DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley

In this special episode of Dennis Anyone, Dennis is joined by five friends he's known since 1986 when he moved from Arizona to Los Angeles to take part in a 12-week long performing workshop put on by American Center for Musical Theater at held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles. This reunion meal happened in 2017 and was held at the Moorpark, CA home of Kristin Dahl and her husband Eric and the other attendees are Sherri Fleming, Karole Forman, Dennis Osborne and Jon Thomas. The group talks about what that intensive workshop meant for them in their lives and share what they remember about that time and each other. Other topics include: bad auditions, dream roles and teachers that hurl insults, play mind games and worse in order to toughen you up for show business.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by TCM host Dave Karger to discuss his new book, 50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars and Filmmakers On Their Career Defining Wins, which features delicious new interviews with icons like Nicole Kidman, Jane Fonda, Martin Scorsese and Mel Brooks as well as lesser-known winners like Precious screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher, documentarian Jessica Yu and sound mixer Kevin O'Connell who was nominated 20 times before finally taking home the gold for Heartbreak Ridge. Dave talks about how some winners revealed to him that they were going through tough times in their personal lives on the same night they were achieving Oscar glory as well as how the win impacted their career. Dave also talks about some of the more dishy stories in the book; like how Joan Crawford tried to horn in on Rita Moreno's Oscar glory, how Marlee Matlin was in Betty Ford for rehab when she got nominated and how John Travolta's "Adela Nazeem" gaffe cause one nominee to hit the flask. Other topics include: how awesome it was to write for Entertainment Weekly in the 1990s, the interview subject that intimidated him, how he made the transition from print journalist to TV host, how being a nice guy has served him well in Hollywood and why he's totally in awe of actors. Dave also plays a lightning round of movie-related questions from the Observation Dec, which produces musings about Porky's, Sixteen Candles, Singing in the Rain and Broadcast News.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of last year; their favorites, the moments that have stuck with them and the movies they just weren’t that into. The films discussed include Barbie, Anatomy of a Fall, Dicks: The Musical, A Good Person, Cassandro, Oppenheimer, NYAD, Poor Things, Origin, Passages, The Iron Claw, Past Lives, 80 For Brady, Book Club 2, Rustin, Ferrari, The Teacher’s Lounge, Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?, Problemista, Kokomo City, You Hurt My Feelings, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, Monica, Chronicles of a Wandering Saint, Theater Camp, Wonka, The Color Purple, Cocaine Bear, Red, White and Royal Blue, Maestro, Knock at the Cabin and Killers of the Flower Moon. Dennis also talks about getting to attend the world premier of J Lo's visual album This Is Me...Now and getting caught up in the j Lo of it all.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic at The Queer Review, and actor-writer-film enthusiast Drew Droege to talk about the movies of last year; their favorites, the moments that have stuck with them and the movies they just weren’t that into. The films discussed include The Zone of Interest, American Fiction, M3GAN, Bottoms, All of Us Strangers, Somewhere In Queens, May December, The Holdovers, Fast X, Fallen Leaves and Monster. They also talk about what a great year it was for cinema generally and Dennis shares a story involving a fan of the short film he made with Glenn Gaylord and Nadya Ginsburg ten years ago called If We Took a Holiday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs8GMjyiYGQ

Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright and director Luke Yankee whose new play Marilyn, Mom, and Me will have its World Premier on  February 16th at the International City Theatre in Long Beach, CA. The play is about Luke's mother, Oscar-winning actress Eileen Heckart and her close friendship Marilyn Monroe while they were shooting the movie Bus Stop together in the mid-1950's and how that relationship affected Luke's own feelings about his mother. Luke recalls that whenever he would mention Marilyn to his mother, she would burst into tears and how that ultimately inspired him to write the play. Luke also talks about the extensive research he did, the Cartier earrings that Marilyn gave to his mother (that eventually were left to Mary Tyler Moore after Heckhart died) and the thrill he got recently when he learned that his mother was indeed at one of the Ella Fitzgerald shows that Marilyn pressured the Mocambo club to host in 1955. Other topics include: Heckart's negative reaction to Luke when he came out and how she eventually came around, what it's like to cast actors to play your mother and yourself, the only Hollywood star who intimidated his mother (hint, it was Bette Davis) and the moment during rehearsal where he got so choked up, he had to step away to collect himself.

