'Trapped' on Broadway? R. Kelly is working on it

NEW YORK (AP) — Is Broadway ready for Twan, Sylvester, Pimp Lucius and "the package"? R. Kelly thinks so — and says he's working to bring the wacky characters and plotlines in his even wackier "Trapped in the Closet" series to the Great White Way.

The superstar announced on Monday night that he's had an offer to bring the cult classic to the stage, and he may even be in some performances.

"To transform it into a Broadway version, that's what I'm working on," he told a packed house at the Sunshine Theater, where he unveiled the latest chapters in "Trapped in the Closet," which will debut on the IFC on Friday.

Kelly gave no other details about a possible Broadway adaptation of the wildly popular video opera. It got its start from a stirring series of songs Kelly debuted in 2005, which ended with a cliff-hanger. The songs captured so much attention, Kelly made an over-the-top video series about it that just got crazier and crazier as he added more chapters.

Kelly has often referred to "Trapped" as an alien, and on Monday, he said: "I'm glad to be one of the astronauts to take this thing to the unknown."

He thanked the enthusiastic crowd for accepting the series, and admitted that he always wanted to act: "Somehow, I landed 'Trapped in the Closet' from being silly."

He also joked about the ridiculous nature of the series.

"I'm just having a lot of fun. I don't have a job so I sit in the studio all day and think of stuff to do and this is just something stupid I've done that's been successful for me," he said. "I'm having a lot of fun with it."

The latest chapters introduce a few new faces, and like the others series, ends with a cliffhanger. While it's taken Kelly five years to add these latest chapters to the series, Kelly says he won't take as long to produce more.

"I want everybody to know I've got 85 chapters of 'Trapped in the Closet' waiting in the studio for y'all," he said. "The chapters that are coming — the show, we call it — is going to exceed every chapter that you have ever seen."

Kelly capped of the evening with a rendition of one of his biggest hits, "I Believe I Can Fly," for the audience.

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http://www.r-kelly.com

http://www.ifc.com

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Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's Global Entertainment & Lifestyles Editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

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Over-the-top cooking show 'Epic Meal Time' sizzles on the Web

The chef at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen is accustomed to preparing meals for hundreds of people using donated meat, vegetables and fruit.

But on a recent afternoon in Costa Mesa, the chefs of Internet cooking sensation "Epic Meal Time" were raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Among the "epic" meals added to the lunch menu: Fast Food Lasagna (whose main ingredient is 45 McDonald's cheeseburgers), the Angry French Canadian (an adaptation of the Quebec dish poutine, on this day made with French fries, bacon and cheddar cheese and topped with brown gravy and maple syrup), and TurBaconEpic, a super-size version of the Thanksgiving-themed stunt classic, in which a quail is stuffed inside a Cornish game hen, inside a chicken, inside a duck, inside a turkey — then slow-roasted inside a pig.

PHOTOS: Celebrity portraits by The Times

"We brought a whole bunch of our best-tasting recipes today to share with everyone here," said Harley Morenstein, the host of "Epic Meal Time." "So, I hope you enjoy it. If not, I apologize."

This isn't Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa." Morenstein and his cast of supporting characters aren't seeking the perfect bechamel sauce.

They're cooking big piles of meat, making such comically over-the-top meals as the barbecue Colosseum constructed out of ribs, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, or a Christmas tree decorated with garland strands of chicken nuggets and 2,000 strips of bacon.

Online audiences — especially young men — eat it up. The weekly cooking show has attracted some 2.9 million subscribers on YouTube, and nearly a half-billion video views. The recent episodes "Chinese Pizza," "The Unbalanced Breakfast" and "Country Fried Meal Time" have each had more viewers than for a recent episode of TLC's popular "Cake Boss" or The Travel Channel's "Man Vs. Food." According to ratings firm Nielsen, new episodes of "Cake Boss" and "Man Vs. Food" attracted 1.5 million and 1.1 million viewers, respectively, in their initial TV outings.

PHOTOS: Hollywood back lot moments

Eager to reach the Web show's young male demographic, Frito-Lay North America Inc.'s Doritos brand, retailer GameStop Corp., subscription service Netflix Inc. and the publisher of the "Gears of War" video game have advertised on the channel.

The Web show is not without its detractors. The advocacy group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals featured a parody video called "Vegan Meal Time" on its blog and criticized the show's creators for "the nastiness of their gluttonous creations."

