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| Friday, November 21st, 2008 | | 8:10 am |
shows last night
Latchkey Kids had a rehearsal with Chris Trew that was, in my humble opinion, great. However, some people had some problems. This was mostly miscommunication. We should probably have run the form first and workshopped that. As it was, some people thought he was a little harsh. To which I say: bullshit. We had some crappy edits that he called out. And we've had crappy edits in the past where people got tagged and they didn't know they got tagged, or people were coming back on to cut back to a scene and the others didn't leave the stage for a sec out of confusion. I thought he was right on. In Semi-Awesomes, our coach coddles us too much. I appreciated CT's honesty. I didn't think it was too much, and I personally thought he was great. Clif, our regular coach, came to watch to see what Chris worked on, and he felt the same way I did. Anyway, we had to go straight from rehearsal to a show. After that show was a Semi-Awesomatics show, same venue (Crashbar). Eric and I hung out for a few hours after the jam, which was last, and talked a little about the show. Clif had watched it and gave us some notes that I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say some people weren't happy with. It was a decent show. But we're capable of better, and he told us he was going to be harsh b/c he knows where we can go. The beginning was a little muddled, and I was being ignored. I take responsibility, as I had put myself in the corner behind a chair. The suggestion was cellar, and I decided to be a crappy ghost because I've never played a ghost before and thought it would be fun. But no one even checked in with me, which was frustrating. I was making moves to be a part of the scene, and I felt like I was just getting shot down. Eric was trying, and later on in the scene he was the only person I really ended up having contact with. And he was hidden on the other side of the stage behind 3 people. Anyway, someone made me their son who was bad and stuck in the corner. So I decided to screw everything else and give myself something fun to play. I threw down some approproate Buffy trivia. "There was an episode of Buffy where a girl was ignored so much that she eventually became invisible." One of the characters on stage was gay, so I said, "I'm pretty sure Andrew was gay. He was a bad guy in Season 7 but became a good guy in Season 8." That got the edit. Later, someone came up to me and said they didn't know the show but that I was so specific they were waiting to hear what was gonna come out of my mouth next. Awesome. I had fun b/c I got to talk about something I knew well, and I had to listen to what was going on to fit my nuggets in. This is what I do. I remember when Redacted was together, Clif reamed us a new one after a particular show. I, however, loved my character and had a ton of fun, which made it seem less bad than it was. And Clif later told me I was fine, but the show on the whole was not. If something is going bad, I say fuck it and play the crap out of my game, if only to amuse myself and help get me through. Semi-Awesomatics show was fun, too. We just played, which is something we haven't done in a while. DC left the troupe Monday night. If we didn't have Semi-Awesome Saturdays in the Dick Box in December, I think the troupe would have fallen apart. I'm from a different perspective b/c I'd left the troupe for a few months then came back, so I missed the crap in between. People aren't happy and we should be farther along than we are for the amount of time we've been together. December is going to be a make-or-break month for us. I missed a show b/c I was sick, but the one before that was our cagematch against Freedom Snatch. Which was our best show to date. And it got taped. We all had so much fun. But I guess the following one wasn't fantastic, which is how it's been--up and down. I originally left for a lot of the reasons Drew left. The difference is, I'm having fun now and he isn't. If I had stayed, I would probably be in the same boat. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how December goes. Although we've been playing pretty regularly, we now have a weekly slot at a theater. That will help. (maybe) Lastly was the jam. Man was that great. It reminded me of the jam in Toronto where CT decided to be the monologist and Jose came out as a robot. There were some people who were horrible, but they were having a blast, which made me warm and fuzzy inside. It was great to sit back and watch bad scenes and greater to be a part of them. Didn't go to bed til 2:30. I was all planning on hitting the gym this morning before picking Stef up for our Twilight/lunch date. We're going to The Alcove, which has the most delicious desserts. Oh well. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. :-) Also, I might be in Austin as early as the beginning of June! I am ready to go. | | Friday, October 17th, 2008 | | 8:42 am |
Yesterday was a long improv day. Started with an unfocused Latchkey Kids rehearsal. Our coach forgot it was Thursday, so we did a crappy warm up and a not great run through. Then we hung out at K24, which was a lot of fun. Headed to iO at 7 for the last Level 6 class. We combined both classes (Monday had missed Labor day, so Craig had them make it up the last day). We had a pizza party and Craig gave evaluations in front of the class, which was really cool. Jeff Passino continues to surprise me. When we had Harold auditions, he brought daisies to all the girls. Last night when we were having our evaluations, he said some really nice things. Not just to me; to a few people. He definitely won the sentimental award. Craig passed out diplomas and we each had a nickname at the bottom. Mine was Lady Risk-Taker, and it was based largely on my X-ecution crash. After class the Semi-Awesomatics had a mainstage cagematch show. We knew there was no way to beat the guys we were up against, but we were hoping to have a good show so we could tape it for future submissions. We ended up having the best show we've ever done, including rehearsals. It felt so good! 90% of the audience was there for the other team, but that was kinda nice. There was no pressure. We just had fun. So, I'm now officially a graduate of the training program at iO. I have a ton on my plate at the moment, so it's really nice to have one thing knocked off. We have our last class show Saturday night, with the option of 4 more. I can't imagine people would turn that down, but it's still nice to know I only have, at max, 5 more performances. I of course am sad that I won't be performing with the wonderful people in my class, but it's nice to see the light at the end of a jam-packed tunnel. Thank you, iO. You've given me a lot. If it wasn't for you, I would hate LA and would have moved to Austin months ago. | | Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 | | 8:46 am |
Busted!
Monday night Ben and I went to scout the X-ecution. As soon as the lights went down, they played a video which included photos of all of the contestants from the audition. I leaned over to him right then and said I wasn't going to make it past this week. Tuesday night I actually had a few people coming to vote. I was afraid they'd say something to me before the show started and I wouldn't be able to go on at all. We congregated upstairs and JD told us about the video. He said he didn't have everyone's photo, but not to worry. My stomach flipped. We went onstage and it was the same beginning as before. Short scenes that the host edited. I did one scene that was pretty decent. I actually had a lot of fun. Then, as we were all lined up, JD asked one of the contestants what made him special at the audition. Why did they pick him. He wasn't ready for that question, but eventually said listening. I looked up towards the balcony, where my mini-crew sat. Oh boy. He's going to ask me. And he did. "Fannie Mae, what was it about your audition that made you stand out?" "Ummm...I didn't audition." "That's right. You didn't. And you're not getting eliminated because you crashed the show. I actually think that's not bad. You're being eliminated because you blogged about it." Yep. This lj did me in. This is my improv journal. I wrote about last week for the improvisers in LA who read it and who would come out to support. I never in a million years thought JD would google his own name. But, that actually makes sense. As a producer of this show, he probably wanted to see what sort of press he was getting. They let me walk up the stairs and have a last word. And as I did, the three judges gave me a standing O. It was pretty cool. My word at the top of the stairs was "ballsy!". The crowd cheered. The most awesome part about this was that JD clearly knew he was going to eliminate me before the show even started, but he let me do the first round of scenes. It's not like they pulled me aside prior and asked me not to go on stage. And, to be honest, I'm glad it's over. The goody-two-shoes in me has been having major anxiety. I mean, if I wasn't in it last week, maybe Nick would still be there. Making it to the second week wasn't even something I had originally considered. I thought I would be gone after the first or second challenge. Besides, they have a set number of shows to do, and an extra person would have messed up the bracketing. At some point, even if they didn't say anything, I would have. Too much guilt. Anyway, I'm still really glad I did it. I've never done anything like that before, and it was an awesome experience. The way I was called out was so fantastic. And Drew mentioned Ultimate does this a couple of times a year. I will actually audition next time. I would have for this one, had I known about it. And who knows? Maybe I wouldn't have gotten in anyway. Thanks, JD, for being a good sport. It was fun while it lasted! | | Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 | | 12:52 am |
ohmygodohmygodohmygod
So, in this little experiment tonight, I just wanted to make it through the first round of scenes. I wanted the host to ask what my prison name was, and I would say Crash! I figured as soon as I went on stage JD Walsh or the host dude would know that they've never seen me before and thus I should immediately exit the stage. Then I made it past the first round. And all I could think about was what I would say when I got eliminated. The next round of scenes were two person scenes. I went and had a pretty darn good one. And when I took the stage and it was just me and one other guy, I was sure they'd know I shouldn't be up there. Nope. They were expecting to have 11 people at that point, and one would have to go solo. When the host asked for the last person to go up, another guy raised his hand and said he still needed to go to. The host looked confused. He looked at JD, who also looked confused. "This is it. They're going to say something." And if they did, I would have immediately stepped up and left. I'm not in this to be a jerk. I just wanted to see how far I could go. But they didn't. And you know what? I'm moving on to next week!!!Now, when next week rolls around, if they say something to me, I'll step out. But I'm going to ride this as long as I can. Can you believe it?!! | | Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 | | 9:17 pm |
I can't believe I'm doing this
Yesterday I went to iO to support some friends who are competing in this. There were 12 people up on the mainstage, making it pretty crowded. I thought to myself, hmmm, I wonder if they'd even notice a 13th person? The dress is business suits. So, if I wore one and went on stage looking like I knew what I was doing, how long would it take for them to notice? Would I get through the first game? Would it be immediate? I'm gonna find out! I'm crashing the show tonight! I'm super excited/nervous/terrified. What if this goes horribly awry and I get fired from iO? (probably not) What if they let me stay b/c that's ballsy? (probably not) What if they notice immediately and ask me to leave the stage and I do? (most likely scenario) Either way, if you are gonna be in Hollywood in the next couple of hours, come watch me crash this show! | | Sunday, September 21st, 2008 | | 3:56 pm |
Go vote for Kaci!
http://southwest.spigit.com/homepage She made it to the final 3 and is neck and neck with a guy who is not nearly as cool as she (no offense, guy). So go vote! update: she won! | | Saturday, September 20th, 2008 | | 8:58 pm |
UCB L-2
Started my first UCB class tonight. Brett Christenson is the teacher. Although we worked on the game, he stressed not to sacrifice the scene for a joke. That the most important thing is the relationship. I guess I was a little surprised by that. I knew UCB was all about the game, and iO is all about the relationship, but Brett really made them both important. Game is the thing I need to work on the most. After one class, I can already tell how this is going to immensely help my improv. Mama like. | | Monday, September 8th, 2008 | | 7:54 pm |
1000 Ways To Die
So, I got the part from my all time best call back. And my scenario? Death by botox! | | Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | | 11:13 pm |
I'm not done with my 5B notes but...
L 6 is frickin' amazing! Cacky is my coach, and I am stealing some of his warmups and exercises to use when I eventually teach and coach. There are so many good people in my class, I can't believe it! There was one guy in particular I did a couple of really fun scenes with. Faith (who is taking L5 at the same time) sorta knows him and brought him up. "Yeah, I did fun scenes with him!" "I know, he told me!" She asked him what he was doing there, he told her he was making up his Monday class, she said he had class tonight with her roommate. "Oh yeah, I know her! When Craig called for 2 up and she stood, I got up b/c I wanted to do a scene with her!" How awesome is that?! I'm sad he's not normally in that class because I'd like to play with him more. Actually, I'd like to play with everyone in our class more. Can you feel me vomiting the love like I'm back in that chair Friday night in Arthur's back yard? Except less messy and with fewer drunk dials. Next Thursday can't come fast enough. Oh, and Latchkey Kids are going to audition as a developmental team at the end of the month! | | Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 | | 5:58 pm |
5B with Miles Stroth
After this session, Miles will no longer be teaching at iO. He will have workshops at different theaters. If you weren’t able to take him at iO, I highly recommend taking his workshops. Something Chris Trew always says when he coaches/teaches is, “Take what you want from what I have to give you. Throw away the stuff that doesn’t work for you. But at least try what I’m teaching during this class.” I think that’s the best advice. There are things I really liked from Miles, and things that went against my improv morals. So, I threw those things away. But you can believe I performed the shit out of them during class. A few PIFs ago, I took a Miles workshop and didn’t really like it. Part of it was that it was only a 3-hour class. Part of it was just where I was improv-wise. I’ve grown a lot in LA and have had some amazing teachers. I wasn’t looking forward to 8 weeks of class, but the surprising thing is, I took more notes in his class than in the other 5 levels combined. I will break down my posts so they aren’t so dang long. There are 4 basic types of scenes: Straight/absurd Realistic – slower, takes more time Character driven (or double absurds driven) Alternate reality Miles hates when you label what someone is doing. When your partner comes out with object work, they have an idea. It is a sort of denial to name what it is, unless it’s glaringly obvious. Besides, it’s usually for a joke or sometimes it throws the scene. It’s like saying, what you’re doing isn’t good enough…We’ll go with my idea. Don’t fix things. Don’t help people. The attack is the gift. Once you know you’re the straight man, your job is to point everything out—you say what is wrong (then it should get worse/bigger). Call out everything. Be true to the emotion of the scene. Sometimes the straight man has to have a huge reaction. If you’re absurd, don’t justify or defend. Just love it, be it, show it more. Once you have a game, you can add the who & where. It adds levels to the game. Back off a little so you can hit it hard and heighten. The absurd person is usually the one who backs off. In the back off you can discover stuff. If you don’t start a scene, wait to see what your position is. The other person has an idea. Let them get it out. You start adding when you know what the scene is about. Don’t invent if you’re not the first person to speak. It creates a stall. (in class, the stall happened every single time the 2nd person tried to invent. it was pretty fascinating.) If 1 person is negative, the other person should be positive. Otherwise you will have an argument scene. Some great Miles quotes: “OK. You have the right idea. Now do it without appearing like a retarded mute.” “I’m sorry, start over. I wasn’t paying attention. My fault. What week are we in?” “Didn’t that feel…you know…gay?" | | 8:00 am |
improv clothes Misc notes on clothingWear a watch. This has become such an important item. We’ve had some 20 minute show slots and some 30 minute show slots. Until you’ve been performing for a while, it’s hard to tell how much time has past. I’ve been performing for 4 years and still need that watch. Also, wear a watch that won’t come off. I had one that wrapped around and was held together by a spring, not a latch. It flew off several times during scenes or warm ups. I then bought a watch with a clasp. For girls Don’t wear short shorts or dresses. The audience doesn’t want to see your lady parts. Stay away from tube tops/halter tops/low cut shirts. I had a scoop neck on for one performance, and Faith brought it to my attention that you could see straight down it every time I bent over. Think of a performance as a work out. You want to be able to move freely at all times. I remember seeing a Baby Wants Candy show and one of the characters was a gymnast. The entire cast ended up picking her up at one point and flipping her over and doing an entire routine. You never know what a scene will call for, so be prepared. Don’t wear heavy jewelry. There’s nothing more distracting than giant hoop earrings that you’re afraid might get pulled out during a physical scene or a clunky necklace that makes noise, or a trendy belt that keeps getting fidgeted with. Another lesson I learned was to wear secure pants. At my last Remainders show at PIF two years ago I wore black dress sweat pants. But they didn’t have a draw string. They just pulled up. At one point, Jose and I were wrestling and I didn’t go full out b/c I was afraid of losing my pants. It was still a funny scene, but if I had been able to go all out, it could have killed. Losing one’s pants isn’t really all that funny. Most of the time it just makes the audience uncomfortable. I’ve even seen that in liberal audiences. | | Thursday, August 28th, 2008 | | 1:18 am |
OoB, here I come!!!
In less than 6 hours I will be on a plane headed for Austin. Yahoo! Gotta go pack. | | Thursday, August 14th, 2008 | | 2:03 am |
Latchkey Kids!!!
We had our first show tonight. It went really well! christrew, you would have been proud! Our suggestion was video store. We had a decent opening scene. Then we do a run loosely based on the scene (characters, themes, etc). Then we're supposed to end on a group scene which has some relation to the first group scene. That part didn't go so smoothly and they weren't pulling lights. So Eric (thankgod) edited the scene. Nick and I ended up closing the show with characters we did earlier. It was much stronger. We all felt really good about what went down. This is definitely my favorite group. I'm having so much fun with them!!! And then later at The Woods (the bar downstairs), Clif and I solidified a rehearsal for our two person show. He broke down the format he wanted to do. I am uber excited. OK, it's two in the morning. I need to work a bit then pack then leave in 6 hours. Hooray! Let's all pray I can sleep on the plane. Layover in Phoenix! | | Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 | | 5:01 pm |
the callback
I truly honestly don't care if I get this part--I am just so damn proud of what I did today and that's all that really matters. I mean, people don't get parts for a million different reasons. But I know that I impressed the pants off these guys today. The callback was a lot longer than the initial audition. They were taking us back in groups of two-a guy and a girl. When it got down to the last 5, it was all girls. I was the last one to get there, and when it got down to the last 3 I wondered if they would take us all or if I would go by myself. I'd prefer to go by myself, to be honest. Because if you get a crappy scene partner, sometimes that can psyche you out or mess you up or make you look amazing or a million other things. Whatever. They took me by myself. The project is called 1000 Ways To Die and it's for Spike TV. My scenario was that I went to a botox party and was injected with bad botox. I'm at home admiring my new face when I start to feel pain. It quickly spreads throughout my body then I die. I nailed it. I mean, I knew in the middle that I was doing well. And as soon as my body slumped back into the chair, the casting director, the producer, and the director were all like, WOW! That was the best botox death we've seen! That was fantastic. Lots of really nice stuff. And they weren't just blowing wind up my skirt. Since the audition room was connected to the waiting room, I could hear the things they were saying to the other groups. Mine was definitely the most complimentary. Who knows. I may or may not get this. LA is a fickle town. But I am just so stinkin' happy with what I did and (mainly) with their reactions to it that I really feel like I left an impression. Maybe they will use me for other stuff if this one doesn't work out. Hooray! And now off to do my first improv show with the Latchkey Kids! | | Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 | | 5:58 pm |
holy crap i got a call back
I went to an audition today. The pretentiousness of some of the people in LA makes me want to put my face through a wall. There was this guy who was talking when I got there and didn't shut up until he went into his audition almost 30 minutes later. He once was paid $60.00 to audition as a hand model for SAG, though he isn't SAG himself. He's also a photographer so he took his own pictures for the submissions. Sometimes he's a graphic designer and he designed the logo for a company that has 3 movies in the can. He can't talk about it because he was sworn to secrecy until the films are released. He rides a motorcycle. When he went in to his audition he gave his helmet to the receptionist and asked her to watch it. He assured her it would not do tricks nor would it bite. Dude, you are not that important! And the people around him were eating it up and chiming in with their own stories whenever they could. This is a non-union gig. It's a whopping $150 for an entire day of work. It's not like you're the head of a bomb squad. Or the attending physician at a children's hospital. Oh. My. God. I will never get those 30 minutes back. But, yeah, the good news is that I got a call back. | | Sunday, July 27th, 2008 | | 1:45 am |
What a show!
I've been up since 5 am b/c I had to get work in before rehearsal at 9:30. We signed our papers today and saw our new apartment. Rock out! Needless to say, I'm pooped and have to get 5 hours in tomorrow before class at 3 (can't work after--rehearsal at 8). So I was very adamant with Faith tonight: we can go out after, but only for a minute. The Cool Kids were coming to watch me, along with some other friends, so I was okay with a drink after. Then we had an amazing show. And I wanted to stay out. It was the kind of show that made us squeal when it was over. A couple of times we made Andrew Melton (our accompanist) laugh. It's such a high. I had sex for the first time on stage. Was a little happy that my parents were at a wedding and unable to watch the live webcam feed. However, Faith's mom got to see my leg up on Laura's shoulder as she banged my head against the chair. I forget the title--something about ripping open the belly of a plane. I'm not going to try to explain the show. Just know that it was a fantastic note on which to end. I'm in love. | | Thursday, July 24th, 2008 | | 9:27 pm |
It's official!!!
