APPEARING LIVE ONE NIGHT ONLY

Mini Minstrels with Norm Conrad

new bebe

,

b

I'm in

I'm in.
Bigly Huge (Hugely Big) made it into the Del Close Marathon in New Yolk City. I ain't never been to no New York. i best be saving my paper. i hear everathings like ten times what it costs here in tha midwest.
superbly excited. upset i have to spend more money. but this will be very good for my visibility and resume as the DCM is one of the biggest improv events in the whole freakin' world.
and now, i sleep. tomorrow, more laundry.

b

Raciality and Today's Format idea

CD: Reality by David Bowie

So the racial thing that I referred to yesterday went like this: I was in my second city class (you know, the one with bozo [mr. super clever director class clown]) and a three person scene was happening. the actors were a white guy on the left, a black lady in the middle, and i don't even remember who was on the left. anyway, the lady in the middle had played in a couple scenes before and in each one she had played a stereotypical black female character. although done very well, it seems her range is not what her potential would indicate.
the "assignment" for the scene from carrot-top was to have three objects in your personal space picked before the scene starts (imaginary or mimed of course.) this helps to define your character and put you at ease as to who you are on stage in that particular scene. so the scene starts and they have their objects. dialogue occurs and the afro-am. lady makes reference to two of her objects, a crock pot and a fry daddy, all in another stereotypical black accent. she talks about how she just loves her fried foods, etc. etc.
so there's a lull in the scene and the white actor turns to her and says, "do you have any chitlins over there?"
the whole room takes a collective breath in and everything freezes. i crane my head around the room to see everyone's reactions. some of them are just normally countenanced but a few of them make "holy jeez" faces at each other. i know i was making a holy jeezer myself. i look back on stage to see what everyone's next move is. The actor, I think noticing his slip-up, says after a brief pause, "Because you're a southern cook and all." a gallant save.

My question is: Is this a racist joke?

And here are both sides of the issue as far as I can tell:
Yes, it's racist for him to assume that all black people would have chitlins on them and its inappropriate to make light of stereotypes in an improv scene for the sake of a laugh (which never came by the way.)

However, if she's going to come at you 'all black' isn't it part of the improviser's job to express what everyone is thinking be it subconscious or not? And, isn't he helping to define her character by continuing on the path that she began, i.e. a stereotypical southern black cook.

And how would things have been different had both of these actors been black? I don't know which side I choose. It's one of those situations that has me crossed. When social morays do battle with improv rules i get lost. I abstain and not for political reasons. I'm truly undecided and it bothers me that I can't say wholeheartedly that his comment was wrong. I just don't know.

AND
Today's Format Idea
brought to you by Target
When you're taking shots in the dark, think of us.
TARGET

So, I'm going back to Austin to get my corporation off the ground, you know the national touring outfit with old Jury buddies. Anyway, I'm going back and I had an empty night where nothing was going on. Hello, SHOW.
I know that I can't go back to Austin and do the same format I just did a month ago. The audience numbers would be scarce. You have to come at people with new and interesting things in your marketing otherwise they think they've already seen the show.
So, while cruising around Chicago throwing bags of laundry at random people, I brainstormed this beauty: I do a scene with every audience member. It's a solo show where the audience is also the cast. I'm trusting few people will show up for this Thursday show so I won't have trouble getting to everyone. I was just thinking about how most of the audience is going to be improvisers as is the case in a lot of Chicago shows as well. No one ever takes advantage of it, though. I WILL. I may even run outside and grab people from off the street and bring them on stage. I may just improv with all of Austin in one night. I just may.
Well, I'm psyched about it.

Hit the showers,
b

clever improv directors...

I can't stan 'em.

had my first second city class again today. i had to start over in the conservatory program after having dropped my first class for the whole china thing. so i had my first class today with a new teacher. i was actually bored almost the entire class. he did nothing. he would briefly give little advice or tips after a scene if he even said anything at all.
but worst of all, he's a clever director. in improv, there are times when there is a director; an off-stage coach-type person who speaks up every once in a while to give direction just like as if it was a rehearsal.
Some directors are very good at hinting at things. Like if a scene needs a big confession or a confrontation of some kind, the director might say, "Dave, the next thing you say is going to really affect Tom." Now that's a pretty vague direction, but the audience is expecting something big and important. The beauty is that as long as Tom gives a big reaction, what Dave said really was huge. Good directors can control the scene without injecting their own specific ideas. Instead of something open ended and inspiring where the improviser gets to create along with the director, a creative director will say something like, "Your hair is suddenly on fire" or, "Tell her about the albino penguin." Really annoying stuff like that.
My second city teacher would direct during scenes, although it was rare, because he was usually just letting things crash and burn. His directions were really interesting and not necessarily good for the scene. It was as if he was performing for the class; showing us how he would have done it had he been on stage. Aren't I funny? Here's a great idea for something to happen in this scene. Ooh, ooh...
The only positive effect it has on the class environment is that it breeds respect for the teacher which is essential. We all have to trust our teachers and that usually comes from being impressed with their skills. That's maybe what's missing from a lot of grade school and college classes. And it has been a problem for me out on the road in some instances where students haven't yet seen me perform. No one has a clue who this person teaching is. Why should they listen to someone who they don't know; someone they may consider has lees talent or knowledge than them. And maybe this is the problem I'm having with my new second city guy. Sure he's clever, but I need to know that he cares about the work that's being done in class and that he cares about our growth as students at the "greatest comedy theatre in the world" as they have dubbed themselves.
I'm not sure he gives a damn. And as a paying student, that pisses me off. I didn't pay $250 dollars to take a thirty minute break in the middle of a three hour class. I would prefer no break at all, but that's another gripe. we'll see how it all pans out. I'm stuck with him for the next 7 weeks. we shall see.

on a sidenote, i met with my new incubator teammates. they all seem really cool and i'm looking forward to proving with all of them. none of them give me the willies like a lot of the auditioners did. and from what i remember of their stuff in the audition, they all seem to have good, chill and take your time type styles which i dig.
i do have a gripe and as per usual it's about money. i have to pony up thirty dollars to become part of the improv cooperative that is "the playground." and even more annoying, i have to pay five dollars a rehearsal to our coach. not that i oppose having a coach and i trust in his skills because i know he's got them. i just get annoyed with the money systems in place in this town with improv. you can't perform anywhere without paying. and because the playground is a co-op theatre we're not going to get any proceeds from the door. the money we make on the shows should go to pay the coach. instead, the performers who are keeping the venue running are paying to do so. all over the world (it's epidemic) improvisers get taken advantage of. they volunteer in a sense to perform for other people who are making money off of them. i did it for years with 'we could be heroes' in austin. i received little more than a thanks for years of essentially building a theatre and becoming one of the main attractions in the weekly shows for someone who was reaping all the benefits. in most of the country people are volunteering to perform for these types of ventures. in chicago, they are paying fees to them.
this is not to say that the owners of the playground are seeing huge profits and quiting their day jobs because they aren't. the playground is not a successful project in that way. it is successful in several others. i'm just cheesed that they can't work it so that they're bringing in sizable audiences to cover these stupid fees. i went to an 8 o'clock show at the playground last saturday that featured two of their best known groups and the audience was a bustling fifteen people. The show was good. it was highly entertaining and i was impressed with the skill of the players. maybe it was the ten dollar admission charge that is scaring away folks. this is something i have repeatedly complained about. people think you have to charge $10 around here to make rent.
it scares me away because i'm poor and cheap, a deadly combination. if it scares me away there's a chance it scares others away considering my affinity/obsession with improv. i only went to the show because I got a 2 for 1 coupon earlier the same day at the audition. funny how that works. how many times have i payed them? how many times will i have payed them by the time it's all said and done. too many, frackers.

well, i have something else juicy to write about but i'm just too tired. a sort of racial joke happened in class today and everyone froze. it was wierd and warrants discussion. well not really discussion, more like one sided banter in the form of rambling monologues.
must be off to bed. i have to be at my laundry delivery job at 7:30 tomorrow so i can sit around in a van while somebody drives me around chicago playing bad pop music too loud.