"'Epic Meal Time' seems to be a proud sponsor of the obesity epidemic," Jane Dollinger, a spokeswoman for PETA, said in a statement.

But "Epic Meal Time" has won some surprising fans who appreciate its satire of the over-serious TV cooking show. Healthful-eating advocate Jamie Oliver, who hosted ABC's "Food Revolution," even wrote the forward for the Web show's forthcoming cookbook.

Morenstein, who holds a degree in elementary education from McGill University in Montreal, was developing a children's show when he uploaded a video of him and a buddy cooking a pizza topped with melted cheese and McDonald's hamburgers. For fun, he tacked on nutritional information (6,000 calories and over 1,000 grams of fat) and invented the "Epic Meal Time" name to capture the gastronomical excess.

The October 2010 video was a modest YouTube sensation — attracting 150,000 views and coverage in the local newspaper. The next video, in which Morenstein created the Angry French Canadian sandwich, grabbed an even bigger online viewership and earned the 6-foot-6 host the nickname "Jackass in the kitchen."

In a bid for American viewers, Morenstein planned a Thanksgiving feast in which he created an exaggerated version of the legendary turducken. He dubbed his creation the TurBaconEpic.

"It got 2 million views in a week," Morenstein said. "I was like, 'OK, this is what we do for my life now.'"

In 2010, "Epic Meal Time" was accepted into YouTube's partner program, allowing it to share in online advertising revenue. To prepare, he wrote 200 to 300 cooking ideas for such things as a variation on spaghetti and meatballs, in which the pasta is stuffed into a meatball the size of a basketball.

Now, Morenstein's production company is profitable and supports a 10-person full-time team.

It collects revenue from advertisers attracted by its more than 30 million monthly video views, garners fees from marketers who are coming to the show's creator to develop branded content to promote their products and services, and operates a lucrative merchandising operation that sells everything from hats, hoodies and T-shirts to, soon, cooking utensils, said Dan Weinstein, chief content officer at Collective Digital Studio, Morenstein's management company and distribution partner.

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Living with threats, making peace with the past

A whirring mechanical lift raised Davien Graham's wheelchair to the witness stand in Department X on the fourth floor of the Los Angeles County courthouse in Alhambra.

Pain burned at the base of his spine.

His eyes met Jimmy Santana's for the first time since the shooting. He thought Santana seemed much smaller sitting at the defense table than he had with the gun in his hand. In his baggy blue jail uniform, he looked like a child.

Two months earlier, on Jan. 12, 2008, Davien had been gunned down as he rode his bike in front of his church, a bystander in a gang war that had raged in Monrovia for two years.

He recognized Santana as the shooter. They had gone to school together. Still, Davien was afraid to identify him to police. He had been raised by a father and an uncle who were Crips, who taught him that victims don't snitch.

But Davien had shunned gangs for a Christian life, and believed lying was wrong. So when asked by detectives, he had circled Santana's photo in a lineup of mug shots.

Now he was being asked to set aside fears of retaliation and testify.

Staring at Santana, Davien said the first thing he remembered telling his family after the shooting was, "I forgive the person who did this to me."

Santana stared back, appearing unmoved.

Sitting in his wheelchair, legs paralyzed, Davien could see Santana's mother in the gallery, a small woman with a strained face. A group of young people lounged behind her.

Maybe they were in the car with Jimmy that day.

Police never caught the getaway driver.

The prosecutor asked a question, addressing Davien as John Doe, an effort to protect his identity. It didn't matter. Everyone involved in the case knew Davien.

"Do you see the man who shot you here in court today?"

"On the right side of the courtroom, and he's wearing a blue uniform," Davien said.

That was all the judge needed to hear. He ordered Santana to stand trial. Davien was free to go.

But he didn't feel free.

Sheriff's investigators said he wasn't at risk, and his family didn't need protection. But he didn't trust the Sheriff's Department. The sheriff had sent a task force to Monrovia to stop the gang violence. They dropped warnings at gangsters' homes.

His uncle got one. So did Davien.

That upset him. Unlike his uncle, Davien had never joined a gang.

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Justin Bieber gets love at American Music Awards

Justin Bieber may be Canadian, but he was the all-American boy at Sunday night's American Music Awards.

