Latest news with #Ferrell
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Meet the Aussie duo rewiring comedy
In early 2020, appearing on the YouTube interview show Hot Ones, legendary comedian Will Ferrell mused on the future of comedy. Comedy clubs were back then and are now a shadow of their former selves and mere days ago CBS announced the cancellation of The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert after 33 years on air, 10 of those with Colbert as host. But laughs aren't dead, they're just online now. Social media is proving the new frontier for comedians looking to cut their teeth, allowing budding comics to record sketches, develop characters and grow a platform without the aid of more traditional pathways. Half the world away from that Ferrell interview, comedy duo Swag on the Beat started life in a Melbourne supermarket after an innocent one-take video poking fun at Covid supermarket etiquette gathered almost 30,000 views. Melbourne duo Swag On The Beat made up of Isaac Gibbons and Jack Say. David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Today, the duo – made up of Jack Say, 28, and Isaac Gibbons, 29 – have amassed more than 3.3 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Having recently completed a live show tour around Australia, New Zealand and England, Say and Gibbons agreed with Ferrell's assessment that there was no substitute for honing a comedian's craft quite like performing in front of a crowd. However, they argued the nature of social media management meant nowadays comics needed to be a 'jack of all trades'. 'It was an amazing cutting of the teeth moment for us,' Say told NewsWire. 'We learned so much about live audiences, but it feels like now – you hear musicians talk about it as well – not only do you have to 'make the music', but you have to be the advertiser and you have to do all the social media stuff that comes along with it. 'It feels like you almost have to be a jack of all trades and to service each platform with what it requires in order to have a grip in the industry.' The boys just reached one million followers on Instagram alone. David Crosling Credit: News Corp Australia Continuing the aspiration of multi-platform mastery, the duo have cracked into the podcast space. It's a dangerous time to make the move. Internet commentators have complained the market is now so over-saturated that the sale of podcasting equipment ought to be restricted or banned. The boys, however, are finding the change of pace a welcome return to the ad lib comedy style of their younger years. 'Speaking for myself, I wasn't a huge podcast guy, so I guess I was always astounded by the amount of podcasts out there that have strong listenership,' Gibbons said. 'Obviously, it's a growing platform and there's people that listen to all kinds of content. And I think rather than talking other people down or focusing on how types of podcasts that don't deserve listeners, get listeners, maybe it's worth acknowledging that there's all kinds of listeners for different types of content and trying to tap into that, appreciate that everyone listens to different stuff and try to make something that can appeal to a lot of people.' Making content that is appealing to a wide spate of people is no easy task in the modern world and it's something that Say and Gibbons have made pains to improve on in recent years. 'We were talking about this earlier today actually. Something we've crystallised since the start of Swag and we're getting closer and closer to is being able to provide content that anyone can listen to,' Say said. Comedy legend Barry Humphries is among the boys' role models. Openart AI Credit: Supplied 'If you're 15 or 75, we would like to create stuff that anyone can enjoy, anyone can palate. 'While being fresh and interesting is kind of the goal for us, we don't want to exclude any group or person or people from our stuff. 'It's that classic line from when they wrote the Mr. Bean TV show. 'If a joke couldn't be understood by people in Egypt, then it didn't get in'. He's on the extreme level where he didn't even speak, but we're sort of taking a leaf out of that book, which is: Does this allow everyone who can hear and watch our stuff the chance to enjoy it? 'There's only so much you can do as two guys, but we feel like we're getting better at dividing our time and energy up into multiple parts of the industry, which feels like an essential thing.' It's difficult to put your finger on Australian comedy in the same way you can identify dry British humour or brazen American comedies, and the nature of social media skits as an emerging form of content means prospective filmers may lack the comic role models of other mediums. However the boys cast the net wide and believe the vagueness offers an opportunity to cherry pick and aspire to the best. 'We're big fans of Chris Lilly, everything done by Chris Lilly,' Gibbons said. Australian icon in Chris Lilley as Jonah Takalua. Supplied Credit: Supplied 'I love the character comedy and the way he can very convincingly play all different types of characters. Sacha Baron Cohen as well. 'I think the Godfather of Australian comedy, Barry Humphries, is of course iconic. Flight of the Concords is a duo who has a hilarious dynamic and incorporates music which we try to do as well.' '(American and British humour) both are incredible, but I suppose beyond personal preference of the comedy styles, as Australia does in many other ways, we sort of take little bits of longstanding cultures that we like and try and incorporate them into our own things,' Say added. 'Maybe there's a bit of that going on that is forming the Australian comedy style.' The duo has partnered with KitKat to release a line of Commuter Camouflage Hoodies and are celebrating reaching one million followers on Instagram by throwing a party at the Railway Hotel in Brunswick on Saturday, August 30, announcing a secret project they've 'been working on for months'.
