When I think of people I really admire and who I consider successful and talented, one thing that always stands out in each is that they have somehow created a niche for themselves and are doing exactly what they want to do. Mandee Johnson is a perfect example of this. As a young adult, Mandee followed her love for photography to California. She eventually mixed her love for photography with her love for comedy, partnering with CleftClips and co-creating Los Angeles’ best and much loved all-in-one monthly comedy event, The Super Serious Show. This has resulted in a series of photographs simply titled ‘Laugh‘. The Polaroid style and completely unique color tone of these photos are unreal. Mandee’s portraits of comedians and performers have a look that she has firmly created as her own. When you see one of her photos you don’t need to see a photo credit to know who it was shot by. You can’t get to that level as a photographer without having super serious talent, and Mandee’s skills are legit. Continue reading for an interview with Mandee and some of our favorite shots that will no doubt make you smile.

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Paul F. Tompkins

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Serial Optimist: Where are you from? Where do you live now?

Mandee Johnson: I was born in Chicago, raised in Indiana, attended boarding school in Running Spring, CA, went to college in Santa Barbara and currently live in Los Angeles.

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Matt Braunger

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SO: What different kinds of photography do you shoot?

Mandee: I’ve been shooting for 11 years and I shoot a bit of everything – I’m pretty flexible. Portraits, travel, documentary, live show images, events, weddings, behind the scenes, landscapes, still life, my own artsy stuff, etc.

A lot of times photography feels like an isolatory career. Photographers can be really competitive with each other and shy away from collaboration. I love to collaborate and work on projects with people. I keep an open mind when choosing projects and if it sounds like fun with good people I am game.

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Jen Kirkman

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SO: I think that philosophy is evident in your work. Do you remember one of the first photographs that you ever took?

Mandee: I started shooting with my Dad’s Canon AE1 when I was in 6th grade. He taught me how to use the camera while we were on vacation in Montana. The following year I taught myself how to print in a darkroom at my school. Later at boarding school I built a darkroom so I could keep printing and shoot. Over the years my collection of cameras has grown and I shoot digital in addition to film, but I still shoot a ton of film. If I could I would built a darkroom in my apartment.

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Garfunkel & Oates

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SO: How did you get hooked up with The Super Serious Show?

Mandee: Joel (Mandelkorn) and I co-created The Super Serious Show in 2010. Around the same time I started playing around with my 4×5 again. It seemed like a fun way to do performer portraits for the show.

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Eric Andre

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SO: What made you shoot your ‘laugh’ series in the style it’s shot in?

Mandee: The “laugh” series is a selection of the portraits from The Super Serious Show. When I decided to do the portraits for the show on my 4×5 I did the first show with an eight-year-old expired Polaroid. The Polaroid was super blue so I did some color shifts on it in Photoshop to a more yellow/brown color palate. The current toning of the images evolved from there over the course of a year or so.

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Chris Hardwick

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SO: Who are some of your favorite comedians?

Mandee: Being involved in comedy you get to see and meet so many people that I don’t know if I can choose favorites – there would just be too many to list. One of my favorite things about producing the show and doing the portraits is meeting all of the amazing comedians and getting to know them. It’s such an amazing community and I feel blessed to be part of it.

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Weird Al

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SO: Who are some of your favorite photographers?

Mandee: James Nachtwey and Mary Ellen Mark are my all time favorite photographers. Their work is so beautiful and honest.

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Birthday Boys

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SO: When was the last time you laughed really hard, really loud, and why?

Mandee: At our 2nd SXSW show T.J. Miller riffed for 10 minutes or so about the Bigger and Thicker Doritos Jacked Chips. It was amazing.

SO: Thanks Mandee!

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SO Note: All images owned by Mandee Johnson and cannot be reproduced. Follow Mandee @Mandeephoto, check out all her amazing work at mandeejohnson.com, and see more Mandee goodness on her blog here.

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Maybe you’ve seen these before, as dog portraits of this cute-caliber spread across the Internet faster than you can comment LOL. Carli Davidson is a nationally recognized fine art pet photographer currently working out of Portland Oregon. Her love of both art and animals led her to work as an animal care technician and photographer for the Oregon Zoo, as well as a volunteer photographer for local animal rescues. “Animals are my people. They’re honest, loving, food-motivated, and do totally gross things on a regular basis. I spend much of my time rolling on the ground with whatever animal I’m working with, getting in their skin as much as possible, and encouraging them to open up to the camera just like one would with any model.” Fingers crossed she keeps rolling.