The pop singer dominated the awards show, winning three trophies, including artist of the year. His mom joined him onstage as he collected the award, beating out Rihanna, Maroon 5, Katy Perry and Drake.

"I wanted to thank you for always believing in me," Bieber said, looking to his mom.

The 18-year-old also won the honor in 2010. He said it's "hard growing up with everyone watching me" and asked that people continue to believe in him.

But the teenager who brought his mom as a date also got in some grinding with Nicki Minaj — who shared the stage with him and took home two awards — and a kiss on the neck from presenter Jenny McCarthy.

"Wow. I feel violated right now," he said, laughing.

"I did grab his butt," McCarthy said backstage. "I couldn't help it. He was just so delicious. So little. I wanted to tear his head off and eat it."

Another collaboration was the night's most colorful performance: Korean rapper PSY and MC Hammer. Hammer joined the buzzed-about pop star for his viral hit "Gangnam Style." PSY rocked traditional "Hammer" pants as they danced to his jam and to Hammer's "Too Legit to Quit."

Minaj, who wore three different wigs and four outfits throughout the night, repeated her AMAs wins from last year, picking up trophies for favorite rap/hip-hop artist and album for "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded." She was in an all-white get-up, including fur coat and pink hair when she performed her new song "Freedom." The scene was ghostly and snowy, as a choir — also in white — joined her onstage. One background singer stole the performance, belting semi-high notes as Minaj looked on.

Usher kicked off the three-hour show with green laser lights beaming onstage as he performed a medley of songs, including "Numb," ''Climax" and "Can't Stop, Won't Stop," which featured a smoky floor and a number of backup dancers, as Usher jammed in all black, with the exception of his red shoes. He won favorite soul/R&B male artist.

His protege Bieber won favorite pop/rock male artist in the first award handed out and gave a shout-out to those who didn't think he would last on the music scene.

"I want to say this is for all the haters who thought I was just here for one or two years. I feel like I'm going to be here for a very long time," he said.

He also won favorite pop/rock album for his platinum-selling third album, "Believe." He gave a stripped down, acoustic performance of "As Long As You Love Me," then transitioned to the dance-heavy "Beauty and a Beat," where Minaj joined him onstage, grinding with the teen for a few seconds.

Swift won her fifth consecutive award for favorite country female artist.

"This is unreal. I want to thank the fans. You guys are the ones who voted on this," she said.

Swift gave a masquerade-themed performance of the pop song "I Knew You Were Trouble." She sang onstage in a light dress while dancers wore mostly black. But then she changed into a red corset and black skirt, matching their dark mood. She even danced and sang on the floor as lights flickered throughout the performance.

Dick Clark, who created the AMAs, was remembered by Ryan Seacrest and an upbeat performance by Stevie Wonder.

"What a producer he was," said Seacrest, as Wonder sang his hits, including "My Cherie Amour."

Carly Rae Jepsen, who performed early in the night, won favorite new artist.

"I am floored. Wow," she said, thanking Bieber and his manager, Scooter Braun.

Party girl Ke$ha was glammed up on the red carpet, rocking long, flowy blonde hair and a light pink dress. She switched to her normal attire when she performed her hit single "Die Young." It was tribal, with shirtless dancers in skin-tight pants, silver hair and skeleton-painted faces, who also played the drums. Ke$ha was pants-less, rocking knee-high boots and rolling on the floor as she finished up the song.

Minaj and Christina Aguilera were blonde bombshells, too: Minaj's hair was busy and full of volume and she sported a neon strapless gown to accept her first award. Aguilera wore a blonde bob in a purple dress that matched her eyeshadow.

Aguilera performed a medley of material from her new album and joined Pitbull onstage.

Kelly Clarkson also hit the stage, making a nod to her "American Idol" roots with a number on her dress and three judges looking on as she sang "Miss Independent." Then she went into "Since U Been Gone," ''Stronger" and "Catch My Breath."

Fellow "Idol" winner Carrie Underwood won best favorite country album and performed, hitting the right notes while singing "Two Black Cadillacs." She talked about singing competition shows backstage.

"These people that go on these shows are so talented, you know? And I would love to see if so many of the other artists that are out there today would go back and try out for these shows, because they might get their behinds kicked by some of the contestants," she said.

Luke Bryan won favorite country male artist and Lady Antebellum favorite country group.

