'Blackfish' & 'To Do List' Reviews

Blackfish is a documentary detailing the conditions and dangers of Orca captivity and training. It uses old Seaworld commercials, home footage, and interviews(mostly with former Seaworld trainers) to paint a vivid picture of the harsh conditions Orcas face in captivity and the dangers they pose to the humans "training" them.

There's nothing terribly new or surprising about the story that unfolds throughout the film, it chronicles Orca's injuring and killing humans from the time they were first captured and used as performance puppets in 1971. There's been an almost forty year history of these incidents which are consistently covered up and explained away by the corporations funding the attractions most prominently Seaworld.

The film tries a little too hard at places. The score comes in to strong in moments it needs to recede. There isn't any hard hitting surprise footage uncovered or inside tell-all interview. And there is no solution or way to get involved offered. The movie patiently and at times heartbreakingly elucidates the disturbing truth of Seaworld and other such parks.

It's impossible not to compare this film to The Cove the 2009 film documenting the dolphin slaughters in Japan. This film lacks a lot of it's predecessors punch. It's editing is sloppier, the edges murkier. There are some moving moments in the film but there are few and the filmmaker at times doesn't seem to know what to do with them. The film includes only one protracted Orca attack. That scene brings the film into sharp focus and shows how scatter shot the rest of the film is by comparison.

It left me unsatisfied, wanting more.

Rent It.

The To Do List is a teen-sex comedy reminiscent of American Pie or Girl Next Door the twist being the protagonist is a young woman on the quest for her sexual awakening. The film is fun, fast, and relies on proven comedy tropes to drive the film. Aubrey Plaza is Brandy a valedictorian with no sexual experience. She makes a list of sex acts to do before college so she can know what she's doing once she gets there. Plaza successfully carries the film and strays far from her somewhat over used bitter sarcastic go-to persona. The supporting cast is expansive and good and finds moments of occasional electricity but overall the story and plot are too safe. Too recycled.

Plaza's performance and the conceit of the film are refreshing. We focus on Plaza and her girlfriends and don't see a lot of the men in the film. Plaza's Brandy is never called or perceived or portrayed as a slut in the film, we see and acknowledge girls just like boys have a healthy curiosity and need for sexual expression. But the poop, cum, dick, and tit jokes are all ones we've heard or seen before.

A great film for fifteen year olds, the jokes a little too obvious and/or over done for anyone past high school.

Rent It.

Year One

7/28/12- I woke up on the floor of my apartment. 7:37am. There's flecks of broken glass scattered across the floor from a picture frame I've punched. There's a shotgun blast of cuts on my right hand. I don't have a headache yet. I have the premonition of a headache. I'm mucky swamp gas water trapped in a rubber glove. I lurch up to the sink and retch void. I take a swig out of a mostly empty Bacardi Superior 5th and wash the liquor and the gag following on its heels down with water straight from the tap. I gasp and repeat.

That was my last drink. I'm not naive or cocky enough to say it will be my last drink ever but I hope it is. I plan on it being.

A lot of things have come full circle this year. I'm single again but this time with significantly less despair and significantly more hope. I had a Second City callback this afternoon for the first time after a couple disastrous attempts. Groh Show has started recording again. I have a line on a new motorcycle, last year at this time my old bike gave up the ghosts. Life feels rich.

We need rituals. Something to pass and mark the time. Something to acknowledge the uniqueness, the shine of a given moment.

I harvested my cherry tomatoes, eight in total, and sat on the roof. I ate them slowly savoring each one. Bright and crisp and clean. And gave thanks to those disembodied spirits looking out for yours truly.

I am alive.

Schwa In Ties

Deep Schwa summer of 2013 

unpictured: Allison Yolo, Colleen Doyle, Tim Stoltenberg, Joe Canale

Unbeknownst to me all the members of Schwa wore ties tonight. I almost always wear a tie but I was rushing out of the house in the afternoon and forgot one. We took this picture, probably Schwa's first actual group photo in 5+ years. As it turned out everyone wore ties for me in solidarity and celebration of my one year anniversary of sobriety. 

The team got me a card and Susie made me a face cake which is her latest obsession. It had blueberries and was delicious. Susie also contacted Tisher, Jimmy, and Eli to come celebrate with us. It was a little strange. Sobriety and my personal struggle with it aren't something that I really talk about a ton outside of my closest friends and addiction in general is something that can be viewed as embarrassing. Even so it was very moving, I was very touched, and I felt the love and support from of my friends and teammates. Quiet frankly I was shocked by the time and effort Susie put into it, making the night special for me, it's something I will never forget and may never be able to pay her back for.

This past year has been great. Maybe one of the best of my life filled with struggle and growth. An essential part of that year has been Sunday nights with Schwa. It was great to be able to let the team in a little bit on that other part of my life and feel their encouragement.

The Return Of Groh Show

After a year hiatus Groh Show with Danny Groh is back. We stopped recording last year because Daniel was getting busy with touring and, I think more significantly, because my behavior at our recordings was out of line and irratic.

