If I ruled the world

2012-01-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

This weekend was filled with a lot of running and a lot of improv.

Friday I ran 4 miles with O when we got home from work. (O ran her first sub 8 minute mile!)
Saturday morning we woke up and ran 8 miles
Sunday morning I woke up and ran 3. The intention was to run 4, but right at 3 I had to shit so bad that I had to waddle home. I couldn’t walk normally. It was annoying and gross and EWEWEWE. Today I’m going to do 5 when I get home from work to make up for missing 1 yesterday. Tomorrow I will not run.

Saturday night I watched Let’s Have a Ball and Roo Roo.
Sunday I watched ASSSSCAT.

I lead a very good life.

Brag brag brag

2012-01-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

1 00:07:48

2 00:08:04

3 00:08:20

4 00:07:29

These are my split times for my 4 mile run last night. Truth be told, I had planned on running 7 miles last night, but Believe us, This is All Made Up was coming on the Documentary Channel RIGHT as I was leaving, so I made myself a deal. If I ran 4 miles as fast as I could, I could stop and return home. This run turned into a PR for me by a ton! My fastest average time up until yesterday was at 8:25 per mile, and last night I clocked in at 7:57 per mile.

I was fucking ZONKED.

Misery

2012-01-24T12:25:00.000-08:00

Here is my favorite picture from the run this past weekend. Note to self: Never wear a jacket that snow sticks to. This is near the end. Can you see how much I hate myself?

This morning I ran 4 miles on sore legs, but I think it made them less sore, which is weird. 8:20 per mile average too.

Manhattan Half Marathon

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Olivia and I finally got to run our half marathon this weekend. The route was two loops around central park, with a little bit extra to make it a complete 13.1 mile run. Olivia was more excited than I expected anyone could be for a run that long, but she was bouncing around and lively the night before the race. I wasn’t nervous, but I was too aware of the distance we were about to attempt, so my excitement level wasn’t nearly as high.

To make this event even harder and scarier, god finally blessed our great city with a thick blanket of snow the morning of the race. The event coordinators decided to make the race a “fun run” so people wouldn’t hurt themselves trying to compete for time, so there is no official time for the run on record. My clock shows me finishing at two hours and nine minutes. A little faster than I expected to run it.

I learned some things during this run that I had read about, but never in my life experienced. The first was actually being able to feel an energy tank at empty. I’ve felt hunger before, but I’ve never gotten to a point, physically, where I felt like I was near empty. They gave us these energy goo packs to use during the run, and boy were they needed. The cool thing about it was actually feeling them kick in. Your body is about to shut off and all of the sudden these weird bursts of energy kick in and you feel like you can run forever again. It is super weird and good to know. I’ll try to prepare more for whatever marathon that I chose to run.

I also learned that people are crazy! The course was covered with snow. There was not one place along the course that had a good place to run. You couldn’t get any traction no matter how hard you tried. And there were a few thousand idiots out there doing that.

Having a running partner is super beneficial. Even though Olivia and I didn’t run together, I knew she was in the pack somewhere and that always was a help to think about. At points I worried that she was hurt somewhere along the track, but knowing we were doing that together was amazing. Doing something like this with a partner can really strengthen a relationship, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Anyways, 2 days later, a lot of food shoved through my system, I’m sore but content. I feel the same as I did after getting off my lazy ass and running my first mile a year ago. I’m just happy to know that it takes 13 to feel this way, and not just one.

The scary thing is that I can't wait to do it again.

Challenges

2012-01-18T06:40:00.001-08:00

I knew I wouldn’t wake up this morning to go running, so I ran last night after Harold Night. It was almost 50 degrees out and there was no way I could pass that up. I’ll be honest. I’m a little scared to run at night, but I carry next to nothing on me other than my phone, so I’m not too worried. Also, I’m probably in better shape than most people who would rob me, so I could probably out run them.

So last night I did my old 4 mile loop, which starts at my apartment and ends leaving the park. The run started off great, but I did NOT want to be out there. Sometimes running is just super boring, and last night was one of those nights, but I knew I had to get it done because I was not going to wake up and do it. So I made a challenge to myself. I challenged myself to run the last mile harder than I have run any mile to date.

I can now happily say that I ran my first ever sub eight minute mile. The time was 7:48. This blew my mind and made me super happy for having got off my ass and just went running. Average pace for all four miles was 8:33. If I didn’t do such a slow warm up mile I probably could have gotten that lower. I do know that there is no way I can do the half at that pace though. Back to 9-10 minute miles for that.

Half Marathon - 4 days away

2012-01-17T08:04:00.001-08:00

This weekend was cold as a witches ice cube. Olivia and I went out and ran twice over the 3 day weekend. On Saturday we ran a six mile loop, and on Monday we did 7 miles. We are both preparing for our Half Marathon this coming up Saturday. Should be fun. We both feel ready for it and I don’t think it should be too bad.

I’ve been working hard on figuring out exactly what kind of fuels I need to eat to make my runs feel more energized. I tried a few days of low carbs and I know FULL well that that is a horrible way to prepare for a run. I tried a few days of heavy carbs with not much protein. My runs were energized, but I was sore longer than usual. *Makes sense*

So what I have figured out is that right before going to sleep I need to eat a bowl of cereal, or something similar to that. The morning of a run, I have to keep it really light but make sure that I eat enough that I don’t get dizzy during the run. This is a hard balance to figure out and I still haven’t gotten it just right. I’m going to try to wake up at 5:00am tomorrow and eat a bunch of fruit only before going out at 6:00. Also I need to hydrate better before heading out. I look forward to seeing how tomorrow morning pans out.

Tues/Wed

2012-01-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

Last night I made one mistake twice, during Still Mike’s set.

I hesitated. Two walk-ons were made and I didn’t pull the trigger on them and allowed them to skirt by unsupported.

So that got me thinking, is it better to go ahead and pull the trigger even if you aren’t sure of a walk-ons intention, or is it better to hesitate until the picture becomes clearer to you? I think the answer that I came up with is that it is better to pull the trigger, because if you fuck up, you can fix that, but if you wait too long, that moment will never happen again.

It also got me thinking about a note Anthony King gave me a long time ago. Just assume that the people doing walk-ons are doing it for a reason.

I’ll get this shit down yet!

*Woke up this morning and did my 5 miles. 8:43 mins/mile

2012-01-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

I ran the Joe Kleinerman 10K race this weekend in Central Park. My Buddy Kurt Guenther was with me for this one. I wasn’t feeling 100% going into this run, and I ate a really shitty breakfast. I also tried to compete with Kurt so I ran too fast too soon and found myself dizzy around mile 4. I made myself stop at every water station which helped a bit. I ended up finishing the race, but I wasn’t happy with my time.

Click here for official times and see how bad I did.

Yesterday I ran when I got home and it felt like everything was better. I ran my fastest average pace, which was 8:54 per mile, for five miles. I think just like everything, we are going to hit slumps and shit is going to get harder, and then they get a million times easier once you get over that hill. Hopefully I’ll continue to improve.

This pic is from the Joe Kleinerman race.

Lesson learned

2011-12-23T06:20:00.001-08:00

Last night’s run was the hardest to date. I’d say it was harder to complete than my first mile over a year ago. Granted, we ran 5 last night, but that isn’t the point. The point is is that I could not catch my breath. I know why. I was slightly sick and I drank 2 nights prior. It’s really amazing how drinking affects ones performance when it comes to exercise. I expected to be fine 2 days later, but I was absolutely wrong. We finished the hill in Prospect Park, and I was dead. I kept trying to slow down to get some air, and I just couldn’t do it. After 1 lap of the park, I told O$ that I was done. This was at 3.6 miles. I stood there angry for a moment and realized she would be running in a dark park alone, so I tried to take some deep breaths and got back on the road.

By the end I was so angry and out of breath that I couldn’t even talk to O$. I wasn’t mad at her. I was mad at me. I shook it off shortly after, but it was a very good lesson learned. That if I expect to continue like this, I really have to cut out the partying. It makes EVERYTHING worse.

Upcoming events

2011-12-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

Upcoming races and shit

January 7th I am signed up for a 10K with my buddy Kurt, and 2 weeks later, O$ and I have our Half-Marathon to run. I’m oddly not nervous about that. It’s just 3 miles longer than my longest run to date. A simple 5K. A meager 25 minutes of life. A simple jaunt through the park.

My average run now is 5 miles instead of 4. Good things

We are doing a 4 mile run after work. I might extend it to 5 because I want to keep hitting that number.

15K!

2011-12-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

This weekend O$ and I went to run in the Corbitt 15K race in Central Park. We were both pretty excited to do this event, since we hadn’t run that far together yet. I had run 10 miles before, and O$ had ran up to 9. So we were both anxious and a little bit nervous. We decided to run from her parent’s place, to the race, so we were guaranteed to run at least 10 miles, since the race was only about 9.3, and a good warm up mile is good to throw in beforehand.

We ran together, or very close to each other for most of the race. Only near the end at one of the last hills did I start to get angry and run faster. So miles 8-9 are the only miles we didn’t run together. I think we both agreed that it was better to run at our own pace when we were more tired. So that worked out well.

I don’t have any races coming up in the near future. I’ve got the half marathon coming up in a month, so the next month will be prepping for that.

Here is a pic of me at the Jingle Bell race last weekend.

These are my split times for the race. I'm pretty amazed that I get faster the longer I run. Weird weird weird. I mean it makes sense that I run slow at the start because I'm running in a pack of 5k people, but I'm trying to figure out why I can kick it up for the last few miles. Maybe that is just normal.

Time

10:18
09:17
09:04
08:47
08:46
08:52
08:45
08:50
08:43
08:12

Going strong and consistent

2011-12-16T07:05:00.001-08:00

So far this month has been my best month to date. I’ve run no less than three times per week since November 28th, and most weeks I’ve run 4. So far this week I’ve run 13, and I have a 10 mile race tomorrow. That will be the single most I’ve run in a week. That’s exciting!

I ran last night as well. I feel like I’m starting to get another cold, but I felt the need to run anyways. So I made a plan to run my loop and end up at the grocery store to get some Nyquil. The plan went great and I got my sleep meds. Then when I got home I looked up the stats of my run and was shocked to see that the first three miles of my run were identical. They each took exactly 8:48. I know my pace is pretty consistent, but this blew me away. Sure it wasn’t rocket powered speed, but I’m more worried about consistency than anything else. Next spring I’ll start incorporating speed work into my routine.

If you do something once, you can never say you can't do that - ever

2011-12-15T07:25:00.001-08:00

Although my body isn’t changing drastically from running, there are constant excitements that come along with this, and most of those changes are mental. The body will come along as I get a better grasp on my eating habits/pitfalls.

With running I’m starting to realize that I can’t tell my brain to shut up. It is a constant chatter about how hard it is to run and how tired I am. It constantly wants me to turn around and walk the rest. I am starting to believe that is just a defense mechanism more than anything. When one starts running out of oxygen, it signals to the brain that you need air and you need it fast. In other words, your brain is panicking as if it is drowning. It wants you to rest because it is afraid of death. But we can choose not to listen to that part of our brain, because we know we are not going to die, unless you are running the Philly marathon. Anyways, I’m getting better at telling myself that my brain is just freaking out and to not listen to it. I’m starting to think of my body as a battery, and even though I’m tired I could technically run it until it is out of juice, and I can just recharge it later. Yes, I don’t want to damage myself, so I’m not going to do that, but the idea is sound.

Last night I tried a new loop. Sadly I thought it was going to be longer than it was. I thought it was going to be close to 6 miles, but it was not even 4.5. Anyways, I started trying to think to myself through the run, and that helped. I tried to reassure myself that nothing was wrong and the battles were mental. Doing this I actually ran a lot slower than I have been, but the run was super easy. It was the least tired I felt after running that distance since I started.

