A Fine Actor

Last night Scott had his last show in Chicago(for a while) S. Charles Nelson. Stage Legend. No Doubt About It. It was the third installment in his Fine Actor series where he plays a faux version of himself as a professional somewhat pretentious actor "looking back" on his career and reprising notable monologues and scenes from fictions plays. A loosely structured revue based-show which is almost completely improvised.

The show was, as usual, incredible. Easily one of the funniest, fun, and impressive shows of the year. Scott is the most talented person I know, I've frequently said over the years that if Scott doesn't find success in the entertainment industry at some point down the line then talent is inconsequential. He flourishes in the most bizarre sets of circumstances. He prefers to paint himself into corners, to creates situations that are incredibly challenging which he then has to meet, that demand that he deliver on the spot. As an example during the show yesterday he set himself up to sing, monologize, do spoken word poetry with barely a premise to go off of and it was amazing.

There's a term in improv- "pimping"- which means making one of your fellow performers do something difficult which they might not want to do like sing, rap, breakdance, do an impression etc. There is no pimping Scott. He excels when tested. Relishes a stacked deck, putting a ton of pressure on himself, because he always rises to the occasion, always triumphs

He's going on a boat for four months. I'm not entirely confident he'll come back to Chicago after his contract is through. I'll miss my friend, he's a constant source of inspiration and delight.

Tired of Goodbyes

Over the past year a lot of friends and acquaintances have left Chicago. Tisher's moving was the hardest to take, the biggest adjustment, the most surprising. After that it gradually became almost rote. Still emotionally effecting but natural. There comes a point in life, late 20's/early 30's(at least in the case of my peers), when you ask yourself certain questions. What's next? What path do I want to follow? What do I truly want? And whether the answer is motivated by family, career, adventure, ambition what-have-you it frequently necessitates a geographical change.

In movies goodbyes are always profound and cathartic. People say important and articulate things. Often the partings are final. Real life isn't like that. You convey your affection and care but there is rarely, in my experience at least, any weighty words or stunning reveals. If you expect something cinematic you will be disappointed. You don't need a dramatic interaction to prove what someone means to you. If you have appropriate expectations you'll get all the closure you need.

Goodbyes are important, telling people you love that you love them is important, wishing people well at the beginning of a journey or a big life change is important. But farewells are almost never momentous or partings lasting. You never know what directions lives may take, how they may diverge, or when they may come back together. And no matter what the future may hold you always have the memory of the person with you, so in a way they never actually leave.

Goodbye Brian

The most recent in a long list of departures, Brian leaves Chicago this week. We were never very close which I regret but I watched him perform so much over the past couple years he was part of my weekly routine. The one show I see almost every week is Holy Fuck Comedy Hour and Brian was one of my favorites in that show. Always 100% committed and with the most fully formed concepts he was always compelling. He was also one of the funnest to take pictures of because he is so expressive.

I learned a lot from watching him specifically repetition, mispronunciation, and calculated anger. Repeating lines or phrases is an effective way to heighten, let the audience in, and get laughs. For whatever reason deliberately mispronouncing words is sometimes more potent than a well crafted punchline. Unjustified or hair-trigger anger can be a pitfall of new improvisers but when its calculated, when it is set in contrast to something absurd or jovial it can be used to devastating comedic returns.

I have every confidence in Brian's success as he leaves Chicago, I'll miss him still.

More Goodbyes

This weekend Chicago lost two more to sunny LA- Tyler and Felske. Two people I'd only really gotten to know well in the last year or so, two people I was consistently inspired by. It's a big loss for the community, two incredibly talented people each with drive and discipline that manifested in a substantial creative output. I'll miss watching them perform, their specific curated projects especially. I'll miss Tyler's open southern charm and his pointed perspective on the work. I'll miss Felske's dry wit, her enthusiasm, and sitting next to her during shows both of us reveling in it when it was good and rolling our eyes at each other when it was bad.

