Stopping to smell the roses

Aunt Judy is in town for a quick visit, so we went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens.

If you haven't gone, get there. Appreciate some damn beauty for once, geez!

Not all the plants were in bloom, but it was still really nice. We especially enjoyed the tour we took on a tram. This is not because it was necessarily a good tour, but because the tour guide was hilarious. Edel or Erdwin or whatever his strange name was did his best, but man it was funny. He was an older fella who clearly enjoyed his job, but man did he talk slow. The tram ride was a bit of an adventure too as he'd get distracted and we all worried that he'd drive right into the pond. Aunt Judy and Anne about lost it when he talked about the cooking demonstrations they have in their fruit and vegetable garden. Apparently the local guest chefs create small plates, or "Topos" as he pronounced Toe-Poes (tapas) for the audience to enjoy.

It was a perfect day to be outside and enjoy the outdoors in a way not typical of the city.

We've decided to take more advantage of having flexible schedules so this summer, our goal is to see more of all the cool stuff Chicago has to offer. Hopefully we'll enjoy more museums, the beach, festivals and definitely go back to the Botanical Garden, soak in some culture. Lord knows we could use it.

10 Pinatas!?!?

Why in the world? What the? How come?

Just you wait. Patience, my friends. Patience.

Cinco de Chili!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone. We had a great one here, thanks. Our good friend Ali had the great idea to get some friends together to celebrate at a new local bar/restaurant. A bunch of us met up at Cinners, a new joint in the neighborhood that is part sexy lounge and part chili parlour. But not your typical chili, though. Tony, the owner is a Cincinnati area native who has brought his hometown's unique chili recipe to Chicago. This stuff is fantastic, y'all! The chili has no beans, initially. You can choose to add them on if you want. It's not terribly spicy hot, either. It has a really amazing blend of subtle spices like cinnamon and cocoa, etc. They serve it over spaghetti noodles, and top it with your choice of beans, cheese, onions or any combination of them.

So we ate, and ate and drank and drank with old friends as well as meeting some new ones. The beers and margaritas were on special for $3 and the speakers were cranking out some classic 80's favorites. After dinner, Tony hung a pinata in the middle of the bar and a few people took turns taking their whacks at it. Candy for dessert!

After a while, the 80's music led to much nostalgia, and stories of concerts and first dates were recounted. We tried to guess what 80's classic would come next, and it became a wager. Everyone, including tables around us that weren't originally part of our group, took a dollar bill and wrote the name of an 80's song on it. We piled the money in the middle of the table and waited with crazy anticipation as a song would end as the first person to have their song entered into the pool would win the entire pile of cash. Some entered multiple times, and more and more would enter. Eventually the pot reached $27, but it felt like hundreds the way the crowd would groan when the next song would play and we all realized we had thought of that tune, but hadn't entered it. As I kept my fingers crossed for Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" and Mo for "Africa" by Toto the game came to an end. Our host herself, Ali correctly picked "Voices Carry" by Til Tuesday, but to be fair, she probably had the most entries.

We had a ton of fun, and the chili was tremendous. We will be back, Cinners. We will be back.

- Corey

Fun weekend

First off and most importantly - Happy birthday Corey!!! Can you believe it? 26 years old!


I'm still sick, but luckily Corey got me to a Doctor within 24 hours of when it first hit. The Doctor put me on Tamiflu and that stuff really works. I've heard from others that had the flu that it could be a lot worse and last a lot longer than it seems to be for me. The Tamiflu speeds it along. I'm not feverish anymore, but still achy and I have a horrible cough.

I should have rested more than I did, but I wanted to spend time with Marcia and Larry (Corey's parents, for those of you that don't know), who were in town.

While they were here, we mostly ate and shopped. I had to miss out on the river boat tour and the first half of the morning on Saturday because I wasn't feeling well enough.

We also saw a movie called, Young at Heart. It's a documentary about a group of senior citizens that go on tour as a choir singing punk rock and roll songs. It's hilarious to hear old people sing, "I want to be Sedated" by The Ramones or Sonic Youth's, "Schizophrenia." It's an Indy film so I don't imagine it'll be out for long. I highly recommend it!