The beginning of the run was actually what used to be my long run. When I first started running, 2 miles was my long run. Putting this at the front of my loop made that 2 miles seem laughable. I only got slightly winded on the hill that starts my run. The rest was almost too easy. It really helped me see how far I have come.

Still ploding

2011-12-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

So I’m still hitting the pavement, and I still do NOT enjoy it. I think that is how it is supposed to be. I don’t think anyone truly loves running. I think people enjoy the feeling they get afterwards, or they get a high after cresting a hill, but in general, I don’t think anyone enjoys it while they are doing it. It’s a reward based program that I feel people get addicted to.

This past weekend I did the 4 (3.88) mile Jingle Bells run in Prospect Park. This was a cool race. Everyone had jingle bells attached to their feet, and so many people dressed up. I ran this one a lot faster than I have run that far in the past. I started feeling good after 3 miles and sped up, so my last mile was really fast for me.

This coming up weekend I’m signed up for a 15K. I’m not nervous, because I have run 10 miles before, but it’s my first race of this kind of length. I will have to try my hardest to not be competitive during this and just run my race. I know I won’t finish high, and that is fine. I’m still a 200+lb dude. I’m not supposed to run fast. But most 200+lb dudes aren’t out there doing what I’m doing either, so I’m better than ALL OF THEM!

I applied for the lottery for the official NYC Half Marathon in March. I really hope I get into this. It will help keep me motivated through the winter. I have a half scheduled in January, but for some reason that doesn’t excite me as much. That one is part of the borough half marathon series, and that in itself is pretty awesome, it just doesn’t have the same oomph as the actual NYC Half Marathon does. So I’m praying to get into that.

I’m also reading Ultra Marathon Man. Not because I EVER plan on committing suicide, but seeing the thought processes of some of the craziest people is really really cool. Give it a look.

Fastest time yet

2011-12-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up at 6:00 without much problem. I think that excites me more than running. The fact that my body is becoming accustomed to waking up early. Even on days that I don't run, I'm making myself wake up at that time so I don't shock it with different times. I think it is working.

I was out of the door at 6:40, after eating some Fiber One. I did my 4 mile loop in exactly 35 minutes. I sprinted the last 1/4 mile, or at least what I call sprinting. Most people probably call it jogging. Anyways, I'm pleased that I'm getting a tiny bit faster, even though that isn't what I am trying to do.

Hopefully the weather will be nice enough tomorrow that O$ and I can run after work.

P.S. I warned you that this blog would get super boring.

Race - 5 mile race for Brain Cancer

2011-12-05T12:14:00.001-08:00

Saturday I woke up and plodded off 4 miles, even though I had told myself I wasn’t going to, because I had a 5 mile race on Saturday.

It really is amazing doing this running bullshit. Like one day every step seems hard. The breathing is laborious, the joints ache and the heart beats to fast. Then you go out again the very next day, and it feels TOO easy. I don’t understand it. I know it often has a lot to do with what you consumed, but I can’t pinpoint exactly what. Hopefully the more I do this, the more I’ll learn and I’ll understand how to make it easier when I want to.

Morning with O$

2011-12-02T07:55:00.001-08:00

Work up with O$ this morning around 6:00 and went to central park as soon as we scarfed down some oatmeal.

The plan was to run 8 miles, but my tracker did a super weird zig zag out into nowhere, and when it said we had done 8 miles, it was wrong. We actually only ran 7.33, but that’s cool. I know we could have done the 8. I know I could have gone probably to 10 if I wanted to really push it. I have a 15K coming up in a few weeks, and although I’m not scared of not finishing, it is my first super long “race.” So I’m a bit scared about that, and excited. Which is weird. It feels like losing my virginity again. Which I destroyed the second I lost it. So maybe 15Ks will become like that. Me losing my virginity and then going on a sexual awakening.

Half-Marathon coming up.

2011-12-01T12:54:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I did my 4 miles as soon as I got home and then cleaned the fuck out of my bedroom. Both of which made me feel immediately better and less stressed out. The run was tough again. I don’t quite understand it. I seem to run better in the morning with very little food in me than I do later in the day.

Now it is official, I have signed up for my first Half-Marathon, which will take place January 21st at 8:00am. That will be my longest run to date, but I am pretty sure I’ll be ready for it by then.

4 mile afternoon

2011-11-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

Did a short 4 mile run yesterday, but it was very slow. My body just wasn't feeling it and I was immediately tired. I wanted to do a long run, but did what I felt was good for me and didn't push it. So that's good.

Upcoming races
12/4 - 5 mile run in Central Park
12/10 - 4 mile run in Prospect Park
12/17 - 15K in Central Park

I'm expecting the 15K to be right around my limit for now. I'm pretty sure I could run a half marathon right now, but that would probably injure me a bit, so I'm not pushing for that until January.

One run

2011-11-28T07:16:00.001-08:00

We ran 7 miles on Thursday morning in an hour and four minutes.

Today I'm going to go for 10 after work. We'll see how I do.

2011-11-21T08:39:00.001-08:00

O$ and I ran a race on Sunday. It was to raise money to support the families of fallen troops. It was About 4.5 miles and easy. There were no hills or traffic, just a few turns and that was it. What made this race fun, unlike most races, was that everyone wore the same number, which was 10. The number of a fallen ranger’s jersey when he played for Duke lacrosse.

It was the first time that I ran a race where everyone was running in nearly complete unity. The majority of people wore their free T-shirts which made us all look the same. Couple that with the same number, it was a very cool sight to see.

O$ ran it very fast which I think excited her a lot. She actually outran me. (slight grumble) but dems the ropes. I shall destroy her next time. No I won’t. I love that girl.

Morning run

2011-11-18T06:12:00.001-08:00

This morning my run was a little crazy. I started off way too fast without realizing it, that by the time I got to the hill, I was pretty sapped. I’m pretty amazed at how hard it is to gauge your pace at times. Sometimes running feels easy and then you run too fast, and then you make the rest too hard. Lame.

But anyways, I shaved a minute and a half off of my last run, which is pretty insane. I didn’t go for that, but that’s what happened. I knew I was running a little too fast when I started to feel vomity towards the end.

Total Length: 4.00 miles
Total Time: 34:52

2011-11-16T06:49:00.001-08:00

This is my typical run these days. It is exactly 4 miles and is a pretty simple loop, minus one horrible hill.

Today I ran it in 36:21

2012!

2011-11-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

This blog is about to become really boring because it is going to be converted to discuss my exercise and preparation for the NY MARATHON 2012!

So, first off let me say that I am going to apply to enter, but that does not guarantee that I will actually get into it, but I am going to do everything I can to try to get into that race. I’ve debated every running in one because it never really was a goal of mine, but now that I’ve been running a lot, it’s something I actually would like to achieve. Also, watching the marathon this year really made me jealous. Like SUPER jealous.

So here is the plan. I’m going to run at least 3 times per week, and sometimes 4. Each week will include 1 long run. Recently my long runs have been between 8-9 miles. My knees ache a little bit but I think they will get comfortable with it soon.
I’m going to be signing up for races almost every weekend because I have to get points to qualify for the marathon. This weekend I am doing a 4 mile race, but this isn’t a qualifying race. I’m just doing it to run with friends. Also, races just help keep me motivated.

I plan on never winning one. I 100% guarantee that.

I’m now going to fix my dietary intake and plan to get down to 170lbs before the marathon. There is no way my knees could do it at my current weight. So…this shit’s about to get really boring.

2011 has been a good year

2011-11-01T10:05:00.001-07:00

I don’t make new year’s resolutions, but I do feel it is important to remind oneself of the things they accomplished. Here is a short list of things I am extremely proud of.

1. I let someone amazing into my life. Olivia has managed to somehow weave around all of my walls and solidify herself as an important person in my life.
2. I have run more than I ever have in my life. My longest run was 7 miles. I’ve signed up an run in 3 races. I’m actually thinking about trying to run the NYC Marathon next year. We’ll see.
3. I’m still on Harold Night. I’ve been doing that show for almost 4 years now and it still excites me.
4. I read a shit ton. Ready Player One is like THE BEST BOOK EVER!

Running

2011-10-27T06:51:00.001-07:00

I don’t really know what is going on with me lately, but I’ve been pushing myself really hard, in a good way. I think it is in an effort to prove to myself that I am way more mentally strong than I give myself credit for. I believe that the majority of the individual (and wordly) problems come straight from our own brains. Our brains consistently tell us what we can’t do. We are constantly finding excuses to give up on most things as soon as they become somewhat difficult. I’ve gotten tired of having that mentality so I’ve been trying to prove that to myself.

Last year at this time I had a hard time running a single mile.
Last WEEK I was running 5Ks consistently.
Due to joining a race this past weekend, I doubled that and am now running 10Ks a few times a week.

Every run is basically the same thing.
Mile 1 – I got this. This is easy and I’m not even tired yet.
Mile 2 – Ok, my knees are starting to tighten, but I’m sure they will loosen up
Mile 3 – Starting to cramp a bit. Maybe I should finish here
Mile 4 – Well now I’m committed because I’m more than half way there.
Mile 5 – Holy shit, I can’t believe I’m doing this.
Mile 6 – Wow, I’m not even tired anymore

I think this happens with almost every endeavor we put ourselves through. We start off excited, then we start to have setbacks, we then start looking for excuses to stop. At this point it’s fight or flight. We can bail out now and be fine with achieving something, but sad we didn’t finish it, or we can recommit to the idea and just go for it. It sucks, but the end is the product and getting there is the goal. Giving up never is.

Proud Oiler

2011-08-24T07:46:00.001-07:00

I just rarely give myself praise on here, so I wanted to write down that I am super proud of some moves I made last night at Harold Night because they got big laughs and they were NOT my own ideas. They were purely ideas my scene partners put out there and I remembered them and used them

Resting the game?

2011-07-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

I hear the term resting the game a lot, and I think that saying this is confusing to students. First, what does it actually mean to rest a game? People say you move away from the game, so when you come back to it, it will result in bigger laughs. I understand the idea behind that and I agree with the idea, but I think “resting the game” is just confusing. It makes students (and myself) feel as if there are parts of the scene that aren’t part of the game.

For instance, if we are playing a scene where a guy believes that his skin is armor, yet he keeps having people shoot him. I understand that if we just keep shooting the guy, the funny part of that scene fades and we have to rest that action.

But I feel that the conversation and the “resting” part is just as much a part of the game as is the guy letting him be shot, so I just don’t feel that we are resting the game or moving away from the game, we are just making sure to play both sides of the game.

The moon would be boring if it was always in the sky, and if it always stayed the same shape. But since it sets and comes back the next night, appearing a tiny bit differently, I feel that the moon going away for the day is just part of the moons game.

I don’t know exactly what I am getting at. I just don’t like to say that you should move away from the game or rest it. I think it’s more important to remember what the scene is about, so when the “moves” happen, they hit harder. I just don’t feel that that is resting the game, that’s just playing the full game and not just the half that is getting laughs.

If game is unusual thing plus reacting honestly, I would think the resting part is the reacting part and making sure that is highlighted just as much if not harder than the unusual thing, so that unusual thing stands out more.

Melting

2011-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

May 2010

July 2011

Don't be MORE unusal

2011-06-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

So far my time on Standard Oil has been a lot of fun. Here are some things that I have been working on with success and some things I have been failing at.

The best thing so far is that I have been far more aggressive than I have been in the past. I think that has a lot to do with the dynamic of this team, my mindset towards each show, and the class that I am in right now. I’m trying to be more involved in the entire Harold and not allow myself to sit in the fog.

I’m laughing a lot on the back line, which puts me at ease. I’m really enjoying that.

The negative – I immediately didn’t follow through on a note that we got. As soon as I did it in the scene I knew it. Which I think is great that I am aware of my mistake as soon as it happens, but I still had to commit to my choice and follow through with the scene. Anyways, Diston initiated with a very funny idea. He came in to kill all the rats in my apartment. He immediately started to dress up in a rat suit to catch them. Really strong and funny premise idea. Instead of treating it as real and letting Diston have the unusual thing, I trumped him by being into men dressed up as rats. In a sense, I didn’t let him have the funny part of the scene and forced him into the straight man position. Very unsupportive of me. We talked about it afterwards and I was already beating myself up about it before Will even gave me the same note I had given myself.