But the greater loss for me is losing two driven writers. Two people who unabashedly identify first and foremost as writers, two people that backed up that assertion with actual output. There are a lot of people in the improv community that talk about writing, that have ideas for plays or stories, that want to write, but few who actually do it and do it consistently. As such there are not many people that can really talk about writing, what it takes to bring an ephemeral thought to the concrete page, the frustration and satisfaction that comes from doing that type of solitary creative work. In this respect I'll miss two people I could relate to in a very unique way.

Good-luck and good-bye to two performers I love watching and two writers I respect.

Goodbye DQ

I first met Drennen doing a bit on Alex's talk show at iO El Show. The guests that week were two burlesque dancers. Drennen and I took turns interviewing them, vying for the co-host position. I think I won, I remember feeling good about that because Drennen was a rising star at that point, I was jealous of his talent and the recognition he was getting. Like many people who, over time, became my good friends I didn't like Drennen at first.

A couple months after that we got put on a team together at CIC, 1941. The team never really gelled. We probably only had a handful of good shows in the year we were together. But it was a great group of people and I got to know and befriend Drennen. After rehearsals James and I would go over to Drennen's and watch a movie James hadn't seen.  We did movie night every week for a year then once a month for the last two and a half.

DQ is a great friend: loyal, considerate, kind. He's great to talk movies or music with, great to gossip and talk comedy with. I coached him briefly on the short-lived JaJaJa but our collaborative efforts were never what defined our friendship. As a friend Drennen always made time for me, we always stayed connected even with stretches of time without talking or hanging out. He has a laid-back, casual, hip, mischievous smartass type energy I'll sorely miss.

With all the people moving over the past months I know DQ's exodus will hit me hard as the weeks go by. Hopefully his will mark the end of this parade of friends Chicago departures.

Goodbye Timmy

Another Chicagoan fleeing to the coast.
Timmy, the bad-backed bird-man.
Trumpeting his percentage of Cherokee blood.
I'll miss the parade of cops, bosses, and put-upon husbands you played.
Those times you were inappropriately Asian or mentally impaired.
Your mugging, your thirst for the audiences laughter.
You taught me a lot about crowd control. And response.
About going for broke.
About over-the-top.
About yelling to get myself heard.
Sometimes a scene calls for steamrolling force.
You were always game to bear the brunt of my Nagging Wife.
Or receive the tirades from my Bad Cop.
Always loudly denouncing your guilt or sexual inadequacy.
You fired me countless times.
Played my principal even more.
And had Bitchy Friend down to a science.
But always and forever a tried and true collaborator.
Generous, kind, and challenging.
Goodbye my friend.
May the sun filled slopes and valleys of that dreamscape called LA
Never mar your sickly and translucent skin.

A Long Goodbye

A lot of friends have left Chicago recently. Since Tisher left back in May it's felt like the comedy scene has been in a protracted state of farewell. iO and Annoyance opening, Upstairs Gallery closing, and all the people moving it's been kind of exhausting. Now it's mostly over with some people trickling out over the next couple months, we're(seemingly) over the big push.

All the parties and the going-away shows have been great, proper celebrations and send offs but I'm looking forward to relaxing. To settling back into some semblance of routine, of doing the work without distraction. We all have our paths to follow, our separate journeys. I'm sure more people will move, will go back to school, will start families, but all in our own time. There's no clock, no timeframe, no one way to do what we all want to do, no one dream we are all working towards.

I'll miss everyone who has left in the past month. Annie, Carmen, and John especially. I loved watching them, they inspired me, they went out of their ways to include me and be my friend. I won't forget their generosity and their kindness.

I'll miss John's absurdity, Carmen's(sometimes unwitting) edge, and Annie's courage. And although they will be missed, not only by me but by many, I know they will flourish in NYC. There is comfort in that.