American Music Awards nominees were selected based on sales and airplay, and fans chose the winners by voting online. At this award show, even the stars were fans: Pink said on the red carpet that she'd like to collaborate with Lauryn Hill. Cyndi Lauper said her musical playlist includes Pink and Minaj. Boy band The Wanted said they were excited to see PSY and Colbie Caillat wanted to watch No Doubt.

"What makes the American Music Awards special is the fans choose the winning artists," said Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, who won favorite alternative rock artist and performed "Burn It Down," as Brandy sang along and Gwen Stefani, Usher and Phillip Phillips bobbed their heads.

David Guetta won the show's first-ever electronic dance music award. Non-televised awards went to Katy Perry for pop/rock female artist, Beyonce for soul/R&B female artist, Adele for adult contemporary artist and Shakira for Latin artist.

Along with Rihanna, Minaj was the top nominee with four nominations.

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

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Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin

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Online:

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Teenage Boys, Worried About Body Image, Take Health Risks

It is not just girls these days who are consumed by an unattainable body image.

Take David Abusheikh. At age 15, he started lifting weights for two hours a day, six days a week. Now that he is a senior at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, he has been adding protein bars and shakes to his diet to put on muscle without gaining fat.

“I didn’t used to be into supplements,” said Mr. Abusheikh, 18, who plans on a career in engineering, “but I wanted something that would help me get bigger a little faster.”

Pediatricians are starting to sound alarm bells about boys who take unhealthy measures to try to achieve Charles Atlas bodies that only genetics can truly confer. Whether it is long hours in the gym, allowances blown on expensive supplements or even risky experiments with illegal steroids, the price American boys are willing to pay for the perfect body appears to be on the rise.

In a study to be published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, more than 40 percent of boys in middle school and high school said they regularly exercised with the goal of increasing muscle mass. Thirty-eight percent said they used protein supplements, and nearly 6 percent said they had experimented with steroids.

Over all, 90 percent of the 2,800 boys in the survey — who lived in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, but typify what doctors say is a national phenomenon — said they exercised at least occasionally to add muscle.

“There has been a striking change in attitudes toward male body image in the last 30 years,” said Dr. Harrison Pope, a psychiatry professor at Harvard who studies bodybuilding culture and was not involved in the study. The portrayal of men as fat-free and chiseled “is dramatically more prevalent in society then it was a generation ago,” he said.

While college-age men have long been interested in bodybuilding, pediatricians say they have been surprised to find that now even middle school boys are so absorbed with building muscles. And their youth adds an element of risk.

Just as girls who count every calorie in an effort to be thin may do themselves more harm than good, boys who chase an illusory image of manhood may end up stunting their development, doctors say, particularly when they turn to supplements — or, worse, steroids — to supercharge their results.

“The problem with supplements is they’re not regulated like drugs, so it’s very hard to know what’s in them,” said Dr. Shalender Bhasin, a professor of medicine at Boston Medical Center. Some contain anabolic steroids, and even high-quality protein supplements might be dangerous in large amounts, or if taken to replace meals, he said. “These things just haven’t been studied very well,” he said.

Anabolic steroids pose a special danger to developing bodies, Dr. Bhasin said. Steroids “stop testosterone production in men,” he said, leading to terrible withdrawal problems when still-growing boys try to stop taking them. Still, the constant association of steroids with elite athletes like Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds perpetuates the notion that they can be managed successfully.

Online, in bodybuilding forums for teenagers, boys barely out of puberty share weight-lifting regimens and body fat percentages, and judge one another’s progress. On Tumblr and Facebook, teenagers post images of ripped athletes under the heading “fitspo” or “fitspiraton,” which are short for “fitness inspiration.” The tags are spinoffs of “thinspo” and “thinspiration” pictures and videos, which have been banned from many sites for promoting anorexia.

“Lifted b4 school today felt good but was weak as hell,” wrote one boy who said he was 15 and from Tallahassee, Fla., on a message board on Bodybuilding.com in September, saying he bench-pressed 245 pounds. “Barely got it.”

Many of these boys probably see themselves in Mike Sorrentino, “The Situation” from the “Jersey Shore” series on MTV, or the Adam Sackler character, on the HBO series “Girls,” who rarely wears a shirt or takes a break from his crunches.

Mr. Abusheikh, for instance, has a Facebook page full of photos of himself shirtless or showing off his six-pack abs. At his high school, participation in the annual bodybuilding competition hit an all-time high of 30 students this year.

“They ask us about everything,” said Peter Rivera, a physical education teacher at Fort Hamilton High School who helps oversee the competition. “How do I lose weight? How do I gain muscle? How many times a week should I work out?” Some boys want to be stronger for sports, Mr. Rivera said, but others “want to change their body type.”

Compared with a sedentary lifestyle of video games and TV, an obsession with working out may not quite qualify as a health hazard. And instructors like Mr. Rivera say most boys are eager for advice on the healthiest, drug-free ways to get in shape.

With so little known about supplements, it can be difficult, particularly for teenagers, to make wise decisions.

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Most aid from mortgage settlement in state going to short sales

Big banks are giving billions of dollars to distressed California homeowners through a landmark mortgage settlement — but mostly to get people out of their homes rather than help them stay.

Short sales, which allow underwater borrowers to sell their homes for less than they owe, have become the dominant type of relief offered in California by the big banks, according to a report on the settlement expected to be made public Monday.

Under the settlement, banks were required to give homeowners aid in the form of principal reduction, short sales and other modifications. Banks get credit for both principal reductions and short sales under the agreement, but must give 60% of the relief nationally through principal reduction to families who keep their homes. Consumer advocates had hoped the deal would serve as a test case for widespread principal reduction, particularly in the hardest-hit parts of California.

Short sales should be reserved for homeowners who couldn't afford to live in a home even with a lower principal or for people who need to move, said UC Irvine law professor Katherine Porter, who was appointed by the state attorney general's office to monitor the deal.

"I am pushing hard to make sure that … short sales are being used for families for whom other options are really not available," Porter said.

Porter's assessment is expected to coincide with another report, also expected Monday, by the monitor of the national settlement. The nation's biggest banks this year signed a landmark $25-billion mortgage settlement with 49 of the nation's state attorneys general and certain federal agencies. The settlement arose from revelations that banks improperly foreclosed on homes. It led to major servicing reforms, including requiring banks to offer a single contact for troubled borrowers and the restricting of dual tracking, in which banks pursue foreclosures and loan modifications simultaneously.

The preponderance of short sales in California may change, Porter said, as banks begin delivering other types of mandated relief, namely principal reduction. In California, the three biggest mortgage servicers — Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. — promised to contribute $12 billion worth of homeowner aid. Bank of America is on the hook for the biggest portion of that agreement, $8 billion.

Through Sept. 30, the three banks had provided $8.4 billion, according to data from Porter's office, putting them well on track to fulfill their obligations. About 68% of that money went toward providing short sales for homeowners. Principal reductions on first and second mortgages made up the rest of the California aid.

"I am a little surprised that the percentage for short sales are still high," said Kevin Stein, associate director of the housing advocacy group California Reinvestment Coalition. "Our hope and expectation was that principal reduction for first lien loans would be the bulk of it."

Porter's report raises concern that Chase's aid, most of which came through short sales, did not reach enough of the state's hardest-hit counties. In an interview, Porter said she believed some of the families who received a short sale may have preferred principal reduction.

"We are committed to keeping people in their homes," Chase spokeswoman Amy M. Bonitatibus said. "When that's not possible, a short sale is a better solution for the family and the neighborhood than a foreclosure."

The majority of the state report concerns efforts by Bank of America.

The report notes that the bank will receive credit for $682 million in principal reduction or forgiveness on first mortgages. Banks get extra credit if they reach homeowners in certain hard-hit counties within the first year of the settlement. The bank has also written down $794 million in second mortgages in the state. But BofA has given out far more aid in the form of short sales — about $3.4 billion in California. As the bank moves forward, it will extend more principal reduction, bank spokesman Dan B. Frahm said.

By signing on to the settlement, California waived a litany of allegations it could have brought against the banks, including unfair or deceptive business practices and violations of general consumer protection statutes that applied to wrongdoing in the loan modification and foreclosure process. California retained some allegations that other states gave up, including fair-lending cases.

If the banks don't fulfill the $12-billion guarantee, they will have to make cash payments of as much as $800 million directly to the state, a provision that is enforceable in California court, instead of federal court in Washington, where the rest of the deal is covered.

alejandro.lazo@latimes.com

scott.reckard@latimes.com

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A young shooting victim wrestles with his fears

After the nightmares started, Davien Graham avoided his bicycle.

