Leon Acord's Blog, page 3

LISTEN: Leon Acord on Take 2 Radio 12/11/23

I had a great time chatting with Anthony, Candice & Vinny on Soaps in Review on Take 2 Radio. Although I was there to plug Expletives Not Deleted, we talked about a lot more in our fun, freewheeling conversation!

And what do you think -- which fan base is more loyal, soaps or horror films?

Click ,HERE to listen!

Take 2 Radio was one of the first supporters of Old Dogs & New Tricks back in the day, and I truly appreciate that they haven't fogotten me in the years since!

Thanks to Anthony, Candice & Vinny -- and to producer Pam Powers!

#####

,

WATCH: Live with John Fisher at Fabulosa Books

I had a blast chatting with Theatre Rhinoceros' artistic director John Fisher at Fabulosa Books in San Francisco's Castro District (my old neighborhood) about Expletives Not Deleted (among other things!).

https://youtu.be/tKk0EI2dVTg?si=0J0-SzMqTX1OMoI8

Enjoy video highlights above, and photos from the events below.

Thank you to John, Alvin Orloff of Fabulosa Books, and all my Bay Area friends who showed up in support! It was great seeing everyone!

[image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]

#####

Burgeoning curmudgeon (or is that queer-mudgeon?) Leon Acord takes on current events (MAGA, cancel culture), modern-day life (precocious parents, technology), pop culture (theatre critics, closeted actors), and more in Expletives Not Deleted, his new collection of bitchy yet bubbly essays, all written in the same acerbic voice that made his memoir SUB-LEBRITY a five-star Amazon bestseller.

Buy it ,,,HERE or order it wherever books are sold!

Watch: Live with John Fisher at Fabulosa Books

I had a blast chatting with Theatre Rhinoceros' artistic director John Fisher at Fabulosa Books in San Francisco's Castro District (my old neighborhood) about Expletives Not Deleted (among other things!).

https://youtu.be/yupeodCct68?si=OxCqrXcSgkl10XW4

Enjoy video highlights above, and photos from the events below.

Thank you to John, Alvin Orloff of Fabulosa Books, and all my Bay Area friends who showed up in support! It was great seeing everyone!

[image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error][image error]

#####

Burgeoning curmudgeon (or is that queer-mudgeon?) Leon Acord takes on current events (MAGA, cancel culture), modern-day life (precocious parents, technology), pop culture (theatre critics, closeted actors), and more in Expletives Not Deleted, his new collection of bitchy yet bubbly essays, all written in the same acerbic voice that made his memoir SUB-LEBRITY a five-star Amazon bestseller.

Buy it ,,,HERE or order it wherever books are sold!

Upcoming Bookstore Appearances!

When I released my first book, SUB-LEBRITY back in 2020, the pandemic had only just begun.

So the "book tour," such as it was, was conducted via remote, and "live readings" were recorded from my living room and posted on YouTube.

So I'm thrilled to be making a few real, life in-store appearances at a couple of my favorite bookstores in the coming weeks to discuss and promote Expletives Not Deleted!

I'm also more than a little nervous. Fortunately, I'll have a couple of friends on hand with me!

On Saturday, Oct. 28 at 5pm, my good friend and Old Dogs & New Tricks colleague Amanda Gari joins me in a conversation at Village Well Books & Coffee in Culver City, CA. We'll talk about the book, Old Dogs, politics, and anything else that pops into our heads! Amanda gives great conversation, so it should be a fun time!

Then, on Monday Nov. 6 at 7pm, I'll be back in my "spiritual hometown" of San Francisco, at Fabulosa Books in the Castro District. Carved in Stone director & artistic director of Theatre Rhinoceros John Fisher will lead the conversation about my book. John is incredibly quick-witted, so I look forward to a spirted chat!

I'll also read a short chapter from the book, sign copies & answer questions at both events.

Admission is free to both events.

For more info on the Village Well event in Culver City, or to RSVP, please visit ,bit.ly/LAatVWLive!

Click ,bit.ly/LAatFabulosa to learn more about the event at Fabulosa in San Francisco & to RSVP!

If you're in southern California or San Francisco when I'm there, I really hope you'll stop in and say hello. Thanks!

