A Year in Pictures of Working

Two improv shows tonight. Whirled News at 8. Otis at 10:30.

After the Whirled News show, Chin (Improv Director/Teacher) gave the entire cast journals with the Whirled News Tonight promotional poster as the cover, for Christmas.

Chin: We can all write in them for a year and then next year exchange and read them!

Part of the appeal of improv is the "you had to be there" quality of it. The fact that it is there for one moment and then lost forever. Still, there's a natural impulse to want to hold on to a show, to try to explain some funny moment. But you can't really recreate what makes a good improv show good and, on the flip side, you can make a show seem better than it was with a list of funny things people said (Similarly, I could tell you, honestly, that I've performed in showcase auditions for Saturday Night Live, among other things, and it would sound more impressive than it really is).

Still, some funny things people said:

* During the second act of Whirled News Tonight, we improvise scenes inspired by true stories from our lives. It was a very Christmas-themed set (our suggestion was "egg nog"). I told this story:

"My family always celebrates Christmas at night. We go out to dinner or see a movie. My father used to take us out looking at Christmas lights, while my mother would go home and quickly put all the presents under the tree. When we got back, my mother would say something like, 'Look what happened! I went to the bathroom, and when I came out, I saw that Santa Claus had been here?' Eventually, we all knew that there was no Santa Claus, except for my youngest sister, Allie. And even she started asking questions like, 'Have you ever noticed Santa always comes while Mom is in the bathroom?' To which I answered, 'Well, maybe that's part of his Christmas magic.' That year I stayed home with my mother while everyone else went out looking at Christmas lights. I hid in the garage, with my finger on the switch for the outside Christmas lights. When I heard the car pulling up the driveway I flipped the switch and all the lights outside seemed to magically turn on. And Allie got to believe in Santa for one more year."

* After the Otis show, we were all out behind the theater, getting notes from our director, when a homeless person walked up and joined our circle.

Homeless Guy: Hey. Hey. I've got an idea for a great sketch. I'll give it to you, and you can go in there and the audience will go crazy for it. It's the idea that you can't always believe what you see. You can't. You guys could make something out of that, right?
Shotts: I'm sorry. We're kind of busy right now.

He went away but came back a few minutes later.

Homeless Guy: Hey. Excuse me. I've got a question. Do any of you know how I can get in touch with a famous Hollywood agent?

# posted by Arnie : 11:37 PM