Wednesday, January 2, 2002
Hey, Law & Order is on. A really good one too. Of course, I did just watch like 5 episodes yesterday on the Law & Order channel, I mean, A&E.
Ah, fuck New Year's. Do most people really have as good a time as the folks on TV seem like they're having? Ah, bollocks.
Tuesday, January 8, 2002
Threw out the Christmas tree this morning. I swept up all the needles and there was like a quarter-pound of them on the floor. Smelled good, though. Watching the Sopranos Season 2 DVDs, some great stuff. Great television.
Had a show last week with the Pat Shay Dancers that I felt bad about- mostly personal things. Hesitation, fear- these are an improviser's worst enemies. Feh.
It's only eight days into the new year and I'm already committed to two separate scripted shows. I'm very excited about both of these. The first one I have very little responsibility so far- just having to learn my cues and lines. It's nerve-wracking- the duties of a producer and director I'm used to- it's the lines and stuff that are worrying me. It's been a long-time since I've had to officially be in a show. I've been the understudy for almost all of the shows I've been involved in, but the last one I had a role in was Thriller Theater 1, four years ago. It's a real drama too with crying and yelling and stuff. I'm a cop. A detective to boot. Bruce would be proud.
"I hope that you join our struggle for there are too many of them and too few of us." - Batman to the new Black Orchid in the "Black Orchid" graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. Excellent reading.
Oh, that Janice makes me so mad sometimes.
The other show in pre-production right now is a show that I wrote parodying movies from the past, present and future. It's a musical and I'm really looking forward to it. I love musicals- it's a shame that I cannot sing or dance. *sigh* It's going to be bigger than my other shows in style and appearance. I like people who can sing and dance- I feel like Rick Jones hanging out with people with superpowers. It's going to be a long run too and that's about all the details I have right now.
Hey, new Buffy tonight. The musical episode was very good.
Metropolis, the new team I coach, is coming along very nicely. I love coaching, it's fun to see improvisers evolve.
Oh Janice, will you just shut the f- up!!!
Last night was the first installment of "Inside the Improviser's Studio, Vol. III." I have to admit I was very nervous. I purposefully didn't post anything here because I didn't want to jinx myself. I did a pre-interview with Craig just to get a few facts down and to make sure I hit all the beats that he would want to cover. That was great. The interview was good- Craig is a wealth of improv information and stories. The interview and the Q&A all took about an hour and some change. That was exactly what I was aiming for so good for us, eh? I haven't arranged the next one, but it should be sometime in April. I have a few ideas on who the guest will be.
Jonathan Pitts from the Chicago Improv Fest was kind enough to offer me the honor of being the judge of the Del Close Scholarship for this year's batch of workshops. It's an essay contest entitled, "Why Life is Like A Long-form." I was always good at those kind of essays.
In New York they have the Regents exams. These examinations are in four different high school subjects and you must past them before you can graduate high school. The English Regents were three parts; a multiple choice test, 1000 word non-fiction essay and an 1000 word fiction essay. I was very good friends with an English teacher named Inez Mazola. I loved that woman. She taught a class called "Comedy in Literature." I took the class because it sounded like fun even though it was the "lowest" class you could take and still get english credit. She would wheel in movies like "Blazing Saddles" and "History of the World" and have the class tell why a scene was funny. Not just because it made us laugh, but really analyze the construction of a comedic scene. Burnounts and gangbangers and borderline dropouts were sitting around intelligently discussing comedic structure. Then, she sneakily got us all really into reading and discussing Voltaire's Candide. Great book. We also did Animal Farm. What a great class and a better woman. She died right after I graduated from lung cancer. She smoked about a pack a day, but I always think of her when I'm writing comedy. I miss you, Inez. See? There, I actually called you by your first name even though I never did to your face.
That was a long tangent.
I have no idea what to look for in these essays, but I'll know when I see it. I've read a lot of Del's writings and I guess whatever essay best expresses the passion and respect for the art will get the nod, eh?
BTW, the new name for "Inside the Improviser's Studio" is "Welcome to the Inside the Improviser's Studio.... studio." I felt like Farley in the old SNL sketch.
END OF LINE
Monday, January 14, 2002
“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by frost.”
J. R. R. Tolkien "Lord of the Rings"
One of my resolutions this year is to do more. More things that I think of I will follow through. I keep getting ideas for shows/products/stories/thingies, but I say them out loud and occasionally even write them down, but I don’t follow up on most of them. If nothing else, you have to admire Stephen King’s amazing ability to not only come with a great one-sentence idea, but the tenacity to follow up and deliver an entire novel. (Best King novel: (tie) The Stand / The Shining, Best King-based movie: The Dead Zone, Worst-But-Still-Too-Much-Fun-To-Watch: Maximum Overdrive.)
One of the scripted shows I’m working on is called “Felt” and it’s written and directed by Jeff Griggs. It’s a dramatic show with cool flashbacks and stuff. It’ll be over at the Live Bait Theater beginning on March 8th. Honestly, it’s quite good and I’m really excited to be in it. Last night I had a dream that I was in a play and that I had never even looked at the script and I screwed up the show. So, guess what’s on my mind.
The other show, another scripted one, is a musical spoof of several movies. It’s called “A Song Time Ago; musical movie spoofs from past, present, future and a galaxy far, far away.” It’ll make a nice bumper sticker. This show will feature the musical spoof “trailers” for Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. And now.. our feature presentation- a full length musical spoof of Star Wars: A New Hope. Why that one? I think it’s the easiest one to make fun of.. it’s an amazingly simple film. Besides I love Empire too much to mock it. Return of the Jedi? Too easy. Yug Nub?
We’re going to have auditions very soon (probably this month). I love and hate auditions. I love that I will often meet/cast people I don’t know whatsoever and then get a chance to work with someone new. I’ve had auditions and met new friends for all four of the Thriller Theater shows. I hate auditions for two reasons; when people I really like, and who I think are really talented but just not right for that particular show, audition and I have to tell them that they’re not chosen. Also, when I have to sit through a friend’s audition. I always feel creepy/uncomfortable. Thankfully, there’s an actual producer for this show and he can do the entire calling afterwards. Haha on him.
Sabbatical- a break from the routine or usual (as in employment), a leave often with pay granted usually every seventh year (as to a college professor) for rest, travel, or research -- called also sabbatical leave
I’m on sabbatical from the Pat Shay Dancers. I just decided to take some time off and re-evaluate my place on the team. That’s all. I’m probably going to end up watching a bunch of their shows because I just like watching them, but I won’t be performing with them for a while. It’s not a bad thing- just a personal choice for me. I’m not performing with any other teams as of now, but I probably will be starting up an improv show relatively soon. We'll see.
Oh, and tonight, I went over to ComedySportz for the staged reading of "A Midsummer's Night Dream." I brought my own text to read-along. I was a geek. It was great fun. Jack McBrayer as Puck? Too great. So, thanks to the people over there for setting that up AND offering it up for free AND for having such great snacks AND just being swell. THANKS!
"The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact."
--A Midsummer Night's Dream, V:1
