Look out boys, there’s a new girl in town… Lauren Francesca.
Lauren is taking the web by storm with her video parodies on the popular site,“The Key of Awesome.” Best known for her spot-on portrayal of Lady Gaga in the music-video parodies of Bad Romance, Alejandro, and Telephone, Lauren’s online spoof’s have been viewed more than 120 million times globally and have been hailed as ‘the funniest internet phenomenon of the moment’ by Entertainment Weekly.
Lauren has worked with and starred in videos on College Humor, Funny or Die, Spike TV’s Weekend Pregame, The Tyra Show, and was most recently featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in a hip-hop music-video parody entitled “Still a Boss.”
You can see all of Lauren’s videos at www.youtube.com/laurenbabeonline and just today launched her very own YouTube channel at youtube.com/iwantmylauren. It features sketches and parodies similar to her work on “Key of Awesome”. Check it out.
We recently had a chat with Lauren, so here are “7 Questions With Lauren Francesca”…
TMR: Lauren, When did you first decide you wanted to be an entertainer?
Lauren Francesca: I have always wanted to be an entertainer! I grew up in a family of Broadway/musical theatre, so performing is an everyday part of my life and has been since I’ve been able to open my mouth.
TMR: If you could pick one performance as your Lauren Francesca-defining performance, which would it be?
LF: Wow, a Lauren Francesca defining performance. I am best known for my Lady Gaga parody, that won Entertainment Weekly’s best web parody. However, my favorite role was for a project I recently shot in Michigan where I played the lead in a sci fi movie called, “The Soldier and the Demon,” by Gear Stone Pictures and Directed by D.D. Riley. My character was a Witch, posing as a Russian Spy whose role was to stop the German’s from advancing in WW2. It was an amazing project with a fantastic cast and crew not to mention my character Magda had so many layers.
TMR: When Lady Gaga broke onto the music scene, are you thinking… “wow, this stuff writes itself” when it comes to parodying her?
LF: Lady Gaga is a GENIUS! Not only does she know what works but she is constantly pushing the envelope and out doing herself… which is really hard to do. It is easy to make fun of her but the reality is that she’s a pop icon. She can come on stage covered in rat shit and she’d make it look hot… and that’s what is so admiring about her quality of artist. She’s Lady Gaga.
TMR: What are you wearing right now?
LF: Wouldn’t you like to know… not a meat dress… cause my dog would go nuts, but Victoria Secret PJ’s. I love that store!
TMR: What’s the creepiest thing you’ve ever received from a fan/stalker?
LF: Hard one… I get a lot of fan mail. I love it. It cheers me up because I really don’t have time for boyfriends or relationships so its like I get complements from the people who love my stuff. I like it when I get fa nmail and people keep in touch. I truly try to respond to as many people I can, but it gets overwhelming. The creepiest request I’ve gotten is for my dirty socks…which is just weird… I really don’t find dirty socks sexy!!!
TMR: We hear you’re launching your own channel this month! What can we expect? More Gaga parodies?
LF: I am teaming up with Jeffrey Gurian, who is currently producing a movie with Chris Rock. He’s writing a bunch of my material for the channel which I’m very excited about. The launch is scheduled for Valentines Day and in Gurian’s first script, I play a sexy Latina called Besame Mucho, voted by 3 major men’s magazines as “the best kisser in the world.” Jeffrey and I will be premiering the video at NYC’s famous Comic Strip.
I’m also in the process of developing 3 shows for the channel that I will be acting in and producing, in addition the channel will feature a ton of sketches, video logs, and of course more Gaga parody’s.
TMR: Aside from your channel, what should we be on the lookout from Lauren Francesca in the future?
LF: I’m still one of the main characters on the “Key of Awesome” and also do a lot of work with College Humor. I just stared in the movie “Soldier and the Demon,” by Gear Stone Pictures. In addition I will be in an FX pilot that was picked up. You should also be on the lookout as I’m creating channels with ‘Fast Lane Daily’s’ Derek Denangelis, and Emmy winner Louie Torrellas.
Thanks, Lauren!
Here’s four more great reasons to check out Lauren… click any thumb for the full-sized version:
Remember to check out Lauren’s new Comic Strip channel, her YouTube page and her work with “The Key of Awesome”. Here is her debut video on her new channel…