In his dreams, he pedaled his silver BMX bike through his neighborhood, heard gunfire and died.

If I stay off my bike, I'll be safe, he thought.

He placed it in a backyard shed, where it sat for months. But Jan. 12, 2008, dawned so spectacular that Davien decided to risk it.

He ate Cap'n Crunch Berries cereal, grabbed the bike and rode a half-mile west to Calvary Grace, a Southern Baptist church that was his haven.

Davien lived with an unemployed aunt and uncle, a former Crip, and five other kids in a cramped four-bedroom house in Monrovia, about 20 miles east of Los Angeles.

Yet as a 16-year-old junior at Monrovia High School, Davien earned A's and B's, played JV football and volunteered with the video club. He cleaned the church on Saturdays for minimum wage.

If I live right, God will protect me.

That afternoon, sweaty from cleaning, Davien reached for his wallet to buy a snack — only to realize he had forgotten it at home.

After returning to his house, he caught his reflection in the front window. He was 6 feet 2 and wiry. His skinny chest was beginning to broaden. He was trying to add weight to his 160-pound frame in time for varsity football tryouts.

He showered, told his aunt he would be right back and again jumped on his bike, size-14 Nike Jordans churning, heading for a convenience store near the church.

At the store, he bought Arizona fruit punch and lime chili Lay's potato chips. He recognized a kindergarten-age Latino boy and bought him Twinkies.

Davien pedaled down the empty sidewalk along Peck Road. He could hear kids playing basketball nearby. As he neared the church, a car passed, going in the opposite direction. He barely noticed.

He heard car tires crunching on asphalt behind him. He glanced back, expecting a friend.

Instead he heard: "Hey, fool."

The gun was gray. It had a slide. Davien recognized that much from watching the Military Channel.

Behind the barrel, he saw forearms braced to fire and the face of a Latino man, a former classmate.

The gunman shouted, "Dirt Rock!," cursing a local black gang, the Duroc Crips.

Davien's mind raced: Don't panic. Watch the barrel. Duck.

Suddenly, he was falling. Then he was on the ground, looking up at the church steeple and the cross.

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Lady Gaga tweets some racy images before concert

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lady Gaga's tweets were getting a lot of attention ahead of her Buenos Aires concert Friday night.

The Grammy-winning entertainer has more than 30 million followers on Twitter and that's where she shared a link this week to a short video showing her doing a striptease and fooling around in a bathtub with two other women.

She told her followers that it's a "surprise for you, almost ready for you to TASTE."

Then, in between concerts in Brazil and Argentina, she posted a picture Thursday on her Twitter page showing her wallowing in her underwear and impossibly high heels on top of the remains of what appears to be a strawberry shortcake.

"The real CAKE isn't HAVING what you want, it's DOING what you want," she tweeted.

Lady Gaga wore decidedly unglamorous baggy jeans and a blouse outside her Buenos Aires hotel Thursday as three burly bodyguards kept her fans at bay. Another pre-concert media event where she was supposed to be given "guest of honor" status by the city government Friday afternoon was cancelled.

After Argentina, she is scheduled to perform in Santiago, Chile; Lima, Peru; and Asuncion, Paraguay, before taking her "Born This Way Ball" tour to Africa, Europe and North America.

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The Neediest Cases: Emerging From a Bleak Life to Become Fabulous Phil

For years, Phillip Johnson was caught in what seemed like an endless trench of bad luck. He was fired from a job, experienced intensifying psychological problems, lost his apartment and spent time in homeless shelters. At one point, he was hospitalized after overdosing on an antipsychotic drug.

“I had a rough road,” he said.

Since his hospital stay two years ago, and despite setbacks, Mr. Johnson, 27, has been getting his life on track. At Brooklyn Community Services, where he goes for daily counseling and therapy, everybody knows him as Fabulous Phil.

“Phillip is a light, the way he evokes happiness in other people,” his former caseworker, Teresa O’Brien, said. “Phillip’s character led directly to his nickname.”

About six months ago, with Ms. O’Brien’s help, Mr. Johnson started an event: Fabulous Phil Friday Dance Party Fridays.

