VATS/LATS Fundraiser Weekend - Ventura Theatresports
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Impro Theatre - LA TheatreSports
Topic: Improv
Very cool - Michele Spears, Dan O'Connor, Edi Patterson, Lauren Pritchard, Katharine Mills, Doreen Remo, Floyd VanBuskirk, Mike McShane did Shakespeare Unscripted. I was a familiar tree stump! Then LATS (Dan O'Connor, Edi Patterson, Lauren Pritchard, Seth Brown)won the Xtreme Theatresports event 58/49 afters. VATS put up a valiant fight, with a challenge of the notorious "Reverse Scene", after being taunted by a "Questions Only" slap. Floyd refereed. Mike kept score. I laughed my a** off! Hosted by The Livery Theatre, Ventura CA.

Center for Inquiry - 3 for All
Mood:  on fire
Now Playing: 3forall.com
Topic: Improv
Best Impro team viewed in a LONG while - laser-sharp, telepathic, and simply marvelous! Only were at a 2-day gig hosted at the Steve Allen Theatre at the Center for Inquiry West in Hollywood - rabbits and TimeWarp were the theme for a rockin' 90-min show that blew the roof off!

Generic Update - How things are going!
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: All 3 locations at once!
Topic: Training
StandUp - pretty damned good considering I just weathered the crash and bomb of a lifetime (one fellow comic is on the show Faking It going from firefighter to stand-up comic with Judy as Pro Mentor, but perhaps fighting forest fires is actually a little less scary than doing an act at The Improv) - our showcase is on Sunday, November 14th, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. Improv II - doing quite nicely. Got an A+ for an excellent rendition of the Duchess of Alba - still gotta work on not concentrating so much on correcting details of characterization for technical characters though. Meisner - now steam-rolling right ahead, with special thanks to Susie Heckendorn for great inspiration to work through a few psych blocks I was hitting on repetition exercises.

Capital - Globe Theater Center
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: Globe Theater Center - Burbank and Garden Grove
Topic: Comedy
A light and refreshing comedy presented by the Globe Theatre Group, Capital is a smart and funny political satire of shenanigans at the State Capital building of no particular state. Cast includes Vince Cefalu, Frank Simons, Terri Homberg-Olsen, Jeana Blackman - as America (yes, as in "the nation"), Anthony Palermo, Meleney Humphrey, and Rick Batalla. Playing next in GTC's Garden Grove location.

World Cup Comedy - PAX TV M 9-10 TU 8-9
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: PAX TV
Topic: Comedy
Okay... So, Lisa, Michele and Edi were blown out in the first round - but let's face it: the 2 min. format sucks for trying to do musical comedy - and to-date, no group that has drawn that challenge has won a round, so I think it speaks for itself. Kari is coming up in Round 5, and you'll find Tracy in Episode 2, 2nd half. So far, the 1st season hosts are lukewarm, and the format is actually *too* fast for good Impro work - it just ends up choppy and a bunch of one-liners. By the 3rd episode, we've added the encouragement for the other team to "help out" the team under challenge, but that isn't helping the format much either. Mike McCafferty from the USS Improvise project (one more Saturday left 10/30 @ 10 p.m. at the ACME Theater) hit on Ep. 4, and went away quickly. Basically, I agree with Michele - US audiences have simply too short of attention spans to give decent Impro work a run. Season Two is just wrapping up (there are a few Saturday AM/Afternoon taping sessions available for Studio audience attendance available in the LA PAX studios left. Hopefully, the format will be improved because the rapid fire 2 minute limits are plain useless for developing any rich content (or at least give them 1 minute to prepare before they launch into the routines). I bet there's a lot on the cutting room floors during post- in these tapes.

USS Improvise
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Acme Comedy Theatre - www.ussimprovise.com
Topic: Comedy
Mike McCafferty creates a wonderfully fully improvised comedy 60 min. episode from Star Trek Original Series. Also starring Seth Brown, Lisa Fredrickson (absent at the performance making more money elsewhere), Kitt Kirasaki, Jennifer Eaolin and Mark Tracy.

Great costumes - visit the website www.ussimprovise.com for their Flash sound effects board.

PAX TV - World Cup Comedy [10/6/04 - M 9/8c Tu 8/7c]
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: PAX TV
Topic: Comedy
Visit http://www.pax.tv/shows/worldcup where the incredibly Inflatable Betties get to compete against what appear to be some pretty damned good competition (check out the promo reel on the PAX TV site for World Cup Comedy. This will be the day after my first class with Michele, so fingers-crossed they do well!

Meisner training [2004-09-26]
Mood:  amorous
Now Playing: the New School of Acting
Topic: Training
Joining a new group of intimate and caring students learning and honing their craft via an applied Meisner technique. Courtesy of the New School of Acting as taught by Dan Cotreau and Hugh Fitzgerald in the dark and cool recesses of a Hollywood basement studio, these guys care a *LOT* about what they do, and why they do it. Well-read and quite thorough, Dan and Hugh aren't afraid of trying things differently to get to the core of Meisner - acting truthfully. This is a "year-long" program with a lot of expections and growth, so stay tuned on this channel.

