Here we go again...

So like we mentioned in the last post, Monique and I are heading back out to sea. As I type this, we leave in the morning to fly to Miami where we'll board the NCL Pearl and sail off to the Caribbean.

We've spent the past few weeks rehearsing with the new cast here in Chicago and it's been super fun times. We've crammed in as many visits, dinners, coffees, drinks, etc. with as many friends as we possibly could. I know we couldn't see everyone for as long as we'd like, but I think we did pretty well. A huge thank you goes out to all the friends who made special effort to spend time with us, and there were lots of you. We're really grateful for all the terrific friends that we'll miss while we're gone. We saw a few shows, performed in a few also, which helped make this break between ships really fly by.

We're really looking forward to this next adventure, and you can follow along if you'd like as we post more stories, pictures, videos and more over at The Union's website.

- Corey

We're back....for now

Well that four and a half months just flew by, didn't it?

We're back from our first ever Second City boat adventure, back on land, back in Chicago...but just for a few weeks. Our time on the NCL Star ended on Sept. 18 and we'll be boarding the NCL Pearl on Oct. 17. It's not a ton of time in between runs, but we're looking forward to this next contract for several reasons:

• Finally a summer! - The Star went to Alaska from May to September. We missed out on Chicago's best season. We'll be on the Pearl sailing the Caribbean from October to February.
• Friends in the cast - Our friends Kevin and Carissa will be in the cast with us! We'll miss our Star cast mates, but it's nice knowing we have good friends there going in.
  
• Visitors - The Caribbean during the winter is obviously an attractive enticement. We already know we'll have visitors coming on the ship with us. Friends Jay and Kim, Mo's sister Briette and boyfriend Joe have all already booked, and several other friends are seriously looking into it.
  

The only real downside to this next contract is missing out on all the holidays. We'll be on the ship for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, New Year's Eve, The Super Bowl and Valentine's Day.

But this is all in the future. Let me catch you up on the interim. As I mentioned, the Star contract ended on September 18. We were up early, like 6am, docked in Seattle, went through the various paperwork and processes to debark a ship. Made our way to the airport and flew to....Omaha. Why? Well, that wasn't the plan. We were flying to Kansas City to surprise friends and family and drop in on the KC Improv Festival. Well, a crazy thunderstorm in KC caused our plane to re-route to Omaha and me to nearly have a meltdown. Thankfully, the storm passed, we simply had a quick refueling session and were back on our way to KC with minimal delay.

So obviously we landed in KC later than we had hoped, but still had time to make it to the festival before my group, Der Monkenpickle, was scheduled to perform, thankfully we were going up last. We rushed to Crown Center, dropped our stuff off in the hotel room, quickly cleaned up and raced over to the theater. The show started at 8pm, and we walked in around 8:40. The second of four groups was on stage, and I was able to sneak backstage and surprise Ed, Jason and Jeremy who were under the impression I was missing this year's festival. It was so much fun to see their shocked faces, and we rode the momentum of the energy to a super fun and playful show. I love improvising with those guys, even if it's just once a year. We've known each other so long that it's just easy, you know? Plus, they're three of the most talented performers I've ever met.

The after-party was super fun, but kind of a blur. I was rolling entirely on adrenaline and caffeine. I was still getting my land legs, and would feel myself slowing listing to the left as I was standing around talking to people, it was very strange. It was really great to see so many old KC improv friends, though, plus some Chicago pals were there performing at the festival, not to mention getting to meet Jason's new girlfriend. Overall, just a wonderful night. Huge thanks go to Jen Roser (and her husband - patiently waiting for us at the airport) for organizing and keeping secret our surprise visit.

We spent the next four days hanging with friends and family, eating at all the old favorites (Minsky's, Yello Sub, Jack's Stack BBQ, etc.) and enjoying the first week off of a ship, getting to be outside at night, driving a car and showering in a space bigger than a broom closet. Now we're back in Chicago, spending this next three weeks seeing friends and enjoying home-cooked meals, swapping out wardrobe from the storage unit, starting rehearsals for the new ship show and gearing up to head out again for another four months. We got to perform with our friend Susan in her show "Messing With A Friend" at The Annoyance Theater, which is always a blast, and we'll be doing a night of shows up at Laugh Out Loud Theater. Of course we're open to sitting in with other shows as well, if anyone were to ask (hint, hint!).

OK, you're now caught up. So, who in Chicago wants to hang out?

- Corey

We're On A Boat, Ya'll

The adventure has begun. We are one week into this four month tour, and as a reminder, we'll be blogging on The Union's website. You can access it by clicking HERE.

- Corey and Monique

Less than a week to go!

We started rehearsal this week and so far it's been great! We're having a blast and enjoying just being actors, not actors who also work on the side doing a million other things. Our director is great and the cast is super talented and a lot of fun. Most of us our new to Second City and the ship, so we're all go-ho for anything!

Can't wait for the adventure to continue!

Where did the time go?

Holy crap, it's been a month since we updated this thing! Sorry about that. To be fair, it's been a pretty ridiculous month. As I write this, laundry is in the wash from our trip to Mexico for Josh and Kim's wedding, and once it's out we start packing again for this upcoming Alaskan adventure.

