Iowa City Order 2-24
1) "It's Fun to Trick When the Tricks are Treats" by Katy Baggs (a dude puts a lady's underwear in the shower head; a lady puts candy in a dude's giggles)
2) "Halftime" by Flabbergasted Jakers (Jakers blows our minds with his observations on the length of halftime)
3) "E" by Brian Lenth (Lumo is doing a crossword puzzle. TBone tells him there are 61 "E"s in the word "discreet." Jakers plays the trombone wa-waaaaa
4) "Fuck The Fourth Wall" by Nick May (at great, confusing length Nick talks about his piece from last week)
5) "High Tea With Bill Murray" by Alyssa Bowman (a fellow lives with his mom, Bill Murray, and two dinosaurs)
6) "Lick Bush And Eat Rice" by Dick Roberts (song parodies)
7) "A Farewell Letter" by Evan Schenck (a guy is leaving and wrote a letter about how he hates you and always really did)
8) "Mad Club" by Eli Wilkinson (Mad Club's integrity is compromised when a lady joins the club and people are happy about it.)
9) "I'm A Noodle Guy" by Michael Tabor (Bobby Evers performs a monologue about how there are so many different types of noodles)
10) "I Think This Might Be The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done" by Zwephany Dell (Ashcraft performs a monologue about a school dance. Discusses the cliques present)
11) "I Will Date You On The Internet: 5 Scenes From Week 2" by Adam Hahn (Adam and some dudes discuss fear, internet dating, women's self image, bingo)
12) "Aprille's Humiliating No Shame Archives, 2000" by Aprille Clarke (Aprille re-performs an old piece about the Christian Children's relief fund. Hahn interrupts frequently to point out the bad parts)
13) "Impolite" by Bobby Evers (people won't leave their table at the Java House)
14) "Such A Disappointment" by Sadie Smith (Spats, meets herself as a young girl. Young Sadie is disappointed in how she turned out. Spats seems to feel older and wiser than Young Sadie)
15) "What The Smooshy Face Is Wrong With You" by Sean Shatto (The Shat says some weird things about his weird ideas.)
16) "Corduroy sunburn, Part Intermission (Part 2) : Because I Don't Like The Way Y'all'ree Looking' at Me 'And Now Heres's Something We Hope You'll Really Like...'" by Cool Jesse and if you laugh like you're on the inside, he'll cut you like a minority! (Batman wants an abortion and also pokes a dead cat with a dead stick)
posted by Michael Tabor at 12:36 PM
20 Comments:
What a great show! I'll post a full review on Monday.
The last word in my piece was TREATS!! Not TREATY! This isn't...VERSAILLES, or COLONIAL TIMES, or something. Also, wonderful show last night! People doing other people's pieces went mostly unnoticed by me until I read this order. The pieces where this happened were good. Glad Sadie's back, glad Aprille's back, and Alyssa wrote a piece this week! So let's give it up fo' da ladies.
Oh man, Dinosaur Planet is on Discovery and I'm entranced. Buck the maiasaura has an infected bite wound but he has to evade the daspletosaurus!
It feels good to see a sudden upswing in quality, and to be part of it. Longer show, too. With more people! A bigger audience makes a better environment for bringing on the funny, also the pieces (generally) were better. Man. Good time.
P.S. - I hope someone noticed that in my piece I employed the "underpants is funnier than underwear" dictum.
Dictum? I don't even know 'um!
I should stop posting if I'm not even going to give a full review. Pew, brain is mush. I might have something smarter to say later.
patrick again...
i was so pleased with last night. i'll also post a full review later. i was proud to be at no shame again. i thought everyone was tremendous! we should say how much we suck more often. then we'll write better stuff.
It's SUNDAY
1) "It's Fun to Trick When the Tricks are Treats" by Katy Baggs (a dude puts a lady's underwear in the shower head; a lady puts candy in a dude's giggles)
I corrected the title, Baggy. Oh, man. Do you ever write an "s" and it turns out looking like a "y"? I do! Sometimes my handwriting is very sloppy and tonight was one of those nights. I should tighten that up for next week.
2) "Halftime" by Flabbergasted Jakers (Jakers blows our minds with his observations on the length of halftime)
So, Jake is over at the house watching the basketball game with me and Alyssa and Jamal and he says during halftime, "Does this halftime seem unusually long to anyone?" I had hand written this piece into my notebook by the end of the game. Jake threw in a couple lines and Jamal threw in a couple, but I was the main author. What a great piece. Is it true that there are about half a dozen other Jake pieces cooking in the Tabor oven? Yes, it is.
3) "E" by Brian Lenth (Lumo is doing a crossword puzzle. TBone tells him there are 61 "E"s in the word "discreet." Jakers plays the trombone wa-waaaaa
This was very fun to be in and a great joke. I loved the idea when Brian told me about it (and I still do.) I think it went off without a hitch.
4) "Fuck The Fourth Wall" by Nick May (at great, confusing length Nick talks about his piece from last week)
Nick did the fatal flaw of writing a piece and then making your next piece about your last one. These types of pieces pop up ever once in awhile. One of the downfalls of doing this is that some people in the audience didn't see the last piece (especially true in this case, since there were...oh...TWO people in the audience the show before this) so nobody has any idea what you are talking about and why they should care.
This piece was also long and confusing and unenjoyable.
5) "High Tea With Bill Murray" by Alyssa Bowman (a fellow lives with his mom, Bill Murray, and two dinosaurs)
YAY! The most under-rated piece of the evening. I enjoyed this piece. I know ABomb worked hard on it and I hope it's a new trend for her to turn in more pieces, because the show needs it. A gem. Thumbs up.
6) "Lick Bush And Eat Rice" by Dick Roberts (song parodies)
*sigh*
7) "A Farewell Letter" by Evan Schenck (a guy is leaving and wrote a letter about how he hates you and always really did)
This was pretty funny. It didn't really stick out in my mind's eye, but it went down smooth.
8) "Mad Club" by Eli Wilkinson (Mad Club's integrity is compromised when a lady joins the club and people are happy about it.)
This was a LOT of fun to be in! Go to town!
9) "I'm A Noodle Guy" by Michael Tabor (Bobby Evers performs a monologue about how there are so many different types of noodles)
This piece I wrote as a demo for Jake. Jake has reservations about singing and dancing on stage, so I thought if he saw it in action that he might change his mind. But the opposite happened. Jake did so well without it and it sort of fludded when Bobby did it, that I've decided to not make Jake sing and dance in the future.
10) "I Think This Might Be The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done" by Zwephany Dell (Ashcraft performs a monologue about a school dance. Discusses the cliques present)
Oh, man! I liked it a lot. I liked when P-Ash was calling Bick Boperts things.
11) "I Will Date You On The Internet: 5 Scenes From Week 2" by Adam Hahn (Adam and some dudes discuss fear, internet dating, women's self image, bingo)
Was it as good as last weeks? I couldn't tell, because I was in it, but I get the feeling that it was not. But it seemed good anyway.
12) "Aprille's Humiliating No Shame Archives, 2000" by Aprille Clarke (Aprille re-performs an old piece about the Christian Children's relief fund. Hahn interrupts frequently to point out the bad parts)
I'm not so sure about this idea of Aprille's. I'd like to see Aprille as a good writer (now) rather than embarassing (then).
13) "Impolite" by Bobby Evers (people won't leave their table at the Java House)
Ha. You get me and Sean and Spats together and we'll talk right through or cue.
14) "Such A Disappointment" by Sadie Smith (Spats, meets herself as a young girl. Young Sadie is disappointed in how she turned out. Spats seems to feel older and wiser than Young Sadie)
Eh...it was OK.
15) "What The Smooshy Face Is Wrong With You" by Sean Shatto (The Shat says some weird things about his weird ideas.)
Eh...it was HILARIOUS.
16) "Corduroy sunburn, Part Intermission (Part 2) : Because I Don't Like The Way Y'all'ree Looking' at Me 'And Now Heres's Something We Hope You'll Really Like...'" by Cool Jesse and if you laugh like you're on the inside, he'll cut you like a minority! (Batman wants an abortion and also pokes a dead cat with a dead stick)
One of the more tolerable Cool Jesse pieces. It was also fun to be in this, so that I could eat Apple Jacks. Jesse, I will see you on Friday so that we can watch Gilmore Girls on DVD together, like we do every week.
A'RIGHT A'RIGHT A'RIGHT A'RIGHT, let's get this party started.
1) "It's Fun to Trick When the Tricks are Treaty" by Katy Baggs (a dude puts a lady's underwear in the shower head; a lady puts candy in a dude's giggles)
:: This is a prime example of Better Living Through Prop Comedy. The idea of pranking someone by putting their underpants in the shower head, and it actually working, and Katy not noticing until she got out of the shower, is wonderful wonderful enough. But to actually design that underpants costume (and it looked SO! GOOD!) just pushed it over the edge. God damn. Also, Bobby holding up the shower curtain was too cute, as was the little drawn-on showerhead. Also Also, three extra points to Katy for the "Dictum?" joke in her comment here. That's like twenty-two points altogether.
2) "Halftime" by Flabbergasted Jakers (Jakers blows our minds with his observations on the length of halftime)
:: Usually the comedy starts to fall apart for me when the performer starts laughing at their own jokes (yes, I know I do this all the time), but in the cases of Bob Saget and this piece, I think it really only adds to the experience. Jakers stumbled upon the joke to end all jokes here. It was beautiful.
3) "E" by Brian Lenth (Lumo is doing a crossword puzzle. TBone tells him there are 61 "E"s in the word "discreet." Jakers plays the trombone wa-waaaaa
:: That danged trombone! It really rounded out the piece nicely. I think I've gathered that "I'm not fucking around" is a running gag? Even though I've missed the last few weeks' worth of shows and blog disscussion, it's still funny. Would it be funnier if I'd seen the previous instances of "I'm not fucking around"? That's not a rhetorical question, I'd like to know what's going on here.
4) "Fuck The Fourth Wall" by Nick May (at great, confusing length Nick talks about his piece from last week)
:: I'm not sure if this piece would've made any more sense to me if I'd seen last week's. It wasn't clear most of the time when the stuntedness of the performance was intentional and when it was just due to too many people onstage trying to perform something that was too complicated without enough preparation. It could've benefitted from a stronger narration and rhythm while maintaining its convoluted-ness; I stopped being able to follow what was going on as soon as the forward action started getting bogged down.
5) "High Tea With Bill Murray" by Alyssa Bowman (a fellow lives with his mom, Bill Murray, and two dinosaurs)
:: I'm glad glad glad that Alyssa wrote a piece for us, and I hope it keeps happening. I'm sad that I was hiding behind the curtain for this one and didn't get to absorb most of it. Dang!
6) "Lick Bush And Eat Rice" by Dick Roberts (song parodies)
:: I'm afraid that political pieces just don't do anything for me. I don't really have anything constructive to say about this one.
7) "A Farewell Letter" by Evan Schenck (a guy is leaving and wrote a letter about how he hates you and always really did)
:: Adam Hahn performed this so convincingly that I didn't even realize it wasn't his own piece until I read the posted order. I like passive-aggressive meanspirited pieces, they're fun to watch.
8) "Mad Club" by Eli Wilkinson (Mad Club's integrity is compromised when a lady joins the club and people are happy about it.)
:: The shouting and flailing and seeing TBone biting shoes made this piece really fun. I think it could've stood to be tightened up a little, either in the script or in performance, as the action lagged a little in a few places and I think this would've looked really sharp if it were more fast and loud and violent straight through to the end.
9) "I'm A Noodle Guy" by Michael Tabor (Bobby Evers performs a monologue about how there are so many different types of noodles)
:: I was also surprised to find out that this was Michael's piece, not Bobby's, since Bobby is such a noodle guy in real life. It was super charming and endearing, and the song-and-dance numbers were carried out with just the right amount of enthusiasm and ineptitude - too much would've made it look insincere, but as it was it seemed like something that Bobby might just sing to himself in his room when no one's home.
