Certified Funny!

After 3 long years, I have finished my formal improvisational acting training at Second City by graduating from the Conservatory! I received my red shirt last from the directors of last night's shows (don't the guys who wear the redshirts in the original Star Trek series always get killed on away missions? ) and a congratulatory handshake/hug while being fed pizza and soda the entire time (they had beer there but I'd unfortunately started a vow of soberness 30 years ago). It was a good time!

The show for L&D was off the rusty, tetanus-laced fence! We opened the show and brought it. In this run, I had 3.5 scenes in a running order of about 13 scenes. There were 2 blackouts, 1 full length, self accompanied song, and played a wacky-ass, beat-boxing DJ in the finale rap battle (I didn't come up with the idea of the rap battle but came up with idea of using some crazy, high-energy characters along with the formal host, thus, I claim a part of the scene for myself ) From the get-go, I felt that we were going to have a killer show just because of how well the opening blackout went. The words flowed out of me with very little thought to impede them unlike previous performances. As the show went on, we put even more energy into our scenes and even managed to have a few minor callbacks that were completely unplanned till they happened. It was really awesome to watch and be a part of .

It's interesting how sentimentality creeps in when you're at the end of a long journey with other people . For the most part, most people seemed to be happy to be at the end of the road, and begin looking forward to bigger and better things down the line. There were a few who were bummed that all the fun had come to an end. I personally am happy this journey has come to an end for me (*cue* End of The Road). I became a better person and better improviser as a result of all the interactions, people, staff, and material given to me, and it opened a bunch of new opportunities and experiences my way that I'll be taking advantage of. I definitely look forward to having my Monday and Wednesday nights back, and taking a long break from October to December (creative burnout ).

One of the nicest compliments I received from the ensemble was from this one guy who said, "You know what? You're really a powerful member of the group. the best thing you did on stage was support. You support when you're on stage and you do that really well." I told him I was "just doing my job". He seemed genuinely saddened that he and I never really got the chance to work together on equal footing. I truly was touched by his comment since I've felt slighted in my abilities for such a long time. The respect I was longing for came in at the end .

Currently listening : Monkeys for Nothin’ and the Chimps for Free By Reel Big Fish Release date: 10 July, 2007