NEWS RELEASE — FRINGE FESTIVAL FAVORITE “FAIRY TALES AGAINST HUMANITY” in association with JAXX THEATRICALS adds special performance FRIDAY 7/29

2016 HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL
ENCORE! PRODUCERS’ AWARD-WINNER
FAIRY TALES AGAINST HUMANITY
IN ASSOCIATION WITH JAXX THEATRICALS, INC.
ANNOUNCES ONE NIGHT ONLY
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE
FRIDAY, JULY 29 AT 8PM
THE MATRIX THEATRE

2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore! Producers’ Award-Winner Fairy Tales Against Humanity in association with Jaxx Theatricals, Inc., has announced a one night only special performance on Friday, July 29 at 8:00 at the Matrix Theatre on Melrose. Created and directed by JP Karliak, this wildly inventive comedy show will also play performances on Wednesdays, July 20, August 3, and August 10, all at 8pm, at the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood.

Like children’s theatre gone horribly wrong, Fairy Tales Against Humanity is a new interactive improv comedy show which had its world premiere at this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival after a workshop production at Second City Hollywood. A cast of accomplished comedians will take classic fairy tales and fables, and — with suggestions from the audience and special guests — twist them into wickedly hilarious abominations that would make Mother Goose faint. Plenty of adults-only laughter and surprises await. Performance run time is 90 minutes.

Special guests for the Matrix Theatre performance on July 29 are voice-over legends Courtenay Taylor (Fallout 4 and Regular Show) and Kari Wahlgren (Rick & Morty and Fairly Oddparents). The Lounge Theatre performances are set to feature special guests comedienne Lauren Flans (Comedy Central’s Another Period and LA’s Lost Moon Radio) [7/20]; voice actors Max Mittelman (One Punch Man) & Imari Williams (Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens) [8/3]; and the multi-talented Parvesh Cheena (NBC’s Outsourced and East West Players’ The Who’s Tommy) [8/10]. Guest performers are subject to change.

The show features (in alphabetical order) Amanda Barnes, Gillian Bellinger, Rachel Crane, JP Karliak, Danny Lutman, Andy McDuffie, Chris McGowan (co-producer), Alain Pierre, Jamison Scala, Matthew Schlissel, Travina Springer, Amanda Tate, and Michael Tauzin. Music direction is by Sam Johnides.

Tickets for the special performance of Fairy Tales Against Humanity on July 29 are $10 in advance and $15 at the door and may be obtained online at www.showclix.com/event/fairytales or by phone at (323) 650-0878. Tickets for the Fringe Festival Encore! Producers’ Award performances on July 20 and August 3 &10 at the Lounge Theatre are available online at www.theencoreawards.com/projects/3738, or by phone at (323) 455-4585. Tickets will also be available at the door.

The Matrix Theatre is located at 7657 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, 90046. The Lounge Theatre is located at 6201 Santa Monica Boulevard (one block east of Vine at El Centro), in Hollywood, 90038.

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07-15-16

NEWS RELEASE — “FAIRY TALES AGAINST HUMANITY” AT HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL — THREE PERFORMANCES ONLY

FAIRY TALES AGAINST HUMANITY
CREATED AND DIRECTED BY
JP KARLIAK
THREE PERFORMANCES ONLY
IN THE 2016 HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL
AT THE LOUNGE THEATRE

Fairy Tales Against Humanity, a new comedy show created and directed by JP Karliak, will play three performances at the Lounge Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard as part of the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival, it was announced today. Fairy Tales Against Humanity is set to run on Sunday 6/19 at 5:45pm; Thursday 6/23 at 7:45pm; and Sunday 6/26 at 3:45pm.

The show features an accomplished cast of comedians (in alphabetical order) — Amanda Barnes, Gillian Bellinger, JP Karliak, Danny Lutman, Andy McDuffie, Chris McGowan (co-producer), Alain Pierre, Matthew Schlissel, Travina Springer, Amanda Tate, and Michael Tauzin. In addition, special guests will include video game voice-over star and dungeon master of Geek & Sundry’s Critical Role Matthew Mercer (6/19); Rotten Tomatoes Senior Editor Grae Drake (6/23); and the hilarious host of LOGO’s Cocktails and Classics Drew Droege (6/26).

Like children’s theatre gone horribly wrong, Fairy Tales Against Humanity is a new half-improvised, half-scripted show making its world premiere at the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival after a workshop production at Second City Hollywood. A cast of improvisers will take fairy tales and fables — and with suggestions from the audience and special guests — twist them into hilarious abominations that would make Mother Goose cry. Plenty of audience participation and surprises await. Running time is 90 minutes.