Really good lesson to learn. I’m just glad I was able to notice it in the moment.

Game play

2011-06-27T08:21:00.001-07:00

Reuben Williams - Cop Knows His Rights	UCBcomedy.com

Watch more comedy videos from the twisted minds of the UCB Theatre at UCBcomedy.com

I’ve probably watched this video a dozen times. I don’t know if there were scenes leading up to this, or if there was a premise based idea going into this, but this scene is really impressive to watch.

I can’t speak for the performers, but it seems that both Kevin Hines and Eric Scott are on the same page pretty quickly. It appears that there is a status game going on at the start of the scene. Eric is not confident with his word choices and Kevin is extremely confident as a criminal. What I love about it is that we teach listening, but the unusual thing in this scene is more behavioral that verbal. I think this type of game goes by a lot of improvisers heads because they aren’t aware of their scene partners behaviors enough.

But what I love about it is how simple this scene starts. There isn’t a mind blowing initiation, there isn’t a wacky idea and it starts in a fairly common situation. The game is found pretty simply through pure yes anding. Then once the basic rules are established the performers are free to really go for it because they have earned their moves before making them. Even to the point of Kevin breaking free of his hand-cuffs.

Anyways, I’ve been watching a lot of improv online to see where players start to get on the same page and this one is great because it happens so quickly.

Badman to Standard Oil

2011-06-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a few days now but I didn’t quite know how to say what I wanted to say. So, now that I have had some time to digest everything I think I can speak my piece.

I was moved from Badman to Standard Oil. To the non UCB community this doesn’t matter, but to those that know me, this is a big deal. Badman has been my improv family for over two years now and I have cherished every moment with a TEAM of extremely talented people. We have had a series of members come and go, but we’ve always managed to maintain a high level of show quality, and for that I am super thankful. When Anthony called me to tell me I was being moved, a bunch of different emotions went through me. First was elation, because I was still going to be on Harold Night. The second was sadness because I was losing something great.

But I think this is the best thing for me. I got lazy on Badman. Being surrounded by hilarious people doing hilarious things made me feel like I could sit back and watch. If that is the case, then I should be in the audience instead of the stage. I’m not saying I was a weak member of the team, but I wasn’t as active a member as I should have been. I was letting the Harold dictate my moves instead of me shaping a Harold. So, after that bit of sadness hit, I got really excited. I have a new chance to really work on this improv thing and get better. I honestly don’t think I would have gotten any better on Badman because I wasn’t aware of my own problems. This is the perfect thing for me, and regardless of how well Standard Oil performs, I’m glad that this has happened. I know we are going to be great though, because I’m not going to allow myself to not let it be great.

2011-06-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

With auditions happening at the UCB, it got me thinking about my goals and making sure I always have some and do my best to stick to them.

So my improv goals right now are to just really focus on GAME and becoming the best at two-person scenes that I can be. My focus over the last 3 years has been to be the best teammate and find the best ways to contribute to creating the best Harold. I’ve been working on adding the needed elements to group games and other people’s scenes, but I haven’t been focusing on making my 2 person scenes the best that I can. So even though I leave the majority of shows I do feeling good with my support work, I rarely leave feeling I nailed my scenes.

I fully believe that everyone on the team should treat each scene as their own, but people tend to start to rely on the backline to make shit happen, and I feel I’ve fallen into that trap a bit. So I’m going to relax on focusing on the entire Harold, for a bit, and focus on really getting good at just scenes. Cheers to that.

Now I need to figure out exactly where to focus that energy. Shouldn't be too hard.

Purple Stride

2011-05-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

Results from the Purple Stride race that a bunch of UCB people ran.

I’m really happy with this, even though it isn’t completely accurate. We didn’t start the race until two minutes had lapsed, so really we all ran the race in 2 minutes less than this is saying. Even if it was accurate, I’d be happy with my time, but I was SUPER happy with how fast we really ran the race. I was just trying to keep pace with my friends, but they are a little bit more fit than I…currently.
But for a guy who basically went from the couch, to being able to run this type of pace in less than a year, I couldn’t be more proud of myself. Maybe next year I’ll be hitting 8:00min per mile.

Say things differently

2011-05-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

I get really mad when I hear someone say "I have to do this show tonight."

No you don't! No you fucking don't HAVE to do shit.

You are lucky that you GET to do a show. Change your brain.

Reasons to go watch The Curfew

2011-05-03T10:00:00.001-07:00

Right now The Curfew (Reuben Williams) is taking a chance and trying new shit that they haven’t had years to polish. It is risky and has a higher chance to go wrong, and that is the perfect thing for a weekend team to be showing their students. As an improv student I think this is a show that fellow students should be trying to see. A show where the team is pushing its own comfort levels and taking risks. They also chose to do this right when they shifted around cast members, which makes it even a little riskier. This past weekend the show went a little crazy, but I’ll take that any day over a safe show. I recommend going to see their shows for the next few weeks so you can watch a team work on creating something new instead of relying on the stuff they do well.

5K run and stupid video

2011-05-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend I did my first ever public run. There are a few reasons why I didn’t want to do this, but now that it is over, I am super glad I did it.

Running is such a personal thing for me. I am often time breathing heavy and hating every stride as I plod along listening to whatever on my ipod. I feel very judged by those around me when I run, so I was scared going into it.

I am super competitive, and this is an activity that I am not good at, so I was afraid that I’d be competitive with something I shouldn’t. Though I did tell Diana I would beat her in the end…which I did.

I don’t feel good when I’m in people traffic. I’m not claustrophobic, but I start to feel closed in when too many people are around. Put me in a coffin any day, but not in a crowd. In a group that is all running, this is heightened.

But I did it and I am happy I did. 5K, in reality, is nothing to brag about. It’s a short run and is over just as quick as it begins, but getting over our fears is big.
So here are some things I am taking away from all of this and things to remember.
The pace of a herd of people is amazingly slow, so the running aspect of the race was way easier than I assumed it would be. So slow that I felt good the entire time and was talking and making jokes the entire way. I even whipped out my phone and made two videos while running.

There are SO many people that are way more out of shape than me. This made me super confident and proud that I have taken running more seriously than I have in the past. Every time I ran by someone breathing heavy, I felt good about myself. That the months of running has been worth it. Sure, the weight loss is nice, but seeing progress is more important to me mentally.

At that pace, I could run a 10K without a problem. So that is what I am going to do. After my run with the good folks of the UCB, I’m going to sign up for some 10Ks and tackle that mountain.

coaching

2011-03-28T07:50:00.001-07:00

I have been sitting around thinking about coaching/practicing and the most effective ways to run them. Not that I have had negative feelings towards coaches or practices, but I always want to find different ways of doing things.

So I started looking at how we practice improvisation and how we practice sports, and the differences between the two. What I have been realizing is that in sports we rarely ever practice a whole game. Instead, with baseball, we would do batting practice and take 100 pitches. Every practice we would do that. In a game we might swing a bat only 15 times at best. We would then go into the outfield and take grounder after grounder, or if we were in the outfield we would take dozens of pop ups. If we were lucky, we got to do a scrimmage against another team. With each drill we would have a coach watching us and fixing the small errors we made as we made them. Coaches could see, after much repetition, if you were dropping your shoulder every time or if the timing in your step was off.

In a game type scenario, I might only drop my shoulder once or twice. In the 5th inning I might be on the balls of my heels, and in the 9th I might have taken my eyes off the ball. After the game if the coach said “Corey, you are dropping your shoulders, standing on your heels and taking your eyes off the ball” I would be confused and upset with myself and immediately start looking for ways to fix all of those problems, which for a while would confuse everything about my swing making it worse.

With improvisation I think we tend to do the opposite. We put people in exercises or full show type situations and tell them each and every error they make, but if they don’t feel it in the moment, do they gain anything? We might do an exercise that highlights the usefulness of a certain technique, but I don’t know if that drills in the idea. It leads to a lot of self-reflection and anxiety about mistakes. I feel there is merit in having people stand there and drill initiation/response for 15 minutes, or endowing someone as a character and having them immediately do it for 15 minutes. Could a coach see more and really figure out the smaller points where someone might be stumbling?

I’ve started testing this idea out on a group I coach, and we are yet to put any of this into a “game-type” situation, but I feel good about some of the progress. After drilling one idea for a lengthy time, the players are starting to sense their own mistakes and work around them or at least notice the mistakes themselves as they are happening. I think what I like the most about it so far is that I feel the improvisers are starting to teach themselves more. There is a feeling of happiness when they start to feel as if they are doing it right. (what is right? I know, I know)

Just something I want to continue testing, but the idea sounds pretty solid to me.

Getting unstuck

2011-03-15T08:05:00.001-07:00

A few months ago I started to get into a rut when it came to my performances on Harold Night. I just wasn’t improving anymore and I was starting to get bitter about things. I was really starting to doubt myself which made it worse. So I told myself that I needed to commit more of my energy and brain into Badman and the Harold in general.

This actually made everything worse, for me, because I made it start to feel more like work and less like fun. In a sense I unbalanced the equation to one side too much, and when you are in a rut and doing bad improv, the worst thing you can do is stop enjoying your time on stage.

Recently I made a choice to start improvising outside of Harold Night more often and using those times as a training ground to retool the way I play. I’m forcing myself to make bigger choices out of the gate in scenes. I’m allowing myself to react harder and more naturally, and I’m finding the fun in scenes that might be a little clunky.

For the first time in a long time, I feel that I’m playing better, and differently than I have ever played before. I don't feel stuck being myself. I’m not making the obvious choices and not playing the math as much. I’m excited to be on the stage and I’m excited to see my teammates.

Math is boring. Being in the moment is fun. Living in the moment is the best.

Something I feel

2011-03-11T07:49:00.001-08:00

You can't find your comedic voice if you don't know who you are.

I'm a tech again...for now

2011-01-11T07:29:00.001-08:00

So I have decided to start teching again. The reason I am posting this is because a bunch of people have asked me if I want to do that, or if that makes me happy. So I’ll answer that here since it is my blog.

There are three big reasons behind me choosing to do this. The first of which is the theater really needs it. Frank stopped teching and Justin doesn’t have the time to do Saturdays anymore, but nobody who is currently teching has enough experience to tech those shows or if they are, they don’t have Saturday nights free. I stopped teching to do more shows and have my nights free, but in all honesty, I’ve just used it as a night to be lazy as fuck. So why sit at home doing nothing?

The second reason is that I haven’t been watching enough shows since I stopped teching. I got lazy and stopped going to the theater for my own personal growth. I wasn’t watching much of Harold Night much anymore, and I barely ever go to indie shows. So why not put myself into a position where I will go watch at least 3 shows per week like I was doing when I was taking classes? AND, why not go see three of the best and most consistent shows that the theater has to offer every week, and make a little bit of money to do so?

Thirdly, I actually enjoy teching improv. I enjoy feeling like I am a part of something more than just my team. That’s pretty much it.

I lost my favorite

2011-01-05T08:03:00.001-08:00

Dear Chelsea Clarke,

Thank you for allowing me to perform with you for nearly two years. You encompass everything that I fell in love with in regards to improv. You are fearless, hilarious, caring, supportive, an amazing actress/improviser, and above all else, you are an amazing person. You make everyone around you better by just being there and being who you are. You are the heart of what makes the UCB amazing. You are loved by the community, worshipped by the students and held in the highest regards by your peers.

You will be amazing on Reuben Williams.

a lesson from a short form show

2011-01-05T06:48:00.001-08:00

Over Christmas break, I was lucky enough to go out to the Comedy Worx theater in Raleigh and do a few short form sets. For those that don’t know, Comedy Worx used to be a Comedy Sportz theater and the format hasn’t changed much since I began.

Oddly, I had one of the biggest improvisation lessons during/after.

Improv is easy if we aren’t worried about fucking it up.

What I mean is that when I was a member of Comedy Sportz, I stressed every day and every show about doing it right. I wanted to be the best CSz performer I could be. I wanted to have the show so mapped in my brain that I could kill an audience in my sleep. In doing that and adding all that stress on me, I stripped away the fun and made a very simple thing so much harder than it needed to be.

In the shows I did over the break, they were so easy and so fun. The stress wasn’t there and all I had to do was be the best performer I could be. Sure, not everything I did killed, but I was myself up there and it felt freeing. In the end, I had won the audience over. Doing the proper CSz show didn’t matter, only performing did.

I realized I’ve done that since moving onto the UCB system. I’ve been so stressed on trying to be the best UCB performer (that I can be) that I haven’t allowed myself to be the best ME on stage. I’ve been too worried about making the perfect moves that I’ve shut down that part of me that just makes moves because they are fun to me.

So that is my goal for this year. To be myself more. To love Corey enough that I can bring him onto stage without fear.

It is amazing how easy it is to make everything harder.

To help a friend

2010-12-06T11:13:00.001-08:00

I love Shannon Blake

Come on google spiders, do your work!

2 weeks of life

2010-11-29T10:27:00.001-08:00

My life over the last few weeks has been pretty nuts. The biggest thing is that I did a 2 week stint with the Grand Jury. Although the experience bored me to death a large majority of the time, I am really glad I got a chance to do it. You learn a lot about the process of law. You also get a chance to see how fundamentally stupid some of the processes of law are. The worst part about the experience was the other jury members. Selfish selfish people who showed up when they wanted to and voted with emotion and not based on how the law is. I was mad a lot of the time.

This past weekend I was involved in the 3 X 3 tournament at the UCB. This was my first year ever doing it because I am usually in NC for thanksgiving. Thank god I didn’t go though because I got to improvise with one of my improv heroes, Kevin Mullaney. It truly was a blessing, and he is a very easy person to play with. Very quick mentally and very willing to do anything that the scene needs. I will never forget this weekend.

working on little ol' me

2010-11-08T08:55:00.001-08:00

I’ve been making myself go watch shows again. It’s silly to think that I have to remind myself to watch shows, but sadly I do. I get so caught up with all the coaching and performing that I forget that I still have to go watch shows. The past 4 weeks I’ve managed to watch ASSSSCAT every Sunday, and this past Friday I went to watch the Stepfathers as well as The Law Firm.

One thing I love about the weekend shows is that the performers always appear to be having fun in their scenes, or at least making choices that they find fun. I think, at times, on Harold Night we are too worried about making the right moves that we forget sometimes just to make fun moves. I’m blessed to be on a team of people who just want to have fun though, so I really shouldn’t talk. The weekend shows, especially ASSSSCAT, make me want to infuse my sense of fun into scenes more. It’s not brain surgery to think that if I show the audience what I think is fun, and then I will be showing them my sense of humor more easily than if I think of the perfect move/initiation.

So for the past few weeks that has been what I have been working on with my improvisation. I have worked really hard at changing my improvisation to fit the theater, which I am super happy with, but now it is time for me to appear more on stage, so I’m pretty excited with that.

A different kind of show.

2010-11-05T13:37:00.001-07:00

I had a pretty awesome experience last night after a really fun show with Badman. We were lucky enough to be invited to perform in this show. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/events/readings/2010/11/08/101108goab_GOAT_above1

What I loved when the show was over wasn’t any praise or anything like that. It was the feeling that I was representing something a whole lot bigger than myself. In a weird way I felt like a son who is super proud of his father and wanted everyone to want to meet him. It was amazing having so many people show such interest in the UCB after seeing one show. I haven’t performed for a non-improv audience in such a long time, so that was a treat by itself, but having people ask us questions about the UCB and where they could find more information about the theater really touched me.

It made me understand, more-than-ever, why the theater really pushes it’s performers to constantly strive to improve. Every show we do is their “product” and if we are doing bored work, then the theater loses value. The experience really did make me want to make my part of the product better.

17 year olds are the next big thing

2010-10-14T07:24:00.001-07:00

Good techs make for good shows

2010-09-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

I considered myself to be a pretty good tech person. The one thing I lacked was a knowledge of music. I think I held my own though when it came to fitting some music into an improv show when needed.

Last night Badman attempted a Soundtrack Harold....a lot harder than we expected it to be. We practiced it a few times on Sunday and knew it was going to really be a challenge to pull it off. 2nd beats were so tough because you couldn’t pre think them, because you had to wait to hear the music so you knew what mood the scene was going to be. Tough! Super fun though.

Justin Purnell helped us out with this and he did an amazing job. He really helped vary up the music from scene to scene, and even chose songs for the 2nd beats that would have a similar tone to the 1st beats. So Badman was very happy with our show because of this. It wasn’t the best Harold we have ever done, but it was different and fun and it was something the Harold audience never sees. We were psyched to try it.

On to the next month!

Monoharold

2010-09-15T08:31:00.001-07:00

Badman is experimenting with the Harold, and it’s really been a ton of fun to try new things out. It also is tough and really pushing us to improve, which is absolutely awesome. Last night we tried our hand at weaving a Monoscene into a Harold. The show itself was really really good and I think we pulled it off. This type of Harold has been done before, so it isn’t mind blowing that we would do it, but it just felt good to give it a shot. Especially after we did two not-so-great ones in practice just an hour before hand.

I suggest if you are bored with your typical show, try something new on top of it. Do a meta show, or change the structure to what you are doing, find some themes to weave through, just don’t let yourself get bored.

We had Oscar coach us and he said that he has never seen a group that has that much fun during practice. I think that carries with us onto the stage is our greatest strength as a team. Even if we aren’t killing, we find a way to enjoy the moment and at least make it fun for the audience. Obviously we can’t rely on that, but it is a great feeling to know we can pull off a good show even when we aren’t hitting our stride.

Shameful

2010-08-30T08:35:00.001-07:00

I did something sick and I feel amazing! For those that were at the Gethard show, you obviously know what I did. I heard murmurs from a lot of people wondering “why the fuck would he do that?” The answer is simple.

My biggest fear is public humiliation and being judged by others. Weird for someone who performs for 200+ people per week? Sure, but it’s a fear. When I approached Gethard with my idea, I honestly wasn’t doing it to make money for a good cause, I was doing it to humiliate myself and stand in front of an audience absolutely terrified.

Afterwards people kept telling me how comfortable I appeared to be with the situation, but that was absolutely fear based. I was holding onto every shred of sanity just so I wouldn’t break down and cry on stage. Maybe I should have, because that is another fear of mine. Oh well, maybe next time.

I think one of the next places for me to get as a performer is the point where I am willing to do anything, which I don’t think I am at yet, but I would like to be. So I’m going to start taking some chances with weird shows and doing weird shit just to get over myself a little bit more.

August

2010-08-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

When August floats around, I start thinking about my mother. It's always a weird month for me and I'm not that pleasant to be around. I'll try to be nice. I promise.

Different schools of thought

2010-08-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

I’ve come up through 3 different systems of improv and each one was very different, but have all added up to how I play today.

The first system was Comedy Sportz. Taught by Ross White and Anthony King. This is the place where I learned that I wasn’t as funny as I thought I was. I was a jokester kid and always wanted to be funny, and at the time I thought I was. I wasn’t. Plus it invaded my desire to actually learn how to do improv. This was actually the best lesson I ever could have learned and it has stuck with me to this day. I at least feel I am pretty good at improv now, so I can make people laugh without going for the joke.

Shortform, even though a lot of people despise it, was very fun for me and helped me with my longform in such a different way. We didn’t study GAME and the focus wasn’t too much on scene work, but it did teach me patterns and how to follow the funny thing and push it hard. In longform you are searching for the unique thing to follow, in short form you are given it, so you are taught how to play and exploit it quickly.

The second system was DSI, originally lead by Ross White and Zach Ward. This is the first system where I started learning longform and started to see what improvisation really could be. I still was doing some shortform, but my focus was on the bigger picture. With DSI we played a more Hotsauce type of show where we never rested. We could easily have a 30 minute set that had 20+ scenes in it. It was always fun and always felt like a crazy workout.

Zach really pushed us hard on being able to button a scene. To this day if a scene isn’t going all that well, I can usually find a button so someone can edit it off the stage. At times we would run 2-3 hour rehearsals with nothing but 15 second scenes that looked to do nothing but button a scene. I personally don’t feel we should strive to END scenes, but sometimes they do have to end and being able to pull out a quick callback or move to end a scene is a good skill to have.

UCB was my dream after watching Mother perform once, so when I got to NYC I knew I was going to have to put everything I’d already learned on the back burner while I studied. At first it was really really tough for me. My characters were broad, my instincts were punny and my moves were often too soon. I still slip into broad characters with dumb voices from time to time, but I at least try to not let that voice to be the funny thing in the scene.

UCB has taught me patience. This is weird to say because when I hear most people talk about the system, they talk about how fast we play and how hard we push the game of the scene, and I don’t think the school really teaches that. I think that is more a bi-product of people finding game and not knowing how to slow down and stop making moves every second. Maybe it’s because I come from short form and DSI so this does feel super paced to me, but I never feel any pressure to push the game or play fast. Most of the time I’m looking for ways to slow things down so we can live in the fun. I’m enjoying the chance to learn more and hopefully find other uses for stuff I’ve learned in the past and new skills I’m gaining all the time.

internal debates lately

2010-08-06T11:24:00.001-07:00

Some improv things I have been trying to figure out lately.

How can I teach students to justify unusual things, without making them usual? Or if it is easily so easily justifiable, was it unusual to begin with?

Why do mapping scenes fall flat so much? In sci-fi terms, I feel that a mapping scene happens in another dimension, so we should accept the map as the norm, and then we should be looking for a game within that particular world. What I have been struggling to explain to students is why the map isn’t the unusual thing in a way that makes sense. Plus students are so in their brain about playing the map correctly, they (and I) gloss over unusual things often. It’s weird to say talking whales might not be unusual if in this world they are supposed to be there.

Nothing

2010-07-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

There are two people that I hope to cheezus get cast on Harold Night next round.

Joey Burns and Abbi Jacobson

Every time I see these two people perform I am excited to watch their brains work. There are many other people I want to see cast, but I think these two are ready now.

Sundays are now my improv-Corey-to-death day and I kind of love it. I rehearse with The Fritz from 1-3 every Sunday, then run straight to Badman rehearsal from 3-6. By the end I’m always a little burnt out, but I also feel I’m doing my best work by the end. I honestly wish I had more free time to rehearse, but I don’t. I also know if I did rehearse more, I wouldn’t want to.

Friday night I got a chance to do the Kickball show at The Creek again. I think this is one of the most fun “jams” there are out there and look forward to it every month.

I'm a black comedian

2010-07-02T09:43:00.001-07:00

I have a very special talent. That talent is having colored skin. I’ve actually been asked a few times what it has been like coming up through the UCB system, and doing comedy in general in a realm dominated by people of a fairer skin tone.

I would like to say that it has been amazing. The UCB has been nothing but open arms to me. I was allowed to intern really early, I then became an employee of the theater and getting cast on a team topped it all off. The theatre has done nothing but show me respect and love. My teammates are becoming more comfortable to scenes where race is an issue. I have a small group of black friends, who I guess feel some kind of comfort when talking to me about improv related issues. So there is a lot of comfort at being around the theater.

The only issue is self-doubt. I read a really cool article on Tracey Morgan recently where he had the same internal doubt that I had for a long time. He thought he got cast because he was black. He approached the issue himself and set up a meeting with Lorne who told him he was cast because he was hilarious and talented, and that he just happened to be black as well. Then Tracey started to really shine more and more.

