Best known for his Webby-honored podcast – THE CALL OF THE VOID, Michael Alan Herman has made a career out of writing divine masculine protagonists. First coined in 2020, “divine masculinity” is described as the masculine ability to take action in a time of need, especially to help others. Michael uses this idea as the foundation for many of his characters in his fiction publications.
One of the best examples of this comes in his award-winning character Topher Sommers. Topher is a tour guide in modern-day New Orleans where he leads a vaguely morbid tour on Victorian apothecary practices, but his divine masculinity takes hold after the disappearance of his father in the first episode. What follows is an increasingly twisted investigation as Topher struggles to stay strong for his family and save his father’s life. Although the world of the podcast is big and cosmic, Michael’s lesson about masculinity is clear – leadership can come from the most unlikely places. According to Michael, it was precisely when Topher felt his most vulnerable that he was able to become a hero and become a man.
This lesson on strength is present in many of Michael’s stories including his new play – MAD AS A HATTER. This play tells the story of the real person who inspired The Mad Hatter in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. His name was Theophilus Carter and in Victorian England, he ran an eclectic fabric shop where he sold (among other things) hats. In Michael’s play, Carter battles his unwanted fame as everyone’s new favorite Hatter and struggles to rectify his relationship with the man who got him into this mess in the first place – Lewis Carroll. As the men debate what it means to be a man in Victorian England, the strong moral message becomes clear – Masculinity can be about fear, it can be about uncertainty, but it must be about forgiveness.
After over a decade of writing, Michael shows no sign of stopping as he strives to write male characters that are lessons to young men around the world. His latest project – HOUSE OF KA is another deep dive into Victorian England and promises to be a conversation on allyship and hope.
ABOUT MICHAEL ALAN HERMAN
Michael Alan Herman (born May 26, 1992) is an award-winning writer and actor from St. Joseph, Michigan. He is the co-writer behind James Franco’s historical film THE MAD WHALE in collaboration with Elysium Bandini Studios, and has worked with CBS, Spotify, Universal Studio, Fangoria, Youtube, and Hulu to name a few. Michael is an Austin Film Festival semi-finalist, a Sundance Lab second-rounder, and the recipient of the Jay Roach Award for excellence in cinematic writing. He has collaborated with James Corden (THE LATE LATE SHOW), Max Greenfield (NEW GIRL), and James Franco (THE DISASTER ARTIST).
ABOUT THE CALL OF THE VOID PODCAST
With over 950,000 global downloads across 150 countries, The Call of the Void Podcast is a multi-award-winning fiction podcast created by Josie Eli Herman and Michael Alan Herman. In 2023, the show was honored by the 27th Annual Webby Awards for its profound contribution to audio fiction. The show has been featured in Buzzfeed, Fangoria, Podcast Magazine, and Pulp; and was created exclusively by Michigan-based artists.
ABOUT MAD AS A HATTER
Premiering at Roustabout Theatre Troupe in 2019, MAD AS A HATTER is a real-world look into the lives that made Wonderland, it explores the burden of nostalgia, the whimsy of madness, and the undeniable power of play. The play was nominated for Best Play by BroadwayWorld.com in 2019.
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Photo credit: Acorn Photos (www.acorn-photos.com/)