Over the past couple months I'd noticed the facebook page for the show getting a couple likes consistently per week. I sent out a tentative email to Daniel and Danny to see if they would be interested in starting the show up again. They were and today we did. Getting back into the show was like playing a piece of music you know well but you haven't visited in a while. Daniel and I are only there really to set up Danny. To frame Danny and his very unique and energetic world view. It was a real blast and felt like a real reunion. The chemistry and magic was still there. We pushed Danny's buttons, probed him about some personal stuff, and got his unique slant on the news. It's an idea and a project I love and I'm very happy to have begun again.

After recording, as Danny and Daniel were leaving, Daniel said to me quietly "thanks for reaching out". It really touched me. I had apologized for my behavior the previous summer and there was no weirdness between the three of us, they had forgiven me long ago but him saying that really meant something to me.

Any bridge can be mended. Rebuilt. Made stronger.

'The Wolverine' & 'V/H/S 2' Reviews

The Wolverine is the chrnological follow up to X-Men: Last Stand circumventing entirely the ill fated X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The movie opens on Logan aka Wolverine in the Alaskan wilderness in a self imposed exile. We see through flashbacks Logan saving a young Japanese soldier in WWII, in the present this soldier, now an old man, wants to thank Logan and flies him to Japan. A somewhat convoluted tale of turns and tricks insues.

The movie works because it focuses soley on Wolverine and there is only one other mutant in the story. Powers and special effects don't drive the film- character and action do. We see here a pure form of one of America's favorite heroes. Unvarnished and left to deal with some emotional baggage and circumspect circumstance. Logan has the occational sarcastic punchline and is just as irrasible as ever but in this movie we see Logan as a character not a characticture. The remaining cast almost exclusively Japanese fills out the movie with gravitis and realism rarely scene in a Marvel adaptation.

There are flaws but they are far outweighed by the darkness and richness of the movie. The Wolverine is much closer to Nolan's Batman Trilogy than any other of Marvel's attempts at that style i.e. the uninspired Spider-Man reboot.

After many failed attempts we finally have a movie that does Wolverine justice.

See It.

VHS2 is the horror anthology sequel to the far superior VHS. I'm not a particular fan of horror movies but the original VHS captured my interest with it's low budget restrictions and it's high end results. This incarnation is an exact replica of the first film with different, less successful, vignettes.

There's an empty house with a room full of blank TV's and a pile of VHS tapes. What's on those tapes is evil. The movie has 4 vignettes as opposed to it's predecessors 5 and contains considerably less imagination. The first short film is the only saving grace- a man with an electronic eye begins to see ghosts. The rest are versions of zombie stories which seem to be attempting to capitalize on the current popularity of that particular brand of horror as opposed to be doing something original with it.

An exceeding disappointment after the originality and freshness of the first film. VHS is to VHS2 as The Blair Witch Project is to The Blair Witch Project: Book Of Shadows.

Don't See It.

Prime-Or-Die

Beanpole's latest work for Prime. While Scott and Scott are out being professional actors Brett is subbing in and we'll have a fourth alternate guest each week. This week our guest is Allison Ringhand. It's always fun, it's always fast, and it's always sweaty.

iO Cabaret Sunday's at 1030.

Fruits of Labor

I've never had a plant
or a pet
or a love that lasted.

I've had a one night stand,
a car,
a stomach chewed with acid.

But only time
can lose a loss
and by returning- contrast it.

Ghost Hotel

photo credit to LW

I've always loved the occult: spirits, divination, fortune telling, the other world. The Night Shift did a show tonight where the suggestion was "ghost hotel" because the three giggling girls in the front row were evidently staying in the most haunted hotel in Chicago. The show was really fun and we talked a lot about ghosts. So much so there were moments when Meaghan was legitimately getting spooked.

Probably one of my favorite improv moments. Talking about ghosts so much someone gets afraid we will some how draw them in. Provoke them. I wish we would have.

They say every theater has a ghost. I'm sure The Playground has it's share. And what interesting ghosts they must be. Next time we'll bring a Ouija board.

Persistence of Memory

This is my friend Greg. For a day and a half last week I couldn't think of his name.

This past weekend my dad and I were in the Verizon store. When we walked in I noticed a familiar woman and her mother at the counter. In less than a second it came to me. Sarah DeWitt. Carlson Elementary. I hadn't seen or spoken to her in twenty years.

Some things I've done or experienced I'd like to forget but can't. Some things I'd like to remember but have forgotten. Details, sights, sounds, smells, names. It's strange what we can recall and what we can't. It seems like the more terrible or trivial something was the easier it is to recall.

I don't remember anything about my first time on stage as councilmen #4 in the Pied Piper. I vividly remember pushing Marisol Ramirez off my desk and her slapping me across the face.

I don't remember the first time I told my high school girlfriend Jessy Melville that I loved her or what her response was. I vividly remember her not talking to me for a week and almost breaking up with me when I smoked pot for the first time.

I don't remember when my college roommate Bob Boehle gave me his guitar and taught me to play. I vividly remember the campus police cuffing us and being traipsed out of our dormitory into the back of a squad car.

Memory can be unforgiving and at times one sided. We are a collection of all the things that have happened to us and things we've done regardless if we remember them or not. Ultimately the only important moment is now. The moment I'm writing this and soon the moment you'll be reading this. I would like to remember some past pleasures with a little more clarity but regardless of my ability to call them up they are a part of me.

Still though. I'd rather remember Greg than Sarah DeWitt.

Book Junkie

These are some of the books I've read or reread in the past couple weeks. I'm always on the hunt for things to read. It's a never ending battle. I have to have a book. I go through one to three a week and have since 4th grade when I finally started reading at my age appropriate level. It's a compulsion. If I don't have a book to read I'm discontent. I find myself getting anxious quickly. I feel listless. Without a book in my bag that I can dip into at any given time I feel naked, defenseless.

I don't understand people who don't read that often, sometimes I envy them. Reading and books are such a part of my life that I don't understand what people do with their time without them. I go to the book store once or twice a week just to feed my literary addiction and most of the trips are unsatisfying because I often come out empty handed. I agonize over the time authors takes to put out books and put release dates in my calender months ahead of time. I scrounge stores looking for the latest releases but also can't bring myself to order books online. It feels like cheating. I've reread my ten favorite books probably five times each. They're great and I love them but if I hit a drought of new material I have to start reading something: anything.

Whenever I do find something new, something I really like I binge on it. I bought Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane and finished it the same day. I read the latest installment in the Ex-Heroes series in a day and a half. It's not a bad thing, I love the experience of it, getting wrapped up and transported, adventures and love and sadness. But sometimes I can't cherish it. It's an itch that can't be scratched.

Sometimes I use it as a crutch. I whip out a book if I don't want to talk to anybody or use it as a buffer for social anxiety. It's a visual cue "don't talk to me".

I need something to read. I just reread Garp for the 6th time, Motherless Brooklyn for the 5th time, and Duma Key for the 4th time. Right now I'm reading Zorba the Greek for the 3rd time. I think I have some kind of literature specific OCD.

I wish people would read more. Sometimes people say "I don't read" which I think is crazy. But at the same time I don't wish my narrative jones on anyone.

Recommendations welcome. Guys gotta READ.

MadTown

I went back to Rockford for the weekend and Today my dad and I trotted up to Madison to spend some time with my sister Marta and her boyfriend Nick. We had some breakfast("Tell Marta we got to go to the place with the breakfast nachos" - my dad) and walked around downtown: I looked for books, my dad scratched his ever present itch for bargain college clothing, and Marta and Nick chaperoned.

We ended up at the lake front relaxing and sharing popcorn. This lady was reading the New Yorker in the shade with her sunhat. Chill to the max.

I've been trying to take more pictures recently. Become a little more natural at whipping out the camera when there's stuff I want to take pictures of or seeing the opportunities when they arise. I call this one "Pontoon Envy".

Across the way from Marta's apartment there's an office building. I don't know what the person is shaming but they seem pretty vehement about it.

It was a great visit. I'm not really one to keep in touch by email or phone so it's great to get a chance to spend some quality time with my sister who I love very much. I need to share the same space as people, digital communication has so little depth. She helped me through some hard times which has brought us closer- I know that even if we don't talk that often she'll always be there and she will always love me and she will always listen. I hope she knows the same is true of me for her. I only have one sister and we're in this thing together. And for me that's an extremely comforting thought.

                                        

Graffiti 105

Technology Sucks.

Put down your god damn phone.

"It's become appallingly obvious our technology has exceeded our humanity." -Albert Einstein

"Men have become the tools of their tools." -Henry David Thoreau

Fear 2

Follow the Fear. -Del Close                                                          Fuck your Fear. -Mick Napier

I got an opportunity to do the industry showcase tonight at iO. Meaning I did my five minutes of solo sketch for some producers and a packed house. It was an interesting evening. With this kind of audition type performance there's a lot of weird energy, lots of nerves, and it can get kind of infectious in a bad way. For the first time I felt not above it exactly but distant from it. Distant from the icky feelings and expectations that go with an audition with stakes(or perceived stakes) maybe because I was added last minute maybe because I'm better at taking things as they come and not playing the tape forward too much.

It seemed as if the evening was a success. Most people had good material and the crowd was responsive. I was toward the end of the show. I had some fear going into it but nothing that took me over, nothing that messed with my mode. Some general nervousness and fear of how-it-will-go I think can give you a little bit of an edge, a little gas in the tank. Fear of blowing a "big" opportunity, that kind of fear is poison. Placing so much expectation and need and desire into something like this is just going to back fire and make you hate yourself. This thing isn't going to validate me because I'm already validated by many things.

