Pop Culture's Movers And Shakers
By Melissa Castellanos
Imagine how uneventful pop culture would be if all celebrities were of the same mold as Paris Hilton or Britney Spears.
Without the most eccentric, innovative and creative talent, who think outside the box and stick it to the man, pop culture wouldn't be as well-rounded as it is today.
Radar Magazine decided to honor the "New Radicals," otherwise known as the unconventional, the rebels and the rule breakers, who don't necessarily make the front cover, score a platinum record or get their name engraved on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Radar celebrated its first annual "New Radicals" Gala reception and silent auction to benefit the International Fund For Animal Welfare. The event was held at The New Museum in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007.
"The 'New Radicals' is a special portfolio honoring a group of entertainers, writers, and troublemakers who are shaking up pop culture in all the right ways," said Radar's Editor-In-Chief Maer Roshan. "By telling it like it is and making magazine readers laugh for a change. We go where others can't or won't, and operate from the admittedly off-the-wall assumption that our readers aren't morons," he told The Showbuzz.
The "New Radicals" included actress/comedian Kathy Griffin ("My Life on the D-list"), musician Spankrock (aka Naeem Juwan), actor Jesse Eisenberg ("The Squid and the Whale"), actress Candis Cayne (ABC's "Dirty, Sexy Money"), actress/comedian Kristen Schaal (HBO's "Flight of the Concords"), director Craig Brewer ("Hustle & Flow" and "Maggie Lynn"), author Shalom Auslander ("Foreskin's Lament"), producers World of Wonder - Fenton Bailey and Randy Borbato ("The Eyes of Tammy Faye").
In addition, those who tested the limits within the blogosphere were honored. The Bloggeratti, made up of bloggers Eskay (nahright.com/news), Jam Donaldson (hotghettomess.com), Angel Laws (concreteloop.com) and Rod McCullom (rod20.com), were recognized for sharing their unique perspective on black culture, gaining attention for their input on the Jena 6 case.
"Saturday Night Live's" Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch also made an appearance at The New Museum.
Photos: Celebrity Circuit
According to Roshan, the key qualities to being a "New Radical" are "fearlessness, a sense of humor, and an uncanny ability to piss off all the right people."
Keeping with the distinct theme, the awards were "golden replica statuettes" of the peculiar French artist Marcel Duchamp's "Dadaist pissor" (also known as a golden urinal).
Spankrock, a musician who uses Lindsay Lohan or Rick Rubin for material and who has an upcoming album based on risqué 2 Live Crew samples, was surprised to see the shape of the award.
"I guess it feels pretty good, but someone just handed me a urinal! I don't know if I should be excited about that," Spankrock said. "I'll be working on a full length album and hopefully it will continuously be radical in a different way than the past year and hopefully I will continue to grow."
Angel Laws, creator/editor of concreteloop.com, was working the red carpet with a shiny gold dress and matching shall as she accepted her "New Radicals" award.
"Just be yourself, walk to your own beat, do everything from your heart," Laws told The Showbuzz . "I just do everything day to day. I didn't know that I had that big of an impact until I won the award. Just because I am getting an award now doesn't mean that I am going to act all new. Blogging is harder than people think. I am glad that they are honoring black bloggers now."
Comedian/actress Kristen Schaal, who had an unsuccessful run auditioning with Conan O'Brien scouts, didn't let that stop her from continuing her career of making people laugh.
"It's a thrill. I feel like running out in the streets and breaking some rules just tearing it up, walking the line, not like Johnny Cash, just me," Schaal told The Showbuzz .
"Being a comedian in New York City, it's a pleasure. It's the best place you can do comedy. All my peers are so talented, they work very hard. They are so inspirational," Schaal said. "There are always nice full houses, it is the best place to go, hands down. You can do a show three times a night every day of the week if you want."
When asked what made Radar decide to team up with the International Fund For Animal Welfare, Roshan said, "It's a family connection. My half harp seal."
Seriously, "As the world's leading animal welfare group, they've been instrumental in changing the way we view animals," Roshan said. "When it was founded 40 years ago, the idea that pets and people might have common interests was nuts. Today, Leona Helmsley's dog, Trouble, has $12 million and his own chauffeur."
"I appreciate all life, so hopefully we can continue to preserve all wildlife," Spankrock said. "Anyway we can preserve our natural resources means a lot to me."
Neurosonic's Jason Darr and Jacen Ekstrom also made an appearance on Radar's red carpet.
"We're extremely big supporters of animal rights movements, Bodog, our record company, is a very big defender of animal rights and we're behind that 100 percent," Darr said.
And where will a cutting-edge award show go from here?
"I've always been a sucker for dance-offs," Roshan said.