One recent afternoon at the agency, 30 clients and a few counselors were eating cake, drinking soft drinks and juice, and grooving for 45 minutes to Jay-Z and Drake pulsating from a boom box.

Mr. Johnson’s voice rose with excitement when he talked about the party. Clients and counselors, he said, “enjoy themselves.”

“They connect more; they communicate more,” he continued. “Everybody is celebrating and laughing.”

The leadership Mr. Johnson now displays seems to be a far cry from the excruciatingly introverted person he was.

As an only child living with his single mother in public housing in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, he said, he tended to isolate himself. “A lot of kids my age would say, ‘Come outside,’ but I would always stay in my room,” he said. He occupied himself by writing comic books or reading them, his favorites being Batman and Spiderman because, he said, “they were heroes who saved the day.”

After graduating from high school in 2003, he worked odd jobs until 2006, when he took a full-time position at a food court at La Guardia Airport, where he helped to clean up. The steady paycheck allowed him to leave his mother’s apartment and rent a room in Queens.

But the depression and bleak moods that had shadowed him throughout middle and high school asserted themselves.

“My thinking got confused,” he said. “Racing thoughts through my mind. Disorganized thoughts. I had a hard time focusing on one thing.”

In 2008, after two years on the job, Mr. Johnson was fired for loud and inappropriate behavior, and for being “unpredictable,” he said. The boss said he needed counseling. He moved back in with his mother, and in 2009 entered a program at an outpatient addiction treatment service, Bridge Back to Life. It was there, he said, that he received a diagnosis of schizophrenia and help with his depression and marijuana use.

But one evening in May 2010, he had a bout with insomnia.

He realized the antipsychotic medication he had been prescribed, Risperdal, made him feel tired, he said, so he took 12 of the pills, rather than his usual dosage of two pills twice a day. When 12 did not work, he took 6 more.

“The next morning when I woke up, it was hard for me to breathe,” he said.

He called an ambulance, which took to Woodhull Hospital. He was released after about a month.

Not long after, he returned to his mother’s apartment, but by February 2011, they both decided he should leave, and he relocated to a homeless shelter in East New York, where, he said, eight other people were crammed into his cubicle and there were “bedbugs, people lying in your bed, breaking into your locker to steal your stuff.”

In late spring 2011, he found a room for rent in Manhattan, but by Thanksgiving he was hospitalized again. Another stint in a shelter followed in April, when his building was sold.

Finally, in July, Mr. Johnson moved to supported housing on Staten Island, where he lives with a roommate. His monthly $900 Social Security disability check is sent to the residence, which deducts $600 for rent and gives him $175 in spending money; he has breakfast and lunch at the Brooklyn agency. To assist Mr. Johnson with unexpected expenses, a grant of $550 through The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund went to buy him a bed and pay a Medicare prescription plan fee for three months.

“I was so happy I have a bed to sleep on,” he said about the replacement for an air mattress. “When I have a long day, I have a bed to lay in, and I feel good about that.”

Mr. Johnson’s goals include getting his driver’s license — “I already have a learner’s permit,” he said, proudly — finishing his program at the agency, and then entering an apprenticeship program to become a plumber, carpenter or mechanic.

But seeing how his peers have benefited from Fabulous Phil Fridays has made him vow to remain involved with people dealing with mental illnesses or substance abuse.

He was asked at the party: Might he be like the comic-book heroes he loves? A smile spread across his face. He seemed to think so.

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A John Lautner-designed home in L.A.

Known for his forward-thinking engineering, architect John Lautner designed the Foster Carling house with a retractable wall of glass separating the outdoor part of the swimming pool from an interior portion in the living room. External steel beams support the hexagonal living space, which is free of internal columns.

Location: 7144 Hockey Trail, Los Angeles 90068

Asking price: $2.995 million

Year built: 1950

House size: Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, 1,999 square feet

Lot size: 16,002 square feet

Features: Redwood planking, raised fireplace, polished concrete floors, built-in furniture, bar, basement, alarm system, carport, skyline views.

About the area: In the third quarter, 86 single-family homes sold in the 90068 ZIP Code at a median price of $930,000, according to DataQuick. That was a 3.8% price increase from the third quarter last year.

Agent: John Galich, Rodeo Realty, (310) 461-0468

—Lauren Beale

To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos on a CD, written permission from the photographer to publish the images and a description of the house to Lauren Beale, Business, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Send questions to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.

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