Business Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
HOMELINK Adds New Director to Lead Provider Network Development & Relations
WATERLOO, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HOMELINK, a leading provider of integrated specialty services for workers' compensation and group health, is pleased to announce the addition of Derek Ferrell as director of provider network development and relations. He brings deep expertise in network development and enhancement, contract and claims negotiation, and network operations to the company. 'Derek's wealth of experience and fresh perspective will be key to further building our top-tier national network of providers,' said Gale Vogler, vice president of sales at HOMELINK. 'His background and energy are exactly what we need to take our relationships and operations to the next level.' Prior to joining HOMELINK, Ferrell led network development activities for several health plans across 36 states, driving multi-state network expansion and improving provider relations. With extensive knowledge of critical networks including Medicare Advantage, Managed Medicaid, and ACO Reach, he will lead a team responsible for end-to-end management of the HOMELINK network, including development, contract negotiations, account management, credentialing, provider data, and provider escalations. 'I am proud to join HOMELINK and continue to build on the strong, national network foundation that has been a part of its DNA from the beginning,' said Ferrell. 'I look forward to working together to deliver great care to patients, exceptional support to our providers, and great service for our clients.' With more than 30 years of dedicated service, HOMELINK has carefully built its network, maintaining direct contracts with high-performing providers in strategic locations. That direct contact, along with rigorous credentialing, ensures accountability and compliance for a dependable provider network. For more information about HOMELINK, visit About HOMELINK HOMELINK is an innovative national provider of integrated specialty services to the healthcare and workers' compensation industries. As a privately held, employee-owned company, our associates are naturally motivated to help the payers, patients, and providers we service achieve great outcomes. Our commitment to delivering superior customer service is backed by our proprietary technology to ensure that information is received in a timely fashion for a coordinated and efficient offering across the continuum of care.
Forbes
22-07-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Breakthroughs Changing The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Alzheimer's
Jerry Klauer, an Alzheimer's patient who received a recently approved therapy to treat the disease, ... More pictured last year in Florida with his wife Jana, a retired physician. In 2012, Phyllis Barkman Ferrell experienced a profound irony. The longtime veteran of Eli Lilly was leading a team preparing to launch a groundbreaking molecule to treat Alzheimer's when her own father was diagnosed with the disease. He became one of approximately 500,000 people diagnosed in the United States with the disease that year. Globally, over 10 million cases of dementia are diagnosed each year, with Alzheimer's contributing a large portion of the burden. Though Ferrell had rare access to top leaders working in the field, her father's path to a diagnosis was not straightforward, and never actually became clear. He spent a week in the hospital and endured a lumbar puncture and the insertion of a shunt in his brain. A PET scan, which can detect abnormal changes in the brain consistent with Alzheimer's disease, cost $10,000 and was not covered by insurance. When Ferrell asked a resident at the hospital to give her father an amyloid test, the resident responded, 'What's an amyloid test?' Amyloid refers to a protein that misfolds and accumulates pathological deposits in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. 'Imagine if I could have given him a blood test to see if he had amyloid,' says Ferrell, 'rather than a lumbar puncture and brain surgery?' In fact, that is exactly what has become available – along with two disease-modifying therapies. The New Alzheimer's Workup Today, if patients present with symptoms of memory loss to their primary care provider, they can be referred to a workup for Alzheimer's at a memory clinic with tools that weren't available even three years ago. 'We just got on base at a game that nobody had ever gotten a hit before,' says Ferrell, who now works with the Davos Alzheimer's Collective, a global public health initiative working to improve patients' access to the new innovations. In the new workup, patients can take a digital cognitive assessment, which compares their performance to a standard database. If the patient has a reasonably high chance of having Alzheimer's based on their presentation, then a blood-based biomarker test can be 'very good' at informing the diagnosis, says Dr. Greg Cooper, chief of adult neurology and director of the Memory Center at Norton Neuroscience Institute in Louisville, Kentucky. Jeff Burns, neurologist who co-directs the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Kansas in Kansas City, has seen clinicians in his health system order 600 of the blood tests in 11 weeks since the in-house test became available, a sign of their high demand. 'They're very useful in the right context,' he says, adding that he would like to see their use increase in primary care, since memory clinics are 'overloaded' with patients. In Kansas, for instance, there's only one such clinic in the state. If the blood test is positive, patients can go for an insurance-approved PET scan or spinal fluid testing to determine if they are eligible for the new drugs. If the amyloid diagnosis is confirmed, patients can be prescribed one of two monoclonal antibodies, both FDA-approved in 2023, that can slow disease progression by targeting and removing pathological amyloid deposits in the brain. 