Where I've Been

Yeah...don't know what I'm doing writing wise anymore. Here at least. I feel guilty about not updating this, especially since my main reason for having a blog is to keep track of my own life. I usually fear that I will forget everything. Yep! This has been a pretty stellar week, oddly enough. I started my new job as a page at The Late Show, and all the fears I had were pretty immediately silenced once I got there. It's fun, a fun job. And I'm back at Late Show in some capacity. And I got to see Rainn Wilson on my birthday, so that was awesome.

Tuesday I got to go to Six Flags with some great friends. I liked this. The day got 5.5 flags, the rain that came in knocking off the half a flag. We met costumed critters!
We also spent the weekend before at Matt Mayer's pool house, or Fort Mayer as I called it. I was reminded all weekend long how much fun my friends are, and how much I love spending an unstoppable amount of time with them. I didn't shower all weekend and slept on a hardwood floor one night, and it was still so awesome due to company. Here are eight of the minutes from the epic Fourth of July weekend.


I also got asked to submit to be a Maude writer (a.k.a a sketch writer) for UCB by the artistic director on Thursday morning. That was unexpected and completely mind-blowing, a big ol' pat on my back that I didn't really need (I had such a great time in 201 and I was already feeling good about myself) but it undoubtably heightened my outlook and mood and perception from feeling really good to feeling really great. Even if I don't get it, it's so flattering to have been suggested and gotten the opportunity. A world of wow.

So many good things are happening to me and my friends right now. Is 2009 turning around? Did I jinx it by writing this?

Go Sketch

Okay, so, at some point I'm actually going to start writing things of interest here. As of now, though, I'm just going to keep you updated on my day to day wanderings.

Last night I saw six sketch shows at UCB. The first was Get Psyched followed by Roll Call, which features four good friends of mine who I've had the pleasure of performing with and hanging out with over the last two years. It was awesome to see them create something so fun to watch. Talent! The same can be said for Maude Night, which I have missed seeing for the last, I dunno, twelve times. I wish I had been going all along. The feeling I got last night while watching it, it was pretty intense. I enjoyed all the teams and I now have some sorta drive/urge to really put more work in my sketch writing.

Hopefully that starts, in earnest, today.

If I didn't have such a strong group of friends and so much creative work to do to keep me busy, I'd probably be losing my mind.

Ballad Of a No Callback Kid

The most tumultuous season for the indie improv community started on Friday and is expected to end sometime midday on Wednesday. Harold auditions. Auditions that determine which of us get to perform on official house teams at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

I have a lot of thoughts on this process, some of which I'll try to clumsily convey here. I failed spectacularly last year. I went in not caring, did one bad scene and one mediocre scene and then left, more upset than I should have been. I didn't know how badly I wanted it until I didn't get a callback and felt that I'd ruined my chance by not caring. I decided to take a different attitude this year, opting instead to not even worry about a callback (and definitely not making a team), instead focusing on simply having fun. For some reason, fun has not really been part of my improv for most of a year. I've been nervous, afraid that I'll get found out, that I'm not really that good at all. All the natural instincts and desires I've had when doing scenes have been stomped out, leaving me uncertain of my own ideas. I've lately figured out how to stop this, and in the last week I've just been having fun again. So my audition went well.

I did two scenes in the audition, one with Rob who I've been friends with for a while and seen perform numerous times. The other one was with Bryce, who I've been on a team with for a year. So both scenes were fun, had game, and didn't really fall trap to any of the big improv no-nos. I succeeded in having fun. That was the main goal. I did not get a callback, which is actually what I was expecting. For some reason I feel that my path to "success" is not as easy as getting on a team my first audition or even just getting a callback on my second. I think that after last year's failure on all accounts, the next step this year was to have fun. Done. Next year, maybe I can worry about a callback.

I hate this entire turn of events because it makes a lot of my friends (and myself) upset in varying ways. Seeing my extremely talented compatriots kicking themselves over two botches scenes in an extremely artificial and stressful setting isn't cool. If anything, these auditions have made me love our community more and the opportunities that we've given ourselves over the past two years. There are now more teams doing more shows, thus allowing all of us to get more stage time than I think any past generation has had. We've all gotten so great so fast because of our friendships and support. Making it on a team at UCB is validation and a great goal to have, but not getting a callback isn't the end of that. Every one of us has so many other things going on, none of which are as glamorous or, really, as important as a Harold team, but these things are valuable learning tools that help strengthen our community. Shows like the Kaleidoscope are vital to our community. Also having a ton of indie teams either having hit or approaching their 2 year anniversaries is a great accomplishment. The fact that we've all stuck together so long has added a sense of permanence and validation to the indie community. Indie teams are no longer what we improvisers do to kill time before we get on a Harold team, they're viable in their own right. We're awesome. And so is UCB.

I wouldn't have a social setting up here without UCB. The opportunities that theatre gives to students that are serious about improv are pretty amazing. Yes UCB has grown exponentially and it is difficult to get on teams there, but it makes actually accomplishing anything feel that much more rewarding. UCB doesn't just hand out success, they make you work for it in an environment that is conducive to learning, trying, failing and succeeding. On top of that are all the amazing friends I now have, who I'm proud to see on Harold teams and, as of Wednesday will be proud to see on even more Harold teams.

What it all really comes down to is that improv is fun. And even if I never get on a team, I'm proud that I'll always be able to get covered in improv jizz and get rufied while driving a car on various stages across NYC.*

Thanks guys, let's keep it up.

*Both of these happened last night, thanks to Daddy. Thanks Daddy!

Quick and early thoughts!

Okay, 2009, I'm going to worry more about quantity and not quality with this here thing. I have realized that no one reads this thing for it's biting social commentary since, well, there's none of that here. There's nothing here. So instead, here's a scattershot post about some things going on right now done at 7:26 AM, about four minutes before I need to leave for work.

Bad Data might be on Animal Planet.

Insurance probably IS NOT going to cover my wreck.

The eBay buyer who bought my Iron Man poster hasn't paid me yet and it's been a week.

Abra debuted on Harold Night. So awesome!

"Real World" looks great so far and is very entertaining, in the kinda boring way that the first couple seasons were.

I need to start buying "B.P.R.D." comics.

I'm in a new improv duo with Ethan Kaye called Ultimate Alliance.

2009 has been emotionally draining, moreso than most of 2008. Okay, exaggeration.

There's a blog in my brain about Tommy Wiseau, and it'll come soon.

Notorious

I'm trying. Lordy, I'm trying. If any reader cares about the current state of me and not comics (reviews of which will be up sometime, I've hit my first snag), here's a blog to appease you.

I'll get the blog-atross (a big blog issue, a blog albatross....does that make sense?) out of the way. My job is forcing me to figure out what is wrong with my own mental health in a way. Not in a scary "Buffy in that bad season six episode" way, just the way that makes me reexamine my own outlook on life. The main issue, it seems, is that I find it fundamentally hard to relate to/with people at times. I don't know if this stems from my severely awkward elementary days or has a much deeper root, but it's becoming a problem. Basically, I find it physically impossible for my mouth to mutter words that can be construed as small talk. I do not ask how people's weekends are. I do not say hi. I do not say goodbye. In general, I find a conversation that I have to think about the hardest thing to do (no wonder I do improv comedy). For real, if I once plan out any sentence to say to someone upon seeing them, that sentence then becomes the hardest sentence IN THE WORLD. The most recent example being last night when I called Susie to ask if she received and enjoyed her mix CD. I called and did not ask. I waited for her to bring it up. There you go, I can't do it.

Saying goodbye is another problem. I actually fancy myself to be a notorious no-goodbye-sayer, people regaling themselves with tales of my slippery escapes from numerous parties. Truth being, I like slipping away. I like avoiding the fuss, even if such fuss is just saying "goodbye" and other people saying "goodbye." I mean, this makes sense in party-type situations since saying goodbyes can very well take up a half hour. Why this applies to me at work, I don't know. But I do it.

I also have a hatred for small talk which is an old holdover from my teenage years. I'd be surprised if my parents could name a time that they got more out of me than "nothing" or "I had fun" or "something" in response to a simple question. This is still true, sadly. I'd rather talk about a crazy scheme, a theory on Lost, X-Men, why 80s music sucks, how much I hate my hair, anything other than what I did that weekend or what I plan to do tonight. I actually found it nearly physically impossible to say that my comedy stuff is going well at work the other day. The fact that I called it "comedy stuff" is pretty bad in and of itself.

I don't know how to fix these things. Or I mean, I know how to fix these things but every fiber of my being screams to not. Okay, I'll try...or something...but don't expect me to start saying goodbyes at parties. I don't know if I've gotten that rep in New York yet, and it's one I want!

I've gotten back into the habit of watching Late Show every night, which is both great and as...well, you know...as one would expect. On top of that I'm trying to watch the HBO movie Late Shift about the whole Carson/Leno/Letterman debacle of the early 90s (trying being the operative word; Leno looks like the son of Cher in Mask). The primary thought in my head is that all of this is going to happen again next year. NEXT YEAR. Somehow this came up so quickly. My goal, my goal that I decided upon when moving here, was to position myself in such a way to be able to swoop in and get a job at whatever shows are left in the wake of the Leno/Conan/Letterman switcheroo fiasco that's coming up. Now I've been at my job for over a year and I don't know how close I am. My resume didn't get me hired at Late Show last fall (among many other things, number one being that I'm nothing but a giggling optimistic and immature mess when I walk into that building...I am self-loathing) so I don't know...eh, I don't know. The more I watch late night TV and the more work I do in comedy, the more certain I am that that is where I want to be. That's my calling. And I can't figure out a way to get there.

UCB is going well, even though I'm not interning anymore. Bad Data had an awesome show and some even awesomer practices, so we're all pretty happy with that. Hey! We may even be getting sued! Go to www.baddata.net and check out the latest news, you know, after you watch that totes sweet flash intro. I auditioned to be an actor on a UCB official sketch team (a Maude team). It involved me doing 3 minutes of whatever-the-heck I please. That turned out to be three characters, including Fred Schneider. I pretty much just did this bit, and it got a much bigger laugh that I ever expected. I left the audition quite proud, especially since I didn't even plan on auditioning until the weekend before the submissions were due.

My New Year's resolutions and projects are going well. I've managed to do something non-improv related every weekend (including a smashing Lost party) and I've written five pages a week. So far I've written 12 pages of a 30 Rock spec script and, yes, another 10 or so more pages in my X4 script. So....any writing is good writing. The mix CD club I started up is up and running, and a lot of fun. And my Features book is, well, it's going along as quickly as I thought it would. No rush there, though, just glad I got the questionnaires out.

Okay, so that's it. I'm okay. I'm not close to having a four month stretch of time better than Fall 2006, which is another New Year's goal, but it's only January. Don't expect to get a personal blog again for a while. It's all comic books from now on.

Better Than 07 08

Back home, we greet every new year by christening it with a slogan. There was "Big Whore Oh Four" (retroactively added), "F*** It Oh Five" (the first and greatest), "Oh S*** Oh Six," and "My Heavens 0h Seven" or "Whatev Oh Sev" (I'm not sure of this one since I, sadly, spent most of Oh Sev in New York). Apparently this year is "Fornicate Oh Eight" which seems to be a respectable entry in the long line, although I brought up the idea of "Better Than Oh Seven Oh Eight" after April and I discussed that the slogan need not rhyme. I miss this tradition!

I rang in 2008 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, which was both where I wanted to be and the cheapest place to be (money spent on New Year's Eve: $0). It was nice to be with friends old and new, all of whom were dressed better than they normally are (because that's what friendship is all about, having to enjoy looking at them). Here are pictures in case you haven't seen them all over everywhere place on MySpace and Facebook. Photos by me, Jennifer and Ari Scott.

Laurel & Jennifer in front of the backwall of the stage/dance floor. It was amazingly tagged with graffiti by Reuben Williams member Eugene Cordero.

Dave's looking at 2008 like it's a pathetic little dog.

This is our Easter card.

Yes, they had a karaoke lounge set up in the Chill Out Room. And yes, they did have my karaoke favorite, "All Day and All of the Night" by the Kinks. And no, I did not do it.

The back hallway was the place to be if you were tired of dancing to Kanye West and Sean Paul.

The first song I heard in 2008 was when the DJ played "Stronger" by Kanye West, which kinda irritated me. Yeah, it meant a lot to a lot of people in 2007 but to everyone else, they just don't get it and are sick of it. And by everyone else, I mean me. This is usually my biggest problem with UCB dance parties; I like rap music but I get so sick of dancing to only rap music. The same is true for a lot of Murfreesboro dance parties; I like Gang of Four but I get so sick of only dancing to post punk music. April and Nicole get shout outs for doing exactly what I would do and exactly what I love for DJs to do. I like a mix. I want to hear "Lip Gloss" followed by an Of Montreal disco jam, followed by "No Diggity" and then a one-two punch of The Hives and a 60s girl group hit. I think if I was having house parties with as much regularity as the ones in Murfreesboro where I could contribute to the song choices, I'd be more fulfilled at UCB parties. But this is saying nothing to knock the party, really, since I'm a very enthusiastic participant in dancing. I had a total stranger tap me on the shoulder and ask my name before telling me that he loved my style when I was dancing to T.I.'s "What You Know." And he was black so you know he knew what he was talking about!!!!!111

So here's 2008. My own personal goal (you know, for my own mental health) is to actively try to fix my problems so I can stop calling my internship at Late Show "the best four months of my life." I need something better and now that there is a whole year between me and 12-21-06, I have to move onward and definitely upward. My actual New Year's resolution should help me accomplish this. And now, readers, I introduce you to...

The 260 Page Initiative

Following in the footsteps of my almost completed 100 Film Initiative of 2007, I now am going to write 5 pages a week for 52 weeks. My biggest obstacle that I can think of, professionally, is that I'm a self-proclaimed writer who doesn't actually write unless he's in a sketch class. I will fix this this year. I'm planning on actually writing out the sketches I've been jotting down in my lil notepad, writing a 30 Rock spec script, finishing my two year old screenplay, and probably doing a lot of work on the X-Kids comic book and my X-Men screenplay. Writing something is better than watching Real World. I imagine this is going to be a hard one to do, as it is already Thursday and I have written nothing for my 12:00 AM Monday deadline.

Getting in the way of the 260 Page Initiative is this ol' blog. I plan on updating it a lot more in 2008 and I have about a gajillion blogs waiting to be written. Should get on those...

So, with all that said, I hope 2008 is better than 2007.

Strike

My lack of confidence and belief in my own limited intelligence/vocabulary prevents me from giving a fully articulated post about what is going on right now. My job is not greatly affected by the strike and it's still business as usual. Still, being part of the improv community and a former Late Show intern, I know a great deal of people that are being affected by this and, being a middle-class white guy with black frame glasses, I fully hope to one day be in the WGA. I hope to make a living writing something that I'm proud of and I hope to be able to live off residuals when my employer figures out I'm just recycling material from Late World with Zach. It moves/touches/makes me have the feel goods when I see such a united front against what amounts to a circa Civil War-esque Tony Stark/S.H.I.E.L.D. organization (did you think I'd make it without a comic reference?).

Here are some strike-related links.

Late Show Writers On Strike
Deadline Hollywood Daily
Mike Still's writer's strike thoughts
Chris Gethard's writer's strike thoughts
The Office writers on strike video
Entertainment Weekly article
The super long but super informative WGA strike thread on the Improv Resource Center

My picture came from UCB NY alum and current UCB LA performer Eric Appel's flickr collection, viewable here. This is probably one of the best things to look at since it puts a real face on the strike. You won't recognize 90% of the people in these photos (although the pic of Jess Jackson with Tom Arnold is near pricless, as is the rest of Day 5) which completely destroys the argument that the writers are all a bunch of millionaires wanting to attach two-story arcades to their mansions.

I'm fine with this surprisingly strong TV season being cut short. Actually, in a season that has seen Desperate Housewives make a comeback, 30 Rock's handful of episodes destroy last season, and freshman breaths of fresh air Reaper and Chuck, it should be more apparent than ever that writers are absolutely essential to television. Today, the networks announced the trash that will be taking over the airwaves come 2008. Get a load of this, from today's Cynopsis:

Duel (ABC) "In this gamer, players have to bluff well to win."
Million Dollar Password (CBS) with Regis Philbin
Do You Trust Me (CBS) with Tucker Carlson
American Gladiator (NBC) with Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali

Amnesia (NBC) with Dennis Miller

The Moment of Truth (Fox)

And don't forget returning favorites Supernanny, Wife Swap, Big Brother, Survivor, The Amazing Race, 1 vs. 100, Deal Or No Deal, American Idol, Hell's Kitchen, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, Don't Forget The Lyrics!, America's Next Top Model, Beauty & the Geek, and last and least...Pussycat Dolls.

And I'm not watching any of it. Matter of fact, once new episodes run out, I will not be watching any television or downloading/viewing anything online. It's all I can do to support the strike, I think, and I'll do it.

Apples & Emmys

The Apples in Stereo love playing New York City, so much so that seeing them live has become commonplace where only a year ago I considered seeing them a miracle. Four times in just under a year, pretty rad. This concert was different from the first three; it took me to Williamsburg which, as far as I can tell, is a ghetto crack den that just happens to sell insanely upscale furniture and super expensive clothing-to-look-homeless-in (American Apparel). I was not charmed by the dead end street filled with hollowed out buildings the Music Hall was on, nor was I charmed by the delay in letting people in. I wandered around that street for two hours.

The opening bands, Old Soul and Aqueduct, were okay. I didn't mind Old Soul and found them to be fun to watch, same with Aqueduct except I was shocked at how many people were there to see them and not Apples. Aqueduct's frontman was very charming and funny, but I got tired of the music as the set wore on. I wanted Apples. Mmmm...

John Dufilho, the drummer, went onstage first and waved at me. And I'm sure it was me since, after Aqueduct, the auditorium mostly cleared out to get more drinks. Also, bassist Eric Allen said "Hey man, how's it going?" to which I responded "It's going great!" because I am a spaz-a-mataz. So I guess being The Guy Freaking Out In The Front Row at three Apples concerts in New York City over the last year has gotten me some sort of recognition. Robert Schneider, lead Apple who I've now met twice, came out and the guy next to me struck up a conversation with him. Robert introduced himself to the guy, looked at me, and said, "What's your name?" "Brett." "Yeah, have we met before? I know you." "Yeah, I let your wife in at the Bowery." "Oh yeah! Thanks, man!" Robert then noticed that someone had left a small black plastic bag with two Marbles (Robert's solo project) CDs in it on stage. Robert gave me and the guy the CDs. Because he's the best.

The show was awesome, of course. My usual show-favorites were all there ("Go," "Rainbow," "What's The #?," "Ruby") and the band ran through their normal set of songs. They played "Beautiful Machine" from the new album for the third time ever, which Robert dedicated to his wife who was present (and sold me the Apples t-shirt I am wearing right now). Robert also pointed out that exactly 30 years ago from last night, he entered the US from South Africa and became a permanent resident. Cool moment. For the encore, Robert came out and did "The Afternoon," the first time I've ever heard it live, and the band came out to rip through "Tidal Wave," during which Robert pointed at me while singing. I was furiously jumping up and down, grin on my face, shouting the lyrics. I got a handshake from my favorite songwriter ever and they left the stage.

Setlist (not in order)
Go
The Rainbow
The Afternoon
Tidal Wave
Strawberryfire
Ruby
Can You Feel It?
Skyway
Energy
Same Old Drag
Play Tough
Sun Is Out
7 Stars
Open Eyes
Beautiful Machine
What's The #?
Please
Do You Understand?

***

The Emmys were last night and I ended up enjoying them...mainly because I was fast forwarding through 80% of it this morning at 1:45 AM. I was overjoyed to see Terry O'Quinn win for his work on Lost. Rainn Wilson's bit with Kanye West was funny and another fave moment, but that might have just been because of the Rainn Wilson involvement. The real highlights of the night came from seeing UCB people on TV. Peter Gwinn, my teacher from my Del Close Marathon workshop, got to slap Stephen Colbert during their nominee video. 30 Rock, the best comedy of the year in truth and Emmy Land, won and I spotted both Jack McBrayer and Donald Glover, two performers I see often at UCB. I've felt a special kinship with 30 Rock since it debuted alongside my own move to New York and the start of my career in television. This kinship has grown now that I see people I've been taught by and see perform on there on a weekly basis. This win was special...right inside my heart pump. I can only hope that this and the Seinfeld cameo boost the ratings to a healthy level so the show doesn't become the new Arrested Development.

