Dennis visits recording artist Matt Zarley in the backyard of his San Fernando Valley home to talk about Matt's new project, the upcoming musical short film "Hopeful Romantic", which co-stars George Takei and features the just-dropped single "Constantly." They also discuss Matt's childhood obsession with Captain & Tennille, performing on Broadway is shows like "Cats," "A Chorus Line" and "The Who's Tommy," and what got him back into music after giving it up for a while. Also on the docket: c...
Oct 20, 2014•1 hr 34 min
Dennis joins actress and writer Crista Flanagan in her Silver Lake apartment to discuss "The Garden Apartments", the new webseries she created and stars in about a desperate woman involved with a serial killer who's just been released from prison. Also on the docket: Crista's last ditch attempt to make it as an actress that led to her 5 year-stint on "Mad TV," her unforgetable tractor-riding turn as Lois Sadler on "Mad Men," and the rookie mistakes she made of her very first TV gig, playing a he...
Oct 12, 2014•1 hr 10 min
Dennis visits the Hollywood home of Del Shores, the playright behind such hits as "Sordid Lives," "Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will?", "Southern Baptist Sissies", "Yellow", and "The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife." They discuss Del's just-announced "Sordid Lives" movie project, memorable Olivia Newton-John encounters, writing on "Queer as Folk," how coming out affected his work, the ins and outs of shopping for lug nuts and much more. To support his fundraising campaign f...
Oct 06, 2014•1 hr 19 min
For this special Thursday episode, Dennis visits the swanky penthouse set of "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?" the Tony-winning Edward Albee play that's currently winning raves at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center's Davidson Valentini Theatre. He talks to the show's brilliant director Ken Sawyer and the Center's passionate Artistic Director Jon Imparato. They discuss the challenges of putting on such a hot-button piece, the Rihanna connection, the power of theater and the challenge of working with "bre...
Oct 03, 2014•44 min
Dennis visits Jackie Beat and his three adorable and vocal dogs in Jackie's L.A. home, which features an entire room dedicated to the movie Carrie. This year is Jackie's 25th year in show business so there are lots of topics to dicsuss, including the first time he performed in drag, working on projects like Flawless (with Philip Seymour Hoffman), Fashion Police (with the late Joan Rivers) and Hello, Ross (with Ross Matthews) and the ecstacy of taking off your tight shoes after a long night of en...
Sep 29, 2014•1 hr 35 min
After interviewing Jack about his new film Space Station 76, Dennis and Jack recorded this extra episode where Jack responds to the question, "What message was left on your voicemail or answering machine that you played over and over?" by actually PLAYING a bunch of old messages for us and narrating. Dennis shares a couple messages, too. The episode ends with a recording from 1998 of Jack as a pre-Girls Will Be Girls Evie Harris singing "Evie," a parody of the song "Roxie" from Chicago while Den...
Sep 22, 2014•27 min
Dennis visits his old friend, filmmaker and actor Jack Plotnick on the eve of the release of his sci-fi dramedy Space Station 76, starring Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler, Matt Bomer, Jerry O'Connell and Marisa Coughlan. Jack talks about the inspiration for the film, its long, winding road to fruition and what's it like to watch Matt Bomer pleasure himself with a robot hand. Also discussed are Jack's bound-for-Broadway jukebox musical "Disaster!" (co-created with Seth Rudetsky), what it was like to be...
Sep 18, 2014•1 hr 9 min
Dennis visits choreographer and entreprenuer Benjamin Allen at the office of Groov3, the red-hot dance fitness brand he started in 2010. Topics include: Dennis and Benji's meet-cute while dancing in front of the movie Xanadu, Benji's new home workout DVD "Dance Sweat Live," the triumphs and terrors of starting a business, dancing in Pharrell's 24-hour "Happy" video, doing a flashmob for "Ellen" in a mall...and the thrill of nailing your Bar Mitsvah outfit. Also discussed, this week's burning que...
Sep 14, 2014•1 hr 6 min
In this episode, Dennis visits Michael Seldtich at his West Hollywood condo, the lobby of which he designed himself because he's brilliant that way. Michael is a reality show veteran, having produced, directed and/or showrun such shows as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Architecture School, 9 By Design and MTV's current hit Catfish. He's also the director of the documentary feature 11 Minutes about Project Runway's first winner Jay McCarroll, as well as the narrative film Fixing Frank and the cu...
