Doogie Horner [Interview]

Hello Folks! I sincerely can’t explain how excited I am to share this interview with you all. Today’s guest is somebody that I have wanted to have on the site for quite a while. And we finally got ’em, Everyone! It’s the brilliant comedian, illustrator, and writer Doogie Horner!

I first discovered Doogie’s existence in a fashion that has been a pretty routine occurrence around here at TWS. It was Doug Loves Movies. Much like just about every comedian we have managed to wrangle onto this site, you could probably play that weird Kevin Bacon game to track them back to DLM. In the last few years, Doogie has been such a presence on the show, and it lead me to dig into some of his work, including the amazing book, Some Very Interesting Cats, Perhaps You Weren’t Aware Of, that I will routinely break out when I just need a little pick me up when I’m feeling a bit down. It’s absolutely delightful. And wouldn’t you know it, he has a plethora of other great works that everyone should check out. We talk about of a few of them in the interview below, but it behooves me to let you all know that he is also the creator if a Die Hard coloring book. Yes, you read that correctly. Along with all of his other works, you should definitely buy that.

So Folks, please enjoy some amazing words from the hilarious Doogie Horner. And after you read this interview and definitely say to yourself, “Hey, this guy seems like the cat’s pajamas with the bee’s knees all over them, I should buy stuff that he does!”, be sure to head on over to doogiehorner.com to do just that. Enjoy!

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What inspired you to get into the world of comedy? Was it something you have been inspired to do since your youth, or did you happen to find yourself in this world one day?

When I was a kid, I loved old comedians like the Marx Brothers, Bob Hope, and Danny Kaye. I liked comedy movies, not necessarily standup. I also read a lot of funny comics like Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes. I was always a funny (a.k.a. weird) kid, but I never thought of doing standup. I tried it on a whim, simply because I heard Helium (in Philadelphia) had an open mic.

What was your first paid gig in the world of comedy? And were there any sort of lessons learned from this experience that still affect your work to date?

When I started doing standup in Philly, standup was not as popular as it is now. So there weren’t many real shows at comedy clubs, or alternative shows in the back of bars. Most of the shows were poorly planned train wrecks, in hoagie shops or VFW halls. Surprisingly, they were generally fun. Because they were so bad, right out of the gate, that you didn’t feel any pressure to succeed. Just surviving was a big enough accomplishment.

The first paid show I did was way out in Delco; it was some kind of fundraiser, I didn’t really know for what. Once I arrived, I found out that it was a fundraiser for a police dog who’d died in the line of duty. The cops gave a eulogy for him and then I went on. There was no stage, and I performed in the round—directly after a Powerpoint eulogy for a dead dog. It was a big crowd, maybe two hundred cops, standing in a circle around me while tears dried on their cheeks, angrily listening to my weird jokes about rowboats and muffins or whatever.

Performing at those early train wreck shows helped me get used to being booed, yelled at, bombing my face off. There’s no way I can bomb harder than I did back then. That’s why when I performed on America’s Got Talent, and everyone at the Hammerstein Ballroom booed me, I wasn’t fazed.

I absolutely adored your book Some Very Interesting Cats Perhaps You Weren’t Aware Of. For those poor unfortunate fools who may not have checked it out yet, could you tell us a bit about it? And what made you want to tell this tale?

It’s an illustrated book of one hundred short, funny stories about cats. Cats are mysterious. You can never tell what they’re thinking. Whenever I leave my house, I always wonder, “What does my cat do while I’m gone?” I imagined him having a rich, secret life, and the book explores stories like that. The secret lives of housecats.

A couple of your more recent writings, such as the YA novel  This Might Hurt A Bit and the cute little comic David’s Dad’s Movies available on your website, have been geared toward a younger audience than your typical one. Obviously there will be differences, but I am more interested in what you feel is the same? Are there any core elements in storytelling that exist no matter what the genre or form may be, in your personal opinion?

This Might Hurt a Bit is a lightly fictionalized memoir about my teenage years, growing up in rural Pennsylvania. I didn’t intend it for a younger audience necessarily, but that book is appropriate for teenagers on up. There’s some heavy shit in there. Everybody who reads it cries.

David’s Dad’s Movie is for a much younger audience, five or six year-olds.

But to answer your question, yeah, telling a story to anyone, at any age, requires certain core elements if you want it to be interesting. Even stories with vastly different formats—a three-minute joke compared to a 300-page book—have similarities.

1. The story has to be coherent. The more the reader/listener understands, the more they’ll enjoy it. This rule sounds self-evident, but it’s amazing how often I forget to stop and ask myself, “Does the audience know what I mean? Are we on the same wavelength?” Kids especially value understanding, because they hear so many things they don’t understand every day.

2. The story has to be interesting, and the best way to do that is to make it relatable. There have to be some familiar elements in it, so the audience can relate to it. Add a few surprises too. But make one of them a surprise for the characters, but not the audience.