sweet dreams are made of cheese,
b

Frankly, I'm shocked

CD: Cubs game on the radio

Well, it finally happened. I finally succeeded at an audition. Yesterday I went to try out for a Playground incubator team. The Playground is an improv co-op theatre that just got a new venue here in Chicago. They have a group of "member teams" and take on guest spots and rentals. They also create these incubator teams that are composed usually of beginning improvisers who want to get some stage time.
So, I did my audition yesterday and it totally bummed me out. I sucked it up pretty bad. It was a big group audition with about thirty people broken down into 3 groups and we each did our own little show of sorts. There wer ten of us in my group and we had ten minutes to do our "show." people would come out five or six at a time and just suck focus from important parts of scenes or talk over people. lots of screaming and stepping in front of other actors to block their view. It was really retarded if I may be so bold.
I would consider myself mostly a passive player so this environment is not conducive to making me look god or actually good, that was a typo. I just look sheepish. Really, I'm taking my time and trying to build things with other players. It sucked and I didn't adapt. But, I got the nod. I made it onto a team, so finally I will be playing on a stage in Chicago. I got a group email from our coach, Ryan Keissling about when our first meeting will be and I checked out the other people's email addresses. There were a couple of names I recognized from the auditions and they were people I liked. One in particular, a dude who's style I rather enjoyed was Duncan Teater. He seems like a pretty cool guy and I love his name. I'm going to push to the troupe that our name be simply "Duncan Teater." I love it.
I can't wait to get it on and prov with strangers who will become less strange. I anticipate a problem, though. I need to not battle for control. I need to let things happen and keep myself from sinking too much time into this thing. I'm going to want to run the PR and come up with huge ideas and cause myself a lot of work and stress. But I have to be aware that all of that energy should be going into my new national touring troupe idea who's conception is almost upon us.

and there it is,
b

a letter to my mom

mom,
i'm just writing to tell you that i drove by oprah's studio today. we had a laundry delivery across the street. it's very large and it gave me an idea for a blog post that i will get around to about how the 24 oprah network would be a smash success.
then i thought about where guests of the oprah winfrey show stay and then i thought about if one day i'm a guest and they dig up all my old blog posts about how much i hate her and there's a huge snafu. then i thought, what if i just deleated all the oprah posts or what if i meet her and she turns out to be a really nice person and i start to sweat about if she knows about the blog. so i have the internet shut down (by then, i'll have lots of power and money) so that she can't ever know about my blog. then i thought that all of what i just thought was stupid. she's obviously not a nice person.
then i thought about you and then how you would be TIVOing her show and how i should call you. then i thought about how i need to be able to pay the phone bill when it comes so i shouldn't call at 2pm.
then i thought about how when i do have all that power and money and i get to meet her, i'll call you and put her on the phone.

just some thoughts,
b

UNTITLED or TITLES ARE STUPID

I should be on stage right now. It's almost 9 o'clock on Friday and I should be performing somewhere. I feel out of place. de bebe and I looked around for a discount cinema here in Chicago but apparently, they've never heard of such a thing. Their idea of a discount is $8 for students (adult tickets are $9.50) We looked around at theatres but the prices were also far too high. $14 for an improv show? Where am I. The improv Mecca? Oh, yeah I am. I guess it's good and bad that improv is $14 a ticket. It means it's respected around here, but it also means that I have no where to go when I'm not performing.
If I'm not the entertainment I am lost.

I have an audition tomorrow for a Playground "incubator team." We'll see how it goes.

going to watch TV now,
b

I guess the real question is...

Did it last forever and did it truly stop your gob?

b

one of the most amazing sports experiences of my life

One time, when I was playing little league we were going up against the team that Mike Gula and Ryan France were on. Every year their dad's would coach and get all the good players, so their sons Mike and Ryan could win everything every year. So, I was playing catcher which I really enjoyed. Big hit to the outfield and Ryan France rounded third. I threw off the mask and caught a terrible throw from right field. I knew the only way to get Ryan out was to dive and tag him. It seemed like slo-motion and I can still picture it exactly in my mind. I tagged him out and it was the greatest feeling I'd ever had in my life. Some time later, I orgasmed and that all changed. Still a great feeling nonetheless. Ryan and Mike ended up playing for the University of Texas while I was going there and I would guess Ryan is playing in the farm system somewhere.