Sep 08, 2014•1 hr 16 min
Dennis sits down with his friend Nadya Ginsburg the mega-talented writer-performer behind the new webseries Madonnalogues. She talks about the roots of her spot-on Madonna imitation (Cher and Winona Ryder also make cameos), how the rules are different for women in pop and her the spur-of-the-moment Today Show appearance tied her brilliant viral Gaga parody "Al Roker Face." Also on hand is filmmaker Glenn Gaylord who collaborated with Nadya and Dennis on the Madonna-themed short film "If We Took ...
Sep 01, 2014•1 hr 22 min
Dennis catches up with previous guest Bryan Thompson the day after the finale for the reality competition show Motor City Masters. On the agenda: the final twist that broke reality show tradition, Bryan's super practical tips for how to behave on a reality show and the weirdness of getting a hole pic sent to you without so much as a 'Sup?'
Aug 28, 2014•24 min
Dennis sits down with singer, actor and author Sam Harris in his L.A. home to talk about his terrific book "Ham: Slices of a Life," in which he writes about everything from getting sober to becoming a father to watching his friend Liza Minnelli marry what's-his-face with Liz Taylor and Michael Jackson as Best Man and Maid of Honor. Also on the docket: falling in love at Opryland, his memories of Star Search and Ed McMahon and the Oprah moment that should be an app.
Aug 25, 2014•1 hr 12 min
Near the end of my initial interview with filmmaker and actor Doug Spearman (Noah's Arc, Hot Guys w/ Guns and the upcoming Welcome Sinners), Doug mentioned that he got to attend a very exclusive listening party with Annie Lennox where she talked about her new album Nostalgia. I had to know more. Doug breaks down the whole evening for us and then we jump to a lot of other topics including what it was like to be the only openly gay cast member on Noah's Arc at the time of its premier. Juicy stuff ...
Aug 21, 2014•57 min
Dennis visits writer-director-producer-actor Doug Spearman in his cozy LA home for a conversation that touches on everything from Doug's new movie Welcome Sinners, his days playing Chance on Noah's Arc and the time he sat on Brad Pitt's lap.
Aug 17, 2014•1 hr 11 min
After wrapping up my interview with filmmaker Jim Fall, we started going through his extensive collection of 8 track tapes. When I discovered that he had Partridge Family albums that I never even knew existed-- Crossword Puzzle ? What ?--I decided we had to fire up the mic for a special episode. Also docket: Leif Garrett, Andy Gibb, Shaun Cassidy, Helen Reddy and Olivia Newton-John, specifically the way she says the word "kick" in the song "Have You Never Been Mellow?"
Aug 14, 2014•22 min
Dennis visits Jim Fall in his 8-track filled bachelor pad in the hills to discuss the 15th anniversary of his beloved film "Trick," the sexy Italian crew men on the set of "The Lizzie Maguire Movie" in Rome and seeing "The Excorcist" when he was way too young...on Easter Sunday, no less. He also reveals the female TV legend who totally froze him out one time in an elevator.
Aug 11, 2014•1 hr 8 min
Trying something new with this installment. In addition to doing the interview style Monday podcasts I've been doing for the past couple of months, occasionally I plan to put out a Dennis Anyone Xtra podcast or DAX. It's basically me and a friend talking about stuff like pop culture, celebrity sightings, dating misadventures and, of course, movies and MORE! The kind of stuff I used to share on The Comedy Couch, basically. Here's the first DAX with my filmmaker friend Glenn Gaylord ("I Do", "Leav...
Aug 08, 2014•47 min
Dennis welcomes car designer Bryan Thompson who is currently appearing on TruTV's "Motor City Masters" which is like the "Project Runway" of car design. Bryan opens up about the Eric Estrada poster that changed his life, how it feels to have a Hot Wheels car made from a design you worked on, and how inspiration can come from the most unlikely of places. He once designed a gear shifter for an SUV that was inspired by his then-lover's sizable member...he took even took a mold--and everyone loved i...
