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Tom Murrin

TOM MURRIN  (1939 - 2012)

 Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a


Thomas Lee Murrin (February 8, 1939 - March 12, 2012). Tom Murrin arrived in New York in the mid 1960s and became a member of the first generation of La MaMa playwrights, working with John Vaccaro among other influential directors. In the 1970s, Tom moved to Seattle and performed with Alex "Soul Dancer" Schlissel's Para-Troupe with Johanna Went, creating happenings and street performances. Following Para-Troupe, Tom and Johanna began to travel and to perform wherever they could, often using found objects as props. After performing street theater around the world, Tom returned to New York in 1978 and took up residence at director Bill Hart's Razor Gallery. Under the guidance of famed rock manager Jane Friedman (Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, John Cale of the Velvet Underground), Tom began to perform under the name Alien Comic, opening for acclaimed punk bands in rock clubs such as CBGBs, Irving Plaza and Max's Kansas City. In the mid 1980s, Tom created, performed, and curated a series of variety nights at Performance Space 122, called The Full Moon Show. Artists who performed in these shows include DANCENOISE, Jo Andres, Mimi Goese, Steve Buscemi (performing with Mark Boone Junior as "Steve and Mark"), David Cale, Ethyl Eichelberger, The Blue Man Group, John Kelly, and Karen Finley. Tom wrote for Paper Magazine covering theater and performance for 16 years, and served on PS 122's Avant-Garde-Arama curating committee since its inception nearly 25 years ago, helping to introduce hundreds of new artists to the space. Under the direction of head curator Salley May, Tom performed in introductions to nearly 30 Avant-Garde-Arama evenings at PS122. His plays "Sportfuckers" and "Butt Crack Bingo" were produced at Theater for the New City and La MaMa and directed by David Levine. In 2010 he wrote and performed "The Talking Show; The Magical Ridiculous Journey of Alien Comic," directed by Lucy Sexton. It was presented at PS 122 in New York and The Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles. In 2008, Tom was honored by Performance Space 122 at their annual Spring GalA. He received a plaque with the following quote: "For wildly imaginative groundbreaking performance work that never hesitated to serve the creative impulse, the desire to entertain, and the belief that new forms of theatre were possible. For invaluable contributions to Performance Space 122 and the entire downtown performing community that, through a history of selfless generosity, helped make New York a place where continuing generations of artists can imagine and invent. Performance Space 122 is proud to honor Tom Murrin aka Alien Comic."

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below is a list of Tom Murrin's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

 Alien Comic         Butt Crack Bingo         Cockstrong         Cocksure         Dickplay         Hung         Roomates         Son Of Cockstrong         Sport Fuckers         Talking Show, The         Tour Of Hell

Alien Comic

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Show

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Butt Crack Bingo

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Written As Jack Bump

1st Produced:
LaMaMa, New York    13 Nov 2003

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Cockstrong

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Composer: The Silver Apples, Ralph Czitron & John Vaccaro

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Playhouse of the Ridiculous

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Cocksure

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Composer: The Silver Apples, Ralph Czitron And John Vaccaro

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Playhouse of the Ridiculous

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Dickplay

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written As Jack Bump

1st Produced:
Cafe La MaMa, NY, USA >>>    08 Nov 2001

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Hung

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One Act

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National Library of Scotland ref: Traverse - Dep.256/Box 48/7

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Roomates

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One Act

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Son Of Cockstrong

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Composer: Ralph Czitrom, George Basley, John Madera, John Vaccaro

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Playhouse of the Ridiculous

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Sport Fuckers

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Written As Jack Bump

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Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue, New York, NY 10009    1999

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Talking Show, The

Synopsis:
A pioneer of performance art, Tom Murrin (aka Alien Comic) takes us on a talking tour of his life-and of his travels through avant-garde theatre in the '60s, '70s, and early '80s. He was a teenage magician, a Jesuit schoolboy, a Los Angeles trial lawyer, a La MaMa playwright in the '60s, a traveling street performer peddling his wares from Seattle to Calcutta, and finally a leader in the performance scene that sprang up in the East Village in the 1980s. He tells stories of his youth in Los Angeles, where he wore Frank Sinatra's suit and asked Jane Russell to perform at a pep rally. Murrin also takes the audience on a ride through the American avant-garde from the '60s thru the '80s: He wrote plays alongside the likes of Sam Shepard at Ellen Stewart's first La MaMa, performed with the original Playhouse of the Ridiculous, got busted in Brussels where the police carried the 16-foot phallus from his play Cockstrong through the city, and wound up performing on the streets of Soho with Stuart Sherman. Tom Murrin has been there from the beginning and lived to tell the tale. Speaking with wild-eyed excitement, Murrin hits you with history, hilarity, and his extraordinary generosity of spirit and innocence.
- nytheatre.com

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Piece

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Tour Of Hell

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