Six-time Emmy Award- winner Bruce Vilanch is one of the funniest people on the planet. This planet, I can’t speak for Mars. He’s performed on stage, the big screen and the little screen, where he has written for the Oscars, Tonys, Grammys & Emmys, in addition to manning (sort of) the center square on Hollywood Squares. This weekend you can experience his new show, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Dick Dock!
Bruce can be found at the Cabaret @ the Crown @ The Paramount on Friday & Saturday, August 17 & 18 @ 7pm (508)487-1430
1) Tell us about your Ptown show.
It’s all about my insane experiences working on 23 Oscar shows and a staggering array of TV specials with a baffling array of stars, plus a lot of other stuff. And I strip on demand. but usually only if it’s being filmed in IMAX.
2) What do you find special about the Provincetown audiences?
During carnival week, they’re insane. They come from all the demographics — queens, lesbian moms, drunken frat boys who will do anything for beads. Ptown attracts iconoclasts and people who are looking for a place where they can let go and party without judgment. But they do enjoy a good, funny story.
3) As a much-respected TV writer, how do you juggle writing & performing & which do you prefer?
Writing is lonely. Rewriting is less lonely, because you’re generally at a table with a lot of other people. Performing for a live audience is immediate and joyful and the second most wonderful group experience after sex. If you’re used to having sex in groups.
4) You’ve written for everyone from Bette to Whoopi to Florence Henderson to the Oscars. What has been the most difficult & the most rewarding?
Difficult is writing comedy for people who aren’t funny. This is the bane of the kind of “event” writing I’ve done a lot of. Rewarding is when you’ve made people happy. Really rewarding is when you’ve made them happy and you can sense that you’ve somehow changed their lives. You might even get miles for that.
5) What new projects are you working on?
A new musical called A Sign of the Times. It’s an original book, which I’ve written and all the songs of Petula Clark, but it’s not about her. Think Mamma Mia. Please, think Mamma Mia. It opens in Wilmington, at the Delaware Theatre Company on November 28th. C’mon down!
6) What do you do in your spare (if any) time to relax?
Nothing I can mention without someone suing me!
