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	"Othello" James Earl Jones performs Othello's Act I, scene iii soliloquy from Shakespeare Othello at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009. ]
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In theatre, a monologue (or monolog) is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media (plays, films^[1], etc.) as well as in non-dramatic media such as poetry.^[2] Monologues share much in common with several other literary devices including soliloquies, apostrophes, and asides. There are, however, distinctions between each of these devices.^[3]

Similar Literary Devices[link]

Monologues are similar to soliloquies, apostrophes, and asides. Nevertheless, meaningful differences exist among them. For example, a monologue is distinct from a soliloquy because the latter involves a character relating his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters. A monologue is the thoughts of a person spoken out loud. ^[4] Monologues are also distinct from apostrophes, wherein the speaker or writer addresses an imaginary person, inanimate object, or idea.^[5] Asides differ from each of these not only in terms of length (asides being shorter) but also in that asides aren't heard by other characters even in situations where they logically should be overheard (i.e. two characters engaging in a dialogue interrupted by one of them delivering an aside.)^[6]

History[link]

In ancient Greek theatre, the origin of western drama<insert appropriate citation>, the conventional three actor rule was preceded by a two actor rule, which was itself preceded by a convention in which only a single actor would appear on stage, accompanied by the chorus.^[7] The origin of the monologue as a dramatic device, therefore, is not rooted in dialogue. It is, instead, the other way around; dialogue evolved from monologue.

Ancient Roman theatre featured monologues extensively, more often than either Ancient Greek theatre or modern theatre.^[8] One of the key purposes of these monologues was to indicate the passage of significant amounts of time (that would be tedious to actually play out in real time) within scenes. This type of monologue is referred to as a linking monologue.^[9] Other monologue types included "entrance monologues"^[10] and exit monologues.^[11] In each of these cases a primary function is indicating the passage of time.^[12]

From Renaissance theatre onward, monologues generally focused on characters using the extended speech to pursue their dramatic need. Postmodern theatre, on the other hand, often embraces the performative aspects of the monologue, even to the point of challenging the boundary between character portrayal (e.g. acting) and autobiographical speeches.^[13]

Types of Monologues[link]

Interior monologues involve a character externalizing their thoughts so that the audience can witness experiences that would otherwise be mostly internal. In contrast, a dramatic monologue involves one character speaking to another character.^[14] Monologues can also be divided along the lines of active and narrative monologues. In an active monologue a character is using their speech to achieve a clear goal. Narrative monologues simply involve a character telling a story and can often be identified by the fact that they are in the past tense.^[15]

Example[link]

Macbeth's monologue after he learns that Lady Macbeth has killed herself:

"She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."^[16]

See also[link]

• Dramatic monologue
• One-person show
• Oratory
• Performance poetry
• Soliloquy
• Rhetoric
• Stand-up comedy
• Storytelling
• Diseuse
• Apostrophe (figure of speech)

References[link]

Footnotes[link]

Notations[link]

• Cohn, Dorrit, Transparent Minds: Narrative Modes for Presenting Consciousness in Fiction, 1978.
• Edwardes, Jane, The Faber Book of Monologues, Faber and Faber, 2005.
• Hirsh, James, Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies, Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2003.

External links[link]

Look up monologue, soliloquy, or rant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Humorous Monologues in Lancashire Dialect in the 'Stanley Holloway' style
• MonologueDB.com - Comprehensive collection of monologues from film and plays
• Actorama Monologues Database From Films, Television, Plays and Books
• Monologue Search Free Monologue database
• StageAgent Audition Monologues
• Monologue Archive
• Shakespeare's Monologues
• The Monologue Database
• ActorPoint Monologue Directory
• Free Monologues for Women
• Free Monologues for Men
• Monologue Blogger - The Actor's Free Monologue Service Provider
• Free Monologues from Ace-Your-Audition.com

Henry Miller
Miller in 1940
Born	Henry Valentine Miller December 26, 1891(1891-12-26) Yorkville, Manhattan, New York City
Died	June 7, 1980(1980-06-07) (aged 88) Pacific Palisades, California, United States
Occupation	Writer, painter
Genres	Erotic literature, surrealism, novel
Spouse(s)	Beatrice Sylvas Wickens (1917–28) June Miller (1928–34) Janina Martha Lepska (1944–52) Eve McClure (1953–60) Hiroko Tokuda (1967–77)

Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American writer and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of "novel" that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is distinctly always about and expressive of the real-life Henry Miller and yet is also fictional.^[1] His most characteristic works of this kind are Tropic of Cancer (1934), Black Spring (1936), and Tropic of Capricorn (1939). He also wrote travel memoirs and essays of literary criticism and analysis.