Well, tonight I think I eclipsed even that feeling and flirted with beating out some of the not-so-good orgasms I've ever had. I went to my first game at Wrigley Field, a place I had heard about all my life. It was a beautiful night and I was looking forward to rewarding myself for working my new, stupid laundry job. I stepped off the el (elevated train) and made my way toward the stadium. A man asked me if I needed tickets. I said yes and I haggled him down to $15 for a ticket he paid $14 for (or so it said on the ticket.) Unimportant, anyway, the seat was way in the upper deck, practically in Soldier Field.
When I walked into the front gate I saw an opening right in front of me with no usher. So, I went for it. I walked for a while down really close until I found a seat. I was sitting about 100 ft. from home plate.
The Cubs were already losing at this point, and I was thinking, "well, if they lose, that's alright. I've got a beautiful seat that I didn't pay for on a great night that I also didn't pay for. It was cool. People in front of me got into a fight about when to sit down. Guys were throwing peanuts and pouring Old Style. The ivy was a lush green and the place was completely sold out. Except for one seat in section 530 way in the Upper Deck which was probably empty because my po' butt wasn't in it.
So, the Cubs tied it up in the 7th after legendary Cub short stop Shawon Dunston sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." This kid named Dubois came in to pinch hit for his first Major League at-bat. He sac-flied and tied it up. Always good to see that. Ya like to see these kids succeed.
So, alright, a good game in addition to the weather and ambiance.
EXTRA INNINGS. Alright! Bonus innings for me and I don't even like to use exclamation points. Top of the tenth was a defensive struggle for the Cubs but they made it out by the skin of their fur and up they came for the bottom half. The first person to bat in the inning should have been Sammy Sosa but he's injured. So, I think, "There goes the hope of a sweet walk-off homer by Sosa to end my first game at Wrigley." Boom. Moises Alou hits one out. The place exploded. Ah, twas a thing of beauty. Even better than tagging out Ryan France in little league.
It'll be hard to match that anytime soon but I'm definitely hooked. If I wasn't working tomorrow during the day I would go see Maddux pitch. I'm sure I'll make it back soon.

Ah. Feeling so satisfied. I have to be at work tomorrow at 7:30, but that's okay...

b

Chicago Cubs : The Official Site

Retro-introspection

CD: No Music, speakers broke in China, need to buy new ones, too broke to eat properly.

it's time for some serious retro-introspection, people. i found a really old notebook that had some notes from a stupid english class they made me take in college. but it also had some really old improv notes i made while i was in san francisco at the bay area theatresports summer school. i think this was in 2001 if i remember correctly. maybe 2000, not important. it was in the past that's the point. i know it didn't happen in the future because i don't like to write when i'm in the future. i'm too busy saving things.

So, back then, i assumed the trip to san fran was going to give me all kinds of time for reflection and time to have thoughts to myself and all that. the only chance i had for this stuff was on the plane ride over. i started to write whatever came into my head or i guess out of my head. it turned out to be all about comedy and performing. i read it last night and found the whole thing quite enlightening but silly at times.
it looks like some of it was meant to be finished at a later date so it does seem incomplete at points. also, some of the stuff i said back then i don't really agree with now but for the sake of education and out of respect for the process of the maturation of the mind i give to you, without edit, IT:

_________________
Making class a more relaxed environment
Wanting others to be jealous of me (selfishness of this to be discussed later)
Enjoying the feeling of others thinking I was funny
- Do I enjoy making them feel happy for 2 seconds about what I have just said or done?
OR
- Do I enjoy their jealousy?

These are the main driving forces behind my ambition to be a performer at all times.

KEYS TO COMEDY:
There are surefire ways to be funny. Ironically, the experimental edge of comedy is usually not as widely accepted.
Keys to looking funny:



There are levels of evolution that a comedic soul goes through. Just like the evolution of musical tastes, , and food taste tastes, the comedic mind develops in stages. This evolution is influenced by what is working in your audience and what is working in your head. The two could possibly be one and the same. For the true comedian this evolution begins very soon after birth. Before the mind creates memories, it is still being conditioned. Future personality traits can be structured at this time just based on whether or not you get milk and companionship when you want it, or go lonely in the crib. Hypothetically the conditioning is easier for some in certain areas of life. Some babies may be more patient as a result of whatever. Others may be more needy and seek immediate gratification. The point is, the comedian's brain conditions in a way that they begin to figure out what works. Because laughter is a positive response, the act of positive reinforcement helps the mind to see what is funny to mommy and daddy. Every baby does seek approval. It's human nature to seek the knowledge that everything is right with your relationships. That's just how it goes. Different babies seek the approval through different channels.