There have been several trips to the storage unit, but most of our stuff is safely stored away. We'll put the last of it in there in a few days, but this week is it. Today and tomorrow are it for the relax and recuperate days, because Monday begins rehearsal week at Second City, concluding on Friday. Then Saturday morning, early morning, we board a flight to Seattle, step on to our new floating home and sail away for four months.

This past week was spent at the amazing El Dorado Royale resort in Mexico. It's located just outside Cancun, and I can't even tell you how incredible it was there. It's an all-inclusive resort, so that means every meal, every drink, every snack, room service, mini bar, bottled water, etc was already paid for. We took a day trip with the group to Chichen Itza and saw some Mayan ruins and had our minds blown. The Mayans were so much smarter than us, it's almost incomprehensible. Also part of that trip included a dip in a cenote, this natural sinkhole with fresh water where people go and swim. It was beautiful and refreshing, and looked like this.

The rest of the trip was relaxing and wonderful. Best of all was the wedding, right on the beach, just before sundown, with a light breeze blowing...it couldn't have been nicer. We took a ton of pictures which we'll post just as soon as possible, but there are more pressing things to attend to first. In fact, the washing machine just buzzed. Time to switch the laundry.

- Corey

New writing gig

Those of you that follow me on Twitter and Facebook know that I'm one of the new contributors for the Schadenfreude website. The critically acclaimed troupe is one of Chicago's longest running sketch groups and very well respected, so I'm super excited that I get to be associated with them. I'll continue to post links to my work on FB and Twitter, but you can also check out all of my pieces by going to my author's page. Make sure to look around the rest of the site too while you're at it.

So far a lot of my stuff has involved Photoshop, which I'm still learning how to use. Hopefully I'll get faster on it and can post stuff more often. I'm gonna have a lot of down time on that ship!

- Monique

A little cheesy, but fun list

Items on Lionel Richie's Shopping List

A Ballerina Grill

One tube of ‘Stuck on Glue’

One pair of Endless Gloves

An all night Bong

A bottle of Say you, Sesame oil

Some Penny Loafers

Monique Madrid Talent Knowledge

Another rejected List

Another rejected McSweeney's submission. I think they recently had something like this...


Hairstyling Terms That Make You Think of Sex

Shag
Finger Wave
Part
Bun
Blowout


- Mo

The Union gets a new website

Hey everybody -

Just a quick update. The Union has a new website. Please update your bookmarks and web browsers. Point your stuff over here:

The Union

Go there to find out all things regarding The Union. There's links to photos, videos, a blog, other info, etc.

While we're talking about The Union, you might note that our date with Messing With A Friend has been updated to March 25th at 10:30pm at The Annoyance Theater. We'll also be performing in April as the opener for the improv supergroup The Reckoning at iO. See the Upcoming Shows area in the right column for details!

- Corey and Mo

They can't all make it into McSweeney's

Earlier this year I achieved one of my goals of being published on McSweeney's Lists with "Other Halls and Oates" I'm continuing to write in hopes of getting more on 'Lists.'

Well, not everything is going to make it, so I thought I'd share my most recent submission which was ironically rejected. Oh well, these are still fun to write!
- Monique

Sitcom Titles Rejected Because They Were A Little Too Real

No FRIENDS

How I met your mother and then lost her to breast cancer

The Big Bong Theory

The Braiding Bunch

Bad Karma & Greg

I Love Loose Tea

Charles Manson in Charge

Charles Barkley in Charge

Boy meets World, World unimpressed

Different Strokes that grandma had

Buried with Children

The Fraud Couple

The Flawed Couple

Who’s Line is it at the DMV?

Not ready for a Family Guy

Sabrina, the Teenage Bitch

Busy January!

Pete was asking for a SketchFest update, plus it's been a while since the last post, so here you go.

SketchFest update: We had a blast at SketchFest! Our show went real well, and was very well received by the audience. I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers the house, too, what with it being a Sunday afternoon on the final day of the festival. Thank you very much to everyone who came out to see us. Additionally, being a part of this festival was a major goal for us, and its nice to be able to check that off our imaginary list. The best part of being accepted into this Fest is the opportunity to see the other shows (for free!). We were lucky enough to catch some great shows by groups like The Tim and Micah Project, Last Call Cleveland, Team Submarine, Best Church of God, Off Off Broadzway...just to name a few. Very fun, and very inspiring stuff.

In addition to that, Mo and I have been having a real busy January. Since we got back from our Vegas trip, there have been lots of shows, a trip back to KC for cousin Margo's Bat Mitzvah, a few commercial auditions, and coming up a couple of real fun performances from The Union at the end of the month. One will be as guests on our friends Jamie and Becky's show "Montgomery and Cooke", the other will be doing some improv with our friend and improv legend Susan on her show "Messing With A Friend"*.

- Corey


* Date of "Messing With A Friend" show subject to change. Susan broke her ankle. This show is subject to being postponed. We'll let you know. Stupid ice.

The Union Goes To Vegas

Come see The Union at Chicago SketchFest on Sunday, January 17th at 2:30pm. The show is at the Theater Building,1225 W. Belmont. Call 773.327.5252 for tickets. For more info, click here.