DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley

As a Bonus on the main Dennis Anyone, here are two back-to back sample episodes of Dennis's brand new Patreon offering: DENNIS ANYONE: THE PATREON PROJECT, which you can subscribe to for $5 by going to Patreon.com and searching Dennis Anyone.

Topics in Episode 1 include: the Late Night With the Devil actor Fayssal Bazzi learning that I put him on my dreamboard and his response, Four Rooms author David Wichman does the Observation Deck, the Oscar-nominated doc Black Box Diaries, a magazine flashback with the late Michelle Trachtenberg and Dennis's decision in January 2020 to try and be happy anyway.

Topics in Episode 2 include: The White Lotus's Leslie Bibb has a magazine flashback, Dennis sees Dancing With The Stars Live, High Art, A Nice Indian Boy and a stage version of Jane Eyre, Paul Rudnick answers a porny question from the Observation Deck, and film producer Lindsay Doran introduces Dennis to the idea of Positive Psychology.

DENNIS ANYONE PATREON PAGE

Dennis is joined via Zoom by writer for Part 2 of their conversation about Paul's new novel What Is Wrong With You? as well as his previous novel Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style, both of which offer readers sides of Rudnick they haven't seen before. In Part 2, Paul talks about the raw rage and freedom he felt while writing Farrell alone in a room during the pandemic, the lost gay Koch brother who loosely inspired the book and his early 20's club days in NYC, dancing the night away at Studio 54 and Paradise Garage, both of which are featured in Farrell. He also talks about why enjoys posting on Twitter, the post he wrote that went the most viral and why he can't resist cracking wise about MAGA gals Lara Trump, MTG, Kari Lake and Kristi Noem. He also recalls making Coastal Elites for HBO during lookdown with actors like Bette Midler and Sarah Paulson performing over Zoom in their own homes. Other topics include: the odd jobs he worked when he first came to NYC, how he's kept going through all of the ups and downs of a creative career, making deals with God to get laughs from the audience during his early playwrighting days and how his premier magazine alter ego Libby Gelman-Waxner once fielded a sincere marriage proposal from a besotted reader. (www.paulrudnick.com)

Dennis is joined via Zoom by one of his literary heroes, author, screenwriter and playwright Paul Rudnick, to discuss Paul's new novel What is Wrong With You?, which is about an offbeat assortment of gay and straight characters whose lives and lovelives collide at the destination wedding of a tech billionaire on the billionaire's private island. Paul talks about the stranger whose despondent blog post provided the spark of the book. He also talks about the straight personal trainer-gay client friendship that is at the heart of the book, why he chose to make the billionaire character way more redeemable than our world's current crop of tech billionaires and how he doesn't outline his novels, preferring to let "the characters do the driving." He also discusses his career as a screenwriter, penning scripts for hit films like Adams Family Values, In and Out, Jeffrey and Sister Act, which had such a fraught development process that he chose not to have his name taken off the movie. Other topics include: his decades-long friendship with Tony award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long, his fetishistic obsession with design elements like fabrics, luxury brands and high-end materials, how he deals with large-scale personalities like Alan Carr and Scott Rudin when they're working together, whether or not he cries when he writes and the desperation of the super rich. (www.paulrudnick.com)

Dennis connects via Zoom with Roshan Sethi, director of the new film A Nice Indian Boy, which is about and Indian-American doctor named Naveen (Roshan's real-life boyfriend Karan Soni) who falls who falls for a photographer named Jay (Jonathan Groff), who is white but who was adopted and raised by Indian-American parents. Complications ensue when Naveen brings Jay home to meet his family. Roshan talks about the film's origins as a stage play, directing his real life boyfriend Karan Soni in love scenes with Jonathan Groff and the movie's theme of negotiating life after coming out and how big or small do you want to play in terms of being your true self. Roshan also talks about his second career as a doctor and how he works several months a year at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Other topics include: what gay life is like in India, being mentored by indie mainstay Mark Duplass, how Jonathan Groff leads from love all the time, not being allowed to watch Hollywood movies growing up and the moment from making A Nice Indian Boy that he knows he'll never forget.

Dennis is joined via Zoom and telephone by writer to talk about his new book It Seemed Like A Bad Idea At The Time: The Worst TV Shows In History And Other Things I Wrote. The book attempts to answer the question, "How did this project happen?" about such so-bad-it's-delicious shows like The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special as well as the feature films Can't Stop The Music and Ice Pirates. Bruce shares stories about working with Florence Henderson and Robert Reed on The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and reveals the famous socialite who was the Number 2 choice for "Fake Jan" on the show. Bruce, who was adopted as a baby, also shares the story of how, just in the last four years, DNA testing led him to discover a whole new birth family who have become a big part of his life. Other topics include: dealing with the Mormon elders while writing for Donny and Marie, what is was like to work with such 70's TV icons like Bob Hope, Robert Urich, Paul Lynde, Rip Taylor and Sid and Marty Krofft, why he he's happy to host benefits, the secret to his career longevity and the pact that he made to himself early in his career that "no one day should be like the other day."

