DAY 1 - Hang Sesh with Best Budz

How did you feel about the show tonight?

Griffin:Great start to the month. First show was Hang Sesh with Best Budz at the Playground. Slim crowd but still high energy. We played with two other friends, but really interested to see how we play as just a two man show. I feel like initiations are not something I’m strong at but had a few fun carefree moments in there. Got in a few jokes about the Jews so that’s hella great. Overall a pretty whacky show. It’s hard for me to have a grounded performance and know how to have fun with that, which is something I want to work on. That would have been way easier if Sean Price wasn't such a tool.

DUGAN: We played in “Hang Sesh w/ Best Budz” at the Playground Theatre. The concept of the evening is that every team that plays is an independent group full of friends that enjoy each others’ company on and off stage. So, usually these are teams that don’t rehearse much, if at all, but just have fun. The best thing about this show is watching the players make each other laugh. Our show was pretty unfocused. A lot of talking over each other, not listening, and not following moves. I don’t think that I played a single emotionally invested scene throughout, and felt like I wasn’t really supporting the moves that the rest of the team was making. It was, however, a BLAST. Probably the best way I can think of to start the month off. Really fun guys to play with, that I haven’t played with much (Sean Price, Chris Blake) and they were cracking me up the whole time, but definitely left room to improve on improv. (Improve yer improv was the name of my college improv group. Go Wildcats! I’m just kidding,  we don’t play sports.) I specifically need to work on initiating scenes, and responding emotionally to teammates. But again, my face hurt from laughing afterwards, so I can’t complain too much.

What did you learn about James/Griff?

Griffin: That guy cares a lot about Magic the Gathering. The first day I met him we were sitting in the ETC theater and without looking at me he slipped me a card. Of course when I turned it over it was the “Griffin” card from Magic. James plays games really well, which is something I already knew, but it was fun seeing him operate in a group of people he hasn’t played with much. He is very aware of what is going on onstage and can clearly see patterns or points-of-view where I don’t. He is also very committed to that dumbass mustache of his.

DUGAN: If it’s getting a laugh, Griffin will spend 10 minutes of the show with his foot literally up a teammate’s ass. Actually I don’t know if that goes for anyone on the team, or if it’s Sean Price specific. And now that I think about it, it wasn't even getting that much of a laugh. One of the first things that I noticed about Griffin (as a human being as well as a performer) was that when he does a bit that isn't landing, he’ll keep heightening it and hitting it until you are forced to laugh at him, either genuinely or out of pity. He doesn't abandon a move because it’s not working. He finds the funny, even if he has to dig for a while.  And from now on I’m going to call that “putting a foot in Sean Price’s ass”.

How do you feel/what did you learn about improv?

Griffin: Like all improv freaks, I see shows that utterly astound me and confound my sense of how to perform. I desperately want to achieve even a fraction of what they do onstage. Dummy (Tuesdays at iO for $12) and Cook County Social Club (formerly Tuesdays at iO for $12) come to mind. Improv is art and it is good to have artists you admire and who influence you and even imitate, but lately I have found that I compare myself to other performers in a way that makes me uncomfortable. It is completely ego driven and it makes me feel dissociated from myself. This month is about getting out of my head and not comparing myself to other players. I want to figure out how Griffin Wenzler performs rather than watching myself desperately try to imitate Tim Robinson/TJ Jagadowski/Jet Eveleth/Jason Shotts/Colleen Doyle and getting pissed off when I can’t meet that standard. Tonight’s show was a great start to that end because I felt more like myself than usual onstage and was eager to jump in. Can’t wait to see what I learn over this month. Death to the ego.

DUGAN: Today I learned that sometimes you have to swallow your pride and cough up $15 just to prevent a show from being cancelled and ending the dream of doing a month long improv marathon before it even began.  Cal Ripken Jr. knows what I’m talking about.

How would you like to see James/Griff die?

Griffin: I want his dumbshit mustache to come to life and snake its way into his brain and then take over his body like a yeerk and drown him in Lake Michigan.

DUGAN: If Griffin must die, I hope it’s a way that would earn him a Darwin Award. Like climbing inside a garbage compactor to dislodge an obstruction. That way we’ll never forget him. And neither will the internet.