Anyway. I got up did my set and part way through I realized I wasn't getting many laughs. Material I've done before that's gone over well wasn't going over well. Stuff I'm proud of and think is interesting and funny wasn't getting much of a reaction. I had a split second of panic or more accurately shock. I was surprised I wasn't doing better. Oh well. I plowed through and finished my set and was done. I felt a little disappointed afterward, questioning why I didn't get a better response. Did I structure it wrong? Not enough jokes? Too edgy? Too sexual? But as I chewed it over and talked to Tisher about it I realized I did what I do. I presented my material well and if people didn't think it was funny or if it was too biting or untoward that's fine. There's nothing I can do about that.

It was a good experience and I learned a lot from it. I don't think I'll be getting a call from NBC any time soon but I took a shot and I did it with my material. No compromises, no impressions, no telegraphing of jokes.

Fear can take many forms. Sometimes it can sound like "I wish I would have..." or "I desperately want this/I'd do anything for that..." It can sound obvious or pandering. Fear is familiar, we go way back, and it doesn't bother me like it once did, it doesn't rule me.

Fear is something to be acknowledged and dismissed. To quote Will Smith:

Danger is real, Fear is a choice.

Steve's Guide To Breaking Up Part 3

Final Installment.

There will be ghosts. Murmurs. Echos.

Every love leaves a mark. It will fade, dissipate, dissolve but never disappear.

You move on. Focus on other things- passions, hobbies, travel, friends.

Open yourself up to other people. You'll find yourself excited by someone new, develop a crush, and fall in love again.

Your past love will at some point be eclipsed by some future love and that's good.

Every love builds you up. Deepens you. Becomes a part of you. Makes you strong. But you can't hold on to something that's not there. You can't grip a shadow.

The past got you to the present. And the present is the moment that needs to be lived in. Some thing will always linger. Faintly. On the periphery. Let it be.

It may flare up from time to time. Aftershocks. Those are just gentle reminders of how you got to where you are. And maybe lessons too.

Love comes in waves. Don't stand stiff letting them break over you. Ride them. And when you ride them all the way to the beach.

Go back out to sea.

Instant Credibility

(sitting on the roof talking on the phone to Bill)

Me: I don't think I expected the call, I wasn't hoping for it consciously, but when I found out it was going on without me involved it was like a sock in the gut, disappointment, jealousy...
Bill: Yeah, of course. It'd be weird if you didn't feel that way, that's normal.
Me: Everyone, myself included, gets so weird. It's like it's the only thing, the only chance, the SNL holy grail. And people just get so wrapped up. It's gross. I just don't understand it.
Bill: Well, any of us can do it. There are a lot of people talented enough to do it. So it's attainable. And it's the only gig that comes through town that...gives you that...instant credibility. (pause) Do you want to do it?
Me: Yes.
Bill: Then ask. There's power in asking. You have as much right to do it as anyone. So what's the harm. She says no then you haven't lost anything and you've tried. She says yes, then oh boy, that's the scary thing. You get the green light then the fear will hit you, boom, then what do you do? It's Nike not Niche. Just do it.

Shane!

I met Devo for the last 15 minutes of Shane tonight at movie-in-the-park. I love westerns and I've heard a lot about Shane over the years. One of my favorite books Zeroville has an extended scene where the main character discusses with a burglar if at the end of the film when Shane rides off he's going to die or not. After all the hype I wasn't stunned with the climactic shoot out with a young and dashing Jack Palance but the dialogue and the gravitas of the cowboys gave me gooseflesh.

I've never seen a movie-in-the-park before, I don't know why. It's a nice way to spend an evening- a cool lake breeze, fresh grass, and a shining crescent moon.

Jimmy Penn

Almost every Sunday for the past year I've met Jimmy for coffee, cigarettes, and conversation. We met when we were put on a team together, 1941 at CIC, almost three years ago. After that we become fast friends and have grown a lot closer in the past year. We talk a lot about personal ups and downs, call each other out on our bullshit, and talk a lot of shop. He's been a great barometer for me and has turned me around on some of my more judgemental habits.

Me:  It sure is hot out here. Nice tank top!
Jimmy: Come on man! I'm self conscious enough as it is.
Me: No. It looks good, you look good man. Tough. Super tough.
Jimmy: Stop. It's hot out! You got me all in my head about it.
Me: In all honesty you look good.
Jimmy: It's too late dude. You ruined it.

Going Blue 2

When I first started doing improv and sketch I never went blue. I never used sexually explicit language or situations and I tried to keep my swearing down to a bare minimum. Initially I did it because I knew it could be a crutch, something new performers use because they don't know what else to do. After a while it was a badge of pride that I never went blue. I looked down on people that did, I thought it was cheap.