#####

Burgeoning curmudgeon (or is that queer-mudgeon?) Leon Acord takes on current events (MAGA, cancel culture), modern-day life (precocious parents, technology), pop culture (theatre critics, closeted actors), and more in Expletives Not Deleted, his new collection of bitchy yet bubbly essays, all written in the same acerbic voice that made his memoir SUB-LEBRITY a five-star Amazon bestseller.

Buy it ,,HERE or order it wherever books are sold!

ToXic Twitter: Time to X the X for Good!

After recently reading about the memos from supporters of Florida governor/repugnant pudding sucker Ron DeSantis, advising him on strategy for the upcoming Republican debate (“defend Trump,” “show emotion”), I just couldn’t resist.

I simply had to ignore my own advice, go to Ronnie’s Twitter – I mean, X – profile, and ridicule his sad, sorry ass publicly.

Except … when I got there, I saw something so shocking, so disgusting, it stopped me dead in my tracks.

There it was, in the upper-right corner of his profile.

According to toxic Twitter – I mean, X -- I was following Ron DeSantis!

What the hell?

Even my casual followers know I would never, ever follow that smug, high-heel-loving, sexist, homophobic, racist asshole. Not in a million years. Not for a million bucks.

And yet there it was. Somehow, someone at toxic Twitter – I mean X – had marked me as a follower of Mr. Don’t Say Gay.

Frankly, methinks that is the last straw. It’s time to at least lock up my Twitter account, if not delete it forever.

After all, this isn’t the first issue I’ve had with the cesspool that Twitter has become.

Lately, whenever I would tweet anything critical of the GOP from my phone, I’d immediately get a prompt from X, telling me that it was unable to deliver said tweet. And no matter how many times I’d hit “resend,” it simply would not get posted.

Curious. It’s almost as if someone at X is protecting the oh-so-delicate feelings of conservative snowflakes, isn’t it?

I’ve also clearly been “shadow banned” on the site. In other words, I can tweet all day long. But nobody sees my tweets.

How else could one explain why my tweets get no reactions, no responses, except from the same one or two people? I can participate in endless “Writers Lifts,” sharing and promoting other authors, and … crickets.

It’s not surprising. After all, Mr. Musk admitted the platform shadow-bans customers he doesn’t like, and that his engineers “aren’t quite sure” how to undo it. Or at least he claims.

After booting me off the site more than once during the past several years for mouthing off to Trump and his merry band of misfits, shadow-banning may be X’s way of keeping me in check ... ?

But then, how does one explain the right-wing zealots (whom I don’t follow) who show up in my feed occasionally, spewing their right-wing bullshit? They haven’t tagged me in their tweet. So why are they there? Why am I seeing their nonsense?

I can’t find an explanation for that one.

The Washington Post also recently disclosed that X “throttles” traffic to sites that Musk personally dislikes, or that have been critical of his disastrous takeover of the platform.

So, if you click on a link to, say, the New York Times, or Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, or Substack – expect a five-second delay before you connect to that site.

Click on a Fox News link, and there’s no delay at all.

Curious-er and curious-er.

Musk claims they are “working” to end such delays – but honestly, at this point, can we believe a single god-damned word that comes out of Musk’s mouth?

Musk also recently announced he’s getting rid of the “block” feature on X. He believes that just “muting” a person should be enough. That news is sure to delight stalkers, vengeful exes, trolls, and bullies all around the world, and make X even more toxic than it already is!

And boy, has it become toxic! Too many fake accounts, too many trolls, too much hate speech & bullying, and far too little moderation.

The blue-mark fiasco. Mass layoffs. Public arguments between Musk and his ex-employees. The childish feud between Musk and Zuckerberg. (Mark, you do know he had no intention of ever facing you in a ring, right?)

Is it any wonder that advertisers are abandoning the platform in droves? Who can blame them? It all leaves a shitty taste in the mouth.

(And don't get me started on Musk's pro-Russia stance and his interference with Ukraine's war against its invaders. Google it.)

So yeah, I think I’m done, too.

So, do I delete my account outright, or simply lock it?

Alas, Twitter’s algorithm is so broken that locking an account actually increases and improves engagement! Seriously! Musk explains it as “some issues with the system.” But honestly, how fucked up can X be for that to happen?

So, it looks like deleting my X account outright is the way to go.

Except even that is not without risk, either. Musk plans to allow new users to adopt handles of closed accounts. Do I really want to risk someone coming along, claiming to be “IamLeonAcord”?