Sacred Fools - Laura's Bush [2004-09-25]
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: www.sacredfools.org
Topic: Comedy
Laura's Bush is a spontaneous send-up of the Bush Administration's most uniquely robotically-bizarre characters - the First Lady. This was opening night, so while having need of some minor tune-ups and tightening of the pace, it really worked well to convey the message - "All that is... is probably not what you think it is... In fact, it's what we want you to think it is."

OAUG Orlando - Judy Carter in Concert
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: www.comedyworkshops.com
Topic: Comedy
9/13/04 - 6:30 p.m. Orlando, FL at the OAUG 2004 Connection Point - the midst of the hurricane (Ivan - it missed the whole area...) Judy's a stand-up "commercial comedienne" who spends a great deal of effort to custom-tailor her routines to the specific audience requirements (plus, she's technically-saavy, so it isn't faked...) - visit her website for more details and demos www.comedyworkshops.com

New class - Improv II at Impro Theatre
Mood:  spacey
Now Playing: Impro Theater
Topic: Training
Got accepted to the Impro Foundation II class being held at Impro Theater in October - very cool! Taught by the indefatigable Michele Spears, this particular section concentrates on body and physical awareness and movement, as it translates to communication. Also, just picked up an insight-filled book titled The Sanford Meisner Approach by Larry Silverberg, which turns out to be a great workbook series for the exercises and descriptions of the development process - something I sort of stumbled through while reading the grand text Sanford Meisner on Acting.

Lobby Hero - Odyssey Theater [2004-08-28]
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Odyssey Theater
Topic: Drama
An exceptional morality play (by Kenneth Lonergan) with fine voiced actors (Aaron McPherson, Darren Law, Amy Pietz, Scott Cummins) with really strong committment and inter-communication. Great dialect control throughout. Fine pacing, and exceptional set design! Another great mark for the Odyssey Theater! 2-1/2 hours, but every moment enjoyable, and particularly comedic elements uncommon to such a strong theme.

Lobby Hero at the Odyssey Theater [2004-08-28]
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Odyssey Theater
Topic: Drama
Kenneth Lonergan writes a morality tale. (comments to be included)

Inflatable Betty (Late Night) [2004-08-21]
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: 1st Live Perf!
Topic: Improv
Got to play with the Betties tonight (www.inflatablebetty.com) - Michele Spears made my night and my first M/F performance!

Inflatable Betty (Late Night) [2004-08-14]
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: A virgin experience...
Topic: Improv
Lisa Frederickson was up North celebrating her parent's 50th anniversary, and so was absent. But Kari, Edi, Michele and Tracy were more than you could ever hope for in ACME Theater's hosted comedy all-girl improv.

Actor's Boot Camp I Completed [2004-07-30]
Mood:  hug me
Now Playing: Me.
Topic: Training
Fare thee well to my comrades of four weeks from areas far (New York/Philadelphia) and near (like right down the street). The Acting Corps and all the great staff, instructors, and Eugene Buica make this program a great and fun introduction to the art form. Chris Thatcher (Cold Reading/Scene Study) Jose (Joe) Element (Meisner Technique) Diana Jellinek (Voice and Speech) Lisa Frederickson (Improvisation) Tracy Burns (Improvisation)

Jersey / Eloise at the Gardner Stages [2004-07-17]
Mood:  surprised
Now Playing: Jose (Joe) Element and Hugh Fitzgerald
Topic: Drama
A pair of one-act plays performed at the Gartner Stages in Hollywood. Joe Element (my Meisner coach) directs and under-studies this one, written by Hugh, and starring a replete cast of Meisnerites.

The understudy players (according to hearsay) were less sharp on the person-to-person active listening, but the storyline's interesting, and overall much like seeing a short-story version of a Tennessee Williams play.

Enjoyable - if added to by a good chat with the cast and crew afters.

(no web links - it's a very small production)

Things We Do for Love at the Odyssey Theater [2004-07-10]
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Equity
Topic: Drama
Alan Ayckbourn's distinctly Britishy play on a 3-level set with many trashy encounters between cosmetically conservative characters (alliteration unintended). Some great moments, but began sliding at the end based upon the conclusion intended.

Things We Do for Love at the Odyssey Theater [2004-07-10]
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: Odyssey Theater
Topic: Drama
Alan Ayckbourn's distinctly Britishy play on a 3-level set with many trashy encounters between cosmetically conservative characters (alliteration unintended). Some great moments, but began sliding weak at the end based upon the conclusion intended.

Welcome...
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: The New Beginning...
Topic: Comments
An Age of Change surrounds us - Presidential administrations, at war with a non-enemy, economy muddling along like a dully simmering stew of mushy beans. Can't ask for more of an invitation for Change than that, can we? So, we become Agents of that Change... by deciding to move off of Center and doing something about it! I've decided to shift from Left Brain to Right Brain - we'll see how this works out! --- J-L