My dad likes to say there is no constant in life save change. It's not a scary fact, it's one to celebrate. A week, a month, a year from now anything is possible. Opportunities wax and wane and the future unfolds with both grief and joy.

My First TV

I graduated high school in 2002. My folks bought me a lot of odds and ends for my first year in college- sheets, a hamper, plastic shelving unit, flip-flops- but the big purchase, my graduation present, was a 20" Toshiba TV with three AV hook ups. It was my first substantial possession. Under my lofted dorm room bed I had my Toshiba set up with speakers, PS2, VCR, and DVD player. Lived like a king.

My college roommate Bob and I used that TV for two years in the dorms, when we moved into our own apartment we upgraded to his much larger TV. I used the old Toshiba on and off during the last couple years in Chicago. It was never high end but it was always reliable. I've lugged it from Rockford to Normal to Chicago and as the years past it got lighter and more retro. Now a tube TV seems almost as antiquated as a bag-phone. The tube Toshiba is extinct, like the dinosaur.

Over the weekend Nicole and I got a flat screen complete with WiFi hook up. It's a wonderful and long overdue upgrade. But. I am an analogue man. I love mix-tapes, VHS, land lines, and when fast forward made noise. I love rethreading cassettes and blowing into VCRs. It is high noon in the digital age and analogue has almost completely vanished. It is a fast-moving, info-steeped, high-resolution culture we live in. Which is great, don't get me wrong. Things are easier and more accessible.

Putting the Toshiba out on the curb though, I was a bit nostalgic. For a time before cell phones, when rewinding necessitated a separate machine.

Goodbye 3541

I started taking classes at iO in 2007. I didn't go to a show for my first term there because I was too scared to use my student ID and I was too broke to pay for a show. During level 2 I mustered up enough courage to go see the Sunday 10:30 show which turned out to be GhettoBlaster and 3033. The first show I didn't care for much but when 3033 took the stage I was enthralled. They took a suggestion and for thirty minutes danced and interpretively moved to a soundtrack, no dialogue. I remember it being funny but it struck me more as an engaging piece of theater, even more impressive given these five men were big, big but graceful. From then on I was hooked.

The following week I went back on Sunday this time for the whole evening. That was the first time I saw Deep Schwa. I fell in love. They were so fast, so smart, so wickedly playful. I don't remember much about the show but after it my face hurt from laughing. The team at the time was Jeff Griggs, Brett Lyons, Dan Antonucci, Kevin Fleming, Meagan Flanigan, Brian Jack and Colleen Murray. Craig Uhlir got back from Vegas a month or so after I started watching Schwa and at first I didn't like him- too sharp, too mean, too aggressive. As a teacher Craig won me over and that roster of Schwa became my signpost and my inspiration for what improv was and could be. Subsequent additions and returning members like Rob Janas, Brian Wilson, Kate Duffy, Joe Canale, Danny Mora, and Neil McNamara were also incredible to watch. Since that first show back in 2007 I've only missed a handful of Sunday nights at iO, less than ten.

                             

I didn't got on a team after classes, I was crushed and angry. I did some work, auditioned, and made it in. My first team at iO was FireCup, it was a great first team, we really cared about each other and most of the time it showed on stage. It was a huge accomplishment when we started playing downstairs in the Cab, in my mind that was always the stage to play on, the goal, where the real work was being done. My second team was Rick where I think I did some of my best work with the Harold. My third team The Hague was great in its atonal weirdness. My independent team The Album and Julia and I's two person show Salute Jive both got runs in the Cabaret, both were unexpected and I couldn't have been more grateful for the opportunities. Ted and I put up our two person sketch show "A Year Of Saturdays" in the DCT, it was the first thing I did that I felt was in my voice. I found that voice at iO.

I had some great teachers and some bad teachers who talked too much. I had some boring teachers and some creepy teachers and some inspiring teachers. I learned some great lessons, some of them because of how angry and biting they were delivered. Some people were mean to me, I was mean to some people, I embarrassed myself a number of times, sometimes I was too proud. Occasionally I talked too much shit.