The longer I am on Harold Night the more I stop questioning myself and why I got cast and I start to realize I was cast because I’m a good supportive improviser who just happens to have a different color of skin. With the confidence comes a greater understanding of the art that I am trying to create. I can feel real growth the more I can push down those negative issues and accept all of this.

Kind of like what Will said on the podcast. Every time he had feelings of self doubt some new opportunity arose that validated what he was doing. I kind of feel like I’m following that path.

The big question I get asked a lot, mostly by white performers, is how they can play a colored character without coming off racist. I think the simplest answer I have for this is to play that character the same way you would an alien or a robot. The body is just a body and if you look for GAME in the scene and don’t make “being black” funny, it won’t come off as racist. Or play it the same way you would your white characters. You never have to prove you are white in a scene. It is just accepted because you are white. So you don’t have a prove that you are black with a silly voice or stereotypes.

We all love watermelon. I mean really…we all do.

Master Cleanse was fun

2010-06-24T07:09:00.001-07:00

So I quit doing the Master Cleanse because I started to feel a ton better, and I had a birthday party that I wanted to attend and have fun at. But the purpose of me doing the cleanse was to prepare my body to get back to exercising. The first day was really tough on my body, but that is probably because I hadn’t “recovered” from the cleanse and shouldn’t have been putting that much strain on my muscles. Yesterday I went running and, for the first time in my life, it was pretty fun. I wasn’t breathing as hard as I usually do and I wasn’t thinking QUIT the entire time.

I don’t know if the cleanse really made it easier, or if the ease of running is from a placebo effect, but either way I am happy with the outcome. I’m already out of my bigger pants, and am excited to get back out there and continuing this adventure. I’m hoping to run the entire park within a month, with the end goal of being able to run around 5 miles without stopping.

So, no more salt water flushes for me!

Day 3

2010-06-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Cleanse is still happening and I feel fine! Weird.

Beyond that! Badman won cagematch last night against Roo Roo. This blows my mind. This absolutely blows my mind. My teammates are the greatest people and I love sharing the stage with them!

Day 2

2010-06-17T08:03:00.001-07:00

Finished Day 2 without too much of a problem. I rarely get hungry, and when I do I just down the drink and I am fine for a few hours. The “flush” wasn’t as bad as it was the first night, which is a very positive sign I suppose.

Things that I have noticed that feel better already:
My allergies aren’t hitting me as hard as normal. Less Phlegm and easier breathing. I’ve been sleeping a lot harder and a lot deeper. A couple aches that I normally have are lessened.

The only real negative thing so far is I am super tired by the end of the day which makes me very cranky by days end.

Onto day 3!

Day 1

2010-06-16T06:55:00.001-07:00

Day 1 is over with. So the drinks during the day aren’t that bad. They are far from good, but not the worst things in the world. A quick and dirty idea as to what I am drinking is lemon juice, cayenne pepper, molasses and a ton of water.

You are also supposed to drink a Salt Water Flush once a day. This is where this shit sucks. The drink itself is disgusting and the aftermath is even worse. I mean, prepare to use the bathroom a lot.

This morning though, I actually feel really good. I slept great and I actually have a lot of natural energy. Can’t really complain with that. I guess I can keep it up for now.

Master Cleanse

2010-06-15T06:37:00.001-07:00

So I’ve been getting sick a lot more than I am used to. Basically life’s way of telling me that I treat my body like shit, and now that I am an old man that my body won’t fight back like it used to. Getting sick takes up time, and right now I don’t have time to spare. So this brought on a crazy thought and I am going to do the master cleanse. Yeah, the lemonade diet/detox/whatevs. So today is day one on this awful endeavor, and I hope that I can go the full ten days with doing this. If I can get through it, I hear you feel amazing afterwards.

It is supposed to even help with allergies. So, here’s to a lot of awful fluids flushing out my system.

2010-06-08T07:23:00.001-07:00

The struggle with learning

Badman had Kevin Hines help us out on Sunday and it was one of the most enlightening practices I have had in a long while. I don’t want to write about the lessons that I learned yet because I am still thinking about them…real hard. With each thing you learn, or hear, you have to make it mean something to you personally. Don’t just take a note and move on. Let it register and figure out if it helps/affects/hurts your play. I think once I get more comfortable with his notes it will really help me. At the creek last night, I was stuck in my head though. I’m a little worried about tonight because of it, but I’m hoping I can not over think it and just play instead.

It’s also really nice to feel like I’m still learning new things. Not even new things really, but just a new way of understanding things I already knew. On the IRC there is an amazing post by Delaney on A to C. I suggest reading it and learning why C is usually the best idea for everyone.

http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/mb/showpost.php?p=807380&postcount=9

Badman through the years

2010-06-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Also documenting the growth of my hair

It's all in the details

2010-06-03T12:27:00.001-07:00

I’ve been thinking about this lately, and really trying to pay attention to improvisers who use details a lot, and I’m going to try to start implementing details into my play style more. If truth is comedy, details brings us closer to truth and reality and gives something to the audience to attach to, and this will make them enjoy it more. Also it changes how a scene is shaped. If I’m banging some broad in a car that can be fun, but if I’m banging Jennifer the nerd from 3rd period in a car, that could be funny. If I’m banging Jennifer the nerd from 3rd period in my sisters Miata, that is even more funny. If I am revenge fucking her...gold

I’ve been banging my head trying to really answer the why in scenes a lot, that I think I haven’t been detailed in my scene work. Something to work on.

I think that is what makes Neil Casey SO great. Nothing is vague and nothing is just something to his character. Everything has meaning. Oh, and Nate Lang is one to watch for this. His specifics are amazing and always a little weird.

I remember Billy Merritt being a big pusher of this style of play, and now that I think about it, I don’t think a lot of coaches push players to be more detailed. Actually, Gausses pushes that really hard if you are ever blessed enough to be coached by her.

I would love to see a class that is just about being detailed and as specific as possible.

Other classes I would love to see – Acting for improvisers and a Voice and Articulation class geared towards accents…again, for improvisers.

Tami Sagher

2010-06-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

Tami Sagher and why she is awesome at improv

I was blessed to tech the Saturday night shift at the UCB for almost 2 years. Let’s Have a Ball started off the Saturday lineup and Tami Sagher constantly blew me away. Hmmm, I shouldn’t say constantly. When I first started watching Tami, I wasn’t seeing how often she made the most amazing moves, because the moves at first seemed like they weren’t moves at all. She would literally change a show with the tiniest of moves that I think, sadly, a normal audience wouldn’t see. But I guess that is what we really want. We want to make brilliant moves that catch people off guard, and Tami constantly does that. She is also the callback queen when it comes to LHAB.

She also is super smart, super funny and a really good actress on top of it all. If I could take a 10th of her ability, I’d be happy with that.

Stefan!

2010-05-27T12:18:00.001-07:00

Everyone loves this sketch. I love this sketch too.

I’ve been slightly annoyed with some sketches on SNL lately because a large portion of them are about someone or some people just doing their job and failing at it because they are just bad at their job. To me that isn’t funny.

This is super funny though because Stefan is trying to do the job correctly, but due to his lifestyle he just can't get it right, so I can get behind him and love him more.

Another note to take away from this is how to move the scene forward and avoid making it about arguing. Seth has the correct reaction here where he points out the faults of Stefan, but allows him to keep trying and failing. I feel most people who play straight man fail at that aspect and make a scene drag.

So if you struggle at playing a straight man, I think this is a good sketch to watch. **Although he breaks a lot, I can forgive him**

October 2006

2010-05-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

I wrote that every New Yorker has these items

I have noticed there are a couple things that almost every New Yorker has on them at all times.
1: An ipod or some form of mp3 player
2: At least one form of reading material
3: An umbrella
4: Either a backpack or some form of bag
5: Sunglasses

I now own all of these items minus sunglasses.

Some improv musing

2010-05-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

Some interesting things I’ve had happen lately, and things I have noticed about my growth lately.

This past Saturday I went to Champions to coach. Even though my calendar said the group wasn’t supposed to start for another week, I thought I messed up my dates, so I went anyways. Shaun Diston and Joey Burns ALSO thought it was starting last Saturday, so they were there and sad that no practice was going to happen. We were then all invited to join a random practice group with 4 girls who were being coached by Dave S. It felt weird at first, but once we got rolling it was one of the most fun practices I had ever taken part in. I love playing with people I’ve never met before. I also never get to play with Shaun or Joey, so that was an added bonus.

I think everyone should leap at every opportunity to do more scenes. Notes and exercises are great, but in the end, you can’t get better unless you are willing to just do scene work.

I’ve been trying to look at myself and my improv more objectively to figure out where I am an effective improviser. Since we tend to berate ourselves for mistakes and failures, I figured that if I can fall in love with my own stuff, well that can only help me. So I’ve come to notice I’m pretty great at making the 2nd move. Now this follows a small weakness of mine where I don’t often times make big decisions that lead to game, but once my scene partner makes any kind of move, I do a really good job at labeling that move and making it happen again.

In baseball terms, I’m the batter whose job it is to move the lead off batter into scoring position. The crowd is sad that the batter flies out to left field, but when the camera zooms in on the dug out, the whole team is high fiving him for doing his job.

I recognize that I’m not going to be the guy who the crowd is going to remember, or who will get IRC threads devoted to him, but I’m fine with that. If I can set up the clean up batter to kill it, in the end I am happier than hitting a home run that scores just one run.

Nate Smith

2010-05-18T12:36:00.001-07:00

Nate Smith and why he is an awesome improviser

Nate is my all time favorite person to be in a show with. I remember watching him on Project Improviser, and the thing Chris said about him still remains true. He is a rock off the stage. When things go bad, he’s the one with the cool head keeping us from freaking out and making it worse. He has such a nonchalant approach to improv that it becomes infectious. He works really hard at getting better, but behind it all you can hear his brain saying CHILL THE FUCK OUT.

What doesn’t this guy do well? Characters? No. Game play? No. Thematics? No.

He does it all and makes it look easy. I remember a show when he was on T.R.U.C.K.S. where Nate made a pretty bold move and made the entire show a Chose Your Own Adventure show. With Badman, he made a (pretty bad) show amazing by saying I had hacked the first beats. Pretty much saved the entire show.

He’s willing to go there without fear. Just recently in practice he tickled my balls. Like for real tickled them and I couldn’t finish the scene because I was laughing so hard. I’m honestly shocked more people don’t talk about him, because he is SO good.

He’s also will make out with you in a second.

Embarassing thing I did one time

2010-05-14T13:29:00.001-07:00

When I was younger I fell madly in love with the TV personality Julie Stoffer. For those that do not recognize that name, she was on the Real World New Orleans.

Yeah. Pretty gay huh? I didn’t profess my love to her, but I think I asked her if we could be email buddies. I also think I asked her some questions, but what questions I asked, I can’t tell you.

I love this move that Brandon makes

2010-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

About two minutes into the scene, Brandon does a great walk on that purely supported the scene without going for a laugh himself. The scene itself is pretty funny. Old chums who don't even have to speak english to know what one another says. If you watch this, you can actually start to feel when the tire starts to deflate a little bit. It is tough to maintain a great scene when everyone in it is just wierd. Brandon adds that truthful element to the scene, making the weird seem even bigger, and in a sense, making them even funnier.

Initiations by Sanders

2010-04-21T10:53:00.001-07:00

http://benjaminapple.tumblr.com/post/516712918/reuben-williams-2008-2-9

I was rereading this post the Ben put up a few weeks ago. I bet this entire show was great, but look at Sanders' ability to just spell out a fun and easy to play game in his initiations. This is not something I am good at, although I do try. God I wish I could have had more time to study him as a player.

Here are two initiations from Sanders – Makes me wet.

Sanders: If an attacker approaches you, remember, the most important thing is not that you know martial arts, it's that you know you know martial arts.