3. It’s helpful if things happen, if things change. In story-writing school they call this “character evolution,” but I hate that term. I hate how in movies (books do it less) the main character always learns and evolves. In real life, people rarely do that. Maybe that’s why we love to see it? It’s like believing in Santa Claus, this fairy tale that we can change who we are.

Anyhow, you can sidestep this rule somewhat if you really nail number 2. Movies like My Neighbor Totoro, or books like The Catcher in the Rye or Slaughterhouse Five don’t have a whole lot of character change, but they depict reality in such a clear, true way that that’s enough to keep the audience hooked.

Basically: Be interesting, connect with the audience, and, if you can, tell the truth.

The best book on writing I’ve read is Stephen King’s On Writing. And the best book about reading is How Fiction Works, by James Wood.

If you had free range, and an unlimited budget, to create the biopic of any legendary figure in American history, who would it be?

Well it wouldn’t require much budget, but I’d make a biopic of Bill Peet. Actually, maybe I wouldn’t. He already wrote and illustrated his own biography, and I don’t think I could top it. I’d only do a bio of him so that more people could know about his work. He’s one of my favorite illustrators, and he also worked on a lot of Disney movies. His biography is an interesting read, I highly recommend the book:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Peet

What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?

I’m writing and illustrating a comic book right now. We’re moving back to NYC soon; we’ve been hiding in the woods of Massachusetts during the pandemic.

The main thing I’d like to plug is my novel This Might Hurt a Bit. It’s a funny coming of age story about a kid whose sister dies of cancer. I know that doesn’t sound funny, but the book is generally funny.

What was the last thing that made you smile?

My son yelled, “Come into the bathroom!” and I went in and found him suspended near the top of the shower, supporting himself with his hands and feet pushed against the walls. “Help, I’m stuck!” he yelled.

I feel like that anecdote shouldn’t count though, because my son makes me smile ten times a day, so here’s another one.

I was visiting my Dad for a couple days, just the two of us because my Mom was at the beach with my family. My Dad had a stroke, so often he can’t think of certain words. We were shopping at the grocery store, and he was looking for something he couldn’t name. He struggled to explain it to me. “It’s round,” he said, drawing a circle in the air. “Like . . . tortillas. And . . . in a bag.”

After a minute I guessed, “Pepperoni?”

My Dad was so amazed I’d guessed it right that he laughed with surprise. His clues had been pretty bad (although, at the same time, spot on. Pepperoni slices are like little tortillas). He laughed and laughed and said, “this should be a game show.”

That made me smile.

And now, some other fun photos Doogie was kind enough to share with us:

Sherilyn Fenn [Interview]

Hello Old Friends and New to another amazing interview here at Trainwreck’d Society. As we near that decade mark that will mark the end, we are going out with a bang! Today we are keeping the Twin Peaks love going with some more great words from another essential and brilliant performer who appeared on both the original run as well as re-appearing in the third season. It’s Sherilyn Fenn, Everyone!

You should instantly recognize Sherilyn as tantalizing and seductive Audrey Horne! Audrey was one of my favorite characters on the series, and so much of that is owed to the immense talented held, and holds, as a performer. She is as good as they come in my honest opinion. With a career nearing 40+ years and including projects on the horizon, she has never slowed down. She’s got Globe & Emmy nominations under her proverbial belt, and has appeared in some amazing projects over the last 5 decades. Especially in our beloved genre, which would be horror. She is an absolute beast in her career field, and just a gem of a human being.

So, I will cut this short, and allow you all to proceed to check out these amazing words from the brilliant Sherilyn Fenn! Enjoy!

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What inspired you to get into the world of performance? Was it something you have wanted to do since your youth, or did you happen to find yourself in this world one day?

I think my aunt inspired me as she had great success in the music business. But not for  the reason one might think. I come from a broken and unhappy childhood  as most  of us do. I saw what appeared to me to be a lot of love and attention from all of my family, grandparents, aunts and uncles. I wanted that love shown to me, I believe and I think that I thought IF I became ‘famous’ then I would get it from my family. Instead of feeling like a pillow on the couch. Just an inconsequential object. Or worse, a puppy dog because unlike a pillow, I needed care. My aunt also had some  of the most beautiful clothes that  I had ever seen. Clothes that she bought in London. I coveted pretty stuff  like that as well. I was a child with childish ideas. 

What was your first paid gig in the world of entertainment? And were there any sort of lessons learned from this project that still affect your work to date?

I am not sure if  it was my ‘first paid gig’ but I remember doing a small film in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia (when it was still that). I believe I had my 18th birthday there. Walking to the set for the first time,  my whole body was shaking with  fear. All the lights were pointed to a place on the ground where I and a  boy were to sit and do a scene. I sat down, shaking. They said action andI looked down and blanked completely. I could not remember a single line, few though they were. The boy whispered ‘just keep going’ and I looked up- into the lens and said ‘cut’. I was told that the actor NEVER says cut. I learned it. Although now in all honesty, I still may end a take if something dodgy is happening, like a prop is missing, etc. But never from the place of ‘feeling lost’ because that is when the magic starts  to happen. To have the courage to be lost and keep going. Just like we  do in life. Not trying to control everything.

Your role as Audrey Horne in the highly original and beloved series Twin Peaks was absolutely perfect, on so many levels. You were absolutely amazing in the series. So, I am curious to know what drew to this project? What was it about the world of David Lynch that made you want to live in it for a while?

Who does not want to live in any DKL project? I was in my early 20’s and I had seen Blue Velvet and left the movie  theatre speechless. It had so many interesting aspects to it. It was absolutely frightening, Dennis Hopper with the oxygen mask crying for his mama to bizarrely hysterical, ‘Are you the one who found the ear??? I HEARD it. Or I am gonna honk the horn three times, one, two,three……what?????? And everything in between. My mind  was blown. 

Happily I rented The Elephant Man  so I could also see what a deep heart DKL had. 

I did not get to read the script. Just had a meeting with a genius filmmaker. Who would say no?

And how was the return back in 2017 for the latest installment? Was it like old times, and just jumping right back into the proverbial saddle? How was this experience?

The return was filled with many ups and downs. Twists and turns. I was filled with gratitude to work with DKL again as I always am and always would be. I was happy with the rewrite he did for Audrey. And also sad that she did realize her potential as a person in that story. That she was trapped in her own mind. 

The fandom revolving around Twin Peaks is one of wild devotion and extreme loyalty, I have come to notice. At least that is my perception. But as somebody obviously more well informed, I am curious to know what you think? How have your fan interactions been over the years?

The Twin Peaks fans are what I call a ‘sacred family’. They are amazing. And they keep growing. As a young actress I would say ‘if I do a role that stands the test of time, I will know I have succeeded’. Well Twin Peaks has done just that. I meet people younger than my son, Myles, and they are fans.I look at them and say you could be my child. But they  look at me as if I am still that very young woman, which at 56 I am not, with love and  joy i their eyes. And I feel blessed that my work actually touched people and still does. What a gift from God. It makes me so happy. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And I love  them all dearly. They are better to me often times than my own blood family. We connect, we laugh, we cry….it is truly a gift.

While you have worked in just about every genre imaginable, one of them happens to be one of our all time favorites around here. And that would be the world of horror. I am curious to know how you enjoy working in this world? What do you believe it is that sets it apart from other genres?

Well I am not big on ‘genres’. I just bring truth to whatever I’m blessed to be a part of. I guess Twin Peaks is considered ‘horror’. But not to me. I feel Audrey was  a light in that darkness. 

That is what I aim to be. A light in the seeming darkness  of the world. My beloved  grandma used to  love  horror movies. She would go and see them alone. She would giggle and giggle during the’ scary’ parts. They never scared  her. She thought they were ’silly’. She was so advanced and nobody could see it. She  was actually absorbing all the energy that others were releasing in the theatre unbeknownst to them. A conscious being shared about this and I realized how advanced she was. People don’t know what to do when they have a lot of energy in their bodies and often spend it in all these useless places. When it is contained and lifted one can access higher states of consciousness. 

If you were handed the opportunity to create and/or appear in the biopic of any legendary figure in American history, who would it be? 

Well, being my age takes away some my choices. But if age were not an issue…. Hedy Lamarr because she was beautiful but brilliant and pioneered the technology that would be the basis for today’s wifi. And my grandmother loved her. Marilyn Monroe, to finally show the woman. The real woman who was wise behind all the affectations. Clara Bow….. because she was a bright light.

Any amazing unknown to the world woman who showed up in her life to change the lives of people around her, not relations, out of the goodness of her heart and strength of character. 

What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?

The futures so bright I have to wear sunglasses. Many amazingly great things are coming together……it is quite a ride….. 

What was the last thing that made you smile?

Feeling God so deeply at work in my life. So loving. So kind. So present. Not because I am special, we all are. But because I am finally listening. Blessings.xxoo

Wendy Robie [Interview]

Hello Folks! I am as usual very excited to showcase today’s amazing guest interview. Especially so, as we are breaking new ground right at the end of our 10 year run here. Today’s guest is Wendy Robie, Everyone! Wendy is a brilliant performer, who absolutely shined in my personal favorite dramatic series of all time, the amazing Twin Peaks. The OG run, of course. Well, also the third season as well. Wendy played the infamously eye-patched Nadine Hurley, and was a personal favorite character of mine.

Wendy is actually the first cast member we have had from the OG run of Twin Peaks. We’ve spoken with some folks who appeared in the most recent third season, but this marks our ability to add Twin Peaks performers to our roster. And seeing that we are a month out from shutting our digital doors, I am very happy that Wendy was able to take some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for us.

So Folks, please enjoy some amazing words from an exceptional performer of screen and stage, the brilliant Wendy Robie!

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What inspired you to get into the world of performance? Was it something you have wanted to do since your youth, or did you happen to find yourself in this world one day?    

I’m sorry this will be a boring answer to an interesting question, so I’m glad to get it out of the way. I was one of those kids who put on plays in the back yard for relatives and neighbors.  I was very bossy.  However, opportunities were limited.  Without going into detail, I’ll just say that my route into show business was circuitous indeed. 

What was your first paid gig in the world of entertainment? And were there any sort of lessons learned from this project that still affect your work to date?    

I played Helena in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Monterey Shakespeare Festival in’82. I learned how seductive laughter can be, and how easily one can hurt oneself doing some pratfall one thinks is just hilarious. On that first job, I observed the professionalism of the actors I admired.  I’ve followed that work ethic ever since. 

You were absolutely incredible as Nadine Hurley in the seminal classic TV series Twin Peaks. I am curious to know what drew you to this insanely original series? What was it about the world that David Lynch created that made you want to live in it for a while?  

In the fall of ’89 when David Lynch and Mark Frost came to Seattle to shoot the pilot for Twin Peaks, I was one of several local stage actors called in to audition.  When I met David and Mark, they told me about Nadine and her eye.  I slapped my hand over my left eye and asked, “This one?”. David laughed and Mark said, “Yes.” Lucky guess. I loved playing Nadine, and I hold her secrets close.  I respect her — her innocence and pain, her yearning and courage.  She never gives up.  She’s like an unstoppable, inconvenient, unwanted puppy.  Her outlandish behavior makes her an easy target for mockery.  Meanwhile, she wanders in a firestorm of loneliness. In Twin Peaks, David Lynch and Mark Frost created a dreamy world of mystery and menace.  Nadine lives there in her own mystery, broken and beautiful where she is broken. 

And how was the return back in 2017 for the latest installment? Was it like old times, and just jumping right back into the proverbial saddle? How was this experience?  

The Return was just astonishing.  I can’t even describe it except to say that it was our Twin Peaks but so much more.  I’ve watched those 18 hours three times since it first aired on Showtime.  Every time I just take the epic ride.  My personal experience was different.  I was so happy and grateful to see these people again, these people that I adore and have missed.  We were so lucky to have shared this experience. When Nadine jauntily marches up that road with her shovel over her shoulder she is earning her own redemption.  How great is that! 

The fandom revolving around Twin Peaks is one of wild devotion and extreme loyalty, I have come to notice. At least that is my perception. But as somebody obviously more well informed, I am curious to know what you think? How have your fan interactions been over the years?

Most of the Twin Peaks fans I’ve met are filmmakers and artists themselves. I’ve met Twin Peaks fans from all over the world.  Agent Cooper is much loved in Finland, you’ll be pleased to know.  The fans know more about Twin Peaks than I do. 

While you have worked in just about every genre imaginable, one of them happens to be one of our all time favorites around here. And that would be the world of horror. I am curious to know how you enjoy working in this world? What do you believe it is that sets it apart from other genres?    

It’s true.  I’ve appeared in a few horror movies.  But I’m not really knowledgeable.  If I had to say what sets the genre apart, I’d say blood, lots and lots of blood. But that can also be said of Greek Tragedy.  I’ve played Clytemnestra in The Oresteia.  She gave her husband a bath and hacked him up with a battle axe.  Trust me: he had it coming.  I’ve played Lady MacBeth a couple of times. Now there’s a play with terror, murder, ghosts, and witches. But we don’t call it Horror.  That’s classical theatre. That’s Shakespeare.  Here’s the secret:  it’s fun.  But there’s a great story and glorious language and profound human truths underpinning all that bloody, frightening skullduggery.   I think that’s true in horror movies, too.  There has to be a human truth and a structure or it just isn’t going to matter.  Wes Craven knew that.   

If you were handed the opportunity to create and/or appear in the biopic of any legendary figure in American history, who would it be?   

This one is easy. Since I was 8 years old my idol has been Amelia Earhart! I would love to write that, to gather all the information available and just see if there’s more her story has to tell us.  Thank you for that question. 

What else does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?    

Watch for Michael Smith’s latest film, Relative ( www.whitecity.com ). We start filming in Chicago this summer.  Yes!  It is time to begin again. 

What was the last thing that made you smile?   

The headline in today’s New York Times: “Chauvin Guilty in Floyd’s Death”. Smile isn’t really a strong enough word.  A prayer of thanksgiving is more like it.