When the audience takes an abrupt shift and becomes your peers, as it will be for several years, if not your whole life, the conditioning takes a huge step up. That is, it happens more rapidly. The mind has more data to compute about who's laughing at what, why they're laughing, etc.

As you go through school you learn more about the facets of comedy w/o being taught them. Sadly, there is no school for comedy. I barely made it through college because I was trying to figure out comedy off campus in theatres. (see chapter 9 about the tragedy of comedy education.)

The perceptive comedic minds continue to use conditioning throughout the schooling years to figure out what works. Hopefully, you become annoyed w/ people that are labeled "funny" because they can tell a joke. Being funny is not about using other people's material. The only thing that it's good for is education, and maybe parody. An original version of "Why did the chicken cross the road?" is much more satisfying than the obvious, "to get to the other side."

Good comedians can adjust their style to meet a standard (written in the margin vertically)

Telling a joke that you heard that has the classic set-up, misdirection, and punchline is no more original than copying someone else's essay for a class. So it should be treated the same way. An essay you like OR don't like should be used as an example of what you want to learn from.

THE MEDIUMS AND OUTLETS OF COMEDY
WATCHING BAD COMEDY
COMEDY COLLEGE
UNIMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE
IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE (all written vertically in the margin
___________________


So then, there's that.
Yeah, I found that interesting. I still agree with almost all of it. One big thing I disagree with now is the retelling of the chicken crossing the road. there is an evolutionary point when a joke or comment becomes funniest back in it's orignal form because the parody of the joke itself has become overdone. and when the parody has become overdone, the punchline is no longer funny because there is no misdirection. the new misdirection comes from saying the unexpected which is, "to get to the other side."

misdirection is the basis of all comedy. it's also what gets a lot of inexperienced improvisers in trouble. they get afraid to say obvious things because it yields no instant payoff. they feel they have to misdirect all the time. keep it wacky, keep people interested, keep the audience laughing and on their toes at all times. well, it doesn't work like that. all you do is confuse the audience and more importantly, you confuse your fellow players. it may pay-off with a laugh, but the consequences will be more than most people can handle. A silent house and a confused team of players who are afraid to improvise with Mr. Wackypants.

well, enough heady prov theory. my fingers are weary. i may go down to wrigley and see if i can wrangle up some cheap tickets for tonight's contest.

thinking a lot today,
b

amazing brainstorm of the day

CD: No Music, watching Cubs game

Here is today's Petco Amazing Brainstorm of the Day

Overdubbed Cubs game live in an improv theatre here in Chicago.
It all hit me about a half hour ago as I was watching the Cubs on TV. I kept coming up with funny little comments about the game, but no one was there to here them and laugh. I think it would work marvelously, expecially if the Cubs make the playoffs, and super especially if it was performed at Improv Olympic, THE hotbed of improv in Chicago which happens to be less than a block from Wrigley Field.

Last year, I.O. had to cancel shows during the playoffs. Probably due to the fact that they had no audiences. The low audience numbers were because too many improv fans wanted to see the Cubs in the playoffs, an extreme rarity. Here is the perfect solution. They can still see the game and they can still enjoy the art of improv, all at once.

The specifics go like this:
A video projector projects the game with no audio onto a huge screen which is on stage. There are two commentators, who are skilled at improv and have a good understanding of baseball, actually it might be funnier if one of them had no idea how baseball was played, but anyway. They comment on the game just as normal TV announcers, except they say funny stuff. AND, in order to keep things from getting boring, they are listening to the actual comments of the real life broadcasters through headphones. So they can drop in little facts and interesting tid bits just like a real announcer would.

Then, for the commercial breaks, the projection is turned off and a group of improvisers prov. So, the audience gets the best of both worlds and what they are improvising can either be somehow related to the game, although I'm not really sure how, or an ongoing series of two minute scenes that piece together a story. They can get all their suggestions before the national anthem is sung and really have nothing to do while the game is on but sit back and watch.

There can also be guest commentators, either people impersonating celebrities, or local improv celebrities, which there seem to be oodles of. The scene is very quick to label the next guru and just adores the hell out of them until they move to LA. That's a tangent. Anyway, there would be a celebrity just as there is on TV and everyone would sing 'take me out to the ballgame' with them during the 7th inning stretch.

And you can also have beer and peanut vendors wandering around the audience to authenticate the deal. And you can have angry bald guys with short goeatees throwing up on your back just like at Wrigley. And... and... and it would be awesome.

I know plenty of people who would love to see this. Most of them are in Austin but I'm sure a lot of locals could be convinced, too.

We'll call it CUBPROV or maybe IMP CUBs. The name isn't important. Just as long as it's not the last two I just listed.

I think this could work, and thanks to the lovely new blogger, you can leave your comments here, too. Do you think it would work?

If you don't please don't write anything negative in my comments section. I have a reputation in the Chicago improv community to uphold.
HA

back to the game,
b

conglomerate me

no music: de bebe sleeping

soon, i will be a one-man multinational improv conglomerate, capable of crushing ne'erdowells with the swipe of a pen and unloading fortunes upon those who do me well.

prepare for me, world.

my power will be immeasurable as i stomp other seeming improv superpowers with my awesome deft at performance and workshops.

soon, i will be wealthy beyond any man's wildest fantasies.
soon, i will be the most powerful improviser in the world.
soon, i will own approximately half the planet.
but tomorrow, i start my new part time job as a laundry delivery man.
and tomorrow, i eat rice.
with a side of rice.

poor as balls and pleased as punch,
b

ridin wit de bebe

ridin on the train downtown with de bebe earlier when i remembered the last couple groups i had seen that used too much setup for their improv.
too much setup...
is annoying
is unnecessary
is time consuming
sucks energy at the top of a show
can be condescending
is sometimes repetitive
is unnecessary

just had that thought. every once in a while i think of ways improv can be better, but usually i just notice things that make it less good.

send money,
b

nothing new here. just go about your normal daily activities and no one will get hurt.

b

oprah will haunt me until i die

chillin' in austin a bit. had so much fun that i was exhausted every day hanging out ewith friends and family. de bebe had the lovely idea of staying an extra day with my folks and not telling anyone. sorry guys, i'm just so tired i need a day to relax and not stay out until 3am.
so anyway, i had some time in between my PITS workshop and my mother's day dinner the other day so i went to best buy. i had been at tower records earlier in the same day and saw what my friend and i call several ill advised purchases i could make. an ill-advised purchase is when we spend money that we need for food or rent on music because we can't help ourselves. i try to avoid music stores when money is tight because i will walk out with something and feel guilty for it.
yet another tangent...
sorry. so, i'm at best buy which is turning into cross-over marketing hell with "best buy" radio playing in the air offering a discount on the music their playing. music that a record company has payed them off to put on their "radio network." sickening yet clever. more crossover hit me when i went to pay for goods and they asked me if i wanted a free six month subscription to entertainment weekly. i said no and felt annoyed. but the worst of all of the cross over schemes that made me sigh and laugh to myself was in the books section. the books best buy sells are broken down into the normal sections; sci-fi, romance, comedy, etc. but the one that made my blood curdle was the "as seen on oprah" section. what a scary world we live in where oprah is determining what the country's lost and bored women are reading.
the more this culture gets guided by a smaller number of entities, the more lost we are going to be as a people. and the more vulnerable we are to eventually being led around by one guy. huge corporations that control several media outlets are the most dangerous contagens in our society. maybe even more dangerous than terrorism is the concept that we ourselves consume so much of what is common, that we eventually are left with no choices. our only option will be clear channel approved music, sony approved electronics, and oprah approved books.
can we please not let oprah choose what we're reading? or rather what oprah inc.'s executives are getting paid to tell her to endorse.

there's got to be some way to keep things diverse.

please check back soon for china stories, notes from the PITS workshop, and realizations i had during my austin homecoming show.

we hit the road tomorrow. talk to you later.

b

chiner photos

here is the bulk of chiner photos we took in chiner...