I had the pleasure of coaching JaJaJa, Echo my first Harold team the members of which will always be near and dear to me and currently coach Attica. I made a lot of friends, was involved with many interesting projects, got inspired, got motivated, got beaten down and picked myself up. I had a place to go whenever I wanted. I found a home and an art form that excited me. 

I don't have much attachment to the building itself, it's the people that are important, but I'll miss the Cabaret stage, the low ceiling, the simple lights, the way the laughs and indifference sounded. I'll miss watching a great show and getting pumped up to go on after or watching a terrible show and getting pumped up to get the crowd back. I'll miss doing a great set coming off and feeling sorry for the team that has to follow it. I'll miss the challenges and the energy, the heat and the camaraderie. It was such a unique space, part bar part theater, compact and intimate. I'll miss sneaking in the back and watching shows from the hall way and then disappearing during freeze.

It wasn't a flawless place. It could be dangerous both interpersonally and in regards to performance. It could be a place of judgement but also kindness and acceptance. Of contradictions. It was a place where you could seek and find some clarity of purpose. Hone your comedic chops in a classroom or on a stage.

It was a magical place and after tonight it's gone.

Goodbye Caitlin

Caitlin and I met freshman year of college. We were both theater majors and became fast friends. Caitlin lived with Chloe for two years and we all hung out constantly. They hosted a bunch of parties, we went on adventures(once to an abandoned Asylum), got our Tarot cards read, had a seance for H.H. Holmes, went to Red Lobster(once), and a bunch of other stupid college stuff that I look back on with a lot of joy.

After college we both moved to Chicago and Caitlin took me to my first improv show at iO. She was taking iO classes for a bit and then went to Japan to teach English for a year. Because of her interest in it and her recommendation I took classes at iO. That decision resurrected my floundering social and creative life. I have her to credit for finding some personal and professional direction.

Since then we've both been doing improv and sketch around town, I've seen her perform a lot, she's wonderful. Over the last couple years we haven't hung out a ton but would always come together and reconnect in the green room at iO, over a quick cup of coffee, or a walk. We've been friends for 12 years at this point and all that history makes for a close bond regardless of how much we talk.

Last year we finally got on a team together and it was a real dream come true to play with her on The Hague. Our shows weren't always great but it was a pleasure to finally get to share the stage with Caitlin, my college friend who inspired me to get started with comedy.

Our friend Jessy's birthday get together senior year of college.

Caitlin is off to LA to work on The Katydids pilot for TV Land. I am so proud and happy for her. Not only could this great opportunity not be given to a more positive and funny person but it gives hope to the Chicago comedy community at large. Hard work and dedication pay off, talent is recognized, the dream is possible.

Love you Caitlin.

Goodbye Ted

Today there was a going away BBQ for Ted, he leaves this week for LA. We went through classes together at Second City and I initially really hated him. He introduced himself to me ten times. By the tenth time I just said "yeah, we've met" in a real condescending way, I don't think he noticed. He was(and still is in some ways) the type of person who deliberately or instinctually talks to the most important person in the room. I also resented his talent, he was obviously ahead of myself and our other classmates as far as creative output and vision.

Ted and I finally became friends about two years later when we were on HouseCo together at Second City. I found a great collaborator in Ted, we had similar comedic tastes and instincts. With him I figured out what it looked like to pitch effectively, to write-on-your-feet and find traction within a premise, how to refine a raw idea. I wrote one of my best sketches specifically for Ted, he was a gay Drill Sargent after the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.  Our creative partnership naturally became a friendship. We were both going through some personal stuff when we were writing and putting up the show and leaned on each other.

Afterwards we decided we wanted to keep working together. We wrote a two-man sketch show called "A Year Of Saturdays". We gigged around for two months months, putting up ten or fifteen minute sets honing the material. Ted set up all that and he taught me a lot about discipline and doing the work. We were both really happy with the show, it was personal and had some edge, it was the first time I felt 100% ownership over and satisfaction with the material I was doing.