Over the past year playing with Timmy and Stoltenberg on Schwa and seeing Holy Fuck consistently my thoughts on the subject have changed. And from time to time I find myself gleefully engaging in the grossest/sexually offensive content I can. Sometimes it feels like the five years I spent holding myself back from that kind of subject matter built up a lot of sophomoric creative steam which bursts out every once in a while. Coincidentally most of those outbursts occur during Night Shift shows and tonight we were in rare form.

We've been doing a mono-scene for the past couple months, meaning our 20-30 minute set is just one continuous scene. Tonight our show was six girlfriends on spring break in Cabo in their hotel room. It started off relatively innocent each of us establishing who we were- the religious one, the prude etc. We started off talking about hooking up with boys at the "Blue Men At The Beach" performance and making innuendos which became progressively less innuendo and more straight forward. The show took a hard right turn when Damian told us about the local "pussy ghost" which carries a lantern and hunts down other pussies. From there we shot into the inappropriate stratosphere. Afterwards I really wished we counted how many times "pussy" was said. I estimated around 200.

It was a real fun show and we were all possessed with this manic giddiness which can come with playing fast and loose with things taboo.

Going blue can be fun for the people doing it and can be really funny for the audience. The trick is not to do it too often, be original with it, and to throw yourself into it so hard you surpass surprise, hurdle past shock, and land on something totally new and titillating.

'I'm So Excited!' & 'Pacific Rim' Reviews

I'm So Excited! is the latest film, this time a surreal comedy, from Pedro Almodovar. After the atrocious and cloying The Skin I Live In this is a breath of fresh air from the Spanish auteur. The film takes place mostly on a plane which circles the air space above Toledo, Spain waiting for a place to make an emergency landing due to defective landing gear.

For the first 15 minutes or so of the film I hated it. Not because of the film itself, which takes some adjusting to, but because of the packed audience in the theater laughing uproariously at every little thing, every innuendo, every flamboyant flourish from the three homosexual stewards. I felt like I was missing something, not getting the joke, or I was in a room full of people who were uncomfortable with the subject matter.

The film jostles and jerks from genre to genre- slapstick to soap opera to porn to thriller to romance. There is no coherent narrative or arc. All the characters are complex and confident and fun and we never find too much about any one of them. Sex, drugs, and drinking are discussed and explored with an inherent casualness and lack of judgement which is refreshing.

The film isn't deep but it is layered. It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy like the audience I went with seemed to think- laughing at perceived homosexual stereotypes. But it is goofy and odd and playful. There are no real stakes but there is no need for them. The film constantly has you guessing what is or will happen but nothing ever does. And that is fun. Your constantly engaged and guessing and new kinks and secrets are revealed and tricks and games are played.

See It.

Pacific Rim is Guillermo Del Toro's robot apocalypse movie. The movie gets into the action fast and spends just enough time on minimal explanation to set up the entire movie for us- Alien creatures are coming through a portal on the ocean floor to take over Earth, we created huge robots to fight them.

The ensemble cast is varied, committed, and obviously having fun through out. What their is of a plot is pretty much what you'd expect from the trailers and exceeds expectation with efficient story tellng as well as personal character touches coupled with the huge CGI action sequences.

The best summer blockbuster I've seen in years. The only action movie I've seen recently that had a justified running time over two hours.

See It.

Street Talk 14

I'm riding my bike on the sidewalk the one block from house to Montrose where I'll get on the street. Up ahead is a woman with a 2 year old boy. He's weaving all around the sidewalk awkwardly walking and delighting in it. I smile and hop over to the grass to ride past them and give them the whole sidewalk to maneuver on. The kid stumbles and sits down when I'm about 10 feet away, it's clear he has not seen me or processed my presence, he stumbled over his own feet. As I pass.

Woman: Gee onm thhh fffeeerr rrrrraaa. diii ssss a chiiiii.

She's not mumbling she's just not talking loudly, I thinking she's talking to the kid and I smile at them. It takes me about 10 seconds and 50 feet to process that she actually said "Get on the fucking road. This is a child." At first I'm hit with a cold bucket of shame. I should have stopped and walked the bike. I didn't mean to frighten her and I clearly didn't frighten the kid. Wish she would have known that I was in total control and I thought I was more than far enough away. I think of going back to apologize.

Then I'm hit with a wave of rage. Who the fuck does this lady think she is? I was six feet away from her and her kid. Does she think she owns the sidewalk? Where does she think she's living? This is Chicago, the big fucking City, if you want your kid to have a bubble of safety around him move out to fucking Winnetka. Not only that, this is Uptown off the Wilson Redline stop, not a consummate neighborhood for safety. I think of going back and asking her to repeat herself, think of intimidating her, telling her to move, asking her if she's got a problem and then letting her know I'm her fucking problem.

Needless to say I don't do either. I realize, while she was saying it, all I did was pleasantly smile at her. That's the appropriate reaction, most likely her overprotective mothering instincts just flared up or she had a bad day or she's going through a divorce or break up or she's hungry or she's tired. Whatever it is it's not me and I have no control over it. I look at the shame and the rage and the different hypotheticals, I realize their utter uselessness, take a deep breath and let them go out into the ether.

