Alex Pogosov is one of the Dallas area's most eclectic talents, whose artistic endeavors range from the spoken and printed word to visual and performance art, band management, and promotion. Born May 8, 1983, Alex moved with his family to the United States from Russia at the age of seven. A prodigious and talented youngster, he quickly mastered his new language and began to hone his skills in the areas of verbal and visual communications. At the age of 12, Alex won first place in his sixth grade poetry contest. He soon realized, however, that satire and performance art were his true passions, and he has refined his art in these areas to become a foremost stand-up comic whose monologues combine a love for wordplay with a keen insight into the foibles and failings of the human condition. Since June 2003, he has performed his work at various readings and salons around the Dallas area. Most notable among these are the Oak Cliff Circle of Poets, Outlaws of the Spoken Word, Mad Swirl, and the first generation of readings at Bill's Records & Tapes, where he was a regular performer and ultimately host until January 2006. One of his pieces, "Audio-Slave," has seen publication in local poetry/art magazine Death List Five.
Alongside the stand up routines, Alex's performance art includes writing and playing guitar for his ongoing indie / alternative musical project Scarletien, as well as for various other musical side projects pursued from time to time. Alex infuses much of his songwriting with his own particular brand of satirical, tongue-in-cheek humor. His non-Scarletien material, performed on occasion at various open mics around town, includes parodies of such noteworthy artists as Billy Joel, Johnny Cash, and Type O Negative, as well as original compositions such as "I Hate the Government," "The Pimp Song," and "The Prostate Song."
Alex's interests include local history, poetry, chemistry, architecture, music, art, martial arts, and journalism. He has contributed a regular column called Reverb to the University of Texas at Dallas newspaper The UTD Mercury, has managed local rock band God's Joke, and runs a small scale concert booking operation under the name of Knife Six Productions. Alex is a student of the My Jhong Law Horn style of Kung Fu, and is working on completing a collection of short stories, tentatively titled The Day the World Almost Ended. He enjoys bad horror movies, and was a regular crew member of a Dallas-area production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show from 2003 to 2005.
"Randomness is the key to. . .HOLY SHIT, WHAT'S THAT?!"
Advice to Poets (Listen) | Audio-Slave (Listen) | In the Shadow of Generation X (Listen) | January 16, 2005 (Listen)
Folsom Prison Blues (Hannibal Lecter version) (Listen) | Guitar Man (parody) (Listen) | I Hate the Government (Listen) | The Prostate Song (Listen)
See also Aaron Upwood talks about Zombie Evasion (video comedy sketch)