'It's the first time we can actually alter the trajectory of disease,' Cooper says. A Patient Story Jerry Klauer, 83, is living proof of this remarkable paradigm shift. Several years ago, his wife Jana, a retired physician, began noticing a troubling change in his memory. He was forgetting dates and plans, though he had been impeccably on time before. He also struggled to recall recent events, and his driving became unsafe. Through a connection at the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, Jerry got diagnosed with Alzheimer's after a positive blood-based biomarker test and a PET scan confirmed high amyloid buildup. He then became eligible to join a clinical trial of one of the monoclonal antibodies (which has since been FDA-approved). 'I was very fortunate to get into the program early,' says Jerry, who is a co-founder of the Wall Street boutique investment firm Gerard Klauer Mattison and Company. Though he acknowledges that the drug is not a cure, it reduced his amyloid and improved his symptoms. Before he started the drug, his amyloid had to be in a certain high range to qualify. Now, his amyloid measures in the normal range. 'He's stable,' Jana says. 'If he wasn't doing this, he would be getting worse. Is his memory what it was when he was 30 or 40 years told? No, but he lives his life. It's a wonderful life.' Early Intervention Matters Jerry's Alzheimer's disease was not very advanced when he started the monoclonal antibody. That is when the medicine can be most effective. 'In the past,' says Greg Cooper, 'although wrong, people had a nihilistic approach, saying why should I be in a hurry to get a diagnosis? Now the urgency for a diagnosis is compelling.' A major question the field is seeking to answer is just how early does it pay to get diagnosed? The pathological changes in the brain from Alzheimer's start 15 to 20 years before symptoms begin. Current clinical trials that read out in 2027 are testing whether patients who have confirmed amyloid, but zero cognitive decline, stand to benefit from the monoclonal antibodies. Burns predicts that if a benefit is substantiated, there will be a major paradigm shift in screening for Alzheimer's disease. 'It could be coming quickly if the trials of the new drugs work to reduce risk in this population. And if they do, then we will be in a whole different world. Then everyone over 65 should be screened.' That said, amyloid is not the whole story on preventing or delaying Alzheimer's onset. It's an early feature, but removing amyloid only slows, not stops, the disease. 'The focus now is can we stop or slow tau from accumulating?' Burns explains. Tau is a protein that builds up in dead or dying neurons in Alzheimer's disease, and it spreads through the brain. First the amyloid buildup starts, and appears to accelerate the tau. 'So pulling the amyloid out looks like it slows the tau accumulation, but doesn't stop it,' says Burns. An experimental drug in phase 2 clinical trials uses a new approach to reduce the accumulation of tau. 'The tau comes much later than the amyloid,' explains Donna Wilcock, Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders at Indiana University School of Medicine. 'Amyloid usually precedes the detection of tangle pathology by maybe 10 years. So we may have a 10-year window of catching that amyloid before it starts downstream tau.' In the last decade, researchers have learned that there is a tipping point at which the tau pathology is self-propagating, and the presence or absence of amyloid doesn't affect the tau – dubbed the 'cataustrophe.' 'It seems as though the earlier we can get these amyloid-lowering therapies into patients,' Wilcock says, 'the better the outcome.' What You Can Do To Lower Risk All the experts interviewed for this article stressed the importance of healthy lifestyle habits, which may prevent up to 45.3% of all dementia cases according to the Lancet Commission. These factors are essential: controlling hypertension, blood sugar, and cholesterol, getting regular exercise and seven to eight hours of quality sleep, having an active social life, and eating a largely plant-based Mediterranean diet. 'Controlling a lot of these factors in the mid-life period has the biggest impact on how they affect your risk for dementia later in life,' says Wilcock. 'Mid-life untreated hypertension greatly increases your risk for dementia later in life.' Her own blood pressure started rising in her 40s, and she pushed her primary care doctor to manage it aggressively, noting that she had to 'self-advocate' to get her doctor to take it seriously. 'Through better brain health and attention to modifiable risk factors, how can we eliminate half of dementia before it ever starts?' asks Greg Cooper. 'And for other half, how can we identify it and successfully intervene before we ever have symptoms? It may sound hyperbolic, but I can at least imagine that day.' Jeff Burns concurs that it's an optimistic time for the field, with a broader array of approaches in development than ever before. As of 2023, there were over 140 drugs in clinical trials for Alzheimer's. For patients like Jerry Klauer, breakthrough science is already a clinical reality. Such encouraging experiences and the rapid pace of advancements over the last few years gives me great hope that one day, this terrible disease itself will be long you to Kira Peikoff for additional research and reporting on this article.