Again, Corey Happy Birthday. I hope this year is the best year ever!

- Mo

Funny, She Doesn't Look Flu-ish

Mo is sick. She's got the flu.

The good news, it came on after the Gilda's Club weekend in Rock Island. That all happened without a hitch, and we had a friggin' blast. The "All Star" ComedySportz match was tremendous. It was me, Sarah, Josh from KC and Patrick from RI vs. Mo, Big G from RI, and Pete and Nikki from KC. Jeff D. reffed and Jeff A. was in the booth. Are you kidding me? Crazy funny. Huge laughter all night long. That was one of my favorite comedy shows in a long time. Every game hit big and it was a true ensemble performance, as every one of us had moments where we shined. Afterwards, Mo and I performed our sketch show, the first time we had ever done a full show. It went really well. Sure there were some areas that we found we wanted to tweak, but overall it went great. It was great to get laughs where we weren't sure it was still funny, and also when we didn't expect it. I'm really proud of our work, and excited to see where it will go as we continue to write more and improve upon what we currently have.

The bad news, Mo is getting sick right before my folks get into town for a visit. Also, it means we have to cancel out of our show this Friday at The Playground, part of Grafitti. She's feeling a little better today than yesterday, but still achy and with a sore throat. Her fever comes and goes, but is mostly gone. We're both cranking ourselves full of Tamiflu and Vitamin C, but I still feel like I'm a ticking time bomb, with my flu symptoms ready to explode any moment. Let's hope they don't.

- Corey

Upcoming Shows

"The Union," our sketch comedy show has a couple of upcoming shows.

* Friday, April 18th, 8pm - Cornservatory.

We are opening for Atilla's Imagination Station a great independent improv team that is making a name for themselves in Chicago.

* Saturday, April 19th, 10pm - ComedySportz Quad Cities presents Gilda's Weekend of Laughter.

Much like Broadway, we are opening our full show on the road. Check us out if you're in Rock Island this weekend.

* Friday, April 25th, 10pm - Playground, part of 'GRAFITTI Presents.'

This is another chance for us to work on new material.

If you can't make it to any of these, no worries. It's all leading to a big showcase and hopefully a run at iO. We'll let you know about that as soon as we know, we'll need all the support we can get.

The Madrittmasters are going to Spain!

Normally tax time is burdensome for us. Typically, because of my self employment, we end up owing money. Knowing this, we've been setting aside money all year long. We expected to owe quite a bit. We were delighted when we found out that not only do we not owe as much as we thought, we actually get a little back. Our tax guy is a genius!

So, to celebrate our hard work, the Madrittmasters are going to Spain! I'd been researching it for a while, but didn't know if it could actually happen.

I'm so excited that I can hardly sit still. We're even going to spend a couple days in Lisbon, Portugal. This September we'll fly to Lisbon for 2 days, then Madrid for 3 days where I'll spend my birthday. Next we'll take a 2 1/2 hour train ride to Seville, where Corey will of course get a haircut. Additionally, it's a sister city to Kansas City, and in fact the Plaza is modeled after it. Since we were married on the Plaza, it makes it particularly special to be able to have a late anniversary celebration in Seville. After two days there, we'll take a short train ride to Granada for two days. Finally we'll spend 12 hours overnight on a train up to Barcelona where we'll spend the last 3 days of our vacation before heading back home.

This is an absolute dream come true for me! Looks like we'll be there during some cool festivals and every time we research online we find more amazing things happening there. It makes all our extra hard work worth it.

Next up... learn Spanish.

Adios!

- Monique

Family Portrait

Sears had a sale, so we took the family to capture a moment in time. A moment before the kids are all grown up and moved away. A moment while our foreign exchange student Bing Bong was still with us. A moment captured forever, hanging over the mantleplace in our den. We'll always be able to admire this moment as we sit here as a family, playing our brand new Atari game system and watching this new television programming on a Music Television channel.

- The Wilkerson Family

The Shot

Wow. Simply wow. And in the post game press conference the guy couldn't be more humble. He makes possibly the biggest shot in Kansas basketball history, and he's all "aw shucks" about the attention. Amazing.

