2011 Lineup

Nanananananana Nanananananana...BATMAN! Tom Woodruff is at the top of the Hollywood special effects world. He trained under legend Stan Winston before co-founding the oscar-winning effects studio ADI. This Friend of TwentyWonder worked on movies like Terminator, Aliens, Starship Troopers, Death Becomes Her, Cast Away, and Ender’s Game. For 2014 he brought one of his most popular creations to TwentyWonder, a fully functioning replica of the 1966 Batmobile. Among batmobile aficionados (it’s a thing!), Woodruff’s is considered one the best ever made. Adam West himself has driven it and told Tom it is his favorite. It’s a gorgeous product of a master craftsman. And we can attest that the afterburner is fully functional!

World wide warlords of rock and blues who just happen to be supporters of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles! This band was founded in the late 90s after guitarist Peter Hayes left The Brian Jonestown Massacre to join up with bassist Robert Levon Been. The band began in San Francisco and later moved to Los Angeles. Since then they’ve traveled the world, including a stop at the Doll Factory for an insane set at TwentyWonder 2011. Note: fans of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are strongly advised to spread your love like a fever.

When was the last time you got to build a house of oversized cards? And then have the rest of the TwentyWonder crowd join you? And together make a city of houses of over-sized cards? And then watched in horror as a felt-costumed godzilla burst in to wreak havoc upon your creation! This crowd favorite sprang from the minds of long-time creative partners Tim Ford, Brandi Benkert, and James Pearce. The Monstrocity team was also behind the TwentyWonder 2010 aMAZEment installation, a disorienting PVC and plastic maze featuring Trisomy 21 facts.

We’re gonna need a bigger bio. Beloved for playing Mr. Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Ed Asner has over 300 onscreen and voice credits. This habitual Emmy winner has also championed the cause of labor in Hollywood, serving two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild. It’s no wonder that The Tonight Show with Jay Leno featured a recurring segment called “Does This Impress Ed Asner?”. At TwentyWonder 2011, he read selections from Doctor Seuss to intimate klatches of a dozen or so. Ed, in his inimitable style, demanded the audience repeat everything back to him, at one point exhorting them to, “Get pissed off!”

Australia’s most awesome comedy band! They’ve blown away audiences across their home country and around the world with a mixture of original comedy songs and pop parodies. In addition to their epic show in the Doll Factory, they’ve played some minor venues like the Sydney Opera House. This trio includes lead vocalist Jordan Raskopoulos, keyboard player / backup vocalist Benny Davis, and guitarist / “way way backup vocalist” Lee Naimo. If you haven’t heard their Four Chord Song before, rush over to YouTube for a couple minutes of joy.

Jerry Beck began his career as a research assistant to Leonard Maltin and has gone on to become a world famous animation historian and teacher. He has penned ten books, published numerous articles, and runs the website Cartoon Research, which is devoted to animation’s past, present, and future. Jerry’s work celebrates classic cartoons from all over the world. He brought his encyclopedic knowledge and infectious passion—along with some truly wild cartoons—to TwentyWonder 2011, and everyone who heard him walked away with a new appreciation and enthusiasm for an art form we all grew up on.

Krystal is a circus and performance artist who has worked with the dark and extraordinary Los Angeles troupe Cirque Berzerk. Krystal also created the Wandering Marionettes, an LA-based dance, circus, and performance art troupe blending circus-freak and Goth-punk aesthetics with hip-hop moves and attitude. During TwentyWonder 2011 she was one of our roving performers. When Krystal is not doing circus, she works as a professional illustrator.

Dolores Bozovic is an associate professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute. At TwentyWonder 2011 she presented her research into the the interface between physics and auditory neuroscience. The ultimate goal of her field is the understanding the basic processes of hearing. Her laboratory studies the motility of nanometer-scale auditory hair cells, the mechanism that turns sounds coming into your ear into electrical signals going out to your brain—you may know those cells better as the ones that make your head ring after listening to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Laura Brody is a costume creator by trade and a functional artist by design and desire. Her Edwardian, cyborg wheelchair “Driven” was included in Dr. Grymm’s 1000 Steampunk Creations. Her one-off creations have been featured on the Super Bowl halftime show, on tour with the Black Eyed Peas, and “on Rihanna’s bottom.” Laura Brody is the type of DIY artist we love having in the TwentyWonder community. In 2011 she invited TwentyWonderers to take part in a live performance draping in which she stapled people into on-the-spot, custom garments made from re-purposed fabrics and trinkets.