I continue riding my bike to meet Tisher where we will in the near future share a small plate of extremely sloppy yet delicious lobster stuffed deviled eggs.

'The Way Way Back' A Review

The Way Way Back is a coming of age movie set in some nameless New England beach town. The framework of the story is conventional but this trope plot is invigorated with some great acting and realistic slants on stereotypical characters.

A dorky 14 year old boy is forced to spend the summer in his mother's antagonistic boyfriend's beach house is the basic premise. Liam James plays the boy Duncan and either in life or in his performance he is especially nervous, gangly, and awkward which brings a substantial amount of authenticity to the film. Veteran actors play the adults that populate the film and for the most part are unlikable, distant, mean or sad. In his first successful attempt at playing a bad guy Steve Carell plays the asshole boyfriend- self-centered, deceptive, edgy, and ultimately pathetic. Not a likable character but a real character. Toni Collette plays Duncan's mom who seems lost throughout the film, on the rebound from her divorce, looking to have fun, and more focused on her burgeoning relationship with Carell as opposed to her son. Allison Janney plays the drunk next door neighbor who some critics have called a comedic caricature but what strikes me as something familiar and uncomfortable, a performance played not for laughs but to convey a certain type of desperation.

Duncan is ostracized by the popular hot beach crowd and finds himself drawn to the water park across town. He is befriended and mentored by Owen played by Sam Rockwell who delivers a vibrant, fast talking, joy filled, high octane performance which absolutely steals the film. Duncan get's some confidence and some friends and has a good summer. No surprise there.

The film is populated by an extensive excellent supporting cast that brings laughs as well as reality. The plot is very conventional there is no doubt. But the thing that makes the film so unique with in the genre and so engaging is its fresh take on the characters involved. Duncan has a "love interest" but the relationship is more in his head then on the screen, its a crush. Susanna played by AnnaSophia Robb seems to be only interested in being Duncan's friend because she recognized a similar listlessness in him. Rockwell's Owen doesn't give Duncan life lessons, doesn't protect him, doesn't beat up Carell for him, he simply befriends him and cracks jokes with him. The adults are kind of shitty to the kids, not in a funny way, but in a neglectful way.

There is no great resolution, nothing really happens or is accomplished. But you get the feeling Duncan, and you by extension, have grown.

Don't Miss It.

Graffiti 104

"Always knew I would clock G's but welcome to McDonald's may I take your order please? Gotta Serve you food that might give you cancer, cause my son doesn't take no for an answer..."

I found a series of these in Logan Square. It feels like some kind of comment on baby boomers and the ungrateful GenX crowd. Although I don't know what the comment could be. But I think we can all agree that fast food is shitty and bad for you.

"Meat consumption is just as dangerous to public health as tobacco use... It's time we looked into holding the meat producers and fast-food outlets legally accountable." -Neal Barnard

"The boomers' biggest impact will be on eliminating the term 'retirement' and inventing a new stage of life... the new career arc." -Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Experimentation vs. Perfection

I imagine there's a plane that describes artists much the same as the plane that describes someones political ideologies.

Experimentation---------------------------------------------------Perfectionism
(Left/Liberal)                                                        (Right/Conservative)

I think you can apply the idea across the board- music, visual art, performance, poetry etc. Some musicians study as many instruments as they can, others focus on one instrument, one genre of music, one composer. Some visual artists paint only landscapes or versions of the same landscape, some change their style yearly, monthly or weekly. You get the idea.

I've been thinking about this idea the past couple of days. When I first started performing in Chicago I just wanted to do improv as much as I could. I wanted to just be the best improviser I could be and master any form I was doing. Eventually I got burned out, spread myself too thin, and tapered down my commitments. The past year or so I've been fortunate to have been a part of some sketch shows and podcasts, broadening my creative output. Those different forms of performance, with tangible repeatable results are, in some ways, more satisfying. After being able to do some different stuff and having some interesting opportunities my interests have started to shift.

Now I'm no longer really concerned with doing things right or often but doing things differently. When I perform I want to surprise myself, my cast mates, and the audience. I want to experiment and challenge myself and I think I'm good enough to have the result be just as, if not more, entertaining. I'd rather go into a show with no idea or no form or with something I'm not comfortable with. Or just to have fun with friends and what can hinder that sometimes is feeling like the form or the energy is stale.

I'm trying to be a little more judicious with my time and my commitments because I'm not interested in doing the same old thing. I want to do something different. not different in that performance-artist-make-the-audience-feel-weird kind of a way but different for me.

I don't want to try to refine and perfect the things that I already know how to do, that's just not where I'm at and maybe never will be. I've always had a desire to constantly push and learn the next thing and push and try the next thing.

There's nothing wrong with being an artist content with the mediums in which you operate, I understand that, I get trying again and again to make the perfect guitar riff in D minor or to paint the perfect sunset over The Badlands or to do a perfect Harold. I get it. But I don't want that. I don't have enough time to devote to just one thing.

I want to taste the fruit on all the trees.

Heroes

Craig, Nooch, Me, and Andy photo credit to Craig's iPhone

The first improv show I saw was 3033. It was a silent dance show. I was intrigued and interested but I wasn't hooked.

The second improv show I saw was Deep Schwa. I don't remember any of the scenes but I remember who was there: Jeff Griggs, Brett Lyons, Kevin Fleming, Colleen Murray, Meagan Flanigan, and Dan Antonucci. After that show I got the improv bug bad. Since then I've only rarely missed a Sunday night at iO.

The above photo is blurry documentation that Dan came back to Chicago and played with Schwa tonight. It was a great show and a real joy for me. He has such a weird energy and point of view, such a unique style that always gets the most random laughs. His delivery in and of it self is hilarious, he could be saying anything. Throughout the show I was trying to orchestrate a scene with him but it never manifested. There was however this amazing group scene where Dan was a Grandpa, everyone else were kids, and he told us a story about fishing with a girl. The scene was amazing and I didn't want it to end, at points I was deliberately trying to elongate it because I didn't want to leave it. I was sitting there with some of the most talented people I know in a scene with a person who genuinely inspired me to pursue comedy and pursue improv and stick it out in Chicago. It was a magical moment.

The scene eventually ended as did the show. It was a dream come true. Another great Sunday in a long line of great Sundays.

Carrot Gypsy

After going back and forth by email today, my phone has sustained water damage and Jillian forgot her phone at home, I met Jillian for lunch. It was the first time I saw her since she moved back to Chicago.

Me: So, tell me everything. How are you? What's been going on? How was the move? How was home? Where are you living?
Jillian: Oh, you want to just jump right into it?
Me: Well, yeah. Unless you'd rather talk about the weather for a while.

So we caught up and it was great. Jillian is one of those friends I feel instantly comfortable around and we freely spill our guts with no reservations.

Jillian: I had to borrow the waitresses phone to let you know I was here. I think she was scared at first but were friends now.
Me: If anyone can instantly befirend the waitstaff here it's you.
Waitress: Are you guys all set?
Jillian: (pointing at tatto) Is that your cat?
Waitress: Yeah that's my little Barry.
Jillian: He's wonderful.
Waitress: Do you want to see a picture?
Me: Um, yes please.
Waitress: Ok I'll grab my phone. I shouldn't. But hell you're already intimate with my phone anyway.

It was the first and possibly the only time where I enjoyed looking at pictures of someones cat.

(as we were leaving)
Waitress: I'm Cori by the way.
Jillian: Jillian.
Cori: Good to meet you.
Me: I'm Steve.
Cori: Good to officially meet you.
Me: And you as well.
(outside)
Jillian: (sighs) Cori...what an unfortunate name.

As we were walking down Clark we found a sack of carrots sitting on the sidewalk.
A perfect end to a perfect afternoon.

A Conversation During World War Z

Craig: She's gonna turn.
Me: No, no she's not.
Craig: Oh yeah she is. This is the plane from the trailer where everyone's flying out turning to zombies. It's gonna be her. Oh sorry. Spoiler alert.
Me: No, it's cool I like to be informed.
Craig: Good.
(pause)
Me: It's gonna be that dog. I bet you it's that dog.
Craig: Oh for sure! (cackles) The dog's infected!
(pause)
Me: Oh wait, it's not the dog. There's a zombie in that food thing.
Craig: Dumb-waiter zombie. God, they're good hiders.
(later)
Craig: (cackles) You thought it was the dog!
Me: Why else put the dog in there!
Craig: Oh, for sure, you totally had me convinced.

Thomas Jefferson Would Be Proud

The past couple years I haven't done much with my summers. I've been preoccupied or out of commission in various ways and rarely got myself out to enjoy the sun. I've tried to make more of an effort this summer to take advantage of the beautiful time in the city as well as put myself out there socially.

The past two years Tisher has hosted an Independence Day BBQ culminating with the reading of the declaration of independence which I loved. This summer that didn't happen so I had to venture out and fill my BBQ quotient elsewhere. I landed at MCat's which was a great time. Great music, tons of great people, and enough space to move around in. Parties sometimes turn me off if they're too crowded, too many people in a tight space, it drives me a little crazy. Today was the first time as a sober person where I felt 100% comfortable around people drinking, I talked to a lot of different people, made the rounds, and just genuinely had a blast and I never gave that part of it a second thought.

With a clear head being around people and catching up and shooting the shit is so much easier and enjoyable. I'm able now to take such genuine pleasure in listening and talking and cracking jokes without feeling self conscious or over analyzing. It's refreshing and stimulating.

After the BBQ a bunch of folks headed to Montrose harbor to watch the fireworks. Tisher and I laid in the grass and I tried and continually failed to take a good photo of the display.

