An attempt at catching up:improv

So much has happened.




















This past weekend, we took Bradley with us to Oklahoma City for the comedy festivus weekend. He slept the whole way in the car, and we even stopped to see Santa Claus at the mall. Of course, the moment Bradley smiled, Santa coughed. Thanks, old man.

We taught a workshop, and I had Bradley in the moby for most of it. It was surreal to give notes with a baby giggling right on my belly. It reminded me of being pregnant.

Everyone was happy to see us, and it was wonderful to not be pregnant. The bartender had my red wine ready! We hung out backstage before the show, and Bradley was so popular. He thought he was so cool hanging out with all the performers. And believe me, he was.

8pm came and the first group went to perform. We were headlining, so we had another hour before our set began. I started nursing Bradley (if I hear ONE MORE GODDAMN JOKE about breastfeeding and how someone can "get in on it" or "where's the line?" I'm gonna slap a bitch) and got him ready for bed. We set him down in the pack-n-play, had a lady improviser ready to snag him if he cried and started warm ups. Which nowadays consist of us going, "Do you think we'll still be funny?" and "What suggestion do you want to get?"

After intermission, we stood behind the curtain and just danced. It was just like old times, and I don't think either of us remembered that we had a baby sleeping backstage. Bryan's challenge was to initiate the crap out of the show, and mine was to vary distances between characters. And then we heard, "RED LETTERS!" and we ran out.

We joked about being parents and got a non-baby related suggestion and did the show. It was my favorite show we've ever done. It was incredible. Laughs followed by applause. What? Are you sure we're not just boring old parents whose only joke is going "blubufhajsghdf" to Bradley. So much fun.

After the show, we made out talked about the show in a corner and I've never felt more in love with Bryan than when we're basking in our own comedy afterglow. Instantly, our marriage was better. We were so happy, so happy to have done a good show, so happy to still be funny, so h appy to do something together that we both love so much.

We finally made it backstage to see our baby was still sleeping. I grabbed the little dude and walked into the theatre so we could get seats for the next show. He slept through the first act, then woke for the second (I went backstage to nurse) and then he LOVED watching. It was incredible. He stood on my legs just staring at the performers. I looked to my right, saw my hilarious husband and on my lap was my future hilarious son. And probably, for the first time since Bradley was born, I felt like my life was complete, in that moment, it was everything I'd imagined - and better.

Also: we have been named Oklahoma's Best Comedy Duo.

Monday Brain Dump

Weekends go by too quickly. We spent Saturday morning seeing our friends while their three week old baby napped. Biggest advice they gave us: don't let parents stay in your house and the changing table was the best buy.

Saturday evening, we drove to OKC for some light shopping (Portlandia and Futurama on DVD, ftw) and dinner before our show.

Performing at the Ghostlight has been so much fun. We love the artistic directors and the producers, and they seem to really love our quirky, playful show. I'm always sick and nervous when I hear that we sold out there. And before shows, I like to hang out in the lobby to watch the first group perform and listen to the audience. Often, audience members will approach me and say, "We came just for you guys!" or "I brought my whole office because of your last show!"

Nothing like compliments before a completely unrehearsed show to make a gal even more nervous. Bryan is the perfect improv partner: he's always game for whatever weird character, relationship or senario I throw out, and he will often make me laugh (inside, of course). We talked on the way out how we've been performing together for seven years now, our duo show for five. And yet, each show is different, is the same.

No matter how many shows we do, this one is special. This one is the one we're performing tonight, for those people. There's such a trust with Bryan, and I am confident that even if we have an off night, it will still be a good show. I really feel like the last year has been an incredible performance year for us, definitely our peak.

I wonder how the baby will affect the show. I don't know how soon after the birth that we will be able to make the drive to OKC to perform. I plan on bringing the Pack-n-Play, but what if he cries during our set? I joked about doing a set with him in my Moby wrap, but that's definitely not going to happen.

If we weren't doing so well or having this much fun with improv, I wouldn't be so nervous about the fall. To be honest, I'm nervous that I'll lose my ability to improvise or my comedic instincts. What if having a baby kills all the most cool parts of me? What if I no longer am funny? What if he's a crying mess of a baby and we cannot even break for 30 minutes to perform? We'll just have to see.

