DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley

Dennis visits the LA home of actor Mark Cirillo to talk about his role as a counselor in the Netflix series "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp." Mark tells fun stories about the A-listers he got to work with, including Amy Poehler, Chris Meloni, Bradley Cooper, Janeane Garafalo and Paul Rudd, talks about the short shorts he had to wear and recalls riding in a van with Bradley Cooper. Mark...

Dennis visits the Echo Park apartment of actress and writer Nicol Paone to talk about her new one-woman show "Riding with Nicol," which takes place a top a double-decker bus that drives through Hollywood, passing notable spots like her ex's house, Charlie Chaplin's former office and the Pantages Theater. Nicol and Dennis share memories from The Big Gay Sketch Show (Nicol appeared on the show all t...

Dennis welcomes two of the funniest folks he knows to his living room; John Cantwell and Terrence Michael of the sketch comedy trio The Nellie Olesons (The third member is former podcast guest Nora Burns). John and Terrence talk about their new 20th anniversary show, Evil Never Dies, the origins of the group, tucking their junk between their legs to play women, and what's kept them into it for 20...

Dennis visits the Hollywood apartment of actor-writer Jimmy Fowlie, creator of the hit webseries "Go-Go Boy Interrupted," about a shallow Weho go-go boy who turns 30 and has a total life crisis. Jimmy talks about his real-life experience go-go dancing at Tiger Heat, dancing with a cast on his arm, outfit choices, his go-go boy audition, drinking on the job, the "Clueless" connection, having his bo...

While visiting his friends Scott and Peter in Cambria, Dennis meets their friend Jan Flanigan, a former prison worker in Fresno who has created a whole new career for herself as a visual artist with the creation of her company Flytown Comics. Jan shares the poignant personal story that lead to her creating the original Flytown drawings, how she happened upon her unique medium (dead flies!) and the...

Dennis visits the North Hollywood home of his friend Michael Anthony, who is the foundder of the Anonymous Initiative, a non-profit anti-bullying movement dedicated to helping all people overcome the things that bully them. Michael talks about the "It Gets Better" video he made that ultimately led to him creating the Initiative, stirring things up back to his hometown Wheeling, Illinois and how th...

Dennis heads to Silver Lake to interview Mark Christopher, the writer-director of "54: The Directors Cut" to talk about how this new version came to be, what it was like emotionally to go back and work on the film 17 years after shooting it and how the cast feels about having Mark's original vision finally see the light of day. Mark recalls the casting of then-newcomers Ryan Phillippe, Selma Hayek...

Dennis visits the production office of the ABC Family hit "The Fosters" on the Warner Bros. lot to talk to one of the creators of the show, Peter Paige. Peter talks about the inspiration for the show, how he met his producing partner Brad Bredeweg, how they got J Lo on board as Executive Producer, the gay prom episode he's so proud of and the outcry that erupted over the kiss between two 13 year-o...

Previous episode guest, actor Sam Pancake (Lovespring International, Kitchen Confidential, Space Station 76) answers a slew of questions from the Observation Deck and recalls the worst job he ever had, his most glamorous night, voicemails from a crazy actor, Emmy green room stories, his favorite bad movie, his first exposure to a dirty magazine, his favorite job perk, the day from his childhood he...

Dennis visits the Hollywood home of actor Sam Pancake for a holiday weekend poolside hang and gabfest. Sam talks about his upcoming stage show with Drew Droege "You're Welcome: Celebrity Self-Help with Pyotr & Grimsley," how he balances big film & TV gigs gigs with scrappy fun stage gigs and how times have changed for gay actors in Hollywood. Sam also discusses what it was like the grow up in rura...

For this webseries-themed episode, Dennis visits the home and office of Joe Dietl, one of the producers and stars (along with Ben Zook and Rick Kopp) of the hit webseries "Where the Bears Are." Dennis's other guest is Kieran Turner, creator of the webseries "Wallflowers." The pair discuss the inspiration for their webseries, what it took to get them made and the heartening and surprising reactions...

Dennis visits the Los Feliz apartment of Phil Scanlon, one of the co-directors - with DJ Paul V. - of "Dragstrip 66: The Frockumentary" an in-the works film about the legendary L.A. underground gay nightclub Dragstrip 66. They talk about their reasons for making the film, the night the cops raided the place, the celebs that showed up (Karen Black, Traci Lords, Lance Loud etc.), the club's clever t...

