Life Is Not A Show

Last weekend I went to Jeff and Shar's show/production/experience/happening "Life Is Not A Show" they asked people not to post pictures or discuss it until it was all over and at this point they've finished.

For those who weren't able to attend this is what happened. You met at a corner and Shar walked the group to an apartment building then into a, seemingly, empty studio apartment. Around the apartment were messages or references to the attendees. For me there were pictures pulled up of me on the computer and a note that said "Steve loves my glasses!" a reference to Jeff's new pair of child-molester glasses which I hate. At first I thought we had to uncover something or solve some kind of puzzle but after a couple minutes Jeff came out of the bathroom in his boxers.

Jeff didn't acknowledge us so it was clear we were simply observers. He paced around the apartment and called his estranged wife Annie, argued with her, and revealed it was his son Timothy's birthday. Jeff got dressed, left the apartment, and went to McDonald's. On the walk he left Annie repeated voicemails requesting reconciliation and called his friend Greg and left him a couple voicemails implying they had some kind of sexual history. At McDonald's Jeff ordered an ice cream cone and we all watched.

On the walk back to the apartment we encountered Annie and Greg sitting and chatting on a bench much to Jeff's surprise. A confrontation ensued and culminated with Jeff smashing the dripping remains of his ice cream cone in Greg's face. The event concluded back at the door to the apartment building when Jeff acknowledged people were following him, yelled at us, and took and tore our tickets.

The whole experience was very cool and inspiring. The machinations of Jeff's day weren't terribly interesting but the fact we were all in agreement engaging quietly in this guerrilla theater, that we were observing Jeff order ice cream from McDonald's makes it more interesting than Jeff simply ordering ice cream from McDonald's. It was an intimate piece where the performers used their actual names and we were never more than a couple feet from the main players.

I very sincerely hope they do another show, after the creativity of this project I wonder what could be next, taking the project a step further. "Life Is Not A Show" was incredibly unique in concept and execution, with countless improv, solo sketch, storytelling, sketch revue, and stand up shows in the city this was a breath of fresh air.