Down 9 points with 2:12 seconds to go. How many of you thought it was over? I'll admit there were thoughts in my head that we had it, but gave the game away in the final minute. When Derrick Rose chucked up that shot-clock beating prayer that banked in I thought "if those kinds of shots are going to fall for them, maybe it just isn't meant to be."

But we had plenty of those "Team of Destiny" moments ourselves. Especially Mario's shot, seen above. Some interesting parallels to the 1988 KU National Championship team:

1988 KU plays 1st and 2nd round in Nebraska (Lincoln). 2008 KU plays 1st and 2nd round in Nebraska (Omaha).
1988 KU plays Sweet 16 and Regional Finals in Detroit. 2008 KU plays Sweet 16 and Regional Finals in Detroit.
1988 KU is led by a relunctant star, Danny Manning who wears jersey #25. 2008 KU is led by a reluctant star, Brandon Rush who wears jersey #25.
1988 Championship Game hero is Danny Manning, who's father is on the bench as a KU assistant. 2008 Championship Game hero is Mario Chalmer, who's father is on the bench as a KU assistant (Dir. of Basketball Operations).
1988 Finals referees included Ed Hightower. 2008 Finals ref crew includes Ed Hightower.

Cool, huh? All I know is, I left the bathroom light on last night when I left the house to go watch the game. Additionally, my cousin Anne is the smartest person I know. When asked if she wanted a KU Final Four t-shirt, she answered "No thanks. I'm waiting for the National Championship t-shirt." Awesome.

- Corey

CHAMPS!

84-66

Yeah, remember that worry? Uh, nevermind.

See you on Monday for the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!

Current Mood: Like you have to ask.

- Corey

Halftime Update

OK, so I'm not sure what to say exactly. Halftime score, 44-27, KU leads. Watching the first 15 minutes of the first half, I was all geared up to say this was the greatest performance this team has displayed all season. After the last 5 however, they went from phenomenal to fair. Still, the team gets a first half grade of an A. It would have been an A+ if not for that last five minutes.

But we're up 17! On North Carolina! In the Final Four! We're doing pretty much anything we want to out there. After the sloppiness of the last few minutes, the Jayhawks need to get back to what got them the big lead in the first place: going back inside, getting Arthur and Jackson the ball on the blocks.

Strangely, even though we have a 17 point lead, I'm not completely comfortable. Maybe it's because we were up 28 until Carolina went on a big run late. In other words, if we're not careful, this big lead will evaporate in a hurry. We have to keep the pressure on and keep up the incredible defense.

Halftime mood: Hyperly optimistic, with just a touch of worry in the way back of my mind.

See you after the game.

- Corey

The Final Four

It's about an hour before tip-off and it's a mix of excitement, nervousness and anticipation at my house. My cousin Anne (fellow KU alum) is coming over to watch the game with me and Mo. We're feeling a little too uneasy to go out and watch this game in public. Also, we watched the Davidson game together here, so why mess with karma? I'm thinking that if KU can hit their outside shots, they'll be fine. When the Jayhawks are on, they're the best team in the country. When they make dumb turnovers and can't hit threes, they're very beatable (see Oklahoma State). We shall see. Regardless, it's been a terrific season, and it's great for head coach Bill Self to finally get that monkey off his back and make a Final Four. I don't think it'll be his last, I just hope that future ones are as the Kansas coach, also.

That said, after the football team's amazing year, culminating with that incredible Orange Bowl win, this would be impressive finish for KU athletics in general. I'm just sayin'.

All in all, though, pre-game feeling: a wreck. I may be back with a halftime update, or at least a post-game wrap up. I need another beer right now.

- Corey

You know you've MADE IT when...

You know you've made it as an actor when you get paid to dress up as good and bad cholesterol.

Ahh, getting paid to distribute flyers while doing bits all for a drug company at 5:30am in the cold rain on opening day at Wrigley Field.

It would've been miserable if it weren't for the fact that it paid well. Look how happy Corey is!

Success!

To answer your question.... the show was GREAT!!!