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SO Note: All images owned by Carli Davidson and cannot be reproduced. For more of her fantastic work visit her site here.

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This Sunday, Aziz Ansari returns to Comedy Central for the premiere of Aziz Ansari: Dangerously Delicious. In the special, filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington DC, Ansari regales the audience with stories about his frustrations with women, the difference between a rock tour and a stand-up tour, and why he’d almost always rather hang out with his friend Brian. He takes viewers on a hilarious journey of some of life’s funniest experiences, including helping his infamous Cousin Harris write a college essay and discovering that rapper 50 Cent does NOT know what a grapefruit is. The digital release will be available from Comedy Central Records on May 22^nd. Or instead of waiting you can go to AzizAnsari.com and directly download/stream Dangerously Delicious for $5, which Aziz self-released. We can all thank Louis C.K. for brilliantly starting that trend, one that should continue to grow. Check out some video previews after the jump.

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“50 Cent Grapefruit Story”

Click here to view the embedded video.

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“Crush On A Waitress” 

Click here to view the embedded video.

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SO Note: Follow Aziz @AzizAnsari and check out his site AzizAnsari.com.

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Each month Serial Optimist will be inducting someone in to The Serial Optimist Hall of Fame. I can only imagine what the lucky few who make it in to this exclusive club will feel. They will probably want to thank many people for the honor, or they might say “Serial what? Never heard of it.” I’ll just tell myself they think it’s a REALLY BIG DEAL. Plus it gives me the opportunity to use the word “inducted”, which for some reason makes me feel old school official. Our Hall of Fame will consist of those who set trends, who inspired, and who contributed all around greatness in art, comedy, music, and culture. No long bios or explanations, the work speaks for itself. The first person to get SOHOFS (that means Serial Optimist Hall of Fame Status…obviously) is one of our favorite all-time artists: Ed Ruscha. His art is all pop, all style, and all great. Enjoy some of our favorites after the jump.

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SO Note: For all things Ed Ruscha visit edruscha.com.

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Rodrigo Arteaga is visual artist with an emphasis on science. He studied printmaking at the University of Chile, but on the side he was studying the easy stuff like anatomy, mechanics, botany, and cartography. The ridiculously smart Arteaga works mostly making drawings, collages, books, and installation, but his driving interest is “crossing and relations between different sciences and art”. Read on to see how anatomy is so artsy.

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SO Note: Follow Rodrigo’s Flickr stream here.

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David Imlay’s approach to painting draws influence from twentieth century American Contemporary Realism as well as Photorealism which both emerged in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s. Artists such as Robert Bechtle, Richard Estes and John Register utilized a straightforward approach to representation which continues to be widely practiced in these post-abstract eras.
In his paintings of urban and suburban landscapes, the artist often asks the viewer to make a personal connection to the perceived stillness and isolation of commonplace locales. His usage of warm light and limited color are meant to conjure an emotional dissonance tinged with nostalgia and hope.
“I try not to be too specific in my work and choose commonplace subjects that we see everyday but don’t necessarily ponder over. A cafe, phone booth or quiet street-these are all places we’ve been to or seen before and can easily relate to.” To put it in my vocabulary, I love dogs and this is brilliant cute!

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SO Note: Find more of David Imlay’s work here.

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Thomas Couderc and Clement Vauchez, better known as Helmo, are the talented graphic design/photography/all-around-creative duo out of France. They consistently produce stunning photo sets and design that seem to have a very experimental base (making art with silkscreen). We picked some of our favorites (including the blog popular Bêtes de Mode, above) from each of Helmo’s numerous projects. Check out the aesthetic goodness after the jump.

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Bêtes de Mode

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Pronomade 11

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Pronomade

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Colored Smoke

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White Light

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Palais Magazine

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SO Note: See all Helmo work here.

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I’d love to go into a passionate rant about soccer to accompany this post featuring the stellar work of graphic designer Zoran Lucic, but I would instantly be busted for a fraud. I know as much about soccer as Gatorade commercials want me to know, which apparently is that soccer is impossible unless you have a constant INJECTION OF GATORADE SHOOTING THROUGH YOUR VEINS. No I know a little. I’m a World Cup fan and am excited to see what our girls do this summer and I’ll stop there. Regardless of if you’re a fan or not, these posters of football legends are beautiful. Maybe not recognizing each player makes my appreciation all the more, as I can’t see being as blown away if the images were of LeBron, Tiger, Brady, etc. Either way: Dope.

