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5 Questions with Bryan Cook, Creator of Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction on Storytelling and Comedy
Gay Branum reads a tale for Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction, while host and CEFF creator Bryan Cook (seated), watches. (Photo: Courtesy of Bryan Cook)
For the past year, the Nerdmelt Showroom inside Meltdown Comics on Sunset has been home to the monthly storytelling series Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction (CEFF). Each evening features 10 comics writing and performing Erotic Fan Fiction pieces, based on their own whims or audience suggestions. Tomorrow night at 9 pm, CEFF celebrates its first anniversary with the first-ever Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction Championship Edition, with former winners from the LA show.
We had a chance to ask CEFF creator and host Bryan Cook about the show.
LAist: Tell us a little bit how Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction came about…are the stories raunchy? sexy? funny?
BC: Raunchy and funny is the goal! If someone finds much of what goes on at the show "sexy," they should probably be investigated and/or murdered.
LAist: What's one or two of the more memorable tales from CEFF? Are they recorded for posterity?
BC: Basically every show has been recorded, so I have a huge backlog of 20+ shows. They will all come out eventually on the podcast, which just launched on the Nerdist Network. There are four episodes currently available (FREE!) on iTunes! Standouts include Ben Roy (Denver) doing Life Goes On (yup) and Ian Karmel (Portland) doing Criss Angel: Mindfreak. Those guys and Kyle Kinane are pretty much the undisputed kings. Especially Ian, who always wins, but sometimes it's out of pity because he was born without arms. (I'm just kidding. Ian has tons of arms.)
LAist: Where do you like to see comedy and/or storytelling in LA?
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BC: Bar Lubitsch, Meltdown, and The Virgil are my favorites. The Virgil is probably my #1, because I could throw rocks at it from my apartment, which I do. It's admittedly pretty uncalled for behavior.
LAist: CEFF is celebrating its first anniversary on Tuesday. What can audiences expect?
BC: Uncomfortable boners and flash-flooding in area vaginas. The lineup is insane: Kyle Kinane, Kurt Braunholer, Matt Braunger, Eliza Skinner, Chip Pope, Jim Hamilton, Andres Dubouchet, Mike O’Connell, Heather Thomson, Danny Solomon
LAist: So your Twitter bio says that you're LA based and "Host/Creator of Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction...Comic, Creep, Boner Owner." So tell us a little bit more about yourself. Can you elaborate on your bio? What do you do when not being a "comic, creep or boner owner"?
BC: I don't have time for much else lately. I'm on the tail end of a run of CEFF live shows (Denver, SF, Chicago, NYC, Boston, LA) and I basically do all the booking and promotion myself. Oh! I eat tacos and hang out with this fat dude named Morty who lives in my house. (He's a dog! Ha-ha! Classic misdirection...)
Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction
Tuesday, June 18, at 9 pm
Nerdist Theater, 7522 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles
Tickets: $10.
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