weird day

i had a really fun class show last night. unfortunately, it was very argumentative overall. i REALLY need to remember to let whatever my scene partner does inform and CONTINUALLY make me play my game. but overall it was fun and i enjoyed it. i think the class will gel a lot more after this.

i had a weird night out at the bar. it was pretty fun, but i was being kind of combative for no reason. i think i just wanted to analyze the show endlessly with the people i did it with, and instead i was endlessly analyzing someone else's show with them. i am a jerk. then a bit went way weird and i didn't really react or stand up for myself. need to work on that.

i had another 'MTA adventure' getting home, which sucked. i took the 2 because the 6 has been weird late nights for the past couple weeks, thinking i was smart and a proactive problem solver! yeah, no. the 2/3 were stopping service after 96th street, so i had to take a fucking shuttle bus 5 avenues and 20 blocks and i was all stressed out and tired. i showered and went right to sleep when i got in; didn't check my email or go online. so i missed that leroi moore, saxophonist and general wind instrumentalist for the dave matthews band unexpectedly passed away last night in california.

most of my new york friends don't really know about my history with this band, for a variety of reasons. i no longer have a car, so i don't drive to see destination shows like SPAC anymore, and i am now working for my money, and spending my money on improv classes instead of 8-12 dmb concerts and travel, per year. and partly because my obsession with the band has waned somewhat. the most recent studio material from dmb felt half-assed and underwhelming; and you are always hurt most by the ones you love, right? the live performances remained vital, but without new MATERIAL to be excited by, my obsessive attention turned to david gray and the national; who between them encompass the things about dmb that brought me into that crazy fold to begin with; lyrics i deeply identified with, and fascinating musicality coming from a group of vastly different and interesting performers. my obsessive listening shifted, but never abandoned, dmb. and because there is a weird label attached to being a dmb fan that i hate and am embarrassed by. i dunno, all this personal shit doesn't really matter, i just feel compelled to contextualize why i've been so bummed today.


i never got the opportunity to meet roi, unlike many of my friends (who raved that he was incredibly nice and genuine, and boasted about how he invited them on his bus to admire his saxes, if they were fellow players), but i always identified with him, onstage and off. in a band full of funny guys always trying to make the others laugh, HE was the funny one. he was a soulful, accomplished, inventive and skilled musician. his music meant, and still means, a lot to me. i feel awful that his family and friends and fans only had 46 years with him. Rest In Peace, LeRoi Moore (on-the-sax-a-phone).

it's a weird day. i am closing out here at this job, and it's been really busy, but i am having a hard time focusing because i'm sad. i am listening to live at red rocks now. i'll probably troll youtube for old school videos later on. i don't feel like talking about improv or doing any bits over chat sites. just sad.

a good article, if you are interested

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!

real life entry

the dark knight was amazing. i saw it as soon as i could, and it was truly astonishing. this is one more drop of positive in a sea of nerds creaming themselves in pleasure, but it really was that good. it was thrilling and dark and intense and somehow uplifting. although it felt weird seeing it on a hot july day, i am glad it did, because watching that on a bleak february day would be too much to stand. it managed to make Batman Begins look like a fucking 'my little ponies' tv movie for crying out loud. i can't recommend it enough, you guys. it made me excited about film again!

i hope there weren't any substantive spoilers in that. i'm trying to avoid posting them, but it's hard when it's such a great film and all i want to do is talk about it. see it, and then we CAN talk about it.

walking back from the theatre, 'the only way' by mark erelli (as covered by ellis paul and vance gilbert) came up on my ipod and it was perfect. especially the following stanza (?):

But they circled wagons
They gathered round
As they bravely pulled our brothers
And our sisters from the ground
And I know
I owe them more
Than to be afraid

in obtaining that quote, i have found out that the version i have is a cover, and the original writer, mark erelli, went to bates college and might know kate spencer. i will have to ask her. 'oh hey kate, this singer songwriter i know from college... no i didn't go to school with him, he just did 1 or 2 shows every year on campus, and i have all his albums, and he's great; ellis paul? yeah well he and this other folk singer, vance gilbert covered this one song by this guy who i read about on the internet and found out he went to bates around the same time as you? uh. yeah. do you know him?'

note to self: imagining future awkward conversations is almost as bad as reliving conversations after they have happened and cursing yourself for every perceived awkward or potentially inappropriate moment.

bad data's show with 'thank you, robot' and 'we can't live in a cave' on friday was really fun. many thanks to the people who made it out. i enjoyed myself thoroughly. i teched the previous TYR hosted nights and it was so much fun, but it was great to be able to perform too. the whole night reaffirmed for me how much i need to put comedy generally, and writing and performing in the forefront of my efforts. i need to stop being a a lazy asshole. also, i had an awesome time at the bar afterward, which was much needed.

i tech'd a show on saturday, where it was roughly a billion degrees inside the theatre space. it managed to be a funny and thoroughly entertaining show nonetheless. my hat is off fat penguin and daystallion, two incredibly strong and talented independent improv teams for pulling that off. thanks to andrea and bridget in particular for being my 'lights helpers', hitting the lightswitch across the room to give the black out after the heat cause the entire lightboard and one of the A/Cs to blow a fuse. yay heat waves! i can't imagine what this city was this like in the summer before the subways were air conditioned.

my two rehearsals were both fun this weekend as well. amey goerlich is an awesomely perceptive coach. i started a new 501 class last night with zach woods. the first class was really great. it's a small class (13!) and it seems to be filled with really strong players for the most part. i am really psyched about learning from zach; his notes on scenes were spot on; no punches were pulled, but his advice was always well-thought out and constructive. and he was really emphasizing joining in the fun always, which is a major issue of mine right now. i feel compelled to be the straight man fairly often, and i am working on being more emotionally authentic in my performances; both of those things cause me to remove myself from the action of the scene and start commenting on it. i can start to keep my perspective while still joining in on the fun. TIMETOPUTTHATINACTION,MOTHAFUCKAS!

also, bridget (fat penguin) and seth (thank you, robot) are in my class and that makes me smile because i lurve them.

ruby sneakers? more like... zomby sneakers!

truth. i had to get new sneakers again, and there were NONE of my preferred cordovan rose sauconys anywhere in the whole of manhattan. at least, there were none at shoemania, where certain saucony styles were on sale for 30 dollars. you can still find my favorite sneakers available for sale there for 49 dollars, but i am trying to be thrifty so i bought a different, new and scary color.

my new 'kicks' are black, grey and a sort of aquamarine, greeny-blue. like my eyes, or my first car that wasn't the shitty 1990 surburban that i am not counting because it sucked so hard. they are cool, actually. they do look like zombie sneakers though. definitely the color of reanimated rotting flesh, if rotting flesh were to be stylized and made into a pair of modest, yet comfortable fashion sneakers.

i miss my ruby sneakers though. here is a partial list why:

1) they were pretty, in and of themselves.
2) they made me feel more dressed up and fun.
3) they were reminiscent of both the wizard of oz, which i was obessed with when i was very young, and the dark tower, which is bad ass.
4) every once in a while, people would see them and ask me if i was from the internet. while a little weird, it's a good way to meet people, especially when one is struck with the oxymoronic personality traits of hyper sociability and extreme social avoidance... that i am... struck with? BAD SENTENCE.
5) they had red soles so i could look bad ass when walking away from someone.
6) they matched my purse.


501... was awesome last night. really fucking intense, but so good. i had to do one scene like 3 or 4 times, and by the end i wasn't flipping out or hating it or all up in my head--I WANTED TO TRY IT AGAIN. what? that's crazy talk, you're saying. but it's true. really phenomenal class, we have so much work to do as a class, i am actually pumped for it. i caught the last 3 harolds of harold night, but i was not as focused on it as i would have liked (hungry, mostly), but i refreshed for cinnabonanza, which was a lot of fun. then i made myself go to the bar and push flyers for bad data's big show/party that is this weekend. and i had a blast, fun and exhausting night.