Last week Ted Leo posted a lengthy text on his website titled “MAJORLY MASSIVE CAREER TRAJECTORY NEWS! YOU MIGHT SAY, “PARADIGM SHIFT,” EVEN!!,” which discusses just that over the course of 3,000 or so words. In the screed, he mentions wanting to go into musical theater — “another love of mine” — because these days it’s rough making money doing straight-up punk rock:
What are some other ways to make a living in the world of music? Sell your songs to commercials? Doesn’t sit right with me. Soundtracks? If the right one comes along, I’m happy to offer up my stuff for use, but it seems that people generally don’t like to have songs about struggling through life during shitty wars as the background to whatever ro-co or teen comedy they’re working on.
In the text he mentions being approached by a director named Reginald VanVoorst to work on a musical inspired by Julie Taymor’s Across The Universe and Green Day’s American Idiot. (Why not Movin’ Out?) This Tom Scharpling-directed video for The Brutalist Bricks‘ “Bottled In Cork” focuses on the band putting together that very punk rock musical. In it, there’s a character named Reginald VanVoorst’s played by Paul F. Tompkins, who’s joined by Julie Klausner and John Hodgman. Right, if you haven’t caught on yet, last week’s story was a joke, a massive meta framework for this punchline:
(via Funny Or Die)
Leo’s big REVEAL from earlier today: “Apology for the dramatic set-up/Rick-roll to follow soon…”
The Brutalist Bricks is out now via Matador.
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I think the Patrick Stickles parts are my favorite.
Jinx
Forgot to mention: Patrick Stickles brought to tears makes perfect sense.
Green Day, they’re talking to you. Blam.
almost as funny as yo la tengo’s sugarcube video a/k/a the best video ever
cool stuff. have to say- the training parts are very Broken Social Scene’s “Fire Eyed Boy” video ripoff
I just want to hire PFT to say the word DOCKET to me at random intervals…
also…id like to announce that Im going back to school this fall to take a whispering class.
I don’t think I realized how badly I wanted to see Ted Leo do the “karate chop” (it’s a famous dance move–look it up) until it was right in front of my eyes. Subconscious dreams can come true.
I think Gabe Puts up these Cross Sterogum/Videogum Posts with the comment closed on VG so the VG Monsters can come post witty, pithy comments here. You know, just so SG doesn’t feel left out.
We have always shut off comments on the cross-site quicklinks because I don’t like to splinter the conversation. But yes, MONSTERS WELCOME.
I FEEL FAMOUS SCOTT TALKED TO ME
HELLO CHIEF, LET’S TALK WHY NOT?
Birds of Avalon shirt, woooo
This video rocks! Ted Leo is absolutely still punk rock! Rumor has it he will be playing a DIY show in Philly this fall! My best guess is it’ll be at The Ox.
i was totally “in” this video!! but as it turns out, i’m not in it. so i guess really just i was there when they shot this video.
Ha, this is great.
So much Jersey representation here – even VanVoorst’s namesake is a park in Jersey City.
This is so much better than fist pumping.
I’m pretty sure I am actually in actual love with John Hodgman after the faces he makes in this video.
His karate chop is brilliant. It should be made mandatory in all future vids.
PFT was just a little too Ron Burgundy