Thunderdome

Tonight I played in a mash-up as part of Carmen's experimental show Thunderdome. It was the first time I had gone to the show and it was really fun, had a very casual energy. Carmen opened with some stand up, a 5b team played, there were some sketches, and two mash-up groups. Carmen, throughout, was advocating people to take some risks.

I started our set with a potentially offensive Japanese accent. The piece moved on to Carmen setting Gary up to make fun of Playboy models at the Playboy mansion. And teetered on almost going to some place extremely dark when Gary mentioned school shootings. Tisher would have called the set "very naughty".

There was a lot of swagger and very little artifice to our set but there is something to be said for risk. We are all experienced and in order to push further, to make strides- you test boundaries. You introduce content thats dark, horrible, or abhorrent because you've never gone there or because you are testing to see if you can get the audience back after you've disgusted them. I don't think overt racism, sexism, or tragedy is funny, I don't find it humorous in the least. But I do think it's fair game subject matter to do comedy within and about. There's an amount of edge and guts involved that I love to experience and to watch.

Gary tags in and explains there's been a school shooting. And we all start laughing, not because there's anything funny about it but because Gary has the balls to simply put that idea out there. Inject our show with dark of a circumstance. I felt this feeling in my gut: nervousness, challenge, excitement. Again, not because I think its funny but because it's dangerous territory and danger can be appealing. I began to make a move to cut to that school shooting, act it out, be the shooter, engage in some kind of surreal kabuki tragedy- five grown Chicago comedians parodying the life of damaged and dead high schoolers. I hesitated.

The moment past, Carmen started a new scene and the show was done a minute or so after. I didn't feel particularly funny but I felt good, the risk made me feel sharp. Next time if someone brings up something horrible in a show, I'll go right for it.