Biography[link]

Miller was born to tailor Heinrich Miller and Louise Marie Neiting, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, New York City, of German parents.^[2] As a child he lived at 662 Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, known in that time (and referred to frequently in his works) as the Fourteenth Ward. As a young man, he was active with the Socialist Party (his "quondam idol" was the Black Socialist Hubert Harrison).^{[citation needed]} He briefly—for only one semester—attended the City College of New York. Although he was an exceptional student,^{[citation needed]} he was willing neither to be anchored nor to submit to the traditional college system of education.

His first wife was Beatrice Sylvas Wickens, whom he married in 1917. During 1928/29, Miller spent several months in Paris with his second wife, June Edith Smith (June Miller). In 1930 he moved to Paris unaccompanied, and he continued to live there until the outbreak of World War II.^[3] Although Miller had little or no money the first year in Paris, things began to change with the meeting of Anaïs Nin who, with Hugh Guiler, would go on to pay his entire way through the 1930s including the rent for the beautiful and modern apartment at 18, villa Seurat. Anaïs Nin became his lover and financed the first printing of Tropic of Cancer in 1934 with money from Otto Rank.^[4]

In late 1931, Miller was employed by the Chicago Tribune (Paris edition) as a proofreader, thanks to his friend Alfred Perlès who worked there. Miller took this opportunity to submit some of his own articles under Perlès name, since only the editorial staff were permitted to publish in the paper in 1934. This period in Paris was highly creative for Miller, and during this time he also established a significant and influential network of authors circulating around the Villa Seurat.^[5] One author who became a lifelong friend was the young British author Lawrence Durrell. Miller's correspondence with Durrell was later published in two books.^[6][7] During the Paris period he was also influenced by the French Surrealists.

His works contain detailed accounts of sexual experiences. His first published book, Tropic of Cancer (1934), was banned in the United States on the grounds of obscenity.^[8] He continued to write novels that were banned; along with Tropic of Cancer, his Black Spring (1936) and Tropic of Capricorn (1939) were smuggled into his native country, building Miller an underground reputation.

In 1939 Durrell, who lived in Corfu, invited Miller out to Greece. Miller described the visit in The Colossus of Maroussi (1941), which he considered his best book.^[9] One of the first acknowledgments of Henry Miller as a major modern writer was by George Orwell in his 1940 essay "Inside the Whale", where he wrote:

In 1940, Miller returned to the United States, settling in Big Sur, California. He continued to produce vividly written works that challenged contemporary American cultural values and moral attitudes. He was widely critical of consumerism in America, as reflected in Sunday After The War (1944) and The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (1945). He spent the last years of his life at his home at 444 Ocampo Drive, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California.

While Miller was establishing his base in Big Sur, the Tropics books, still banned in the USA, were being published in France by the Obelisk Press and later the Olympia Press. There they were acquiring a slow and steady notoriety among both Europeans and the various enclaves of American cultural exiles. As a result, the books were frequently smuggled into the States, where they would prove to be a major influence on the new Beat generation of American writers (most notably Jack Kerouac) some of whom would adopt stylistic and thematic principles found in Miller's oeuvre.

The publication of Miller's Tropic of Cancer in the United States in 1961 by Grove Press led to a series of obscenity trials that tested American laws on pornography. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Grove Press, Inc., v. Gerstein, citing Jacobellis v. Ohio (which was decided the same day in 1964), overruled the state court findings of obscenity and declared the book a work of literature; it was one of the notable events in what has come to be known as the sexual revolution. Elmer Gertz, the lawyer who successfully argued the initial case for the novel's publication in Illinois, became a lifelong friend of Miller's; a volume of their correspondence has been published.^[11]

In 1968, Miller signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.^[12]

In addition to his literary abilities, Miller produced numerous watercolor paintings and wrote books on this field. He was a close friend of the French painter Grégoire Michonze. He was also an amateur pianist.