After that I didn't see much of Ted, I think we both would have liked to have kept working together but Ted had other projects with more ambition. He was trying to sell Shrink in LA and he went to Switzerland to film a version of his web series Break Ups. We grew apart.

I'll always be proud of those things we wrote together and I know Ted will land on his feet out in lala land. He's a networker of the first order.

Good luck, Goodbye.

Goodbye Tisher

About five years ago I met Tisher for dinner with my friend Wes and his girlfriend at the time Jess. I had just come from seeing The Cove for the first time. A profoundly moving documentary about dolphin slaughtering in Japan. I was all amped up about it, politically and emotionally charged. I didn't know anything about him at the time save he was on Neapolitan at iO which everyone was lauding as the next great group which I, of course, resented. He was kind of a dick as I recall, pretentious and full of himself, taking multiple opportunities to ridicule the premise of The Cove and undermine my obvious passion for it. I decided I hated him.

Two years later we started temping at Groupon at the same time. The day after the big snow storm, this was 2011, all the temps went into to work and most of the normal employees didn't. We started talking at lunch about this guy who played at iO and how much we didn't like him. He had a repertoire of offensive trope characters he always played and we bonded over talking shit about this guy and feeling superior. I'm a touchy-feely type of guy and so after that I would pat him on the back or give his shoulders a little rub when I would walk by and he started to do the same to me. From that moment on we were friends. We sat next to each other at work for the next six months and started seeing each others shows and going to movies.

A year later we were having lunch at work and we started to talk about doing a project together, that project turned into Bubble Boys our improvised comedy serial. It, to date, has been the most challenging and satisfying creative project I've done and I couldn't have found a better collaborator than Tisher.

Over the course of our friendship we've seen each other at some low points and there was never any doubt we would stick by and support each other. Our friendship went from work friends to improv friends to something a lot deeper and more complex. I've kept no secrets from Tisher and used him as a sounding board almost daily. I relied on him as a social buffer, social blanket, and social bloodhound- I not necessarily being in the loop as much as him.

Along with him inspiring and fueling me in our partnership with Bubble Boys he also inspired me to create a character, some bizarro version of him which I've written a couple short posts as and a lot of quotes on Facebook. He was always kind and game in regards to this portrayal which is not necessarily flattering and which for me was a huge experiment I learned a lot from. I didn't know how or was incapable of writing in a voice other than my own before I started to create a fictitious version of him. That has been a huge gift, has opened up some abilities and avenues I didn't know were available.

Tisher has not only been a great friend to me but to many people. He will be missed as a friend and as a unique and engaging performer. His effortless blend of high-brow concepts and content with low-brow presentation are unlike anything anyone else is doing. His moving leaves a hole in the Chicago comedy community.

But Tisher is off to greener pastures in NYC where I know it is just a matter of time until he finds success like our other Chicago friends who have fled to the coasts. I will cherish our time together in Chicago and look forward to the next stage in our friendship.

Goodbye Gary

Tonight was Gary's goodbye show. It was really fun and loving and sweet. There were two sets with Gary then a series of tributes/bits for him. All the expressions of affection were very genuine and there was a palpable feeling of friendship in the room. That of course was off set by some gentle and not so gentle ribbing.

Gary will be missed but there wasn't a pervading feeling of sadness because Gary is an amazingly talented guy and there is no doubt from anyone that he will do well in New York. Also there is no doubt he'll come back to visit. 

A lot of things were said about Gary- how nice he is, how talented, and how fun. What I will remember most, Gary's defining trait in my eyes, is his fearlessness. I've seen him again and again in improv shows and with his sketch and stand-up engage in dangerous material. Stuff that seems almost impossible to pull off. I wrote about one of my favorite bits of his last year: No Guts No Glory. He has the ability to walk a razor's edge of controversial material and make the content funny and at times poignant. Recently Gary and Carmen did a frat boy scene about date rape. As a concept it should have been awful but some how they managed to make it funny and make a point. Gary constantly delivered fresh innovative perspectives on perilous subjects.

