Welcome Crystal
Smith to Author Fever!
Hello
Crystal, tell our readers a little bit about yourself.
I’m a playwright from Charleston, SC
who has written more than fifty plays, some of which have been performed in New
York, Los Angeles, Maryland, and France. I’m the author of two play
anthologies-For I Am Zeus: A Collection of Plays About Greek Mythology and
Never Trust an Angel and Other Plays-and Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Conan
O’Brien, Sarah Silverman, and Tina Fey are some of the people who influence
me. I have a husband (Kyle), a dog
(Layla), and two hamsters (Bret and Jemaine), and I’m obsessed with Arrested
Development.
What
do you do when you aren’t writing?
Read,
watch TV and movies, listen to music and stand-up comedy CDs, go to stand-up
comedy shows
If
you had to choose an all-time favorite book, what would it be?
Naked
Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart…it’s hilarious, and I’ve read it
multiple times.
What
inspired you to start writing?
I
don’t remember…I’ve loved writing for as long as I can remember. As for playwriting though, I took an
Arthurian Legends class my senior year of high school, and we decided to write
and perform a play at the end of the semester; it was the first time I’d tried
playwriting, and I really liked it, so I took playwriting classes in college
and kept writing plays long after I graduated.
What
is your favorite genre to write?
Comedy…I
want to spend my life making people laugh, and all the people who inspire me
are very funny.
Do
you have a set writing schedule, or do you do it when the fancy strikes.
I
just do it when an idea hits me.
Do
you outline or write as you go (describe your writing process)?
Most
of my plays are pretty short (ten to twenty minutes), so I don’t really need an
outline…I just start writing and see where it takes me.
Do
you have a certain vice that helps you write?
Not
really…but I have noticed that sometimes after I see a stand-up comic or a good
play, I’ll end up starting a new play the next day.
Describe
your muse.
When
I write my Zeus plays, Will Ferrell is my muse…I imagine him in the part, and
that makes it even more fun to write.
What
inspires you?
Good
comedy
Are
the people in your life supportive of your writing?
Yes,
most of them have bought my book, and my husband (my then-boyfriend) traveled
with me to Los Angeles a few years ago to see my play “Godly Acres”…and he
didn’t mind sitting through it twice!
Is
music a part of your writing process?
Not
really…I love music, but I’m usually in front of the TV when I’m writing.
Tell
us about your current work in progress.
I’m
currently proofreading my first proof of Never Trust an Angel and Other
Plays…it should be out sometime in March.
You
can find more about Crystal here:
Extras:
Is
the glass half-empty or half-full?
Half-full
If
money were no option, where would you live?
Los
Angeles
What
did you want to be when you grew up?
A
paleontologist or a rock star
What
is your all-time favorite movie?
Cannibal!:
The Musical
If
you could have a dinner party with five people [living or dead], who would you
choose and why?
Will
Arnett, Will Ferrell, Conan O’Brien, Tina Fey, and Sarah Silverman…they’re all
people who inspire me, and that would be the most fun dinner party ever!
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