Uncovered: a lost gem from Levine & Isaacs

In 1980, David Isaacs and I wrote a series of one-act plays called CITY OF ANGLES.  It was an exercise to write in four different comic styles.    They were performed at the Fifth Street Studio Theater at 5th and Western downtown over a pizza parlor.  Theatergoers took their lives in their hands by attending.

One performance was videotaped for posterity and promptly buried.  Only recently did I find it and get it digitized.   One of the four one acts still seems to work. 555-GIVE.  This was our attempt at writing a funny monologue.   Thanks to friend of the blog GreatBigRadioGuy, it's now on YouTube.   So today I thought I'd share it.

The play is clearly a parody of Dr. Gene Scott, a charismatic televangelist who owned a TV and radio station in LA until the FCC took them both away (something about his refusing to disclose income).  Dr. Scott would be on the air live for at least twelve hours a day.  Of those, eleven would be fundraising.  He'd sit on a big throne and ask for money all day every day using a variety of techniques.  The man was a master salesman.

So we decided to distill his sales pitches down.  In our play he has 30 minutes to raise $30,000.  And he tries every trick in the book to accomplish that.

Playing the part was the wonderful John Ericson.  You've seen him in a million things.  He's probably best known for co-starring in HONEY WEST with Anne Francis.  He also played Elizabeth Taylor's love interest in the movie RHAPSODY.   You clearly need a special actor to play a Gene Scott type larger-than-life character and John was perfect! 

A couple of quick things...

The screen is black for the first 12 seconds while the intro music plays.

It was shot on a camcorder so the quality and sound is not exactly "broadcast."

There are maybe thirty people in the audience. 

It was early in our career. 

Okay, so here we go.  For the first time in 33 years, here's 555-GIVE.