keith anthony
about and contact
I started an interest in the arts in 1987 as an acting student at HB Studios in Greenwich village. I studied with Bill Hickey and used to go to class just to watch him smoke cigarettes and listen to his stories. I loved listening to Bill's stories but the truth is, I never really took to acting or got much done.
In 1989 I went to Los Angeles to study Improvisation and try my hand at television and the movies, even though I did not care for acting. I auditioned at, and was accepted to, The Groundlings. I took one class and enjoyed it. It is very challenging to do that process correctly and when you get it right, it feels great. I did well in the course and was asked to move forward but I went back to NYC when my motorcycle was stolen and I wound up broke. The truth is, I just missed the action of NYC which LA never had for me.
In 1989 I started standup in NYC as a result of encouragement by a friend and have been performing ever since. Over the years I have achieved incredible success in stand up and have met amazing people. Standup is one of the last frontiers of free speech that we have and I am proud to have dedicated my life to it.
Standup is special in that the performer controls the entire process of creating and performing. It is an excellent art form to creatively communicate ideas into words without interruption, the only requisite is to be funny.
Painting is a much slower process for me. What is great about painting is there is no audience to have to placate. You are fully in charge and answerable to no one as you are in the creating process. Painting is slower and takes a longer time to get to the end result of the creative process.
I have no formal background in painting and rarely use any techniques. Painting for me is less demanding than professional standup because I have never tried to market it as I did with standup.