After his move to Pacific Palisades, he held innumerable dinner parties for the artistic and literary figures of the time. His cook and caretaker was a young artist's model named Twinka Thiebaud who later wrote a 1981 book of his evening chats.^[13] Thiebaud's memories of Miller's table talk were published in a rewritten and retitled book in 2011.^[14]

During the last four years of his life, Miller held an ongoing correspondence of over 1500 letters with Brenda Venus, a young and vivacious Playboy playmate, actress and dancer. A book about their correspondence was published in 1986.^[15] An article detailing their affair ran in a special edition of Playboy in 1996.^[16] The article called her Miller's "twilight muse" during the bedridden final years of his life.

Before his death, Miller filmed with Warren Beatty for his film Reds. He spoke of his remembrances of John Reed and Louise Bryant as part of a series of "witnesses." The film was released eighteen months after Miller's death.

Miller died of circulatory complications in Pacific Palisades in 1980 at the age of 88. After his death, he was cremated and his ashes scattered off Big Sur.

Legacy[link]

Miller is considered a "literary innovator" in whose works "actual and imagined experiences became indistinguishable from each other."^[17] His books did much to free the discussion of sexual subjects in American writing from both legal and social restrictions.

Miller's papers can be found in the following library special collections:

• Southern Illinois University Carbondale, which has correspondence and other archival collections.^[18]
• Syracuse University, which holds a portion of the correspondence between the Grove Press and Henry Miller.^[19]
• Charles E. Young Research Library of the University of California, Los Angeles Library.^[20]
• Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, which has materials about Miller from his first wife and their daughter.^[21]
• University of Victoria, which holds a significant collection of Miller's manuscripts and correspondence, including the corrected typescripts for Max and Quiet Days in Clichy, as well as Miller's lengthy correspondence with Alfred Perlès.^[22]
• University of Virginia.^[23]
• Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Library.^[24]

It is estimated that Miller painted 2000 watercolors during his life, and that 50 or more major collections of Miller’s paintings exist.^[25] The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin holds a selection of Miller's watercolors,^[26] as did the Henry Miller Museum of Art in Ōmachi City in Nagano, Japan, before closing in 2001.^[27] Miller's daughter Valentine placed some of her father's art for sale in 2005.^[28]

Miller's friend Emil White founded the nonprofit Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur in 1981.^[29] This houses a collection of his works and celebrates his literary, artistic and cultural legacy by providing a public gallery as well as performance and workshop spaces for artists, musicians, students, and writers.^[29]

Selected works[link]

• Moloch or, This Gentile World, written in 1927, published posthumously by the Estate of Henry Miller. New York: Grove Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8021-3372-X
• Crazy Cock, written 1928–1930, published posthumously by the Estate of Henry Miller. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991. ISBN 0-8021-1412-1
• Tropic of Cancer, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1934.
  • New York: Grove Press, 1961. ISBN 0-8021-3178-6
• What Are You Going to Do about Alf? An Open Letter to All and Sundry, Paris: Printed at author's expense, 1935.
  • London: Turret, 1971. ISBN 0-85469-022-0
• Aller Retour New York, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1935.
  • New York: New Directions, 1991. ISBN 0-8112-1193-2
• Black Spring, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1936.
  • New York: Grove Press, 1963. ISBN 0-8021-3182-4
• Max and the White Phagocytes, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1938.
• Tropic of Capricorn, Paris: Obelisk Press, 1939.
  • New York: Grove Press, 1961. ISBN 0-8021-5182-5
• Hamlet Volume I with Michael Fraenkel, New York: Carrefour, 1939.
• Hamlet Volume II with Michael Fraenkel, New York: Carrefour, 1941.
  • Above two volumes republished, minus two letters, as Henry Miller's Hamlet Letters, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1988. ISBN 0-88496-269-5
• The Cosmological Eye, Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1939. ISBN 0-8112-0110-4
• The World of Sex, Chicago: Ben Abramson, Argus Book Shop, 1940.
  • Richmond, England: Oneworld Classics, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84749-035-3
• Under the Roofs of Paris, written as Opus Pistorum in 1941, published posthumously by the Estate of Henry Miller. New York: Grove Press, 1983. ISBN 0-8021-3183-2
• The Colossus of Maroussi, San Francisco: Colt Press, 1941.
  • New York: New Directions, 1958. ISBN 0-8112-0109-0
• The Wisdom of the Heart, Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1941.
  • New York: New Directions, 1960. ISBN 0-8112-0116-3
• Sunday after the War, Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1944.
• Semblance of a Devoted Past, Berkeley, CA: Bern Porter, 1944.
• The Plight of the Creative Artist in the United States of America, Houlton, ME: Bern Porter, 1944.
• Echolalia, Berkeley, CA: Bern Porter, 1945.
• Henry Miller Miscellanea, San Mateo, CA: Bern Porter, 1945.
• Why Abstract?, with Hilaire Hiler and William Saroyan, New York: New Directions, 1945.
  • New York: Haskell House, 1974. ISBN 0-8383-1837-1
• The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, New York: New Directions, 1945.
  • New York: New Directions, 1970. ISBN 0-8112-0106-6
• Maurizius Forever, San Francisco: Colt Press, 1946.
• Remember to Remember, New York: New Directions, 1947. (Volume 2 of The Air-Conditioned Nightmare.)
  • London: Grey Walls Press, 1952.
• Into the Night Life, privately published 1947 with Bezalel Schatz
• The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1948.
  • Kansas City, MO: Hallmark Editions, 1971. ISBN 0-87529-173-2
• Sexus (Book One of The Rosy Crucifixion), Paris: Obelisk Press, 1949.
• New York: Grove Press, 1987. ISBN 0-394-62371-1
• The Waters Reglitterized: The Subject of Water Color in Some of Its More Liquid Phases, San Jose, CA: John Kidis, 1950.
  • Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1973. ISBN 0-912264-71-3
• The Books in My Life, Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1952.
  • New York: New Directions, 1969. ISBN 0-8112-0108-2
• Plexus (Book Two of The Rosy Crucifixion), Paris: Olympia Press, 1953.
  • New York: Grove Press, 1963. ISBN 0-8021-5179-5
• Quiet Days in Clichy With Photographs by Brassaï, Paris: Olympia Press, 1956.
  • New York: Grove Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8021-3016-X
  • Richmond, England: Oneworld Classics, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84749-036-0
• Henry Miller Recalls and Reflects: An Extraordinary American Writer Speaks Out (2 LP records, RLP 7002/3), New York: Riverside Records, 1956.
• The Time of the Assassins: A Study of Rimbaud, New York: New Directions, 1956.
  • New York: New Directions, 1962. ISBN 0-8112-0115-5
• A Devil in Paradise, New York: New American Library, 1956.
  • New York: New Directions, 1993. ISBN 0-8112-1244-0
• Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, New York: New Directions, 1957. ISBN 0-8112-0107-4
• The Red Notebook, Highlands, NC: Jonathan Williams, 1958.
• Reunion in Barcelona: a Letter to Alfred Perlès, from Aller Retour New York, Northwood, England: Scorpion Press, 1959.
• Nexus (Book Three of The Rosy Crucifixion), Paris: Obelisk Press, 1960.
  • New York: Grove Press, 1965. ISBN 0-8021-5178-7
• To Paint Is to Love Again, Alhambra, CA: Cambria Books, 1960.
  • New York: Grossman Publishers, 1968.
• Watercolors, Drawings, and His Essay "The Angel Is My Watermark," New York: Abrams, 1962.
• Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, New York: New Directions, 1962. ISBN 0-8112-0322-0
• Just Wild about Harry, New York: New Directions, 1963.
  • New York: New Directions, 1979. ISBN 0-8112-0724-2
• Greece (with drawings by Anne Poor), New York: Viking Press, 1964.
• Henry Miller on Writing, New York: New Directions, 1964. ISBN 0-8112-0112-0
• Insomnia or the Devil at Large, Albuquerque: Loujon Press, 1970.
  • Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974.
• First Impressions of Greece, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1973. ISBN 0-912264-59-4
• Reflections on The Maurizius Case: A Humble Appraisal of a Great Book, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1974. ISBN 0-912264-73-X
• Henry Miller's Book of Friends: A Tribute to Friends of Long Ago, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1976. ISBN 0-88496-050-1
• Sextet, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1977. ISBN 0-88496-119-2
  • New York: New Directions, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8112-1800-9
• My Bike and Other Friends, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1978. ISBN 0-88496-075-7
• Joey: a Loving Portrait of Alfred Perlès Together With Some Bizarre Episodes Relating to the Opposite Sex, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1979. ISBN 0-88496-136-2

Films[link]

Miller as himself[link]

Miller appeared as himself in several films,^[30] including:

• He was the subject of four documentary films by Robert Snyder; The Henry Miller Odyssey (90 minutes), Henry Miller: Reflections On Writing (47 minutes), and Henry Miller Reads and Muses (60 minutes). In addition, there is a film by Snyder that was completed after Snyder's death in 2004 about Miller's watercolor paintings, Henry Miller: To Paint Is To Love Again (60 mimutes). All four films are in Miller's own words.
• He was a "witness" (interviewee) in Warren Beatty's 1981 film Reds.^[31]
• He was featured in the 1996 documentary Henry Miller Is Not Dead that featured music by Laurie Anderson.^[32]

Actors portraying Miller[link]

Several actors played Miller on film, such as:

• Rip Torn played Miller in the 1970 film adaptation of Tropic of Cancer.
• In the 1970 Jens Jørgen Thorsen adaptation of Quiet Days in Clichy, the Miller-based character of 'Joey' was played by Paul Valjean.
• Fred Ward played Miller in the 1990 movie Henry & June.
• Claude Chabrol's 1990 adaptation of Quiet Days in Clichy saw Andrew McCarthy play the Miller role.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Durrell, Lawrence, editor. The Henry Miller Reader, New York: New Directions Publishing, 1959. ISBN 0-8112-0111-2
• Widmer, Kingsley. Henry Miller, New York: Twayne, 1963.
  • Revised edition, Boston: Twayne, 1990. ISBN 0-8057-7607-9
• Wickes, George, and Harry Thornton Moore. Henry Miller and the Critics, Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1963.
• Wickes, George. Henry Miller, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1966.
• Gordon, William A. The Mind and Art of Henry Miller, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1967.
• Mailer, Norman. Genius and Lust: a Journey Through the Major Writings of Henry Miller, New York: Grove Press, 1976. ISBN 0-8021-0127-5
• Martin, Jay. Always Merry and Bright: the Life of Henry Miller: an Unauthorized Biography, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1978. ISBN 0-88496-082-X
• Young, Noel, editor. The Paintings of Henry Miller: Paint as You Like and Die Happy, Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1982. ISBN 0-87701-280-6
• Winslow, Kathryn. Henry Miller: Full of Life, Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher, 1986. ISBN 0-87477-404-7
• Brown, J. D. Henry Miller, New York: Ungar, 1986. ISBN 0-8044-2077-7
• Stuhlmann, Gunther, editor. A Literate Passion: Letters of Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller, 1932–1953. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987. ISBN 0-15-152729-6
• Dearborn, Mary V. The Happiest Man Alive: A Biography of Henry Miller, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. ISBN 0-671-67704-7
• Jong, Erica. The Devil at Large: Erica Jong on Henry Miller, New York: Turtle Bay Books, 1993. ISBN 0-394-58498-8
• Fitzpatrick, Elayne Wareing. Doing It With the Cosmos: Henry Miller's Big Sur Struggle for Love Beyond Sex, Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2001. ISBN 1-4010-1048-2
• Brassaï. Henry Miller, Happy Rock, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. ISBN 0-226-07139-1
• Masuga, Katy. Henry Miller and How He Got That Way, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7486-4118-5
• Masuga, Katy. The Secret Violence of Henry Miller, Rochester, NY: Camden House Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1-57113-484-4

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Henry Miller

• Henry Miller Online by Dr. Hugo Heyrman, a tribute
• Ibarguen, Raoul R. Narrative Detours: Henry Miller and the Rise of New Critical Modernism, excerpts from a 1989 Ph.D. thesis
• Nexus: The International Henry Miller Journal
• Rexroth, Kenneth. "The Reality of Henry Miller" and "Henry Miller: The Iconoclast as Everyman’s Friend" (1955–1962 essays)
• Schiller, Tom, director. Henry Miller Asleep & Awake (1975), a 34-minute video
• Smithsonian Folkways. An Interview with Henry Miller (1964), with link to transcript (in "liner notes")
• Miller documentaries by Robert Snyder at Masters & Masterworks
• UbuWeb Sound: Henry Miller (1891–1980), with links to MP3 files of "An Interview with Henry Miller" (1964), "Life As I See It" (1956/1961), and "Henry Miller Recalls and Reflects" (1957)
• Works by or about Henry Miller in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Young, Richard, director. Dinner with Henry Miller (1979), a 30-minute video

Sondre Lerche
Background information
Birth name	Sondre Lerche Vaular
Born	(1982-09-05) 5 September 1982 (age 29) Bergen, Norway
Genres	Pop Indie rock Jazz
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Guitar Bass Glockenspiel Keyboard Piano Percussion Hammond
Years active	2001–present
Labels	EMI Music Norway Astralwerks Mona Records
Website	sondrelerche.com

Sondre Lerche (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈsondrə ˈlærkə]; born 5 September 1982) is a Norwegian singer, guitarist, and songwriter.

