Monday, February 6, 2006
Funny Seeing You Here, Dave
Washington native and disappearing comic Dave Chappelle materialized Saturday night for a surprise performance at the DC Improv comedy club on Connecticut Avenue.
Hot off his appearance Friday on the Oprah Winfrey show, where he said stress was what compelled him to walk away from a hit show on Comedy Central, the 32-year-old comic treated an unsuspecting audience of just under 300 to a 40-minute set, said Allyson Jaffe , a manager at the club.
Performing after Comedy Central's Eddie Gossling between the club's early and late shows, Chappelle riffed on the State of the Union speech, Marion Barry and his Oprah appearance, and asked the audience for help in coming up with new material.
"He thanked the audience for all the support that he's had through the situation," Jaffe said. Funny how it all worked out.
Penn Attacks PhotographerThe funeral for actor Chris Penn turned into a minor melee when an unwelcome paparazzo enraged a grieving Sean Penn , the New York Daily News reports.
Penn, the brother of the late "Reservoir Dogs" actor, and Mark Ruffalo , a friend, reportedly tangled with a photographer who intruded on the funeral held Saturday at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, Calif. Ruffalo grabbed the memory card from the photographer's camera, sources told the newspaper.
Chris Penn, 40, was found dead in his apartment on Jan. 24. No cause of death has yet been determined.
Culver City Police said no complaints had been filed.
The mix-up wouldn't be Penn's first with a photog. While married to Madonna in 1987, he spent 32 days in jail for assaulting a photographer.
Feat of ClayHunks of handcrafted clay trounced modern computer-animated images Saturday to take top honors at the 33rd annual Annie Awards, honoring achievements in feature film and television animation.
"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" from DreamWorks Animation SKG took the prize for best feature production. The film, which used computer animation only for some short scenes, beat the digitally animated films "Chicken Little" from Disney and "Madagascar," also from DreamWorks.
The Annie Awards, are presented by the International Animated Film Society, often predict the winner of the Academy Award's best animated film category.
"Were-Rabbit" also captured best directing honors for Nick Park and Steve Box , and won for best music and writing.
The film was produced by Aardman Animations, which introduced Wallace and Gromit in three TV shorts from 1989 to 1995 and made the 2000 animated film "Chicken Run."
Robert Blake, Pauper?Robert Blak e has filed for bankruptcy, 2 1/2 months after a civil court jury found he "intentionally caused" his wife's death and awarded her children $30 million in damages.
Blake was acquitted in March in criminal court of murdering Bonny Lee Bakley . In Friday's filing in Los Angeles, he listed his biggest liabilities as the $30 million judgment, a $1,274,783 million federal tax bill and a $334,337 state tax assessment. The filing says he has assets of $100,001 and $500,000.
Blake's civil attorney, Peter Ezzell , said he believes the former tough-guy actor is broke. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have written off $200,000 in fees," he said.
Ezzell said he capped his legal fees at $250,000 plus costs. The former "Baretta" star's bankruptcy filing indicates he owes the attorney $7,903.
But Eric Dubin , the attorney who represented Bakley's family in the civil trial, questioned whether Blake is financially destitute.
"The concept of Robert Blake doing everything he can to avoid paying was highly anticipated," Dubin said. "And we're ready for it."
Blake rents an apartment in the San Fernando Valley, said his longtime friend, publicist Dale Olson . Blake's adult daughter adopted the girl he had with Bakley, 5-year-old Rosie.
End NoteRep. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt., whose spokesman said he was suffering from symptoms of influenza, collapsed yesterday afternoon in Richford, Vt., at the funeral of a National Guardsman killed in Iraq. The 64-year-old lawmaker was treated at a hospital in St. Albans and released in time to watch the Super Bowl.
-- Compiled by Christian Hettinger from staff and wire reports
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