I’ll risk it.

Account deleted!

Man, I feel like I just took a shower.

Hope to see you over on ,Threads!

#####

Burgeoning curmudgeon (or is that queer-mudgeon?) Leon Acord takes on current events (MAGA, cancel culture), modern-day life (precocious parents, technology), pop culture (theatre critics, closeted actors), and more in Expletives Not Deleted, his new collection of bitchy yet bubbly essays, all written in the same acerbic voice that made his memoir SUB-LEBRITY a five-star Amazon bestseller.

Buy it ,,HERE

SAG Strike: AMPTP Greed Shuts Down Hollywood

It's a common assumption outside New York and Hollywood. That if you're an actor, you're probably rich. Alas. The majority of actors do not make enough money to survive on acting alone.

Almost every performer I know now has a day job, or side gigs, or other sources of income. (Why do you think so many of us are on Cameo?)

Many don’t talk about it, because they want folks (and the industry) to see them as successful actors.

But in truth, only 5-15% of SAG members now earn the required $26,470 from acting each year to quality for the union’s health plan!

So it’s particularly galling to hear Disney’s Bob Iger (who makes $31 million a year plus perks) claim that SAG’s demand for an 11% raise is unrealistic (since we haven't had one since the 5% increase that came from the 1980 actors' strike).

Let’s review the five-year incomes of some other Hollywood bigwigs who think SAG & WGA are being greedy:

While most of us struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic, pay for top execs skyrocketed, climbing to $1.43 billion.

And this isn’t just happening in show business. According to reports, CEO salaries in America have increased 940-1322% since 1978. No, that’s not a typo. 940-1322%

Actors aren’t the only ones at risk of being replaced on the job by AI and forced to live in a “gig economy.” The working class continue to make less and less, especially when you factor in the higher cost of ... well, just about everything these day.

That’s why SAG president Fran Drescher rightly declares this strike is a fight for all of us. That’s why she instantly became a heroine for organized labor across the nation. America's working class knows it's true. And that it's time for a change.

And while I still hate The Nanny, I now love The Franny.

Of course, this isn’t the first time AMPTP has cried poverty. They once claimed cable TV would never become profitable; then they said the same about home video. And now, they’d like us to believe it about the streamers.

Hogwash.

It is beyond insulting that Netflix, with revenues of $21.6 billion in 2022, claims it can’t afford to give an inch in negotiations.

If AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) is actually losing money (and it’s not), it isn’t the fault of actors and writers. It’s due to the “magical thinking” of its greedy CEOs and other high-ranking, overpaid execs.

So no. Unless you’re on the A-List, it’s increasingly impossible to make a living as an actor in today’s streaming environment.

Hell, it was hard enough to pull off back in the “good old days,” when network shows ran for 22 episodes a season, and paid residuals for reruns.

But now, series on streamers produce only 8-10 episodes per season, and don't pay residuals for “repeat viewing.”

There’s no longer much of a syndication market. Nowadays, when series on other platforms end, the "reruns" are picked up by those streamers, not your local TV stations.

So actors can no longer rely on those TV residuals from repeat viewers. And since the streamers won’t reveal viewer numbers anyway, it's not like you can calculate residuals anyway. And that must change.

It’s time to overhaul the old contracts into something that reflects what today’s show business has become.

(It’s no better for writers. Back in 2013, only 33% of writers were paid union minimum. Today, over half the writers only make union scale. And because of those shorter seasons, series only need a few writers, instead of a full “writer’s room.”)

It’s time for AMPTP to pay up. It’s time for streamers to come clean and share the numbers. It’s time for producers to stop dreaming of replacing actors with AI. It’s time for common-sense regulations on “self-tape” auditions.

But don’t hold your breath.

Based on AMPTP’s refusal to even entertain many of SAG’s demands, the strikes aren’t ending soon. Reports suggest producers plan to hold out until the new year, in hopes of actually breaking the unions. Or at least making the writers and actors turn against their unions.

But despite a few ingrates (like Stephen Amell, whining that he can’t promote his new series, and Sarah Silverman, who called actors working in SAG-approved interim agreements “scabs”), the majority of us are standing tall, proud, and strong with our union, and with WGA.

