I really don't want every entry to be about improv since I'm fairly certain that's it's about as interesting a topic to most of my friends as me writing about the roster of the Muir Island X-Men.
But this weekend has been crazy and, after what inspired the previous blog, relieving. Friday night I attended a practice session at Katey's place, coached by Nate Smith of UCB team T.R.U.C.K.S. There were five of us present and we all got equal amounts of extensive scene time. It was crazy informative and I left feeling super refreshed, a feeling that was completely put to the test during UCB's Jammin' With Ralph at midnight.
Jammin' With Ralph is a free 'improv jam' where anyone who wishes to perform puts their name in a bucket. Teams are then formed by drawing the names from the bucket and each group gets to perform for ten minutes. The jam is hosted by Fwand, which is the team my teacher (Shannon O'Neill) is on.
The jam was a lot of fun but completely bonkers since pretty much every rule flies out the window; scenes were about 30 seconds long, tag outs were happening left and right, arguments arguments arguments (!!!), and a performer who drank four beers and smelt like pot during Death By Roo Roo's show an hour earlier. He couldn't form a sentence.
I attended Rob Riggle's (The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live) two-day workshop on Saturday and Sunday morning, and it was really one of the most rewarding experiences in my improv career (yes, all six months of it). Rob was great at helping us get comfortable in scenes, find the game of scenes, listen, all that essential stuff. I had my absolute best 301 class that night, maybe because things are starting to come naturally now that I'm doing this more often. I performed two Harolds just because the class had an odd number and I didn't make it to my chair quick enough. Still, I thought both games I did were great and heightened well.
I also learned more about Rob's career history, the audition process for SNL being one of the more interesting tidbits. I'm glad I'm doing all this, I'm glad I'm finally getting better again after a brief period of nasty, and I hope to be more immersed in this in more aspects of my life by the end of the year.
The jam was a lot of fun but completely bonkers since pretty much every rule flies out the window; scenes were about 30 seconds long, tag outs were happening left and right, arguments arguments arguments (!!!), and a performer who drank four beers and smelt like pot during Death By Roo Roo's show an hour earlier. He couldn't form a sentence.
I attended Rob Riggle's (The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live) two-day workshop on Saturday and Sunday morning, and it was really one of the most rewarding experiences in my improv career (yes, all six months of it). Rob was great at helping us get comfortable in scenes, find the game of scenes, listen, all that essential stuff. I had my absolute best 301 class that night, maybe because things are starting to come naturally now that I'm doing this more often. I performed two Harolds just because the class had an odd number and I didn't make it to my chair quick enough. Still, I thought both games I did were great and heightened well.I also learned more about Rob's career history, the audition process for SNL being one of the more interesting tidbits. I'm glad I'm doing all this, I'm glad I'm finally getting better again after a brief period of nasty, and I hope to be more immersed in this in more aspects of my life by the end of the year.
I also had three good friends come up and visit me this weekend. It's been almost five months since I've seen Nicole, Renee or Rick, but goshdarnit if it never feels like it. Maybe it's because I keep so busy up here or talk to everyone from home so much, but time goes by so quickly and it never feels like it's been more than a week. I guess that's a sign of great friendships, when you can just keep going despite being on opposite sides of the country (up and down, not left and right). We got to hear insane train banter (including the possible dissolution of a relationship between a wannabe heiress and the world's most annoying/drunk underage rugby player), mosey around Central Park, and sleep in a hotel that had the best ice bucket I've ever ate. Good times.
So I guess things are fine. I have enough positive stuff in my life to keep going, despite how incredibly disappointed and saddened I am at other things. But things work out for the best, apparently, and there's no use being upset about things I can't change, like my grocer's lack of fulfilling personal pizzas.
So I guess things are fine. I have enough positive stuff in my life to keep going, despite how incredibly disappointed and saddened I am at other things. But things work out for the best, apparently, and there's no use being upset about things I can't change, like my grocer's lack of fulfilling personal pizzas.
1 comment:
i tried all day to find a picture of that dude from the train (remember he said he was a rugby player for a semi-pro team or something). do you remember the name of the team he said? we need to work on this.
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