Picture Dump!

Comedy and Us: A long-winded splatter of thoughts

One of the biggest connections Bryan and I share is our love for performing, coaching and watching live improvised comedy. We've been performing together for seven years now, and we've done thousands of scenes together, a little more than 100 shows, coached more than 50 students of improv.

What happens with a baby?

I don't know anyone else who married a scene partner. I can't actually think of any real comedy friends of mine who married someone else in comedy. Which is odd to me since I can't imagine being with anyone but a fellow improviser, someone to yes and me all the time, someone with a playful heart, someone to take on the road and perform improv while also enjoying a mini vacation where other people on your vacation say how funny you are.

People keep asking about our future plans. Will I continue to perform with my pregnancy? Will we perform with a baby? Will we do improv with our kids?

I don't know. If I could blow magic dust on the future, I'd give myself a reasonably sized belly which would make smoking characters extra funny; I'd make my baby come on my due date, so I can perform all the way up to the delivery; I'd have a baby that was awesome in the car and planes who was chill in the green room, easy for someone to hold during our set (laughing at all the best jokes) and great at afterparties.

And for the most part, my life has gone according to plan. I found love in college that was real and passionate. I graduated with honors in only three years. I married my college sweetheart at the most fabulous New Years wedding. I've had great jobs since graduation including where I was supported by my income at a comedy theatre and now where I get paid to travel around the world. I live in a cute house with my still sexy husband, and I'm pregnant with my first child after a whirlwind of a fun three years of marriage, traveling, performing and partying.

I just have no idea how a baby will change things. It has to: it's a whole new human being. Our relationship, our family dynamic is about to change. I just don't know what it will be like.

I do know that we want to continue performing comedy through my pregnancy. It's been good so far. The bartender at the Ghostlight Theatre pours me root beer since I can't have my cab sav. The audience calls our show a trio now. Other performers tell me that they can't wait for my belly, so we can do pregnany-prov.

I do know that after the baby is here, we may need to take a break from improv. I'm not really ready for this, and I think it will be a tough transition to be without something I love so much. I'm hoping the baby will be so adorable that I won't even miss it...for a little bit.

I do know that we plan to perform in Clemson's Homecoming like last year as it is MTS' 2nd Annual 10th Anniversary Show (I coined the name: how could I not go?). Bryan will definitely perform, and I'm hoping I feel up to it. If not, I'll be in the front row laughing with my baby. How could we not go? It'd be the perfect excuse to see our friends and family again, and to show off what I hope is a cute two month old baby.

I do know that we plan to perform even with our kid. I want our kid to grow up around live comedy, performance arts and jokes. This world can be so depressing when you read the news, read facebook updates and think about cancer.

If there's one thing I want for my child, it's the love of laughter. With two comedian parents, I know this is the one thing I know we can give our baby.

Balance

Okay, that was pretty sad. Apologies, readers.

Here's a ridiculously happy picutre of me.


Taken last weekend after one delicious glass of Greenville red wine as my husband said something hilarious. And/or squeezed me inappropriately. In front of all my comedy frieds.

I am holding on to my two favorites: Bryan and comedy.

Comedy and Love

I love all sorts of things, but my absolute favorite things in this whole wide silly world are Bryan, improv and chocolate.

Two outta three aint bad. Only 10 more days until I can have chocolate again.

Comedy Show!

My hilarious husband and I are bringing back our show to Tahlequah. This Saturday!

We decided that we wanted to do our duo show at festivals - and we've fallen in love with the Ghostlight Theatre in OKC, and we love to do shows there. It's tough because there isn't a comedy scene in our small town, and we really want the college team to be successful, so we schedule them 8 shows a year (4 a semester, following Bryan's genius ideas from MTS).

BUT we get to do a show. It's great to be able to perform for friends, coworkers and random people we meet on campus. It's fun to show the college kids that we actually are good at what we teach. It's awesome to be known as the comedians in town. And, well, I like not having to travel to do my gig (but actually, I do love going to Philly, Carborro, Orlando, Clemson, Chicago, NYC...); it's only two minutes from our house.