Again, we couldn't be happier. We did 3 scenes from our last show. Two of them were scenes that went well the first time, but didn't hit quite as hard as we knew they could. So, we edited them a bit, tightened things up and they killed. Our 5 new sketches got huge laughs too. Again, we plan to edit and pare down a couple of our scenes to make them even better for the next show.

This has been such a fun process. Having a show like Grafitti where you can try out material is so helpful. We've got some more work to do to tie all our scenes together, but I'm confident that we're going to blow it out of the water. It helps that we have such a great director. Kate Duffy is awesome. Besides being hilarious and having a great eye for knowing how to make the scenes better, she has a way that really helps us feel confident, and of course that can only help the show. Next up is the Gilda's Club show on April 19th. Get ready Rock Island.

We'll also likely do another Grafitti show at the end of April and have been told that we can do a one off at iO in a month or so. That's the one that'll help get us our run. We don't have an exact date yet, but we'll definitely post it here as soon as we know. Be prepared to show up to that one in numbers. We'll be calling in any and all favors to pack the house.

Thanks again for all the support!

At the end of the day

Come see us perform some more of our sketches. This show will be about a 20 minutes set. We're gearing up towards a run of the full show we've been writing.

This Friday at 10pm at The Playground.

DrinkStrong

The staged reading of my Family Guy spec script, "DrinkStrong" was held last night at the iO Theater.

I worked hard on the script and hope to eventually send it to an agent to get representation. The point of the reading was to get honest feedback from a real audience. I even had questionnaires for them to fill out so I could get blunt critique. From there I'll take the surveys home and continue to edit it, before sending it out.

I couldn't have been happier. The turn out was great, as was the response. The actors did a great job of bringing the characters to life. After just briefly looking over the questionnaires it looks like I only have minor tweaks to make. Everyone was super positive and thought I captured the feel and the characters of the show accurately. Plus I got a ton of laughs, which is really exciting. Now I just need to improve or edit a few of the jokes, maybe make some changes to one of the story lines. The biggest struggle with this is that it's now all a matter of opinion. One person may love a joke while another isn't so thrilled with it. I'll have to figure out if there are any common denominators and otherwise just trust my gut instincts. Thank goodness Corey's such a wonderful supporter/writer/editor to help me out.

I'm really enjoying writing in general. It's so fulfilling to work hard on written material and make people laugh. After I finish this script I'm going to write another one along with continuing to build my portfolio with sampels of my work so that an agent has plenty to read if he's interested.

Next up...
Corey and Monique: at the end of the day (A sketch comedy show)
March 28th, The Playground Theater - Graffiti 10pm
Stay tuned for more details.

- Mo

Colorado: The Customer Service State

Sorry for the sporadic posting. Real busy past couple of days. Mo and I were booked on a show in Pueblo, Colorado on Thursday so we flew out a day early to see our good friends the Schwartz's in Denver on Wednesday first. We got to hang out with them and their kids all day and then Mo had a gift certificate for a free night at a Marriott that we used that night. We then met up with our friends Chris and Lillie back at the Denver airport the next day and drove 2 hours to Pueblo to perform, stayed the night in Pueblo, drove back to Denver on Friday, flew home to Chicago, drove straight to the theater where Mo performed two more shows and I bartended them. Whew.

Now, I know Missouri is the "Show-Me State" and Texas is the "Lone Star State", but I never knew that Colorado was apparently the "Customer Service State". Everywhere we went, it was like a seminar in how to give excellent service. Maybe because we've had so many issues with our condo developer and association, as well as little issues here and there like when we had to get new tires, etc. but I guess we had a little "good service karma"built up and it all got cashed in this week.

It started out at O'Hare Airport and United Airlines. In a ridiculous twist of fate, things went smooth sailing there, and the most shocking part, United landed us in Denver AHEAD of schedule.

Then in Denver, it continued. We went to dinner at Chili's with Brian and Michelle, their kids Macey and Avery (ages 3 and 5), Michelle's cousin Tovah and her boyfriend Dan (KU grads!). Dinner with larger groups can be iffy. Add in two little kids, it gets real dicey. The waiter at Chili's was awesome! He was always there when we needed him, but didn't hover. Wrote down and remembered everything, and just nailed it from start to finish. Everytime he would do something else above and beyond, Brian and I would look at each other and say "aw man, we really gotta tip this guy well now." And that just kept happening again and again. So we did, but it was also definitely worth it.

