Potluck

The Night Shift came over tonight for my first attempt at hosting in the new apartment. We haven't got together outside of a show in a couple years. It was great to have people over, sit in a circle and chat, and snack on various meats, cheese, and fruits. Steph made an incredible sweet potato pie, the first one I've ever had.

We got formed in 2010 and after our first year we stopped rehearsing and followed relatively divergent paths. Some people moved away or stepped down. All of us got involved with other projects which, at times, took justifiable precedent. What's remained constant is our improv and our friendship. The past two years I'd say we've been incredibly consistent in our performance, we've found a loose form and a level of comfort with each other after playing together so long. Craig always takes the suggestion by starting a brief conversation with one of the audience members, we start in a group scene, sometimes we stay in it the whole time sometimes we cut out, around, and back to it using it as a fulcrum. It's fluid and easy, after years and working through all the hang ups each of us has developed and gotten over we've come to a place of true acceptance and delight with each other.

We're not best friends but over the past four years our casual friendship and commitment has cemented into something strong. For our two shows a month, over email chains, and seeing each other out and about, there's a short hand, a connection. All of use have hurdled some big problems, some of us gone through radical personal transformation, but the team, small in scope requiring little commitment, has remained steady. Its bond has come to mean a great deal.