Aug 04, 2014•1 hr 6 min
Dennis visits TV writer James LaRosa in his office on the Paramount lot. James is the creator behind the hit VH-1 soap "Hit the Floor" about a sexy, sassy pro-basketball dance team (Go Devil Girls!) and the shirtless hunks who bed them and occasionally each other! They discuss the show's recent gay twist, James' winding road to showrunner and that project on his resume that keeps on giving; "Spring Break Shark Attack."
Jul 28, 2014•1 hr 2 min
Actor, singer and RuPaul's Drag Race rebel Willam Belli welcomes Dennis to his LA home. Nothing's off the table including the fallout from RDR, his early days in Hollywood, his accidental activism as a Chik-fil-a satirst and his side-job booking gogo boys for nightclubs. Candid, surprising and more sentimental than you might think, the inimitable Willam always serves it up, whether tucked or untucked.
Jul 21, 2014•1 hr 10 min
Dennis sat down with playwright Jonathan Tolins (Twilight of the Golds, The Last Sunday in June, Queer as Folk) on the day after his smash Off-Broadway play "Buyer and Cellar" opened in LA at the Mark Taper Forum. Inspired by Barbra Streisand's book "My Passion for Design," the play imagines what it would be like if Barbra actually hired an out of work gay actor (Ugly Betty's Michael Urie) to work in the Main Street USA-style mall she has the basement of her Malibu compound. Dennis and Jonathan ...
Jul 15, 2014•1 hr 10 min
On the eve of their Outfest premier, Dennis sits down with the team behind the new film "Tiger Orange;" director & cowriter Wade Gasque, co-writer/actor Mark Strano and actor Frankie Valenti (aka porn star Johnny Hazzard) making his dramatic feature debut. The film is about two estranged brothers in a smalltown in Central California who have very different ways of being gay. Topics include: fitting in vs. standing out, zip-lining without a harness and Barbie fashions.
Jul 11, 2014•21 min
My delightful career coach, friend and life saver Barbara Deutsch talks about going from a secretary to a recording artist, her upcoming workshop "Thrive," and finally getting Jesus to give it up. Learn more about her work at www.bdapproach.com
Jun 26, 2014•1 hr 15 min
Dennis welcomes his old spinning teacher pal, comic and fitness instructor Debbie Praver. They discuss her recent USO tour to Afganistan, her days as a Disney parade performer, gym freaks and what it's like to kiss Donny Osmond.
Jun 19, 2014•1 hr 24 min
Dennis is joined by his old friend EDDIE SHAPIRO, author of the terrific new book NOTHING LIKE A DAME: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater. They discuss Broadway divas, the Tonys, The Normal Heart, working for the AIDS Walk and Eddie's chronic case of Disney-itis.
Jun 13, 2014•1 hr 5 min
On the last night of his adventure abroad, Dennis spends a night in Rome with writer and editor Christian Poccia, who he met on a press trip to Montreal in 2005. They discuss the beauty of Rome, Christian's new magazine Gino, the novel Beautiful Ruins and the universality of the "not enough chairs" phenomenon.
Jun 04, 2014•40 min
This one's short, sweet, exotic and probably horribly recorded. On the ride to the airport after three jam-packed days in Dubai, I chat with the friend I came here to visit; filmmaker and TV producer Zaid Abu Hamdan, who is in Dubai working on the reality competition show The Victorious, which is like America Idol for soccer players.
Jun 01, 2014•17 min
While on my post cruise pleasure trip, I popped into Budapest, Hungary where my friend Tom Ford was working in the visual effects department for the upcoming Melissa McCarthy comedy "Spy." I got to crash in his extra room for three nights, catch up with Tom, whose been gone from LA for almost four months, and I fell in love with the city. Stories from my Bike Tour with Suzie, my cruise ship putting-on-a-show experiences and Euro couple's incessant PDAs are discussed. Recorded with a new techniqu...
May 27, 2014•44 min
Singer-actress-blogger Erin Quill sits down with Dennis to talk about being mom to the most adorable gayby on the planet, her shit-calling blog and her random star encounters with Jason Gould, Suzanne Somers, Lorna Luft and more!
May 05, 2014•47 min
Dennis sits down with writer-director Jack Kenny, showrunner of the SyFy series Warehouse 13, which wraps up its 5-year run this month. They discuss Jack's previous projecs Titus and The Book of Daniel, what it was like to act in the original stage production of The Normal Heart and talking dolls.
May 05, 2014•1 hr 1 min
