Brently Heilbron

Brently Heilbron
BornDecember 1, 1976 (1976-12) (age 49)
Dallas, Texas
OccupationsActor, comedian, musician
Known forFragile Rock Tiny Desk Concert
Spouse
Elle Mahoney
​
(m. 2020)​
Websitewww.brently.net

Brently Heilbron (born December 1, 1976) is an American comedian, musician, and actor based in Austin, Texas. He is best known for Tiny Desk Concerts with emo puppet band Fragile Rock and his work with director Robert Rodriguez.

Career

Brently Heilbron began performing standup comedy at the age of 15 in Dallas after skipping school to audition for a local comedy club.[1] At age 17, he joined Monks' Night Out, which The Austin Chronicle later described as a leading Austin improv troupe of the 1990s. Two years later, he joined the University of Texas improv troupe Only 90% Effective.[2] In 1998, Heilbron presented two solo works at Austin's Momfest: Happytown, a work-in-progress interactive show exploring contemporary America, and Wondrous Pudding of Joy, an irreverent solo show drawing on Sesame Street and surreal comedy.[3]

In 2007, he hosted Sir Paul McCartney's special live appearance at Amoeba Music.[4] His verbatim performance of R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet in its entirety earned him a mention in both a Los Angeles Times blog and The New York Times[5] among others.[6] On the stage, he was hand-picked by Woody Allen to appear in the Los Angeles Opera production of Gianni Schicchi.[7] He has hosted and created the series Stand Up Empire on PBS, appeared in the Bravo improvised television series Significant Others, as well as season 5 of Friday Night Lights on NBC, The Lying Game on ABC Family,[8] and The Leftovers on HBO.

In 1999, he was called Austin's best stand-up comic in the Arts and Entertainment section of the Austin Chronicle.[9] The Austin Chronicle described Heilbron as "one of the most prolific and inventive comics anywhere".

In 2012, Heilbron led supporters and friends of Leslie Cochran in organizing Leslie Fest to pay tribute to the Austin icon and raise money for Hospice Austin.[10][11]

In 2016, he created a comedy series for PBS called Stand Up Empire.[12] In 2017, his emo puppet band Fragile Rock was featured on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts.[13][14]

In 2019, Heilbron worked with director Robert Rodriguez twice;[15] as the psychotic Doc Sock in Red 11 and superhero Crushing Low in We Can Be Heroes.[16]

In 2020, Heilbron appeared in the Netflix film We Can Be Heroes,[17] in which the characters of The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D also appeared.[18] Forty-four million families watched the film in its first four weeks, and shortly afterward, it was announced that Rodriguez would be developing a sequel for Netflix.[19] As of 2023, it was the sixth-most-streamed Netflix film of all time.[20]

In 2022, it was announced that Fragile Rock would return to SXSW for a sixth time.[21]

In 2023, Heilbron wrote the book and songs for a "FuQusical"[22] about a young Greg Abbott.[23]

In 2024, he appeared as a storyteller on The Moth mainstage in Austin, Texas.

Discography

In 2018, he wrote and performed "Wakeup To The Breakup" released by Fragile Rock.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Stand Up Empire, retrieved 2019-10-10
  2. ↑ Faires, Robert (August 25, 2016). "Guide to Austin Improv". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved August 5, 2026.
  3. ↑ Chronicle Staff (November 6, 1998). "Momfest: the Schedule". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved August 5, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Paul McCartney Rocks Amoeba Records". Glide Magazine. July 1, 2007.
  5. ↑ Melina Ryzik (August 16, 2007). "R. Kelly's Killer Serial: Video, Music, Cliffhangers, Midgets". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Rebecca Epstein (February 23, 2006). "Closet Session". LA City Beat.
  7. ↑ "LA Opera - Press Photo Gallery". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  8. ↑ "Significant Others". hollywood.com. 28 September 2022.
  9. ↑ "Best of Austin: Arts & Entertainment". Austin Chronicle. September 24, 1999.
  10. ↑ Graupmann, Michael. Friends throw 1st Annual Leslie Fest in honor of the Austin icon Archived 2012-06-16 at the Wayback Machine. Austin Culture Map (July 13, 2012).
  11. ↑ Ura, Alexa. Friends of Leslie to organize fundraiser benefitting Hospice Austin Archived June 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Daily Texan (April 20, 2012).
  12. ↑ "Stand up Empire". PBS.
  13. ↑ "Fragile Rock: Tiny Desk Concert". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
  14. ↑ Thompson, Stephen (7 February 2017). "Meet Fragile Rock: Almost Definitely the World's First Puppet Emo Band". NPR.
  15. ↑ We Can Be Heroes, retrieved 2019-09-09
  16. ↑ "Brently Heilbron". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
  17. ↑ "Sharkboy and Lavagirl return (as parents) in new 'We Can Be Heroes' photos". EW.com. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  18. ↑ "Robert Rodriguez Says Sharkboy and Lavagirl Are in His New Superhero Film". CBR. 2020-07-24. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  19. ↑ Lee, Janet W. (2021-01-04). "Netflix Developing a Sequel to Robert Rodriguez's 'We Can Be Heroes'". Variety. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  20. ↑ Saab, Hannah; Taylor, Jay Carter (2022-07-18). "10 Most Watched Movies on Netflix, Ever". Collider. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  21. ↑ "2023 Music Festival: Armani White, iLe, Crawlers, & More". SXSW. 2022-10-19. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  22. ↑ Kamnetz, Taylor (2023-11-29). "'Young Greg Abbott: A FuQusical' writer reveals inspiration ahead of Sunday's free reading in Austin". lonestarlive. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  23. ↑ "I'm not a particularly political comic': Brently Heilbron gets political with 'Young Greg Abbott'". KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station. 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  24. ↑ "Wake Up to the Breakup, by Fragile Rock". Fragile Rock. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
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