My friend Abbi Crutchfield is such a talented little spitfire. She's that rare breed of smart, funny and genuinely kind. So when she wrote this piece about me having inspired her for Pepsi's We Inspire program, I was truly touched. She said every nice thing I could hope someone would say about me - and I'm not even dead yet!
Back in February, Abbi, her husband Luke Thayer and their friends (and adorable couple) Brendan Fitzgibbons and Jenna Brister organized an auction for Love 146, a charity that works to prevent child sex slavery. A personalized freestyle by yours truly was the first thing auctioned off at the event, and it was definitely divinely inspired. Take a look:
For those of you reading this on Facebook, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMZn6k1JpeA
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
What is a Man?
I contributed to this piece on MarieClaire.com that's a response to Esquire's "What is a Man?" feature from the female perspective. If you click "play slideshow" the photos scroll a little too fast to read the accompanying captions, so click thru manually to get all the funny bits from (my fellow video ho) Jen Kwok, Alison Rosen, Sara Benincasa, Jamie Lee and Chelsea White.
Here's my favorite bit, dedicated to Livia Scott:
"A man is strong. A man is fierce. RuPaul is a man."
Behind the Music
I spent Sunday shooting a new music vid for Take You Home, a slammin' hot techno jam by Jen Kwok, featuring me, Miss CKC, directed by Ballard C. Boyd. Don't miss the PREMIERE at Splurge! next Friday, April 2 at 7:30 pm at Happy Ending, 302 Broome Street (Forsyth/Eldridge), NYC. The film includes cameos by David Cope and my baby girl! Here's a documentary photo sneak peak! Shots by the beautiful Anya Garrett.
Adriana played with her new pal Greg Moss while I was styled by the brilliant JR Tabanao, who also made the fabulous, feathery skirt you see Jen wearing, below.
Transformation complete! Adriana made tons of friends on set including Joe Valkenburgh (pictured) and was definitely the belle of the ball.
The man behind the music, Andrew Singer, aka Soce, plus the lady behind the lens, Anya Garrett, along with the dancers and choreographer and my BFFAD (boyfriend for a day) David Cope.
Adriana played with her new pal Greg Moss while I was styled by the brilliant JR Tabanao, who also made the fabulous, feathery skirt you see Jen wearing, below.
Transformation complete! Adriana made tons of friends on set including Joe Valkenburgh (pictured) and was definitely the belle of the ball.
The man behind the music, Andrew Singer, aka Soce, plus the lady behind the lens, Anya Garrett, along with the dancers and choreographer and my BFFAD (boyfriend for a day) David Cope.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
CKC as Beyonce!
I did Beyonce's vocals for this parody of Lady Gaga's Telephone by Barely Digital. Watch it! (Or a piano might fall on your head.)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Comedy Roundup: NCCAF, Splurge!, ECNY Awards
You know, I get busy performing and parenting and pooping and I don't always have time to recap everything I've been up to. So every few months I'll write this massive photo-heavy post that attempts to say, "Look at me! These are the places I've been and people I've had the pleasure of working with! Hopefully someday someone will print this for me so I can enjoy a really exact account of my life - accompanied by hyperlinks that make no sense in a scrapbook!"
FEBRUARY 2010:
Had a great second-ever Splurge! show on the 5th. (Next show April 2!) Here are a few cute shots of my gorgeous, glittery blue eyeliner from that joint:
The shot in the middle makes me feel like I could maybe get fit and be super cute if I tried real hard and stopped eating before bed. I've been absentmindedly cradling food at bedtime: bags of chips, boxes of crackers, hot dogs... It's kind of self-defeating. Hugging calories-standing-in-for-a-lover will probably curtail my attempts at finding said lover. (Though I hope whoever he is, he likes nachos. I mean, some things are just dealbreakers.)
I spent Feb. 12th-14th in North Carolina with my pals Claudia Cogan, M. Dickson, Anya Garrett, Jessie Geller, Chelsea White and Dan Wilbur at the North Carolina Comedy Arts Fest. Plus, I met a bunch of nifty comics from all over this great nation. Here are some fun shots of us at our Bob Evans breakfast that will go down in infamy, and then us hanging out on the beautiful Duke University campus.
Ladies don't lounge on the lawn with their legs wide open! (That means Chelsea is a lady.) Photo by Dan Wilbur. You can see all of Anya's coverage of the trip here.
We had a really great stay at the Holiday Inn Chapel Hill, which has this amazing photo-op for Tar Heels fans right in their lobby:
Anya and Dan
Me and Claudia. Si si, CC! CC!
Chelsea and Jessie
FEBRUARY 2010:
Had a great second-ever Splurge! show on the 5th. (Next show April 2!) Here are a few cute shots of my gorgeous, glittery blue eyeliner from that joint:
The shot in the middle makes me feel like I could maybe get fit and be super cute if I tried real hard and stopped eating before bed. I've been absentmindedly cradling food at bedtime: bags of chips, boxes of crackers, hot dogs... It's kind of self-defeating. Hugging calories-standing-in-for-a-lover will probably curtail my attempts at finding said lover. (Though I hope whoever he is, he likes nachos. I mean, some things are just dealbreakers.)
I spent Feb. 12th-14th in North Carolina with my pals Claudia Cogan, M. Dickson, Anya Garrett, Jessie Geller, Chelsea White and Dan Wilbur at the North Carolina Comedy Arts Fest. Plus, I met a bunch of nifty comics from all over this great nation. Here are some fun shots of us at our Bob Evans breakfast that will go down in infamy, and then us hanging out on the beautiful Duke University campus.
Ladies don't lounge on the lawn with their legs wide open! (That means Chelsea is a lady.) Photo by Dan Wilbur. You can see all of Anya's coverage of the trip here.
We had a really great stay at the Holiday Inn Chapel Hill, which has this amazing photo-op for Tar Heels fans right in their lobby:
Anya and Dan
Me and Claudia. Si si, CC! CC!
Chelsea and Jessie
GO TEAM!
I drove the whole way down and most of the way back, so the kids indulged me with a stop in Baltimore on our return. We trudged all over town in the snow trying to get to my favorite place, (Eat) Bertha's (Mussels) in Fells Point. We finally found it, and it was just as good as I remembered.
It had been a long, strange trip.
MARCH 2010:
Started with the third Splurge! on the 5th! I don't have any pics, but check out this great short we premiered called "The Therapist" by Ditch Films, starring Rob Cantrell, Yannis Pappas, I even show my acting chops in it a bit as the annoyed wife. (Big stretch!)
The next night, March 6th, I had the honor of performing at Moonwork for the first time. If you live in New York and you haven't been, you should definitely go! Tom Shillue always closes the show, Jim Gaffigan stops by frequently. In addition to the aforementioned comedic geniuses, I shared the lineup with Dan Allen, Kevin Allison and Lizz Winstead. Here's a lovely photo from the show, taken by Mindy Tucker:
You can see the rest of Mindy's set from the night here.
Monday, March 8th were the ECNY Awards. (If you have time, go to the site and watch the opening video. Tom Shillue's lip-synching to the Trololo song is a joy.) And though we did not win for Best Comedic Short (MAJOR UPSET!), I had the opportunity to grace the stage with the one and only Shayna Ferm on her new hit, "Marriage is for Fags," which I'm proud to say made the Comix list of "Our Fourteen Favorite Moments from the ECNY Awards." (Mom, I'm in the Top 14! Not sure what would happen were it whittled down to 10, but hey!) Shayna and I have also recorded the jam and will be filming a video at some point soon.
The ECNY's were really incredible this year, thanks in large part to the Producers, of course, but also to the smooth backstage stylings of my gal Christina Dunham and the super-impressive video montages of one Ms. Chelsea White! Sisters are doin' it for themselves! And selflessly for the benefit of the greater New York comedy community!
Here's an article in Backstage recapping the whole shindig, and definitely check out Kirill Bichutsky's awesome photo gallery. Here's one he took of me whilst onstage rocking hard:
Some photos of my crew:
Tom McCaffrey and Christina Dunham
Ladies! Shockwave! Ladies love Shockwave! I mean, and Tom!
TMC with our pimp mama, Sara Schaefer. Photo by Keith Huang.
Mara Herron, aka Beena Steena, aka SHE HAD PEACOCK FEATHERS IN HER EYELASHES! You have no idea.
Kumail Nanjiani, CKC, Myq Kaplan. Those guys are winners! But I've got a winning smile. Photo by Keith Huang.
I drove the whole way down and most of the way back, so the kids indulged me with a stop in Baltimore on our return. We trudged all over town in the snow trying to get to my favorite place, (Eat) Bertha's (Mussels) in Fells Point. We finally found it, and it was just as good as I remembered.
It had been a long, strange trip.
MARCH 2010:
Started with the third Splurge! on the 5th! I don't have any pics, but check out this great short we premiered called "The Therapist" by Ditch Films, starring Rob Cantrell, Yannis Pappas, I even show my acting chops in it a bit as the annoyed wife. (Big stretch!)
The next night, March 6th, I had the honor of performing at Moonwork for the first time. If you live in New York and you haven't been, you should definitely go! Tom Shillue always closes the show, Jim Gaffigan stops by frequently. In addition to the aforementioned comedic geniuses, I shared the lineup with Dan Allen, Kevin Allison and Lizz Winstead. Here's a lovely photo from the show, taken by Mindy Tucker:
You can see the rest of Mindy's set from the night here.