LA-based Crashspace has been bringing together hackers, programmers, builders, makers, and artists to their Culver City home since 2009. They describe themselves as, “People who generally like to break things and see what new things we can build with the pieces.” They brought those new things to TwentyWonder 2011 and 2013. Among the highlights was MakerBot, an example of the 3-D printing revolution occuring in manufacturing. Crashspace also invites community members as young as seven to learn computer coding. Their DIY outlook is the kind of attitude that TwentyWonder embraces.

Maker supreme. Gregg’s creations include everything from funky chairs collected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York to Burning Man 2013’s Temple of Whollyness. That year, he previewed his Burning Man installation Otic Oasis in the Doll Factory at TwentyWonder. His residence and studio have been located in Culver City for the past fifty years where he works as a designer and architect.

Funny or Die (FOD) is a comedy video website founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. It keeps its content sharp by subjecting every video to a brutal “Funny” or “Die” vote by each viewer. Since its beginning in 2007, FOD has grown to become a recognized and influential brand in comedy. It has attracted contributions from all over the industry, including from Friend of TwentyWonder Judd Apatow. At TwentyWonder 2010 and 2011, FOD’s creative grand poobah Andrew Steele provided an exclusive sampling of FOD material for the TwentyWonder crowd’s enjoyment.

JP Hasson is best known for his music/comedy acts, but his talents and projects cover a huge range. He’s worked with bands like Soundgarden and The Dead Milkmen, as well as the animation team behind Sealab 2012 and Archer. In 2011 Hasson, touring under the name JP Incorporated, brought his show to TwentyWonder. JP Incorporated is likely headed to your city soon to give a live presentation on the benefits of adding the J.P. Inc. network to your cable subscription! And don’t forget their slogan: JP Incorporated “We’ve been in business for years.”

Richard Kaae has more than 40 years’ experience in entomology. He is the patriarch of a three-generation, insect-loving family. During his 30+ years teaching at Cal Poly, Richard developed the most popular course offered at the university, Insects and Civilization, which has an annual enrollment of 2,000 students. TwentyWonder 2011 and 2014 visitors were invited to see his Madagascar Hissing Roaches, squirm at the sight of tarantulas, and get their hands literally on a praying mantis!

The League is a caravan of scientific adventurers, monster hunters, and keepers of Victorian era stories and relics. Roving through the TwentyWonder 2011 crowd, The League of S.T.E.A.M. provided just the right kind of weird to our carnival of the mind. They were equipped with meticulously designed, detailed, and fully functional net guns, as well as extendable punch-fists, and electro-shock pads. This steampunk troop, and their zombie manservants, took TwentyWonderers back to a time of scientific adventure, to a common ground between the paranormal and the Pythagorean.

Since the Derby Dolls’ start on a Little Tokyo rooftop in 2003, they have grown to become a treasured part of Los Angeles culture. Their style of banked-track roller derby is a high-speed, full-contact sport fueled by a belief in the strength of women, volunteerism, and a DIY attitude. The Derby Dolls invest heavily in their community, partnering with numerous groups including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Aids Project Los Angeles, and After-School All-Stars. In 2011, TwentyWonder was invited to the Doll Factory by league co-founder Demolicious, and since then the Derby Dolls have made themselves an invaluable part of TwentyWonder.

Mark Mothersbaugh is best known as a co-founder of the highly influential new wave band Devo. He recently did the score for the acclaimed Lego Movie. Mark is also a highly respected visual artist. For both TwentyWonders 2011 and 2013, he donated a print to our raffle. One of the prints came from his highly coveted “Postcard Diaries” series. All proceeds from the raffle went to the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles. Mothersbaugh is also connected to TwentyWonder via The Poubelle Twins, who appeared in Devo’s music video “What We Do”.

French maids Fifi and Bibi Poubelle have appeared in diverse places, from videos for Devo, to shows for Green Day, and events like TwentyWonder 2010! They started their career with the Velvet Hammer burlesque. After Velvet Hammer, they took up with Lucha VaVOOM, performing the first Girlie Girl Catfight in a one-on-one match against each other. While at Lucha, they also debuted their intensely popular audience participation act Le Slap Booth Chaud.

The Poubelle Twins returned to TwentyWonder in 2014 to co-host the chill room alongside Eban Schletter.

Singer-songwriter Trent Reznor is a landmark in American music. He began in the industrial music underground and grew to earn recognition throughout the music industry for his uncompromising artistry. He has also co-written scores for the David Fincher movies The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In 2011, Reznor showed his generosity to TwentyWonder. He donated a signed Fender guitar to our auction. Proceeds from that auction, and all TwentyWonder proceeds, went to our beneficiary, the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles.

With friends and fans like Tech Crunch, Foursquare, and WIRED, this mobile karaoke lounge is pretty much the funnest thing on wheels. It was a fan favorite at TwentyWonder 2011 as well as a standout at SXSW in Austin. {RV}IP describes itself as, “The latest thing. And we mean that literally: we’re open later than any other party. It’s always free, the top shelf liquor never runs out, and we have no closing time. You just have to find us.” {RV}IP is the brainchild of LA-based wife-and-husband team Kestrin Pantera and Jonathan Grubb.

The story goes that after rock legend Beck discovered Ryan Falkner’s unique dancing style at an LA party, Beck invited Ryan to dance on stage with his band for two worldwide tours. When Ryan performed at TwentyWonder 2011 we understood why and invited him back for 2012. In addition to his insane dancing talents, Ryan is an accomplished director and actor. Ryan is also a respected graphic designer and storyboard artist who has worked on numerous commercials and films—including Pineapple Express, produced by Friend of TwentyWonder Judd Apatow.

Another longtime contributor, Eban is a prolific composer and songwriter who has created music for countless television shows including Spongebob Squarepants, Mr. Show, and the Academy Awards. He has also maintained a steady output of solo albums that explore a range of genres. A multi-instrumentalist, Eban performs on keyboards, drums, bass, and clarinet. But he is especially famous for his skill on the theremin. Eban has made appearances at TwentyWonder from 2010–2014 giving virtuoso theremin performances and hosting the Chill Room alongside The Poubelle Twins.

Brady roamed among the crowd at TwentyWonder 2011 and 2012 as one of his most popular characters, a stilt-walking, firebreathing zombie-clown. His zombie-clown is a part of the psychedelic vaudevillian circus Cirque Berzerk. In addition to psychedelic vaudevillian circus, Brady does futuristic vaudevillian circus as part of an act called The Mutaytor, which combines aerial performance, giant screen visuals, and pyrotechnic displays. He is also a musician and prop maker. Brady recently added another feather to his cap with a performance alongside Taylor Swift at the Grammys.

Stephanie had a one-woman show at the Cotrutza Gallery in 2010 as part of the downtown Los Angeles gallery walk. The show consisted of a 70 pencil drawings. She brought 30 of them to TwentyWonder 2011. Sales of her work from that night, along with all proceeds from TwentyWonder, went to benefit the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles (DSALA). In 2012, Stephanie was awarded the DSALA Voice Award in Fine Art.

Tierra Del Sol cultivates artistic expression among people with significant challenges, such as trisomy twenty-one (Down syndrome). Tierra Del Sol believes people with trisomy twenty-one can develop creatively and make important contributions to the cultural and economic life of their communities. That notion is at the heart of TwentyWonder, so it made perfect sense to have their work on display at the Doll Factory. They’ve contributed artwork at TwentyWonder from 2011-2013. One of our favorite efforts was their collaboration with Tim Biskup—a member of the Lowbrow art movement centered around southern California.

As monozygotic twins, Kevin and Kent grew up with an acute awareness of questions of identity, and much of their current work centers around issues of identity, the individual, and communication. This LA-based duo use the art gallery and museum context to explore their twinly telepathy, with startling and hilarious results. They have exhibited at the Rosamund Felsen Gallery in Los Angeles, Kunsthalle in Belgium, and Stalkie Galleri in Denmark. For TwentyWonder 2010, they played telekinetic chess in bicycle outfits, but for TwentyWonder 2011 they did something weird.