www.lukeyankee.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author Curtis Chin to discuss his new memoir Everything I Learned, I Learned In A Chinese Restaurant, which is about his upbringing as one of six kids raised by parents who owned a Chinese restaurant in downtown Detroit called Chung's. Curtis talks about what a magical place Chung's was and what it was like to visit it recently when it was sealed up and abandoned. He also recalls how his parents encouraged him to talk to and befriend everyone who came to Chung's and how that openness has helped him in his life. He also talks about his deep love for his hometown of Detroit even though he knew five people who had been murdered by the time he was 18, including Vincent Chin, whose much-publicized case inspired Curtis to become a writer. Curtis also talks about realizing he was gay and enjoying himself with a stolen International Male catalog in the walk-in freezer of Chung's because that was the only place he could be alone. Other topics include: going to Boys State as a teen, being a young Republican like Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties, the movie star who came into Chung's and was a total jerk, why his mother was so pissed at Ronald Reagan, coming out to his parents in a Bob's Big Boy and the stories from readers he's heard on his extensive book tour that move him to tears.

www.curtisfromdetroit.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by novelist Tim Murphy to discuss his latest novel Speech Team, which he describes as a book about "small T trauma." The book is about four friends in their 40's who were on their high school speech team who reunite and decide to confront the teacher who led the group and said some f-ed up things to each of them back in the 80's. Tim talks about how this is his most autobiographical novel yet and how he actually prefers to write about characters who are less close to home. Dennis, who was also on his high school speech team in Arizona, compares notes and memories with Tim about what the experience meant to them and they each recall the different "cuttings" they performed at tournaments. Dennis also asks Tim about his earlier novel, Christadora, and how he was able to write so vividly and accurately about the worlds of addiction, recovery and early AIDS activism. Other topics include: his substack Caftan Chronicles where he does long-form interviews with gay men of a certain age, the Phil Collins song that reminds him of his favorite speech team memory, how he sometimes cried when he writes and the pride he takes in having "stuck with writing all these years out of some base belief that something would come out of it."

https://thecaftanchronicles.substack.com/

Dennis is joined joined via Zoom by the Fab Five from the new gay webseries Open To It, which is about a happy Weho couple named Greg and Cam who decide it might be fun and exciting to open things up sexually,...and hijinks ensue. Playing the game with Dennis are writer-director-EP Frank Arthur Smith who plays Greg, EP-director Greg Wolf, EP-director Matt Hartman, actor Tim Wardell who plays Cam and actor Jason Caceres who plays Princeton the irrepressible twink who shakes things up. The questions in play are "What's something you witnessed or experienced where you thought, 'Only in Weho?' and "What's a story from your life that might make a good episode of Open To It?" The answers involve everything from fitting room hookups to dogs on the bed during sex to getting frisky in the bushes by the Abbey.

Watch Open To It at OutTV.dom and learn more at www.opentoitseries.com .

And to book a virtual game night for your crew hosted by Dennis, visit www.youdontknowmylife.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Adam Sank, the star and writer of the one-man show Adam Sank: Bad Dates, which plays Oscar's in Palm Springs on January 11th and 12th. Adam talks about how the show grew out of his stand up act and evolved into a much richer, more theatrical experience than anything he had done previously. He also talks about people always asking him why he's single at 52 and he's come to not care whether or not he's ever in a romantic relationship again. Other topics include: his best day job working at the New York Times, what it's like the date the hottest guy around, his first gay bar, overcoming tragedy, why good verbal is important in porn, that time he worked the door at an underwear party, his daily Facebook unfriending ritual and why Bad Dates is the most meaningful thing he's ever done on stage. www.adamsank.com

For his first episode of 2024, Dennis is joined via Zoom by his pals actor-writer Craig Chester (Swoon, Adam & Steve), writer-showrunner Jack Kenny (Warehouse 13, The Book of Daniel), author Byron Lane (Big Gay Wedding, A Star Is Bored) & Terry Ray (actor and co-founder of The Bent Theater Company) for a few rollicking rounds of You Don't Know My Life! Apart from all being brilliantly talented and funny, all four guests currently live in Palm Springs so Dennis came up with special Palm Springs-related questions just for the occasion. The stories and musings that emerge are sexy, sun-soaked and hysterical; from skinny-dipping on New Years Eve to octogenarian orgies to accidentally mistaking Berry Manilow for Rod Stewart at a Mexican restaurant. To book a virtual game night for your crew hosted by Dennis, visit www.youdontknowmylife.com

For his final episode of 2023, Dennis is joined by filmmaker Todd Verow and actor Guillermo Diaz from the new gay thriller You Can't Stay Here, which is about a repressed photographer who becomes obsessed with visiting the gay cruising area the Ramble in New York's Central Park. The producing team recall how they first connected over Instagram, with Guillermo sending Todd a message that said "I like your work. Let's do something together." The pair also talk about what it was like to shoot in the Ramble and sometimes having to wait for strangers to finish having sex so they could get their shot. Todd also talks about how he's managed to stay so prolific as a filmmaker, how his feelings about depicting sex have evolved over the years and what his favorite part of the filmmaking process is. Guillermo talks about his decision to be out and take chances in his career, what it was like to be on Scandal and the thrill of recently directing his own movie, Dear Luke, Love Me, which is due out in 2024. Other topics include: how the film got its title and theme song, the manager who told Guillermo he needed to up his on-screen murdering to counteract his gayness, the real-life Raccoon Man who appears in the film...with his raccoons...and as a tribute to the year's end, Dennis, Todd and Guillermo share their own personal highlights of 2023.

In this special holiday episode, Dennis shares excerpts from the comedy game show Dennis Hensley's The MisMatch Game from December 9th and the LA LGBT Center's Renberg Theatre. The panelists are Nadya Ginsburg (Cher), Dante (Christopher Lloyd), Nicole Parker (Celine Dion), Rebekah Kochan (Jennifer Coolidge), Felix Pire (Silverlake Santa) & Tom Lenk (Heidi Klum). Enjoy questions about celebs that are ripe for the skewering like George Santos, the Trumps, Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton and a goosebump-inducing version of "Oh Holy Night" as performed by Celine Dion (Nicole Parker.) 

Dennis is joined via Zoom by writer-performer John Hill to talk about his show Wellness Check, which is a mix of standup comedy and original songs, all overseen by John's chihuahua Pete who sits atop the piano and judges both John and the audience. John talks about the real life events that inspired the show, like getting sober during the pandemic, and the hot mic moment that nearly cost his job as Andy Cohen's daily cohost on Sirius/XM radio. He also recalls one of his earliest performing jobs, singing country music at 6 Flags in San Antonio, TX at 16 and how everyone in the show was sexed up and DTF. He also talks about working as a writer-producer on TV shows like Top Chef, Project Runway and Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D List and why he's in no hurry to return to that type of work. Other topics include: his recent fitness journey and wanting to be a "slut pig one more time before it all goes to shit," his dog Pete's naked homophobia, performing on Broadway in shows like Hairspray and The Boy From Oz, kissing Hugh Jackman, the trouble with Benzos, learning to live in gratitude, getting the doll of his dreams for Christmas and that time a fellow cast member at Disneyland told him, "You are the youngest bitter old queen I’ve ever seen in my life."

