An End to Awkardness

Last night was the final show.  Four up, four down.

As usual, the crowd laughed in all the spots they were meant to laugh.  I tracked the laughs for each show, and the crowd reaction was remarkably consistent.  Some nights certain jokes were better received than others, but we didn't have a situation where something just bombed one night and killed on another night.  I'm sure that will happen eventually.

My perch for the show was off to the side.  My big sister came to town to catch the show, and I had a clear view of her. I have to admit that watched her a fair amount to see if she was liking what was happening.  I was especially pleased that she laughed heartily at the luridly pedophilic tunes in "Crossroads."  Dark humor runs in my family, so I wasn't surprised.

We got a treat in the audience member that Brigid and Michelle summoned for "Earthwads."  He is a friend of Dan's and does a fair amount of acting, so he gave some good lines that gave Brigid and Michelle lots to work with.

As the show came to a close with Brigid, Michelle, and Janna in a soufflé of lesbianic tyranny, our run as student writers at the Second City came to an end. I can't say that there was any feeling of misty-eyed emotion that accompanied the end of the show.  The seven of us who began together in Writing One have put on a show together in March, and we've got future projects in the works.  So, we damn well that we'll be seeing more of each other.  We just have less structure for the time being.

Still, an ending calls for a look back.  Dan, Mark, Laura, Ben, Shane, Angela, and I began this journey in May 2011 -- all strangers.  We were in a class with several others -- including the infamous "Buff Guy and Old Dude."  Buff Guy and Old Dude worked for some start up or some other vaguely defined but purportedly impressive business venture.  Their stated purpose in taking Writing One was to get ideas for their business.  Or something.  Anyway, I think they were paired with Mark for an early exercise.  They are probably making millions at this very instant off a sex doll made of pancakes that tells poop jokes.  (All of which are things that Mark holds very dear.)

We really didn't start to hang out after class until late May 2011.  It soon became an extension of class where most of us would adjourn at Corcoran's or the Old Town Ale House and b.s., spitball ideas, and run through moments in class that we really liked.  Social gatherings soon followed.  Late last summer we were having a cookout when our friend Mary told us she had an in to put on a show at Gorilla Tango.  In November and December, we began planning that show and all seven of us took the term off because Laura had too much work-related travel during November and couldn't take Writing Four at that time.

As a result of our show, we were introduced to several talented actors.  We also were introduced to several talented writers when we had our massive Writing Four class.  That is when Brian joined the fray.  From there, the eight writers who wrote "This is Going to be Awkward" built our show together. It's been a Hell of a ride.  We had a great cast party at Shane and Natalie's last night.  We drank, laughed, and stuffed ourselves with tasty food.

This has been a very wonderful experience. Thanks.

They're up to no good.

How does that go, again?

AMPED!

Mr. Sherbet Trousers himself.

Fla-la-la-la-la. Lalalala.

Ebony and Ivory, living together in perfect harmony.

These fuckin' guys.

The Graduate.

This is how you control an alien hand.

Fuck you, too.

How Brian looks through beer goggles.

Birthday Face. 

Before he did a strip tease as Woody Woodpecker.

Da Turd

"Da Turd."  That doesn't mean we laid a turd last might.  It means that last night's show was "the third." But if you the "the third" in an over-the-top Chicago accent, you get "da Turd." So there.

One might say that's an awkward way to begin this post, but "awkward" is the name of the game for us.  It's IN the title, for fuck's sake.  So, yeah, show three.

The show feels like a well-oiled machine at this point.  That should bode well for the fourth show, which is closing night.  So, COME OUT AND SEE THE SHOW NEXT FRIDAY, OR YOU'RE SHIT OUT OF LUCK!

The actors met at 7:30 to run through lines, and I showed up about 8:30 to hang out with them as they prepare.  I like seeing this process, but it dawned on me that maybe it's kind of creepy.

I think maybe I do it because I've acted with half the cast before: Michelle, Sam, and David.  All three are very great people to have around when you want to expel nervous energy.  Even as a writer, I feel nervous energy before a show. I know that the actors will portray the words and the scene in the best way possible, but if the jokes fall flat or the scene fundamentally isn't funny, it's on me as a writer. I still think that way before every show, it makes me nervous, and spending time with the actors before they go on helps to quell that anxiety.  Thanks, thespians.

The actors began to do a very cool thing before the show as a warm-up.  They were in a circle, and began to pass a ball around and whoever had the ball had to say something positive about the others in the circle.  Unfortunately, it had to be truncated to the person with the ball saying something nice about the person from whom they received the ball. (This exercise began five minutes before show time.)  Nevertheless, this was a very cool exercise before going on.

On that note, I think I'll take a break from listing my highlights from last night's show.  If I had the ball in my hand and had to look around the room at the people who've been a part of this process, I would say:

Michelle:  I've had the pleasure of seeing you bring life to characters that I've written, and I've also had the privilege of sharing the stage with you.  You bring physicality and depth to roles and scenes that could easily fall flat as boring conversations.  Anybody can look like a good actor with you on stage because you initiate with your fellow actors in a way that is convincing and seamless.  I will always laugh whenever I hear a Melissa Etheridge song because of you.

Detroit Angie: You are a dynamo of funny scene ideas, and you also have the skill to actually turn funny ideas into funny scenes.  (Hey, that's easier said than done.)  Your dedication to the group is an inspiration to us all, and you're an awesome friend to boot.  You've written funny conventional scenes, and you've come up with some asinine stuff that has left us with our sides hurting.  And, of course, you're just another example of why Detroit is awesome.

Andy:  In a sketch show you still improvise in discreet ways that don't overshadow the scene but add to it and make it slightly different each week -- e.g. the antics with the baby in "Real Version," the tie rolling out of your mouth as vomit (or a tongue?) in Wild Wild West, and the awesome whiteboy dancing in The Big Dance.  Also, the different voices really inform and change your characters.

Benhur: It's not fair that you have such a wide comedic range.  In both of our shows, you've consistently produced some of our strongest sketches, and they have been incredibly varied in their content.  If I keep heaping praise on you, people may think I have a crush on you, so I'll stop.

Brigid:  You are a force of nature.  It's been informative watching the energy that you bring to the stage every week.  Selfishly, I cannot thank you enough for injecting life into my sketch. When I wrote the sketch, I was worried that Gloria's character was garnish. But you're never garnish, and you made the entire scene better as result.

Dan:  A great friend, a funny and talented writer, and a seriously awesome actor.  Because of these varied talents, you made class fun in two ways -- you'd write a funny sketch, and then we'd get to see you act in several sketches each week and kill it. You are a magician at writing date scenes that go horribly wrong and scenes that lampoon self important dickheads.  And, of course, you gave us writers the phrase, "Jeezers Peezers."

Sam:  You go after your roles with passion.  It shows in how freakishly fast you get off book and in how you dissect your contribution to the scene afterwards.  You also have a very broad range as an actor: a superhero, a Zorro-esque Lothario, a folksy farm boy with delusions of grandeur, an oversexed husband losing his shit at a wedding, and a cross-dressing teenage boy from the upper crust.  But damn it all if you aren't funnier off stage.

Mark: You are a sick and depraved talentless hack.  Give $50 to a hooker, lose your virginity, and move on. That is all.

Janna: You really do become your characters.  Because of that, you deliver your lines in a very seamless and convincing way.  Case in point: the object work that you do in Wild Wild West.  In that scene, you keep your self busy with the business of the scene even when the action is elsewhere on stage.  And then there is the motherly muttering that you do doing Original Jewish Mother, classic.

Laura:  Two of our strongest sketches and yet you had at least three other submissions that easily could have been staged for this show. Not fair. I am especially envious of your ability to take incidents from your life and meld them into funny sketches.  Yeah, you're alright for a University of Chicago egghead.  No comment on your college football allegiance.

David:  I'm so happy you're part of this show, and I miss being on stage with you.  I was always impressed with your skill as an improviser, and you've nailed the sketch thang as well.  The research and hard work you put into your roles shows, especially in the Alien Hand.  I hope the future holds more opportunities for us to make funny together.

Brian:  It's been fun getting to know you over the past several months.  I still think that Anointing of the Sickos needs to be staged somewhere.  Afterwards, we can have the best excommunication party ever!  Seriously, you have a rare gift of being able to go to opposite ends of the innocence/offensive continuum.  I envy that, and you made the show better as a result.

Joe:  Yeah, the Big Cheese.  Suppose I gotta play nice, or you'll blacklist me and I'll never be considered funny in the Great Lakes watershed ever again, right?  Your vision as a director elevated our show, and taught us all so much through osmosis.  You love your job, and I especially envy you for that.  You made wonderful suggestions to our writing throughout this process, and you provided the necessary pat on the back when needed.

Shane:  Our Bro-mance is long documented.  I'll withhold further comment to as to avoid any speculation regarding the true nature of our friendship.  I don't think our fans in Russia (or our wives) would be ready for that revelation.

Last Chance:  BUY A TICKET
http://www.laughstub.com/secondcitychicago-skyboxtheater


Pre-Show Footage:

Family Sing-A-Long

The Guitar Man

Andy

Sam

Family Sing-A-Long #2

Brigid & David -- Takin' it to Church

Git Down!

Programs. Duh.

Men.  Participating in Ball Play.

He gets a shave with a straight razor before every show.

Nummer Zwei

Show number two last night.  Show number two at the ass end of a heat wave.

I had the pleasure of hanging with the actors for a bit while they ran lines in a classroom.  Brigid must have liquid meth coursing through her veins.  She was just as energetic during the read through as she is on stage.

Backstage was pretty miserable.  Heavy air and a pitiful fan trying to move the air.  We didn't spend much time hanging out there.

The theater felt slightly better than backstage, but then lights went up and it was steamy in the theater, too.  The lights even dimmed a couple times during the opening dance montage, as if we were about to lose power.  Not to worry, though.  We had a great crowd last night with several familiar faces (friends, family, frenemies, etc.) who helped us power through.  (Well, I didn't do much of anything.  I just sat there and took notes, but I felt the audience's energy and took those notes with gusto and precision as a result.)

Laura's masterpiece of a terrible date (based on a true story) once again got us off on the right foot.  Who can't laugh at vomit and a date that refuses to die?  It's really cool to see the way Andy mixes it up in this sketch and in Ben's western sketch each week.  He doesn't rely on the same actions each week, and he always gets laughs. For somebody who dabbles in acting here and there, it's really instructive to watch him.

Speaking of watching something instructive, Dave gets a big shout out for the wonderful work he's been doing in Dan's "hand sketch."  Without giving away the premise of the sketch, Dave has the difficult task of delivering his lines with one emotion while one of hands behaves in a manner that is completely contrary.  It's fun to watch, and Dave's told me about the research he's done into puppeteers while doing this role.  (Presumably, he wasn't into puppets as a hobby before this show.  If he was, he's weird.)

Getting back to our great crowd last night.  It seemed to me that this crowd was more into the show's darkest sketch -- Shane's "Crossroads." (Which is personally my favorite sketch.  There, I said it.) The sketch makes light of serious subject matter. The crowd definitely laughed last week, but this week it was more robust.  Having this sketch in the middle of the show is great because its the only sketch that makes extensive use of music, which helps to raise the energy in the theatre.  This was particularly welcome in a muggy and dark room.

We had a special treat during Brian's messing with the audience sketch, "The Big Dance."  Colleen, one of our former classmates was chosen as the audience member who was the object of Andy's affection.  She did a super job, and was kind enough not to steal the scene.  (I hate when audience members try to do that.) Likewise, another former classmate, Amanda, was chosen to be the audience member for Mark's messing with the audience piece, "Earthwads."  She was a great choice, and Brigid and Michelle had particular fun messing with her.  It showed.

Another personal highlight from yesterday was in Laura's "Original Jewish Mother" sketch.  Janna plays the mother and she added all these great motherly mutterings to the end of the scripted lines that complemented her actions on stage.  It worked really well.

We then had the house brought down with Detroit Angie's "End of Civilization."  Nope, I'm not sharing details, but anarchy reigns supreme on the stage as the actors scurry about being wonderfully vulgar.  The ending is worth the price of admission.

We're clicking right along, and we're halfway through our run.  Damn, don't want it to end.

If you haven't done so: BUY A FRICKIN' TICKET, ALREADY.

Always telling us what to do.

Take that!

Wait for it....

Uh, this is awkward.  Right?

DRINKING!

Dave attempting to roofie himself.

We were near the Golden Tee machine. We felt the power of the douche.

This Is Going to be Awkward: Opening Night

Tonight was opening night.  Finally. I don't know where to begin this post, but last week is probably a good place to start.

Last weekend we had our final rehearsals, and I think we had reached a point of self-doubt.  Self-doubt because the sketches no longer felt funny.  A few of us realized this was just funny fatigue, and recognized that we just needed to get our show in front of an audience.  Well, tonight we got our audience, our splendidly talented actors delivered, comedy was delivered, and laughs were paid in full.

Tonight had a different feeling to our Gorilla Tango show back in March.  For that show most of us were together for several hours before the show.  Today, it was more ad hoc.  I didn't even see the actors until a few minutes before the show.  Brian and I went back stage at the Skybox and hung with them before the curtain went up.  Personally, it was also a very different feeling this time around because I wasn't acting.  The nervous energy was markedly reduced by not acting.  My sketch is toward the end of the show, and whatever insecurities I may have about the script, I know that it's in great hands with Andy, Brigid, Dave, and Sam delivering the lines on stage.  So, this worrier felt pretty good and excited before the show began.  (This is a stark contrast to my feelings about the sketch I contributed to our show back in March.)

So, the show began.  The opening sequence looked great.  It really did.  As mentioned before, it was every actor on the stage in a freeze frame from the various sketches. As this sequence ended, the actors took their marks for the first sketch -- Laura's harrowing tale opt a date gone awry.  This is a very strong piece and was rightfully in the lead off spot.  We made a strong promise to the audience with this sketch: this is going to be a good show.  We delivered on that promise, as far as I'm concerned.

In previous post-show posts, I've given a somewhat exhaustive blow-by-blow of each piece and the crowd's reaction.  I'm not inclined to do that this time.  (It's tedious, and it's now 1:30 a.m. and I have my first conservatory class tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.)  One new thing that I did tonight was I took notes of where the laughs are in each sketch.  My wife gave me this idea because she heard that stand-ups do it.

For me, this exercise was fascinating, almost like taking score at a baseball game.  That sounds mega-nerdy, but hear me out: if you take score at a baseball game, you will pay more attention to the game than you otherwise would. You'll notice subtleties and nuances that may have otherwise escaped you.  Tonight I took crude notes of the phrase or action that preceded a good laugh from the audience. This information still needs to be processed (which will be the topic of a future post), but it will be interesting to see what crowds consistently laughed at, which jokes bombed, and which sequences may be loved by one audience but get no love from another audience.

Again, our actors did a phenomenal job tonight.  Getting back to my contribution to the show, I cannot say enough wonderful things about the life and energy they injected into my sketch.  My sketch began as something that was very "talking heads." (That is not a reference to the avant grade 80's band; "talking heads" is NOT how you want your work described in the sketch comedy world.)  These talented thespians dressed up my piece with accents, action, great timing, and wonderful chemistry.  I thank them.

And a funny (bad pun) thing happened tonight.  As I sat there watching the same sketches that I have seen over a dozen times in the past few weeks, the funny fatigue evaporated.  I was laughing and chuckling and chortling once again, even though I knew the jokes, the plot twists, and punchlines.  What a great feeling.

Pre- and post-show footage:

Fully-clothed and tasteful junk shot.

Yuk-Yuk-Yuk.

Slice of life. 

Oh yeah, up-jean action.

Milling about.

Scored me a backstage pass.

Pretty much sums up our weekends for about the past year.

Andy, Anne, and David.

So, the night concluded at the Old Town Ale House, which had an alarmingly high douche bag content tonight.  There was a feeling of relief as we drained pitchers of beer, and the remainder of this run will be great fun.  This is a great group of people.

T.E.C.H.

[Last night was our tech rehearsal.  Enjoy the following account from Mr. Mark "Marquis de Sade" Peters.]

John was too busy doing awesome things like BEING IN THE FREAKING SECOND CITY CONSERVATORY LIKE A GODDAMN ROCK STAR to attend our rehearsal Sunday night. [Not quite, but fuck it.] Thus, I am filling in for him this week, as a blogger, a historian, and a husband. [Wait?! What?!]

For myself—and Ben and Shane—the night began at the Old Town Ale House, where bourbon was sipped and tales were told of the days of old or whatever.

We then moved on to class for the final full rehearsal before the show, followed by the tech rehearsal. Unfortunately, one of our actors was sick. The actor in question was a lady, which led to much hilarity and horror as I subbed for her during the first run-through. For me, the highlights included being in a succubus sandwich with the lovely Brigid and Michelle, and then having my delicate hand licked by the piercing tongue of Sam. What the rehearsal lacked in progress, it made up for in ridiculousness, which was kinda beneficial to a somewhat stressed-out  group. For me, the pre-rehearsal bourbon proved to be a very good choice.

For tech, we got into the actual theater, and I passed the fill-in actor baton to Brian—a time traveler from the fifties, if you didn’t know—and sat in the booth with the techmeister (I forgot his name) and Laura (the soundmeister). The booth smelled like a combination of Jim Belushi’s ass and Tina Fey’s used tampons.

I’ve read Lorne Michaels likes to say, of Saturday Night Live, something like “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready. It’s goes on because it’s 11:30.” We probably need to embrace that philosophy with this show. It ain’t gonna be perfect, but it should be good. At this point, we are so sick of the sketches that they seem as funny as a kitten raping a puppy. It will be good for these sketches to be heard by fresh ears.

Or as John’s sister likes to say, “You’re not a cop, are you?” [Damn you, Mark. I'm not even going to remark that either of my sisters could kick your ass, because you'd just beg me to make it happen.]

[Read more of Mark's sweet nothings at http://wordlust.blogspot.com/. If you're a woman (or reasonably passable she-male), please knock his boots.  He needs it.]

Heilige Scheiße! We open in one week.

We open in less than one week.  Gulp.

Yesterday's rehearsal felt a bit tense.  At least it felt tense from where I sat, but I'm feeling pretty tense at the moment.  So, there could be some distortion in how I view things.

We ran through everything from start to finish in the running order that we'll most likely use for the show.  We ran it complete with songs, props, and sound effects -- oh my!

This also marked the first rehearsal since last week's bloodletting in which three sketches were cut.  The casualties were: Relation Shipwrecked, Anointing of the Sickos, and Therapy (aka "the talking penis sketch").   We had to cut things for time.  Chopping off the penis sketch was an easy call.  I can say that because it was mine.  It had a very real danger of confusing the audience, and you can't have that.

We spent the first several minutes of class concocting an opening choreographed sequence with freeze frames from each sketch.  Seeing this on stage with the lighting will be pretty cool.

We then ran through every sketch.  At this point, we've been running through some of these sketches several times a week for eight weeks.  I think the tension comes from the fact that we've rehearsed some the pieces so many times, that everybody in that theater isn't laughing too much.  The lack of laughter -- I think -- makes people nervous that something that was funny several months ago no longer is.  Sitting here a day later, I know that's not true.  Still, we need to get the show in front of an audience to let others laugh at what we've created.

On balance, things appear to be in good shape.  Some kinks need to be ironed out, and that will be the point of our tech rehearsal and a few final walk-throughs.

Opening Night: Friday, June 30, 2012 at 9:00 p.m. at Donny's Skybox in Piper's Alley (North Ave. and Wells St.).

Yesterday's footage.

Lord of the Dance

Why?  Come to the show!

It's a long story.

Underlord of the Dance

They're into role playing.

They're also into role playing.

Pretty friggin' artistic, n'est-ce pas?

He's fixin' to charm the dungarees right off of her.

Oh, cripe.  Are they running my sketch again?

Blah Blah Blah

Blah Blah Blah
Busy day yesterday, Blah Blah Blah.
Ran through everything Blah Blah Blah.
All the actors were there Blah Blah Blah.
They are funny and talented Blah Blah Blah.
The show is running too long Blah Blah Blah.
Scenes have to be cut Blah Blah Blah.
Three scenes got cut Blah Blah Blah.
Holy shit, we opened in two weeks and half of the scenes Blah Blah Blah.
Blah Blah Blah off book.
Waste of Blah Blah Blah.
Saw Scott Adsit yesterBlah Blah Blah.
Too bad, no pictures because Blah Blah Blah.

We have a poster Blah Blah Blah.

Enjoy. Blah Blah Blah.

Blah Blah Blah

If you can navigate a webpage, you may be able to figure out how to buy a ticket.
BLAH BLAH FUCKING BLAH.

Decimated Ranks

We were severely short-handed yesterday.  Three actors and two writers were absent, but we didn't let that stop us from having some fun.  Every sketch got a run through yesterday, and we had writers filling in for actors in every sketch.

Yours truly got to take a stab at every sketch yesterday.  So, yesterday I got to be: an alien foot soldier who's a conscientious objector (of sorts), a woman on a first date with a man who has an exotic illness, a maniacal villain (with a German accent), a bumbling Slim Pickens cowboy, a succubus, a newlywed fleeing a sinking ship, a foghorn, an overbearing Jewish mother, an overbearing Catholic mother, an overbearing protestant mother, a nervous high school boy trying to work up his nerve for the big dance, a woman on a first date from hell, a mother with linguistic hang-ups, an alien commander who hates humanity (and jorts), and a reverend presiding over a same-sex marriage.  Whew.  Having that much fun in a couple hours should be illegal.  Oh, and Dave kissed another man yesterday.  His promiscuity is becoming less and less of a laughing matter.

I don't how useful yesterday was for blocking, but the actors at rehearsal are pretty much off-book by this point.  Things are coming along nicely at this point, and we get to start using props next week.  You know shit is getting real when toys are involved.

We are also compiling the music for the show.  I will be mega pissed if Ted Nugent's "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" is not included.  Some Color Me Badd would also be nice.

I have no captures from yesterday's tomfoolery on stage because I left my camera in the car.  However, I do have one iPhone picture from the beginning of class:

Yes, it says "Michigan Sex Doll."

This was my present for getting accepted into the Conservatory.  Never has something so disgusting made me feel so loved.  The genesis of the term "Michigan Sex Doll" is a most crass inside joke.  No, I don't care to explain.  But what you are seeing is a watermelon stuffed with shaved salami.  I proudly paraded it through the streets of Old Town after class.  Some former fratboys seemed offended by this creation, no doubt they were having flash backs to suppressed memories of hazing rituals.

Skeleton Staff

Yesterday was a challenge.  We had three actors missing for most of the rehearsal.  As I was once told on a construction site: sometimes you just gotta piss with the dick you got.  That's exactly what we did.

We ran through a couple sketches that we hadn't blocked and hadn't run through in quite some time: Mark's "The P Word" and Benhur's "More than Enemies."  "Enemies" was a crowd favorite, and it is some very funny stuff.  One of the fun things about this process is when we block something for the first time.  The actors have their take on the movements their characters should have in the context of the script, Joe will have the actors try different things, and (every once in a while) we writers come up with something useful.  "Enemies" was one of those sketches where the suggestions were flying around, and the end result was pretty damn good.  We also saw Joe execute a perfect cartwheel.  Oh, yes, he did.

We also tried a new staging for Laura's "Original Jewish Mother."  This involved using a pillar that is off the stage.  Sorry, can't really divulge why needed to use this pillar, because that would give away too much.  It worked, and it will look even better when the lights are being adjusted during an actual show.  (During rehearsal, the pillar is in the shadows.)

Dan, wearing his shawl.

Some pillar action.

More pillar action.

Don't know the point of this picture.  Oh well.