The University President will be there (you know, cuz we're buds) with his wife, and I'm planning to pull him onstage for Puppets. Fun but low pressure - and I know he won't put us into anything too compromising. I'm hoping that it will sell out, and I'm hoping the video footage is great, so we can upload it for my mom, Bryan's mom and all our friends to see.

Life and Jillian Michaels

I called my parents and talked to them for awhile. I missed my mom when she was in Africa with my Dad for an African mission trip. I love calling her on my (five minute) drive home from work, and I like to talk to her while I wash dishes or fold laundry or sort the mail. It makes me feel like I'm home. I haven't seen much of them this year, and I miss them. We'll spend Thanksgiving with them, and that's pretty awesome.

One of my friends announced their pregnancy privately to us, and I talked to my mom about shopping for baby gifts. Immediately, my Dad got excited. I told them hold on. I have to give my sisters a chance to catch up, I say. When really, all I want to do is hold onto my freedom a little bit longer. I want to be able to sleep in as late as I want, go away on improv weekends, randomly take road trips, spend money on silly purchases and cook dinner when I'm hungry. I'm excited for my friends, and I'm actually really looking forward to how I will feel about the baby and parenting after seeing it so close to my heart instead of on the internet or in movies or via facebook.


Jillian Michaels is killing me and Bryan. We woke up at 5:45 this morning to get our workout on since we're having a guest tonight. I thought it might be a bit presumptious to think that he would want to join us in an hour long 200-lunge workout. And now we're resting. Resting until Wednesday's Day 8 workout which I am SURE will be even worse. I shouldn't be looking at the scale, but I've dropped 3.5 pounds. (tiny dance party)

I'm aching for the fall semester to begin. It's only a week away, but it feels like forever. Let's get some students on this campus, and let me get to Vietnam! I want to do my first year of recruiting!

Also, I relived our show in Oklahoma City for the festival when I uploaded the pictures to facebook. Gosh, that was so much fun. We've got a show in Tahlequah in two weeks. Last year, we sold out and people didn't know us. I'm hoping to kill it even harder this year.

Comedy Weekend

My weekend in Oklahoma was lots of things. It was first and foremost hilarious. I performed with the college guys, and it was great. Bryan and I performed Friday night, and we had what was probably our best show yet. I took every single one of Zach Ward's workshops and one of Jill Bernard's. My college guys had thoughtful questions, improv breakthroughs and interesting commentary on the shows.

I'm lucky that my husband and I share such a love for such an odd hobby. Improv wouldn't be as fun without Bryan, and I wouldn't be an improviser without him. And those crazy college guys wouldn't be improvisers without him either. Life is still Oklahoma, but I'm feeling more and more happy with aspects of it. Improv is a very happy part of my life out here.

I had a blast in our show, and this one is definitely hitting the internet. It was so good, I was asked to sign autographs and take pictures with people. Happy happy happy.

Red Letters in Oklahoma City

We love Oklahoma City. We love the comedy scene, and we love the audience there.

This weekend is the Improv Festival Oklahoma, and we've got two shows. Tonight, we'll rock a Harold with a portion of our college team. Friday night at 10:30, Bryan and I will do our classic silly and fucking hilarious duo show.


And at my suggestion, the incredible and the aggressive Zach Ward will be there. The college kids are in all of his and Jill Bernard's workshops including his Harold workshop which changed me as an improviser. Needless to say, I'm pumped!

(And I'm going to have a great time in Oklahoma. What?)

Thoughts on Rape

Everyone is opposed to rape. Not everyone is opposed to all forms of rape. The definition of rape is an act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person.

It seems there is a new bill in the House of Representatives that seeks to redefine rape. The new definition states:

"Those who were raped while drugged or unconscious, or through means of coercion, would not be covered. Survivors of statutory rape would not be covered: "if a minor," one is only covered in case of incest. And if one is a survivor of incest, and not a minor, that's also not covered."

