The Non-Chronological Recap (Part 1)

So much has been happening the past couple weeks since Mo blew all our money at the turtle races that we haven't been able to post new entries, but we'll try and catch things up to date. They won't be in chronological order, but you probably weren't there, so what do you care? The basic topics that we'll be covering in the next few posts include:

- Mo's trip to Denver

- the big Grand (Re-)Opening at the Laugh Out Loud Theater

- Corey's quick trip back to KC

- the impending Vegas trip

and maybe some other random odds and ends. We'll see. I'll try and make up for the time since the last post with long-windedness in these ones.

So I travelled to Kansas City this past weekend initially just to do a show. It became a weekend with 2 shows, and spending Father's Day with the family. The first show was Saturday afternoon. My friends Jay, Jim, Karen and I started a Jewish-themed improv group called Schticky Situation several years ago. We do a handful of shows each year, primarily in KC, but occasionally in Ohio for JCC's, Bar/Bat Mitzvah parties, Jewish singles groups, youth groups, Jewish arts festivals, etc. We do the typical short-form improv games, but we theme the suggestions to accentuate the Jewish content and cater to our particular audiences. While it's not groundbreaking work, the level of talent in the group is very high, and I feel that's what seperates us from other run-of-the-mill short form groups.

This show was for a Bar Mitzvah party and it was held at Screenland, a renovated movie theater in KC that was a very cool venue for a party. We performed in the theater in front of the screen, after the kids had played Rock Band on it. Pretty sweet. The crowd was a nice mix of adults and kids, and we rocked the joint. It was one of the best shows we've ever done, and we've done some good shows. The four of us have known each other for so long, it's nice having that familiarity to be able to jump into a show without having seen each other in months, and have it go so smoothly.

After that show, I went home, took a too-short nap, then grabbed some dinner at an old favorite that I've been craving for a while now. Ever since the Des Moines show a few weeks ago, in fact. Belly full, I jumped on I-435 and headed out to Bonner Springs to play a show at Roving Imp. The group there was so super nice and generous to let me, a perfect stranger, come in and play with them. I played the 9pm show which was a mix of short-form games in the first act, and a long-form piece after intermission. The cast was super cool, and I had a blast playing there with Nifer, Jessica, Julie, John (the owner), and Ryan. It was especially fun to play a long-form set because I haven't had a chance to stretch those muscles in a few months. My friends Trish, Pete and Tim came up to see the show, too. Here's a picture Trish snapped during the first half:

Me and Nifer are even more hilarious than this picture conveys. I don't know how Ryan kept it in. Overall, I thought we had a great show.

Ironically, I think the fact that I had never met these guys helped make the show go so well. We had no shared experience or practice together. We had to rely on hyper-awareness and intense listening, and really go back to improv basics, the only shared knowledge we had. Whatever, it worked because the audience left sore from laughing. Then we all went next door post-show to some diver bar and laughed at the rednecks getting drunk to the terrible cover band outside. All in all, a really fun day.

The next day was Father's Day, so I spent it at my father's house, hanging with my two brothers who are also fathers. We had a huge brunch with food my sisters-in-law made, I got to play with my nieces and nephew, visit my bubbe (grandmother, for the non-yiddish) and move a TV from my brother's house to my parents house. I think setting up the channels on the TV in the bedroom to automatically skip the channels he doesn't want was the best Father's Day present my dad could ask for.

- Corey