Yay television!

So hungry!

If this blog was a child, it would have quietly passed away from malnourishment a couple days ago, slumped in my closet, the dying cries being drowned out by "Grip Like A Vice" by The Go! Team and the evangelical ramblings of those crazy kids in Jesus Camp.

Here's what I've been up to. The first sentence informs you of what the rest of the paragraph is about, so skip the ones you don't care about.

1. I acquired a roommate at the start of this month, her musings can be read here (along with pictures of our apartment, documentation I have not been able to produce ever since I was robbed). Living with someone has both ups and downs. I can no longer walk around the apartment in my underwear, marveling at my stunning physique in the giant mirror doors in my foyer. My ego may start to suffer from the lack of self-ogling. On the plus side, I've actually had meals and someone to watch movies with, so it's a winning situation. And who knows, she may eventually warm to the idea of me flexing my nearly nude self. Um, a lot of that was a joke.

2. My improv group that has been practicing since May finally has a name and a debut date. We are Bad Data (myspace link) after oh-so-much deliberation and our first show will be at Under St. Mark's on September 1st, with Sherpa. I feel a lot more confident about myself when I'm with these guys (or gals, actually, me and Mitch are far outnumbered) and I think we're on the way to forming a nice solid unit. Crazy, I've been performing with Jess and Katey for almost a year now. A year! I'm looking forward to getting into the performing scene; I feel a bit like Rob in High Fidelity when he finally releases an album he produced after years of loving music. You become a part of what you love.

3. I started interning at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater the first Friday of this month. The internship lasts the duration of two back-to-back UCB classes (usually 4-6 months), the first of mine begins at the start of September. It's a special sketch writing class focusing on writing for Saturday Night Live. I'm way excited about it. Back to the internship, I'm loving it so far. I love being a wee bit responsible for the running of the theater. I feel like I'm earning my keep in a way, that this differentiates me from just being a touristy person stopping by. I feel like I'm paying my dues, I feel as good as I did when I was interning at Late Show. Also, this is as close as I'm going to come to feeling like a cast member in Empire Records. It's awesome.

4. My 401 class with Michael Delaney is another case entirely. We had our first class show (of two) on Monday and it went....okay. I've been struggling, or just getting by, in class, not really making any huge mistakes or getting a lot of notes. Until Sunday. I got a weird note. Delaney told me I tend to always play character games that are fine, but they take focus away from my scene partner and can become dull and boring to the audience. Okay sometimes, but I do this in every scene I'm in, so, no good. It was also a compliment because he said I'm clever and a really funny guy, and that I have the ability to take anything (anything) tossed at me in a scene and justify it immediately. That's good. I just need to learn how to apply that to enhancing my scene partner and not myself.

5. I'm doing poorly with my 100 Film Initiative. I've only seen 53 movies this year which puts me about two months behind schedule. No doubt how busy I've been has affected this, but on the plus side, I think this is a record. I can't think of any other time when I've seen 53 movies in a year, so, go me. Stranger Than Fiction was the last one I watched and I thought it was really touching, so much so it deserved a five star rating (thus causing an even greater rift in me and Ashley's Netflix similarity rating). I also got to see Superbad a good while before it opens and I can say that it is good. Highly entertaining with just enough smarts and true character work to balance out the gross out humor and constant barrage of f-bombs (it distracted me at times, so what?).

6. I bought tickets to see The Apples In Stereo in September. I would have gotten Go! Team tickets but they sold out before I even knew they were on sale. This greatly irritates me since every time I watch a clip of them on YouTube, I become immediately envious of the people in the front row getting sprayed by the sweat being blasted off of Ninja's body by her jubilant jumping and dancing. I mean, they have a great live show, even if the vocals are completely different live than on the record (I'm still not sure if I have the UK or US version of the debut album, or if the supposed changes are even noticeable). The Hives have a date in October not opening for Maroon 5, so I have to figure out when those go on sale and get them. Seeing The Hives live will complete a 5 year long mission of mine.

7. Comic books are great. I spent The Great Flood Day last week (right?) reading the start of Bill Sienkiewicz's run on New Mutants and I haven't been let down. The art is solid (better at the start than towards the end) and Claremont's characterization is a thing to study and emulate. The man was a genius. Reading these issues for the first time (yep!) makes me love Cannonball and Wolfsbane even more. And yeah, shame on me for reading them for the first time. I got most of the 80s spin-off books at random times and usually in bulk, so I never made it through all of them.

8. I'm G.I. Joe crazy right now and the 25th Anniversary of the relaunched Hasbro line is the reason. The action figures that are coming out/have come out are breathtaking. Seriously. I spent a whole afternoon reading about the Joes on wikipedia and have decided to buy back issues of the Marvel Comics series. I wonder what happened to me and the Joes. I've been a fan for as long as I can remember and they stood the test of time, outliving TMNT and existing alongside Star Wars and the X-Men until the comic ended in 1995. But then they just sorta faded away, I guess my outgrowing toys (in the playing-with-them capacity) and the disappearance of the comic and cartoon erasing them from my mind and day-to-day existence.

9. I've been included in a sketch group that is tentatively called Zartan (after I realized that every member of Cobra's code-names would be a great improv/sketch team name). I performed in a sketch a couple weeks ago at UCB's "Liquid Courage" (a show where anyone can perform a sketch, as long as you sign up and, you know, have a sketch prepared). The goal is to do this every time "Courage" is offered and eventually start performing at other venues and putting things on YouTube.

10. Things that annoy me: FedEx/delivery people not having pens when they deliver something and need you to sign for it. Subway rides to Brooklyn.

Hopefully this was enough to keep the child that is my blog alive for a little while longer.

Del Close Marathon

This past weekend was the 9th annual Del Close Marathon. The short version is that it is 56ish straight hours of improv featuring all the normal UCB and NYC indie teams plus a whole mess of teams from across the country and reunion shows by now-defunct teams. In addition to the constant shows at UCB, two other theaters (Hudson Guild and the theater at FIT) participated. More info can be found at the website.

I arrived at the UCB theater at 4 on Friday to pick up my volunteer wristband (a lovely light blue color) and got in line. I then saw shows at UCB from 4:30 PM to 4:15 AM (the Press Conference to Golden Girls All-Star Reunion). Yes, Golden Girls. That's a lovely example of the type of insanity that went on in the late night/early morning hours.

In the first seven hours I saw downright mind-blowing shows from UCB teams (Stepfathers, Death By Roo Roo), great stuff from improv pros (MySpace, BASSPROV, Satellites), and entertaining and fun shows from teams across America (Stottlemeyer - Chicago, MacGuffin - LA, Code Duello - Boston, Jackie - Washington DC). It was eye-opening to see how UCB's style compares to other cities and it was really exciting to see people watch Roo Roo and Stepfathers for the first time. The UCB teams I see on a weekly basis had great shows just because the energy was so high.

