Uncovering Oklahoma » Information

Date Ideas, Improv, and Candy

Dennis Spielman — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:33:53 +0000

Time for a mid-week update with some ideas for some fun stuff to do. For starters, the the main Date Guide page has been updated to include general date ideas.

Tomorrow, July 9, OKC Improv will bring a free show at The Boom! with two of the city’s best troupes, The MiDolls and Villain: The Musical. The MiDolls will be performing a Goddess-themes long-form set followed by the nefarious improv stylings of Villain: The Musical in which five skilled improvisers create a 45-minute musical right in front of your eyes where the villain is the hero. The show starts at 8 pm. The Boom is located at 2218 NW 39th St in Oklahoma City. If you need more details, hit up the Facebook event page.

The show from the improv troupe, The Ones Your Mother Warned You About, from June 26, 2010 Show at OKC Improv has been published, so watch the 32 minute show here. Great comedy to keep you busy until the next show.

This Saturday, July 10, is the Candy Basket’s 21st Birthday and they’re having a party with 21% off everything in the store. We featured this Norman candy shop in our fourth episode, so I highly recommend you visit them Saturday. Also Saturday night OKC Improv has two shows at Ghostlight Theatre Club featuring some troupes from out of state.

I will see you guys at The Boom! for the free show tomorrow.

Events and More Improv

Dennis Spielman — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:01:47 +0000

To make things easier and let cluttered, I’ve split up the Events section. There are now pages for limited and regular events in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas. There are even new events on the pages including Tokyo In Tulsa and the Sunday Twilight Concert Series. It seems a bunch of neat events recently passed and there doesn’t seem to be any really cool events coming up for awhile. As always, if you know something, drop me a message.

In our Talent archive, I’ve uploaded more full length improv shows. There’s the Villain: The Musical’s May 1, 2010 The Lab Show and a Crayons Improv show.

Speaking of OKC Improv, their third run will start next Saturday, June 26 with shows at 8pm and 10pm continuing with weekly shows through July 31st. In addition to returning favorites like OKC’s own dyanmic duo of comedy, Twinprov, the improvised music theater extravaganza Villain: The Musical, and the hit all-female troupe, The MiDolls, three new metro troupes will be making their debut during the summer run.

OKC’s Stretchin’ It will perform their mix of raunchy improv and sketch comedy as part of a blue show intended for adult audiences only on July 10 at 10pm. Awkward Pause, made up of performers trained at UCO by Sue Ellen Reiman of Everybody and Their Dog and The MiDolls, will open. Also made up of performers from Reiman’s class, two-man group Improv-ing The World, will make their debut on June 26.

On June 10 at 8pm, OKC Improv will host two out-of-state troupes that specialize in the Harold long-form, Gangs of Recess from Fort Worth, and the Dallas Comedy House-based FIAD. July 17 will bring yet another Dallas long-form group, The Hindenburgs, performing a variation of the Armando.

The upcoming run will also include performances from some of OKC’s best stand-up comedians including Brad Porter, Spencer Hicks, and James Nghiem and a preview of Magician William Rader’s new mentalism show, set to debut this fall.

Here’s their summer schedule. The * denotes an OKC Improv Debut.

Saturday, June 26
- 8pm: The Ones Your Mother Warned You About / The MiDolls
- 10pm: Comedian Spencer Hicks* / Improv-ing The World (Edmond)* / Villain: The Musical

Saturday, July 3
- 8pm: Comedian Brad Porter / Everybody and Their Dog / Twinprov: Rap-City

Saturday, July 10
- 8pm: OKC Improv All-Stars / Gangs of Recess (Fort Worth)* / FIAD (Dallas)*
- 10pm: Comedian Dan Skaggs* / Awkward Pause (Edmond)* / Stretchin’ It*

Saturday, July 17
- 8pm: The Hindenburgs (Dallas)* / The MiDolls
- 10pm: TBA Prime Players / OKC Improv All-Stars / Everybody and Their Dog