Sanders: Alright, well, the important thing about getting life coaching is, that you guys tell me everything you can about yourselves, ok? And then what I do as a life coach is I help you GRAB LIFE BY THE FUCKING THROAT! ... So, tell me some specifics about your life; different things that you think trouble you, and different things that make you happy, and I take those two and I SMASH THOSE FUCKERS TOGETHER! And, you come out with the power of positivity!

Will Hines

2010-04-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

-Will Hines and why he is awesome-

Let me preach about Sir William Hines for a moment. When I was first moving to NYC to do the UCB, my good old buddy Scott Jennings said for me to “find Will Hines.” I didn’t know why he said that to me, but if Scott has an opinion on something that he likes, it is usually great because Scott doesn’t easily find enjoyment in things. It took me a while to figure out who this Will Hines guy was, even though I had seen 1985 a lot and loved that team….more than fwand (don’t be mad fwanders). After I figured out who this guy was, he was moved to the Stepfathers. Luckily I was interning at the theater on Friday nights and was still able to watch him perform on the regular.

This is what I have to say about this guy.

First, as a coach he is in my top 3. Gavin currently sits as my favorite coach, but Will was standing alone for a long while. #3 is you….world. I learned a lot as a player and as an instructor working with Will. What I loved the most was his love for trying things that might not work. A lot of the exercises he taught us he made up on the spot and would preface them by saying “this might suck and we’ll never try it again.” To me that means he thought beyond the typical stuff we have all done a thousand times. Or he is just lazy.

I went and watched the Stepfathers this weekend just to refresh my brain on Will before I wrote this. What makes him awesome is how he stares at his scene partner. It almost looks like a modem warming up, or a robot that is saying processing processing processing. A lot of the time he will say “Oh got it” and then he is off and nothing is going to stand in his way at that point. Like his Brother, everything his scene partner says is precious to him, but once you have said enough you could probably get out of the way and Will could take it from there. He will always take a break though to pay attention to you if you need it. It is pretty awesome to watch.

Beyond his talents, his ability to appear human on and off stage always strikes me as awesome. He knows his own faults and will tell you all about them, for long periods of time if you want him to. He will tell you that he fears failure, but he never lets it stop him from trying. He truly is someone who took to heart the Fuck Your Fear mantra that we all love.

And if you can catch him drunk, which isn’t too hard, he will talk your ear off about everyone in the community and he won’t hold any punches.

Improv talkies

2010-04-05T09:03:00.001-07:00

Will Hines' tumblr

I just read this entirely too long debate from the Brothers who actually call each other sir. Hilarious.

I wanted to add my two cents, but I don’t like to talk improv on my tumblr, even though that is what Will Hines uses his for. So here is what I feel about matching.

You would never start a scene with two people saying this

A: I am cutting carrots
B: I am cutting carrots
A: We are cutting carrots
B: We are cutting carrots

I think this is what mirroring is, or at least, lends itself to. People don’t AND when they match, which is why the scene stalls for the first 30 seconds of the scene. It is, in a sense, just saying the same line over and over for 30 seconds. We would NEVER do that in a scene, so why do we do it when mirroring?

If someone starts off by cutting carrots, and you come out and cut carrots but do it a little faster, or snarl as you do it, I think that is a stronger choice than pure mirroring. It is very similar to sound and movement. Sometimes someone has to just AND what is going on for the thing to change.

I think mirroring can be a good tool to us, but if nobody ands, the scene never begins.

ACHILLES!

2010-03-26T09:30:00.001-07:00

-Achilles Stamatelaky and why he is awesome-

I love Achilles. I’ll fucking say it. I’m so gay for Achilles. I still consider him a relatively new improviser as far as length of time goes, and I am constantly amazed at Achilles whenever I watch him play. I loved every scene we did together while on Whorenado, especially one where we were break dancing while I was asking him (her) to go to the prom with me. Classic Killroy.

But what makes him awesome? He cares about the show. I see a lot of people who are only worried about their scenes, or how they can do a walk on and get a laugh, where as when I watch Achilles I see him caring about the entire production from front to end. During the last days of Penthouse Riot, I applauded Achilles’ efforts for trying so hard to make each and every show work.

I guess in simple terms, Achilles is like the blue collar worker of improv. He’s an every man’s man. He cares so much about the community and teaching others how to improve. I’ve had him as a coach a few times and even though I am not an analytical thinker, I always loved his notes and his approaches to certain scenes.

I consider him a young version of Delaney with a child like sense of fun and wonder. I hope to someday be on a team with him again because he is one of my favorite improvisers in NYC.

Changes to Harold Night

2010-03-24T13:15:00.001-07:00

I think I’m almost over being shell shocked from the announcements for Harold Night. On one hand, I have sooooo many friends who got cast. People who I am immensely proud of. As their coach, as their friend and as a person in the community.

Ellena is the first person I ever coached since moving to NYC. This girl has my heart as far as improvisers go. So to see her get cast gives me such a feeling of joy that I want to scream! I was pulling for a lot of people, and Ellena was easily in the top tier.

I don’t want to make a love sappy post about all of my friends. Just know that I am proud of each and every one of you who made it.

On the reverse. I am losing so many friends from Harold Night. I think of HN as one giant team, and whenever a team goes, the whole SHOW changes. Good or bad….it is different. I feel so sad to see so many familiar faces go. Many people that I looked up to when I first arrived here.

If anything though, I should use it as a reminder that I still need to keep growing. I still need to work harder. I have to work harder than everyone who just got cast. There are new people out there who are hungry for stage time. I would love to some day be on a weekend team, and the only way to do that is to constantly improve. Keep working harder and longer.

Now let’s make some art and blow some minds.

Really great interview

2010-03-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

Donald Glover sums it all up.

I'll get back to posting about improvisers soon, but my computer at work is fried so I'm on a loaner with nothing but the internet on it.

Kate Spencer

2010-03-17T10:33:00.001-07:00

-Kate Spencer and why she is awesome-

I sometimes feel that Kate isn’t talked about enough when people start mentioning their favorite performers. I think it is because Kate is such a well rounded improviser that not one thing sticks out as her own. Whereas you can point your finger at most improvisers and say that they are amazing at this technique and it really sings for them. Kate is harder to do that with because she is so solid with everything she does. I’m excited by that because that is the type of performer I would rather be. So if you want to point fingers at Kate, you are going to need a lot of fingers.

In the last year, in my eyes Kate’s style of play has changed a lot. It may be the shifting of players on Reuben, or it just may be her working on herself, but I’ve really enjoyed watching the improvement.

I wish I could have seen Kate play on other teams before Reuben was created, so my only source is one team, but I feel that she could play with anyone and make that person feel comfortable no matter what type of performer they are.

She is also very fashionable.

Kevin Hines

2010-03-16T09:58:00.001-07:00

-Kevin Hines and why he is awesome-

Kevin has a response ready for what you are about to say, before you know what you are about to say. In conversations with him, I am always shocked at how quick his brain works and at how fast he sees something unusual to play with. I feel it is because of, what I feel is, his biggest strength as an improviser. He always makes what his scene partner says matter to him. More importantly, he effortlessly puts your idea first and reacts to it with emotion, and he will always put his idea on the back burner until your idea has been explored to its fullest. What makes that even more awesome is Kevin always has a TON of ideas, at least it seems that way, and he still manages to care about yours more.

When Kevin was on FWAND, since the team was such a solid TEAM, he didn’t stick out to me because you didn’t notice individuals on that team, you only saw everyone. When he went to the SCAM I started to really enjoy watching him, but not until he got on Rueben Williams have I been able to really see what makes him great. He’s funny, he is supportive as shit, he is willing to make an ass out of himself and he is super smart. Beyond all of that, he cares. He cares about the growth of the UCB and each individual involved. He is also the one person I still see watch all of Harold Night when he can. The man loves improv.

He is pretty decent at hosting shows too.

Neil Casey

2010-03-15T07:18:00.001-07:00

Since I haven’t been writing much, and I really haven’t had much that I have wanted to write about, I’ve decided I’m going to start writing about some of my favorite performers and what make them awesome at improv in my eyes.

-Neil Casey and why he is awesome-

Neil is the eye of the hurricane when he improvises. He is always calm and in control, and often times silent for long periods of time while letting everything happen around him. Scenes and shows can get as chaotic as they want, and within one line Neil finds a way to make all of it make sense. He is the ultimate weaver of scenes and one of the smartest improvisers I have ever seen perform at any theater. Neil rarely breaks, but when he does it touches me more than most.

I feel a lot of improvisers push and push to stand out in a show, but you will never see that from Neil, and if you think about the show after it is over, you will notice he was there through the whole thing making it work. He’s like a photo bomber who wants to make every picture better.

One of Neil’s biggest strength is his willingness to go there and shock the audience, then push through the uncomfortable silence of their fear, and force them to understand why he finds humor in the things he is saying. He never bails on an idea, and by doing so he makes you love it by the end.

The scariest thing about Neil is I see him continuing to improve all the time. How can someone as good as that keep getting better?

A: Because we can never learn it all.

Cute store!

2010-03-04T06:29:00.001-08:00

My good friend Catherine Serbousek makes the cutest crafts in the world. She has an online store and will someday BE FAMOUS from making this stuff. Get some while they are cheap and someday you will be able to say you own Catherine's stuff without having to spend thousands on bux.

Catherine's Store

Fuerza Bruta

2010-02-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

If you ever get the chance to see this show, you should. Amazing shit is happening all the time, and it is a rare thing to experience it when it does, then you wait until it is gone and say how you wished you went.

Friar's Club

2010-02-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Last night I got to live a comedic dream of many people. I, along with my amazing team and friends, got to do the first ever improv show at the Friar’s Club. Get it? The very first time the Friars have ever had an improv show at THEIR CLUB. I’m like the fucking Tiger Woods of the Masters.

Ok, so it isn’t quite that big, but it was amazing nonetheless. Not only did we get to do that show, we had a GREAT show. Ragnarok was also invited to do a set, and they absolutely killed it. For those that don’t know what this club represents, please peruse their website. http://www.friarsclub.com/

I honestly feel like one of the luckiest people on earth.

On the flip side of that, to all of my friends that are going through a rough patch right now, remember that this isn’t the end of anything. You all are amazing people and extremely talented and I love watching each one of you perform. Keep your chins up, be a good person and continue to work hard. You can’t fail if you don’t allow yourself to quit.

A show on Tuesday (had Monday, but got zinged)

2010-02-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Badman had a show this past Tuesday. I was really trying to work on my characters from my new pov on the characters pov. I did a two person scene with Nate where he was trying to kill himself. I literally got fucked at the top when I went to name Nate’s character. I was about to name him Keith, then my brain jumped back to our last rehearsal, and in that rehearsal I named a character of his Keith. So I didn’t allow myself to say it in the show. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know, I just wouldn’t. So instead, when Nate went to kill himself, I simply said don’t. It got a huge reaction, which was nice, but it was said so oddly. Instead, Nate instantly said he won’t and we went on to play a fun scene where I kept coming back in before he killed himself. I didn’t really play my character at all real because I was too worried about the situation downstairs. Oh well.

In the 2nd group game of our show, I was taking photo of a family, where they were all very old. It was super fun, but super weird. This is where I did feel that I listened to my own notes. I had a lot of time to think and let the scene soak in because my team was saying and doing hilarious things. Then it kind of just clicked in my head and I said that I hated my job and I thought they were all fucking with me. It just felt good to say it, because it wasn’t just a character saying why he was upset, but really understanding, from the inside, why a Sears photo person would be in a bad mood. I think this is a more comfortable way of playing straight man.

I know what I’ve been saying doesn’t seem that big of a change. I’d tell you that you are wrong. :)

Beyond that, Badman decided before the show to really take this one super serious and try to play slower and not just go for laughs. I think we were successful with that.

