Break a Leg

Roughly 25 years and a week ago I was woken up in the middle of the night to be told that I have a little brother. My five year old self had been understandably leery of little sisters with their dolls, and dress up, and complete lack of understanding of the intricacies of toy soldier warfare, so needless to say, this was a relief. Still, I was cautious. Little brothers are notoriously annoying. From throwing stuff that's fragile at hard surfaces, to crushing, usually needlessly, objects that are important – let's face it, they don't have much of a reputation. What I didn't know at the time was that as far as older brothers go, I was to be one of the lucky ones.

Don't get me wrong, I too have lost many a toy. Lines have been cut from scripts. It hasn't always been easy. But then there are moments like this: My eight year old self is asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?" The aforementioned self being in a certain kind of phase replies "A train conductor!" Three year old Yuri standing next to me is asked: "And what about you?" Without any hesitation (and as befitting a future comedy writer) he replies: "A passenger!"  And that's just the kind of brother he is– loyal to the end, even if it means a career in a Russian train car.

Having since grown up and abandoned all desire to be a kind of Soviet hobo, Yuri's instead decided to become a professional writer. With three (excellent) published plays, lots of articles, and one very strange internet sitcom under his belt all before his 25th birthday, I'd say he's well on his way. You see, aside from just the way with words and the powerful funny that's on display here week after week, Yuri's also got an enviable work ethic (to give you an idea, he skipped his last birthday to work on Break a Leg), maddening attention to detail, an impressive ability to shmooze and, most importantly, an all-consuming drive to succeed. These are the kinds of things that separate the proverbial men from the proverbial boys. Incidentally, they are also the kinds of things that separate the starving artist from the artist shopping at Whole Foods.

So I'd like to take a moment to wish Yuri a very happy quarter century. I think I speak for all of us here on the Break a Leg team when I say that any success this project has had owes a lot to Yuri's drive, dedication, and talent -- not to mention his famously nebbish good looks. My hope is that this is the year that all those long nights spent working for free finally pay off and that we all move to Hollywood -- only to very quickly move back to San Francisco, having made our many millions. Happy birthday bro!

--Vlad

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Oh. And because this is Late Again films, of course this blog is late. Yuri's birthday was actually on the 28th of September. Also, our mom's birthday was on the same day, which was then followed by our grandmother's birthday on the 30th. Maya turned 8 weeks yesterday, and even though that's not really officially a birthday, she's too cute to leave out. So happy birthday mom! Happy birthday grandma! Happy birthday Maya! And... Last but not least, happy birthday Dustin!