Big Butt Theatre Order 9/9/05 complete with typos and mispelings!
Announcements:
Donate money to help people from the hurricane. Danielle passed around a bucket.
The Michael Tabors are playing on 9/10 at 7:00ish at Uptown Bill's (401 S Gilbert)
I think that was it? Post a comment if not!
RULES of Big Butt Theatre:
1) All pieces must be original
2) All pieces must be under five minutes
3) Performers must not harm the space or its occupants
4) You must have a big butt.
Here is the order for Big Butt Theatre on 9/9/05:
1) Business, internet, business! by Timm Sitzmann (Tim gives a presentation with a cacamame business scheme)
2 - performed 3rd) Dos Amigos go to Lunch by Theresa Resimer and Carla Gonzalez (two white girls are having lunch and talking about going to Panchero's, but then one turns out to not be white)
3 - performed 2nd) No Excuse by The King of Modesty (KOM meets a gay man on facebook.com. KOM sneaks him into the house. Perhaps there were mishaps or hyjinks and a lesson learned, but we don't know, because his piece got cut off because it was LONGER than five minutes. Also, KOM did not have a very big butt.)
3.5) My life in a nutshell by Jon Shelton (Oh, no! Somebody put a taco in that guys chalupa!)
4) No Transition by Jacob Zana (beat poetry)
5) Urine Nazi by Evan Schench (a guy is peeing on a wall, but a girl wants her boyfriend (a different guy) to have sex with him against that wall. the peeing guy teaching them something about their relashionship)
6) Me, Myself and The List Goes On and On and On... by Tall Dave (Dave tries to give a monologue, but his other personalities(?) keep taking over)
7) Twenty-Minute Macbeth, Act I by William Shakespeare adapted for the stage by Adam Hahn (Act I of Shakespeare in EXACTLY five minutes...adapted for the stage, because it was unsuitable for stage before this)
8) Zombies by The Michael Tabors (a song about a cat)
9) I Like Skeletons and my Nams is Eli Wilkinson by Patrick Ashcraft (some dude and his friends do not like sex in graveyards, but then the dude's friends do like it, so the dude is confused, but then he does it)
10) Aprille in a Taxi by John Leigh (having just flown home from Chile, Aprille talks to a cabbie while he drives her home from the airport)
11) What's Your Favorite Planet? by Aprille Clarke (Aprille convinces celebrities that EARTH is the best planet!)
12) An Attempt at social Commentary by Eric Landuyt (Eric thinks people should touch more often)
13) From Just Another White Shark: Chrissie Watkins by Stephen Hiro (a song on a giant mandolin about a girl and a shark)
14) Slumbering Beneath Your Father's Angst by Cool Jesse (girls and boys...they can't get along...Jesse tells us about an example while people on stage are acting it out)
14.5) But, Grandpa! (Butt Grandpa!) by Bernice Wells Carlson (a little girl tries to get her grandfather to help her with math...with hilarious results!)
15) It's never who ya think it is by Eli Wilkinson (Amish gangsters make Eli do things...they don't like George W.)
16) Marlene by Alisa Rosenthal (a girl goes to jail and another girl in there want to sex her up and they have a chopped off penis)
17) Trustlessly by Louis Slavan (superheros take 5 minutes to decide to do something and then get the lights shut off on them before they get to do it)
That's it! Comments or reviews? Make a comment to this post!
Donate money to help people from the hurricane. Danielle passed around a bucket.
The Michael Tabors are playing on 9/10 at 7:00ish at Uptown Bill's (401 S Gilbert)
I think that was it? Post a comment if not!
RULES of Big Butt Theatre:
1) All pieces must be original
2) All pieces must be under five minutes
3) Performers must not harm the space or its occupants
4) You must have a big butt.
Here is the order for Big Butt Theatre on 9/9/05:
1) Business, internet, business! by Timm Sitzmann (Tim gives a presentation with a cacamame business scheme)
2 - performed 3rd) Dos Amigos go to Lunch by Theresa Resimer and Carla Gonzalez (two white girls are having lunch and talking about going to Panchero's, but then one turns out to not be white)
3 - performed 2nd) No Excuse by The King of Modesty (KOM meets a gay man on facebook.com. KOM sneaks him into the house. Perhaps there were mishaps or hyjinks and a lesson learned, but we don't know, because his piece got cut off because it was LONGER than five minutes. Also, KOM did not have a very big butt.)
3.5) My life in a nutshell by Jon Shelton (Oh, no! Somebody put a taco in that guys chalupa!)
4) No Transition by Jacob Zana (beat poetry)
5) Urine Nazi by Evan Schench (a guy is peeing on a wall, but a girl wants her boyfriend (a different guy) to have sex with him against that wall. the peeing guy teaching them something about their relashionship)
6) Me, Myself and The List Goes On and On and On... by Tall Dave (Dave tries to give a monologue, but his other personalities(?) keep taking over)
7) Twenty-Minute Macbeth, Act I by William Shakespeare adapted for the stage by Adam Hahn (Act I of Shakespeare in EXACTLY five minutes...adapted for the stage, because it was unsuitable for stage before this)
8) Zombies by The Michael Tabors (a song about a cat)
9) I Like Skeletons and my Nams is Eli Wilkinson by Patrick Ashcraft (some dude and his friends do not like sex in graveyards, but then the dude's friends do like it, so the dude is confused, but then he does it)
10) Aprille in a Taxi by John Leigh (having just flown home from Chile, Aprille talks to a cabbie while he drives her home from the airport)
11) What's Your Favorite Planet? by Aprille Clarke (Aprille convinces celebrities that EARTH is the best planet!)
12) An Attempt at social Commentary by Eric Landuyt (Eric thinks people should touch more often)
13) From Just Another White Shark: Chrissie Watkins by Stephen Hiro (a song on a giant mandolin about a girl and a shark)
14) Slumbering Beneath Your Father's Angst by Cool Jesse (girls and boys...they can't get along...Jesse tells us about an example while people on stage are acting it out)
14.5) But, Grandpa! (Butt Grandpa!) by Bernice Wells Carlson (a little girl tries to get her grandfather to help her with math...with hilarious results!)
15) It's never who ya think it is by Eli Wilkinson (Amish gangsters make Eli do things...they don't like George W.)
16) Marlene by Alisa Rosenthal (a girl goes to jail and another girl in there want to sex her up and they have a chopped off penis)
17) Trustlessly by Louis Slavan (superheros take 5 minutes to decide to do something and then get the lights shut off on them before they get to do it)
That's it! Comments or reviews? Make a comment to this post!
posted by Michael Tabor at 1:00 PM
12 Comments:
Other announcements included:
-Bring a mix CD for the CD exchange
-There is a No Shame website, which if you are reading the blog you already know
-If your piece goes long, the stage will become dim, then dark. These are indications that you should quickly develop the opinion that your piece has concluded and vacate the stage.
And:
-Next week we collect more money for Katrina relief. Admission is the usual $1 + a $1 suggested donation. Your second and all subsequent dollars go to the Red Cross or Second Harvest or by some path to people who need it more than we do.
I have some comments or reviews!
1) Business, internet, business! by Timm Sitzmann
Poor David Schwimmer. He never gets a break. What's your problem with David Schwimmer, anyway, Timm? My favorite part of this piece was the sloppily-drawn pie chart and how cute Tim looked in his suit. HILARIOUS!
2 - performed 3rd) Dos Amigos go to Lunch by Theresa Resimer and Carla Gonzalez
I think for me this piece was the most pleasant surprise of the night. Their volume could have been higher--it seemed kind of quiet--but it was quick and witty and fun. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of social commentary (Panchero's employees assuming that anyone who appears latino will speak Spanish, and misguided gringos' patronizing attempts to speak Spanish) with the absurd (the fact that one of the actors had Noxema smeared on her face and everybody thought she was white).
Thanks for coming, and please keep coming back!
3 - performed 2nd) No Excuse by The King of Modesty
KoM is always a treat. Too bad he got cut off, but I enjoyed what I heard. I was really impressed that he was able to receive 13 successive blowjobs. That line worked because it was presented within the otherwise believable framework of the piece, so I really believed that this character could come 13 times and still have the energy to be annoyed by his blower's commentary. Exciting!
3.5) My life in a nutshell by Jon Shelton
Jon Shelton has some jewels in him, and this was one. He is funniest when he is being sweet or ridiculous. He is least funny when he is actively trying to be outrageous (gratuitous humping, gratuitous profanity). Thanks for being sweet and funny and observant, Jon.
4) No Transition by Jacob Zana (beat poetry)
This didn't work 100%--there were a few cliches and tired images, but there were also some really fresh and interesting choices. Naturally, I cannot give specific examples of either, but I remember thinking a few times "What's interesting about that?", and then some other times, "Now THAT's a cool way of looking at things."
I certainly admire a new writer who tries something that's not part of the typical No Shame experience. That takes balls. It was funny that he unbuttoned his shirt.
5) Urine Nazi by Evan Schench
This Evan Skank guy has promise, I think. Which one is he? The pee guy or the boyfriend? Anyway, I found this piece to be basically enjoyable. It wasn't brilliantly original or anything, but it was cute and fun and snappy. I think with more practice and experience, Evan will come up with some great writing. I enjoyed the unapologetic nature of the pee guy. It contrasted nicely with the highly apologetic nature of the boyfriend and the manipulative nature of the girlfriend (who at least was a good sport about making a cake).
6) Me, Myself and The List Goes On and On and On... by Tall Dave
You know, it's cool to bring a bunch of friends to No Shame and have them be really supportive of you. Anything that brings more and enthusiastic audiences is great, but when they're so supportive and loud even when the order is being read, it sets a really high standard for the piece.
As Mesch and I were discussing, Tall Dave is probably a really funny guy in social situations. This piece, however, was trying to ride on the fact that the author/performer is a funny guy. Without a little more structure or thesis or narrative drive or cohesion, it just ends up being a guy wiggling around on stage.
And it's OK to have a guy wiggling around on stage. Don't get me wrong, I dig that. This piece just needed more polish and crafting.
7) Twenty-Minute Macbeth, Act I by William Shakespeare adapted for the stage by Adam Hahn
Fun! Smart! Zippy! Somebody (Alyssa?) suggested an entire night of No Sha--er, Big Butt Theatre--where all the pieces have to be really fast. That sounds like a great idea. Adam directed his cast to perform the piece at breakneck speed, mostly so it would adhere to the time limit, but it ended up doing great things for the pacing of the piece.
Keep in mind that everything seems slower and lower-energy once it's on a stage. You really have to increase the juice just to even up the slowness and lower-energy factor. Pushing this piece to a higher-energy level really made it dynamic and fun, and the writing was vibrant enough that it didn't get lost. I look forward to future installments, of which I hope there are four.
8) Zombies by The Michael Tabors
Love that band. I wish the accordion had been more audible. Jamal is such a talented musician, and Silver D and Sean have such infectious stage personalities. Their chemistry works well together. This song is a top hit for me.
9) I Like Skeletons and my Name is Eli Wilkinson by Patrick Ashcraft
Was I to understand that having sex in a graveyard means having sex with skeletons? Because skeletons are not very good sex partners. Ghosts might be, I don't know. What?
Am I also to understand that whenever someone acts grossed out by something, they have probably already done it and enjoyed it? Does that translate to the way people responded to Mirri eating gross things last week?
10) Aprille in a Taxi by John Leigh
I have no idea where John is going with these pieces. His stage directions say to play it very straight and don't milk any lines for comedy, which is weird because some of them seem to have some comedy built in, and the audience is primed to laugh. It's all very awkward.
I have this paranoia that John is just jerking me around long-distance.
11) What's Your Favorite Planet? by Aprille Clarke (Aprille convinces celebrities that EARTH is the best planet!)
12) An Attempt at social Commentary by Eric Landuyt (Eric thinks people should touch more often)
I don't know if I genuinely found this offensive or I was just more easily offended because I was offended by his "women want to be raped" piece last week. I'm really not sure. It was cute when Patrick was cuddled up on his lap, though.
Let me say one thing, because I did't write a review last week. I wasn't offended by his piece last week because I'm humorless about jokes at the expense of women. I wasn't offended by Evan's "All women are whores" thing.
I think what was offensive about the "women want to be raped" thing was that it was treated so flippantly. It was 4:58 of "women want to be raped," then two seconds of sum-up dead-pan to the audience, which I assume I was supposed to interpret as "This author is being irreverant and we are not to take the previous 4:58 to heart."
Ok...so why bother with the previous 4:58? If you haven't made your point clear in the first 99% of a piece, tacking on a wink-wink-nudge-nudge at the end is just lazy writing. Jamal also thoughtfully pointed out that there were undoubtedly many women in the audience that night who have been raped. It's pretty shitty to make light of that situation for most of the piece, then expect the audience to accept your little apology at the end. Pleh.
That's what was different about the "all women are whores" thing in Evan's piece. His entire piece was clearly satire; his two characters were debating such points, along with other offensive statements made by the God character. The whole premise was that you should question such broadly painted statements. I got none of that out of Eric's piece.
13) From Just Another White Shark: Chrissie Watkins by Stephen Hiro
Is Hiro really Steve-o's last name? Because that's pretty cool. I preferred last week's song, but I still liked this one, and it was fun snapping and stomping. I especially liked it when we broke it down and snapped and clapped minus instrumentation. It made for a nice communal atmosphere. Steve's voice wasn't in as good of form this week, so maybe this song would work better if I heard it under different circumstances. It's certainly an interesting concept for an album. I look forward to hearing it.
14) Slumbering Beneath Your Father's Angst by Cool Jesse
I couldn't focus on this piece because I was absorbed with fighting with Adam. It felt long, and I couldn't hear the cue lines that were supposed to cut it off. Maybe that's why it went long. I blame myself. I think CJ's tableau pieces create a very different experience for the audience, and it would be cool to see them from that perspective.
14.5) But, Grandpa! (Butt Grandpa!) by Bernice Wells Carlson
Bernice Wells Carlson is a terrible writer. Fortunately, Jamal and Silver D and Sean have a chemistry that cannot be ignored (see the Michael Tabors). It's funny when Silver D does his high voice that doesn't sound like a woman or a child, just a shrieking man.
15) It's never who ya think it is by Eli Wilkinson
The Amish are a good group to take pot-shots at...but what happens when they fight back? This, apparently. I enjoyed the self-referential jonologue.
16) Marlene by Alisa Rosenthal
"All-righters" is the best term of the night. Alisa has an excellent stage presence and great timing. I didn't understand the motivations behind the various power exchanges that took place--who was hitting on whom, who was intimidating whom, and when. It shifted a lot, but I couldn't figure out what caused the shift or why the two characters' relationships changed so frequently and quickly.
That said, it was very fun and witty and enjoyable to watch. Alisa is always magnetic on stage.
17) Trustlessly by Louis Slavan
I think it would have been funnier to invent new stereotypes. Like, instead of the Jew being greedy and the gay guy being super-foppy, they could have had a Native American who was a really good architect or something.
As they surely realize, this piece reflects the importance of REHEARSING AND TIMING YOUR PIECE in advance.
It was a good show, overall. I had fun. I was delighted to see new writers and performers. Please come back!
Here’s my 2 cents and centsability (oh! does this girl ever stop!)
1) Business, internet, business! by Timm Sitzmann
I thought Timm’s scene last week was fantastic, but this one wasn’t quite as engaging. It was a more intimate piece, and I appreciated the fact that it was so different from his last. The Pie Chart definitely was a high point; I was wondering the whole time what it was going to be. Also, a very funny and clever ending. Even though Schwimms was definitely the most talented actor on “Friends”, Timm’s mockery of him is pretty much perfect.
2 - performed 3rd) Dos Amigos go to Lunch by Theresa Resimer and Carla Gonzalez
Great stuff! I hope these two sassy ladies return. “Aye Dios mio” was something I was quoting the rest of the night. I think the piece could have used a little something extra, such as a location (or maybe I just missed it…) to put the piece in context a little more.
3 - performed 2nd) No Excuse by The King of Modesty
KoM is a very talented writer and performer, and I love his ventures into stand-up/storytelling routines. It was unfortunate that this piece got cut off, but tightening it up couldn’t hurt. I liked that the story had such an authentic feel to it, and at times wanted it to be even more outrageous (namely the things the Facebook guy said). But all in all, a very funny piece, very comfortable performance.
3.5) My life in a nutshell by Jon Shelton
Delightful. Jon can have a Jack Handey kind of appeal, and those are the pieces I find I can most latch onto.
4) No Transition by Jacob Zana
Jacob’s first piece! A very brave endeavor. A little lengthy for me, and I tend to have a difficult time making sense out of spoken poetry when the actions in the performance don’t accompany it. But I understand this kind of performance is a whole expression of its own.
5) Urine Nazi by Evan Schench
A funny premise that I felt didn’t deliver. I liked the dynamics of the characters, but could really only focus on the overwhelming amount of obscenities. Perhaps a more delicate use of profanity would make its usage funnier. Less is more.
6) Me, Myself and The List Goes On and On and On... by Tall Dave
Another first! A very bizarre and comfortable performance. I wanted there to be more of a story within this cacophony of characters (what a tool. who uses words like “cacophony”?), but was undeniably impressed with the amount of characters and dedication to each one. But, I want to know why each one is special.
7) Twenty-Minute Macbeth, Act I by William Shakespeare adapted for the stage by Adam Hahn
Very funny! The way Macbeth was meant to be! Could have used a little bit more energy in the performance; I really wanted it through the roof. But this was still a terrific piece.
8) Zombies by The Michael Tabors
Like hugging a rain cloud.
9) I Like Skeletons and my Nams is Eli Wilkinson by Patrick Ashcraft
Fun premise, got through and to the point quickly. Excellent usage of “Pink Moon.”
10) Aprille in a Taxi by John Leigh
Not sure where these are going, but I do love the serial aspect of it. It’s interesting to me that Aprille said John had instructed her to play it straight, because I think I would enjoy it more if it was played more toward comedy… but I’m going to trust John on this one and wait for a resolution.
11) What's Your Favorite Planet? by Aprille Clarke
Absolutely delightful. Aprille is one of my favorite writers, and her pokes at celebrity are so fun. A very clever and funny piece, enthusiastic performance, and juicy tomatoes.
12) An Attempt at social Commentary by Eric Landuyt
I agree with Aprille on Eric’s piece from last week, and this week’s piece I thought had a kind of interesting premise with a very disappointing resolution. Humor based in negative and offensive shock does not appeal to me.
13) From Just Another White Shark: Chrissie Watkins by Stephen Hiro
The audience involvement was great, but I did like last week’s song better. A very sincere performer. I look forward to discover where else he’s going to go.
14) Slumbering Beneath Your Father's Angst by Cool Jesse
I like the ambiance Jesse creates with his pieces. It’s completely different from anything else in an evening. I do have trouble holding on to what he’s trying to say, which I think is the point...? Or maybe it’s because I’m staring ominously into the audience the whole time and can’t see what else is happening on stage.
14.5) But, Grandpa! (Butt Grandpa!) by Bernice Wells Carlson
I was getting really sleepy by this point, and don’t remember much of the story, but rootin’ tootin’ wonderful performances all around.
15) It's never who ya think it is by Eli Wilkinson
Some very good lines, I don’t remember much else. I do remember liking this one more than last week’s though. And oh my god, Jonalogue.
16) Marlene by Alisa Rosenthal
Haha I’m so foul.
17) Trustlessly by Louis Slavan
I agree with everyone on this one. The stereotype idea was not very funny or original. The whole piece was pretty sloppy. And this whole puppy was pretty sleepy. When confronted with an idea like this, try to think of a way to portray it that the audience isn’t expecting, like Aprille’s suggestion.
All in all, a fun show with a great audience. And please people; try to invite some friends with big butts. Who are single. With easy to remember phone numbers. k thx.
In response to the above--
I was the pee-er, not the boyfriend, the boyfriend was played by Travis Holle, who is my roommate/pal/sidekick.
Also, the summary of my piece written on the blog itself has pronoun confusion that implies that the girlfriend was commanding the boyfriend to have sex with [i]the urinating man[/i], as opposed to with her as it was in actual fact. I was amazed both by how much substitution of a single word can distort meaning, and also by how much better the piece would have been if I had thought of that.
1) Business, internet, business! by Timm Sitzmann
"What's your problem with David Schwimmer, anyway, Timm?"
I was once forced to watch a season of friends my frosh year in Burge with a group of girls obsessed with the show and it was a horrible experience. I also paid to see 6 days 7 nights in the theatre. I blame David Schwimmer for both.
2 - performed 3rd) Dos Amigos go to Lunch by Theresa Resimer and Carla Gonzalez
This was one of the few pieces, in my opinion, that was driven almost exclusively by the dialogue. I thought it was well written, besides the absurdness of people not realizing she was hispanic because of the noxema, i believe the character's name was also hispanic (the actual name escapes me now...) I really enjoy those type of jokes that are more built into the situation and background of the piece than when a piece is really a bunch of jokes thrown together. I thought that the performers could have been louder (as aprille said) but also maybe more... "in character". overall, funny. Come back. pleeeeease.
3 - performed 2nd) No Excuse by The King of Modesty
A few run throughs would have helped to edit the piece down, but hey who expected us to enforce time rules anyway? This was well written as it was a really good balance of humorous situation and also making fun of the phacebook phenomenon. Sometimes its hard to not go overboard when there is a specific target for jokes (facebook) but this piece never came close to crossing that line. perfect.
3.5) My life in a nutshell by Jon Shelton
How relieved was I when I realized you weren't eating something gross?
A lot.
How funny was this one liner?
A lot.
good .5s can pack as much funny as a whole piece in 10 seconds, which makes it even funnier.
4) No Transition by Jacob Zana (beat poetry)
Variety is always appreciated. I wasn't sure if this was freestyle or memorized, either way i was impressed. I can't remember individual lines, but I remember thinking the half before the shirt came off was amazing and after that, not so much. Not due to shirtlessness either, but I remember that the rhymes and rhythm seemed more intricate and the ideas behind them seemed more real. the second half seemed more simple with less to say.
But the first minute was wow. come back and do more Mr. Z.
5) Urine Nazi by Evan Schench
I thought this was funny too. My only complaint is that the female character only had very few lines in comparison with the other two. It's not always necessary to have everyone with equal parts, but she seemed to be a central character in the plot who should have had a lot more to say.
6) Me, Myself and The List Goes On and On and On... by Tall Dave
I enjoyed it, but I will say that in the back of my head I had this idea that on Tuesday this happened: "Hey Tall Dave, if you're so crazy you should go to No Shame and act all crazy on stage. I'll give you a dollar." Now, that's not meant to be insulting. I did laugh during this piece, but that is just the feeling I get. My other feeling is that if Tall Dave were to sit down and write a piece it would be hillarious. because he a)is probably a funny guy and b)is comfortable acting crazy which can allow for many hillarious characters that not all actors can pull off.
7) Twenty-Minute Macbeth, Act I by William Shakespeare adapted for the stage by Adam Hahn
Very funny. I like fast pieces, they are a lot easier to get into because from the start you have to pay more attention. I haven't read Macbeth since 7th grade and back then i didnt really like it or pay attention to it so i was afraid i wouldn't get all of the jokes. But Adam did a great job of either phrasing them in ways you could still appreciate it even if you had never read or seen a performance of macbeth I.E the character who just sits on the side with no dialogue and jokes like the trusting three sisters
8) Zombies by The Michael Tabors
The Michael Tabors are very great. I wish I would have remembered about their show on saturday. Can the accordian be turned up? I didnt even realize it was being played.
9) I Like Skeletons and my Name is Eli Wilkinson by Patrick Ashcraft
I dont really have much to say besides it was funny. I guess I would have liked more of an explanation of why everyone was lying about sex in the graveyard. It's funny and a little absurd that they were all disgusted by it and then it turns out have actually done it, but for me it was more confused absurd than hillarious absurd. Like I said, I don't have much to say about it, except rambling without making any sense.
10) Aprille in a Taxi by John Leigh
I'm glad i'm not the only one confused by the seemingly comedic yet overly seriousness of these (two) pieces. My secret hope is at the end of the semester it will be revealed that Gomez is really a big butt. or david schwimmer.
11) What's Your Favorite Planet? by Aprille Clarke (Aprille convinces celebrities that EARTH is the best planet!)
It is always nice to see props on stage. Aprille's pieces are always entertaining, mainly because she can perform with a lot of energy, without seeming overdoing it. Also, her writing is usually well edited without a lot of unnecessary filler or dead space.
12) An Attempt at social Commentary by Eric Landuyt (Eric thinks people should touch more often)
I would have really liked this piece had the lights gone down with patrick cradled in erics arms twirling his hair around his finger. It's always attractive to throw one last joke in their, but for me it ruined the rest of the piece. Not really because it implies that straight men can only be comfortable being close to other straight me, but because it ruins what I found most funny: the idea that there is one man so pro-touching that he goes out on a crusade to prove to the world that there is nothing wrong with being close to someone you dont know.
Being homophobic qualifies him and means that his crusade is a charade. which makes him a normal person and not an outrageous character.
As for the rape piece and offensiveness... I dont have a problem with blatant offensiveness. I prefer that said offensiveness operates within an obviously satirical framework (as aprille said) or it has a message (as satire does, but sometimes if something is revealed at the end the satire isn't obvious or even present)
Also Aprille - if i remember correctly the last few seconds of the rape piece wasn't an apology it was "The moral of the story is that deep down, all women want to be raped" Which... I guess can be considered so absurd that it is obviously satire, but that depends on one's opinion. There are probably some people who, if they saw that piece, would laugh because "women sure are like that." Because the piece relies on the audiences assumption that such a statement is absurd without even indicating that the author feels that way.
13) From Just Another White Shark: Chrissie Watkins by Stephen Hiro
Yes, the stompsnapping was fun. i like pieces (or songs) that involve the audience. I like the choice of... what is it... a mandolin? some form of banjo? Anyway, whatever it is it is interesting to hear instruments that you dont always hear live.
14) Slumbering Beneath Your Father's Angst by Cool Jesse
I can't really tell how the audience reacts to jesse's pieces. I like the diversity of approaches jesse is using to deliver his pieces but I think at some level there has been some trade off with interesting delivery and understanding. and i mean understanding as literally hearing what is being said, last week i dont think anyone heard more than 3 of the (8?) different things being read. if that is intentional, no problem, but it is something to keep in mind.
14.5) But, Grandpa! (Butt Grandpa!) by Bernice Wells Carlson
Contrary to Aprille, I think Bernice Wells Carlson is really coming into her own as a No Shame writer. We all know about the Sophmore curse, so obviously this week wasn't as good as the premiere. I have a feeling next week she'll be spot on.
15) It's never who ya think it is by Eli Wilkinson
Jonologue... oh man. still laughing at that. I liked the placement of the Amish up in the audience. (or light booth? whatever, not on stage.)
16) Marlene by Alisa Rosenthal
I was gone I think for nearly all of Alisa's performances last year, so to come back and someone who is "new to me" but still be so comfortable on stage and also getting into her characters so well is at first surprising and second entertaining. whether intended or not, her and katy's perosnalities played very well off of each other for the characters in this piece - the timid new inmate and the gruff Marlene. woot. this piece isn't the right type of piece to throw in random references/pop culture jokes (the writing was good enough) but me... i would have liked a good lorena bobbit joke.
17) Trustlessly by Louis Slavan
Same complaints as the others. The stereotypes really weren't original and for that matter too funny. I guess I dont like stereotypes that have been the basis for racial hatred "jews are rich and greedy" unless there is at least some satire there. However, the Kaptain Ksomething Klepto as a name was an original and humorous choice. But I will say that writing a superhero piece is probably one of the most difficult things to write. it is nearly impossible to be original, even if you're being satirical. But the other comment is that when you have 5 minutes with what... 8 characters? that gives you about 30 seconds for each person to have jokes about their character/stereotype NOT INCLUDING time for plot development and introductions and actual action. this piece might have worked if it was only 3 superheroes.
Overall another great show. This year seems to be pretty amazing new writers, big crowds, good pieces.
we should have changed the name to Big Butt Theatre a long time ago.
Hey, yeah, I wrote the superhero piece and I'm sorry it was so poorly done. That was my first time writing for no shame, or writing any theater piece of any sort for that matter, and I didn't realize how long it was going and whatnot. It was actually about half as long at one point, and everyone thought we should lengthen it, so we did. But yeah, we weren't trying to be offensive, we had a member of each ethnic group we joked about in the sketch.
Thanks for your criticism, if you have any other advice or whatnot (about anything at all) just drop me a line at louis-sloven@uiowa.edu.
I promise we'll do better next week.
Hey, Louie, it's ok. Don't be sorry. Just learn, try again, learn some more, try again some more, and keep at it. Nobody wants you to fail--overall, No Shame is a pretty forgiving venue, because everybody wants to have fun. Just be tenacious and you'll hit your stride.
>8) Zombies by The Michael Tabors
>The Michael Tabors are very great. I wish I would have remembered about their show on saturday. Can the accordian be turned up? I didnt even realize it was being played.
Sorry about the accordion, folks. I simply wasn't playing it loud enough. It won't happen again. I assure you that you will hear it this week.
11: I love "Fuck you, Michael Douglas," and the clever ending that flies by so fast you don't figure it out until a second after. Good 'un.
12: This one irritated me in that I was enjoying it until the very ending. I get why it was there - "This person is really open and without hangs up OH WAIT he thinks gays are gross." But on the other hand, whether it's bigoted or satirizing the bigoted, "gays are gross" humor is so DONE.
16: Alisa RosENTHRALLS me. I wish I didn't suck so hard at acting, though.
>a song on a giant mandolin
bouzouki!
Great blog you have. I have a site about 5 string banjos. You can check it out at 5 string banjos
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