The last couple hours of my first stretch was where things went insane. Insane with hilarity. I saw improv on unicycles (Uniprov), improv from the 1930s (The Sunshine Gang), improv done with 10 guys impersonating Bill Cosby (Cosbyprov), and improv done as characters from A League of their Own (There's No Crying in Improv) and the aforementioned Golden Girls. There was also Wicked F***in' Queeyah, improv done by Boston natives as stereotypical Boston natives ("Derek Jeter has AIDS" was written on Anthony Atamanuik's chest). They came on stage, all holding six packs of PBR and spraying it all over the audience. The team included my 101 teacher, Ari Voukydis, and my current 401 teacher, Michael Delaney (sporting a fake black eye), both in full on Red Sox gear. Also of note were The Smartest Panel Of Experts and Thank God You Brought Beer, both of which were panels where improvisers acted like celebrities/crazy characters. But come on, anything that involves Chris Gethard dressed as Darryl Strawberry rapping about vikings and Jon daly dressed as a drunk Scottish Christmas tree is pure genius.

I went home and got seven or so hours of sleep, up just in time to head over to UCB's school to take my special marathon workshop with Peter Gwinn. Every performer was eligble to take workshops, so there were people walking into the UCB offices for the first time. I heard them talk about how nice the place is; it made me appreciate where I am and what I'm doing and who I'm doing it with even more.

I headed over to the Hudson Guild Theater after class was done at 5 PM and watched shows there from 6:30 - 10:00 PM. I got to see UCB favorites Tantrum and fwand as well as really awesome shows from Chicago (Feverberry Mountain and Callous) and Philadelphia (The Cabal and Rare Bird Show). I made my way back to UCB at 10 PM and stayed until 3 AM. I was originally intending on staying at UCB from 10 PM until the end of my volunteer shift on Sunday at 6 PM, but after Match Game '76 (17 improvisers as various '70s characters, insane creations, and others 'playing' Match Game...but not really) I had to go home. Before leaving I saw an incredible string of shows including the brilliantly entertaining The Scramble and the one-two-three punch of Cracked Out, Derrick, and C+C+C Improv Factory. As I left, the insanity was really just starting and there was a line outside to get in...at 3 AM.

I got two and a half hours of sleep and returned to the theater at 7 AM.

Almost empty.

The theater was maybe 1/4th full, with half of those people asleep in their chairs, improv still going on full steam ahead. Sunday morning was a big block of NYC indie groups and Magnet theater teams, all of whom gave strong shows despite the hour. Sunday's highlight, for me, was the KROMPF Improv Breakfast. Just what it sounds like. Some of my favorite improvisers serving breakfast and then doing hilarious scenes. After Ryan Karels said that "if everyone eats with the idea that everyone has to eat, then everyone will eat," Joe Wengert countered with "But seriously, we're not f***ing millionaires, so everyone take one piece of bacon. There isn't enough for everyone to have a normal portion of bacon, so just take one. Sorry to start on a hostile note..."

My DCM shift started at 10AM and I immediately was asked to check the men's bathroom and then get to work on cleaning up the green room with the other volunteers. I then did whatever was necessary for the rest of the shift (moving a piano, dumping out nasty beer water, crowd control) and remembered just how much I miss doing this sort of thing. It was very reminiscent of all the times I PAed on productions and it was great to feel like a part of this big event. I answered all sorts of questions while outside; memorizing the website finally paid off. The only show I really watched during my shift was iMusical, an improvised musical. It was outstanding and I think got a standing ovation, but I was too busy helping move a piano to notice.

The shift ended at 6PM and I left soon after, insanely tired and happy.

Shows I saw...

Friday @ UCB Theater
4:30 PM Marathon Press Conference
6:00 PM MySpace
7:00 PM BASSPROV
7:30 PM Satellites
8:00 PM Stottlemeyer
8:30 PM MacGuffin (UCBLA)
9:00 PM The Stepfathers
9:30 PM Code Duello: Hamilton & Burr
10:00 PM Seth & Ed's Puppet Talk Show
10:30 PM Jackie
11:00 PM Death By Roo Roo
11:30 PM Bro'in Out

Saturday @ UCB Theater
12:00 AM Chuckle Sandwich
12:30 AM Smartest Panel of Experts in the Universe Ever
1:00 AM Bastards Inc.
1:30 AM Director's Commentary LIVE
2:00 AM The Sunshine Gang
2:15 AM Uniprov
2:30 AM Thank God You Brought Beer
2:45 AM 3:00 AM Wicked Fuckin' Queeyah
3:15 AM The Return of Cosbyprov
3:30 AM Fluxx Entropathic
3:45 AM There's No Crying in Improv
4:00 AM Golden Girls All-Star Reunion

Saturday @ Hudson Guild Theater
6:30 PM Rare Bird Show
7:00 PM Tantrum
7:30 PM Shark Attack!
8:00 PM Callous
8:30 PM Fwand
9:00 PM Feverberry Mountain
9:30 PM Cabal

Saturday @ UCB Theater
10:00 PM Reuben Williams
11:45 PM Pass The Mic

Sunday @ UCB Theater
12:45 AM The Scramble
1:15 AM C+C+C Improv Factory
1:30 AM Cracked Out
2:00 AM Derrick
2:15 AM Drag Kings of Comedy
2:30 AM Match Game 76
7:00 AM The Yes Andersens
7:30 AM Money
8:00 AM Queefer Sutherland
8:30 AM Bombardo
9:00 AM Big Tobacco
9:30 AM KROMPF Improv Breakfast
10:30 AM Junior Varsity
2:00 PM iMusical
6:00 PM Scheer-McBrayer

48 Shows, 22.5 hours of improv.

Photos taken by Ari Scott

International Lover

I made a pact a while ago, with myself and with this blog, that I would stop doing the crazy catch-all entries and try to focus on one topic at a time. That's been working out fine. I've also stopped blogging about improv as much, not meaning that it's any less a part of my life; I'm just more interested in spreading the love for cheetahs and dead babies right now.

But since the best improv week of my life may be ending tonight (with a nuclear bang), I should probably blog about it.

Last Thursday, returning UCB Cage Match champs Derrick had to retire due to being in LA. Jakijesu, the challenger, waited anxiously as the Cage Match Gods pulled eight names out of the ether to form the opposing teams. That's us, up and to the left. The Golden Bullet Band, as named by the UCB, comprised of eight individuals who became one. And won. Winning was not what I expected to happen, especially since drunken buffoonery reigns supreme where cobbled together improv groups perform (most jams, especially Jammin' With Ralph). Uh, that did not happen last Thursday night. I had, probably, the best improv experience complete with group mind, group games, and multiple running themes all coming together in the last minute.

And all this week, I have been a Cage Match champion.

