The Bridge, The Square, & New York Improv

After breakfast Tisher and I headed to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was the only must for me of the trip. This view is facing Manhattan.

I've only been to NYC twice before. My first visit I was 8 and the only thing I remember is seeing a guy get mugged. The second time was my senior year of college. The city was too big for me then, too cramped, too intimidating. But at one point we walked across the bridge basically alone, it was the middle of November, and I was struck by the beauty of the skyline and the peace of those weathered stones.

Crisp and a bit overcast it was an ideal fall day. The walk over the bridge was meditative and majestic. One direction the spikes and spires of Manhattan, the other the chaotic sprawl of Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Bridge is my favorite place in New York. There's a stalwartness about it, a serenity, an uncompromising gentleness. The bridge feels familiar, there's comfort in that.

This view is facing Brooklyn.

We crossed the bridge and wandered through lower Manhattan, passed a couple different court houses, and crossed this street.

This squirrel greeted us as we stopped to rest in Washington Square Park.

A surprising amount of flowers still in bloom.

We meandered through the square and continued north for a while then got on a train back to Brooklyn.

Annie and Joey joined us for dinner, great to see them. Bizarre for me, seeing all my Chicago friends in NYC, starting this new chapter of their lives, anxious and excited.

Tisher and I tried to see Gone Girl but it was sold out so we went to The Judge instead, review forthcoming. Then we went to see Conner's team at UCB.

I've heard a lot of talk about New York Improv vs. Chicago Improv, game play vs. scene work. I've never seen any New York teams to make the comparison until tonight, and I have to say possible bias acknowledged, NYC has got nothing on Chicago when it comes to improv. Conner was amazing but the rest of the team, although there were a couple people with a lot of talent, were single-mindedly making/trying to make jokes the entire time. No scene went longer than twenty seconds without a walk-on or a tag out, most scenes were done in some nebulous non-space, nothing was set up, nothing was left to breathe, there was a singular focus on making jokes.

Don't get me wrong I was entertained. It was a decent show. But there was no patience, no heart, no real inspiration. If that was any indication of NYC improv, that style can be categorized not by "game play" but by a dogged need to be funny at the expense of actually improvising.

Anyway. It was nice to get a little improv fix and to finally see a show at UCB.