We write all of our entries on a shared Google Doc. This sometimes leads to fighting and conversations that I (Griffin) deem relevant to the blog. Today, any text in this entry written in red is James. Any text written in blue is Griffin’
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SHOW TONIGHT?
GRIFF: Tonight we were joined by Sirs Michael Gau and Ryan Nallen for an early show at the almost empty Underground Lounge and we had a blast. I think people laughed. I know I did. I’d say our shining moment was everyone trying to sexually assault me while I was tied up. Ryan and James really enjoy that bit a lot. For such a quiet room we were all able to bring a lot of energy. Normally I would comment that it was too disjointed and weird, but I needed that tonight.
JAMES - These shows are all starting to run together. We haven't even been offstage for 2 hours right now, and I can barely even remember the show. I know that we played hey wait look over there------>here? no over and to the right The fuck are you doing in my house? WHAT SCENES DID WE DO? I FORGET EVERYTING EXCEPT THE TREX AND THE POPE. That's literally what I was just writing. We did the sex thing, the tiny house, the guy that beat up the other guy's dad… Oh yea. Ok. Carry on. with Ryan Nallen and Michael Gau. I know that we started the show by being T-Rexes that all ended up eating each other. At one point I was the Pope answering emails. We played fast, maybe a little too fast.
AT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT GRIFF / JAMES?
JAMES: I think he's starting to find out how fun it is to play the low status character. He put himself in a pretty vulnerable position at one point tonight and just owned it. He heightened his own sad situation and was just loving every second of it. I hope he keeps following those instincts, because it's going to lead him to some really fun places.
RIFF: Aside from the sexual harassment thing, I learned that James laughs when I mispronounce something or flat-out forget its name and make a new one up. At this point, finding new ways to make James laugh onstage is my main goal. I wish I had something more complimentary to say here, but I already forget most of what just happened.
HOW DO YOU FEEL / WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT IMPROV?
JAMES: Like I said above, we started the show as T-Rexes. It was kinda hard for me to connect with the piece as a dinosaur. My first thought when I saw that everyone was playing dinosaurs was to be a human, or to find some other meaning to T-Rex that I could play instead. What I ended up doing was just half-heartedly playing a T-Rex. I'm sure that if I had been more willing to give it a shot, I could have found something grounded to do as King of the Lizards, but I bailed on it. I really can't think of a single instance in a show where fully committing to the reality of a scene ruined the rest of the scene, and I should have committed to those bro T-Rexes we were playing. I can't believe how many times I've had to type "T-Rex" today.
GRIFF: Our opening scene was pretty dead. We were all T-Rexes talking about picking up chicks, babes, honeys, or women. We kind of let it fall to the ground and then rushed to get away from it. We then picked the energy and commitment up for every other scene. I think we’re all confident enough to pull ourselves up out of a nosedive of a show, but I really wish one of us had plunged into that harder. I remember seeing a Cook County show where Brendan initiated with what would make a Second City instructor scream, but the rest of the guys jumped on it so hard that it became incredible. I think the line was something like “oh man this cat has to have more kittens or we are all in trouble”. To see that get turned into a show is inspiring. Seeing myself pull back from something just because I didn’t know where it was going made me remember that.
IF YOU DID THIS IN FEBRUARY, YOU'D BE DONE BY NOW. HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?
JAMES: Tired.
GRIFF: Like I am a strong boy with many powers and I will have a long life with many tales.
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