Tonight we face a mighty challenger and, well, will probably lose. But for real, I'm tickled pink (I could do better than that) to perform as a returning champion at Cage Match, which is something that only a couple dozen/hundred people can say. Or, well, only four other teams from this go-round of Cage.

I've also subscribed to dictionary.com's Word of the Day email. This will not contravene the integrity of this blog, it will only proselytize others to it.

Honests y'alls, more imports, I totes discovved this on Mondaiz. WAAAAI better than xxCagexx!!!11

Sketch 101: Sketch from your life

Last night was my first sketch class and, aside from the fact that I was a week behind in getting comfortable and therefore said nothing whatsoever regarding other people's sketches, it went very well. My sketch was well-received and there was laughter throughout. So, just furthers my belief that I have no clue what works and doesn't in my sketches.

Here's my sketch, based on something that happened to me. I took a lot of time reformatting this from my Final Draft Demo (me be poor) just because I know you're bored at work.

Post Office
Brett White

LIGHTS UP on STEVE, a young adult, waiting in line holding a small package. Behind the counter is a middle aged female postal worker, SHIRELLE. Next to Shirelle is another worker, BRANDY, and a line. The MAN in front of Steve leaves.

SHIRELLE
Next.

Steve approaches the counter. As he does so, the phone at Shirelle’s desk rings. She picks it up.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)
Yeah? What? What? No, I’m not paying $200 for that. I don’t care if it’s the law or whatever, I don’t have that kinda money...listen...no YOU listen, no...I’m NOT paying it.

Shirelle slams the phone down.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)
What do you want?!

STEVE

I just need a fifty dollar roll of stamps and to...(lifting package onto counter)...overnight this.

Brandy, the woman next to Shirelle, leans over.

BRANDY
What was all that about, Shirelle?

SHIRELLE(angrily entering numbers into the computer)
Tasha found this cat out on the sidewalk. Little thing’s gonna cost me $200 in shots. Shots!

The phone rings again. Shirelle answers. Steve starts to look a bit disgruntled.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)
No, shut up Tasha. Go to your daddy with stuff like this. Go to your daddy...I know you can’t go to him! That’s the point of prison! You got me, Tasha, and me can’t pay no $200 for this cat! You want a leopard coat, you want your cell phone bill paid, or do you want this cat? No!

Slams phone down.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)
What do you want?

STEVE
I was just, I need a fifty dollar roll of stamps and this overnighted.

SHIRELLE
Hold on, then. (to herself, typing)I’m fed up with cats. I’m fed up with kitties. I’m fed up with anything with cats on ‘em. I’m fed up with shots, with medicine. I’m fed up with vets. I’m fed up with doctors if any of them come near me.

MANAGER walks behind Shirelle.

MANAGER
Woo, I hear Shirelle all the way in the back, causing a fuss. This ain’t about you having to work the rest of Anita’s shift tonight, is it?

Shirelle picks up and slams down Steve’s package.

STEVE
Hey!

SHIRELLE
Oh no, no she didn’t! I said no, no way, I told her sorry ass no! I have a daughter I need to straighten out tonight, I don’t got time to be selling no stamps!(manager walks away, chuckling)I’m fed up with him! I’m fed up with his goofy ass haircut! Fed up with that trick knee of his, make him limp! I’m fed up with stamps, envelopes, anything you lick! I’m fed up with this shirt, I’m fed up with this computer, I’m fed up with this counter! Don’t even get me started on this window, I’m fed up with it too. If it had curtains, I’d be fed up with them!

Brandy looks over at her.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)
Yeah, I’m fed up with you too, Brandy! Fed up with your earrings, your socks that don’t match, fed up with your two shades of lipstick wearing at once. I’m fed up with it all!(to Steve)What was this?

STEVE
It needs to be overnighted, please, could you just --

SHIRELLE
I’m fed up with customers too, so watch it!

Shirelle goes about entering in numbers on her keypad.

STEVE
I need fifty dollars worth of stamps, too.

SHIRELLE
I’m fed up with stamps, remember?!

Shirelle angrily pulls out a roll of stamps, scans it, and slides it across the counter. She then starts manhandling the package, slapping labels and all that on it.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)
I’m fed up with the eagles on the stamps, the flag on them. I’m fed up with red, white and blue. I’m definitely fed up with the president. Don’t get me started on the president! I’m fed up with my apartment, my neighbors, I’m fed up with this country! I’m fed up! Know how Michael Douglas made that movie cause he was fed up? I’m like Michael Douglas in that movie!

Shirelle shoves the package under her desk, takes the money in Steve’s hand, and forces his change on him.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)
Fed up!

Steve leaves. Shirelle sits for a second, breathes in and out, Brandy pats her on the shoulder.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)(calmly)
Next.

A WOMAN walks up to the window, package and paper in hand.

WOMAN
I just need to mail this to this address.

SHIRELLE
Okay, ma’am. I can do that for you.

The phone rings. Twice. Shirelle answers.

SHIRELLE (CONT’D)
You know I hate that boy Tasha, he is NOT coming over for dinner! I’m fed up Hamburger Helper!

BLACK OUT


The notes I got were to make some of Shirelle's rants more specific (yes, she actually did say the Michael Douglas line) since those were the funniest. I could also make Steve's request be even simpler ("I just need that box, right there."). My teacher, Chris Kula of Reuben Williams, said the ending was fine but it would make more sense if something the Woman says triggered the last blow up. All things I'll probably work into this.

Bye 202

Tonight was my last 202 class at UCB and I'm not happy about that. This has been a great class and I really feel like I learned a couple tons of info. Most all of this is because of the teacher, Joe Wengert. He knows exactly what exercises to do and what notes to give to get the best out of each student. This meant more to me than Rob Riggle's class (which was an improv-changing experience, don't get me wrong) just because Joe is one of my favorite performers on one of the most consistently brilliant teams at the UCB. So, you know, making someone laugh that makes you laugh...it's pretty cool. I keep waiting to have a bad experience with a teacher, but they've all been so stupendous. Between Ari, Shannon and Joe, I have gained a solid foundation of improv skills that I will build upon. They're my improv parents. A weird threesome.

Speaking of weird threesomes, I got to give notes on one tonight in class. The abbreviated Harold we did for the last half hour featured me playing a dad who was way too comfortable giving advice to his daughter. So, you know, sex toys and tampons did fly. Besides that, I think I did some pretty decent scenework that got laughs and also attempted to put together everything I've been learning. There were only 8 of us in class ("this'll be like Harold team practice" Joe commented) so we all got scenes galore and individual notes. Joe's note to me was to make my scenes more active and to always look for the next object or move in the game. For some reason I thought that I had no problem with that, then I remembered that it was similar to a note Shannon gave me on Sunday. The scenes I did after that, gross sexual misconduct aside, were very active and full of game moves. Wow. Here's hoping I can hold on to that note. I also did the first diss Joe's ever heard in a pattern game (Mike: "Men wearing thong underwear" Brett: "What Mike calls Saturday night."). Unfortunately that scenario never appeared in any of the following scenes.