Saturday, July 24
- 8pm: Comedian James Nghiem* / OKC Improv All-Stars / The Ones Your Mother Warned You About
- 10pm: Magician William Rader / Improv-ing The World (Edmond)* / Twinprov

Saturday, July 31
- 8pm: Level 1 Improv Class* / The MiDolls / Villain: The Musical
- 10pm: Level 2 Improv Class* / Crayons (Tulsa) / Twinprov: String Theory*

Tickets are $10 each. Reservations are encouraged and can be made via E-Mail at okcimprov@gmail.com or by calling 405.343.1570. For more information go to okcimprov.com.

Happy One Year Release

Dennis Spielman — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:02:11 +0000

Today marks the one year release of our first episode, Gems in Bricktown and Downtown. To celebrate, I’ve uploaded a video commentary Ali, Charmaine, and myself filmed a few months ago that was never released except to some publicity DVDs. Enjoy it below. You’ll be able to find it on the episode one page in the future.

On the top, you should see a new background header with some photos of some of the places we’ve featured during our travels. On our Facebook page I did upload pictures I took from the 2010 Paseo Arts Festival.

But wait, there’s more! Prepare to have your improv hole filled as I’ve added the Improv Troupes page to our Talent archive. It contains all of the interviews we’ve done plus FULL LENGTH SHOWS! This is a MASSIVE update as there are hours and I mean HOURS of video. There will be even more full length shows to come as I’m still working on encoding and uploading shows. We have full shows of The MiDolls, Villain: The Musical, Cueless, Everybody and Their Dog, and The Ones Your Mother Warned You About.

Do you like winning stuff? Then enter in our contest! It’s pretty simple. Just go here, fill out the form, and send it off! The contest will end in two weeks. I have several items to give away so your chances of winning something are pretty good.

So, what does the future have in store for Uncovering Oklahoma? How about our own TV SHOW! We’re still working on the details, but we’re looking for sponsors and plan to have a weekly TV series in a few months. In the mean time, we have an interview (finally) set in place for this Thursday. I will also keep uploading even more full improv shows, including an interview with Crayons. Stf Bidelspach is baking me cookies for getting the Villain: The Musical videos online. I like cookies. She even promised that they would be arsenic free!

That’s all for today. Stay tuned!

Repairs

Dennis Spielman — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:57:12 +0000

Raise your hand if your car got hurt in the recent storms. I’m sure you have some choice words to say about the weather as of late. My car got hurt in yesterday’s hail storm. I’m still pretty upset up about. I was able to call a national chain Sunday and set up an appointment to have my front windshield replaced this Friday all the way up in Enid… Yeah, that sucks. I tried to call around today and no one was even taking appointments until NEXT week. Sound off in the comments with your stories.

Let’s get to some repairs (well technically updates) on the web site. The About page has been updated with a group photo of Sasha, Ali, and myself from the One Year Party, links to our social networking sites, and some changes to the text. Speaking of the party, that page has been updated with pictures. Speaking of pictures, I uploaded some photos I took of the 2010 Carnality Ball in Oklahoma City to Facebook here. They are fairly tame with some body painting here and there, so don’t view this album at work.

June 1 will mark the one year release of our first episode. To celebrate that, we’re holding a contest! I still have some extra prizes from the one year party to give away. It’s a pretty easy contest too. Fill out some information, give us some suggestions for the show, and you’re done. Enter Here. The contest will end on May 31.

Here’s a bonus completely unrelated to anything mentioned today: Twinprov’s Iron Man 2 Rap (Lady Gaga Bad Romance Remix), which I filmed and edited.

Our Party Prize List

Dennis Spielman — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:34:22 +0000

Our big One Year of Uncovering Oklahoma Party is this Thursday, just a few days away. I’m so excited! We have cookies from Sweet Cheery’s Bakery and candy from the Candy Basket along with some snacks I bought. I also have the following great prizes to give away.

