I can't wait for Sunday. Seriously. The part of me that craves my own company (well, you know, and the cats) and control over my schedule is so very, very ready for a completely unscheduled day.
It's not that I haven't had fun this week. I have. Or I wouldn't do this stuff. But I also feel like I've turned into the big bionic version of me, in a way, and I'm doing the things that feed me but send me into self-parody at the same time. The play by play:
The thing that makes coaching the Trip Fives so freaking delightful is that I've known (and taught) 4/5ths of them since they were babies, and the 5th is Megan, who is pure fun. So watching them and coming up with new toys for them to play with feels easy and natural. And, because they're sofaking good, it pushes my teacher/director buttons, challenging me to come up with somethinganything!to do that will challenge them and help them grow. They're some of the strongest players in KC, and completely open to the idea that they could be even better. Which is why they're so great.
Exit 16 rehearsal was mostly just the boys Tuesday night. And they...tested me. I had a small hissy fit because they were taking things so NOT seriously, but eventually they came around, and it was a decent rehearsal. Spring is different. Spring is burnout. Spring is "just play and keep them entertained" time.
Tantrum rehearsed with KMBC's Johnny Rowlands on Wednesday, and he's just...fun. Fun storyteller, fun person, fun energy, fun fun fun. He's a little afraid of improv, which is nutsbecause as someone points out, he FLIES A HELICOPTER AND REPORTS NEWS AT THE SAME TIME.
Exit 16 and the Cardinals Jesters played their monthly show at the Corbin tonight. It was...fine. Right now, some members of Exit 16 play 3 shows a monthwhich, unless you're at ComedyCity, is a lot. I wonder what it's like for them. Is every show still a rush? Are they bored? Has it become an obligation? I should ask.
Tomorrow, Tantrum improvises with Johnny. Saturday, Timmy has his last show. Sunday, I don't want to fucking think about improv.
This afternoon I had a phone meeting pertaining to KCXRC. It's so funny when I do 'business'ey type things in the name of our teeny production company. (if indeed it warrants such a title.) It just seems ludicrous to have a phone meeting with a theater in Chicago when you have a ladybug and a daisy on the charm dangling from your technology. Oh well, eh? The meeting was quite productive and informative, though, so......win! I was playing around with the girls earlier and I blew into Brianna's ear. She giggled and squealed, and I motioned to her that I wanted to tell her a secret. Trusting little thing that she is, she leaned in (aw) and I said, "Psst....do that to Leigha." She caught my ear and whispered back, "Do what?" *facepalm* "This *blow*" Giggling she got up and made her prancing way over to Leigha. She choked on her own hiccuping laughter as she said, "Hey Leeeeeeigha, I have a seeeeeeeecret for you!" And she leaned in close but was giggling too hard to be able to actually blow, and it came out, "f-f-f-fuh-hahahahahaa!" Leigha's face became overcast with big sister evil as she said, "No, Bri. THIS is how it's done!" And blew right into Bri's ear. Bri giggled wildly the entire time. Poor, sweet thing.
Spite played around with a different formatthe improvisers' fave Living Roomjust to switch things up on Friday night at the Imp. It was fun to do something differentand nice to have the conversations to pull themes from.
I swung by the Fishtank to catch the first set at KC Crossroads Comedy: Some Technical Difficulties doing their take on the Living Room. They had some really nice scenes in their seta few really sophisticated set-ups, especially considering their ages. It's interesting to watch the Exit 16 kids playing in front of adult crowds (and audiences made up of folks who don't know them). Taking any improv troupe outside their home theater/audience pushes them in new directions.
Monday night, Jared has invited me to the Trip Fives rehearsal to take them through some Viewpointsy stuff I learned from David Razowsky. It's Tim Lemke's last rehearsal, prior to his final show, so I'm looking forward to one last chance to tell him what to do.
Exit 16 and the Cardinals Jesters play together this Thursday at the Corbin. That's turning out to be a fun little showtwo sets by two student improv troupes. They complement each other nicely, and it's great to see what Clay and Drew (two former Exit 16ers) are doing as directors of the William Jewell troupe.
Tantrum gets to play with KMBC's Johnny Rowlands this coming Friday, and I can't wait. Tantrum's last show together was a blastand Johnny's stories should be fun to play with. We've got a bunch of new monologists coming up, including Hallmark pals Sergio and Emily and Stacey.
So...ummmm...busy week.
The other thing I'm trying to cram in is working out. I've been giving myself one day off a week, which I probably shouldn't beI have, thus far, been unwilling to give up fun stuff (good food, good beer, decent wine). I've got a few major incentives to get into better shape:
May: Josh & Kim's wedding. In Mexico. Where a swimsuit in front of people I know is bound to happen.
June: A family beach trip. Where, again: Swimsuit. Ack.
I don't just feel better when I'm in good shapeI play better. I'm more physical, more confidentand not tugging at my clothes or worrying about back fat.
Guess whose back to wreak some comedy havoc? Hey! Good guess! What up, Kansas City? It's KC Crossroads Comedy! What, what? I made myself a snazzy bracelet trio out of the gaffing tape we used to hide some lighting cords. We hid them on the wall to kill the 'tangled mess of danger' that it used to look like. It's not dangerous, (seriously, we have an electrician in the improv ranks, he helped us set some of that up) but nobody wants to see a bunch of cords dangling precariously over their head. I caught you a delicious Pabst! We cleaned out the window display from the previous evening's show. A shame, too, it looked pretty cool. I hosted the first show and teched the second. Here's me chained to the tech booth. It's the only way they could keep me at my spot watching for lighting and music cues. Thank you, Some Technical Difficulties! Best line: "We could kill her! We could kill her and then use her room for a study!" Thank you, Babelfish! Best line: "I've put together an army of very ill people, and when they die, I shall simply mail them to you." Thank you, Improv-Abilities! Best line: "What's your credentials?" "Oh, it's cool! I got a belt and tights!" And thank you Holy Cow! For volunteering and also for your best line: "That's right. Jesus WAS a zombie. He rose from the dead."
Another First Friday flyering and promotion night! The KC Crossroads Comedy team was out in full force tonight, talking to people and handing out business cards (Oh yes, there are cards now!) and handbills, letting people know we're here. Tonight was the first really busy First Friday of the year thanks to the warmer temperatures. Hooray! We all met up at the Fishtank after and saw the show they had there, then I went out and had a celebratory late happy birthday adventure. There was a fruit plate involved, oh yes. And R.O.U.S.'s. (Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist.)
Though that was bad. From the clips I saw. On the Daily Show.
Because I AM NOT CONTRIBUTING TO LENO'S AUDIENCE, PEOPLE.
I'm talkin' about the bad that has been me on stage. I'm going through that phase in my Growth As An Improviser. The one that hits every now and then, when you are capable of doing NOTHING RIGHT. When the badness sucks any potential goodness from a scene, because you are so powerfully bad that no good can exist around you. You (and by you, I mean I) become the Black Hole Of Suck, pulling anything that has even the SPARK OF POTENTIAL to be good like light into the ultimate darkness.
I'm not being self-deprecating here. I'm not looking for pity or compliments or assurance that I'm not that bad. I don't need those things. Because I've got 20 years of improv experience, have seen hundreds of brilliant and good and bad and fucking wretched shows, and have spent hours training with some of the best teachers in the country. So I know two things are true:
1. I recognize bad when I see it and when I play it, and when I call what I've been doing bad, you will not argue me out of it. 2. It's a phase, and I'll get over it. Probably before my next show.
Group mind is a concept that is very important in improv. It's a kind of energy you can feel in the room when everyone is connected on a subconcious level and everything kind of clicks into place in all your scenes. One way to achieve it is to note what everyone around you is doing and joining in. Sometimes, you don't even have to think about it. Today was kind of one of those days. Anomaly Orange had a rehearsal and at one point we were discussing the longform we had just done and without realizing it, every one of us chose to sit on a table rather than in a chair. I jumped off the table I was sitting on to grab my camera. Weird, I know, but this is the stuff that makes the funny happen.
