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CONTACT:
Harris Spylios
Davis/Spylios Management
212-581-5767
dspylios@verizon.net
Performance Reel
ELI JAMES is an actor, writer, songwriter and standup in New York.

His Broadway credits include the National Theatre of Great Britain's "One Man, Two Guvnors," directed by Nicholas Hytner, and Alex Timbers's and Michael Friedman's "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." His solo show "William and the Tradesmen" has been performed at Ars Nova, La Mama, and The Drilling Company. Further stage credits include "Rutherford and Son" and "Temporal Powers" at The Mint, "The Four of Us" at Manhattan Theatre Club, "Becky Shaw" at Boston’s Huntington Theater, and the world premiere of Jason Grote’s "Maria/Stuart," directed by Pam McKinnon. His TV credits include "Gossip Girl," "Lights Out," and "Murder in Manhattan." He co-founded, wrote and performed with the sketch comedy group Quiet Library at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and currently performs with improv team Pleading Softly. His essay "Finding the Beat" was published in the Random House collection "Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers," a Boston Globe Bestseller.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Awww... just look at these guys!



Great Britain just held its first EVER televised debate among its Prime Ministerial candidates, and look at those faces... totally loving the camera. All smiley and ... clenchy.

I know the Brits have had over sixty years to make this happen, but clearly the time wasn't right until now. These dudes drip with Bill Clinton-
esque suave, tempered with just the right amount of stiff-upper-everything.

The BBC is dubbing this Britain's first "US-style" debate. Apparently American media specialists were hired to help the incumbent Prime Minister and his two main rivals work through this new-fangled campaign technology called 'T.V.' (That's for those who don't prefer to listen in on the 'wireless.')

If the goal of our US experts was to make all three candidates resemble John McCain, they have done an excellent job.



If the object was to make Gordon "Gas Bubbles" Brown into the next Obama, well...



... call it a C+.

Having just viewed the results online, I have only one reaction to this momentous political event: who the f--k designed this set?



It looks like strippers are about to emerge at any moment from behind the pillars, with teased out 70's hair and leg-warmers, plus a couple of small children and Dr. Who.

And apparently the UK has replaced its traditional red, white and blue national color scheme with red, white and beige. Perhaps with the ultra-right British National Party gaining quick ground this election...



... having too much white on the stage could send the wrong message:



So they've supplanted white with beige - surely meant to represent the color of Britain's many cows.

And so to Conservative leader David Cameron, Lib Dems candidate Nick Clegg, and Labour incumbent Gordon Brown, I say bravo on your first tandem TV performance, in which you tackled such heated topics as the economic recovery, crime, and the growing call among MP's to continue to put taxpayer pounds toward porn. I think this is just the start of many exciting and no-holds-barred live events these seasoned, and now TV-sassy, UK politicos will rock during this election. As Gordon so beautifully zinged today at rival Cameron, "It's answer time, not question time, David."

Boo-yah, Gord! I couldn't have put it better myself.

Well, I mean, given ten minutes I probably could have come up with ANYTHING better than that, but hey, it's early days.

1 comment:

Eli James said...

Okay, apparently, it's not beige up there, but gold - representing the color of the Lib Dems. Blue being Conservative, and red being Labour. Nothing to do with the British flag.

I plead outright American ignorance. I