Career[link]

Sondre Lerche was born in Bergen, Norway. Growing up, Lerche was heavily influenced by the '80s pop that emanated from his older siblings' rooms. Compelled by a defining fascination for bands such as The Beatles, A-ha, the Beach Boys, and Prefab Sprout, Lerche began formal guitar instruction at age eight. Not being satisfied with classical lessons, Lerche's teacher introduced him to Brazilian music (such as Bossa Nova) and thus formed the foundation of Lerche's vast array of complex melodies and chords throughout his music today. At age fourteen, Lerche penned his first song titled, "Locust Girl." Lerche performed acoustic gigs at the club where his sister worked while he was still under age, and was ‘discovered' by Norwegian producer H.P. Gundersen. Under Gundersen's mentorship, Lerche was exposed to diverse music genres, including psychedelia, '60s pop, and mainstream Brazilian music, broadening his appreciation for eclectic music styles. Around this time Lerche also met up with Oslo-based manager Tatiana Penzo, leading up to a deal with Virgin Norway. His popularity in his home country increased steadily, and in 2000 he recorded his debut album, Faces Down.

Faces Down was a hit in Norway and received critical praise in Norway and the United States — Rolling Stone Magazine placed it in their top 50 albums of 2002. He toured in America and Europe. The songs from Faces Down had been completed before winter 2000 but postponed for release until Lerche fulfilled several academic requirements. In the interim, he was named Best New Act at the Norwegian Grammys (Spellemannprisen) and performed locally in support of major acts such as Beth Orton. Faces Down was officially released in Norway in September 2001 and gradually throughout all of Europe. Lerche toured with various acts, including a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share the stage with his long-time idols, a-ha, in Oslo. Autumn 2002 saw the release of Faces Down in America and Lerche's first major tour of the United States.^[1] He released the live/studio collection Don't Be Shallow EP the following year. In 2003, he toured with another one of his musical heroes, Elvis Costello (they toured together once again in 2005).

In 2004 his second album was released, Two Way Monologue, also produced by Gundersen. The album displayed more of Lerche's ability to span many different styles—from pop-like and upbeat tracks to more mellow or melodic tunes. It was very well received, with positive reviews in Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. Devon Powers of Popmatters praised Sondre's "contagious musical sensibilities, exhilarating vigor and downright stupefying songcraft," and noted that "Lerche manages to both push himself and maintain an allegiance to his ways -- something artists twice his age have trouble doing.".^[2]

On 27 February 2006, Duper Sessions was released. It is a jazz album recorded in the fall of 2005 with his band the Faces Down and pianist Erik Halvorsen at Duper Studios in Bergen.

His February 2007 release, Phantom Punch, is a rock album with a more aggressive sound than his previous work. Lerche and the Faces Down recorded and mixed the album in Los Angeles in April and May 2006, with producer Tony Hoffer. He also composed the musical score of the movie Dan in Real Life.

In September 2009, Sondre released Heartbeat Radio, to critical acclaim. While it maintained the studio polish of his groundbreaking debut, there was also a sense of musical adventure that mixed acoustic guitars with grand gestures of orchestral pop, elements of 50s Jazz, 60s and 70s Brazilian psych-folk, and state-of-the-art 80s pop masters such as Prefab Sprout, Scritti Politti and Fleetwood Mac. In his review, Mikael Wood of the L.A. Times wrote, "No matter what genre he’s working in — fuzzy garage rock, breezy vocal jazz, acoustic folk-pop — this young Norwegian singer-songwriter crafts catchier choruses than many musicians who’ve been working twice as long as he has." Allmusic Guide's Tim Sendra called Heartbeat Radio Sondre's "best work to date."

In June 2011, Sondre released the self-titled Sondre Lerche, on his own Mona Records. Praised by Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Stereogum, Filter, Spin, and Entertainment Weekly among others for its experimentation with contrasting musical sounds, this eponymous album contains Sondre’s most interesting arrangements and catchy songwriting to date, but also some of his most somber and introspective. But for this sixth album, Sondre’s prolific curiosity didn’t lead him to a new genre so much as introduce a new level of candidness in his work. From the gripping cut-to-the-chase opener “Ricochet” to the uber-catchy “Private Caller,” from the naked drama of “Red Flags,” the tribal-pop of “Go Right Ahead” and the sly folk of “Living Dangerously,” the self-titled album captures a raw, spontaneous, instinctive and heartfelt sound that results in a confident artistic statement.

