Dear Boston Sports Fans, you have my wife to thank for the past eleven years...

Eleven years to the day, my future-wife-to-be and I packed up our Honda Civic with a cooler, a Victoria's Secret nightgown & a Holiday Gift Basket accidentally sent to our home from Jerry Bruckheimer and left for a five hour road trip to Vegas where we would fight, make-up and eventually get married at The Wee Kirk O' the Heather wedding chapel.

It was a brash move that nobody saw coming...  much like the soon-to-be 2001 Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots decision to introduce themselves as The New England Patriots instead of the usual player by player introductions of either their offense or defense.

Married only a few months, I celebrated my wedding nuptials with the most likely of wedding gifts - a SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP PARTY - wonderfully hosted my WIFE... it was weird to say those  words at first... it was nice and felt right but also seemed like such a foreign concept - something that would happen far, far, far in the future - like "When the Patriots won the Super Bowl", I might have joked only a few years earlier.

For the next few years things went smoothly until my wife announced she was pregnant with our first child (it was my second child - a beautiful girl from a previous relationship) and this being our first child together created a very exciting and tumultuous nine months which culminated in...

    THE PATRIOTS WINNING THEIR SECOND SUPER BOWL IN THREE YEARS!!!!!!!!

Okay, so maybe that wasn't the culmination but what an entrance!!!  My son entered a world where the New England Patriots were becoming an NFL DYNASTY - it was brand new world for him and it would be completely changed again when before he was only one years old...

                      THE BOSTON RED SOX WOULD WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!

In less time than it took for my wife to make a baby - the Boston sports world had completely changed from lovable losers to ARROGANT KINGS OF THE SPORTS WORLD the rest of the world - especially Spike Lee hated...

But my wife and I weren't finished and neither was Boston Sports...

The Patriots followed up their 2nd Super Bowl Win with a third the very next year....

Which was followed by another Red Sox World Series....Ho-hum....

More years of marriage then...

A CELTICS CHAMPIONSHIP...

...Then another Son - my second boy!   It was so amazing - his entrance punctuated the Patriots undefeated season and another trip to the Super Bowl and then as if the Gods couldn't provide enough.....

MY FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM OF ALL TIME!!

      MY FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM OF ALL TIME!!

                MY FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM OF ALL TIME!!

THE BOSTON BRUINS WON THE STANLEY CUP!!!!!!!!

MY FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM OF ALL TIME!!

I pushed my wife, daughter and two sons in front of the TV... I talked about my grandfather who introduced me to hockey many years ago and was now watching down from Heaven.  I gave thanks for the Bruins, for my wife, my children and my life - Life was good - LIFE WAS GREAT and it keeps getting better... with an occasional hiccup...

But as I look back on the past eleven years, I can honestly say that the greatest sports moments in my life were experienced with my wife - hand in hand - with her heart, patience, love and care - she has changed my life and I am so grateful for these past eleven years......

Now let's see what she has planned for this year......

10 Christmas Gifts for Boston Sports Fans

Ho-Ho-Ho...   It's that time of year - the wrapping paper is strewn everywhere like a small tornado hit my living room, my wife and I are pouring coffee down our throats due to the 5 AM wake-up call, the kids are in a chocolate and video-game induced state of semi-consciousness and the blur that is Christmas is over... The three week build-up ended quicker than the Red Sox 2012 pennant hopes and with my three-year-old son's cry of, "That's it?!  I want more gifts...!" - just as ugly.

But as I stuff my seventh trash bag filled with enough paper to create my own holiday landfill, I reflect upon the many gifts I have received and I am not even talking about my KISS Pez candy dispenser.

But rather as a Boston Sports Fan, I realize that over the year there have been so many gifts that makes me take pause and say, "Thank you, Santa."    HERE ARE TEN:

1. WES WELKER - Forget about last year's Super Bowl missed catch, this spark plug plays tough, consistent and has been the security blanket to Tom Brady's Linus.  Not to mention setting an NFL record for five consecutive 100 catch seasons in a row.  It will be sad to see him go.

2.BILL BELICHICK - The Grinch makes all things possible at this time of year.

3.  Shayne Victorino - Sad to see Cody Ross go but like a Yankee Swap, Boston fans are getting something just as good if not better.  He hits, runs, plays defense and is THRILLED to play in Boston.  Sox desperately could have used his locker room presence last year.

4. FENWAY PARK - I've seen Wrigley, Baltimore's Memorial Stadium and Candlestick Park - nothing compares to Fenway.

5.  John Farrell - two gifts in one: saying goodbye to Bobby V and the great addition of the low-key style of John Farrell.

6. ROBERT KRAFT - Father Christmas single-handedly turned the NFL doormats into a dynasty.  Best owner in pro sports, hands down.

7. KEVIN GARNETT - With the Red Sox failures, the NHL lockout and the Celtics looking old, it's harder to locate the gift from our winter sports teams but not impossible. KG brought heart, soul & toughness to the Celts. Paul Pearce - as great as he is - was always Robin - never Batman.  It may be Rondo's team but the heart & soul is all KG.

8. Bruins win the Cup - I know it's two years old but given the Jacobs family history, we may never see another Stanley Cup in our lifetime, so let's remember this for a while.

9. VINCE WILFORK - the Big Man finally started getting his due nationally but fans in New England have known how great he's been for the Patriots for a long time now...

10. Tom Brady- the gift that keeps giving.  Three Super Bowl victories and counting....  With number 12 behind center, the Patriots have an annual chance to win it all...

BOSTON SPORTS: The gift that keeps giving

11 Santa-stumping facts this Christmas

I always loved Christmas.   

 I remember growing up in Boston: the snow-lined streets, Christmas Carolers, Midnight Mass & the spirit of the season when people everywhere celebrated our savior Jesus Christ being born.... But I live in LA now, there's no snow, no carolers and the spirit of the season rests on the Box Office receipts of Les Miz... (Praise the Lord, there's good buzz!!)

All my kids know about Christmas is that it's the day they get lots of toys under the "Holiday Tree".  This year on that special day, my children will tear open up the financial equivalent of a Third World's Gross National Product, fight over who got what and then sit around and watch TV, play video games while my wife and I clean up - it's not religious so much as it's retail-ious.

But if I get the chance, I will share these important, if not obscure little facts with my children so that one day, they too can know the pleasure of maxing out credit cards and hearing the Holiday chorus of, "But I didn't get ....(fill in blank of seasonal toy that will be gone from shelves in less than nine months)..."

Okay, so here goes:  11 Facts to Stump Santa

1. JESUS was probably born in a cave and not a wooden stable, say Biblical scholars.  This helps explain why we haven't bought a manger scene for our front yard.  Why we don't have a big enough front yard to display it is another thing altogether.  

2. THE world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.  It actually took six minutes less than the fourteen hours I needed to assemble our simple "Three-piece" artificial tree.  

3. BEFORE turkey, the traditional Christmas meal in England was a pig's head and mustard. I would rather eat the tree.

4. In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.  But unfortunately never developed a post-game and has always been considered one of the Portland Trailblazers biggest draft day busts.   

5. MANY parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C.  See #3

6. THE holly in a wreath symbolises Christ's crown of thorns while the red berries are drops of his blood.  A festive point to make before entering the home of anyone's Christmas Party.

7. JINGLE Bells was the first song broadcast from space when Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.  This effort unfortunately was not enough to get them voted off The Voice.

8.  IN Britain, the best-selling festive single is Band Aid's 1984 track, Do They Know It's Christmas?, which sold 3.5million copies. Wham! is next in the same year with Last Christmas, selling 1.4million.  The fact of which George Michaels blames for his 1998 arrest in a public bathroom.

9. KISSING under the mistletoe is thought to spring from Frigga, the Norse goddess of love, who was associated with the plant.  The unsuccessful hole-ravaged defense George Michaels unsuccessfully used in his second arrest for drunk-driving.

10.  THE Beatles hold the record for most Xmas number 1 singles, topping the charts in 1963, 65 and 67.  Which unfortunately does not include their song, PIGGIES written about the former English Christmas tradition.

11.    IN the Czech Republic they enjoy dinners of fish soup, eggs and carp. The number of people at the table must be even, or the one without a partner will die next year.  This convenient wive's tale can be used if this man shows up at your door this Christmas...

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

A future shooters' open letter to Wayne LaPierre

....So  after weeks - (well actually just one) the NRA presented their carefully constructed proposal to help protect schools... Add more guns to the schools.  An armed protector at every school.... Now, I 'm not here to debate the pros and cons of this idea - I simply want to share a letter I received from one of its supporters.....

Dear Mr. LaPierre,

My name is Johnny Troubled Teen and I want to thank you for all your efforts this past week.  You see, I, too, am planning a rampage on a public school and I've always prided myself on being above average in everything I do (my school tests indicate an off-the-charts IQ albeit with a very low social intelligence score).  Your announcement today will provide me with the challenge - the opportunity to now really prove it.

You see, if you had actually given some thought to the past week's carnage or any other incident like this, you will see that these are not rash acts.  The perpetrator (usually an intelligent but troubled teenager) has gone to great lengths to plan their assault out - to the very last detail.  As supported by the fact that Adam Lanza went to such lengths and deliberation to destroy his computer hard drives to the point that the officials were unable to retrieve any information on them at all.

There are over 98,000 public schools in American, add over 30,000 private  - not to mention the thousands of post-secondary schools all over the country.  Do you really think you can provide effective, trained, competent ARMED security officers at each one of these schools?  The U.S. Army had to lower the bar for their recruits because they can't even adequately staff their Armed Forces but  you think you can get competent armed guards at each school?

What you and your organization continuously fail to realize is that I am smarter than you.  You took a week with your PR people to hatch some ridiculous "Good Guy with a gun to fight the Bad Guy with a gun in every school" plan and have failed to realize that you have just shown the world this plan (and your organization) is not concerned about protecting children but rather protecting their bottom line.

I am not you.  I am not rash.  I am calculating, precise, careful and have plenty of time to plot out my strategy.   You took a week and came up with an retread version of a children's "Good Guy - Bad Guy" school yard game.  I am not a microwave.  I am a Crock Pot.  I am slowly steaming, cooking and preparing in my own juices as I complete each step - like another level to a video game.  You adding some armed guard at the front door is like another level on Super Mario 2 - a challenge but over time just child's play.

See, my dad has guns - lot of them.  He's careful with them.  He locks them up not like Adam whose mom was careless.  My dad is careful but he's not a machine like me.   I'll wait. I'll be patient.  When the opportunity arises, I'll be ready.   And I'll be grateful that you didn't suggest stricter gun controls because if you had then maybe the four visits by local police due to my violent outbursts or that week I spent in observation at the local hospital might have shown up and my dad would have been turned down for a gun permit.  

But that's not going to happen.  You're just going to put a man with a gun at the door.  Another challenge.  Another puzzle.   Another game.  Another opportunity to prove I'm smarter than anyone else who has ever played.... So, let the games begin.

                                                               Sincerely,

                                                                Johnny

5 Reasons why the Wii is the Devil

In BROADCAST NEWS, Albert Brooks warns Holly Hunter that the Devil will come to Earth, not dressed in a red cape and pitchfork but rather looking a lot like William Hurt.... I think he got it wrong.

"You will kneel before me!!"

I have seen the devil close up and he has neither a red cape nor any resemblance to William Hurt. The Devil is... The Wii.

For those people without kids or TV's, the Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. Since 2008, the Wii has sold over 10.8 million units.

Now, I'm not knowledgable enough about all video games to include other ones so, if you use a different system - translate the following to your own video game choice as you might for a your particular religion. But the following is why I truly believe the Wii is The Devil incarnate. The Bible gives us this information about the devil before his fall:

1. He was named Lucifer, which means "star of the morning".

My kids get up at 5:30 am to plop their dark-circled eyes in front of the living room TV where they can fight KAOS on their game Skylanders. It doesn't matter what time they went to bed, whether it's light or dark outside or how loud their father is screaming at them to, "Go back to bed!!". They obediently serve their master as soon as their bodies start to stir.

2. He had a high-ranking position in the angelic host.

We only have two TV's in our house - that's it. My wife has kept a strict limit on the number of idiot boxes in our house and the biggest one is now hooked up to the Wii which means morning, noon and night, their is a holy battle for who gets the big TV and who is sent into the bedroom desert for 40 days and nights to watch the 13". Don't even talk to me about football on Sunday - it's sacrilegious.

3. He had exquisite beauty and great wisdom.  

At only 44 mm, the Wii is small, streamlined and I have to admit, looks pretty good sitting right next to our TV. We have a red one which further supports my theory although the white one is just as evil. But this is not your father's pinball machine. This thing just plain looks good. And smart? The Wii Fit can tell you how much you weigh, how good your balance is and how old you REALLY are.... The thing is so smart that when I step on it to exercise, the Avatar trainer lets out a little "Oooommph" to passively-aggressively let me know I'm a fat load.

4. He was given a position of great power and influence.

10.8 million households have the Wii. Children are led to eat their vegetables, go to bed, and silence their cries all at the threat of losing contact with their great God. I can make my children hold lit matches in their small little palms if I tell them it will get them an extra ten minutes in front of their glowing God.

5. He was called "the Guardian Cherub"

And this one is my fault. This is where I, too, have kneeled at the throne of Beelzebub, himself. When I want them to leave me alone, when I want some (short-lived) quiet in the house, basically when I need a "Guardian Cherub" I call upon the mystical powers of the almighty Wii. I summon him to life, place my kids in harms way.

Now all of this would not be so bad if I were not under the demon's spell myself.  If I were stronger, I would just bite the bullet, take the $250 hit and toss that crap in the garbage BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE IT HAS MY SOUL, TOO.

I will spend hours staring at my sexy trainer on Wii Fit as she whispers, "Looks like you'll need to develop more strength for this exercise..."

"Love me...."

 Or dance to Daisy Fuentes as she teases and taunts me into shape....

"I see your joystick..."

Or just fight Darth Vader for a few hours before bed when I need to know I can still kick butt when I need to... There's just too much to do and see to fight it's evil powers over me....

The devil once took Jesus up to the top of a large mountain, showed him the expansive landscape before him and said, "All of these things, I give to you..." As of November 2011, the Wii currently offers children (and their parents) a choice of 1220 different games to play.  Anything you can do in the real world can be do in front of your TV screen.

The Bible says that God told the devil: "You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.... So I threw you to earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings" (Ezekiel 28:12–17 NIV).

That is the power of the Wii.

I will keep fighting but the battle is destined to be lost....  The new Wii U was released just in time for Christmas this year and comes in six designer colors....

Alan Aymie is a boston-born writer, teacher & performer.  His current critically acclaimed play, "A Child Left Behind" takes a honest look at public education and the LA Times highly-controversial "Value-added" grading system. 

Looking for something to look to...

There is nothing to be added or said to what occurred on Friday but I saw this and it really moved me.  Every Sunday, I watch the NFL - (Patriots!) and for the most of the time I look at the athletes as numbers on a jersey, sets of statistics or at the very most - a player that can help my team win and therefore make my week and my self-esteem just a little better.

But sometimes, you see a video like this and you remember there is a lot of good out there that we take for granted, forget or just plain don't see cause we're too wrapped up in our B/S about bills/parking/getting somewhere/office politics/etc./etc....

This was one of those videos:

And this....

And this..

My grandfather used to always say that there was a blessing in everything that happened - you just had to look.   When something as devastating, senseless and heartbreaking happens like what happened at Sandy Hooks Elementary, it's easy and understandable to say, "That doesn't apply to this..." but maybe, if this heartbreaking tragedy causes most of the country to hug their children more, count their blessings and help those around them... maybe just maybe, we can see a blessing - either way, I believe those little souls are in heaven now and what we do from here on out is our homage to them.

Ihop & the meaning of Christmas...

It was always about the syrups: blueberry, strawberry, butter pecan and, of course, old fashioned....My father would take my brother and I to IHOP while my mom was "sleeping". But while my dad was barking at us to "Stop playing with the syrups" while he read the paper, our mom was buying Christmas gifts. The knowledge of which my brother and I didn't figure out until we were older and found "Santa's" presents at the back of our parents' closet....
These Ihop breakfasts were as much a part of my family memories as putting up the tree, hanging the stocking and getting a drunken, beer-soaked kiss from our great-grandmother. Now, in 2012, my wife shops online and does get to sleep in and I read my cellphone instead of a paper but I still yell at my kids to stop playing with the syrup and I know eventually they'll find their gifts at the back if our closet but for right now...this is Christmas. This is as part of our holiday as putting up our tree and hopefully if and when my boys have children of their own they too will set up their tree, travel to Ihop (or reasonable facsimile) and yell at their kids... the tree

Hip-hop, Holidays and the tracks of my goat tears...

You always know the Hammer is about to drop on  your creative project when the office assistants bring you the good water...

And as I sat in one of the "Big Three" networks penthouse offices holding a 24 oz. Myrtle green bottle of fresh mountain stream water squeezed from the tear ducts of baby Peruvian goats in the shape of a triangular prism, I knew I was in trouble.

"Break-dancing..." is all I heard the Suit say.

       "What..?" I muttered as I sipped on my goat tears...

                "You're break-dancing in your Christmas video... that's a little "aggressive" don't you think?" he said with a forced smile on his face.

I swear to God, if Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers had told me way back when on that set of Lionel Ritchie's ALL NIGHT LONG that I would one day hear a big TV Exec incorrectly call my Poppin' - "breakdancing" I would have laughed long and hard...

But I never danced to be sitting in some Exec's office... Hip Hop was always a form of expression for me - and poppin', breaking' and paying homage to the great Michael Jackson by bitin' his "Moonwalk" move at the end of this video was just my way of keeping' it real....

But things have changed - I have a family now.

And I have to keep food on the table, so I bit my lip, drank my goat tears and agreed to do something more "commercial".... God, I hate myself.... I'm sorry, Boogaloo...

Next year, I WILL "Keep it real!" -
                                                    Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Kwanza & New Years!

The Power of a Tool Belt

I HAVE NEVER SHOT A GUN....

But when one is put in my hand, I instantly believed I could, would and have....

The Power of Belief...

Props - the things we actors use on set are a funny thing - sometimes they get in the way, become clumsy and just make our jobs a lot more difficult but sometimes...

I am not this guy....

I am this guy....

But when I was cast to play a tough, grizzled - not too bright, construction worker for a new "WHY I SWITCHED MY VOTE" parody - that can be seen on FUNNY OR DIE I had a bit of difficulty getting into character, until I got my TOOL BELT!!

As we were getting ready to shoot, I asked the director if I there was anything we could add to my costume.  I had on an ill-fitting plastic construction helmet that looked like it came from my kid's play set and a nondescript baseball hat.

The director was at a loss, as there was nothing else mentioned in the script then the writer of the piece chimed in that he had an old tool belt in the back of his car.  Everyone agreed to give it a try and the rest as they say was Movie Magic....

Once I strapped on my tool belt, complete with hammer, tape measure, knife, tape, and all the other tools that our wonderful props person added to the big slab of tanned rawhide, I was no longer Alan Aymie - the man who gets nervous hanging a picture frame - I was... Dave Sanders: construction worker who had two cups of coffee, a sticky bun & a fight with his wife for breakfast.  Dave Sanders:  a good ole' "Termite" trying to get by on some "Toasties" while he puts in the "Tongue and Groove" flooring and gets on his buddy, Joe for "Kirking"...  Dave Sanders:  the man I was hired to be, the man who would make the director come up to me after we wrapped and say, "Thanks, you killed it...!", Dave Sanders - belligerent, ignorant, construction worker.....and it was all because of a tool belt.

PROPS:  We love them.  We hate them.  We need them. 

 6 Ways to Change Your Class - TODAY!

My first year in teaching at a South LA school, I once was so frustrated with a student that I picked him up over my head - while he was still sitting in his chair and screamed, "You will NOT break me!!"    It definitely got my class quiet... but not in the way that any sane teacher would want... But what do we do for those moments, those classes when our sanity is breaking - our class is overwhelming and getting to 2:45 seems like Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance?  

The first step is easy.....

1. Breathe.... That's it...breathe, smile, you're still alive, you'll make it and when the children see you take that little breath and smile, they'll know you still have control of all your faculties.

2. Give Every Child a Job: Jobs build self-esteem.  They give every child a chance to do something well.  Even my most problematic children want a chance to feel like they are valuable.

3. Compliment as Many Students as You Can:  Everyone loves a good compliment.  Make them sincere, honest and actually about something you notice your student doing - it will make a huge difference.

4. Get Your Students Out of Their Chairs:  Their is an old rule that a child's attention span equals their age.  So get them up, do some jumping jacks, have them walk around the class and practice greeting other students, make a quick game of Quiz Show Math.

5. Share Something Personal About Yourself as a Student: Remind your students that you are a person and at one time, you were even a child!!!  This concept is always baffling to children.   Share about the time  you were sent to the principal's office, forgot your big project on the day it was due or didn't get picked for the kickball team.  No one succeeds all the time and who better to demonstrate this to your students than you!

6. Take a Walk at Lunch:  Get some fresh air... sunshine and a fresh breeze on your face that reminds you that there is a big world going on outside your classroom.  Today is only one day, so eat your PB&J, get a good walk in and return to class with a smile on your face... and remember:  Your day is almost over!!

I don't like to fly...  

On trips back east, my wife and children sit at least three rows away from me so they won't have to watch me squirm and whimper as the plane takes off... 

WHEN HBO TOLD ME THEY HAD SELECTED MY SHOW, CHILD'S PLAY for their U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado - I was thrilled - then terrified.  How would I get out to Aspen?   

THANK GOD, the HBO people were kind enough (after expressing mild shock) to set me up with a train - to Aspen.....over 26 hours in a sleeper car, just under 6-hours in a white-knuckled van ride 7,900 feet up a snowy, slippery road that let to the top of the Aspen mountains where I performed, drank $9 dollar Coors Lites and stepped on George Lucas's foot while dancing at the big Closing Party Event.  

ON THE WAY HOME, I had a stopover at the Denver Ramada Inn before taking the train back to LA the next morning.   After finally settling in, I walked through downtown Denver, showered, watched Britney Spears on MTV and jumped into bed for a nights sleep before my 5 am wake-up call to catch the train back the next morning.  

AROUND 2 AM, I heard a grown man crying for help as he was being slammed outside in the hallways - (the walls are VERY thin at the Ramada), I called the front desk, they assured me they would take care of it and I went back to bed.  

FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, I was awoken by four Denver policemen who kicked in my door, held me (naked - I seep in the buff) at gunpoint, while they checked my room for drugs and weapons.  Finding nothing but my suitcase, toiletries bags & three hundred unused balloons (imprinted with my show logo).    

AFTER THEY PUT AWAY THEIR GUNS, they apologized, politely held in their snickers at my fear-shrivelled manhood and left.  I, in turn, put on clothes, yelled at the front desk and checked out before waiting outside the Amtrak Station for my 5 am train.  

I, NO LONGER, SLEEP IN THE NUDE, take trains or watch Britney Spears...

So....This is me...

SO....

As an actor & writer, my work has taken to me some amazingly challenging places, I have been held at gunpoint after performing at the HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, spent a homeless night out on the streets of NYC during a trip out to PSNBC to perform a new solo play, chased a purse-snatcher outside Baltimore’s CENTER STAGE  and slept in a Ax & Sickle-covered cottage in the deep woods while performing at Ojai’s Theater 150, not to mention taking the stage to sing Jazz (I don’t) at Chicago’s famous Green Mill during a shoot in the Windy City but the most amazing (and challenging) place my career has ever taken me is pulling me from my Boston roots and placing me in Beverly Hills where my NY wife and I raise three LA kids….

Along the way, I received a BFA in Theater from the University of Maryland, completed the New Actor’s Workshop in NYC (with Mike Nichols, Paul Sills & George Morrison), studied with the late Sanford Meisner and learned stand-up comedy on the stages of THE COMEDY STORE, The ICEHOUSE, & Boston’s famous NICK’S COMEDY STORE.

Recently, my critically acclaimed solo play, A CHILD LEFT BEHIND was an LA WEEKLY “PICK OF THE WEEK! GO!” as well as being heralded as “Compelling… a First Rate Education…” by the LA Times which was a follow up to my HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Selection, A CHILD’S PLAY.   Last year, my full-length play, RAP was selected as BEST NEW PLAY 2011 by the African-American Playwrights Exchange and is currently being developed as a pilot.

I’m currently performing around Los Angeles and hoping to avoid any guns, homeless nights or attempts to sing Jazz…..