A OKCityCard
A gift certificate for two at Cafe 7 (which I have two give)
Autographed DVD copies of performances from Villain: The Musical and The Ones Your Mother Warned You About
One free cookie pizza at Cookies and Cards
A painting by Anthony Nguyen
A pair of tickets to a OKCImprov show
Plus 20% Coupons to Violet Avenue Boutique to be given along with every prize

As the week goes on, I may receive more items to give away. The party is on Thursday, April 15th from 7-10pm inside Put A Cork In It (115 East California) in Bricktown. I hope you can join us!

One Year of Uncovering Oklahoma Party

Dennis Spielman — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 02:45:52 +0000

Uncovering Oklahoma, an online travel series for the young and adventurous, will be celebrating it’s one year anniversary on April 15th from 7-10pm with party at Put A Cork In It (115 East California) in Bricktown.

“Put A Cork In It was our first interview for Uncovering Oklahoma, so it’s only fitting that we host a party there to celebrate one year of filming,” said Uncovering Oklahoma producer Dennis Spielman. “To commemorate that we plan to re-interview Andrea Griggs of Put A Cork In It to see what’s changed in the year since we last interviewed her.”

The evening will include snacks and wine samples and drawings held throughout the night for prizes that include a City Pass Card from Allied Arts, tickets to attend an OKC Improv show, a gift from Earth and Soul, and gift certificates from local restaurants featured in the past year.

There will also be a table featuring promotional items and swag from the last year’s featured businesses. Uncovering Oklahoma hosts Ali Heidari and Sasha Denkinska will in attendance to sign autographs. A scrapbook, slideshow, and videos documenting the last year’s adventures will also be on hand for perusing.

“We are all looking forward to this party. It’s a huge accomplishment to have been doing the show a year and to have covered such a diverse group of businesses and attractions,” said Spielman. “We’ve hit a bunch of potholes throughout the making of this show, but the future is looking pretty smooth.”

Uncovering Oklahoma covers everything from unique stores, great food to eat, places worth visiting, and activities to try. The goal is to show everyone places they’ve never even heard of before and make Oklahoma less boring. Past episodes include features on Bricktown, places you have to sign a liability waver, sweet treats, mystical shops, and nightlife. The Uncovering Oklahoma web site also features a date guide, local business deals, a talent archive, interesting products, and information about the show.

Converted to Talent

Dennis Spielman — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:31:17 +0000

The much neglected musicians directory has been converted to our talent archive. The talent section features not only musicians, but artists, comedians, magicians, and other talented people we’ve met during our travels. However, only bands and singers are on there now. Though, I did finally add listings for all of the musicians I met at Second Wind. There are also pictures and updated information on everyone too. On Tuesday I went to Midtown Deli and captured some pictures of cOnspiracy of Angels, which you can see a few choice ones in the Rock Bands page.

On the subject of pictures, on our Facebook page I’ve uploaded the pictures from our trip to Earth and Soul. While I was uploaded these, I noticed that I never uploaded the pictures from Collected Thread, so those up too. While you’re on our Facekbook page, become a fan!

Deals Section Now Open

Dennis Spielman — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:31:48 +0000

Our deals section is finally open! I’ve noticed that local small business don’t really have a good way to list their sales other than their own web site, twitter, or Facebook page. So as a special thank you to the past business we’ve featured, I created the deals section to list sales, coupons, special celebrations, and any good deal here on Uncovering Oklahoma.

To open it up, I have two listings, both in Norman. I’m putting the spotlight on Violet Avenue Boutique’s deal because you can enjoy 10% off any one item with mention of Uncovering Oklahoma! Limit 1 per customer and only applicable to non-sale items. Hurry because it won’t last forever!

Listings in our deals section are free, so contact me if you have a sale going on.

Some things for Sunday

Dennis Spielman — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:00:53 +0000

For this week’s Something Sunday I’m highlighting the MGold Brazil jewelry line at Violet Avenue Boutique in Norman’s Campus Corner. Being a guy, I don’t have much to say about jewelry other than it’s nice. Guys, it’s gold, so you may want to consider buying some pieces for your girl. Most of the items in the picture above are priced for under $50. (Maybe all. I’m not positive.)

On our Facebook page, I uploaded pictures I took from OKC Improv on February 13. I took three of the pictures and updated the events section with them. I know, I need to sit down and hunt for worthwhile events to list. However, I did add OKC StorySLAM to Events section. I just recently heard about StorySLAM and being a crazy writer, I’m going to personally visit their next show in March.

Okay, it’s time for me to get to bed. Hopefully, I’ll continue this weird dream I had this morning. It involved me traveling with some friends in some post-apocalyptic future world, catching a bomb from the sky to power an electric car, and kicking eight-foot tall light purple muscular monsters in the crotch. I guess that’s what I get for eating biscuits at Beverly’s in two in the morning. Goodnight, everyone!

Updates

Dennis Spielman — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 19:15:13 +0000

Okay, I got a bunch of updates to talk about, but first some big news: Uncovering Oklahoma has been set up as an LCC! Translation: we’re legally a business now. I had a friend take a picture of me yesterday holding up the LLC certificate.

As I mentioned, I do have some updates. The About page has received a bit of a facelift and updates. Parts of the sponsor agreement have changed. I also tried to upload some pictures of OKC Improv to our Facebook page, but Facebook glitched out on me. They may show up later or they may not. If not, I will try again later.

Speaking of OKC Improv, if you’re going to tonight show’s I will be there for the second show to help film it. Now, if you already went to the show and saw our advertisement on the back of the brochure, thanks for visiting us! We got a video on Collected Thread coming soon. (Tuesday at the latest, I swear!) Our next episode will focus on awesome art galleries. Plus, we got all kinds of other great stuff planned, so save our site to your bookmarks, speed dial, top sites, favorites, or whatever you do.

Become Our Fan on Facebook!

Dennis Spielman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:06:44 +0000

Uncovering Oklahoma | Promote Your Page Too

I’ve created a Facebook page as another option for everyone to stay connected with Uncovering Oklahoma. If you have a Facebook account, become a fan of our show. I already have pictures and videos of some of the places our travels have brought us. As the show grows, so will the content. I really don’t know what else to say. Just go check it out.

DVDs, Fixes, Sponsors, Oh My!

Dennis Spielman — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 04:48:08 +0000

With the Holiday madness dwindling down, it’s time to get Uncovering Oklahoma back on track. Future plans include finishing the fashion episode and start work on a romantic adventures themed episode in time for Valentine’s Day, which I’m looking for suggestions on the latter.

One project I have been working on is a DVD collection of everything we’ve filmed in 2009. Want proof? Here’s a screen shot of the menu selection on episode one. The DVD will include a few videos not seen on the web site, video commentary, new edits on the videos (namely episode four), consistent blooper editing style (matching the style seen in the fifth episode) and whatever extra goodies we can cook up for it. The DVD will also include the Holiday Family Jam special, which Sasha and I will get together soon to finish that video. As for the release of the DVD, I don’t have plans to sell it directly, but I do plan to give out copies to everyone involved and they may want to order extra copies. If you have any suggestions for the DVD, drop us a comment.

While compiling the DVD, I noticed an error on the Joe Hopkins “Reaching” live at Second Wind video. I had the lazily placed the wrong video credits on it. I deleted that video and reuploaded it with the correct credits and higher sound levels. You can watch the corrected video here on YouTube. On the subject of fixes, I’ve fixed and changed a few things around the web site. Nothing major, but I did rename some of the blog posting categories.