Every time I watched Gary there was an element of courage, of daring, and it is that which I'll miss most.

Good luck my friend.

Goodbye Yolo

Yolo and her fiance Pat are moving to Seattle. Yolo is one of those people who I've traveled in the same circles as over the past couple years, developed a great deal of affection for, but never got to know that well. She was added to Schwa last spring and I was fortunate enough to do a handful of shows with her before her emanate exodus.

She has a sweet, playful, contagious energy which I will miss very much. She probably only played in half a dozen shows during her brief schtint on Schwa but in each one we did a scene together. Her last show and our last scene is the most memorable for me. Craig and I played brothers and Yolo was our prim, refined, tightly-wound, dignified mother. The scene consisted of her telling us to sit up straight, speak clearly, and be gentlemen while we pathetically tried to ask for a later curfew. It was effortless to do scenes with her and always fun. It's a shame she is leaving when we just started to get to know each other and get to play together but I'm grateful for the time however brief.

I wish her and Pat safe travels, happy trails, and a joyous new life.

Goodbye Eric

Tonight was Eric's going away show, he's moving out to Colorado for grad school. I don't know Eric that well and I'd say we weren't more than casual friends. We never hung out one on one or did a show together. But I always enjoyed seeing him and talking to him. He is the person in Chicago I would randomly run into the most: on the street, at the movies, on our bikes, all over. And every time I did, it would brighten up my day. Sometimes we wouldn't even say hi just smile and wave. Those small interactions over the course of  years built up to mean something substantial. An unspoken shorthand.

The other thing I really appreciate about Eric is that I never had a chit-chat, what-you-up-to, small-talk type of conversation with him. Our conversations were always about something personal or artistic. No weather or CTA talk. He also, like myself, is not a person discomforted by silence. A lot of people have to fill the space with words which most of the time is unnecessary. If you don't have anything to say then there's no need to speak. I think he understands that more than most.

I wish I would have known him better but I'm content with how our paths crossed. Our lives are filled not only with those close to us but with those on the periphery.

Good luck buddy. Good luck, good bye.

Bye Bye Love

I miss your comfort
your warmth and skin.
I miss burrowing under the covers
in a stuffy room
and whispering at night.
I miss the stupid jokes,
the secrets and gossip
and the hand-holding walks.
I miss the intimacy
the partnership.

There's a love sized hole
where you use to be.

I forgot to say good bye
to that part you took,
take care of my love
it was precious to me.

Rick Tonight!

Rick took the stage for the last time tonight after performing for two and a half years. We had a great run with many memorable shows. Recently we'd been having some numbers problems. People advancing in their careers, people having kids, and people getting married. It felt like the team had run its course, the majority of the team was moving onward in their personal and professional lives. It was a good time to end, closing the chapter on Rick with a great track record.

I love all the members of Rick, past and present. I learned so much from everyone, I was supported by everyone, I was elevated and propelled by everyone. I took more risks, played more characters, played faster and with more abandon because of Rick. There are so many great shows and great moments that I will remember forever. Moments that a unique group of incredibly talented people cultivated in a spontaneous flash of inspiration. I've documented many of them in this blog which you can browse by clicking the tag Rick at the bottom of this post.

I became a better performer because of the time I spent with the members of Rick on stage.

I became a better person because of the friendship and support I received from the members of Rick off stage.

I love you Rick. I always will.

The echo of Echo

Echo the team I coach at iO had their last show tonight. They are the first team I was appointed to coach by iO and we've been together since they graduated classes around this time last year. Almost a year exactly, not a bad shelf life for a harold team.

