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.
Hey, check out Better Than The Machine’s new video “The Tragedy”. They created it as a commercial for Jim Beam bourbon. It focuses on… what’s the name of that Scottish play? The guy was married to Lady Macbeth and I think Shakespeare wrote it. Man, it’s on the tip of my tongue!
I had absolutely nothing to do with this one, but the folks over at Jim Beam recommended “tragedy” as a theme for one of the videos we submitted. BTTM didn’t produce my Jim Beam video pitch, but that was probably because they couldn’t find enough bikini-clad women by deadline. Directed and edited by Ballard C. Boyd. Make sure to check bttm.net next Monday for a brand new video!
Check out our brand new video “27-Way Bra”! As if bras weren’t already confusing enough for men!
I wrote this one after seeing some ridiculous bra commercials on TV. It’s the first thing I’ve written for the group knowing I wouldn’t be there to see it filmed. It used to be that if you wrote it, you directed it. Times they are a’changin’. Luckily, in Ballard’s more-than-capable hands, the video turned out great. I’ve actually written a handful of other sketches that I’ll probably need to work on when I’m next in the City. As if I needed another excuse to plan my next trip!
Make sure to check bttm.net next Monday for a brand new video!
I’m sure that you’ve all heard about Kanye West’s latest antics at the 2009 MTV VMA’s. He’s taken a lot of flak for what he did to Taylor Swift.
I just want to point out that Better Than The Machine was giving Kanye West flak over two years ago. In fact, we’ve been at the forefront of the “Fuck You, Kanye West!” movement for several years. Check it out in our music video Give A Shit:
And make sure to download the MP3 version to show your solidarity against Kanye!
Tuesday September 15th 2009, 2:04 pm
Filed under: Family, Politics
Dad and I went to hear George McGovern speak about his life, his views and his new book about Lincoln last night. I wish politics were still the way Senator McGovern fondly recalled them from the 1950s. His idea for taking down the Taliban once and for all? Free school lunches for all Afghan and Pakistani children on the UN’s dime. It was similar to a concept Rachel heard the Pakistani Ambassador discussing the other night: used book libraries in Pakistan, like the US used to maintain in that country during the Cold War. Good will goes a long way.
I came as close as ever to pulling out fistfuls of my hair yesterday listening to modern political discourse on the teevee.
I wonder why two of my favorite comedy sketch ideas, that have danced from notebook to notebook, keep turning into long-form prose when I try to write them.
Saturday September 12th 2009, 10:52 pm
Filed under: Family
Called “perhaps the greatest video game of all time, with its ability to bridge the divide between generations like no game before it,” The Beatles: Rock Band is a blast. Who would’ve ever thought, though, that I’d be telling my dad it was time for bed, and he would be the one saying, “Just one more song!”? My dad’s happy that “one of these games” finally has songs in it that he knows. It makes a big difference.
So, whatever review I read that called it the greatest video game of all time for bridging the generational gap, whether it was in Rolling Stone or The New York Times or maybe The A/V Club, my hat is off to you; yesterday, my dad and I couldn’t stand to be in a room together. Today, we decided to play a game of catch–but it was raining, so we played some more Beatles: Rock Band. So close were we this afternoon that we thought we might fly a kite together, but then lightning started and we thought better of it. Instead, we just got really close to the TV and played more and more and more.
Great game. Great, ah… hm… um… yeah, that’s- that’s great… gotta get back to playing now. Abbey Road here we come!
Tuesday September 08th 2009, 10:30 pm
Filed under: Leukemia
I’m hurting all over in a way that I haven’t in what seems to be a very long time. Two theories: 1) splitting up my Methadone tablets so I can take them four times a day (to try to ween from Methadone again), even though I get the same daily dose, is causing withdrawal symptoms; 2) the vincristine I got last week may have had an incredibly slow absorption rate. Like glacier slow. Not impossible, but less likely.
I took morphine tonight, which I haven’t done in a while. It’s frustrating when something new and unidentified hits, and especially when it hits fast like this. We’ll call the pain clinic tomorrow to see what they advise.
All I know is whatever it is better not disrupt my playing Beatles: Rock Band tomorrow!
From stage to screen comes Better Than The Machine’s brand new video “Never Have I Ever”. When four old friends bump into each other at a bar and decide to play a drinking game, they learn some AWESOME stories about one man’s terrible, terrible haunted past. Once the skeletons are out of the closet, they don’t want to go back in!
“Never Have I Ever” was directed and edited by Ballard C. Boyd. It was originally written for unLEVINed, BTTM’s last show. I had nothing to do with writing it or filming it, but I feel like they did a great job.
Make sure to check bttm.net next Monday for a brand new video!
Better Than The Machine’s website can now be accessed from the simple to remember http://www.bttm.net. The “b” stands for “Better,” the first “t” stands for “Than,” the third “t” stands for “The,” and so on.
Imagine it: less hand cramps from typing a long web address! An easy to remember web address that you won’t forget in your old age! Three options to get to the Better Than The Machine website: http://www.bttm.net, http://www.betterthanthemachine.net and http://www.betterthanthemachine.com; they all go to the same place, so pick your favorite or collect all three!