Monday, March 8th were the ECNY Awards. (If you have time, go to the site and watch the opening video. Tom Shillue's lip-synching to the Trololo song is a joy.) And though we did not win for Best Comedic Short (MAJOR UPSET!), I had the opportunity to grace the stage with the one and only Shayna Ferm on her new hit, "Marriage is for Fags," which I'm proud to say made the Comix list of "Our Fourteen Favorite Moments from the ECNY Awards." (Mom, I'm in the Top 14! Not sure what would happen were it whittled down to 10, but hey!) Shayna and I have also recorded the jam and will be filming a video at some point soon.
The ECNY's were really incredible this year, thanks in large part to the Producers, of course, but also to the smooth backstage stylings of my gal Christina Dunham and the super-impressive video montages of one Ms. Chelsea White! Sisters are doin' it for themselves! And selflessly for the benefit of the greater New York comedy community!
Here's an article in Backstage recapping the whole shindig, and definitely check out Kirill Bichutsky's awesome photo gallery. Here's one he took of me whilst onstage rocking hard:
Some photos of my crew:
Tom McCaffrey and Christina Dunham
Ladies! Shockwave! Ladies love Shockwave! I mean, and Tom!
TMC with our pimp mama, Sara Schaefer. Photo by Keith Huang.
Mara Herron, aka Beena Steena, aka SHE HAD PEACOCK FEATHERS IN HER EYELASHES! You have no idea.
Kumail Nanjiani, CKC, Myq Kaplan. Those guys are winners! But I've got a winning smile. Photo by Keith Huang.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Madness: Motherhood and Mortality
It's hard to believe that mortality rates among mothers are on the rise in 2010, but this piece by ABC News (sent to me by Bonnie Petrie of Pea in the Podcast) claims exactly that. Research suggests the rise in planned c-sections are a factor, given that cesarean birth involves a higher risk of infection. Additionally, new findings by Amnesty International suggest that African-American women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women.
Cesarean sections make up nearly one-third of all deliveries in the United States-twice as high as recommended by the World Health Organization. African American women have the highest c-section rate of any group. The risk of death following c-sections is more than three times higher than for vaginal births.
To compound the problem, multiple c-sections put mothers at risk for internal bleeding, yet many hospitals have bans against VBAC, or vaginal birth after cesarean.
Last week, the National Institutes of Health met to discuss that very topic, and came to the conclusion that hospitals should lift any bans on VBAC. Web MD covered the panel discussion and suggests that women, given the option, can have a successful vaginal delivery after a prior c-section.
Last week, the National Institutes of Health met to discuss that very topic, and came to the conclusion that hospitals should lift any bans on VBAC. Web MD covered the panel discussion and suggests that women, given the option, can have a successful vaginal delivery after a prior c-section.
About 75% of women succeed in having a vaginal delivery after previous cesarean delivery, assuming that it's not a multiple birth, that the baby is in the normal position, and that their previous C-section required only a single incision.
According to the ABC report, the lives of mothers who deliver via c-section can be saved out of thin air. At Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, nurses place an inflatable boot on recovering patients to help prevent blood clots that might otherwise cause them to suffer a stroke.
My daughter Adriana was born, much to my chagrin, via c-section after induction. Though my birth plan centered around the mantra, "Squat down, Squeeze it out, Wrap it up, Take it home," my body had other ideas. A few weeks after Adriana was born, I had the privilege of speaking at the March of Dimes National Communications Advisory Council Health Issues Luncheon, "Cesarean Section: Consumer Preference or Medical Necessity?" moderated by Gretchen Carlson. The other mothers I met that day all seemed to have some sense of regret about not having given birth vaginally, yet the doctors present suggested that scheduled (non-emergency) c-sections seemed to be growing in frequency. Have you had a c-section or a VBAC? Did your doctor address any concerns you had and how safe do you feel each procedure to be? Leave your thoughts and stories in the comments!
My daughter Adriana was born, much to my chagrin, via c-section after induction. Though my birth plan centered around the mantra, "Squat down, Squeeze it out, Wrap it up, Take it home," my body had other ideas. A few weeks after Adriana was born, I had the privilege of speaking at the March of Dimes National Communications Advisory Council Health Issues Luncheon, "Cesarean Section: Consumer Preference or Medical Necessity?" moderated by Gretchen Carlson. The other mothers I met that day all seemed to have some sense of regret about not having given birth vaginally, yet the doctors present suggested that scheduled (non-emergency) c-sections seemed to be growing in frequency. Have you had a c-section or a VBAC? Did your doctor address any concerns you had and how safe do you feel each procedure to be? Leave your thoughts and stories in the comments!Photo courtesy of the author, who is shown prepped for her c-section at Columbia Presbyterian in New York, NY.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