They taught me a lot and I hope I taught them as much. It's been a fulfilling, at times pleasantly frustrating, experience. As a coach you walk a fine line between friend, peer, and authority figure. There were times when I knew what I wanted to communicate but couldn't articulate my point, times where I knew what I wanted them to do but couldn't elicit it. I learned how to coach a team and they learned how to be coached. We had some interesting times not least of which was a steady change in roster.

Looking back, I break down the evolution of the team in three acts. Act One: a beginning. Getting to know each other, getting to know the harold, feeling things out, and dealing with one of the original members who was relatively unstable who was subsequently removed. Act Two: a transition period. We got Trevor, Ariel went on a boat, Blair quit the team, and Allison joined it. Act Three: progress. The last six months of the team we really gelled and put up some great shows and consistently had great rehearsals.

I'm so grateful to have been Echo's coach. To have been witness to and partial catalyst of their creative growth as a team and as individuals. Allison, Ariel, Blair, Chris, Chris, Claire, Dave, Mike, Molly, Paul, and Trevor will always have a special place in my heart, they gave me an experience I'll never forget.

This is good luck but not goodbye.

Goodbye Conner

I've watched Conner perform on various teams and at various theaters since I started taking classes 5 years ago. At first I didn't care for him as a performer. He did a lot of call outs and made a lot of jokes. He did scenes with premises like a gay Nazi cyborg raping Hitler. Last year Conner got on a team with Tisher and I started going to a lot of their shows. I've come to love watching him perform. He goes blue and does crazy scenes but there's a manic emotionality to it. He plays with a courageous abandon that's mesmerizing to watch. His commitment level always seems to be at 100% and a lot of the time he can be so self-deprecating its disturbing. One of my favorite scenes of Conner's in recent memory was one that took place on an old west wagon train. Conner was playing a drifter who would travel with wagon trains and convince the women to have sex with him because his sperm would make them invincible. That sentence doesn't do justice to the playfulness or sense of maniacal fun of the scene but it was one of the best scenes I'd seen in months.

Conner and I started to get to know each other over the past year and I found him real nice and approachable which isn't what I expected. Watching him on stage you get the impression he might have a 'fuck it' attitude which he doesn't. A couple months ago we got into a bit battle on Facebook which for me solidified our friendship in an odd way. You can find a recap here: The Status War. We never really hung out  outside improv but I consider him a friend who I'll sorely miss.

(Conner and Steph from Conner's last Holy Fuck show)

Conner's leaving tomorrow for New York. Another great Chicago performer flying the coop. I regret I didn't get to know him better when he was here but I'm grateful for the conversations we had and the times I got to watch him perform. I'll miss seeing him onstage most of all. We only did one very short scene together during freeze one night where I played his Hispanic girlfriend, I'll never forget it.

Goodbye Conner, I'm sure there's a lot of rambling incoherent bums you can base characters on in central park.

Conner's Website: Coozehound

Goodbye Kate

Kate's last Deep Schwa show was last night. I didn't know her until last year when I started seeing her around a lot. We became fast friends which I think Kate does effortlessly with everyone she meets. She's probably the nicest most open person I have ever met. And one of the most talented too. When I started performing with Schwa she and I just clicked. It's only happened to me a couple times, where you find a person who can read your mind, understand your initiation or idea even if it's muddled. Every scene I did with Kate I loved. Each scene was fun and effortless. I always looked forward to Schwa shows and no little reason was because of Kate's excitement. She always came in positive and totally juiced to perform. That kind of energy is contagious.

Kate and I did a lot of scenes as two women(you can find one here). Those were always the funnest. We also did scenes as two guys or where we would switch genders. She was always game to mix it up. My favorite scene with Kate was probably in our rehearsal with Liz Allen. Kate was a male chef and I was her neglected wife. I think my opening line was something like "You always spend so much time in the kitchen!"

I'll miss playing with Kate, her smile, her infectious fun, and most of all her kind heart.

From the show last night:


LA is in for a treat.