The Franny states that SAG will call AMPTP’s bluff and stick it out as long as it takes.

And it appears the majority of Americans support our demands.

Well, with no auditions on the horizon, I now have time to not only promote my new book, but to start writing the next one as well!

But all kidding aside, what the CEOs are doing to the industry is a disgrace.

After two blockbuster weekends at the cinemas, thanks to the one-two punch of Barbie and Oppenheimer, Hollywood finally seemed posed to move past the challenges posed by COVID starting back in 2020. People are going to movies again! It’s feeling like an old-fashioned summer-movie season!

But that recovery is now doomed to be short-lived. With productions shut down, and no new films in the pipeline, theatres will soon be empty all over again. Theatre owners will again face tough financial times if not bankruptcy – all while Iger et al. lounge on their yachts and call us the greedy ones.

AMPTP will try to make you think the writers and actors are to blame in the weeks and months to come. But they only have themselves, and their greed, to blame.

And it won’t end until they come to their senses and return to the bargaining table with some realistic counter-offers!

#####

Burgeoning curmudgeon (or is that queer-mudgeon?) Leon Acord takes on current events (MAGA, cancel culture), modern-day life (precocious parents, technology), pop culture (theatre critics, closeted actors), and more in Expletives Not Deleted, his new collection of bitchy yet bubbly essays, all written in the same acerbic voice that made his memoir SUB-LEBRITY a five-star Amazon bestseller.

Buy it ,,HERE

Leon Acord Q&A with Indie View

Leon recently chatted with the folks at ,IndieView.com about his new book Expletives Not Deleted.

,"My book is non-fiction ... God, though, how I wish Donald Trump were fictional!"

Click ,HERE to read the full interview, or visit ,IndieView.com

"

Hometown Pride!

I never thought I would live to see the day.

The day when my hometown -- Kokomo, Indiana -- would host it's own LGBTQI Pride Event.

I was thrilled to make it home for the 2nd annual Kokomo Pride Festival, sponsored by Sun King Breweries.

I was even more thrilled to see so many straight families in attendance, and in support -- despite the sweltering 90+ degree heat.

The "City of Firsts" has come a long, long way since I was a kid -- when one risked serious blowback if they acted "too" gay.

The cherry on top? I got to say a few words, to thank all those brave souls back home, who live out, open & proud lives instead of fleeing to the relative safety of the big cities!

It's folks like them who will bring LGBTQI acceptance coast to coast.

I even got to do a short live reading of the chapter "I Didn't Choose to be Gay, But ..." from my new book Expletives Not Deleted.

I was a bit terrified, but my husband Laurence and my nieces Charlotte Hall & Leigha Marie were there to cheer me on!

Thank you, Kokomo, & Kokomo Pride (and Laurence, Leigha & Charlotte!). I can't wait for next year's event!

Expletives Not Deleted Launch Party

"I had an absolute blast at yesterday's book-launch garden party for Expletives Not Deleted! Thanks to everyone who showed up, bought copies & made it such a blast!

Special thanks to Lisette & Norman for hosting the event!" -- Leon Acord

Damian Dryer, Joan Pastor, Destiny Fletcher-Dryer, Leon Acord & Laurence Whiting

Laurence Whiting & Leon Acord

Leon Acord & James Mercel

Leon Acord, Zinna Claudia Aleksandrowicz & Paul

Bruce L. Hart & Amanda Gari

Bruce L. Hart & Norman Palley

Leon Acord & Amanda Gari

Paul Brandt, Lisette Palley & Fab Brandt

Paul & Zinna Claudia Aleksandrowicz

Moji Zucker & Joan Pastor

Lisaette, Deborah Geffner, Leon Acord & Moji Zucker

Destiny Fletcher-Dryer & Leon Acord

David Whiting & James Mercel

Leon Acord & Bruce L. Hart

Alan Jergens, Leon Acord & Amanda Gari

Leon Acord, Anjie Craig & Laurence Whiting

Want a copy? Visit amzn.to/3OL703F

Leon Acord on The Brett Allan Show

Leon recently sat down to chat with Brett Allan on his popular podcast The Brett Allan Show to discuss his new book, Expletives Not Deleted.

Click a link below to listen or watch on your favorite platform!

,Spotify ,Apple ,YouTube

,Buy ,Expletives Not Deleted, Today!