PRESS
RELEASE Wham City Take Absurd Educational Seminar to the Northeast
Fresh off a second successful national tour, Wham City is taking a stripped-down, educational revamp of their batshit comedy variety show to select Northeast cities in March and April. "Just in time for April Fools day"
The Wham City Educational Seminar is a blitzkrieg of gonzo lectures
(and one administered test) by Dina Kelberman, Connor Kizer, Ben O'Brien, Robby Rackleff,
Alan Resnick, and Mason Ross. The two-hour,seated show covers far-ranging topics like:
*How to Make More Money
*How Alien Advertising Affects Us All
*Outlive Your Friends and Family (Through 3D Scanning And other Digital Archiving Techniques)
*Meditation and Its Effects on the Brain
& more!
Like much of Wham City's output, the Educational Seminar is equal parts serious and absurd. In fact, the more outrageous the material, the more likely it's sincere. (especially if it's Connor.) And while they've won accolades in recent years for their comedy, the Baltimore collective has always been more concerned with living up to their own idiosyncratic artistic manifesto than with
populating their art with "jokes".
ALAN
RESNICK Alan Resnick is a visual artist
obsessed with his own face. Since 2009 he has been working towards the
creation of a lifelike digital backup. This simulacrum is being
designed to fill the role of Alan to family and friends in the event of
his death. Currently Alan and his avatar perform as an amusing comedy
duo.
Alan has also given many lectures about the importance of
digitizing the self and DYI virtual reality technology. After receiving
his BFA from SUNY Purchase he joined the Showbeast team and started
collaborating with the Wham City
collective.
Ben O'Brien is a video artist
and comedian living and working in
Baltimore, Maryland. Ben created the web-series Showbeast with Erin
Gleeson back in 2006, and since has made 21 videos with Showbeast
including a music video for Beach House, Dan Deacon, Height with
Friends, and Ear Pwr. You can check out these and more of Showbeast's
videos here: youtube.com/shwbst
Ben also manages as well as performs in the Wham City Comedy Tour and
co-hosts the monthly Wham
City Comedy Night with Mason Ross.
Ben O'Brien is currently writing and acting for a pilot episode of a
new
show called 'Wham City' based upon the comedy of the Wham City
Collective.
CONNOR
KIZER
Connor Kizer moved to Baltimore
in 2004. Since arriving in Baltimore, he has participated in multiple
Wham City theater productions including Jurassic Park and Beauty
and the Beast, and helped run the Wham City Lecture series
(hopefully to be restarted soon.) He also plays in the intermittent
bands Santa Dads and Ram Ones. He is working on Project: Psychopomp,
which is an attempt to become an Infomorph (being of pure information)
without electronic means. He also has published two pamphlets of essays
about his thoughts on this project called Infomorph Issues 1 and 2. His
collection of short stories, Office Magic, is forthcoming.
I live in Baltimore, MD and am a founding member of Wham City. I make
comics, draw stuff, paint cardboard, website, and routinely bring
garbage into the house. I love my friends dearly. Please contact me at
your slightest whim. You can find more at importantcomics.com,
and dinakelberman.tumblr.com.
Mason Ross is a performance
artist that currently lives in Baltimore Maryland.
In 2009 he won an award for "Best Comedic Performance" in the Baltimore
City Paper for the 10 mintue play "At the End of Infinite Rope." The
play was written by fellow Showbeast member Ben O'Brien. Ben
and Mason also host
the Wham City Comedy Night together. Ben loves Mason. He thinks Mason
is the reason there are people.
Mason has been an active part in Wham City for the past five years. He
played Ian Malcolm in Wham City's
stage adaptation of Jurassic Park, was in the stage combat
performance group Blades with old friend Sean Blue,
and has participated in the last two Wham City Comedy Tours.
Mason was on the track to making lots of money from acting. He gave up
that dream when he moved to Baltimore and found a group of people that
was supportive and creative and didn't care about money. They ruined
his life. I hate them.
For breakfast, Robby has an egg
and cheese sandwich and a half-pot of coffee. For lunch, Robby has two
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a glass of V8 juice. For dinner,
Robby has spaghetti and a glass of fruit juice. He goes to the gym in
the mornings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. His routine focuses on
his stomach, his biceps and triceps, upper back and chest. He has not
found a lower back exercise he likes very much. He usually stays for a
little over an hour. He walks almost everywhere and listens to
audiobooks on the long bus ride to work. He has not had a cigarette
since late May of this year.
CONTACT
For booking, info, or comments please email Ben@whamcity.com
DATES
Mini Tour 2012
3/29 - Washington, DC @ Subterranean A
3/30 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Neck Tie
3/31 -NYC @ CULTUREfix
4/1 - Rosendale, NY @ Market Market Cafe
4/2 - Wiliamstown, MA @ Wiliams College
4/3 - Baltimore, MD @ The Whole Gallery
ABOUT Wham City is a group of artists linked by the bonds
of friendship.
We make art shows, theater performances, music shows, festivals, books,
computer networks, fashion shows, email lists, etc. We include members
and non-members. Our goal is to create and support an artistic
community while honoring our individual voices and to write emails.
Past Members:
Adam Endres
A Funny Clown
April Camlin
Dan Deacon
Ellie Beziat
Erin Gleeson
Peter O’Connell
Ed Schrader
Chester Gwazda
Keith Lea
