OAUG Connection Point 2005 - Grapevine, TX [6/14]
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: www.oaug.org
Topic: Improv
I received the surprise of a lifetime while at this Texas conference...
One of the keynote speakers is a fellow named Joel Zeff (www.joelzeff.com) - I knew he was associated with Ad-libs down here so I was interested inwhat he'd do for a bunch of techies. Long story short, I got to perform in front of a crowd of some 3,000 people because... He started doing our impro exercises as the "act!" To me it was all familiar territory work because we went through picking up hitchhikers, marionettes, place/occupation/thing, one-word stories - all the stuff that the wonderful people at Impro Theatre (www.theatersports.com) have put me through for the past 2 months.

Besides that, both technical session presentations went well, were well attended, and I hope lots of people find value in my white paper contents because in the end, that's what really counts.

Dark Gables - Acme Theatre [6/11]
Now Playing: Acme Theatre - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Well, well, well... now I know what can happen when a whole cast get focused on story elements too much - people start losing connection with each other and the whole performance sort of feels like someone reading a story to you, but without any characters interacting in it. There were many moments that started out fundamentally nice, and then a character would begin launching off into intricate detail on their own background, or something they were personally fascinated with, but the other scene character would do essentially the same thing. The net result is - neither character effectively works off the other, leading to an odd staleness to the ensemble. Felt weird, looked weird. Makes perfect sense now.

ACME Theatre - Dark Gables (6/4) and Tiny & Les (6/2)
Topic: Improv
6/2 - The closing show of Tiny & Les - perfect call for the ending which started to reek during a techno-dance version of Kick the Donkey, and instead was saved by performing "another catchy number" from the Broadway period revival of Space "The Final Frontier" Heywold's greatest hits.

6/4 - Episode 4 (or 3, if you're not counting Preview nights) - with Thorne returning (Brian Lohmann) we had a number of hilarious prop failures to work with. Francisco's cross immediately broke during the introduction. Thorne pointed out that his re-emergence coincided with many unusual occurences within Dark Gables, including the inexplicable fracturing of several crucifixes. Thorne produced mystical Starbucks tea from backstage, which turned into Leticia's (Sue Peahl) bottle of wine. Then Francisco produced a different jug of wine to refill Lester's tea cup, and was chastised twice for attempting to pour without actually unscrewing the cap, or actually pouring the liquid into the cup. Proves you can't get away from the obvious in Improv.

Tango-Pasodoble for Don Pasquito Voice Warm-up
Topic: Improv
"Tango - Pasodoble" - as presented by Jo McGinley of Impro Theatre (www.theatresports.com) for voice warm-ups...

Text by Edith Sitwell (1887-1964)
Music by William Walton, from the Fa?ade settings

When Don Pasquito arrived at the seaside
Where the donkey's hide tide brayed, he
Saw the bandito Jo in a black cape
Whose slack shape waved like the sea -
Thetis wrote a treatise noting wheat is silver like the sea,
The lovely cheat is sweet as foam,
Erotis notices that she will steal the
Wheat-kings luggage, like Babel
Before the League of Nations grew -
So Jo put the luggage and the label
In the pocket of Flo the Kangaroo.
Through trees like rich hotels that bode
Of dreamless ease fled she,
Carrying the load and goading the road
Through the marine scene to the sea.
'Don Pasquito, the road is eloping
With your luggage though heavy and large,
You must follow and leave your moping
Bride to my guidance and charge!'
When Don Pasquito returned from the road's end
Where vanilla coloured ladies ride
From Sevilla, his mantilla'd bride and young friend
Were forgetting their mentor and guide.
For the lady and her friend from Le Touquet
In the very shady trees on the sand
Were plucking a white satin bouquet
Of foam, while the sand's brassy band
Blared in the wind. Don Pasquito
Hid where the leaves drip with sweet...
But a word stung him like a mosquito...
For what they hear, they repeat!

Dark Gables at ACME - Saturdays at 10 p.m.
Topic: Improv
A Super strong follow-on to Preview Night #2 (see website for details and synopsis at www.acmecomedy.com). We saw Brother Tobias (Chris MacKenzie) begin a misleading session with Doruk Mamut Aktas (Robert Covarrubias - LRP) with a correction by Thorne Dupree (Brian Lohmann) to never let Aktas see the "book." 3 very sharp prop improvisations occurred - first Francisco (Edmund O'Brien), addressing a complaint by Leticia Norburton (Sue Peahl) that her usual chairs seemed to be missing this evening, and thus having to "lean" her way through the scene, showed up bearing 2 in-hand, one of which was in-midst of being repaired with gluing clamps. Francisco used them to best effect.