Creator and director JP Karliak is a voice-over artist, writer, and solo performer. He is the voice of Wile E. Coyote in the Cartoon Network series Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Prod., and has played multiple heroes and villains for Marvel. On-Camera work includes Real Husbands of Hollywood and Ringer. LA theatre appearances include The Mistakes Madeline Made, The Girl, the Grouch & the Goat, Into the Woods, and Inherit the Wind. A graduate of the USC School of Theatre, iO West, and Second City Training Center, Karliak has written numerous short films and plays which have been produced in venues around the country. His full-length solo show, Donna/Madonna, garnered awards at the United Solo, New York International Fringe, and San Francisco Fringe Festivals.

Tickets for Fairy Tales Against Humanity are $15 and may be obtained online at http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/3738 or by calling (323) 455-4585. The Lounge Theatre is located at 6201 Santa Monica Boulevard (at El Centro), in Hollywood, 90038. For more information, go to www.facebook.com/ftahcomedy.

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06-01-16

NEWS RELEASE — JP Karliak’s DONNA/MADONNA returns for 4 performances only — SEPTEMBER 10—13

DONNA/MADONNA
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY JP KARLIAK
DIRECTED BY TIGER REEL AND MATTHEW CRAIG

RETURNS TO HOLLYWOOD’S LOUNGE THEATRE
FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY
SEPTEMBER 10-11-12-13

Photo courtesy Rizzo 39 Productions

Donna/Madonna, the critically acclaimed, award-winning solo show written and performed by JP Karliak, will return to the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood for a special engagement of four performances only, it was announced today by Rizzo 39 Productions. Directed by Tiger Reel and Matthew Craig, Donna/Madonna is set to run Thursday, September 10 — Sunday, September 13 only.

In this autobiographical one-act, writer/performer JP Karliak wants desperately to be the perfect son for his adopted mother, a doting Catholic housewife from Scranton, PA. But realizing he will never be the ideal local boy, he seeks answers from a very different source: his fashion-writing, married-to-a-British-pop-star birth mother. Donna/Madonna is a tale of motherly love and finding acceptance told through stories, songs, and characters like Darth Vader, Carol Channing, and JP’s unforgettable mothers. Hilarious and poignant, this cross-country journey from Scranton to Los Angeles shows that sometimes you have to meet a “Material Girl” to truly appreciate “America’s Sweetheart.”

Donna/Madonna was the winner of the Best One Man Show Award at the 2010 United Solo Theatre Festival in New York and was recognized for Overall Excellence in Solo Performance at the 2011 New York International Fringe Festival. It won the Best of Fringe Award at the 2011 San Francisco Fringe Festival and StageSceneLA ‘Scenie’ Awards for Outstanding Production, Solo Performance, Best Direction of a Solo Performance, and Best Solo Performance (2010-11).

Of Donna/Madonna, the LA Weekly said, “GO! Karliak’s execution is top-drawer. His delivery is brisk … and … his sense of humor is contemplative but unsentimental. Inhabiting the skin of his drastically different mothers, Karliak’s range is gleefully apparent.” And Back Stage said, “Karliak has a startling skill for changing on a dime from flamboyant, extroverted, and stylized performance artist to a direct and sincere man. This breezily insightful presentation celebrates what his two maternal parents did for him. Critic’s Pick!”

JP Karliak hails from the “Electric City,” Scranton, PA. His voice-over credits include Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Skylanders, Lego Marvel Avengers. On-Camera: Real Husbands of Hollywood, Ringer. Los Angeles theatre work includes The Mistakes Madeline Made; The Girl, the Grouch & the Goat; Into the Woods; Inherit the Wind; and Women and Wallace. Karliak is a graduate of the USC School of Theatre, iO West, and Second City Training Center. He has written numerous short films and plays which have been produced in various locales around the country.

Co-Directors Tiger Reel and Matthew Craig boast impressive credits in both theatre and television. Reel is the Founding Artistic Director of the Action! Theatre Company where his directing credits include the West Coast premieres of There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Cartoon, as well as his award-winning adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. Craig performed nationwide with The Second City Touring Company, worked as a writer on Saturday Night Live during the 2010-2011 season, and currently writes and produces Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production for WB animation.

Donna/Madonna will play four performances only: Thursday, September 10 at 8pm; Friday, September 11 at 8pm; Saturday, September 12 at 8pm; and Sunday, September 13 at 3pm. Run time is 70 minutes. General admission seating is $20 and tickets are available online at https://www.plays411.com/donna or by calling (323) 206-6427. The Lounge Theatre is located at 6201 Santa Monica Boulevard (at El Centro), in Hollywood, 90038. For more info, visit www.donnamadonnashow.com.

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08-03-15

_{Photo Credit: JP Karliak. Photo by Jason B. Chen.}