For this podcast, Dennis heads to West Hollywood to chat up the hilarious comedy duo Frangela, AKA Frances Callier and Angela V. Shelton about their adventures and misadventures in the comedy trade. They talk about racism in comedy clubs, what they've observed about today's youth from playing college gigs, what it took to get them on VH-1's "Best Week Ever," and the nightmare that was "I'm a Celeb...

Dennis visits the Echo Park home of writer-drector Javier Fuentes-Leon to discuss his new thriller "The Vanished Elephant," which makes its US premier at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 16th. Javier talks about the inspiration for the complex, engrossing mystery, the pressure of having to follow-up to his Sundance Audience Award-winning breakthrough "Undertow", the difference between shootin...

Dennis welcomes Eliot Laurence to the booth of truth to talk about the movie he wrote, "Welcome to Me" starring Kirsten Wiig that is currently playing in selected theaters across the country, on VOD and on Itunes. Eliot talks about the inspiration for the offbeat story, getting Oprah to let the film use her clips, Kristen's nude scene in the casino, how hard it is to make James Marsden look less d...

Dennis welcomes playwright Howie Skora to his home and the booth of truth to discuss Howie's new play "Miserable with an Ocean View," which debuts June 6th in Los Angeles. Howie discusses the origins of the play, his decision to mount it himself, and the mysterious clown character played by former podcast guest Drew Droege. Howie also recalls starting out as a stand-up comic in New York alongside...

For this episode, Dennis journeys to Cambria in Central California to catch up with his old pal Scott Williams. They met at an audition for Princess Cruises in the late 80's and have been friends ever since. While driving to the train at the end of Dennis's visit, they talk about their cruise ship memories, specifically how they relate to Dennis's new mini-e book, "Mariner's Club Mixtape," which w...

In a hot car outside one of D'Lo's regular stand-up venues in Echo Park, Dennis talks to the Transgender Queer Tamil Sri Lankan performer about his one-man show "D'FunQT" which is currently showing at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. D'Lo talks about the inspiration for his show, growing up in Lancaster, California and his mother's reaction to his onstage depiction of her.  D'Lo also talks about the...

Dennis visits the home studio of Christopher Lloyd Bratten, co-creator, musical director and arranger for the "For the Record" series of musical stage extravaganzas to talk about the evolution of the series, the thrill of performing for a live audience and the famous names who have popped up both in the cast and in the audience. Christopher also talks about the insane hotness of the cast, wearing...

Dennis visits the North Hollywood home of Dudley Beene, the executive producer and one of the stars of "First Period," a hilarious 80's-set comedy about two girls and their quest to become popular. Dudley talks about setting a shoot date for the film before they had a finished script, cast or crew and working backwards. He talks about showing the film in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, shoo...

Dennis visits the Hollywood Dell home of writer-director Darren Stein to talk about the Lifetime TV movie he wrote, "Seeds of Yesterday," the latest in "Flowers in the Attic" series, which premiers Sunday, April 12th. Darren talks about the challenges and joys of adapting a beloved book and what drew him to the project. Also on the docket is Darren's last feature film, the gay teen comedy "GBF" an...

On the eve of the debut of "The Comedians" on FX, Dennis visits the home of his old sketch comedy friend from the 90's Ben Wexler, who is the series' showrunner and one of its exec producers. Ben talks about getting to work on his dream project, "The Comedians" after many years in the TV comedy trenches, what it's like to ask his childhood idol Billy Crystal if they can make a joke at his expense...

Dennis visits the Hollywood apartment of writer and performer Bryan Safi, who Dennis first met thanks to his hilarious "That's Gay" segments he created for Current TV.  Since then, Bryan has written for "Ellen," for which he won and Emmy, "Fashion Police" and Funny or Die where he has come up with genius videos for actors like Jane Krakowski, Michael Shannon, Jessica Pare and countless others.  Br...

Dennis visits the Fox lot to chat with screenwriter Ron Nyswayer during his lunch break from the series "Homeland," which he is currently writing for.  Ron talks about his new documentary "She's the Best Thing In It" which is about Tony-winning actress and acting teacher Mary Louise Wilson. He also talks about the upcoming film "Freeheld," a feature film Ron wrote about a real life lesbian couple...

Dennis visits the West Hollywood home of actor-writer Tom Lenk to discuss his new dorkumentary "Nerdgasm" and his one-man show "Heavy Petting," which hits LA March 29th. Tom talks about the inspiration for "Heavy Petting," which is about all the pets he had growing up, including a homophobic parrot named Sarah. He talks about performing his previous show "Nerdgasm" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival...