Actor Stephen Guarino & Playwright Erik Patterson ("Handjob"): "Orgies by the Airport!"

Dennis heads to Burbank to interview playwright Erik Patterson and actor Stephen Guarino about "Handjob," Erik's about a gay writer who hires a shirtless cleaner. Erik talks about the time he hired a real shirtless cleaner, how he realized it could be a play and later inviting the real cleaner to see the play he helped inspire. Stephen talks about what appealed to him about the project, the challenge of finding flawed, three-dimensional roles, and performing the title act in front of an audience. They both talk about what it's like to be an artist today when people are more in tune around issues like representation, privilege, race and consent. Together, they talk about the wide-ranging reactions to the play, the ins and outs of ordering prosthetic penises, on stage nudity rules, the long list monologue that Stephen makes his bitch, Google stalking and the gulf between their Hollywood careers and the world of this play. Other topics include: Erik's writing for Hallmark movies, the challenge of getting Hollywood people to come see the show, the Glenn Close sketch Dennis wrote and Stephen starred in on The Big Gay Sketch Show, Stephen working with producer Jim Carrey on I'm Dying Up Here, the time Erik crashed the Golden Globes, and Stephen almost meeting Jennifer Saunders and wanting to live in a cinder block like The Secret of Nymh. https://www.echotheatercompany.com/handjob/