@johnarthurhill on Instagram

Dennis is joined via Zoom by four different guests, each of whom have products that are perfect for holiday give gifting. First up is Michael DeMartino from Pillow Top, a line of queer-centric pillows and accessories. Michael talks about why he went into pillows, the thrill of having his leather harness pillow featured on Netflix's How To Build a Sex Room and the sexy hunk bowling ball he designed himself. Next up is author Eddie Shapiro whose third book of Broadway interviews Here's To The Ladies is perfect for the musical theater lover in your life. Eddie talks about what he's observed about the demands on being a Broadway diva, the magic of live theater and being invited by interviewee Faith Prince to come check out her new show Boop. Then we have Dudley Beene, the founder of Studley Duds, a line of chic and campy caftans. Dudley talks about why he decided to go into the caftans, his decision to create designs inspired by Dolly Parton and the Golden Girls and why having good-looking friends is helpful when it comes to marketing. And finally, we have Patrick Marks who started making and decorating sugar cookies during the pandemic and discovered he was good enough at it to start his own business, Cookie Patch. Patrick talks about going from knowing nothing about baking cookies to creating Instagram-ready masterpieces thanks to YouTube tutorials, learning cooking terminology like flooding and piping and taking inspiration from Charles M. Shultz and Peanuts. And all four guests offer advice to other would-be entrepreneurs and talk about what taking on these creative projects has brought to their lives.

www.thepillowshop.com

www.studleyduds.com

@cookiepatch2 on Instagram

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Mark S. King for Part 2 of their conversation about Mark's new book My Fabulous Disease as well as his previous memoir A Place Like This. In Part 2, Mark talks about building massive box kites with his father, how his father encouraged risk-taking in life and how surviving the AIDS crisis prepared him to deal with his father's passing. Mark also talks about one of his most widely-read columns; about the popular 2004 bareback porn film Dawson's 20-Load Weekend and what it said about gay culture at that time. He also talks about the column where he imagined going shopping for socks with the legendarily confrontational writer and activist Larry Kramer and then hearing from Kramer himself. Other topics include: meeting and marrying his husband Michael, being settled, monogamous and 'right-sized,' the strangest place he's ever been recognized and the thrill of having Elton John and David Furnish sing him Happy Birthday...in harmony, no less. www.myfabulousdisease.com

Dennis is joined via Zoom by filmmaker Billy Luther to discuss his film Frybread Face and Me, which comes out in select theaters and on Netflix on the day after Thanksgiving, November 24th. The film is a coming-of-age story set on the Navajo reservation in Northern Arizona and is based on Billy's own experience of going to stay with his grandmother on the reservation when he was about 11. Billy talks about the parts of himself that he put into his lead character of Benny, how he was able to assemble the perfect cast, developing the project through the Sundance Lab and transitioning to narrative storytelling after years of making documentaries like Miss Navajo. Dennis and Billy also bond over growing up in Northern Arizona and going to the movies at the Roxy Theater in Dennis's hometown of Holbrook (Billy attending high school in the next town over Winslow and was actually class president twice. Other topics include: the deliciousness of fry bread, the gloriousness of Arizona skies, Billy's childhood touchstones like G.I Joe action figures, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Stevie Nicks and the movie Starman, his 20-year friendship with Taika Waititi, working on the TV show Dark Winds and waiting on a lot of tables on his way to making his cinematic dreams come true. 

Dennis is joined via Zoom from Atlanta by author Mark S. King to talk about his new book My Fabulous Disease: Chronicles of a Gay Survivor, which he describes as his "greatest hits" from years writing columns for outlets like Poz, Frontiers and Windy City Times. In the interview, Mark expounds on some of the experiences he shares in the book, like the time he won a car on The Price is Right at 18 while his 26-year old boyfriend cheered from the audience and his audacious, loud-and-proud coming out as a senior in high school in Bossier City, Louisiana. He also recalls the time when he was working at a gala event for the Shanti organization and his AIDS-stricken former boss, Daniel P. Warner, showed up with Miss America Leanza Cornett as his date, causing jaws to drop and tears to flow. Mark also talks about converting to Mormonism as a young man, largely so he could star in the musical Saturday's Warrior, how his jock brother David kept him from getting beat up at school and what it was like when protease inhibitors came out and changed everything. Other topics include: Mark's getting sober and finding out he's actually a nice guy, getting called out for his shallowness by his therapist, his column "Your Mother Liked It Bareback," which caused something of a furor and playing Trivial Pursuit with Rock Hudson before sleeping with him...and yes, there was a Doris Day question.

