Adventures of A Webutante in Hollywood

What an evening of firsts!! Last night I hosted the Dick Clark Productions/ABC.com live stream of the American Music Awards Pre-Show. It was an hour and a half of non-stop activity…and SO much fun! Needless to say, I slept in this morning… but I thought I’d share some of the highlights of my “firsts” with you:

1. AUDIENCE – The show had the largest online streaming audience in the history of the AMA’s (and quite possibly other live streaming shows) with over 3.3 million viewers on YouTube, Facebook, and other sites carrying the AMA LIVE widget.

2. INTERVEWS – I interviewed Mary J Blige and LOVED her. I’d interviewed a lot of these folks before, either at the Grammy’s or Golden Globes, but she was a first, as well as a few others (Demi Lovato, who was a sweetheart, and Kid Cudi, who didn’t mind when I started belting out “Day and Night.”) All of the celebs on the carpet were extremely gracious and patient, because with live shows, they often have to wait until I get the green light on my feed.

3. FASHION – I made my first “worst-dressed list”, although I didn’t feel so bad when I saw that Alicia Keys, Demi Lovato, Kristin Bell, and Nicole Kidman were a few of the other victims. And might I add, at the defense of these beautiful ladies and anyone else on a Worst-Dressed List, it is often the stylist who picks the clothes, not the celebrity!

4. THE SHOW – I actually got to sit and watch the show! (Usually when you host the red carpet pre-show, you don’t get tickets.) My sister, manager, and I had amazing tickets – center orchestra – and WOW! JLo, Lady Gaga, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, Jay Z and Alicia Keys, Timbaland – AMAZING PERFORMANCES! I’ve been to a few award shows before (People’s Choice, MTV VMA’s, etc) but this was by far my favorite!

5. Last but not least, it was the first time I actually went to an after party! Usually I’m so exhausted, I head straight home, but I enjoyed some cupcakes and wine with friends and my sister (who was in town from Kansas). THEN I passed out. :)

So that’s the rundown!! Hope you guys enjoyed the pre-show and/or the actual show. And a huge thanks to my co-hosts, Jenni Pulos, Julie Moran, Jai Rodriguez, David Lehre, as well as the Facebook Girls Randi and Brandi and web extraordinaire iJustine! You guys really held down the forts.

Here’s some photos of the evening if you’d like to check ‘em out:

Last Sunday (on a very boring Sunday, mind you), I stumbled upon Nancy. Nancy Roder. She’s the girl you always overlooked on the middle school playground. The one who never got picked in gym class. She never had cool clothes, and was more likely found by herself in the lunchroom than surrounded by friends. But you won’t meet a nicer person than Nancy.

I’m not really sure how Nancy’s specific character came about (it’s an odd amalgamation of my 4th grade art teacher and several kids I remember from middle/high school), but it’s safe to say that when I put on the wig and the glasses and the fake zits and braces I bought from a local costume shop, it’s not difficult to remember how I felt growing up.

So you’re probably wondering what the point of all this is? Nancy’s the part of me who never felt good enough. She wants to help those who never got a real chance and maybe make a friend or two in the process. Maybe I’m crazy, but I don’t want Nancy to leave. So I entered her in a contest. There’s a $100,000 prize at the end of the pot, enough to fund my first independent film. About Nancy. Here is her video entry:

She’s never been able to travel outside of Sherman, Oklahoma. Her dream is to see the world, make a few friends, and help other people achieve their dreams along the way. And when it’s all said and done, she’s going to buy an RV for her parents so that theycan see the world, too. It’s weird. I’ve almost taken on Nancy’s dreams as my own.

I want to make this project happen. In my head, it’s a feature/web series/personal quest that will allow me to reach my first dream of making a movie, Nancy’s dream of seeing the world, and helping at least ten individuals reach their dreams, too. (If Nancy wins, I’ve pledged to donate $10,000 to ten people for their assistance in the contest.) I’m also planning on handing out a few other little surprises along the way, but more on that later.

So here’s the deal. To win, Nancy’s entry needs to have the greatest number of ratings and comments. I’m coming into the contest a month after it began (so there’s a little disadvantage there), but I know with the help of friends and new media mavens I can help Nancy’s dream (and mine) come to be a reality.

Please, please, rate the video and comment everyday (which also helps increase your chances of winning one of the ten $1,000 prizes). Beyond the $10,000 I’ll give away if Nancy wins, I will be giving away some additional little prizes to people who include a link to the video on their blog. (I’ve got a Google Alert up on “Nancy Roder.”)

The contest ends Dec. 20, and the video with the greatest total of comments and ratings wins the prize. I just need you to embed, Tweet, Blog, Facebook, Digg, and/or email the YouTube link to anyone/everyone.

Thank you all so much for your help! And, if you’d like to see the original Nancy video that got this all started:

Yesterday Comedy Central’s Atom.com released a short that I did several months ago with my good pal Dan Levy. It’s wacky and tacky and we had a blast shooting it! (I still think Dan just wanted to make out with a bloody stump. I’m onto him.)

Also, look for Angie Cole and Craig Frank from Private High Musical, Payman Benz from Awkward Pictures, Lauren Miller from Superbad, and Jareb Dauplaise from the upcoming MTV scripted series, Hard Times. We had a blast! For a few behind the scenes pics, click here.

For more of my blogs, random news, and bad advice, head to TarynToGo.com.

Blimp Prom

Wow! For everyone out there who emailed, tweeted, Facebooked, Dugg, favorited, and blogged about The Booby Scare – thank you! The point of this campaign was to create awareness and we are so happy that so many people have helped us by jumping on the “spread the word” bandwagon.

To sum it up: The Booby Scare has earned more than 340,000 hits on Funny or Die (it’s also on YouTube, Break, Amazon Video, etc), and made the front page of Digg and the #1 Top in Video Widget on it’s release date.

A special thank-you to E! News, OMG.Yahoo, USA Today, and K-ROQ Radio for their coverage, as well as the following blogs:

JUST JARED: Alyson Hannigan & Minka Kelly: Booby Scare!

HUFFINGTON POST: Breast Health Month: Know Your Girls, Take The Pledge

HUFFINGTON POST: Celebs Promote “Touch A Tit, Save A Tit”: The Booby Scare

SPORTS CRACKLE POP: The Booby Scare

CANCERNEWSTODAY.COM: Taryn Southern and Jaime King’s Celeb Slumber Party

MOBIZ: CELEB ‘SAVE A TIT’ CAMPAIGN

MYBLANKHURTS.COM: THE BOOBY SCARE

JAY LOVES IT: Entertainment News At It’s Best: Booby Scare!

ECORAZZI: The Booby Scare: Celebrity Ladies Promote Breast Cancer Awareness …

MISS CELLANIA.COM: THE BOOBY SCARE

The more aware we are, the more lives we will save. If you’re too young to be at risk or you already know you’re in the clear, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, please, please remind your mother, grandmother, aunt, niece, friend, WHOMEVER (and don’t count out the men!) to get checked!

Hey zombie fans! If you like horror and you like comedy, you’ve got to check out Woke Up Dead, which premieres with it’s first five episodes TODAY on Crackle.com. The series stars Jon Heder, Josh Gad, and Krystin Ritter, and follows one office nerd’s quest to discover…is he really dead?

Here’s the 1-minute preview:

I was so very fortunate to get to spend a day on set with the cast and crew, and you’ll get to see my ‘lil cameo sprinkled throughout a few episodes in the series.

Below are a few behind-the-scenes photos of my scenes with Krystin, Josh, and Jon – who are all just as nice in real life as they are funny on the screen. I’ll post some more later this week.

Thanks so much to Stan Rogow and everyone at Electric Farm, Director Tim O’Donnell, and creator John Fasano for letting me crash the set…and thank you to Crackle.com for the pics :-) I had a blast!

The Set

For all of those whose lives have been affected by breast cancer:

This is an update my previous blog about the campaign, but I am thrilled to finally launch the first video in a series of comedic PSA’s called Tit for Tat, a breast cancer awareness campaign that Jaime King and I are writing and producing with the support of Stand Up 2 Cancer.

This is a cause incredibly close to my heart, as I have had many family and friends inflicted with the disease. Some won the fight, others have not. It is SO IMPORTANT to be aware of the methods of breast cancer prevention and early detection. If you’d like to donate to accelerated cancer research, please visit www.su2c.org.

The wonderful team at Her Energy, a pink-lemonade energy drink made for females (it’s got lotsa vitamins and is oh-so-tasty, too!) is sponsoring the six-month, six-episode viral campaign, so a HUGE thanks to them for making this happen.

Last month marked the shoot of The Booby Scare. Directed by Steve Carr (Mall Cop, Dr. Doolittle 2), Booby Scare stars the lovely Jaime King (Sin City, Pearl Harbor), Emily Deschanel (Spiderman 2, Bones), Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights, 500 Days of Summer), Katherine McPhee (American Idol, House Bunny), and Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother, American Pie.) We all had a BLAST. (See photos from set below.)

Expect to see our next episode released in November. And DON’T FORGET YOUR SELF BREAST EXAM!

For more behind the scenes info about the campaign, visit saveatit.com.

xo Taryn

For the past month, I’ve been in Denver CO shooting a movie and was fortunate enough to see the leaves turn bright shades of red and yellow before returning to LA (it’s presently 85 degrees here.)

One of my favorite fall recipes is Apple Pie, but I decided to put a little twist on the tradition and make a smaller, healthier version. I’m pretty sure these little guys are under 100 calories apiece, and they taste delightful with a little whipped cream or creme frache on top! Best part: super easy to make.

Here’s my recipe, which makes 12 Mini Apple Crumbles:

• 3 Large Apples
• 1/2 c. of Blueberries (if you have them)
• 1/2 c. of Flour
• 1/2 c. of Oatmeal (or one packet of the Instant kind…bonus if you have the Maple Brown Sugar flavor!)
• 1 c. of Brown Sugar
• 1/3 c. of Melted Light Butter (I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Squeezable is my fave, no need to melt!)
• 1 tsp. of Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. of Vanilla
• 2 tbsp. of water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Peel the apples using an easy peeler and chop into bite size pieces. Combine in a mixing bowl with blueberries, oatmeal, and water. Empty the apple/oatmeal mix into 12 cupcake holders.

Now combine the butter, vanilla, and brown sugar in the bowl.

Once it’s become a saucy consistency (see below left), pour over the mixture over the top of each of the 12 apple crisps. Now sprinkle a little cinnamon over the top, and whoila! It is ready for the oven.

Bake for 25-35 minutes (depending on how crisp you like your apples. The longer you bake, the softer they become.)

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. To reheat, just place in microwave for ten seconds. Don’t forget to add a dollop of ice cream, cool whip, or vanilla yogurt to the top!

Wow. First off, let me just say thank all of you out there who have graced me with your comments and emails.  It was over two years ago that my first viral video surpassed the 2 mil mark, and now it looks like Wrong Hole is going to win the prize for most online views. Between YouTube, Break, and FunnyOrDie, it’s now well on it’s way over 3 mil hits.

Special thanks to blogs like  Today’s Big Thing, PureStyle Magazine’s blog, Spiked Humor, FastHack, Dave and Thomas Daily TimeKillers, The GoldenBoy Saga, GeorgeCarlinTV, Shoutback, and the many others who passed it along.

I didn’t realize that taking it up the bum could be such a universal source of comedy. I’ve received emails from Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Phillippines, Russia, France, Poland, Turkey, Africa, the Middle East, Peru, and students from both West Point and the Coast Guard military academy here in the US. Some of my favorite excerpts I have posted below, as they were a little tough to decipher:

Rob (Netherlands): “you sounds so good, its almost magic, make a love song with a piano, and stuff!”

Kael (Location Unknown): “I shivered when I heard her. She has power. She remmembered me of Celine Dion.”

Stephan (Germany): “My simple question now is, if there are some recent pics of you for my desktop =) P.S.: You are not in the german Wikipedia”

Jim (Missouri): “I did notice one fault you have however as I browsed through your site, You’re a Liberal. Where’s your priorities?”

There were other messages, sweet and to the point, and others (more of the death threat type) from the Middle East and parts of America. But I won’t share those in an effort to keep this blog as positive as possible ;-)

Thanks for watching!

Taryn

To anyone who has ever engaged in sexual relations:

Have you ever stuck it in the wrong hole…and then made a musical about it? Well, that’s exactly what DJ Lubel did. He thought outside The Box. (**While I can’t be completely sure of his inspiration for writing the song, I would guess it drew from personal experience.**)

When DJ approached me to play the temptress in his Wrong Hole video, I was unsure. For those of you who are familiar with my ‘body of work’, I’d already ventured into the world of musical numbers about sex, STD’s, and pot – but a song about taking it up the crapper?! As an actress, the role meant venturing out into unchartered territory – physically and emotionally. What kind of research would this role require?! How would I get into character?! Would I have to resort to Method Acting?!?! After a lot of thinking, I decided to take the plunge – and really stretch my skills in a whole new direction. ;-)

And this….is the result.

xo

Taryn

**Please note: no person or animal was harmed or penetrated in the making of this video.

***I didn’t, and have never, taken it up the butt. Just sayin’. Thank you to my dear ‘ol friend Jake Avnet for calling me about this and DJ Lubel for talking me into it :) We had a blast.

****For behind the scenes photos, click below: