About
Richard Lucas is an award-winning comedian, author, and actor whose first book, a comedic memoir about living next to a barking dog called The Dog Log: An Accidental Memoir of Yapping Yorkies, Quarreling Neighbors, and the Unlikely Friendships that Saved My Life, is now available from Chicago Review Press. The book was a years-long true story process which grew out of his live comedy and storytelling performances in Los Angeles, and for which he was called "a modern day Spaulding Gray." It has been featured in Dogster Magazine, and Patch.com included in its "15 Heartwarming Stories from Around Los Angeles." Foreword Reviews calls The Dog Log a "George Carlin-esque memoir... this is a stylized work that moves beyond the reportage of its log." Library Journal says: "Heartwarming... will appeal to dog owners, the lovelorn, and fans of comic memoirs." TheTVolution.com calls it "Humorous, cantankerous, philosophical, introspective, and oh so entertaining…" The book is now available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Target, and if you prefer to support independent booksellers, you can find one in your area by typing in your zip code here. It's also popping up a libraries nationwide. You can request your local library to catalog it.
His most recent play, Bono and The Edge Waiting for Godomino’s, a parody of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and a scathing satire of celebrity culture which he wrote, directed and in which he played Bono, world premiered at The 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival and was a Best Comedy Award nominee. The play also won The TVolution.com Best Fringe Comedy Award as well as the Encore Producers’ Award, and was recently included in TheTVolution.com's LOS ANGELES THEATRE - THE BEST OF 2017 list. FringeReviews.co.uk said, “This is not the first parody of Beckett’s 'Waiting For Godot' I’ve ever seen, but it may be the last because I’m not sure it can get any better than this...” The TVolution.com said, “PLATINUM MEDAL ...approaches being the ultimate Fringe offering. Like the legendary shows 'Beyond the Fringe,' 'The Mighty Boosh,' 'Bing Hitler,' Lucas has served up a dish both cerebral and madcap and pulls it off brilliantly…” The play has performed three runs in Los Angeles, as well as Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego and Ventura, CA with more to come!
He has also won The Other Network’s COMEDY AWARD for his observations about a local sportscaster‘s penchant for wearing double-breasted suits, a piece which is featured on his comedy album, Resigntown, U.S.A. and Other Stories, available on iTunes.
After spending a brief time as a touring comedian, Lucas has performed in the premier storytelling shows in Los Angeles, including multiple appearances in the L.A. Storytelling Festival. He has also performed two solo shows invited to the Comedy Central Stage which were LA Weekly Recommended Events. He’s a regular guest on comedian Eddie Pepitone’s famous PepTalks podcast.
As an actor, he has been featured in TV and film, but also enjoys the stage. He has performed in the John Patrick Shanley plays Danny and the Deep Blue Sea and Beggars in the House of Plenty. Aside from playing Bono in his own play, his favorite role thus far was portraying Nobel Prize winning German theoretical physicist, Werner Heisenberg, in Michael Frayn's Copenhagen at the Attic Theater in Los Angeles. He is also proud to have been part of the world premiere of the award-winning three character play entitled Only the Moon Howls at The 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival, which won an Encore Producers' Award and was nominated for the Unleashed Award for Best Ensemble, as well as playing Frank Harris in the Encore Producers' Award-winning world premiere of The Importance of Being Oscar at The 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival, and to have played Ronnie in the award-winning independent feature film Tahiti. Also, if you look real close, you'll spot him in Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
Richard has never lost his musical roots, which he got from his mother who was a public school music teacher. He still performs regularly around Los Angeles playing original songs as well as covering entire albums acoustically, such as Radiohead's OK Computer and U2's The Joshua Tree. He also enjoys running and is a Masters Swimmer competitive at the national level. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and spent several years as an English teacher in South Los Angeles.
Featured Work
The Dog Log: An Accidental Memoir of Yapping Yorkies, Quarreling Neighbors, and the Unlikely Friendships that Saved My Life
From Chicago Review Press: The Dog Log, written as a daily notation to the sheriff’s department, begins as a simple complaint about a barking dog, but it soon becomes a powerful self-exploration and confessional. It’s a touching, hilarious, and cleverly sneaky memoir of a man in Los Angeles who rediscovers himself when his elderly neighbor falls and he must reluctantly tend to her two badly behaved Yorkshire terriers. What he discovers in her apartment shocks him into a surprising decision, and by addressing her problems, he inadvertently resolves his own. With humor and honesty, The Dog Log looks into big-city loneliness, heartbreak, and old age, but then climbs into the light. When one man knocks on his neighbor’s door, and his life changes forever.
