitely as sick as a dog! A sick dog. I’m plenty sick! Which is why Congress’s Bill on Irony is great on paper, but no good for daily use.
I have been writing a gay homonyms, homophones and homographs sketch to pass the time or:
Eye halve bin righting eh gay homonyms, homophones and homographs sketch two pass the thyme ore:
Tuesday September 01st 2009, 8:36 am
Filed under: NYC
I spent two weeks in The City and got to see people I haven’t seen in a long time and got to do some things I’ve been hoping to do for a long time. Of course, there are always some things left undone.
Some things have changed from last time I lived here, though. For instance, all of my friends have jobs, and many have careers! Also, I got sick for a while. No worries, though, it was great and I will be back soon, hopefully toward the end of September. We shall see.
I am in The City and I am of The City; The City and I are one. And we are one hot and tired City/man combination! I say this to you foul sun: give up your evil heatwaving ways, for you face… The Tick!
No wait, no. That’s not right at all.
You face me sitting in front of this air conditioner for two whole weeks! A foul and ill tempered sun indeed; and humidity… does Mother Nature know no more wretched form of evil?!
We’re starting with one I wrote and starred in. It was a real joy to shoot it with most of the BTTMers there (and a visiting Reiman), and Ballard directing me on his and my first collaboration for BTTM. More info on stuff when it comes out… Monday, Monday, Monday (August 10)!
Also… I’m going to NYC to perform on stage toward the end of the month. Man alive. I’m so happy!
