His Growing Empire Is All About Partying, Women and Remaining Uncommitted

As reported on DT, stand-up Aaron Karo's (W'01, Pennfest 2006) multimedia empire seems to be growing rather quickly.

Thus far, Aaron's achievements include:

• 2 books 
• live performances through the US
• a hot website dedicated to everyone's "Ruminations"
• a great appearance on "The Craig Ferguson Show"
• An itunes comedy Top 10 CD: "Just Go Talk to Her"

And today, his empire grows some more...


Aaron's 3rd book, I'm Having More Fun Than You drops today and celebrates the fact that although Aaron has turned 30 he remains on a "quest to party like a rock star, get laid with abandon, and silence his critics in relationships with the rebuke “I’m having more fun than you."

Per the jacket cover,

“Happily married people and perpetually single people are similar: We’ve both given up on dating and have merely chosen different exit strategies.” So begins Aaron Karo’s hilarious exploration of bachelor life, from the alcohol-fueled pursuit of chicks in bars to sophisticated advances on defenseless bridesmaids. As his thirtieth birthday approaches, Karo observes the women around him growing increasingly desperate to tie the knot and finds himself equally determined – to remain uncommitted. ... Irreverent, insightful, and relentlessly funny, Karo offers a unique glimpse into the world of guys who defy convention, morality, and their moms in order to preserve their independence.

Why did he write the book?  Aaron tells me:

"When I realized almost all of my friends were married except for me, I decided to write a tribute to modern bachelorhood. If you’ve ever gone to a wedding where even the singles table had couples at it, this book is for you."

Check out Aaron's video above to get a flavor for Aaron's clever comedy.  (Watch the whole video above which builds up to his great last sentence!)

DT CATCHES YOU UP ON AARON KARO

• Check out my other posts about Aaron Karo
  
• Click to read how Aaron got his start as a stand up 
• Check out other Penn stand up comedians

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READ MORE - His Growing Empire Is All About Partying, Women and Remaining Uncommitted

Babies, Superglue and Heinz Ketchup: Their Funny Contest Submissions (VIDEOS)

In wrapping up our "Penn Foodies" series for this week, today is all about fun food related videos.

Earlier today I posted two videos about a Penn alum being hired to impersonate Emeril Legasse.

Now I want to share with you two randomly and separately received submissions from Alex Petrovitch (C'01) and Matt Russak (SEAS '03) for the Heinz "Take 2" commercial competition last year.  While neither of them won, these are both very entertaining!

Videos after the jump...

Alex Petrovitch (C'01) in "It's What's Inside"
Dad is left alone with his crying baby- See how he cheers him up!

Matt Russak (SEAS '03, in blue shirt and tie) in "Superglue"
Tale of buffoonery between Mike and Will involving superglue and ketchup at the office.  Note the "The Office" parody of this commercial.  Matt does a good Jim, no?

On a related note, Alex tells me he has booked an appearance on the upcoming season of "24". Check out THIS Penn alum who appeared on "24" last year!

All my "Penn Foodies" variety pack of goodies HERE

Check out my other Funny Friday posts HERE

More posts about Penn Alumni Actors HERE

Headshot Hotties HERE / Penn Actor Reels HERE (upload yours!)

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He's Trying To Turn These RedNecks "Gay By Dawn" (VIDEO)

Last week I did a post on Hollywood-guy-to-watch-out-for Jonathan London (C'01, WQHS Radio, The Hollywood Club).  And now a fun follow-up!

In that post, Jonathan talked about how he "shot a film for school called Gay By Dawn (featured in Pennfest 2006 - program HERE, photos HERE).  It was a comedy horror short and it played really well at festivals for about two years. I knew it played well with festival audiences because it was weird, but just kept sending it to any festival that would take it and was shocked that it lived so long."

Well, we have it now to show on DT and it is funny! 

Synopsis:
"In the deep, dark woods, four rednecks tell ghost stories around an open fire. But when one tells a tale about the horrors that may lurk around them, fear becomes suspicion. Will they make it out in time? Or will the very woods around them turn them Gay By Dawn? Finally! Gay By Dawn is here! Four rednecks discover the true nature of terror in this multiple award winning comedy short."

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His Perseverance and Geeky Enthusiasm Landed Him Two Web Series You MUST Watch (VIDEOS)

Those who succeed in Hollywood, are those that are in it for the long haul.

Case in point: Jonathan London (C'01, WQHS Radio, The Hollywood Club)

After film school, Jonathan stuck to his guns, got to know the right people and created really well produced films you'll want to see. Pay attention to this guy Hollywood alumni...he's doing some really good films...

CLICK HERE to learn how did Jonathan got his start, what led to his success and watch two professionally produced short films of his you will love. (hint: if you love stories having to do with being single and/or love Ninja comedies, then you'll love these!)

How did Jonathan get his start?

Per Jonathan,

"After graduating from Penn in 2001 I entered the Film MFA program at Columbia. I had been accepted to Columbia and USC but ultimately chose Columbia for their approach to self-financing your film, the faculty they had on staff and their support for owning your own film. I was a fan of the directors coming out of the school and I don't think other schools could compete with recent grads like James Mangold, Kimberley Pierce and Greg Mottola (to name a few). A lot of other schools had more storied reputations but I was excited for what was currently going on at the school.

I left in 2003, moved to L.A. and shot a film for school called Gay By Dawn (featured in Pennfest 2006 - program HERE, photos HERE). It was a comedy horror short and it played really well at festivals for about two years. I knew it played well with festival audiences because it was weird, but just kept sending it to any festival that would take it and was shocked that it lived so long.

At the same time, I was working as a PA runner for a few different film companies. One of the companies was Fox Television Studios and I made friends with the assistants and gave them copies of my movie. About two years after THAT, the assistants had moved up the ranks and were now executives and needed to bring in projects of their own to develop. Luckily, any DVD that reads "Gay By Dawn" in big letters really stands out on a shelf so I got some calls and pitched my series ideas.

The one that really struck a chord was "Singledom", which I think is pretty relatable for people a few years out of college who are lost in the post-grad limbo.

I wrote and directed a presentation for "Singledom" and while that went through sales pitches and further development the studio asked me to take a look at a project they had called "When Ninjas Attack". My geeky enthusiasm and ridiculous knowledge of old ninja and kung fu movies made it a pretty good fit and a few weeks later the scripts were written and I was directing the six episodes that are being released this summer."

Stay tuned this fall when DT announces another big endeavor Jonathan has been working on!

HOT TIP!: Get some of Jonathan's great tips HERE and learn about a great free screenwriting tool he's using that I didn't even know about until he mentioned it!



More posts from my "Penn's REEL deals" series

More of my Funny Friday posts

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READ MORE - His Perseverance and Geeky Enthusiasm Landed Him Two Web Series You MUST Watch (VIDEOS)

Getting You Buzzd: He's Helping You Discover The Nightlife Around You

What do you think a guy who DJed in his senior year (under the name Metafizik) and hosted weekly parties at 4010 Spruce (a house known as "Browntown") went on to do?

While he's not a DJ anymore, Nihal Mehta (C'99, Pi Lam fraternity, see picture to left) is still tapped into everything "nightlife" and is sharing it you with his web based and mobile free service called buzzd.

buzzd is the premier location-sensitive city guide and social network for your mobile phone.  buzzd answers “what’s going on around me right now?™” by delivering up-to-the-minute info on bars, restaurants, concerts and events in a specific set location. buzzd features listings from Flavorpill, Time Out, Citysearch, ZAGAT, Upcoming as well as real-time posts (“buzzes”) from members of the buzzd community. Create a profile, add/invite friends and – if you post a “buzz” – it is sent as a text-message to your nearby friends in the network.

Recently, Nihal released a new BlackBerry application in that has been among the most downloaded apps since its release, and was covered in such outlets like the New York Times. (Mehta received funding from Blackberry Partners Fund, who are interested in funding entertainment ventures that are on the mobile phone. )

On a related note, Nihal had another "nightlife" company before buzzd.  In 1999, Nihal started his entrepreneurial career by co-founding (and later selling) Philly2nite an online nightlife and entertainment portal with fellow Penn alum Vijay Chattha (C'00, see picture to right) while they both lived on the bottom floor of 4010 Spruce (side note: I actually lived exactly there my senior year too!).  Browntown, as the house was known was famous for its many evening gatherings featuring open mic sessions with many future media alums like John Stephens, now John Legend (C'99), Aaron Jones (W'99)  of Hip-Hop Act Dujeous, Ted Chung (W'99), who is running Snoop's Label, DJ Bunnylove,  Paras Shah (C'99), Nimo Patel (W'01) and Swapnil Shah (C'99) of Rap Group Karmacy,  Sumit Bothra (W'99), now President of Embargo Management and Max Blumenthal (C'99), MC and current writer for TheDailyBeast and Huffington Post.

Years later Nihal started the first mobile marketing firm which was bought by Omnicom Group in 2005.  From there, Nihal got the idea for buzzd, which he founded in 2006 which was essentially his first idea: Philly2nite on a phone.

Nihal is yet another example of Penn friends working together as he continues to work with Vijay who is an investor and advisor in the company.



Get Buzzd!: www.buzzd.com

Other great Website Wednesday posts

New to DT? 14 easy suggestions to get started!

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$350,000 Netflix Competition: She's In The Final 10 and Needs Your Vote! (VIDEO)

Kristin Fairweather (Penn Grad '01, Masters in Government Administration, Alumni Relations) is in the running for winning a  $350,000 production grant and a guarantee of a premiere at next year’s LA Film Festival. ...and they need your vote!

Once producer Kristin and writer/director Jenny Deller found out they were one of the top 10 semi-finalists in the Netflix Find Your Voice competition, they were tasked with creating the above 3-minute short that reflected the feature in style or theme. 
 
Tasked with shooting a 3-minute short they decided against doing a traditional trailer and shot a stand-alone script called "Save the Future" that we bill as "a companion piece" to the feature length film (and recent Nantucket Film Festival screenplay award winning) Future Weather.  If they are selected as the winner of the Netflix contest then they get the funds to shoot the feature.

"Save the Future" Netflix Short description:
In Deller's 3-minute companion short for the Netflix competition, FUTURE WEATHER's protagonist reimagines a day in her life as a public service announcement, blurring the lines between family struggles and fear of environmental apocalypse.

 Future Weather Feature logline:
Future Weather, is a coming-of-age tale about a 13-year-old environmentalist. Central to the stories of three rural women, is the gifted but lonely Laduree, an aspiring conservationist whose experiments to save the planet from global warming are destroyed when her single mom runs away to find herself.

Check out the film above.  It really is a beautiful piece of work!

Help Kristin get to the final phase of the contest by VOTING HERE or voting within the video module above! (voting ends July 5)

Find out why Kristin left her career in Politics and how she got started in entertainment HERE

Other Penn alumni who followed their passion and changed careers HERE

On an environmentally related note, check out all my posts about Penn going green HERE!

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READ MORE - $350,000 Netflix Competition: She's In The Final 10 and Needs Your Vote! (VIDEO)

She Wants You To Spend to Save a Bundle (as featured on popular morning TV show!)

As part of my Pinching PENNies series, I thought my women readers out there would appreciate some money saving advice from one of our alumni style and beauty experts, Jenn Cohn Falik (C'01, Theta).

Recently, Jenn was on a popular morning show talking about unique finds that help extend the life of some women's fashion investments. 

Check out some of the products she talked about below (these also can make some good Mothers Day gifts!):

• Bra Smart B Cup | D Cup (to help dry your bras and keep your bras lasting long)
  
• Garment Guards (to prevent sweat spots)
• The Instant Button Silver | Bronze (for the appearance that you didn't unbutton your pants for that extra room!) 
• The Invisibelt (all belt and no bulk)
• Bosom Button (the alternative to the safety pin for the ladies)
• Miss Oops - Jaks to cover up your midsection

My past posts about Jenn and her Fashion Products here

More Money Saving and Job Advice from my Pinching PENNies series HERE

New to DT? 14 easy suggestions to get started!

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Touchdown for David Isser's "Gameday"

In light of this weekend's Superbowl, I have a special treat for all of you.

Filmmaker David Isser (C'01) has gone from documentaries to now comedies ...and in his latest one, Gameday (above), check out a guy who cleverly tries to find out the score of the big game from his buddies, while he's stuck in the car with his girlfriend who hates football.

Girls and guys out there will enjoy this I'm sure!

Also, be sure to also check out the show Dave edited for the Discovery show on February 8th, 9pm ET/PT, 8PM CT called "The Science of Sex Appeal".  Sounds very interesting...

Speaking of football, did you check out Jordan Zucker's (C'97) very creative weekly videos from her Girls Guide to Fantasty Football website. Go over there and check them out!



Check out my other Funny Friday posts here!
 
Click here to learn how David got started as a film director

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These 2 Penn Alumni Wrote Tomorrow Night's NBC Muppet Christmas Special

(l to r): Scott Ganz (C'01) and Andrew Samson (C'01)

Set your DVRs!

Penn alumni Scott Ganz (C'01) and Andrew Samson (C'01) co-wrote tomorrow night's TV movie "A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa" (Wed. Dec. 17th at 8pm on NBC).

Both Scott and Andrew were Co-Editors of Punch Bowl Humor Magazine for three years, moved out to LA and got their start as staff writers on "The Showbiz Show with David Spade" and also wrote a feature for director Garry Marshall. Currently they have a consulting deal with Muppet Studios.

Check out a behind-the-scenes video from the show and learn about the story and the celebrities appearing in the show:

Join Scott and Andrew's Facebook Event page for their show here

Other Penn writers here

Other Penn alumni working together

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This Penn Alum Comic is Building His Media Empire

In addition to his books, touring the country with his act, a great appearance on "The Craig Ferguson Show", his new website: Ruminations.com, Aaron Karo (W'01, Pennfest 2006) just launched a new CD "Just Go Talk to Her".

Per Aaron's press relase,

"Recorded live in Boston at the Comedy Connection in Faneuil Hall, “Just Go Talk To Her” begins in a peculiar fashion - New York native Aaron Karo professes his love for the Yankees and Giants until the rabid Boston crowd showers him with boos. Those boos quickly turn to raucous cheers as Karo’s trademark brand of storytelling - fast-paced personal anecdotes about drinking, dating, and debauchery - win over even the most hardened Red Sox fans. Whether he’s divulging the secrets that all guys keep from their girlfriends or picking apart the foibles of married couples, Karo excels at taking universal experiences and turning them on their head."

Listen to his track below entitled "Chicks Love Sweatpants". You'll laugh your ass off!

Get Aaron Karo's "Just Go Talk to Her" CD (it just hit itunes comedy top 20!)


DT CATCHES YOU UP ON AARON KARO

• Check out my other posts about Aaron Karo
  
• Click to read how Aaron got his start as a stand up

Check out other Penn stand up comedians

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Not a Good Week for Penn Contestants on Reality TV

Back in September, it seemed like a promising season for 2 Penn alumni on reality TV, however it all came tumbling down for these alumni within 3 days of one another.

Last Thursday, Charlie Herschel (C'01) was blindsided and then eliminated from Survivor Gabon. Then three days later, Sarah Leshner (C'98, W'01) and her boyfriend Terrence were "the last team to arrive" and then "eliminated from the [Amazing] race".

Check out what Charlie revealed to Marcus when he arrived at "Ponderosa" (the place you go to after you're kicked out of Survivor), what he did there, and then how he felt the day after.

Then listen to Sarah and Terrence about their final thoughts about The Amazing Race, each other and their most memorable moments from the show:

Sarah and Terrence on The Bonnie Hunt Show:

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