Dennis is joined via Zoom my playwright Audrey Cefaly & Actor Carolyn Messina from the play Alabaster, which is showing at the Fountain Theater in Los Angeles through March 30th. The play is a darkly Southern tale about a woman named June and her two goats who all survived an Alabama tornado and lived to tell the tale. June's sheltered world is rocked when a New York photographer named Alice comes to photograph her on her farm for an art project and a romance blooms. Oh, and one of the goats, Weezy (played by Carolyn) talks. In the interview, Audrey talks about how the play was inspired by a random image that popped into her head, of a scar-covered woman in a bed and how it then evolved into a love story between two very different women. Carolyn talks about researching goats to prepare for the role of Weezy and how she learned, among other things, that goats have four stomachs. Other topics include: how the two have been friends and collaborators since their high school drama days, the thrill of getting your play published by Samuel French, getting 11 productions of the play produced across the country as a recipient of the NNPN Rolling World Premier program, why their partnership works and meeting audience members after the show and having them share their own stories then ask for a hug.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author and sex worker David Wichman to talk about his new book The Four Rooms: An Inqueery On Sexual Freedom and Well-Being. David talks about why he wanted to write the book, the struggles he faced along the way to publishing it and how, once it was finished, he delighted in having AI read it to him in the plummy British voice of actor-director Richard Attenborough. David also talks about why he calls his book "a non-self help book," and how he tries in his writing and his sex work to create a place where gay men can take down their armor. Other topics include: being intentionally smiley in bathhouses and sex clubs, the sacredness of gay divas like Madonna and Kylie Minogue, hearing from fans of his sexual videos from places where being gay is illegal like Syria, being a superfan of Florence + The Machine, why he doesn't have an arrogant guru vibe, what his many exotic travel adventures have taught him about America, digging deep to write his previous book, the memoir Every Grain of Sand and how Stevie Nicks saved his life.

www.davidsworld.me

This episode features excerpts from the February 8th performance of Dennis Hensley's The MisMatch Game at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's Renberg Theatre. The panelists are Danny Casillas as Reba Areba, Jackie Beat as Bea Arthur, Sherry Vine as Rue McClanahan, Melissa Peterman as Rena Z., Felix Pire as Antonio Banderas and Tom Lenk as Tilda Swinton. The questions cover everyone from Jonathan Bailey to Betty White to Benson Boone. The evening was a bizonkers blast and raised over $4,100 for the Center. After the MisMatch Game clips, there's a super-sized So This Happened...where Dennis talks about the Oscar party he attended where he missed a trivia question about Centerstage, a delightful candle-making class he took at General Wax in North Hollywood, going dancing at the Kylie XCX night at Precinct hosted by past guests Mark Nubar and DJ Shyboy and attending the 25th Anniversary benefit screening of Coyote Ugly with most of the cast in attendance. It was true in 2000 and it's true today: you really can't fight the moonlight.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-writer-composer Margot Rose to discuss her new autobiographical musical Unconditional, which is playing at the Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles through March 9th. The play tells the story of how Margot became a mother of twins in her forties, got a divorce from her wife and then suffered an unfathomable loss in her sixties when her daughter Nora died suddenly in a car accident. The play asks the question: How do we, as human beings, go on after a devastating loss? Margot talks about feeling like her daughter Nora would have wanted her to create this play, how she gets through the show without her emotions overwhelming her and the moments during development where she truly felt Nora's presence. Other topics include: being a sexy Hollywood lesbian in the 80's ("I was very Shane-y from The L Word"), why her kids have always called her Marm, the current Joni Mitchell renaissance, giving excellent Tooth Fairy, and the message of hope that she hopes audiences take away from Unconditional.

www.unconditionalmusical.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor-writer Mitch Silpa to talk about his one-person show 5 Game Shows & a Funeral, which documents the five different times he appeared on TV game shows as well as how the appearances affected his family and the way he felt about himself at the time. The five shows he appeared on are well-known shows like Card Sharks, Scrabble and Shop Till You Drop and as more obscure shows like Grab Bag and Hollywood Showdown. He wins some, he loses some and he learns some. Dennis shares stories from various shows he appeared on--or attempted to--like Jumble, That's The Question, Family Feud, Deal or No Deal, The Price Is Right and $25,000 Pyramid. Other topics include: faking sick as a kid so you could stay home and watch game shows, the day-to-day pressure of trying to not seem too gay as a kid, which game show hosts are the hottest and the appeal of game shows generally. Mitch also talks about being recognized as the flight attendant from Bridesmaids, often on airplanes, and recalls the recent Hollywood Forever cemetary screening that made him feel like a total rock star.