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SO Note: See much more of Zoran’s collection here.

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Our friends over at The Art Cake turned us on to this nice little series from Austin based photographer Erin Hanson aptly called Reminders. Erin believes “We all are prey to bouts of laziness. I am constantly in the throes and try to combat my ailment with a steady diet of inspiration and doing.” Your daily reminders have never been so cute and simple. Now go get your scissors! Read on for more of the goodness.

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SO Note: See more of Erin’s work here.

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Ian Edwards has appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, written for SNL, and is one of HBO’s Bad Boys of Comedy. You’ve also seen him punk Raven Simone, George Lopez, and Thora Birch on MTV’s Punk’d. He truly commits to every role and nails his delivery, whether it is on stage performing stand-up or playing a parking lot attendant on Punk’d. Ian spoke with us about how he writes new material, his favorite comedians, and something very exciting he is currently working on. Read on to find out what that is.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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SO: Hi Ian! Tell our readers a couple sentences about yourself.  How long have you been doing comedy, and at what point did you decide it was something you could do full-time? What was it like taking that risk?

Ian Edwards: I’ve been doing stand for over 15 years. I was in my twenties. I hadn’t even started when I decided to do it full time. I had no doubts even though I wasn’t funny when I started. I’ve never seen it as a risk. Me working in a hospital is a risk, if you’re a patient.

SO: What’s your writing process like? What do you think sets you apart from other comedians? How often do you write, and how do you test out new material?

Ian: I have several different writing processes. I can write in front of a mirror. Sometimes I go over my set on the way home. I add or subtract what ever I need, to make it tighter or stronger. Sometimes I’ll sit at the computer, and look at my words, and things come to me. I get in tune with what’s on screen and a light bulb comes on so I can see the punch line.

SO: What has been your biggest challenge in your career so far?

Ian: One of my biggest challenges was bringing my off stage-self on stage. Another was getting funny period. I was funny but I didn’t know why. I had to get to know myself without the aid of a therapist. Now my challenges are making myself write, and having growing the balls to fail trying new material. There are so many comics; one of the biggest challenges is not getting over looked.

SO: You’ve appeared on Def Comedy Jam, Conan, and written for SNL among other things. What has been the most rewarding so far, and what do you hope to achieve in the future?

Ian: They’re all rewarding because they validate you as a stand up, and writer. All credits get me closer to my goal of being a show runner, a national headliner, and an actor on a sitcom. With more money and women than I know what to do with.

SO: Who are some of your favorite comedians? Who really makes you laugh?

Ian: The Late Great Patrice O’Neal made me laugh and think. JB Smoove is definitely one of my all time favs. He’s done stuff I’ve never seen any comic do. Kevin Hart, Chris Rock, Bryan Callen, Corey Holcomb, the list goes on.  Not every one though, I’m a comedy snob. I only laugh till I snort at the pure shit.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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SO: Tell us about working on Punk’d. Was it difficult doing something more acting related than standup? Do you practice before doing the prank? Any moments where you felt like you were going to laugh and ruin the prank?

Ian: Doing a show like Punk’d is about commitment. Once the prank started I was in. There was nothing you could do to convince me I wasn’t who I thought I was. Which reminds me. Confidence and commitment are huge components of stand up. JB Smoove and Bryan Callen are examples of comics born with both. Whenever I see them I slap myself for underestimating the use of both. They’re like my Jamba juice commitment/confidence boost.

SO: When is the last time you had a performance or just a joke you were unhappy with, and how do you deal with it?

Ian: I have jokes and shows I’m unhappy with all the time. I know it’s hard to tell because I’m so amazing. I take advantage of bad shows by going over them in my head. I treat them like a crashed airplane. I take the parts back to a warehouse and put it together so I can figure out why it went down, and prevent it from happening again.

SO: What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?

Ian: None of your bidness…. Nah! I just finished writing on the new, “In Living Color”. I can’t wait to see how it comes out. We got a funny cast, good writers, and Keenen Ivory Wayans running the show. I’d love for it to be back on the air for a long time.

SO: So would we. Thanks Ian!

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SO Note: Follow Ian @IanEdwardsComic, and check out his website here.

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