Later, a trap door was offered to be underneath the futon bed, wherein Francisco offered to demonstrate how it worked (and belatedly realized how little room there actually is underneath the framework). Aktas had left behind his coat on a settee, when Francisco was supposed to be re-appearing into a different room, when Leticia promptly corrected him for being unauthorized in obviously Aktas's room - she promptly folded it up and put it back stage. Then, when Aktas was confronted by Lester Coldwater (Ethan Karson) and Aubrey Fessenden Fitzpiglet (Kristen Trucksess), before the lights came up, he ran back stage and restored the coat to its position. Musette (Tracy Burns) and Gretchen Hasselhoff (Porter Kelly) now have a dark secret to Gretchen's mother's past, which both need to keep hidden. And both are being offered the social tutoring by Brother Tobias and Lester, respectively. Finally, Aktas offered to remove Aubrey's burning bracelet charm, planning to struggle with it and let it burn him - but it instantly popped right off and dropped to the floor. Looking in wonderment, Aktas proclaimed immediate success and Aubrey recovered.

Dark Gables at ACME - Saturdays at 10 p.m.
Topic: Improv
Strong follow-on to Preview Night #1 (see website for details at www.acmecomedy.com). We saw Thorne Dupree (Brian Lohmann) challenge Aubrey Fessenden Fitzpiglet (Kristen Trucksess) to "finish this sentence" Dark green.... Elves - which wasn't quite the sign of the connection to the "lost race," but it was interesting nonetheless. Musette (Tracy Burns) has brought the entire ensemble into a new comfort zone of physically working in very close proximity to each other, which has ramped up the perceived tension quite a bit from the traditional show format. Good attention paid to what was going on elsewhere on-stage, though an interesting subtle scene where Leticia Norburton (Sue Peahl) was hiding behind a counter with her vast piles of raven locks showing seemed to get bypassed during the intrepid down-stage discussion between Gretchen Hasselhoff (Porter Kelly) and Lester Coldwater (Ethan Karson), so eventually a few minutes passed and she glided off stage left and re-appeared to end the scene. An odd moment occurred when Thorne entered a scene with Brother Tobias (Chris MacKenzie) and Musette and Francisco (Edmund O'Brien) at the graveyard because too many players were active at once and it took a few moments to get the scene focused on a specific conversation pair. A couple of the characters lost scene focus and gave each other that "well, who's going next?" look we're familiar with in classwork.

2 Decent Shows in Orlando
Topic: Improv
Visited the Comedy Warehouse in Pleasure Island - all short-form (expected) and interesting to see how they deal with inebriated guest suggestions. Very nice technical sound set-up, using software-based sample playback on demand.

Also visited the SAK Comedy Lab to see their "Generation S" graduate show on 5/4/2005 - solid work (more short-form) with a few interesting exercises (forward/reverse, replay last scene, and the running theme being "Star Wars" with a napsack full of memorabilia being gifted to the winning team of 3. Super-spotless 150-seat theatre with full lighting and sound. Sharing space in the City of Orlando's Centroplex garage complex, with a full concession-area worthy of a movie theater, it's very odd to see such a large financial investment on a $300/course improv studio, compared with the normal state of affairs in Los Angeles.

The Tiny and Les Show #4 [Acme Comedy Theatre] - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Playing Thursdays through May 26 (8 p.m.) - an outstanding fully improvised musical, song and dance show featuring 7 of the area's top improvisers.

Tonight's show: The song stylings of Toro Jones, starring Michele Spears (as Tess Turcovic alternating with Lisa Frederickson), Edi Patterson (Romulin - in absentia for 2 shows), Brian Lohmann (as Les Ability - Impro Theatre), Gary Anthony Williams (home nursing a sick spouse), Mike McShane (as Barron Alain De Straange - Shakespeare Unscripted), Sue Peahl (super hot Peanuts Tunisia - LRP) and David Keeton (as Tiny Talent - musical accompanist.) Remember to have those memorable song titles handy to shout out... Very high quality quartet work tonight. A *very* broad range of genres covered from torch songs to hip-hop and surfer tunes.

Impro Theatre Longform Show #2 - Theatre and Artists Theatre - Los Feliz 4/24/05
Topic: Improv
Buddy Cop (at the Zoo) and Passion Noir (in a Candy Store) featuring Jo McGinley, Misha Collins, Carla Rosati, Gary Rae, Nick Massough and Nils Vaule as directed by Glenn Camhi. As our Bitter and Sweet cops find themselves challenged to a murder scene with wild animals roaming about, a much more nefarious criminal intent is at work taking advantage of our animal's "capacity" to carry out a fiendish plan with a sharpened tongue to exact revenge. The quintessent lure of a saccarhine-laced shop of fine combustibles sets the scene for a lovely couple vending their way to success, only to be embittered by the sweeter taste of greed and lust. Good timing and plenty of individual and couplet space work with a much more refined pace than the prior show.

The Tiny and Les Show #2 [Acme Comedy Theatre] - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Playing Thursdays through May 26 (8 p.m.) - an outstanding fully improvised musical, song and dance show featuring 7 of the area's top improvisers.

Tonight's show: The song stylings of Iniki Brown, starring Lisa Frederickson (alternating with Michele Spears), Edi Patterson (Fellowship), Brian Lohmann (Impro Theatre), Gary Anthony Williams (ala Malcom in the Middle and Liquid Radio Players), Mike McShane (Shakespeare Unscripted), Sue Peahl (LRP) and David Keeton (musical accompanist). The show rocks - see it now! And remember to have those memorable song titles handy to shout out...

Theatre and Artists Theatre - Los Feliz - 4/3/05
Topic: Improv
Buddy Cop & Tennessee Williams featuring Tracy Burns, Floyd van Buskirk, Misha Collins, Kathleen Lohmann, Jo McGinley, Steve Ounanian, Carla Rosati as directed by Glenn Camhi and Brian Lohmann. Steamy hot (temperature specifically) performance space, with and equally moving performance by regulars and first-timers. Very good work together, and only a few missed/dropped bits in between. A nice Cop story around an arch-villain out to control the world through chemically-laced knock-off watches. A TW tail over a husband-swap, a frog named Brian, and a rich man-poor man tale. www.theatresports.com

3/30/05 What's My Line - Live on Stage / 3/31/05 Liquid Radio Players Finale
Topic: Improv
www.jkeith.net - Hosted by J. Keith Van Straaten - Mystery Guest: the inimitable Brett Butler. The panel included Mink Stole, Jason Kravits, Teresa Strasser and Brad Sherwood (currently touring with Colin Mochrie in a short-form improv show - http://www.colinmochrie.com/work/EveningwithColinandBrad.html ) - Videotaped for a pilot to a completely over-filled house.
www.liquidradioplayers.com - Robert Covarrubias, Kimberly Lewis, Gary Rae (foley), Gary Anthony Williams, Matt Olsen, Brian Breiter (host), Bill Chott - and on The Fantom-X (Jonathan Green) - Too Darn Hot was down their instrumentalist lead guitar, but better on melody and physicality. Presenting the Kid Sleuth adventure "The Tap-Dancing Detective" - a solid closing season performance.

LRP - www.liquidradioplayers.com
Mood:  sharp
Now Playing: ACME Theatre - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Very nice rendition of "Flying Death Fighters" by Brian Breiter (Host), Susan Peahl, Dave Cox,
Jeannie Roshar, Bill Chott, Gary Rae (foley), an okay though heart-felt specialty act by "Too Darn Hot", and a pretty full audience of family members drove the evening to a volcanic rise. Brian's a little over-loading in his narration and tended to lead the story along a bit more than the usual host. I still think Gary does the best foley work of the bunch.

3/24/05 and 3/31/05 are the final performances this season before hiatus begins, so catch 'em while they're hot.

Discount tix available at www.goldstarevents.com

Started F3 - Narrative at Impro Theatre - www.theatresports.com
Mood:  special
Now Playing: www.theatresports.com
Topic: Improv
Glenn Camhi is simply marvelous at bouncing us through the odd-ball world of creating instance stories that make sense and are enjoyable (versus mindless rambling and endless detours).

We're picking up an incredible amount of structural understanding of how platform and tilts work (aka the plot and inciting event), as well as a good heavy dose of long-form story-work.

3 for All at the BayFront Theatre - SFO 3/18-19 Only!
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: http://improv.org/shows/3forall.htm
Topic: Improv
www.3forall.com - Rafe Chase, Stephen Kearin and Tim Orr in probably one of the last remaining West Coast shows before they head off to New York are doing a fund-raiser for BayFront to help defray the costs of a new ADA-compliant theatre remodeling.

$20 BAYFRONT THEATRE Building B, Third Floor, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA 94123

Courtesy of BayAreaTheatreSports. See it NOW and prepare for the best damned improv team in the world!

Beijing Modern Dance Co - Rear Light
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: Dorothy Chandler Pavillion - Music Center LA
Topic: Other
http://www.ccdc.com.hk/2005/ - This was their premier tour outside of China for their acclaimed production "Rear Light" based upon the soundtrack from Pink Floyd's "The Wall" - movie version. Great spirit, awesome light and use of thread-bare prop work! Tight emotional ties to movement. True modern dance in the respect that you won't see the Dance version of the movie here - quite exceptionally engaging. Considering this troup normally performs for a small 200-seat rotating audience in Beijing (very like what we might find in our 99-seat AEA performances), they spellbind this 1,200 seat crowd with ease. Great 30 minute interview afterwards with Willy Tsao (artistic director) and Ma Bo (choreographer).

Ironman Improv [2/19/2005]
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: Impro Theatre LA - www.theatresports.com
Topic: Improv
What do you get when you take some of the top Improv educators in the nation, add 12 ready, willing and able impro students and put them together for 8 hours in a work studio? Nuclear Impro Fusion!

Stephen Kearin - Object and Space Work - it's all in the details.

Jennifer Eolin - Organic Improv - working with what you have and what's there.

Michele Spears - Improvisation from the Neck Down - a concentrated dose of F2.

Brian Lohmann - Improvised Shakespearean Villains and Tyrants - how to create the ultimate anti-improv characters.

Floyd Van Buskirk - Improvising from Absolutely Nothing - think 1 improvisor + and empty stage and no subject, theme, or objects. It can be done!

And finally, an all-out TheatreSports(tm) match conducted by Seth Brown with a round-robin mix-up of all 16 players. (one team 1 was in nailed 5 wins in a row!)

Other notables in attendance - Dan O'Conner (World Cup Comedy), Bob Kryczko and Bob Kryczko (courtesy of Ventura Area TS), and Jo McGinley herself.

More than anything could be imagined - absolutely over-the-top!

World Cup Comedy Live [2/12/2005]
Mood:  lucky
Now Playing: PAX TV and www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
A rock the house live recreation of PAX TV's hit show World Cup Comedy was brought to the live stage tonight at the ACME, thanks to Dan O?Connor and Mary Gallagher hosting, Stephen Kearin revisiting the Interviewer, and hosting 7 of the national finalists in the latest WCC Talent Search, with 9 of the returning players from the original Series 1 cast (including my prof Michele Spears, and Kari Coleman).

Totally Hot!

Silver Screen Unscripted - 2/11/2005
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: ACME Theatre - Fridays at 8 PM - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Fractured Flickers... Mystery Science Theatre 3000... The Narration Game...

Take 8 improv talents, sit them in front of video clips ranging from cartoons to spaghetti westerns and what do you get? Improv Comedy with a multi-media twist.

Needs some work at direction and staging so that the audience can see the talent performing (instead of the backs of their heads), but otherwise pretty good stuff. And give that poor foley artist more things to play with!

This was a Preview show - scheduled to launch early in March.

Eleemosynary at the McKinley Arts & Crafts Center [Reno, NV 2/10/2005]
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: http://www.theatercoalition.org/article_display.php?article_key=383
Topic: Drama
Happened to be in Reno - caught a wonderful local staging by Stephanie Richardson of Eleemosynary (by Lee Blessing) starring 3 great teenaged talents - Weston Spann (Echo), Kristan Brown (Artie) and Taylor Thomas (Dorothea).

Lead is was by Stefan Ballard-Reisch performing Stream of Conscience 1992 (by Brian Frishman). Very nice solo work.

Also playing (for the next 3 months) at the Bruka Theatre is a large production of Amadeus, which is gathering pretty high reviews for its fullness and complexity of production.

Review at: http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/2005-02-10/theater.asp