Emperor Norton
@ashleynaftule
Playwright. Associate Artistic Director at Space55 in downtown Phoenix. Freelance journalist. Check out my radio play "Radio Free Europa":
The bit in The Prisoner's "The Chimes of Big Ben" where Number 6 submits an obviously dismantled whole-ass BOAT called "Escape" to The Village's art show and everyone goes "wow what does it mean tho" is so funny
Yeah man, the high bar of "don't fucking sexually assault anyone" is insurmountable, God Mode difficulty level, like climbing three Everests back-to-back, all dudes go home, politics is over for you
"Toomorrow" (Val Guest, 1970). Aliens come to Earth to harvest the one thing humans have made that can save their species: Olivia Newton-John singing bubblegum pop. You can almost see a panicked film producer in the background of every scene turning a big dial labeled GROOVY. Very fun, very silly
And the ending! It's been awhile since I've seen something that left me feeling like this:
"Black Mamba" (Belinda M. Wlson, 2016). A priest gets menaced in Hell by demons w/ giant dicks. A dude who can't swim parties w/ mermaids. A dad gets attacked by a dragon in his monster baby's nursery. These are a few of the MANY insane, inexplicable things that happen in this crazy fucking film
"The Protector" (James Glickenhaus, 1985). The film that dares to ask what would happen if you teamed up 1980's Jackie Chan- the most dynamic action star to ever live- with an out of shape Italian guy who says fuck a lot and won't shut up about how much he loves Asian massage parlors.
"The Furious" (Kenji Tanigaki, 2025). A relentless, perfectly choreographed pinball game of bodies colliding & pummeling & perforating off each other (w/ enough sincerity AND goofiness in the mix to give these fights some emotional stakes & levity). Action movie of the year and it's not even close
One upside to visiting the hospital—there’s a hawk perched on a fourth floor window sill that the nurses say hangs out there all the time. He’s been vibing there for like 10 minutes while I stare at him and snap pics like a paparazzi
Still thinking about that Ennis Punisher comic where the world gets destroyed in a nuclear holocaust and Frank finds the bunker full of billionaires and scientists who let it happen
Putting aside the obviously ghoulish digital necromancy, I'll never understand what possible appeal this can hold. I love art because I'm trying to go beyond myself- see and hear and experience things that my own imagination cannot conjure up. I want to be surprised. This is antithetical to that
Been working on a thing for a long time and it's finally in rehearsals. Got a new play- PEPPERMINT BEEHIVE- coming out in May about the gentrification of downtown Phoenix (plus: there's puppets! Dance numbers! An insane ventriloquist cop!). If you live in AZ, come check it out
tfw you're in a meeting with the Boss and you're sweating so hard your wire mic starts feedbacking
Kevin Smith dresses like a man who's been afflicted with an ancient Romani curse that will kill him instantly if he even onces dresses like an adult. Don't even THINK about not putting on shorts so voluminous you could smuggle a fax machine in them, the dark spirits of vengeance will strike you down
JD Vance going to the Vatican for a private meeting with Pope Leo: