Park Slope Profiles in Courage: Mike Sacks, Humor Writer

Photo by Justin Bishop 

When humor writer Mike Sacks arrives for our interview at Cocoa Bar, he is over an hour late. He has brought with him a large Dunkin' Donuts coffee, which he refuses to dump even when the teenage barista reminds him that he's not allowed to bring in outside food or drink. Instead, he pulls out an orange and noisily begins to peel it. He wears whiskey-tinted sunglasses, and seems preoccupied with "magical lights" and "special visitors."

Sacks, who has been on the editorial staff at Vanity Fair for the past ten years, has penned a few works that one might find in a local bookstore's humor section: And Here's the Kicker is a collection of extensive interviews with some of the greatest humorists of our time, including David Sedaris, Merrill Markoe, Paul Feig and Dick Cavett. According to literary scuttlebutt, Sacks worked on the book every day for two years, and the effort shows. This past March he released Your Wildest Dreams Within Reason, which is composed of pieces previously published in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and McSweeney’s. Sacks is also a co-author of the carnally informative book Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk, which was a collaboration with members of a comedy group known as The Association For the Betterment of Sex.

Because I could barely get him to answer one question during our brief in-person interview (he's "shy" and doesn't like "personal contact," according to his agent), the following answers were provided via email, sent a week later.

When and why did you move to Park Slope?

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Profiles in Courage: Brian Gatewood, screenwriter and co-writer of The Sitter

Photos via Park Slope Lens

In his pre-Bugaboo and Baby Bjorn days, Brian Gatewood was hard at work on a screenplay about bratty kids and the poor loser responsible for their care. Out in theaters nationwide today, The Sitter stars funny actor Jonah Hill as a suspended college student roped into a babysitting gig.

Life has changed for Brian since he wrote The Sitter with his co-writer Alessandro Tanaka in early 2009. Nowadays he lives on the border of Park Slope and lugs his 2-year old son up three flights of stairs. And when he seeks respite, he locks himself up in the bathroom or hires, well, a sitter.

Recently I spoke to Brian about having his first screenplay produced and what it was like to visit the set in Park Slope. Brian has more movies in the works including one with Clive Owen. As for The Sitter, here is Brian's one sentence pitch: Jonah Hill takes a couple of kids on a coke run, hilarity ensues. So even Jonah Hill gets fucked in Park Slope sometimes.

When and why did you move here?

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Profiles in Courage: Todd Bieber, Guerilla Gardener & Viral Video Sensation

Photo by Park Slope Lens

In 2007, Todd Bieber -- no relation to the tween sensation -- migrated to Park Slope from rural Pennsylvania, where he made commercials for local businesses.  Last winter while cross country skiing in Prospect Park, (Editor's Note: That's pretty badass) he spotted a lost film canister buried in the snowy banks of the Audubon Center. The documented find and ensuing adventure to locate the canister's owners resulted in a series of Youtube videos yielding over 2.5 million hits.

These days, the budding filmmaker shows his outdoorsy roots again in a another video as a vigilante gardener. In late spring, Todd and some friends donned headlamps and snuck into a fenced-in garbage patch on on the corner of 8th Ave and 5th Street. They cleaned the area and planted various flowers, herbs and vegetables. Todd continues to care for the garden, and one of his neighbors said of the effort, "Anyone who doesn't love this garden is demented." Well put, neighbor.

Recently I spoke with Todd about the documented adventures, his job working for the UCB Theater and what kind of movie he would make about Park Slope if given the chance (spoiler: it's about bed bugs).

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