THE
GAZER
lished on his personal website
after a dispute over length).
The sessions, held in Woodland
Hills, Calif., 20 miles from downtown L.A., drew other skeptics
who found the premise hilarious.
Two comics in the audience, Natasha Lejjero and Mark Proksch,
upset the peace when they challenged the opening speaker, according to Jacobson. His dispatch
describes the security guards, or
“guardians,” who linger on the
sidelines of every session, asking
Jacobson if he knew the duo and
could stop them.
At the same time, backers were
surfacing. In 2011, Braco was preparing a renewal application for his
O-1, or extraordinary talent visa, a
three-year ticket to work in the U.S.
granted to applicants with impressive references. One of his followers
worked for Dennis Kucinich, the
one-time presidential candidate
who was then a U.S. representative
from Ohio. Kucinich, who is part
Croat, agreed to a private meeting
with Braco. He wrote a welcome
statement in Croatian. Soon, he
was asking his secretary to clear his
schedule and shepherding Braco on
a private tour of Congress, chatting
— in English — about world peace.
When Braco’s visa application went
HUFFINGTON
06.23.13
out, it was with a letter from Kucinich’s office inside.
Kucinich is the highest-profile
American politician to help Braco
gain a visa. (While Braco staff
members say former Wyoming
Gov. David Freudenthal made a