Tomorrow Drew Lee comes over to sign a lease with me and Faith for a 3br! I am slowly sucking Austin into my world. | | Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 | | 9:06 am |
crazy dream
First it started at an arcade. I was playing Whack-a-Mole with Jenny Glyman, who's in Latchkey Kids with me. The ticket machine was broken, and we were able to pull out a ton of tickets. The lady in charge realized what was happening, and came over and yelled at us. As soon as she turned her back, Jenny continued to pull tickets out. The lady and Jenny almost got into a physical fight over the tickets. Then we moved on to Skee-ball, my personal favorite, and one I used to kill at when I was a kid. Except with this machine, there was a net over the ally so the balls wouldn't go up. I had to hold the net up with one hand and try to roll the ball up the ally with the other. I was unsuccessful. It was frustrating. Cut to a different reality where dinosaurs had been cloned and were out of control. Humans were all moving into these 5 huge buildings for safety. In the basement of one of the buildings was an area where the top minds on the planet were chosen to figure out how to control the situation. I was one of the chosen because I was really good at math. But I didn't want to go. Once you were locked away, you couldn't contact anyone. You had to stay in these meetings all day long. I didn't want to leave my family. I remember helping my dad pack up the garage and I was crying because I would never see him or mom again. Cut to a different part of this dino-reality. I'm now a completely different person who had dino blood in them. I was being chased by an angry mob who was trying to kill me. There were two other younger people in this big field. They were my siblings. I grabbed them and we ran uphill as fast as we could. There was a big cliff made of sand which we jumped off and ran into the ocean. There were dinos everywhere. At first I was in awe. The angry mob was at the top of the hill but didn't dare get into the ocean. They were satisfied we would be eaten by the sea dinos, so they went on their merry way. We swam for a bit, then got out and started running on the beach in the shade of the giant sand cliff. After a while I realized we were running in the wrong direction. I was emotionally and physically drained at that point and felt horrible that I was leading these two kids the wrong way. But they were really encouraging and we turned around and started heading towards the 5 giant buildings. That's all I remember. | | Monday, July 21st, 2008 | | 10:19 am |
Maestro show
We had our third show Saturday night. It went pretty well. The title was, John McCain, You're Breaking My Heart. I initiated a scene with one of the players who was pacing saying, "You seem very nervous for a press secretary." She then made me her assistant and she was running for mayor. OK. Or that. Our song was fine. The show didn't get taped and I can't remember the chorus, but I do remember doing something very cool in the duet, which is too complicated to explain. Later I had a duet with Laura, who played John McCain, and I was the assistant who quit. We had a very good song. Plus, it came from a very heightened emotional state. It had been building and building, then I quit, then we started singing. It was awesome! Next week is our last show. You can watch it live at http://www.bangstudio.com/webcam/ at 8pm. Once iO is rebuilt (no word on that. they're taking their damn time), we'll have a show there. Faith is in tight with James Grace, and he told her he'd book us sight unseen. We'll see how the schedule looks once they finally reopen. So, that's that. Hagrid, I promise to have my L5b notes up soon! | | Thursday, July 10th, 2008 | | 1:28 pm |
5b 'n' stuff
I started 5b with Miles Stroth last Sunday. I took more notes in that one class than in the 5 previous levels combined. Soon I will transcribe them. This session is all about hitting the game, which is what I need to work on. To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to Miles' class. I took his workshop last year, and it was just okay. But I'm getting so much out of this class I can't wait for the next 7 weeks! In other news, I was asked to join another team. It's with people who are already out of the program, and the invite came from a guy I really like improv-wise. We had a character workshop together and we were just in the same L5 class, which he was retaking for a refresher. It was really flattering to be asked. Brian O'C is the coach, which would be fun. I didn't bother asking who else was on the team b/c it would just make me sad if it were other people I knew and liked. Oh well. You can't do it all. And Semi-Awesomatics are finally coming along (which is the conflicting team. Maestro = Saturday mornings, The Latchkey Kids = Thursday afternoons, and Step 'n' Repeat = Sunday nights) now that we have an official coach. I wasn't sure if I was going to stay with the team because rehearsals weren't productive. But I really like where we are, and I'm looking forward to what we'll become. Crapsky. I need to get to work! |
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