In a World...

my first 600 class' last show of our run was last night and it was totally awesome. both teams really nailed the form and the show generally, AND we all had a ton of fun. i loved my team so much! the class was a great experience, and had it's share of serious ups and downs, but we really pulled together last night and i am beyond proud of the whole class.

which leads me to my next point: how fucking proud i am of the illustrious harold team whorenado. they had some serious struggles early on, and at some point (i choose to believe it was sometime after their kickass performance at my show, the lorelei) they all decided to commit SO HARD to their team, and commit to extra rehearsals and commit selflessly to their teammates. and their hard work has paid off so much recently. they support each other's weaknesses and ideas in such a fucking fun way. this is extremely cheesy, but their example has given me a ton of hope about the power of attitude and commitment in improv. they are obviously all talented individuals, but they are a great TEAM because they are all working so hard to commit and support that TEAM. OMG I LOVE WHORENADO.

<3
katey

p.s. Always pack a suit, even if you think you aren't going to need one. ~ Anton Chekov.

also, congratulations

big ups congrats to christine nangle, who's been placed on the UCB harold team 'Whorenado!'. Christine is a great, super funny writer and a really talented improvisor. i was lucky enough to be on a team with her in my last 501, and it was a total joy. i had a fairly massive comedy crush on her before the class, and it was beyond fun to get to play with her regularly for the class. i think she'll be great on the team, and i can't wait to see her play with them. and for the record, my girl crush on her is now sealed. BOOYEAH.

actually, she might actually play with them THIS COMING SUNDAY AT THE LORELEI! what a smooth transistion to a plug. i am just THAT good. AND it's a solidly awesome line up this month, i am way excited about it:

indie darlings

DAYSTALLION!

JOHN FRUSCIANTE presents JOHN FRUSCIANTE!

solo improv, not for the faint-hearted!

and the aforementioned

WHORENADO!

a ucb house team! we've gone corporate!

as always, the lorelei is at 8 pm at the parkside lounge, on houston btwn aves B & C. the show is free, but we (it's just me, actually) ask that you buy copious amounts of the free drinks from the lovely cocktail waitresses. also, i will do some sweet stand up comedy as your host for the evening. EXCITEMENT!

moving

is terrible. i am just moving at work, not out of my sweet east harlem palace, but it's still terrible. they were on my ass all day yesterday to get moved out for this morning. SO 10:20 comes around today, and i am all moved out, except for one folder and my computer (because my brief stint in corporate america has taught me that you hold on to the internet until the last possible second). everything else is balanced precariously on a shelf next to my soon-to-be (shudder) cubicle, or in a cart next to said cubicle. BUT, not as you might think, IN this particular cubicle. no. because there are 3 people ahead of me who were supposed to move out of their cubicles into different cubicles by this morning, and who have NOT because they are awful. so i persist in being stuck in this limbo between my gorgeous office overlooking 57th street, with a decent view of the sky and interesting windows to spy on people through, and a shitty cubicle with no sound privacy right next to a damn fax machine AND 3 printers. grumblecakes.

also, my speakers are packed up so i can't even listen to music while fucking around on the internet.

if you came out to my show, the lorelei, on sunday, thanks so much! it was a really fun time, and totally packed, which is always awesome. i ended up writing some stand up jokes at like 6:30 that night, to perform that night, since my original hosting bit fell through. i think most of the material went over pretty well. email me if you have any specific thoughts on ma jokes.

the three improv teams were great too! i kind of wish i hadn't gotten a second whiskey and coke, since i was totally too tipsy by the end of the night. good thing i wasn't also responsible for blacking out any of the shows. i can tell that it would have been 'a halfway through a non-game move incidental sentence' black out, i think... had there been one. er. TIME BANDIT, AWAY!

the lorelei! this sunday! who hoo!

the lorelei is this sunday! are you excited! i sure am! i am showing it by eating through the post-del close marathon depression! it's pretty great you guys!

DETAILS: 8 PM, AUGUST 5th, THE PARKSIDE LOUNGE, FREE, BUY DRINKS PLEASE!

this next installment of the lorelei is pretty phenomenal, i am totally excited about the line up:

John Mulaney: my favorite stand up performer in new york city. easily. this guy is so ridiculously talented it makes my teeth ache. if you haven't seen him perform yet, please come to the show, you owe it to yourself.

Nick Stevens: one of the quickest wits i have ever seen in action, for serious. he hosts the shark show every saturday night with his posse of (mostly) bostonians, has a video blog starring the totally fahking awesome Paul 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald and basically does the boston area proud.

Will Hines: i am going to gush for a minute (cause i haven't been already)... will is awesome. one of the funniest people i have ever met in my life. he is an incredibly talented, committed and clever improviser who has been around the UCB scene forever. he also teaches classes and performs with several independent teams in addition to the House Team he is on, 1985. His stand up is smart and witty and bell-achingly funny and i am so excited to have him up.

Emily Epstein: Emily is one of the funniest people i have seen in NYC. she is extremely talented and really knows how to exploit a story or a joke for it's best comedic value. i am extremely envious of her awesome delivery and super-funny brain. she's great, you guys are gonna love her.

Dan Cartwright: This guy has wry indignation down to a science. he is ridiculously funny and really knows how to craft a joke fully. he's also one of the most professional and committed comics i know, and a funny guy to be around. he always puts on a great show, and i am very excited to finally have him on the show!

i hope you guys can make it out, it will be a really fun show. watch me host and wrangle these hyper-talented people as i become progessively tipsier by the end of the night. it's a sight to see, i promise.

i am so bad at blogging! oh noes!

and apparently i still type like a cat! double oh noes! EN EE WAI, i apologize for my extended e-absence. sometimes i become overwhelmed by all the non-responsibility i put on myself which matters (ultimately) not at all that i can't even bear to think about doing something that is so easy i can answer 3204 to 4298280930982323089 calls while doing it. it's ennui, but it is totally stupid ennui. 'totally stupid ennui' would be a great band name.

so yeah, sorry. arby's sucks donkey dick & duck cloaca because they charged me 50 cents for a seedless bun AND THEN taxed me extra on that 50 cent extra charge. never mind that the button for 'exchange seedless' costs 0.00 on the register; they feel they can fuck me in the ass for not being able to eat seeds AND THEN hand my waiting, already raw anus to the new york government for some sweet 8.75 sales-taxing ass-raping. too far, readers? or not far enough?

other than brief forays into fast food-originated rage-induced psychosis, i had a good rest-of-june. the july installment of 'the lorelei' came together well. the line up was pretty fucking great, i am very proud of the shows these people have helped me do so far. the original line up was nick kroll, max silvestri, dan upham (i love that d00d), merritt gurley and sean donnelly; HOWEVER, i ran into hannibal burress the wednesday before the show and offered him a spot because he was in town from chicago through the weekend and is hilarious and awesome. you will be seeing that name a lot more soon, he is a very smart and and funny guy. so the lorelei ended up being 6 (instead of 5) comics plus me hosting, so i did shorter bits and gave everyone a couple minutes less just so we could get out of the room in time for the 9:30 band; we were still a little late and they hated us. OH WELL. i love doing the show, it is a great opportunity for me and it is alot of fun. and comedians really seem to enjoy doing it, which is great.

improv through june: june was a pretty fantastic month for me, improv-wise. i was taking a 'special' class with ari voukydis. i want to marry his vision of improv. it's pretty awesome. the class was about getting out of your head and it was great. i felt so fucking energized and excited by what we did in class, and the crazy shit we messed around with, just playing with the conventions of the 'new york' form and it was unbelievably cool. i am so sad it was only a month long. i wish i had 3 hours of improv with ari every week. it would make my life pretty much 93% better, overall. unfortunately, i don't really have a venue for playing around with a lot of the stuff we played with in that class. my improv group... well, we are still pretty new and a lot of coaches feel more comfortable not 'pushing the envelope'. the thing i LOVED about ari's class was that it was like 'yeah, you aren't super experienced at long form or harold, but fuck learning ALL about the form first, have fun and respect the SPIRIT of improv first'. literally tossing us in the deeeep end of the improv pool first... uh, metaphorically. i am waxing poetic about something i can barely articulate, on a subject that very few people understand the context for... so i apologize. suffice it to say, i have another new passion, and it is going to be annoying for you all.

i also started my level 301 class with joe wengert. i would link to his blog but it hasn't been updated since february, so eff that guy, amirite? just kidding, joe is totally awesome. i have watched him perform more than i have watched any of my other improv teachers or coaches i have worked with, and he is a brilliantly funny guy. he is also extremely smart and gives excellent notes in class. he really pays attention to scenes and remembers the little details that tend to run together for instructors. he is always 'on point' in class. it's a great learning experience. my class is also REALLY small and there are some ridiculously funny ladies in it, it's fantastic.

mmm what else? my sister alexis came to visit, that was really fun. she wasn't able to stay for a day that i wasn't totally fucking swamped and busy though, which was too bad. hopefully she will be able to visit again this summer. we have had houseguests steadily since last week, and will continue to have them for the next couple weeks. which is tough, but also fun. it also makes me realize just how much i use listening to my ipod to deal with shit emotionally. it's pretty fucked up. in other news, my marriage to my ipod (mozart, after a bit from 'the office') will take place late next fall. watch your mail for an invitation!

well, i am sure there was other bullshit i was going to write about, but fuck it for now. and FUCK YOU, ARBY'S!

comedy is serious business.

i go to quite a few comedy shows around manhattan. it's pretty evenly split between stand up performances and improv shows. i am considering trying to review them, but i don't know if i could be an effective or objective reviewer, so i might just list my favorites and what i like about them. i am not sure yet. however, i am sure that i will write up a list of my favorite bars ranked according to how nice their bathrooms are.

so some more about comedy... and me :) ME ME ME, right?! i am a comedian (i prefer 'comic' because it sounds like 'dick' and i am... kind of a dick) in new york. i try to perform stand up a couple times a week, and long form improv about the same. i have been taking classes at the upright citizen's brigade theatre for about 9 months now, and it is super fun and very challenging. i was in an improv troupe in college called 'yodapez'.

i also produce and host a monthly show at the Parkside Lounge on the lower east side (LES). the show is called the lorelei, after the german rock that lured Romantic poets to their watery graves (OBVIOUSLY) and it is pretty fun. last month we had leo allen, gabe and jenny (a duo), joe mande, eudi paz and evan jacobs on the bill and it was great. the next show is june 3rd, and will feature john mulaney, merritt gurley, matt ruby, noah garfinkle and TBA! the format is stand up for now, but it's definitely open to other formats if people are interested in it. oh and it's FREE, just buy a couple drinks from the sexy cocktail waitress, karen! so yeah.

i will keep this up to date with my trials, and other things that begin with 'tri', read and enjoy!