The 4th of July doesn't hold much significance for me as a holiday. The founding of our country and patriotism and all that doesn't mean anything to me, I feel nothing about it. But the 4th of July is a great reason to get outside and talk to people and celebrate the summer and really feel alive. It's a great excuse and for that I am grateful.

It was a reason to gather with a group of friends and watch the night sky burn.

'The Bling Ring' & 'Lone Ranger' Reviews

The Bling Ring is Sophia Coppola's latest film which focuses on the real life escapades of a teenage group of  celebrity burglars in LA. Through out the film I kept wondering why? Why did Sophia make this movie, these are her people: privileged white girls. The story follows this vapid crew as they do copious amounts of drugs and rob the likes of Paris Hilton and Megan Fox.

No real comment is made on the group or their actions, the movie feels a lot like a reenactment or dramatization. Sophia presents the characters as shallow and invites us, I think, to laugh at them but never stretches any further. Never really brings home an actual thesis or calls the group to the carpet for their behavior. Nor does the movie attempt to justify their actions or show us in any way who these people are, how they think, or why they may have turned out this way.

The film seems to be Sophia's attempt at showing her peers in LA the dangers of the celebrity life they are all engaged in. But the message, what little there is of one, is something that is obvious and understood for everyone outside of LA and anyone living in LA under a certain income level. Five minutes in I get it, what else is there? But there is nothing else. Sophia removes herself so much from the material its difficult to figure out her point of view, if she in fact has one. The movie brings a potentially disturbing phenomenon to light but doesn't go further, you could save yourself the time and money and read the Vogue article which the movie is based on. The film doesn't develop anything it simply presents it.

The drug use throughout seems an attempt to justify their behavior but the actors never appear high in any way. The mounds of drugs their shoveling into their systems seem to have no effect. A scene where Emma Watson is free basing ends with her simply saying "Your ass looks great." It all seems to be presented for laughs and shock value and always rings false.

The performances were ok for what they were and only Emma Watson really went over the top with her valley girl voice and pseudo sexual attitude. Overall: all fat no meat.

Don't See It.

The Lone Ranger is a light hearted young adult summer adventure movie based on the Radio and TV shows of the same name. It feels like a ride, lots of color, lots of movement, and only barest semblance of a story. The cast has a surprising amount of heavy hitters which bring some coherence to a script that is relatively scattered. The biggest problem is the titular character the Lone Ranger played by Arnie Hammer who is way out of his depth and seems to have been cast simply for his chiseled jaw.

There are potentially lots of issues with the movies treatment and depiction of Native Americans. Johnny Depp's casting in general and his semi-racist portrayal in specific are disturbing if spared any moment for consideration. Why, why, why, why at this juncture are we casting whites in minority roles? If that kind of thing doesn't bother you or you can force yourself not to consider it and simply take the movie on strictly entertainment value you can enjoy the movie.

A plot with a lot of holes, excellent actors resurrecting a DOA script, and good summer action. Does contain offensive social content.

Rent It.

The Blind Leading The Blind

I did a character that's been rolling around in my head for a while last Friday at Holy Fuck at the Annoyance. Pastor Dirk Deadman is a motivational of speaker of sorts who, aside from his parish, does a seminar entitled "Christian Cheating" where he describes the theological justifications for infidelity and gives practical advise on how to cheat without being discovered.

Some of the comedians I know like to script everything out. Have all the jokes written, all the words on the page. I don't know if it's because of my improv influences or the time I spent at Second City but I prefer to go into a sketch or a bit with just a simple idea or framework. I like to know what I'm going to do sort of because it leaves room to be inspired and make discoveries while I'm in front of an audience. My strength isn't writing out well worded jokes my strength is improvising so it makes sense to do as much as I can. As the audience reacts to this or that I'm guided through the piece by them, I discover what hits and what doesn't hit, where the real meat of the scene is. I can then go back and refine it, shape it, distill it, still not scripting out actual lines but maybe remembering a phrase or a pause to insert at the appropriate time.

It's a thrilling feeling because it's not exactly improv and its not exactly scripted material. It's an exploratory type of performance. And even as sketches are refined without scripting them you're able to maintain the spontaneity of the piece, the immediacy of it. The audience doesn't perceive that you are reciting lines because you aren't reciting lines.

The Dirk Deadman piece for the most part went over well with the audience and I have a much better idea of where to take it and what points to hit. It's an exhilarating feeling, having an idea, implementing it, and getting direction through the performance. I was talking to Tisher afterwards about that unique feeling, the in between idea stage.

Tisher: It's like trying to find a light switch in a dark room.

You Spoiled Ice Cream

That night,
we shared a pint
of peanut butter pie

We swore off sweets
our final treat
turned into our goodbye

Since then I haven't eaten
that icy cold dessert
it's banished from my pallet
and doesn't prod my hurt

I doubt you gave up ice cream
gelato, sherbet, or sorbet
I hope that it reminds you
of the past now gone away