Still going

2010-02-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

**sorry, I am still thinking about my last post. I just feel like I’m on the verge of figuring something a lot bigger out. For me at least. So forgive me if I rant on this idea for a while**

I don’t know why I’m excited by this thought process, but I am! I feel as if something important just made its’ way into my brain. I don’t want people to think that I’m just now figuring out that we should be always be acting/saying what the character would in any situation, I think this goes beyond that train of thought. This, to me, feels like such a deeper way of viewing one self in a scene.

If you are playing an asshole, are you saying asshole things because that is how you view assholes, or are you saying things that sound assholey because you want the world to like you, but it just comes out wrong like an asshole would say?

Nobody is an asshole because they want to be, it is part of their makeup and inability to realize they are an asshole. Hitler really thought he was doing the world a bit of service. Drunks act like they have to prove that they are sober. The whole Hipster scene is created from a bunch of nerds who tried to be cool.

I think the only people who act like they want to be perceived are porn stars.

A lesson I just learned about playing real characters

2010-02-09T12:42:00.001-08:00

**I thought of this as I was reviewing some shows from this weekend, in my head, when I had a pretty big lesson slammed into my brain when thinking about a character Scott Adsit played.**

Scott Adsit really impressed me this past weekend. He is always impressive, duh, but he really showed me how smart he is on stage Saturday. During a scene in a restaurant, he was made into retarded busboy, because he chose to do a strange voice/body stance in the scene. I’m sure he didn’t plan on being that, but someone called out his mannerism as retarded…cool.

Scott played this character so brilliantly, and in such a different light than I am used to people playing gifted people. He tried so hard to be the best waiter he could, which is the absolute best way to play a special person. It wasn’t about doing a fucking voice, it wasn’t about getting away with doing things wrong, it was about trying to be the best waiter he could be, and that made it amazing to watch. I feel we improvisers often use retarded as a gimmick to get away with shit we wouldn’t normally do in a scene, because we are a character who has a slanted view of the world. Which isn’t the way gifted people behave. They try so hard to appear normal that they go above and beyond in everything they do, and Scott fucking nailed it.

I think the biggest note I took away from this was that the character took pride in his job vs being surprised when he did something right. He was ashamed when he did something wrong instead of laughing at himself for being a retard.

I think the simplest way to look at it is this:

We shouldn’t play a character based off of how the world views him/her, but we should play a character as he/she would want the world to view them.

I’m going to have to look at my character work and see how I play, because now I feel like I’ve been doing it slightly wrong which probably has led me to be a little bit ironically detached.

Personalize Me

2010-02-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

I just did something I wonder if anyone else has ever done. I asked Achilles to be a personal coach for me. Being the amazing person he is, he agreed. I was thinking about sports, as I am ought to do, and the correlations between them and improvisation. We use a lot of terminology from sports when we discuss improv, and since sports are what I know best I started to dig further. I realized that the best people in their fields often times get a specialized coach who drills them extra outside of their regular practices.

I love the teams I am on, but most of the notes and work that we do is on how to improve as a team, and as valuable as that is, I feel that if I also work on myself *always* then I inevitably will help out the team. I feel like I need some eyes directly focusing on me. This is more of a test more than anything….it might be annoying. For now though I am pretty excited by the prospect on getting a lot of individualized notes.

Because I'm scared to start a Tumblr war

2010-02-04T10:13:00.001-08:00

I'm posting this here where my views are a little more private.

I’ve been telling teams I coach that if someone starts a fight with you in a scene, there’s no way that scene is going to be good so you might as well just start yelling at the top of your lungs and acting as crazy as possible.

I probably should keep my nose out of other people's philosophies, but I don't know if I fully agree with this. I do feel that fighting for the sake of fighting, in scenes, is a pitfall that a lot of people fall into and often make for bad scenes.
But I do feel that sometimes arguing and fighting can be fun, as long as you aren't doing it with the idea of winning the argument. If you remember that the scene isn’t about the argument and that the emotions and fighting is a reaction to the unusual thing, then we can still play with it.

Arguing can stall a scene and stop it from moving forward, but if you are smart enough to continue to forward the scene and play the game, then why not? Yes, I’d rather have a fun scene where we are both on the same page, but that isn’t always going to happen because we are human and don’t see everything the same way.

I think to say any type of scene can't work is a bad way to think. I remember Anthony King once telling me had never seen a good running scene. Few weeks later I saw Roo Roo do an entire Monoscene as a running scene, and it was brilliant. Sure, we want to avoid doing things that are more likely to suck, but if we didn't, Sportscenter wouldn't have a Top 10 plays of the week.

Random stuff

2010-01-27T12:12:00.000-08:00

Improv front – Nothing much is different. How much is too much is an interesting improv debate. People worried about getting burnt out, or people wondering what the best way to get better is. I don’t think there is a formula to this. I think you do as much as you can until it stops being fun and you don’t feel as if you are learning anything from it. People take classes, sit in practice groups, and they hear the same note over and over again. Are they learning anything? That is up to them to figure out. I think if you can’t be committed to a group, 100%, then, GTFO. If you can’t commit to a class, GTFO. If you are half-assing anything because you feel you are doing too much, then you are! I think it is pretty simple to realize if you are improving or doing to much to your own detriment. Right now I’m in two groups that I give everything I can do. With Badman I love the chance to play the straight man. I feel like I learn every time I step into practice/onto stage with them. I also love playing with The Fritz. I feel that I get to flex other comedic muscles with them. Making big choices, being a little bit sillier and not letting form beat me down.

Just like any machine. Figure out your point where you overheat, then stop just shy of that and keep it there unless something changes.

Personally wise – I rearranged my room last night and I feel amazing! I was able to add SO much floor space by shifting some bigger furniture around and using corners more efficiently.

I did Yoga for the first time last night and had trouble with it due to the lack of space. Problem solved. I actually enjoyed Yoga too!

I also went running, cleaned my room, read some and thought of some stand-up jokes. All-in-all….a very good evening.

DSIF (I still call it that) is in 3 weeks. Looking forward to going home and having fun.

Characters

2010-01-13T08:01:00.001-08:00

One of my frustrations lately, with improvisation, is just the basics. I think, in general, we do a pretty poor job of laying down the basics of a scene, which is bad for our students to see. I mean, if the people on Harold Night don’t do it, why should they? So I am really going to push to lead by example and really get back to the basics. I don’t want to do anymore scenes in an undefined space. It is too hard.

Lately I have been really pushing myself to play more characters. I think I am pretty good at characters, so I should be utilizing that talent more. I realized I play a lot of female characters as well. I wonder why. With my endeavor to play more characters, my game play has suffered a bit. I’m not overly worried about that because while you work one muscle more, then other muscles need time to adjust to the new strain. I have never cared about being the best, but I really do want to be a very well rounded improviser. I’d also be just as happy to be known as a great straight man.

As soon as my tax returns come in, I’m going to sign up for another 500. I don’t know who I am going to take yet, so I might base my decision on who is also going to take the class. I’m not really interested in taking 600s. Not that I don’t find forms fun, but I’d rather continue to work on me as a player and really become great at Harold.

Personal notes - last nights errors

2010-01-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

1: If you feel the need to be funny, make an observation about the unusual thing with your point of view.

2: If you want to make the scene funny, have a strong reaction to the unusual thing and invest in it.

Last night I did the first one, and shat all over the second one.

Jojo created the plot, and I created the dialogue

2009-12-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

Max takes catering gigs to swing by each month without workin too damn hard and lives with his twin brother. He broke up with his last girlfriend because he didnt love her enough. He prefers to sleep in late, shower when essential and charm his way into girl's undies.

Max: Dude, I need to get laid something fierce.
Leo: I hear ya bro. This time don’t let me “hear” you though.
Max: That wasn’t my fault. Never fuck an Aries. They are screamers. One time this one chick started making noises like an African Rhino.
Leo: Why do you say the rhino was African?
Max: She is African, so I guess that is all she knows.
Leo: You have a weird logic fuck-o. Anyways, I gotta go get my check up.
Max: You shouldn’t worry about your health so much. It isn’t worth it to worry about everything so much and that shit will just stress you out.
Leo: Well, if I had sex with as many women as you have, I’d get checked up every day.
Max: If it ain’t swollen, everything is golden.
Leo: Later dude.
Max: Peace. Maybe the Dr. will play with your balls at least.
Leo: That’s his job. Asshole.

Jordyn sits at her monotonous office job and fantasizes about splashing in puddles with the appropriate rain gear on, prank calling the post office to report a missing package that doesnt exist, and jumping on a freshly made bed for good luck. After she discovers her longtime boyfriend had a 2nd girlfriend, she masks her hurt with casual sex.

Loraine: London City post office, how can I direct your call?
Jordyn: I was supposed to receive a package on Wed, and I still haven’t received it. It was some rifle polish from the Strike Hunt store.
Loraine: From the Strike Hunt store? Is that new? I’ve never heard of it.
Jordyn: Yes, my friend suggested it to me though and he says you never feel the same after you Strike Hunt.
Loraine: Do you have a reference number?
Jordyn: 46386723
Loraine: Ok I’ll look into and give you a call back. I was actually looking to buy my husband a gift. Maybe he would like Strike Hunt?
Jordyn: I have no doubt that he would. Google it. Have a wonderful day.
Loraine: Thank you. And to you to. *click*
Jordyn: I need to grow up. But all that talk about cunts has made me a little amorous. Now where is my jack rabbit?

One of Jordyn's coworker's mom dies. So people from her division make a group trip to the wake. Max is there catering the wake. Max begins talking to Jordyn after she combines two different finger foods onto one toothpick, a move he's never seen done before.

Max: Olives and Pepperoni? That sounds nersty.
Jordyn: Sometimes you have to try disgusting things before you can know what you really like.
Max: You sound like my father.
Jordyn: *lowers voice* Chip chip, I like the rain in Spain.
Max: He isn’t British. Have you ever had sex with a Brit? They sound amazing in….oh sorry, I have a potty mouth and forget myself sometimes.
Jordyn: That is fine. I have a potty brain. This sounds weird, mostly because we are at a wake, but I haven’t double clicked the mouse in a few days.
Max: Not me. I do that at least 2 times a day. I mean, stroke…ya know what I mean. Oh wait! Are you hinting at what I hope you are?
Jordyn: I saw a tree fort on my way in. No one would know and you could write it off as a work related break.
Max: You might be the most amazing 5 minutes of my life.
Jordyn: 4 minutes. I’m pretty gifted.
Max: Oh…my….I’ll be out there shortly.
Jordyn: Hurry up, or I’ll have to start by myself.
Max: Gulp.
Jordyn: Did you just SAY gulp?
Max: Yeah. I think it is funny.
Jordyn: Just hurt he fuck up.

Jordyn proposes that they go outside to escape the death vibes and they have sex like two good ole strangers would. Afterwards, they shake hands but Max forgets to ask for a way to contact her since he was so caught up in the moment. After Jordyn has left, he asks one of her coworkers for their card so he might be able to reach her again.

Max: Hey….Nancy?
Nancy: That’s what the name tag says. I’m not in charge of this though. If you are looking for your pay check you will have to get in touch with Francine.
Max: Oh no, not at all. I actually saw you talking with Jordyn earlier and was wondering if you knew how I could get in touch with her.
Nancy: You mean you want to fuck her.
Max: Hah, alrea……no, no, no. I thought she was really interesting. I’d like to call her.
Nancy: Oh. Well she’d fuck you. She’d fuck anything.
Max: Oh well….ok
Nancy: Well I’m sorry. I’m not in the “help Nancy get fucked club” so I don’t think I can help you.
Max: And to think I thought you were cute.
Nancy: After 5 babies you kind of give up on life.
Max: Nice.

Max decides to swing by Jordyn's office after her coworker refuses to give out Jordyn's personal info. Jordyn is surprised to see him and they go out for "lunch" i.e. a middle of the day rendezvous.

Max: Hey – Umm…I googled you. Is that weird? Yeah, it is, but anyways. Want to get some lunch?
Jordyn: Do you have an apple at your apartment?
Max: Umm…I think I have some fruit.
Jordyn: Good. I’ll need to refuel after lunch.
Max: Gulp!
Jordyn: You really think that is funny?
Max: Your still talking to me aren’t you?
Jordyn: I guess so. Do you have a pizza man’s uniform by any chance?
Max: Huh?
Jordyn: Oh, just a weird fantasy I have. Anyways, I’ll meet you at your car in 5 minutes.
Max: What ARE you?
Jordyn: Amazing.
Max: Before I go, can I take one of your cards?
Jordyn: They technically belong to the company, so I can’t say no.
Max: Ok. Cya soon.

This time Max makes sure to get Jordyn's number.

They continue to see each other once a week. Jordyn begins to like Max because of his charm but expects so little out of him to make her happy. Max continues to be a spazzy texter and emailer. So Jordyn accepts the fact that they will always be casual with eachother and is ok with that because she doesnt want to be in another relationship and she's free to be with other people if she wants to.

Text 1: At Avatar. Ever want to fuck a blue creature?
Text 2: At Avatar again. I needed to prove to myself that I didn’t want to fuck a blue creature.
Text 3: Gurrrl. You won’t guess where I am at again!
Text 4: Sorry I can’t hang out tonight. I’ve got plans.
Text 5: See ya in a week. Football week with the boyssss!
Text 6: Leo is really sick. Gonna be gone for a while. I will think about your tits though.

Then Max's twin brother is diagnosed with Chrome's disease. He gets very sick and Max goes a while without contacting Jordyn. She figures he just got tired of her and is sad but makes steps to get over it.

Loraine: London City Post Office, how may I direct your call?
Jordyn: Hi, this is Mrs. Salt, and I’m expecting a package that I haven’t received.
Loraine: Can you explain to me what you are missing?
Jordyn: An anti rape kit that should be sent to A Salt.
Loraine: To A Salt? You just use a first initial?
Jordyn: Yeah, I don’t like my first name, August.
Loraine: Understood. Ok A. Salt anti rape kit. Reference number?
Jordyn: 24563267
Loraine: Ok. I’ll look into and give you a call back. *click*
Jordyn: Life is good again.

But Max realizes that he misses Jordyn and that she's probably the best girl he's ever been around. He calls her on the phone (the first time he has ever called!) and leaves her a voicemail asking to see her.

Max voicemail: Hey Jordyn. Leo died and this is the first time I’m able to speak. Literally. I lost my voice and couldn’t talk. I’ve been nothing but tears. If you can give me a call back, I’d love to talk to you. I need someone in my life.

She ignores it cuz she has almost gotten over Max and doesn't see the point in starting up again. Max keeps calling her though.

Max voicemail: Hey Jordyn. Max again. Hey…..I really would like to talk to you again. I’m a wreck. I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest, through my asshole. Please give me a call when you are free.

Max voicemail: Hey Jordyn. Max here. I’m a d-bag. A huge d-bag. I am having a horrible month, and the only good thing that has happened to me lately was meeting you. I let my troubles get in the way of us, and I’m a fucking child. I’m a d-bag child who wants everything to go his way. And now here I am whining like a child again because I can’t get what I want. Which is you. I only want you Jordyn. I didn’t realize that until now. Can you at least meet me? We can meet somewhere public. Leeky’s Candy shop. I know you like Gum Drops. Ok. That’s it I guess. If I don’t hear back from you, I’ll just assume you are done with me. Thanks for listening.

Finally she caves and agrees to meet him in a candy shop.

Jordyan text: 3:15pm

She appreciates his honesty and says she'll think about it with a smile. And the movie ends with them having sex in the candy shop wooooooooooooooooooooo

David is a wise jewish man

2009-12-02T07:06:00.001-08:00

I want to go on public record and say how brilliant Dave S. is with improv. We did a 1st beat together last night that didn’t really work. It had some seeds and some fun ideas, but we didn’t really flush those ideas out with action. It was a very talky scene where we discussed funny ideas instead of playing those ideas.

I wasn’t sure where the 2nd beat was going to exist, but Dave started with a pure “if this, then what” moment, playing the fun thing that was discovered in the 1st beat. Mostly because we didn’t define any rules for a game in the 1st beat, there really wasn’t any other way to play that 2nd beat, and Dave really nailed it.

It showed the consequences of the strange discoveries in the 1st beat. Which, when talked about, Dave realized that my crazy logic worked. Such a good moment and a great improv note. Always remember that if the 1st beat isn’t that great, don’t get glued to that scene just to do a proper Harold, do the 2nd beat that you want to do. Just take the fun thing and play that. People will forgive you.

On a personal praise moment, I think I am getting really good at listening and picking up on little things. I think that is a pretty big thing for me since I used to do so much short-form that I wasn’t a good listener in the past.

Home and holidays

2009-11-30T10:41:00.001-08:00

I took the entire week off from Saturday until Saturday to vacation with my family for Thanksgiving. That was a treat, but by the end I was reeeaaaallly looking forward to returning back to NYC. That usually doesn’t happen, so I was kinda shocked by that realization.

On the improvisation front, I was invited to speak to a class in Charlotte about improv and the UCB. I got a sick sense of pride when a few of the students already knew of the UCB. Mostly I just talked to them about the power of Yes, and in improv, and how life could be greatly enhanced with some simple improv rules. Since it was a drama class, I felt a need to show them ways that improvisation can be helpful with script. It may not be much in the greater scheme of the theater, but I was very glad to have a chance to spread around the UCB’s name.

I also did a Diplomat show this past weekend. Only Zach and Paula were there, so I got to do a really fun, tight 3 person show. I’m always amazed at how funny Zach can be, and at how easy it is for me to play with him. Mostly I just fed him a unique idea up top and let him run away with it. Pretty easy and sick. It was like playing with a super powered wind up toy. Paula is always fun to play with too. She brings a refreshing element to Diplomat’s shows. I kinda miss those kids.

I’m glad to be back though. Really glad.

Bidman

2009-11-18T08:32:00.000-08:00

I’m very much in love with Badman right now. The last two shows we have done have really pushed us in a new direction. Yes, mistakes were made, and the improvisation itself wasn’t MIND ALTERING, but the shows were fun and absolutely fearless.

Last night our suggestion was Star Wars. Probably the nerd fantasy of every improviser in the audience. What I loved about this show was the insane amount of support there was for every move. Right or wrong, there was no onstage judgment. D’Arcy being honest and showing that she doesn’t know sci fi? Awesome! We used it. Oh, you don’t know Friends specifics? Awesome! Use it! BSG? WHAT? Use it. Themes, meta moves, game play. So much fun. Now if we can make the cake stronger we can support all that frosting.

It was pure excitement and energy that moved the show forward. There was real honesty in the meta part of the show (sitting in the chair when we lacked knowledge), which was a game on top of the entire show. The show contained an ongoing theme and really felt like a Star Wars Harold.

I’m excited because I know the theater doesn’t want teams to become stagnant, and to always be pushing ourselves to try new things and become better. I’ve felt the last two shows have really hit that note hard. And I know both shows had some major problems with them, but we kept pushing and pushing and didn’t let the “rules” bog us down.

If we can reel it back in I have a feeling we will be doing some mind blowing work soon.

Jail House Rocks

2009-11-16T08:34:00.001-08:00

If you missed Spo’s show on Friday, consider yourself a very unlucky person. In a world of artsy fartsy jokey shitty stuff, Spo gave a middle finger to all of that and showed how a simple idea with brilliant ideas can overshadow all of that. My jaw dropped every time she returned to the stage as another brilliantly bizarre character. What made it so great to me was it wasn’t just a show to show how crazy Spo can be; it was a show that was a lesson in comedy.

It isn’t about saying funny things, it is about showing the world what you think is funny. This show was just that.

What I absolutely loved about this show was that a ton of performers came to see it. A 6:30 spank on a Friday! The “performers corner” was a cavalcade of my favorite people. Just proving publically how many people love Spo.

Following her was Code Duello. Good show.

Syrup

2009-11-06T09:44:00.001-08:00

One thing I get jazzed about with improvisation, is how it seeps into your real life, and how real life seeps into your improvisation. Due to my obsession with Top Chef, in a scene last night I was preparing Foie gras, instead of SOME FOOD. Something I have no idea how to make. I don’t even know what ingredients are used. It made me chuckle afterwards though. Stuff like that just really excites me! The more I stretch myself in real life, the more ammo I have to use in scenes.

Why enter a gun fight with a six shooter when you could have a 10 shooter?

I wish Gethard was at Harold night on Tuesday though. I really let go and had a blast. It got a little bit out of hand, but at least the attempt was there

Done with Gethard

2009-11-03T07:54:00.001-08:00

Just finished up Gethard’s 4 week special class.

Overall I feel that this class was a deconstruction of what we have already learned in improv classes. It challenged everything we have learned up to this point, forced us to look at it from a different angel then do everything we already do with those new glasses on. In such a strange way, it felt like loosening of a belt. Pretty freeing and scary.

I went into class last night fully focused on just letting the crazy exist and not trying to “fix” things. Where as I have become really good at making sense of things, I have to become just as willing to let them exist. I know I can justify, so why force myself to justify things before they become fun?

So last night was pretty fun for me. Very out of my comfort zone at times, and optimistic and excited during others. I don’t know if it is my preferred style of play, but it is something I need to be aware of and willing to accept in shows.

Yes and everything
Justify when needed
Exist in the world

Now onto the GAME and Yes AND workshops next week.

Student Shows

2009-10-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Since I didn't have class yesterday, I still want to put something up improv related.

I see a lot of student shows. My favorite part is watching the teachers host the shows. Here is a ranking for them.

1 being super awkward – 10 being super awesome (this should not be taken seriously)

Kevin Hines -25
Porter Mason 10
Shannon O’neill 100
Anthony King 10
Brandon Gardner 10
Gavin Spieller .05
Chelsea Clarke -0
Silvija Ozols 6
Curtis Gwinn 10
Chris Gethard +/-5
Will Hines 2
Zach Woods 10
Michael Delaney 10
Doug Moe 10
Jeff Hiller 10
Lennon Parham 10
Kate Spencer 10
Betsy Stover 10
Ari Voukydis 10

Biggest personal discovery

2009-10-20T07:04:00.001-07:00

So last night I figured something out. My life, improv plus everything else, is diluted by my need to control it. What I found odd about this discovery, mostly because I didn’t realize I was doing this, is that I find ways to control things very subtly.

Last night, in class, Gethard had us doing an exercise where there were no rules. At one point he pulled me aside and told me to stop leading and to just live in it. Afterwards I realized that I was freaking out in my head, and had started trying to make rules without people noticing. If A happens then B must follow. At the time, in my head, I felt like my moves were supportive and saying yes to other people’s moves, but in a larger scope it was locking us into rules which was defeating the purpose of the exercise. In a sense, amongst the chaos, I was trying to quell the hurricane so I could stand in the eye.

I then jumped into my backlog of scenes that I store in my head, to see if this is a pattern with me. I discovered that it is. Where as Shannon noticed that I had trouble being vulnerable in scenes, I think this discovery is the source of that problem. I absolutely love being out of control, but subconsciously I try to control every situation I am in. I create a framework of expectations, that when they are disrupted I freak out. Probably why I get really anxious when I am running late and it isn’t my fault.

I am going to have to think about this a lot and see if I can stop myself from doing this. I think this makes me a semi predictable improviser, and person in life.

I don’t want to get too personal here, but these thoughts lead me to look for places where I try to control other things as well. This issue of mine….literally….is the biggest problem in my life, and I never noticed it until yesterday.

Everything! Love/relationships/work/friends/myself It all stems from distancing myself emotionally, because I hate when my emotions are not controllable.

I’m seeing such a big pattern now. Fuck! Now, how the hell do I fix it without controlling it? What a vicious circle.

I didn't even cry at my mother's funeral.