Observer Observer Logo

Cover Story

  • Business
  • |
  • Arts
  • |
  • Entertainment
  • |
Newsletters
  • Entertainment
    • What to Watch
    • Books
    • Reviews
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Theater
    • Music
  • Arts
    • Visual Art
  • Business
    • Management
    • Media
    • Technology
    • Space
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
    • Travel
    • Beauty
  • About
    • Masthead
    • Editorial Ethics and Guidelines
    • Advertise With Us
    • Observer Advertising Guidelines
Events Newsletters

Cover Story

Steve Buscemi for New York Observer
Aug 11

Mr. Think: Steve Buscemi on Self-Acceptance, Sibling Rivalry and His Heady Talk Show

The malleable Steve Buscemi, who can skillfully portray mensch or murderer (sometimes simultaneously), has had the good fortune in his epic career to play many demanding parts: the motor-mouthed sociopath in Fargo, the parsimonious Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, the sympathetic record-collecting lonely heart in Ghost World and the natty, scheming power broker Nucky Thompson on Boardwalk Empire to list just a few. But the Brooklyn-born actor is taking on what may be his toughest role to date: himself. Mr. Buscemi hosts, directs and executive produces Park Bench, an Emmy-nominated series on AOL that made its debut last year and is in its second season. Along with Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee on the digital channel Crackle, Park Bench represents the vanguard of the indie talk show—or “talking show,” as Mr. Buscemi bills it; the web series is something of a modernized cross between Fernwood 2Nite and Playboy After Dark, only outdoors and without bunnies. Each roughly 10-minute episode, shot either in a city park or at a location such as City Hall (have bench, will travel), is a pressure-cooked stew of sketch comedy, improv, music and traditional Q&A. As foils, Mr. Buscemi relies on his scene-stealing sidekick, Geo Orlando, a mammoth, under-employed carpenter, and his younger brother Michael, an accomplished actor in his own right.
By David Wallis
Aug 4

An Accomplished Writer Takes a ‘MasterClass’ From a Gargantuan Selling Writer

The Master Class ads started popping up in my Facebook feed a couple of weeks ago.
By Joyce Maynard
The cover of this week's <em>Times Magazine</em>.
Apr 14

The Story Behind John Jeremiah Sullivan’s Times Magazine Cover Story

Robert McCormick and the question of "quasi theft."
By Matthew Kassel
Sep 18

A Reasonable Man: How Track-Suited Firebrand Al Sharpton Became the Most Thoughtful Voice on Cable

By Daniel D'Addario
Illustration: Mark Hammermeister
Aug 15

Our Cheating Hearts: Honor, Integrity and Playing by the Rules are All Out of Style

By Patrick Clark
Illustration by Dale Stephanos
Jun 20

Outward Bound: Celebs Struggle To Keep Sexuality Secret(ish), But Media Make Mischief

By Daniel D'Addario
May 23

Facebook is People!: Why I Quit Mark Zuckerberg’s Online Collective Data Farm

By Elise Knutsen
May 10

Blogger Breastfeeds 3-Year-Old on Cover of Time

By Kat Stoeffel
Jun 1

Ring of Fire: Bill de Blasio, Bloomberg Critic, Blares Protest Song

By Azi Paybarah
Apr 19

The Wrecking Ball Comes for Daisy Buchanan

By Nate Freeman
Mar 30

It’s SOS for the S.E.C.! Polite Mary Schapiro Polices the Plutocrats

By Maureen Tkacik
  • Contact
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Editorial Ethics
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Cookie Settings
  • Do not sell my data
Powered by WordPress VIP

We noticed you're using an ad blocker.

We get it: you like to have control of your own internet experience.
But advertising revenue helps support our journalism.

To read our full stories, please turn off your ad blocker.
We'd really appreciate it.

How Do I Whitelist Observer?

How Do I Whitelist Observer?

Below are steps you can take in order to whitelist Observer.com on your browser:

For Adblock:

Click the AdBlock button on your browser and select Don't run on pages on this domain.

For Adblock Plus on Google Chrome:

Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Enabled on this site.

For Adblock Plus on Firefox:

Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Disable on Observer.com.

Then Reload the Page