In the studio, Sondre wanted to explore his new creative alliances in Williamsburg, the Brooklyn neighborhood where he’s lived on and off for the last six years. “Getting to work with my new friends was one of the highlights of this whole process,” says Sondre. The album was recorded – live in the studio – and mixed in a short but intense time period of three-weeks. The sessions included fellow musicians – Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith, longtime producer/collaborator Kato Ådland, Dave Heilman, drummer for Lerche-collaborator Regina Spektor, and co-producer, mixer and owner of Rare Book Room Studio, Nicolas Verhnes (Spoon, Animal Collective). “We recorded a lot of it to tape, forcing ourselves to either commit or burn bridges and move on. We were killing darlings left and right. It was truly liberating.”

Personal life[link]

In July 2005, Lerche married Norwegian model and actress Mona Fastvold.^[3]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Faces Down, September 2001 (October 2002 U.S.)
• Two Way Monologue, March 2004
• Duper Sessions, February 2006
• Phantom Punch, February 2007
• Dan in Real Life, October 2007 (soundtrack)
• Heartbeat Radio, September 2009
• Sondre Lerche, June 2011

Appears in

• "Dear Laughing Doubters" from the soundtrack for the motion picture "Dinner for Schmucks", July 2010
• "Mr. Bassman" on the album Muppets: The Green Album, August 2011

EPs[link]

• You Know So Well EP, 2001 (Norway)
• No One's Gonna Come EP, 2001 (Norway)
• Sleep on Needles EP, 2001 (Norway, 2002 France, Spain and the United Kingdom)
• Dead Passengers EP, 2002 (UK)
• Don't Be Shallow EP, 2003 (USA)
• Two Way Monologue (2004)
• Two Way Monologue EP EP, 2005 (United Kingdom)
• Phantom Punch (2006)
• Daytrotter Session (2007)
• Polaroid Pool Party EP, 2008
• Daytrotter Sessions (2011)

Singles[link]

• "All Luck Ran Out" (2001)
• "Rosebud/Sleep on Needles" (2001)
• "Sleep on Needles" (2002)
• "Days That Are Over" (2004)
• "Minor Detail" (2006)
• "Say it All" (2006)
• "Phantom Punch" (2006)
• "Phantom Punch"/"Europa & The Pirate Twins" (2007)
• "The Tape"/"Face the Blood" (2007)
• "Heartbeat Radio" (2009)
• "Private Caller" (2011)
• "Domino" (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Sondre Lerche interview at SlantMagazine.com, 2002
• Interview with Sondre at SomethingGlorious.com
• Live performance at SXSW 2007
• Live WI performance 4/24/07
• YeboTV.com Sondre Lerche Interview
• Sondre Lerche Interview
• Interview with Sondre Lerche at ion magazine
• Sondre Lerche performs a Tiny Desk concert for NPR Music
• New York Times review of Sondre Lerche live at Bowery Ballroom, Sept. 2009
• New York Times review of all-star tribute to The Who at Carnegie Hall, March 2010
• Interview with Sondre at Florida Times-Union
• Rolling Stone's Top Tweeters in Music
• Sondre Lerche covers Beyonce's Countdown
• "Dear Laughing Doubters" from Dinner for Schmucks, live on WNYC's Soundcheck

Seth Meyers
Meyers at the Time 100 Gala, May 4, 2010.
Birth name	Seth Adam Meyers
Born	(1973-12-28) December 28, 1973 (age 38) Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Medium	Television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	2001–present
Genres	Satire/political satire/news satire, improvisational comedy, sketch comedy
Subject(s)	American politics, American culture, current events, pop culture, mass media/news media
Notable works and roles	Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live

Seth Adam Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He currently serves as head writer for Saturday Night Live and hosts its news parody segment Weekend Update.

Early life[link]

Meyers was born in Evanston, Illinois,^[1] the son of Hilary Claire (née Olson), a middle school French teacher, and Laurence Meyers, Jr.^[2][3] He attended Manchester High School West in Manchester, New Hampshire. He went on to graduate from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he was a member of the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta. Meyers is the older brother of Josh Meyers, who was best known as a cast member of MADtv.