Tomorrow night I begin my sketch 101 class.

Nerves.

Notes From The Edge!!!

I was bound to crash after the heights (improv heights) I hit this past weekend, and crash I did. But it was a crash I walked away from; I did not end up on a tropical hellhole surrounded by mystery and dirty, world saving/ending (?) obstetricians. It was another good class that yielded many more things to add to my brain.

- Keep an eye out for character games or emotional games as opposed to just "this guy watched clown related crimes."

- Your characters always know! If they don't, then the scene becomes about solving a problem instead of about the characters.

- When possible, match your partner's energy. It's an instant agreement and scenes where people are on the same page are usually entertaining. Don't choose to intimidate or make your scene partner nervous. It's almost like arguing and kinda hard to heighten.

- Don't talk about it, do it. Don't practice or plan, do it. This is why scenes just before the "biggest play/concert/puppet show of your career!" are tricky.

There will be more blogs not improv related coming up. One may include Joss Whedon. One may include old-lady fashions.

My Improv Tour Diary

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.

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.

Two Oh Two

I've noticed that professional bloggers, or the bloggers that I like the most, tend to not do the sort of "hey, here's what I did this past weekend" sprawling-catch-all-entries that I tend to do. I'm going to try and focus every post on one thing.

If the pic located to the left of this text hasn't already caused you to start skimming this blog for a mention of your name or a TV show you watch, I will let you know that this entry will be about my new class at the UCB. It's Improv 202, advanced game study, and it's taught by Joe Wengert of Reuben Williams (Saturdays @ 10:30).

For the first time since my graduation show almost a month ago, I feel confident in my improvabilities. I've been in something of a rut in 301, not horrible but not living up to my high standards. I was freezing up in scenes a lot, only for a second but that second always seems like an entire Lord of the Rings film to me (crazy long with a slow intensity that is unmatched). I also hate hate hate how I always seem to go straight to 10, or 11, or Crazy Town (population: me), or Henry Rollins level shouting. I know that game and good scenes come from real connections with your partner, but for some reason I expedite the process in class out of fear of getting edited quickly and not finding something before that. Lame.

Wednesday night was great. I had the same problems for a while but after listening to Joe's critiques and notes, I did what I consider to be my best scene in a long time. The suggestion was vintage and me and my scene partner did a nice scene about all the crap we were selling at our yet-to-be-opened vintage store. It had a nice game, real characters, and it made Joe and the class laugh. Spot on. It was great to feel successful, up to my stupid standards.

I knew this class was going to be great and Joe is a great instructor. Reuben has been my favorite improv team since I got back to New York and Joe has to be one of my favorite improvisers. So, good to learn from him. I've been lucky with teachers, as they've all been great. Seeing Shannon in Fwand is always spectacular and makes me want to work harder.

Some incredibly esoteric notes from Wednesday to remember:
- The scene is never about the crazy snake, it's about how the characters feel about the crazy snake
- Once you have your first weird thing, step away from it a bit, go about working at the Taco Bell or whatever; you'll come across the next move naturally and the audience will appreciate it more than if you just keep hitting the game over and over again
- It's hard to start a scene with an argument since the only heightening of that is insane crazy yelling land. Plus, most everyone goes through their day trying to not argue or have a confrontation, so it's realistic to not argue.
- Try not to do characters that are fooling people. It's much more fun to see people who are genuinely into what they are doing.
- Try and parallel the crazy stuff to something in real life, like a crazy meat cleaver using chef who serves things on tires and his 'apprentice.' Treat the apprentice like an intern or a daughter, some relationship that the audience can identify.

I'm sure there are more, but these are mostly the notes I was given and the ones I try to commit to memory.

More next week!

Super Weekender

The past couple days have run through my life like gang busters. I haven't had much time to blog or do anything that involves me at home. Friday night was Louie's and Heidi's (his roommate) seder of the rock and roll variety. Passover seders are normally like this; this one involved Talking Heads, Freddy Krueger, the Beatles, and lots of other pop culture-y items. It was good fun and I enjoyed hanging out with people, being in the company of a house party. The art of the house party seems to be lost on New York City. Too many birthdays are celebrated in bars and I don't think I'll ever see show of any sort in what was formerly a living room in NYC. Murfreesboro citizens, be thankful for your homes that inside of which you party.

Saturday was spent designing a flyer for my friend Jeffrey Marx's upcoming sketch show at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. I've only been in the city 8 months and I'm about to have something that I designed inside of the most important place (to me) in all of the city. Never mind the fact that I was never hired to design anything for anyone in Tennessee. I hope this leads to more. Saturday evening was my ramshackle improv practice group with some of my fave classmates. It was good and successful, as successful as it can be without a coach. Yoink. But we had fun and any time that I get to hang out with people at my apartment is a good time. Went to see Grindhouse that night. A mixed bag leaning towards good, that movie is. "Planet Terror" was great fun, but "Death Proof" was painful to watch with most of that pain being the "Stop talking, shut up, just SHUT UP, please do something, anything, STOP STOP SHUT UP NO MORE TALK AAAHHHH!!" kind, some being the "this action is so intense it hurts!" kind. Grindhouse was the 23rd entry in The 100 Film Initiative, I do believe.

Louie got to experience Easter/springtime holiday as I know it when we went to his teammate Alexis' brunch. There was a smorgasbord of breakfast food fresh from Paula Deen's cookbook and Easter egg dying. This was the first time in a long time that I've done anything egg-related for Easter. Sunday night I saw TJ & Dave do improv and it was more inspirational and enjoyable than last time. A nice monthly tradition.

I returned to work yesterday but that did not make my day uneventful. No no no! I saw The Protomen last night, fresh from Murfreesboro and thriving in NYC. There was an actual line of people there to see them, including teeny children, pre-teens, and high schoolers that you just know wear t-shirts with wolves on them. The rest of the crowd was the adult type, don't worry. People were pumping their fists, singing along, doing air guitar, all this to a band from Murfreesboro that features people that I hang/hung out with on a semi-regular basis. It was a crazy night and I'm so glad that the band is doing so well. Lots of pride in my hometown.

I couldn't hang out after the show since I had to get up early early to meet Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) at XM.

That post is coming

The picture of me in a Simon and Nick sandwich is too.

Onward/Upward

It was both a long weekend and the last weekend without internet. The wonderful (?) people of RCN should be arriving on Saturday to give me the hook up, thus bringing back my immediate Lost reviews and weekend musings.

My 201 class show was on Saturday and I have nothing but huge grin-filled hugs and high fives for the peeps that came to see me. Really, did not expect that much of a showing. I'm glad that I also didn't suck totally; I had a good first beat and a Looney Toons second beat that was grounded since Ulla and I kept playing our game, not letting crazy groundskeepers and moving corpses completely derail us. It was a manic scene. I was proud of the montage we did.

