A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 20

This is the eighth year in a row I’ve run this series in April.

Today’s story: ‘Neighbors’ Star Seth Rogen Joins Fraternity.

Seth Rogen has gone from battling a fraternity to joining one.

The actor who played a new dad doing battle with a rowdy fraternity in Neighbors has officially joined the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at the University of Vermont.

Rogen paid a visit to the fraternity Monday after the brothers raised $32,000 for his Hilarity for Charity, which helps fund Alzheimer’s research.

After going bowling with the fraternity, he was inducted as an honorary member in what the school calls a “top-secret ceremony.” Rogen took to Twitter to say he’s “proud to be a Pike.” Video also shows him sharing drinks with fraternity members.

I thought Neighbors was a terrific comedy. Young couple (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) may be new parents, but they still have one foot in party culture. At least they wish they could go out and have fun, but… baby. What better way to force them to confront this issue than have a fraternity move next door?

So in the spirit of ‘similar but different’, what about this: A well-known actor is invited to join a college fraternity, quite literally the same setup as the one described with Seth Rogen above. The Protagonist is a frat member who is up to become President the next year. He’s a rather serious-minded young man and the frat is comprised of A-type students, perhaps with a focus on business, more like the prestigious Omega frat than the Delta frat in Animal House. The Protagonist (let’s call him Adam) has worked angles to get named as the official host for the actor (let’s call him Brandon).

Brandon is in his late 30s and has made a string of hit movies, beginning with some ribald comedies, but evolving into more dramatic roles. Adam picks up Brandon at the airport. What a weekend it’s going to be, a feather in Adam’s cap which could springboard the student’s work career.

Here’s the thing: Brandon is a major party animal. His reps, legal team, and PR people do a great job sanitizing his reputation, but when the dude goes out on the town, he does so in a big way.

It’s Get Him to the Greek meets My Favorite Year, a 48 hour romp in which Brandon turns the frat on its head, cajoling the guys to unleash their own party animals, leaving Adam the poor schlub in charge of attempting to keep Brandon in check.

There you go: My twentieth story idea for the month. And it’s yours. Free!

Each day this month, I invite you to click on RESPONSES and join me to do some further brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when you play around with it. These are all valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in comments. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.

For other posts in my A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2017) series, go here.