The Numbers For 2014

For the second year in a row I went 365 days without a drink.

I went on two vacations, one to Richmond, VA the other to New York City.

I saw 72 movies in the theater.

Deep Schwa had 51 shows.

Prime had 49 shows.

The Night Shift had 20 shows.

The Hague had 3 shows and was cut.

We formed Sight Unseen and had 12 shows.

I read 37 books, my favorite of which was My Real Children by Jo Walton.

I wrote 46 poems and did 5 readings.

Tisher, Tim, and I released 10 episodes of Bubble Boys compromising season 2 completing the series.

Tim and I recorded the first season of a new podcast The Hindsight Hour yet to be released.

I conceived of and co-wrote a play, Contention, which will open in the new year.

I made 1 collage.

I made 1 mix tape.

I wrote 1 song.

I moved twice.

I went to 1 audition.

I rode my motorcycle for 7 glorious months.

I went to 0 concerts.

I went to 11 plays.

I went to 2 weddings.

I went to 0 funerals.

I had the love of a beautiful and supportive woman for the entire year.

Last Double Sunday

Andy got our team photo printed on this cool wood backing to hang up at iO. Matt took this picture, he was in town from Richmond and sat in with Schwa. Matt and I spent the day together catching up and talking shop which was great, the show unfortunately wasn't so great. I was a little disappointed that Matt didn't get to play a show where things were really clicking. The audience seemed to be a little reserved and we all had relatively low energy, it felt too much like work. Not a bad show but no where near the fluidity and fun we've been having the last two months.

After Schwa was the last Prime. We've been doing the show for almost two years at this point, started off as an idea Craig had, he just wanted to introduce a show as "two Scotts, two Nelsons, and a Uhlir". When it turned out to be really fun we kept doing it. Then both the Scotts got Second City gigs, we played with Brett for a while, had some sit ins, the Scotts came back, then we added Sabine. I always found the most satisfaction in the shows where we told some kind of story usually centered around a group of brothers, friends, co-workers, or some kind of sports team. Sometimes I was tired and our speed of play would lose me, sometimes I didn't like the shows that veered towards the absurd or the disconnected, but always I enjoyed playing with my friends, always I enjoyed the unique challenge of our particular style.

We had a great house and the show was super fun. It feels good to end it on a high note. It's nice to hang it up while were all feeling good, it's the right time. I'll miss the hour or so we talked and caught up before we hit the stage the most. Right now the plan is to get another slot at a better time but who knows. Whatever happens its been a good run.

Penultimate Prime

Here's a gif courtesy of Tim Lyons from our second to last Prime. I referenced The Babadook around one hundred times.

One final Prime, for a while at least, this Sunday the 28th at 1030pm at iO.

Tipping Point

Tonight we cancelled Prime for the first time due to lack of audience. We've been struggling to find a crowd since TJ & Dave starting performing at the same time a couple months back. Late Sunday night in general, especially given iO's new location, is tough.

Craig has been talking for a while about ending the run. With a consistently light crowd there's not much incentive, for Craig because it's time away from his wife, for the rest of us because it means starting each work week tired. It's great to see everyone each week, check in and hang out a bit but without a decent audience to entertain the weekly grind of it has seemed a bit hollow, a bit futile.

None of us are at the point any more where we're starving for stage time, we're at a pretty comfortable place where our time is relatively valuable and we can be a bit discerning how we relegate it. It's always a joy to get on stage and perform but I think we've all been a bit frustrated with our lack of traction when it comes to people coming to actually watch.

Craig gave us a ride home and made the call we would end the run at the end of the month. I, and I think Scott and Sabine too, felt some relief. End it before it gets to be a chore and we come to resent it, end it while the shows are still fun and quality. We talked about trying to get another slot at iO sometime in the future, something that might work better with our schedules and be more conducive to building an audience. It could work out, it could not. We'll see.

For now there's three more chances to see Prime. Sundays at iO 1030pm till 2015.

Prime

A couple weeks back Tim Lyons put this poster together for Prime. The show has always been high-energy and fast paced but over the past couple months we've organically come to a loose form. Semi-narrative following a group of brothers/friends/co-workers/teammates on some limited arc. Sabine has been playing with us constantly for the last couple months so were at a roster of 5. Most times though either him or Morehead is out at a Second City gig so we operate at four, the optimum number.

It is both a gratifying and frustrating show. When it works it is the most free and fluid I ever feel improvising, when it doesn't it is the most constraining and difficult. It is a challenge and one I'm glad to go into each week with my friends.

Morehead, Nelson, Sabine, Nelson, Uhlir. All Prime. Sundays at 1030pm in the iO Harold Cabaret.

Drawing A Blank

Through most of the summer I felt like I was on a bit of an improv hot-streak. Things were clicking, inspiration was coming fluidly, and I was consistent. Whenever I feel on a bit of a run I know a rut is sure to follow and the past two weeks I've felt a bit off. Uninspired, flat-footed, empty.

A couple times during the Prime show tonight I'd just stare at Scott and have nothing to say, find myself drawing a complete blank. Of course with Scott it doesn't much matter, he's a machine, he pushed through and my momentary lapses probably didn't register to the audience. But of course I knew.

It's bad enough getting on stage and feeling stale its worse looking into your friend and collaborator's eyes and having nothing to offer. Felt guilty after, like I was letting my teammates down, not pulling my weight. But of course it didn't register much with them, most of the judgement and deficiency is internal.

Performing in any medium you are always learning, always struggling. always going through periods of mastery and inability. You set challenges for yourself, jar yourself out of routines, keep at it and eventually you come out of it to some greater realization.

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.

Last Clark Street Shows

Tonight Deep Schwa had our last show at iO on Clark. It was a packed and enthusiastic crowd. Deep Schwa is iO's longest running Harold team, 18 years strong, and it was always my favorite team to watch. It's been a real gift and pleasure to have played on the team for the past two years and I'm excited to see what the new space will bring. I expected to get emotional but didn't feel much in-particular, even with Jeff announcing, before he took our suggestion, that it was our last show it didn't really hit me. Like is so often the case with major change, it'll take time to process.

We had a real fun show, the only time I've felt like when all eleven of us were there that we stayed fluid. It's interesting to be part of a team with so much history, to carry the name and the reputation on. It means a lot to me, if it wasn't for Schwa I may not have stuck with improv, it showed me the amazing sometimes magical possibilities improv can hold. I'm sure the night held more significance to Brett, Craig, Jeff and the other folks who've been around longer than I have but to me it felt very satisfying, one last show with a full cast and a house filled to capacity.

Later Prime had our last show. The team has had an interesting journey. Initially opening up for 3033 was Middle Age Comeback, after Jim left Craig did a show U Who? where he would get a guest, that kind of sputtered out and towards the end of it he got Scott Nelson and I to play. The show was really fun and after Craig asked both Scott Nelson, Scott Morehead, and I to play with him consistently. Everyone is incredibly talented and fast but if I'm being honest I think Craig simply liked the idea of introducing us as "two Scotts, two Nelsons and a Uhlir". After we ran for a couple months Scott and Scott both got Second City gigs, we had some sit-ins, Brett played with us for a while before going on a boat and then Sabine started to play with us. In the past couple months we've really hit our stride, consistently putting up fun, fast, challenging shows. We've even developed a loose(very loose) form: start with a group scene where we like each other, cut away to any thing we talk about that seems like a scene, Scott Nelson plays most if not all celebrities referenced, callback the first scene until it comes to some sort of conclusion.

The show tonight was great, absurd and sweaty, we even pimped Craig into doing the only two impressions he can: Richard Nixon and Gilbert Gottfried. It felt great to have my final show on the iO Cab stage be with three immensely talented friends I respect especially Craig my one time teacher, coach and mentor. I noticed a couple friends in the crowd but Nicole was there for both shows which meant the world.

It was a great ending but not a permanent one. The new iO space will open sometime in the near future. And as of tonight I have no regrets and couldn't be more grateful.

Patterns and Micro-Narrative

After Prime on Sunday Scott made a very astute comment. "It works when we do the same, like, four things." Recently we've been on a streak of, mostly, good shows. And Scott hit upon the common thread between them. We function most effectively when we set up a mini-narrative, like a short one act, and cycle through it 3 or 4 times until it comes to a natural point of conclusion or its heightened into absurdity. I feel like we've had a similar kind of success with Schwa the last couple weeks, creating shows with a discernible theme or defining characteristic.

I am most satisfied when an improv show feels of a piece, has some singularity. The key is recognizing patterns, repeating elements, and developing a sequence of scenes resembling a narrative. Strictly narrative based improv(like an improvised play) can be difficult and at times tedious(in a more conventional longform) but developing a series of scenes that tangentially relate, that have a loose story arc or thematic similarity, is a good outline to embellish on. Whether by repeating the established sequence with the same characters and different context or with different characters and the same set up you build upon the audiences and fellow players familiarity with what was initially introduced. With a solidified rubric for a show the players are actually freed up to experiment and riff. After the initial sequence/scenes/set up is repeated the format is locked into place and there is no negotiation between the players about what is going on. No hesitation, no indecision. Physical or verbal cues will instantly be recognizable because they are echos of whats already been done.

There are many different methods which yield the same result. Repeating specific words or phrases. Repeating specific physicality or stage picture. Internal mechanisms like telling stories, fortune telling, or narrating. Sometimes breaking the fourth wall and flat out saying the theme, pattern or story although that can be significantly more tricky. Couple some or all that with a premise/theme set up through a sequence of scenes that you repeat variations on and you are most likely going to create something unique and focused.

Repetition

From teachers and coaches you are often cautioned not to invent or get the note after a show or scene "that was too inventy". Invariably by way of explanation the coach or teacher advises that inspiration and ideas are already present within the scene or piece. Invention weakens by creating a broader and broader world where connections become forced, repetition strengthens by solidifying the already established world creating an environment where connections and discoveries happen organically almost independent of the performers deliberate intent.

Both my shows tonight were good reminders of this idea. During the opening for Schwa we repeated a couple things then told the audience "but you already knew that didn't you" and ended it with the proverbial "you'll find out something later" type of line. We didn't really capitalize on this idea or use it to augment moments of confusion/discovery and the show would definitely have felt more like a singular piece had we done so. We did find success in repeating the set up, staging, and initiation of one of the first beat scenes with Karisa. It was an end-of-date scene using food innuendo culminating in a black out with Robert Frost played by Joe. By simply reiterating then repeating something that we had already done we gained traction and depth.

With Prime its a bit easier to implement this idea because there are less of us and the form is much more fluid. Our suggestions tonight was robots and we started with a scene of Nelson, a scientist, working on us, robots. During the course of the show during moments of pause or indecision one of us would peal off and enter as a robot. We created this device initially and simply kept returning to it to propel us forward, which in turn provided a more distinctive quality to the show.

More often than not the mechanisms to gain momentum are found internally with patterns, scenes, or lines already established rather than in reaching externally for pop-cultural facts or preconceived narrative set-ups deemed invention.

The Numbers For 2013

For the first time since 1999 I went 365 days without a drink.

I made 1 major purchase, a Honda VTX motorcycle.

I went on 1 vacation to Richmond, VA.

I saw 88 movies in the theater.

I went through 1 breakup.

Deep Schwa had 51 shows.

Prime had 46 shows.

The Night Shift had 23 shows.

Rick had 9 shows and was cut.

The Hague was formed and had 18 shows.

I created 1 character: Pastor Dirk Deadman.

I did 2 auditions.

I got 1 callback.

I read around 40 books, my favorite of which was The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

We rebooted Groh Show and released 4 episodes.

Tisher, Tim and I released 10 episodes of Bubble Boys comprising Season 1.

We recorded 6 episodes of Bubble Boys Season 2, yet to be released.

I made two collages.

Beanpole and I collaborated on 1 project.

I played 2 games of chess, both I lost.

I went to 1 concert.

I went to 0 plays.

I went to 0 weddings.

I went to 0 funerals

I fell in love, once.

Suits

We wore suits for Prime tonight, I haven't worn one in a while and haven't performed in one in even longer. It felt good being dressed up but it was a bit constricting when it came to the flow of the show, the scenes were longer and there were less of them, sedentary.

Overall it was a great night, the shows weren't amazing- they can't all be, but the dreamer during the 8 o'clock show was this lovely, portly, newlywed Indian guy named Thomas and I gave notes to the team Morehead coaches Sonis. It was nice to look at a show like a coach again- to analyze, diagnosis, and give feedback.

I doubt we'll be wearing suits again for some time.

Two Things I've Learned

Tonight was a great night of shows and elucidated two things for me that have been percolating for a while. Two tricks or lessons or sign posts whatever you'd like to call them.

1. Pronunciation. Saying words in an odd way is funny. Not all the time of course but talking normally or with a little bit of accent and then every once in a while inappropriately stressing a syllable here or there or injecting consonants or vowels where there shouldn't be any makes people laugh. You set up expectations and then subvert them. It can also help discover character- what kind of a person would say x like that. Jeff and I had a fun first beat scene in the Schwa show tonight. We were two southern ladies at the race track fanning ourselves. We were doing accents, Jeff better than mine, and every tenth word or so I'd say weirdly. It got a big reaction, the audience loved the scene, and it started the show off at a good pace.

2. Trust. In improv classes and on teams trust is something you hear a lot about. "Trust your teammates, trust their ideas, trust the work." Which is all well and good, its a good idea but realistically difficult to implement. Just telling people to trust each other- people who may be strangers, people who may not like each other- does not bring about that bond. In improv as in life real trust must be cultivated and takes time. I trust a few of the people I perform with certainly not all, that's no slight on those I don't but it's a rare thing and should be. I'm comfortable with everyone I perform with, comfortable enough to try or do things that make me uncomfortable but comfort is not trust. I have to trust someone to do something I directly do not want to do, I have to trust someone in order to do something I think is a terrible idea.

During the Prime set tonight I initiated a scene as a fortune teller at a fair. I was calling for someone to come get their fortune read, I anticipated it would be one of the other performers. After a couple seconds Craig come out as my assistant and said something like "here's one! here's a girl wants her fortune told!" indicating a young woman sitting in the front row. I was stunned, I looked at Craig to see if he was in fact serious, if in fact he was indicating I should interact with this audience member, he was. In retrospect it's not that shocking, I've seen it done many times, people talking directly with the audience, but I've never done it and I've never seen Craig do it. I thought that it could be really disastrous and making that move could open the flood gates for a lot more audience interaction. In short I thought it was a fucking terrible idea and I did not want to interact with this young woman. But I trust Craig- he's a great friend, a mentor, and long time collaborator, he's never given me bad advise and I still frequently follow his example. I got down on a knee and began to read this young woman's fortune. Craig was backing me up and Brett and Sabine came out shortly there after. The young woman was receptive, excited, and played along. It went over very well.

I did something I'd never done. I did something I did not want to do that I thought would go badly and it went well and people liked it. I did it because I trusted the person that set me up for it, but trust is no common thing.

Scott's Back

Scott Nelson just got back from a couple months on a boat. Tonight was his first show back with Prime. It was great, he's been missed. When people come back from boats it usually takes them a couple weeks to get back into the groove of doing long-form. Out of all my friends that have gone on a boat I figured he'd be the one immune to that learning curve and I was right, he didn't miss a beat. He's the most engaging performer I know, he has that innate watchability, that undefinable quality you just can't look away from. Performing with him there's a sense of spontaneity and unpredictability, you never know what he's going to do.

We had a great show. Craig and I were covered in sweat by the end. There were moments where we completely gave up the pretense of improvising and dissolved in laughter. It was like dominoes. At one point Scott said something that broke Craig which broke me which broke Morehead which came back and broke Scott.

I'm very proud of our Prime shows and find them extremely satisfying creatively. We all have different styles but share a similar point of view about the work, about improv. We make choices, we land and declare, we move fast and with purpose, in pursuit of fat grins and belly laughs. When its working, when its really working, it feels like we're parts of a whole, tapped into that fabled and elusive group mind. With Scott back it feels complete again.

A Packed House, A Silent House

Tonight was a fun, odd evening of shows. There was a great crowd for Schwa because it was a new team's first show- Sonis. They had a good show, it was nice to see my friends Ryan and Ben on the cab stage, although it was a tad nerve infused as new shows tend to be.

There was nine of us for Schwa and because someone started saying "nine!" in a German accent we decided to do something German inspired. I flippantly suggested German expressionism, one of my favorite theater styles I studied in college, and everyone jumped on it even though it seemed Jeff and I were the only ones who actually knew what it was.

Our set was very weird and presentational. Lots of melodramatic pronouncements directed at the audience interspersed with scenes about death and futility. We at one point went through the nine lives of Danny's wheelchair bound character Donny ending with a chess game with Death. It was a lot of fun and a nice challenge to play within a certain genre. The audience dug it I think, they seemed on board and into all the bizarre transitions and content.

The Prime show afterwards was a different story. There were only about 8-12 people in the audience, not unheard of but relatively rare for our slot, small crowds have never really bothered me especially if I'm playing with people I love. We almost always win over small or reticent crowds because we play with an energy and volume that fills the room. Tonight was a rare exception.

After the first minute or so of the show we started ramping things up and gaining speed, doing fun physicals and playing multiple characters. I was having a blast and noticed laughs from time to time, not a lot of them, but I didn't think anything of it. When the lights went out and our show ended there was a thunderous silence. A good five seconds of no applause, no nothing. It felt like a full minute. Shock hit me in the face. Eventually there was a smattering of pained applause, we took our bow and got the hell out of there.

I found it kind of absurdly amusing. It was not as if the show was bad, it was in fact good, we put a lot of energy in it, so it was just the night or the crowd or the cold front that settled in. It was a nice reminder that most things are out of my control. I had a great time with my friends and that is all I can do, no sense in dwelling on it, just an interesting anomaly, another experience. Brett was the most bothered by it I think. He's one of those guys that is just so naturally funny, that audiences just inherently love, that he's use to getting laughs all the time so when he doesn't he's mystified.

It was a great night that ran the gambit, from energetic excitement to aggressive muteness.

Nineteen

About six months ago I lent Craig Stephen King's 11/23/62 along with a couple other books. We're both big King fans. The thing I love about King is that his books are all connected. Themes, characters, worlds, story arcs- they all weave together. In the Dark Tower Series the characters encounter the number 19 frequently. So much so the characters in the book start using the number as a signal of coincidence and connectedness and fate. A sign of what goes on behind the curtain.

Craig just started reading the book last weekend while he was on his way to Austin. Yesterday Craig was finally back for both Sunday shows. During the Prime set we did a scene in a sandwich shop. Four tornado chasers went to rob a Blimpie in order to raise money for their expedition. Of course during the robbery we all decided to order sandwiches. Scott was the first to order and asked for a "pepinos". We all went nuts over the silliness of the word and repeated it probably 100 times during the rest of the scene.

Later that night Craig went home and was reading before bed. What did he find in the pages of 11/23/62? Pepino's Best.

There's no explaining where inspiration comes from or when it will strike. Stories and ideas are out there swirling in the ether. Sometimes you reach out your hand and grasp them and make sense of them. And other times you only get a glimpse.

Of a pattern immense, intricate, and unknown.

When It's Good, It Feels Good

I was never an athlete or musician, I have always been a performer. I think I latched onto it at an early age because it was the only thing, out of the many things I tried, that I was good at. Every once in a while you find yourself in the those moments on stage where you hit a groove. Where things start happening without effort. You find yourself in an effortless type of flow. Athlete's call it the zone. I don't know what musicians call it. For me it's like being totally in the moment but also detached from it, floating above it, in actuality doing nothing and just being a conduit for something other. You can see every move, you can anticipate and feel every laugh, groan, and gasp.

My parents were in town tonight to see Deep Schwa and Prime. Schwa had a good show, the past couple weeks it feels like we've been on something of a streak, getting back in the rhythm of things, the cast fitting together. The show ended a little early before we could tie everything together but all in all a good show.

Craig was out of town in Austin and I asked Vince and Sabine to sit in with Prime. It's odd to perform on Sunday's without Craig because I always identify Sunday night shows as his shows. He is always a constant, stabilizing, joyful presence. I was nervous for the first time in a while. Excited to play with my friends who I don't get to play with and to perform for my folks in a show they had never seen before but nervous because I wasn't sure it would go well, without Craig I wasn't confident.

I've found though that nerves more often than not give you an edge- makes you present and sharp. The suggestion was Mississippi River and we were four southern boys heading down the river to get some revenge. The show was great. It was such a joy to have Sabine and Vince play with Brett and I. Sabine has great timing and is always good for a one liner or a seemingly effortless joke. Vince plays big characters and has the most phenomenal reactions. I caught myself a couple times just watching and appreciating Vince reacting to things. Brett was open and welcoming and was a great facilitator and instigator of fun in the show in addition to his normal quickness. The show came together in a very organic way and I think all four of us lost ourselves in it and had a blast. As the show progressed the audience got caught up in the infectious energy. Because of the holiday tomorrow it was a packed crowd and I think we all ended on a high.

It was a great show. One of the rare ones where you derive a great deal of pleasure from very little effort. It was the perfect show for my parents to see and I am grateful for the entire evening.

Prime-Or-Die

Beanpole's latest work for Prime. While Scott and Scott are out being professional actors Brett is subbing in and we'll have a fourth alternate guest each week. This week our guest is Allison Ringhand. It's always fun, it's always fast, and it's always sweaty.

iO Cabaret Sunday's at 1030.

Rituals

All the performers I've met have pre-show rituals. Some people take a pre-show poop. James eats two bananas before a show. This guy Colin who was on my first team would get really intense and shadowbox and do hard rock air guitar. Everyone has their thing. More often than not now I try to get to the theater half an hour early, sit some where quiet and read or listen to music, just try to get myself centered, and I always have a Redbull. I like to get to whatever theater I perform at before anyone else does, I don't know why, I just like being the first performer their, watch the performers arrive and the room fill up. I think it just adds to the magic of it for me. This empty space devoid of energy holds endless possibility and you just watch it happen.

The show I've been doing on Sundays after Schwa picked a name: Two Scotts, Two Nelsons, and a Uhlir is now Prime. For a long while now Craig has sworn by Gatorade Prime. Craig and Jim used to take it before their shows and now we take it before our shows. It's a "gel blend of carbs and vitamin B that delivers energy when you need it most" it's suppose to give you energy fifteen minutes after you take it. I don't know if it works but it sure feels like it works. We joke that it feels like one of the Looney Toons whose shoes turn in to rockets.

Prime shows feel like they've been getting better and better especially since we played with Lutz. I always sweat, we always have fun, and we always make each other break.

You could make the case we owe it all to the prime.

Speed

One of the Scotts and I were talking tonight before U Who. He was saying he was feeling a little wonky from his weekend of improv shows. Not that the shows weren't funny, that the audience didn't enjoy them, or they weren't decent shows in and of themselves but that he felt like they didn't have a message, a theme, or a statement. There was no challenge in them, they weren't difficult to do.

We both agreed that the U Who shows are challenging and fulfilling, sometimes significantly more so than some of the other stuff we're doing, because of the speed at which we play. The four of us all have a very aggressive style as far as pacing and variance/energy in character. It lends it self to shows, I think, that you get caught up in and swept along with. At a certain point the momentum of the show carries us along and there's little thought to what scene will come next or what scene went before it. It's a challenge every week, not only to play with such a high energy talented group of guys but to always try to push the boundary: how fast can we go, how many characters can we play, how many people can we fit on stage. More, more, more, faster, faster, faster. It's like continuously adding balls while juggling, how many can we keep going in the air until they become too many to handle? We never know.

We don't go after theme or try to have a message. We try to go as fast as we can with as much reckless-abandon as we can.

I once was skiing down a mountain and realized I had forgotten how to stop or turn. I picked up speed quickly and rocketed down the slope. There were people in my way and many people at the bottom of the run. Part of me was afraid. Afraid how I would stop, afraid of the possible collision. But the other part of me, the other part of me just embraced the thrill.

And let gravity do its work.