The Irish Sun
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Leeds part-owner Will Ferrell sends crowd wild during Man Utd friendly as fans spot what's on Hollywood star's T-shirt
HOLLYWOOD star Will Ferrell brought the only bit of entertainment to Manchester United's pre-season friendly against Leeds. Advertisement 3 Hollywood actor Will Ferrell was spotted at Man Utd's pre-season game against Leeds 3 Ferrell is a minority owner in Championship champions Leeds Credit: PA Last year, Ferrell bought a minority stake in Leeds ' ownership group 49ers Enterprises, in which golfers And it was the Elf and Anchorman actor that livened up United's first warm-up game against Leeds when the camera fetched him out in the crowd. Just before the drinks break in the 25th minute, the MUTV cameraman picked Ferrell out sitting high up in the stands at the Strawberry Arena. And the American movie star comic soon turned into the showman he is when he realised all eyes were on him, with the score 0-0 at the time. Advertisement READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS Ferrell began buffing his chest out and pointing to the three words spread across his T-shirt. His top had the words: "I ❤️ Gnesta" printed on it. And the moment of comedy was lapped in by the fans inside the stadium, with the actor receiving a huge reception. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Advertisement Most read in Football Breaking Ferrell has a connection to Gnesta, Sweden , through his wife, Viveca Paulin, who is Swedish. While they live in New York City and California , the couple also spend time in the Scandinavian country. Forest in Sensational Sancho Swoop The match lacked excitement and quality, with United nearly taking the lead through Casemiro smacking the ball off the crossbar on the stroke of half-time. The start of the game was delayed for 10 minutes due to heavy traffic around the stadium. Advertisement New signing Teenager United's woeful 2024-25 campaign saw them finish 15th in the Prem and without a trophy after Europa League final heartbreak against Tottenham. 3 Advertisement
Scottish Sun
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Leeds part-owner Will Ferrell sends crowd wild during Man Utd friendly as fans spot what's on Hollywood star's T-shirt
Scroll down to find out why Ferrell was wearing tourist T-shirt WILL I NEVER Leeds part-owner Will Ferrell sends crowd wild during Man Utd friendly as fans spot what's on Hollywood star's T-shirt HOLLYWOOD star Will Ferrell brought the only bit of entertainment to Manchester United's pre-season friendly against Leeds. Ruben Amorim's struggling squad faced their local rivals in Stockholm to kick off their pre-season fixtures on Saturday afternoon. 3 Hollywood actor Will Ferrell was spotted at Man Utd's pre-season game against Leeds 3 Ferrell is a minority owner in Championship champions Leeds Credit: PA Last year, Ferrell bought a minority stake in Leeds' ownership group 49ers Enterprises, in which golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas also have shares. And it was the Elf and Anchorman actor that livened up United's first warm-up game against Leeds when the camera fetched him out in the crowd. Just before the drinks break in the 25th minute, the MUTV cameraman picked Ferrell out sitting high up in the stands at the Strawberry Arena. And the American movie star comic soon turned into the showman he is when he realised all eyes were on him, with the score 0-0 at the time. READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS RASH HOUR Man Utd agree to sell Rashford to Barcelona as he closes in on huge transfer Ferrell began buffing his chest out and pointing to the three words spread across his T-shirt. His top had the words: "I ❤️ Gnesta" printed on it. And the moment of comedy was lapped in by the fans inside the stadium, with the actor receiving a huge reception. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Ferrell has a connection to Gnesta, Sweden, through his wife, Viveca Paulin, who is Swedish. While they live in New York City and California, the couple also spend time in the Scandinavian country. Forest in Sensational Sancho Swoop The match lacked excitement and quality, with United nearly taking the lead through Casemiro smacking the ball off the crossbar on the stroke of half-time. The start of the game was delayed for 10 minutes due to heavy traffic around the stadium. New signing Matheus Cunha was handed his official debut, starting as one of the two No 10s alongside Bruno Fernandes. Teenager Chido Obi was also named in the XI, going close after curling a shot wide shortly after Ferrell's shock appearance. United's woeful 2024-25 campaign saw them finish 15th in the Prem and without a trophy after Europa League final heartbreak against Tottenham.
