Neo-Futurists create six new television pilots to be 'Picked Up'

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I just received the following press release.

Neo-Futurists Create Six New TV Pilots to Be ‘Picked Up’

‘Picked Up’
Created by Dean Evans, Jay Torrence and Ryan Walters
Written by the creators, along with Ian Belknap, Sean Benjamin,
Laura McKenzie and Lauren Sharpe
Previews: Thursday and Friday, April 10 and 11 at 8:00 p.m.
Opening Night: Saturday, April 12 at 8:00 p.m.
Performances continue Thurs/Fri/Sat at 8:00 p.m. through May 17, 2008
Tickets are $15, $10 for students/seniors with ID, or pay-what-you-can during previews and on Thursdays.
All performances take place at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland
For tickets or information, visit www.neofuturists.org or call 773-275-5255

CHICAGO – The Neo-Futurists conclude their 2007/2008 prime-time season with Picked Up, a series of six never-before-seen television pilots performed live onstage. Neo-Futurists Dean Evans, Jay Torrence and Ryan Walters lead a team of skilled comedy writers in a genuine attempt to create the best TV pilot ever. Picked Up opens Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland.

The Neo-Futurists sell out to the fame and fortune of television sitcom writing with six competing pilot scripts. Each week a new sitcom will be put into the ring and left to fight for its success or die on the writing room table. The pilots promise to be daring, hilarious, uncensored, offensive, and morally superior. The audience wields the power of Nielson, determining which shows are good enough to be ‘picked up.’

According to creator/writer and Neo-Futurist Artistic Director Jay Torrence, “Because we create pieces for Too Much Light in a very specific way, we were interested in pursuing a project that would require us to write through a completely new process. Every script in Picked Up was written by a team of writers in a very intense and collaborative environment.”

The line-up of six shows includes:

April 10-12: Unitards
Ronnie Wexler’s dream is to wrestle. But when the high school wrestling team doesn’t want his extra chromosome anywhere near their mats, special hopes and special dreams are confronted with even special-er challenges.

April 17-19: The Colony
Six misfit teens ditch out on high school and start a colony on Mars. This red planet’s about to get a whole lot of awkward horny.

April 24-26: Office Prison Break
If you think your nine-to-five job is bad, try doing nine to life. At Solutions Inc. you can clock in but you can’t clock out!

May 1-3: No Place Like Home
From failed dreams to nighttime riddles, Emily Kane just can’t seem to get it right. Will she decipher her premonitions in time to save her dead friend Chris? Tune in and find out!

May 8-10: Too Much
Six pretentious artists, one house, and an awful lot of miscommunication equals Too Much… comedy. When these performance artists leave the stage, the real drama begins. Find out what happens when people stop being Neo-Futurists and start being roommates.

May 15-17: The Mime
“Don’t do the crime if you can’t face the mime.” A reluctant superhero mime artist takes on the mafia by thinking outside of the box.

Writer Ian Belknap is a performer, stand-up comic and solo artist. He has appeared in High Fidelity (sneeze and you’ll miss him), opened for Dennis Miller and Steven Wright, and presented his original pieces at the Rhino Theater Fest, the Dollar Store Show, and many other spots around Chicago. His most recent full-length show was Wide Open Beaver Shot of My Heart: A Comedy With a Body Count and his next is Spooning the Devil.

Writer Sean Benjamin has been a Neo-Futurist since 1996, creating over 300 short plays for Too Much Light… as well as writing or co-writing several full-length works: Devolution, Missing Parts, 43 Plays for 43 Presidents, Drinking & Writing, SEX!, The Santa Abductions, and Poker Night at the White House. Sean trained in improvisation at Second City and I.O. He is co-creator (with Steve Mosqueda) of The Drinking & Writing Brewery, Radio Show, and Festival.

Creator/Writer Dean Evans is an ensemble member of The Neo-Futurists, where he created Drag and The Dean Evans Show, and appeared in Daredevils, THE FOOL (Returns To His Chair), and The Santa Abductions, for which he won an After Dark Award. He has performed with Redmoon, Kapoot Clown Theater, and Chicago Children’s Theater, as well as in The Magical Exploding Boy.

Writer Laura McKenzie was last seen with The Neo-Futurists in Alice. She is an ensemble member of Barrel of Monkeys and the Factory Theater, where her latest play Janice Dutts Goes to Life Camp premiered in 2007. Her writer-performer credits include: Laura McKenzie Feels Like Makin’ Love; Ménage à Trailer; Are you There, Jesus? It’s Us, Trailer Trash; and Waiting On Godot.

Writer Lauren Sharpe is an actor, improviser, dancer and clown. With The Neo-Futurists, she appeared in Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck. She also has worked with Redmoon, in The Princess Club and The Golden Truffle, and with The Gift Theatre. She is a company member and teaching artist with Barrel of Monkeys and a new addition to the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Unit.

Creator/Writer Jay Torrence has been a Neo-Futurist since 2002, writing and performing regularly in Too Much Light… and currently serving as the company’s Artistic Director. He wrote and performed in Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck, which was awarded two After Dark Awards. Also with the Neos, he appeared in Poker Night at the White House, Daredevils and The Santa Abductions. He most recently played Quasimodo in Redmoon’s Hunchback.

Creator/Writer Ryan Walters, a Neo-Futurist since 2002, performs regularly in Too Much Light… , created The Neo-Futurists’ stunt show Daredevils, and has performed in several other Neo prime-time creations, including Patriots, Roustabout, and most recently THE FOOL (Returns To His Chair). Ryan also is a member of Barrel of Monkeys.

ABOUT THE NEO-FUTURISTS
The Neo-Futurists, performers of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind and creators of over 60 other original, full-length productions, are a collective of wildly productive writer/director/performers who create immediate, non-illusory, interactive and head-slappingly affordable performances.

The Neo-Futurists are partially supported by: the Chicago Community Trust; a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; National Endowment for the Arts; Alphawood Foundation; The Prince Charitable Trust; The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation; the Arts Work Fund; Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation; and a CityArts 3 grant.