Blog Tour:Bryan Cohen

Hi all, today I have with me Bryan Cohen who is going to do a little post about himself with a little something in the end!

Take it away Bryan!

Getting to Know Me
By Bryan Cohen

For today’s post on my first ever blog tour, I thought I’d share some little known facts about myself. I hope this gives you an opportunity to get to “know the author” better than you might if you just read a potted biography on the back cover.

- I am a self-proclaimed master of movie trivia and often challenge my friends to games of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” or the board game “Scene It.” Personally, I am only two steps from Mr. Bacon.

- I constantly wear a button that says “optimism.”

- I got into writing about writing in an effort to support people who were struggling like I had straight out of college.

- I moved to Chicago after college to become an improv comedian and I’ve had the good fortune of performing with Dan Bakkedahl from “The Daily Show” and John Lutz (Lutz) from “30 Rock.”

- I became interested in comedy while performing in campfire sketches for sixth graders for my high school’s Environmental Education Club.

- I speak to my parents on the phone almost every day and my dad and I are planning on writing a book together at some point in the next year.

- Various job titles I’ve held in my life: author, theatre director, commercial producer, brand ambassador, Santa Claus (at a Verizon Wireless store), administrative assistant for “Oprah’s Favorite Things,” barista, youth soccer coach, and a stand-in for a car accident victim (twice).
- I have on five occasions written love poems for my girlfriends or crushes, including a poem written in chalk on one girlfriend’s driveway.

- My favorite movie is “Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie” and my favorite television show is “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” My favorite book is The Princess Bride.

- I played the clarinet for eight years in school. I wanted to play the saxophone, but my teacher worried I was too small for the instrument.

- Some of my nicknames over the years: Coney, the Viking, Cryin’ Boen, Bee-Rye, the Happy Guy, Koala Face, CoCo, and Cohen O’ Bryan.

- I have acted in a McDonald’s commercial, a Wilson’s Pepperoni print ad, and a comedic World Wrestling Entertainment parody stage show as the scantily-clad “Mr. Fortunate.” My favorite role ever was in an improvised show called “On Air” as a billionaire soap mogul named “Surfactant Jones.”
- My first kiss occurred while watching the movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” ... in the year 2000.

- I often get called into Chicago auditions seeking actors who look like leprechauns. There are more than you’d think.

- When I was born, the doctor tickled my feet instead of spanking me. As a result, the first thing I ever did was laugh.


That’s me in a nutshell! If you have any other questions about me, I’ll try to answer them in the comments below. It’s nice to meet you.

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Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. Since graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill he has written four books (1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More, 500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade, Sharpening the Pencil: Essays on Writing, Motivation, and Enjoying your Life, and Writer on the Side: How to Write Your Book Around Your 9 to 5 Job), several plays (Something from Nothing and Chekhov Kegstand: A Dorm Room Dramedy in Two Acts) and he was the head writer for an un-produced Web series (Covenant Coffee). His writing and motivation website Build Creative Writing Ideas has had over 100,000 visitors since it was founded in December 2008. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Follow Bryan on Twitter @buildcwideas.

Bryan Cohen is giving away 100 personalized writing prompts to one giveaway entrant chosen at random during the blog tour. Personalized prompts are story starters that cater specifically to a writer’s subject matter, strengths/weaknesses, etc. Cohen will create the prompts to cater exclusively to the winner. He is giving away free digital copies of his book The Writing Sampler to everybody who enters, which includes excerpts from each of his four books on writing. The book contains essays, writing prompts and tips and tricks to enhance your writing skills. In addition, for each of Cohen’s books that reach the Top 500 on Amazon during his blog tour, he will add a $50 Amazon gift card to the drawing (up to six $50 cards in total)!

To enter, simply post a comment to this blog post with your e-mail address. Entries will be counted through June 2nd, 2011.


There he is! Riiiiggghhhttt there! In the middle :)

Bryan has been so sweet with me with all of my computer issues so a big thanks to him!! Show him some love guys! Comment to win!!