Meet Troy Conrad, Filmmaker and Photographer

Troy Conrad is an award-winning filmmaker and the creator/co-producer of improvised stand-up show Set List: Stand-Up Without A Net. He has photographed comedy in seven countries, and his images for the upcoming Comedy Central series Roast Battle have additionally been published in Playboy.

Samples from the series can be found via the Instagram hashtag #hallseries and at humansofcomedy.com.

A photo posted by Troy Conrad (@troyconrads) on May 6, 2016 at 8:51am PDT

1. How did you come up with the idea for the Hall Series?

Last August at The Comedy Store in Hollywood, I took a picture with a fisheye lens of the all the headshots on the wall, and something about it looked very different... it felt like I was surrounded by these pictures on the wall. A couple weeks later, Brian Moses was walking through the hallway and I took his picture, and it looked really cool. Then I wanted to see what it looked like as a portrait. Joey Diaz was the first person I asked to stand in the hallway and pose. I loved how he looked. To me, it felt like the pictures of the comics surrounding him were giving him the nod, pushing him forward. I'm very honored that The Comedy Store liked these shots enough to make them a part of the club. Starting on May 10th, they will be on permanent display in the entrance to the Main Room.

2. What sets the photos in this series apart from other portraits?

The thing that gives these pictures a different feel is the imagery surrounding each comic in the shot. There are vintage headshots on the walls of legendary comics--some of those photos go back as far as 30 or 40 years. There is a feeling of reverence being in that hallway, and these portraits seem to capture that feeling of reverence as if the viewer is there.

3. How many photos have you taken for the Hall Series so far, and what are the plans for expanding on the series over time?

I’ve taken over 80 photos of Paid Regular performers at the Comedy Store, and the collection is growing all the time.

4. What other projects have you done involving filming and/or photographing comics and comedy?

I started as a filmmaker, and directed a film called Runyon: Just Above Sunset starring Eddie Pepitone which won awards at the two festivals it was submitted to. I created and co-produce the improvised stand-up show, Set List: Stand-Up Without A Net. With the show, Paul Provenza and I have traveled the world, and I've photographed the show as well as other shows in seven countries. I've also done a lot of photos of comics in New York and Los Angeles. When I saw Roast Battle at the Comedy Store, I was hooked from the beginning. I knew someone needed to be capturing stills for that show, which is unparalleled worldwide for its high level action. I'm there for that show every Tuesday night.

A photo posted by Troy Conrad (@troyconrads) on Apr 29, 2016 at 4:34pm PDT

5. What makes The Comedy Store a vital and interesting venue after 40+ years?

The Comedy Store is vital because of its integrity. There are three rooms that are bustling every night. It's run incredibly well right now. It's a place that is welcoming to comics, and very hard to get into as a Paid Regular performer. But everyone wants to be there. There is so much personality there that makes it interesting. Roast Battle is so unique. Ari Shaffir's "This is Not Happening" is still running there. Joe Rogan is there all the time. Chris Rock came in to practice for the Oscars. Dave Chappelle pops in, and Louis CK drops in. Last night John Bishop just came in from the UK and did his first show in the US in the Main Room. I love watching Joey Diaz. He's one of the real humans of comedy. He's so unfiltered and raw, and is pure joy to watch. He's raised the bar for so many comics there.

The Paid Regular Hall Series Exhibit debuts at The Comedy Store on Tuesday, May 10th 2016 from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. and will be on permanent display thereafter. More info at www.thecomedystore.com

Thanks, Troy!

Meet Tracy Abildskov, Owner of TJ's Biomedical Imaging

Tracy Abildskov is the owner of TJ's Biomedical Imaging. He started as a student and began working around 1991 in the Brain Imaging and Behavior Lab at Brigham Young University. After several years, he developed some skills at illustrating different types of brain damage. In 1997, he started a small business developing interactive 3D presentations to help experts explain to juries the location and extent of brain damage. The visuals are objective, based on many years of science and research. To create the presentations, he uses a variety of imaging modalities like MRI, CT, SPECT & DTI. Radiologist reports and neuropsychologists' reports along with imaging techniques are used to identify the abnormalities seen by the radiologist. Models are then created, rendered, and incorporated into trial exhibits, medical illustrations, interactive 3D presentations, and physical models.

Learn more about the services provided by TJ's Biomedical Imaging and find out how 3D biomedical imaging works by exploring the samples linked here.

1. How do your 3D presentations allow viewers to better understand the way brain damage affects the brain?

After someone get injured in an accident, bones heal, hair grows back, and scars become less apparent. The problem is the brain does not come back as well as it was before the accident. Reserves are used, if not depleted. Abilities, like memory, planning, judgment, problem solving, vision, learning, and language spoken or understood, to name a few, are compromised or lost. Yet on the surface, a person might look fine. What I do is take whatever scans are available to me (MRI, CT, PET, SPECT, DTI or FMRI) and working in conjunction with neuro-psychologists or neuro-radiologists develop accurate, objective, personalized, 3D representations of that person's brain. These graphics then make things easier for the average person to understand what is going on when the expert starts explaining things.

2. Why are 3D exhibits a good way to demonstrate the extent of damage to laypeople such as jurors?

Instead of a generic model that is adapted to everyone, you can see John Smith's brain. You can see where the damage is. It can sometimes be hard for someone who has not been looking at scans for a few years to be able to recognize where the abnormalities are.

In the link below, you can see a simple video showing several co-registered scans. When paused you can see how each slice looks different while still looking at the same part of the brain. These differences are due to changes in the MRI parameters. Each sequence (T1, T2, FLAIR, PD, GRE) tell the neuro-radiologist something unique about the brain.

http://youtu.be/sz0qd5q6FDU

My job, as I see it, is to take all those complicated images, of which there might be thousands, and distill things down to the most relevant pieces of information that the experts can then use the educate judge or jury.

3. When creating exhibits meant for juries, are you generally collaborating with attorneys or doctors or both?

Each specialty (law, psychology, radiology, and rehab) brings a unique perspective when looking at the injured person. I then work with everyone to create demonstrative exhibits that can be used for the benefit for the injured person.

4. What are some other uses of your 3D presentations in addition to courtroom exhibits?

Everyone today is being asked to go faster and faster. Radiologists are asked to look at thousands of images and generate a report in 15 minutes or less. I am trying to expand my service into the medical profession to provide a quick overview on what the radiologist needs to focus on so they can be more accurate in their diagnostic impression. I also want to make things quicker and easier for the rehab specialist as well so they don't waste time on therapies that will be of no value to the injured person. There are so many different areas where this could help, but for right now it mostly used in a courtroom setting.

5. What would you most like our readers to understand about your work?

That there is more to a person than what they see on the surface. If you understand what is going on in the brain, you can better understand why the injured person is having problems.

Thanks, Tracy!