The great service continued that night when Mo and I checked into our hotel. The front desk girl named, I kid you not - Sugar - was so nice and sweet (I know) and even gave us a complimentary mini-bottle of wine upon arrival. Mo asked if the hotel had a bar, and Sugar told us they didn't, but said she could probably hook us up with a bottle of wine. Mo, jaded by all our customer service issues in the recent past, asked how much that was going to run us. Sugar repeated that she could give us a bottle of wine. Mo said again, "and that will cost how much?". Sugar just stood there and looked at Mo. Then it clicked. Ahh, she would be able to GIVE us a bottle of wine. Sorry, Sugar. We've just been through a bunch of crap lately. The wine was a nice touch.

We headed back to the airport the next day, and our shuttle arrived within 10 minutes of the scheduled time - pretty remarkable for them. The car rental went smoothly. The folks at the college in Pueblo where we performed were so gracious and hospitable. When we went out for a drink after the show, we found a little dive called The Downtown Bar, and the bartender was this awesome dude name Mark who happened to have previously lived in Chicago. Not to mention New York as well as growing up in Switzerland. The drinks were perfect, Mark was great, and the four of us had a blast sitting there, talking and playing cards, as we were the only people in the joint. Hell, even the Colorado weather was nearly perfect as it was sunny and in the mid to high 50's during the day. Such a welcome relief from the unending cold of Chicago.

We're back in Chicago now, things are still crazy busy as friends are coming into town (Dan W. today, Billy and Ali B. later this week), Mo is putting finishing touches on a spec script that will have a public reading on Thursday, we're still working on our sketch show which will be performed at the end of March, we're both working a ton at the CCC theater, and we really need to get our taxes ready to go as there's only a month left to do that. Actually, what the hell am I doing sitting here typing this?

- Corey

I did it!

I did it! I did it!
I ate an entire portion of tuna steak!

In my quest to eat new (and healthy) foods, I've been working on acquiring the tastes of different foods. I'm so sick of the same meals. We even had Boca burgers for lunch, just to change things up.

It took me a while, but I finally started liking shrimp. I still hadn't started liking fish...until tonight. In the past, I've offered to buy fish for Corey to make hoping I'd eventually acquire the taste. Usually I'd eat about half of it and then push my plate away. Mostly it's a texture thing, I catch myself wishing I were eating a steak or chicken.

Well today is a new day folks! Corey made tuna steak, seared on the outside but medium-rare on the inside. It was delicious! I ate the entire thing. Maybe it's a small thing, but I'm very proud of myself and happy to expand my repertoire.

Next up sushi. Stay tuned....

- Mo

Day One

So, what's new with you? I've been good, thanks. Last night I did a little improv show at The Playground with my friends Ryan and Emily. We played as the team from KU in a "March Madness" tournament they're having there. We did some cool scenes, but ultimately lost to a really funny group from William and Mary. Oh well, it was really fun playing with those guys, so in a way we're all winners. And if you think about it, the winners were the audience. And also improv. But really The College of William and Mary.

Oh yeah, also my life of self-employment has begun in earnest today. I actually got up before noon, so I failed on that goal, but otherwise it's been great. Mo and I went to the gym, and I ran 30 minutes on the treadmill, lifted a few weights. I'm gradually working my weight down and I'm feeling good. I've had to move in a notch on my belt, so that's a good feeling.

After the gym and a little lunch, I've been working on lines for a custom corporate show that I'm doing tomorrow for a Salvation Army group, booked through Chicago Comedy Company. Then I went through my closet picking out potential clothes for the new headshots I'm getting taken on Wednesday. I have a few other items I need, though, so Mo and I are going to do a little shopping this afternoon. Finally, tonight is the last week of the Level 102 improv class I'm teaching at CCC.

So, all in all, a productive day. This week is going to be fairly busy, too. The whole month of March looks good, actually. Ask me again come April or May, though.

- Corey