Beijing 2004 - Ny Hao

getting pumped about the austin show. i venture off to edit Tek Ooo Sus, our documentary about chiner. can't wait to see how it turns out.

le b

a break from china proceedings to interject theatre musings

i will break from telling stories of china to talk about the show i went to see last night.

it was the opening night of CIF ((Chicago Improv Festival) the biggest improv festival in the US) and i was looking forward to checking things out this year. gotta stay on top of what everyone's doing so i can do things that are completely different. it's the first CIF in a while that i am not performing in and unfortunately i'll be leaving town for most of it.
so, i went to the opening night show and before i go any further i should note that i only went because i was offered discount tickets. normally, the mainstage performances are $25 which is way too expensive for me. even if i could afford it, i still wouldn't. it must be hard to justify why those tickets are so expensive when people ask.
went with de bebe for $10 a person, pretty much the max that i'll spend on any show. the bill for the evening was chicago comedysportz, annoyance, and boom chicago from amsterdam.
these are three groups who i especially need to pay attention to. i like to see comedysportz every once in a while to remind me of why i don't do it. the show began at 8:05 and their set-up ran for 15 minutes (half their scheduled set). 15 minutes of explaining improv to an audience of people who know what it is and all about the stupid bag and the groaning foul. then they played games for 20 or so minutes. nothing new in style or function. the same wandering around that any CZ show offers.

well, enough of that unprovoked hostility.
and on to this unprovoked hostility.

annoyance came next. annoyance is an institution; a school of thought unto themselves; radicals who didn't give a lick about anything. their style is brash, unapologetic, and typically tighter than last night's show. last night they seemed "off."
one of the concepts behind their improv is the idea of taking care of #1. they are taught to continue with their original idea in a scene rather than morphing to fit the other player's ideas. this is a dangerous technique. it means that sometimes the characters get into bickering matches and the characters become combative and compete for the audience's gaze. occasionally it will pay off with an excellent joke that comments on the absurdity of the situation, i.e. the gardener who points out that he must be crazy tending to a garden in an airplane cockpit. while this generally obtains a laugh, it does nothing to increase the trust between players and progress the scene narratively. they trade instant laughs for prolonged scenety which leads to better characters and better stories. it's all about the now. that's dangerous and when the players are a bit off it makes for a flat show. when the players are on and everyone is up to their par with being clever and funny, i've heard the shows are amazing. i've only seen them twice and unfortunately they've both been off nights.
this concept of self-importance also leads to improvisers being stand-outs. they compete with each other for stage time and laughs. usually, when a new scene started there were too many people on stage, ready to do battle and prove that their idea is the best, instead of connecting and building something together. there was one scene that wasn't really getting off the ground, due to the fact that the two characters were in completely incongruent environments and unwilling to bend. so another actor came in to end their scene and begin another. but one of the characters stayed and still clung to his idea. another actor had to physically remove him from the scene but by that point he had already destroyed the energy for the next scene. and all because his idea was the best...
another qualm i have with their shows is that they are typically blue. i think this comes from a sheets to the wind attitude toward censoring the improv, a complete 180 from comedysportz which prides itself on being squeeky, family clean. last night, the shades of blue were not present. it was refreshing considering the last show i saw which was rife with cheap jokes and dick humor turned me off immensely. i hope they're changing their tune a bit and have grown out of / become bored with saying the word ass 43 times a show. overall, the show was what i expected. promising characters from promising, experienced improvisers who are misguided by shotty theory.

and lastly, boom chicago.
a little history: boom chicago is composed of mostly american comedy actors similar to second city caliber who live and work in amsterdam at their resident theatre. as far as i know they run the same structure as 2nd city. they have a sketch show running several times a week and follow it up with improv sets. very professional, very well rehearsed, a good gig to have.
their show last night left very little to be desired. the show ran at breakneck speed and was the best use of multimedia i have ever seen with out being all, "look we're using cool video stuff." their sketch was great, not too political, not too scatalogical and chock full of gutlaughs. the material was matched in quality by the actors who brought a lot of their own style to the characters and improvised very well. all in all, an excellent show and definitely worth the $20 i spent. i'd go see them again tonight if i was a millionaire or didn't have to eat tomorrow.

i feel adequately abreast of what is happening with these three groups and i'm glad i went. gotta stay on top of things.

now i'm going back to making chinese mix cds,
b