The War Room, Salon.com

The Daily Show takes comedy and one of my favorite comedians Kristen Schaal to make some fantastic points about this issue:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rape Victim Abortion Funding
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook

We're probably all on the same side on this one: protecting women and encouraging the government to make a difference elsewhere. Leave those 191 women alone; they've got it hard enough.

Magical Movery Tour Stop #5

STOP #5: Carrboro, North Carolina
Friends: Jeff Brenman, Zannie Gunn, Molly Buckley, Colette Henderson, Joey Z, PT Scarborough, Tom Keller, John Reitz, Zach Ward, Greg Brainos, Kit Fitzsimons and everybody else!



This is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I love this place! I visited every February when I was in college, and each time had the best time. I moved right after graduating from college to perform and teach for DSI. And I lived there for a year living it up, performing it up and hanging out with some of the funniest people in the world.

I am PUMPED to be visiting on my birthday, for the third year in a row. When I knew we were road tripping, I planned this stop for June 6 first - and planned the rest of the trip around it. THAT's how much I love this place.



I can't wait to catch some shows, sneak into performing in one, grab drinks and laugh it up with my friends. Jeff Brenman, tech genius and improv hilarity, is hosting us again. I'm so excited to see my girl Zannie Gunn! and Molly Buckley! and Colette Henderson (and your new house)! Tom Keller! I'm excited to see all the boys on my old Harold team the 708. I'm excited to talk about Tahlequah Oklahoma with Joey Z who went to NSU! I'm excited to catch up with the man, the legend Zach Ward! I'm excited to eat some Asia Cafe, to smoke by the train tracks with PT, to get a million hugs and to laugh so hard I have to pee.


If you couldn't tell, I am excited!

North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival

This week I'm spending time in my old stomping grounds: The DSi Comedy Theater in Carrboro, North Carolina. Not just for DSI, but for the incredibly awesome improv festival that's the best in the country. It's been rebranded and is now four weeks of comedy under The North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival.

I love this festival, and this will be my fifth year of attendance. It's a great way to reconnect with other improvisers (which later proves useful if you move somewhere like Carrboro or Philadelphia, because you can instantly find your home). It's an awesome way to see what other improv is out there and to get a lot of quality comedy in a row. I've grown up as an improviser at this festival, and I've grown even more as a member of the DSI Comedy Theater company. I would not be as successful with my new group The N Crowd of Philadelphia if I had not trained my heart out with DSI.

Here's some memories in picture form:

DSIF 2008: before our Red Letters performance

DSIF 2007: Hanging out before a Death by Roo Roo Show

2008: the weekend I moved to NC

The summer of 2008: teaching improv to kids

NCCAF 2009: performing in ComedySportz

Here's to another great festival, with friends, my hilarious husband and new people!

N Crowd

Last weekend, Bryan and I had our first show as members of the N Crowd. It was exciting and really fun. We are looking forward to more shows, more fun and more hanging out with our new friends.


Because it came up in my Google Alert, check out what the veteran Jessica Snow says about Bryan Buckley, king of improv:
These new members are great fun. I may actually stop doing games with anyone but Bryan Buckley because he is the best. We also got the similarly-named Alyssa Buckley, the similarly-to-me-named Jessica Ross and the crazy-named Vegas Lancaster. Yep. I wish to give props to all of them. We had great people audition and we could have taken eight of them, but then Bryan and I would have never gotten our stage time.

YAY NEW N CROWDERS!!

It's going to be a great season of comedy.

Blast From the Past

In my efforts to answer friend and fellow blogger Molly Buckley (no relation), I tried to answer her
QUESTION: Do you think that the battle that many women have had to face in comedy is similar to a battle women have had to face in business? Do you think the “male-dominated comedy business” and “male-dominated business-business” are changing? What progress have we made? Women in the United States STILL only make 78 cents to every man’s dollar for the same position and same work. I want to hear your thoughts.

In doing so, I remembered my senior project at Clemson where I explored comedy and the women in it. Part of my project included a short film in which I gave my friends and classmates two simple tasks: name 5 men in comedy and name 5 women in comedy. The results were more surprising than I'd anticipated. Here it is, two years later, and just as relevant: