NEXT!

Boy was last night's show fun. Highlights included going to India and France in our SALUTE TO AMERICA Show & Kobi as the doctor who literally didn't have a heart. Robert's man without shoulders and knees was not to be missed either. All in all it was a terrific show. Hope you were there. But if you missed it, all is not lost.

We're pleased to announce we will be starting a Thursday night at 8pm run at the Triad on October 28th. Keep checking the website, Blog and Facebook for details.

MELODY MAN!!!

Melody Man

2 people stood on stage. One was highly emotional and about to sing. The other was pimping the first one to do just that. The pre-singing ball of emotion was filled with thoughts about his situation in the scene. When he could take it no more, and with the aid of the able-fingered piano player, he began to sing. The song that flew from his mouth was a string of thoughts about the situation he had been in. There was cool imagery. There was fun rhyme...both internal and at the end of each line. AND YET...the audience sat still....unmoved by this blast of pure emotion. Why? How could this be?

Then, from the back of the room, came the sound of movement. All eyes turned. The singer stopped singing. The waiters / waitresses stopped serving. The piano player did a downward gliss ending in nothing. Could it be? Was it possible?

It was...

MELODY MAN!

Melody man had arrived to insert himself into this rhyming stream of consciousness and in no time, the audience was on it's feet, dancing, applauding and singing along. All it took was a little repetition, simplicity and a few well-placed rhythmic and organic melodic moments to turn this temporary tragedy into a voracious victory.

And it was all thanks to...

MELODY MAN!!!

ISN’T THAT SOMETHING?

ISN’T THAT SOMETHING?

I love figuring out why choices pop into your head during a show. Last night I was at a rehearsal for an improv group. We were doing a scene in a rural kitchen. I could see the room. It was filled with a salt and pepper shaker collection. It was just a little detail but it endowed the other player with more information about his character. We found out that he collected salt and pepper shakers and the scene moved on.

Later I remembered having been in the actual room. It belonged to a farmer and his wife in Black Earth, WI. They were named Buford and Vera Nelson. I hadn’t thought of them in a long time, years. We used to visit them on their farm. Vera and my parents would enjoy a nice slice of homemade pie while Buford walked me around the house. He’d tell stories about his salt and pepper shaker collection. It had pretty much taken over their house. There were shakers everywhere.

I remember him picking up a favorite and saying something like, “This one is from the World Fair they had in New York City. Imagine that. Someone was there and thought of me and Vera and brought this back to us. Isn’t that something?”

I love that improvisation uses memories like that and brings them back to life in a new context. I can almost hear Buford saying to Vera, “Isn’t that something?”

Unintentional Racism

Last week Broadway's Next Hit Musical performed at The Triad. It was a great show. Audience seemed to love it. Performers were at the top of our game. Stefan looked great in his dress. It was all good.

The song title I pulled was "Peking Duck". The first thing that came to my mind was that it was from a musical called "Asian Zoo". I then went on to describe that the musical was about a Zoo in Asia that was going through hard times and was serving their animals as food because of it. While I was giving this description, I could feel the air getting thicker and suddenly I realized that I had been..UNINTENTIONALLY RACIST!

I couldn't put my finger on why it was racist but I knew it was. I mean, I suppose that you could say I was implying that Asian people like to eat animals but I don't think that's any more true than saying that American's like to eat beef. Regardless, I was aware that I had somehow crossed a line into unintentional racism.

And that's, I supposed, a risk of being an improviser. Sometimes, because we are making it up on the spot, things come out that you wish you could go back and polish up a bit. Am I racist? No. Do I think that Asian people eat meat? Yes. Do I wish I had said it in a different way...I think so. Regardless, as an unintentional racist I say all white males in their late 30s who live in Jersey City on Montgomery Street and are married to a woman named Annie and have a cat named Lyle have no intention of offending...at least not unintentionally.

Come check out some more potentially unintentional racism on July 1st at 8pm at The Triad with Broadway's Next Hit Musical!!