www.marksking.com

In Part 2 of Dennis's interview with Dick DeBartolo, the writer talks about what it was like to juggle two dream jobs; writing for Mad Magazine and The Match Game TV show...at the same time! He also shares story after story of the good will he receives when a stranger finds out he's "Mad's maddest writer." He's gotten everything from airplane upgrades to house seats at a sold-out show. Dick also talks about his current work as a gadget expert on various TV shows as well as his own podcast The Giz Wiz. And on the subject of The Match Game, Dick shares stories about all the regulars; Charles Nelson Reilly, Brett Somers, Gene Reyburn and Richard Dawson. Other topics include: his secret to staying productive and creative, producer Mark Goodson's jaw-dropping art collection, Alfred E. Neuman's origin story, that really nice thing Betty White did for him, that time a Match Game producer informed him, "Standards and Practices are very unhappy" and why he thinks the fans who talk to him about Mad love it so so much.

www.gizwiz.biz

Dennis is joined via Zoom by one of his heroes, comedy writer Dick DeBartolo who worked for both Mad Magazine and The Match Game TV show...at the same time! Dick talks about how he landed both jobs, how they actually complimented each other and what it was like to go back and forth between the two offices in Manhattan. Recalling Match Game, Dick describes how dry the questions were when he started and how it was his idea to make the questions silly, which basically saved the show. Dennis also has lots of questions for Dick about his beloved Mad magazine, like who exactly was it for? And how did they create parodies of movies that were still in theaters without VHS tapes to refer to? And what does one of Dick's Mad magazine features look like typed on a page? Dick also talks about his personal life and recalls how he met his now-husband Dennis at the gym back in 1980...because of Mad. Other topics include: Dick's hilariously tender relationship with Mad founder Bill Gaines, Dick and Bill's secret Statue of Liberty spy adventure, Gay Sundays at Studio 54, what game show producing legends Mark Goodson and Bill Todman were like behind the scenes, why celebrities like Michael J. Fox, June Lockhart and Viggo Mortenson loved being parodied in Mad and that time Dick pretended to be Alfred E. Neuman's campaign manager when Alfred was running for president. More next week in Part 2.

https://gizwiz.me/

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Dion Labriola, the filmmaker and the subject of the documentary Dear Ike: Lost Letters to a Teen Idol, which is screening on World Animation Day on PBS SoCal and is also available for streaming on PBS.org. The movie documents Dion's teenage obsession with the child actor Ike Eisenmann from Escape to Witch Mountain and also a Doublemint gum commercial that was ubiquitous is the late 1970's. As a teen, Dion had a vision for an animated movie that he wanted to make and he was determined to convince his iold Ike to be one of the voices. In fact, he was so determined that he spent much of his teen years trying to track Ike down. Dion talks about what it was like to eventually be face-to-face with his teen idol, how his intense focus on the project related to his being a closeted gay teen, his attempt to get Larry Wilcox from CHiPs to help him get to Ike and the art teacher Pat Bishop who gave him a safe haven in school. Other topics include: that time Geraldo Rivera came to Dion's hometown of Akron, Ohio to chase after a pimp, Battle of the Network Stars-era cuties like Mike Lookinland, Gregory Harrison and Willie Aames, the fig gelato Dion had on his 30th birthday that he still dreams about and that time the comedian Carrot Top visited Dion in his deejay booth in a Chicago nightclub.

www.dearike.com