Yar! 'Tis "National Talk Like a Pirate Day", me hearties. But I'm not going to talk like a pirate when I answer these questions from the newly engaged Andy, savvy? Here we go.
1. Hey nerd! What's the deal with comics?
Comics themselves aren't inherently good. There's a lot of potential to the medium, and when they're good they're very, very good, and when they're bad they make you want to claw your eyes out. Comics have potential though because of the juxstaposition of the written word and visual images. Scott McCloud put it better than I ever could in his book "Understanding Comics", which is a very good read. Also, superheroes are cool because they're adolescent male escapist power fantasies, and couldn't we all use a little power and escape?
2. What were your proudest and most humbling Slow Kids moments?
Most humbling was probably before my very first Slow Kids performance, at parent's weekend. We were going to be doing a sketch I had written and I had absolutely no faith in my sketch or myself in any capacity. It turned out okay, but to this day it's the most stage fright I ever experienced.
Proudest was either a) Our senior show, which at the time just seemed like the best thing ever, b) Jeremiah Eagleeye, which was entirely conceived and executed by me and has an elegance to it that really resonates with people, or c) Opening for the Abbeys senior year. There's nothing like walking into a situation expecting to be hated by a thousand people and then they absolutely eat your shit up.
3. For all of us unbetrothed out there, how does getting married change things?
I think it depends on whether you lived together first. Not a lot has changed for Brooke and I. I feel closer to her, and I feel a lot more anxiety that somehow, someday I'm going to screw this up, but that's about it. Also, her name changed. That reminds me - Moran, Taylor, or Taylor-Moran?
4. What is your dream job?
My dream job is as follows - I live in a beachhouse with my family in an area where it's always 74 degrees, Farenheit. Every day I wake up and go down to the beach with my laptop, and sit on the beach and write comics, movies, TV shows and plays, which are then published and/or performed. I am famous enough to occasionally make it onto a magazine cover, but nowhere near famous enough to be put on a magazine cover if I don't want it.
5. If any of the Slow Kids alumni make it to the big time, would you try to work with them after their ascent? If yes, in what capacity?
The answer to that is Hells fucking yes. As Deuce has said, Slow Kids needs to be set up as an entertainment dynasty like the Harvard Lampoon, or Second City or the Groundlings. It needs to get to the point where when one of us makes it, the newspapers say "Former Slow Kid" and people understand what that means. That said, I will work with any of the Slow Kids who make it in any capacity, and I hope they feel the same about me.
Posted by Justin at September 19, 2003 01:36 PMTo answer your question: I am 99% sure my name will change to Melissa Taylor. A Taylor-Moran kind of sounds like a catamoran or something like that. However, while I am eager to get rid of a last name that is constantly mispronounced ("Morin" or "Morgan" or, most commonly, "Moron"), there are something like 800,000 Melissa Taylors in the world. Which would make it difficult for all my fans who google-stalk me constantly to keep up-to-date on all my accomplishments.
I figured, though, if I manage to get published after I'm married, I may just go ahead and publish under "Melissa Moran Taylor" (no hyphen). I'm not sure why this appeals to me, but my advisor does this, as did a grad student friend of mine in college, and it seems fine to me. Just like Mary Tyler Moore. And Kristen Scott Thomas. And countless other ultra-cool celebrities. Unlike Madonna, and Prince, and Tiffany. I'm better than one name. I'm THREE.
Miss ya!
Posted by: Melissa on September 21, 2003 1:33 PM