Improvising Clown-style with Rob Rodgers
Mood:  on fire
Now Playing: Impro Theater - www.improtheatre.com
Courtesy of Impro Theatre (www.improtheatre.com) - we had a blast last night learning all about the ins- and outs- of the classic forms of Clown work.

Not the Bozo, or Hobo Joe-type, this is more artistically the kind we knew Red Skelton and Carol Burnett for performing. Or historically, the objective of the clown was to exaggerate the poorer elements of the rich and powerful to socially shape bad behaviors into more desireable forms, as well as provide the emergency valve of support in case of crisis (e.g. in Cirque du Soleil, when an accident occurs, the clowns enter the performance, not only to rescue the downed performer, but to do so in a way that allows the audience to perceive the action as part of the whole show - and not become overly distracted by it.)

Pretty much the most physically-demanding workshop to-date combining yoga with performing dance and movement, with some acrobatic stunt work. Best part was doing specific exercises to reveal the "inner clown" in us all - and how that relates to building character and expressing emotions.

We're getting closer...
Mood:  sharp
Now Playing: Gardner Stages #3 - The New School of Acting
Topic: Training
4 weeks into A Doll's House by Ibsen - now nailing conversational reality - sweet! One really has to witness what a 20th century translation of a 19th century classic looks like when done well.

Suzie's down to a short sniffle after class - we're slowly improving.

Clean House taping down the street...
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Style Network
Topic: Comments
Per her website: Linda Koopersmith along with two other experts, Michael Moloney, the designer and Alan Lee Haff, the yard sale guy, team up to make make-over magic. Niecy Nash, also the star of Reno 911, is the hysterically funny host of Clean House.

They're taping an episode down the street - odd thing, the stuff they have in their pre-show yard sale looks like 1/2 the stuff we have in our house!

I might be in a few background shots during the yard sale as I was fascinated at some of the finds (a complete 12-line PBX system? A full-size Sanyo business copier with 5000-sheet input system? An original LiteBrite(tm)!) It's weird how these reality shows work...

Acme Love Machine
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Acme Comedy Theatre - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Comedy
Saw Wil Wheaton (aka STNG Wesley Crusher) and company doing the Love Machine thing - it's Acme's traditional sketch comedy format. Sort of like seeing a live version of SNL or SCTV. Some blasted funny scenes, and some, well...

Fellowship - Impro Theatre
Mood:  special
Now Playing: El Portal Theatre - through Dec 18
Topic: Comedy
Lord of The Rings as a Musical Comedy!

Cory Rouse (as an excellent voiced Frodo), Lisa Fredrickson, Edi Patterson, Brian Bradley, Peter Allen Vogt, Kelly Holden, Ryan Smith, Matthew Young, Steve Purnick and Allen Simpson on Keyboards.

A 1 hr 45 min masterpiece! Choreography by Michele Spears (tap-dancing Hobbits and Orcs!) Some of the best set and design work this side of no-budget available productions - this one cries for not only an extension, but the secondary and tertiary sequels to be produced, as well.

Standup at My Company Xmas Party
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Glendale Hilton
Topic: Comedy
165 in attendance, 7 min. set - and it all worked quite nicely. [addendum] Someone complained about something - had to publish a division-wide letter of apology to "anyone offended." Just gotta love corporate environments!

The Improv Performance - 2004/11/14
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: On-line
Topic: Comedy
View the video (Windows Media Format - 12MB). Or if you're having difficulties, open up Windows Media Player (or whatever you have that plays WMV's and open the URL in that). https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jlui/images/jhl_showcase_improv_high.wmv

Bobby Gould in Hell - Gardner Stages
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Gardner Stages by The New School of Acting
Topic: Drama
Great work, especially with the understudy talent in-place! Jose Element stars as Satan the Inquisitioner, Hugh Fitzgerald as Bobby, George Brunk as the Court Reporter, and Kelly Thomas as the Girl. Directed by Dan Cotreau, this was a 100% NSA production.

Fakin' it - in the can.
Mood:  silly
Now Playing: tlc.com - The Discovery Channel
Topic: Comedy
http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/fakingit/fakingit.html - Season 3 episode is wrapped. Taping was great - celebrity judges included Mindy Sterling (Austin Powers), Bobby Lee (MadTV), and Paul Hughes. Our boy did good. I ended up sitting just to the side of Paul, so there might be camera time.

Comedy Workshop's Showcase at the Improv
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: The Improv - Hollywood
Topic: Comedy
Ok - bottom-line: I **RULE** stand-up! On the other hand, the pay stinks, so it's just another tool in the kit bag. 220-seats filled (out of 230), and lots of neat compliments from complete strangers after the other 23 comics finished. (2-1/2 hour show) Extra kudos to LA Theatresports' Michele Spears for beating into my head "...MOVE before you open your mouth!" Works wonders for act-outs. Also, Thank You to Samsung for making a cheap MiniDV camcorder so I could practice my brains out at an affordable cost and find out how much of a difference that movement makes during scenes. And finally to Judy Carter - you are incomparably great at bringing out the best in people - especially me!

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