Now, the final piece of business. Uncovering Oklahoma is now seeking a sponsor. If this show is going to get any better, on a regular schedule, and release more updates, we are going to need some funds. We’re offering an incredible deal that includes such benefits as a dedicated special video, commercial advertisement in our videos, filming of events, hosting events, exclusive banner advertising throughout the site, and saving the world. If you are interested or know someone interested, visit the sponsor page for more information.

Keep checking back and tell your friends about Uncovering Oklahoma.

Events Section is a Go!

Dennis Spielman — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:30:15 +0000

As the headline suggests, our Events guide is online. Sure, Wimgo will always have more event listings than us, however, our event guide will only cater events for our young adult audience. Basically, we weed out events you wouldn’t be interested in. Most of the listings will be free or fairly cheap as well. Be sure to visit the guide as we won’t always update the blog whenever we add a listing – unless we’re spotlighting it, such as this event.

The Holiday Family Jam is going to be a beautiful night of music, fellowship, dancing and of course drinking on Friday December 11th! The Flytrap Music Hall in Downtown Tulsa is where the event will be taking place. Bringing you the best in the Stillwater and Tulsa local music scenes all in one jam packed night! Flatland Travelers, Dinosaur Trio, Whirligig, Paul Benjaman Band and Taddy Porter! After Taddy Porter plays Dinosaur Trio is going to end the night with a jam electronic set, and maybe a few guests from the other bands! Tickets are only 8 dollars presale, they will be 12 at the door. Uncovering Oklahoma will be filming at this event! We will get video interviews with all of the bands playing, so these interviews will be another feature to look for in the future.

Also, this morning Sasha and I filmed an interview at Violet Avenue Boutique for our upcoming fashion episode. Starting with this episode, we will take pictures of our travels to share with everyone. Here’s a picture of Sasha with Violet’s owner, Becca Chansolme.

Here’s a picture I captured that sums up some of the shop’s offerings.

Stay tuned for the release our fashion episode to uncovering more about Violet Avenue Boutique and other great fashion shops.

Touch us in your phone!

Dennis Spielman — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:06:49 +0000

If you visit uncoveringoklahoma.com on your Apple iPhone / iPod touch, Google Android, and other touch-based smartphone the site will display a special mobile theme. This theme is designed to load faster for the slower mobile speeds and display better for the smaller screen. I was playing around with the theme on my iPod Touch and it looks great. The currently enabled user-agents are: android, aspen, blackberry9500, blackberry9530, cupcake, dream, incognito, iphone, ipod, opera mini, webmate, and webos. If you don’t like the mobile theme, at the bottom is an option to turn it off.

Sasha’s Profile and Halloween Events

Dennis Spielman — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:29:58 +0000

First, I would like to introduce our new co-host, Sasha Denkinska. Her first interview we filmed together was a segment on Groovy’s for our upcoming nightlife club episode (which will air when it’s done). The interviews at Groovy’s went great and it’s wonderful to have Sasha on board. She wrote me her profile so that, along with her profile picture, are now on the About page.

Now, for something frightful. Cue the spooky music, please! October is sneaking around the corner, which means Halloween festivals and attractions. I’ve created a special section on Oklahoma’s various regular “mature” Halloween events. Check out the Halloween 2009 page for more details. These events span throughout the entire state and not just near Oklahoma City. If you have a mature event going on, drop me, Dennis Spielman, a message. I promise I won’t drink your blood.

Before I leave you alone, please, check under your bed tonight. I kind of sort pissed of this gluetuse monster during a game of poker last night. Yeah, with my full house he lost all of his cats to me. He totally lost his tempter too. He vowed to slurp out from under my viewer’s beds, stick them there, and then proceed to slap whoever he captured with a large bass fish covered in green slime. (Don’t ask.) Just toss some garlic his way and he’ll run off.

Well, that’s a wrap for this update. Welcome again to Sasha, check out the Halloween page, and keep checking back for our next episode.