The rest of the day was spent having lunch with my awesome class, going to Bryant park with Katey and Jessica, and then seeing the entire Saturday night lineup at UCB (Let's Have A Ball, Mother, Reuben Williams, CageMatch: Wrestleslamania 2). Mother (pictured above) was the best I've probably ever seen them and ReuWi was with all 8 members for the first time this year. It was a magical night. Plus I got to see my teacher shoot her pussy cheese at a giant rat during CageMatch. I was out til 5 AM that night.

My improv 301 class started Sunday and it was, maybe, the best first day I've had. It's a smaller class (only 10 of us) with some familiar faces and lots of new ones. I got one good scene out of the class as a new hire at a recycling plant just looking for a father figure. I also got a compliment on my pattern game skills, so that will be something I use to inflate my ego at every possible moment.

Now I'm back at work. Gnarly.

2nd Verse/Same As 1st

I know everyone wants more out of me than just a blog about a panther. For everyone who I don't get to bug on a daily basis (a good 98% of the people I know), here's some stuff.

I hate apartments. More like, I hate the process of getting an apartment. Credit checks, faulty faxes, landlords, security deposits X2, it's such a hassle and a very complicated process. Just give me a key! I want to live in Astoria!

Me and my roommate met our real estate guy last night and he took us up to an office, leading us straight through the Democratic Party of Astoria's meeting. Nothing like going up stairs and opening a door to see a room full of people listening to one person speak about real issues. Or something, I didn't hear what they were talking about, I was attempting to bury my face in the floor while walking to the office. Our real estate guy was then yelled at by some dude in the office for disrupting the meeting. Crazy awkward and it moved us along a centimeter in the mile that is getting this apartment.

Last night was probably the most fun I've had in a long while. I met up with Jessica and her travel buddy Cubby to go see a very enjoyable show at The Magnet Theater. This was my third time there and it was indeed a charm. Cage Match followed at UCB, where two more of my 201 classmates were waiting in line. I'm liking this "seeing people I know" thing. Who knows, maybe I'll give up sitting by myself? Reuben Williams was half there, but Joe, Sanders, Eric and King were a fantastic foursome. Beverly Hills gave a solid show as well; I really enjoy seeing them and see them grow every time. It seems like they've really started to hit a stride in their performance.

The post-show events were even better; I love meeting new people (that's a change) and the people I met were indeed great. I'm going to see the Yes Andersens (Magnet team) again on Saturday night. Definitely looking forward to it.

Sunday is my 201 improv practice session and class, so it'll be an eventful day. I'm starting to get more involved in UCB, asking questions and actually talking to people. This is quite possibly the best thing to happen to me since being up here and I feel like I'm starting to come into my own. I realized, well I realized it a long time ago and this is just proving a point, I realized the other night that I need something to get lost in and something to devote all of my waking hours to.

In high school I did this with my circle of friends; we were all so incredibly tight and it seemed like we spent an enormous amount of time together. Serious jobs and adult obligations being nonexistant in high school, this was easy. I did this with the Features heavily for the first year of college and then less so throughout. Promoting them, going to all their shows, making mix CDs for friends. The movie theater became my obsession when I worked there only because it was impossible to not become obsessed, working there as much as I did. I blogged about it, wrote two episodes of a sitcom based on it, and documented my life there with my wee little spy camera. This did not happen at Payless or Books-a-Million. Moving on. MTTV became my primary focus and will forever be the obsessive thing to which all obsessive things are measured against. My work there got me to New York, so the days where I would do three or four live broadcasts on top of going to class and working paid off. UCB is becoming this and I know it's going to provide as many opportunities as MTTV did.

Now for the namesake of the blog, conversations I had last night have rekindled my love of a certain era of music, one that I immortalized in an iPod mix back in January. It's called "2nd Verse/Same As 1st" and features 20 highlights from 1976-1981.

1. The Ramones "Judy Is A Punk"
2. The Jam "In The City"
3. Talking Heads "Pulled Up"
4. Television "Marquee Moon"
5. Wire "Ex-Lion Tamer"
6. Devo "Uncontrollable Urge"
7. Elvis Costello & The Attractions "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea"
8. The B-52's "Rock Lobster"
9. The Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen In Love?"
10. The Clash "Clash City Rockers"
11. Gang Of Four "I Found That Essence Rare"
12. Squeeze "Slap & Tickle"
13. The Undertones "Teenage Kicks"
14. XTC "Making Plans For Nigel"
15. Echo & The Bunnymen "Do It Clean"
16. Liliput "Split"
17. The Pretenders "Tattooed Love Boys"
18. Pylon "Feast On My Heart"
19. The Soft Boys "I Wanna Destroy You"
20. Mission Of Burma "Outlaw"

I listened to this today. And all of Marquee Moon. Good times.

Boo Ya

This is going to be a random one.

-It's hot outside. Granted, high of 39ish is still very much winter in Tennessee, but after suffering through near frostbite on my toes Monday night, this is a welcome upward shift in temperature. I'm wearing a t-shirt and thin sweater. Word.

- I saw Zach Galifianakis at UCB's "Bro'in Out" on Monday night. Zach was the last guest (after Demetri Martin and Martha Plimpton) and went between looking insanely depressed and pleasantly pleased. He was comedy gold, as always, when he insisted that his real name is Chad Farthouse. And no, I didn't bring up our history, mainly because I think he finds students to get drunk with at every college he performs at. The night he spent in the inner rings of my hometown friendship circle is often looked back upon fondly. As commonplace as I assume his partying is, I don't think he got to yell "Say the Dewey Decimal system sucks!" to any other group of college kids.

- I have an apartment in Astoria by the way. It's two big bedrooms, a big living room, bathroom, big kitchen, no stairs/elevator/lobby, this baby opens skraight up from the street. It feels like living in an actual house. Well, it will. The moving process starts this weekend, hopefully.

- Harold night was spectacular last night, mainly because four people from my 201 class showed up and I finally got to talk to one of the other UCB regulars. All this on top of the couple people I've been chatting to on a regular basis. I think I'm discovering a whole new level of fun on Harold night, the social part that I haven't had. Usually I just sit by myself and say "no" when asked "is that seat taken?"

- Tonight is Lost, so excellent. This morning I got a promo copy of next week's episode, so BOO YA! I'm having myself a marathon tonight! And next week I'll be moving in, so this works out perfectly!

- I read Pitchfork's review of The La's live album, BBC In Session, and had much excitement stirred within me. I love The La's in all of their "we were fronted by a crazy person obsessed with dust from the 1960s so we never had a stable roster and broke up after our brilliant debut album" glory. These four sessions from 1987-1990, all done before their debut album was released, are brilliant in their clarity, quality, and energy. The versions of "Son of a Gun" and "I Can't Sleep" are so frantic and enjoyable, and the version of "There She Goes" (yeah, The La's originally did it, not Sixpence None The Richer) is all electric and all awesome.

That's it. Cage Match (ReuWi vs. Beverly Hills) Thursday night, Under St. Marks improv on Friday, and hopefully starting to move on Saturday.