Career[link]

Before SNL, Meyers got his improv comedy start as a member of the Northwestern University improv sketch group Mee-Ow, created by Paul Warshauer and Josh Lazar. He continued his career at ImprovOlympic with the group Preponderate as well as overseas as a cast member of Boom Chicago, an English language improv troupe based in Amsterdam,^[4] where his brother was also a cast member.^[5]

Meyers appeared with Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem in the 2008 3D film Journey to the Center of the Earth. He also makes a cameo in the 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist as a drunk man who mistakes the main character's Yugo for a taxi. Meyers is currently writing and will star in a movie called Key Party. He also starred in the 2004 comedy See This Movie with John Cho.^[6][7] In July 2008, Meyers directed the web series The Line on Crackle.^[8] Meyers has hosted the Webby Awards twice, in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, Meyers hosted the Microsoft Company Meeting at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA.^[9] Meyers hosted the 2010 and 2011 ESPY Awards on ESPN.^[10] In 2011, Seth Meyers was the keynote speaker at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner on April 30; during his introductory remarks, he made a joke about Osama bin Laden's actions while in hiding,^[11] unaware that US intelligence had found bin Laden and he would be dead within hours.

[edit] Saturday Night Live

Meyers joined the SNL cast in 2001.^[5] In 2005, he was promoted to writing supervisor,^{[citation needed]} and in January 2006 he became co-head writer, sharing the role with Tina Fey and Andrew Steele.^[12] In 2004, he auditioned to co-anchor "Weekend Update" with Fey, but lost out to Amy Poehler.^[13] With Fey's departure, Meyers became head writer for the 2006–2007 season and also took on the role of Weekend Update co-anchor with Amy Poehler.^[14][15] Since Poehler left the show during the 2008–2009 season, Meyers has anchored solo. In fall 2009, Meyers co-anchored two episodes of Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday with Poehler.^{[citation needed]}

During the 2008 United States presidential election,^[16] while appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman, former SNL cast member Fey credited Meyers with writing the sketches involving Fey's impression of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

On SNL, Meyers has impersonated such figures as John Kerry,^[5] Michael Caine, Anderson Cooper, Carrot Top, Prince Charles, Ryan Seacrest, Sean Penn,^[5] Stone Phillips,^[5] Tobey Maguire, Peyton Manning, Ben Curtis (also known as the Dell Dude), Ty Pennington, Bill Cowher, Brian Williams, Nicollette Sheridan, Wade Robson, Donald Trump, Jr., Tom Cruise, and Kevin Federline. His recurring characters include Zach Ricky, host of the kids' hidden camera show "Pranksters"; Nerod, the receptionist in the recurring sketch "Appalachian Emergency Room"; David Zinger, a scientist who often insults his fellow workers; DJ Johnathan Feinstein, the DJ on the webcam show "Jarett's Room"; Dan Needler, half of a married couple "that should be divorced," (opposite Amy Poehler); William Fitzpatrick, from the Irish talk show "Top o' the Morning," and Boston Powers (one of the comedians in the "Original Kings of Catchphrase Comedy" series). In the season 29 episode hosted by Lindsay Lohan, he did an impression of Ron Weasley in a parody of Harry Potter

Meyers supported and picketed during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. When interviewed he said, "We all know how lucky we are to have the jobs we have. We're not asking for much. You have to change the rules because people are watching TV in a different way."^[17] Even so, he mentioned in interviews that he regretted missing much of the presidential election primary season.^[18][19]

Meyers is currently the longest tenured Saturday Night Live cast member, having been a member since Season 27.

Other pursuits[link]

Meyers won the third season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and donated the $100,000 prize to the Boston-based Jimmy Fund.^[20][21] In 2008, Meyers donated over $4,000 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.^[22] Meyers and SNL castmate Bill Hader penned a Spider-Man one-shot entitled "The Short Halloween". It was illustrated by Kevin Maguire and came out May 29, 2009, to positive reviews. Meyers, along with Mike Shoemaker of SNL, created an animated half-hour series "The Awesomes" that was picked up by MTV and will be produced by Lorne Michaels's production company, Broadway Video.^[23] He was also a guest speaker at the 2011 White House Press Correspondents Dinner.

Personal life[link]

Meyers is an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and the Pittsburgh Steelers, his father being a Pittsburgh native.^[24][25] He is the older brother of actor Josh Meyers.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seth Meyers

• Seth Meyers at the Internet Movie Database
• Seth Meyers on Twitter
• Seth Meyers on National Public Radio in 2008
• Official SNL cast biography
• Live from New York: It’s Sunday Afternoon! conversation with Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson, and Kristen Wiig at The New Yorker Festival, October 2010