Did the usual Saturday 'get to the theater early and set up' thing, but today presented some unique challenges. Challenges such as having to completely redo the lighting (again) and subsequently blowing a circuit (right as the troupes and audience members were arriving) and the fact that Anomaly Orange performed tonight. It's incredibly hard to switch from production to performance mode and back again. You have to stay on your toes and turn on a dime, but I was so much more on top of it tonight than I was the first night we performed in the space. (Go figure, that was the FIRST night we did this!) It was interesting to have part of my brain engaged in joking with my troupe-mates while another part kept an eye out for problems (like when a member of the press showed up and no one was there to greet him) while still a third part was floating just above the other two parts, amused at my own ability to do such a thing! The show ended up going really really well, and as a bonus, I got to be carried off the stage at the guys' shoulder level while sitting in a chair. (FYI, they were great, I didn't wobble or anything!)
Today Collin and I had a little conversation in the car about a time when we were at Chick-fil-A and the giant cow mascot was walking around the store.
Collin: "Dad, do you remember that time when that big cow at Chick-fil-A gave (his stuffed animal) puppy a mint?"
Me: "Of course I do."
Collin: "Yeah, that was funny."
Me: "Why do you think the cow didn't say anything?"
I left the house shortly after 8am this morning and went to school. Yuuurrrgh. Coffee... I only have two classes on Fridays, which is nice. After school I went downtown for a meeting with KCXRC and the Arts Incubator to further discuss finding places to film an internet series that one of our improvisers is working on. We toured a building, hopefully it will work for Joe's vision. We got up to the third floor and discovered a very interesting freight elevator that we rode back down to the first floor. Yeep! Last time I was on an elevator that was remotely similar was the Tower of Terror at Disneyland. I was super nervous, but I got a great picture for my mild troubles. Hooray for making a photo op out of your fears! We finished up and I grabbed some dinner before heading to Dustin and Alanna's for a game night/Guitar Hero party. It was great, but insane. There were about 13 kids there, including my girls. It's always slightly unsettling when the kids outnumber the adults in a given situation. We had a blast, though. Jason left for work and I stayed to play a friendly and interminable game of Quelf. Sweet. I brought the girls home at about 11:30...Oh yeah, so THAT'S why my house looks like. Yuck, I need to clean!
Thunderdome pits nine teams of local improvisers against each other in a four month battle. Each team will get 30 minutes to prove their worthiness. Audiences will decide each month which team shall move on to the championship match.
This month's match-up:
DIVINE BOVINES
(Collin Armfield, Mark Bruce, Mike Ferris, Amanda Johnson, Cindy Paasch & Christian Robinson) vs. SEVEN BALLS AND A FUNNY STORY (Levi Eubanks, Michael Grush, Jeff Hobson & Frank McGraw) vs. ZELLOTTE (Jonathan Bender, Keith Curtis, Megan Mercer & Wade Meredith)
Tickets are $10.00
Call 913-375-5168 for reservations
***Reservations for Thunderdome NOT available until 2/27 (two weeks before show)***
This is a prop for the forthcoming production at my school. Does anyone else find the word 'gong' as superfluous as I do? Funny. Lost the Veeball game tonight...kind of expected to. Stank, too, 'cause I was feeling better than last week and I played like a dung beetle. Oh well. Dung beetles are loved too I suppose.
Improv is still, for the most part, full of dudes.
Want evidence? Based on the photos of ensembles for the Chicago Improv Festival, there are 6 all-female groups and 22 all-male groups. Of the coed troupes with photos, 22 had more guys, 11 had even numbers, and 3 had more chickspictured, anyway.
Saturday at the Fishtank, the first two troupesNot A Great Gorilla and Babel Fishwere all dudes. Spite is all chicks.
I'm not on a soapbox about this anymoreI've even gotten to the point where I find the "are women as funny as men?" debate tiresome. (The answer is "yes." Next.) You see more girls in the improv world these days. Hell, Exit 16 had more girls than guys last year, and usually runs even. Girls today don't seem to have the funny socialized out of them like we tended to (unless some asshole is sneaking advice like "laugh at his jokeseven if they're not funny" to them, too).
What I find interesting now is the way we sell it. Spite and Olive Juice (featuring funny improvisers who happen to have boobs from Roving Imp) are getting ready to do a show together, and we're marketing it as a "girlie show." Spite calls ourselves "an all-chick improv trois."
What I'm wondering: Is that a gimmick? Is it pass? The comedy equivalent of luring people in to see a bearded lady? Are we limiting ourselves to being compared only to other female groups, taking ourselves out of the running of just being a good, funny troupe?
Somehow, I doubt Sirens are this troupe's only competitionor that the women of Sirens compare themselves only to Children of a Lesser God.
Guys don't (usually) refer to themselves as "all male troupes." And I know that when we watched Babel Fish on stage Saturday, none of us thought, "They're not like us."
We saw other improvisers, kicking ass, and it made us want to kick ass, too.
Jason and I both had the same song stuck in our heads earlier today, so naturally I decided it would be a good idea to earbud it up and enjoy it. Nice. I've got a bit of a cold, so I napped this afternoon.....it was nice, but I hate the way I feel when I wake up from taking naps. Icky. I really needed it, though. I had a full afternoon of rehearsing, then directed an audition for Project Improv. We got a few people out, all willing to just cut loose, have fun, and follow direction. It was swell. One thing I just love is people who are willing to say, "Cool, I'll do that." As opposed to "Why would I do that?" Too many adults overuse the 'why' response, in my opinion. Oh yeah, you should totally temper yourself and not make dumb decisions, but if someone says, "Let's play tag!" Why ask why? Who cares about why, you're IT! *runs*
First and foremost, happy birthday to my sister, Lynette! My most favoritest redhead and older sister ever! I love you, sis! I had a great improv-filled day, myself. I went to a meeting to plan the Kansas City Improv Festival, then simultaneously set up the theater and had a Bad Rebels rehearsal, followed by the evening's shows at KCXRC. We had a highly successful night with a great crowd despite a dusting of snow and slush. The above picture is Trish 'auditioning for show choir' during Spite's set. Fabulous! Trish, you're just great, and I'm not just saying that!
See what went on last Wednesday when we hung out with Ben Pieper. There are many, many more photos to come, including the rest of the "photo booth" shots and a secret surprise photo that involves PBR Light and a summer storm.
I love the Crossroads District. You really just don't know what you're going to see every time you go there! I've decided to name this guy 'Transporticus.' Let's see if our paths cross in the future. Godspeed, little buddy! One of the best parts of what we do at KCXRC is cross-pollination and conjoining different art scenes from across the city. Bad Rebels rehearsed this afternoon with our musician friends, Peter and Lauren. Hey, guys! You're amazing, thanks for being here for us! Time for a lunch break! Wow, Tom looks kind of annoyed with me, doesn't he? Time to do something cute to break the tension! Aw, come on, Jess! Cute, not creepy! We're going for cute here! This week's configuration placed the mirrors as the backdrop of the stage, thus creating an entirely different feel to our playspace. Ew.......those mirrors look kind of dirty to me, and if we're going to have an audience staring at them all evening we'd better do something... Ah the glamorous life of a producer! But hey, if they weren't clean, then we wouldn't have been able to enjoy THIS as thoroughly: Woo! Go Trish! You're looking good, girl! A killer night of shows all around! Not a Great Gorilla! Nathan Stewart stepped in to play with them tonight. Best line: "There's a guy down here that can staple like nobody's business! Quick, somebody get him some Gatoraide!"Babelfish! Best line: "I have a very dangerous wedding to go to, sir, I wanted to be prepared!"
And of course, the devastatingly lovely and talented Spite! Best line: "Yes. And then I want you to invent a piece of chocolate that when I reach for it it grows legs so I can't eat it until I have jogged."
This incredibly cool industrial space is the third floor of the Arts Incubator. I went there today on producing business for KC Crossroads Comedy. We made a great connection with the powers that be and I think we'll be doing some mutually beneficial work together in the future. Score! It's great to have our art form located smack dab in the middle of the art scene of Kansas City. And speaking of Kansas City, our improvisers are going to be representing all over the country in just a matter of weeks! You already know Anomaly Orange is going to Spontaneous Combustion Atlanta, since that's my troupe and I'm giddy schoolgirl excited about it, but Babelfish is also going! Not only that, but Spite and two troupes from my alma mater, The Roving Imp, are going to be heading to the Chicago improv festival as well! This is supremely thrilling! The Kansas City scene is going to go out into the nation and let them know that we are here! It's amazing to be a part of one of the most thriving improv scenes in the country, and I couldn't be happier with my own small role in this big ball of yarn! Congratulations to everyone out there who is making the art happen!
Ever have one of those weeks where you're bone tired and grouchy and don't feel like doing anything but you have to?
Yeah. That.
But some good stuff has happened, toomainly in the realm of Spite.
We worked out with Keith Curtis for the first time as our coach/director, and we heart him hard.
We had a terrific photo shoot with the absolutely wonderful Ben Pieper, along with my pal Jeff Shumway, who's a crazy talented creative director, and our makeover stylist, Daryl Forkell, who made us feel confident and pretty. And Dennis, who fetched us things.
We got a great writeup on KC Free Press, thanks in part to Nikki's kick-ass press release (a version of this one) and partly to Ben's kick-ass photo.
We hit the 300 mark on Twitter. Sure, some are spambots. But a good number of them are happy, funny people we're having a great time chatting with.
We got the official word that we'll be performing at the Chicago Improv Festival. We applied as an apprentice teamwhich means 9 hours with an acclaimed teacher/director who will direct our festival show, networking opportunities, parties and a ridiculous amount of support and nurturing. It's exactly the boost we've been craving as we try to take our work to the next level.
So, yeah. It feels really, really good. Kinda because we've been working really hard, and it's starting to pay off. But a lot because I feel incredibly blessed to get to play with people I dig as much as I do Nikki and Megan.
This is what we look like when we're happy. (Photo by Ben Pieper)
We just got the official word.
Spite applied as an apprentice team to the Chicago Improv Festivaland we've been accepted! Along with performing at the festival, we'll get to work one-on-three with an acclaimed director over the weekend (and can't wait to bring what we learn back to KC).
Do we need to say we're flattered and honored and as close to speechless as we ever get? True. All of it.
We'll perform Sunday, April 25...so if you're in Chicago, swing by!
Getting press is hard. On any given weekend, you're up against hundreds of other arts eventsmany with more compelling stories, bigger stars, better budgets, more urgency, or something else that bumps them up to the top of a reporter's hit list.
But there are some basic places you're practically guaranteed to appear in, if you make minimal effort and fill in the blanks with the right stuff. The lowest of the low-hanging fruit:
Calendar listings
Facebook invites
(If you don't do at least these two things, why the hell not? Seriously...do you not want people to come to your shows?)
Calendar listings
Find all the places you want to appear. KC has a gazillion online entertainment calendarsyou can decide how many actually matter to you, and where you hit the point of diminishing returns because you're spending hours entering listings into sites that your target audience doesn't read. For improv, here's a good start: the Star, Ink, the Pitch, KCFreePress, PresentMagazine and KC Stage.
Name your event. If your name doesn't say "this is improv comedy," you might want to fluff it up a little. Even by just adding "improv" to the name.
Write a short blurb. If you're extra lucky, the publication will give you room to describe your event. But they won't give you much. Here's what the Pitch uses for Tantrum: Improv comedy group Tantrum invites a different local personality to every show to tell true stories based on audience suggestions. Then the seven- member troupe spins them into a series of spontaneous scenes. It's not super-exciting, but it says what we do.
Pay attention to deadlines. Most publications want your info at least two weeks in advance.
Submit your stuff. Some have forms, others ask you to e-mail. Go do it.
NOTE: If you're playing in a multi-troupe show, the producers will typically submit calendar listings for the whole showso you don't have to, and maybe shouldn't. It's confusing to have more than one entry for a comedy show in calendar listings. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't promote your troupe; see "press releases," below.
Facebook invites
Figure out where to send it from. Three main options: A group page, a fan page or a personal account. A group page lets you invite everyone in the group by e-mail with one click; a fan page only lets you send updates; your personal account requires that you click names one by one.
Grab the reader. You've got three main tools to get people's attention Title: Something straightforwardyour name, and maybe the location, will probably do it. Or use the event title, if you've got one. Tagline: A few words to describe the event in more detail. Photo: Something attention-grabbing that adds information to your title and tagline.
Close the deal. Use the description to tell your potential audience something they don't knowspecifically, why they should come see your show. Who's in it? Why will it be cool? What can they expect? How much is it? Assume the invite will travel outside the group you send it towhat would you say to a stranger to make him buy a ticket?
Invite everyone. This is why I prefer group events: You can click "invite members" and Facebook doesthen lets you follow up whenever you'd like to.
NOTE: If you're playing in a multi-troupe show, find out what your producer wants before you set up an event. Some are happy if you send out your own invites; others prefer you to use theirs. At the VERY LEAST, use the producer's basic information and get the reservation line right.
ANOTHER NOTE: If you are a high school or college troupe, these rules don't apply. Everyone you're inviting knows you, and you can be as wacky or freaky or whimsical and vague as you'd like. As long as people know it's you, they'll come.
******
OK. So now the public at least has a chance of finding out you've got a show. Want to make headlines? You'll need three thingsand sometimes, it just takes one of them:
A great hook. What's the story? And not just the one you, or two other people in improv land find interesting. Even better, what's the thing that makes you worth covering not just for any show, but RIGHT NOW?
A compelling press release. The KC Star's press release site has great tips for writing one. This isn't the time to be artsyit's the time to be informative. Give reporters what they want, and they might just write about you.
A killer photo. Improv groups, as a rule, have crappy promotional photos. Sorry...I've seen and sent out dozens of them, and it's just true. Tantrum and Spite have worked with photographers who got us great, highly usable stuff. Clint Sears' shots have appeared in every local paper. And I'm guessing Ben Pieper's new shots of Spite (above) bumped us from a simple preview to the lead spot on the site home page and a capsule on the Arts top page. (What the photos that get picked up the most have in common? Interesting composition, tight shots of faces and a story or emotion.)
Of course, a lot more goes into getting covered...or not. But doing the basics allows you to sleep soundly at night, knowing you've done everything within your power to get the word out.
So we worked out with Keith Curtis on Monday night. Not only did he participate in the wine-gossip ritual, but he also gave terrific notes and got us thinking about some things in new ways. We're going to love working with him.
Tonight, PBR Light and Grinders Pizza sustained us through a four-hour photo shoot with the absolutely wonderful Ben Pieper. Our makeover stylist, Daryl Forkell, was on hand to make sure we didn't make a big fat fashion faux pas, and Jeff Shumway was there to art direct. The shot above is the first one out (retouched on the spotbecause their service is that good).
But even if you'd wanted to, you could not have joined us either night. So we hope you'll come see us Saturday night at 7 at the Fishtank for KC Crossroads Comedy, along with KC Pet Shop and Not a Great Gorilla. Tickets are 6 bucks in advanceget 'em quick. And next Friday the 26th at 9pm, Spite returns to the Roving Imp for a split show with It's Debatable.
Want to see one of the shows free? We'll buy two tickets to either show for the first person to match the tweets to the chick in our contest.
I know the poster is ultra-classy, but honestly we’re roasting a movie about a whore falling in love with a guy who has enough cheddar to rent her out for the week, so who cares? And for the record, we know the “gerbilling” thing (disturbing text behind that link) isn’t true; doesn’t mean it’s not [...]