10) "I Think This Might Be The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done" by Zwephany Dell (Ashcraft performs a monologue about a school dance. Discusses the cliques present)
:: I like this kid's style. Kinda smug, kinda restrained, and he knows how to set you up to think you know just what's going on and then every once in a while he hits you with something really unexpected (like how the middle-school girls who won't slow dance wonder why they don't get any at the end of the night).
11) "I Will Date You On The Internet: 5 Scenes From Week 2" by Adam Hahn (Adam and some dudes discuss fear, internet dating, women's self image, bingo)
:: This piece was really sharp except for a few little performance tics. The bingo card joke at the end was golden, and I liked how the explanation at the beginning didin't seem to totally 'break the fourth wall,' like it may have just been more weird conversation between the characters.
12) "Aprille's Humiliating No Shame Archives, 2000" by Aprille Clarke (Aprille re-performs an old piece about the Christian Children's relief fund. Hahn interrupts frequently to point out the bad parts)
:: Didn't see the introduction to this series two(?) weeks ago, but that didn't hamper my ability to understand or enjoy it. I liked that Adam's character gave us some real-life historical context, and even though it was supposed to be a showcasing a bad/embarrassing old piece, all the parts we got to see were still funny. What's the deal, huh?
13) "Impolite" by Bobby Evers (people won't leave their table at the Java House)
:: Uh, we were so engaged in our conversation about the funniness or smelliness of farts that we kind of missed our cue to vacate the table. I think we recovered sort of gracefully, though. If someone did that to me in real life, it'd probably take a moment to process that a stranger just called me an asshole before I would get up sheepishly and leave.
14) "Such A Disappointment" by Sadie Smith (Spats, meets herself as a young girl. Young Sadie is disappointed in how she turned out. Spats seems to feel older and wiser than Young Sadie)
:: It seemed like the audience was laughing at really weird parts of this, like when I said that I was living with five boys or that my riding instructor was dating my landlord. I think maybe at that point we hadn't arrived at the realization of the premise of the piece, and so they weren't sure what The Joke was and they were just laughing at whatever? Or am I not giving you guys enough credit? I'm interested to know when it became clear to the audience who I was talking to, and whether it was sooner or later I intended it to be.
15) "What The Smooshy Face Is Wrong With You" by Sean Shatto (The Shat says some weird things about his weird ideas.)
:: I couldn't help imagining playing "what the fuck is smooshy face" with a baby, like an updated "peek-a-boo" for this vulgar day and age. It's funny to hear the audience giggle whenever you announce something like "alzheimers/the holocaust/date rape isn't funny." I think Sean's semi-stream-of-consciousness pieces are some of the most reliably funny things to see at No Shame these days.
16) "Corduroy sunburn, Part Intermission (Part 2) : Because I Don't Like The Way Y'all'ree Looking' at Me 'And Now Heres's Something We Hope You'll Really Like...'" by Cool Jesse and if you laugh like you're on the inside, he'll cut you like a minority! (Batman wants an abortion and also pokes a dead cat with a dead stick)
:: Good snappy dialogue, ain't nothing better. "That's how I eats 'em" was classic. I think the piece could've been improved if there had been an equally startling subject that could've taken the place of abortion - not because abortion is shocking, but because abortion is the first thing you think of when you're trying to be shocking.
And because nobody asked, here are my thoughts on the issue of Big Butt/Funny Farts Theatre: I don't think it's necessarily true that anyone is actually confused by the names. We don't put 'Funny Farts Theatre' on the posters, do we? And when it gets called by the joke name at the start of the show, Adam or someone else is usually right there to angrily correct it. Even if someone came to No Shame for the first time and heard "Welcome to Funny Farts Theatre" and Adam wasn't there to enforce the proper name, I still think they'd figure they were seeing No Shame and not some mysterious "Funny Farts Theatre" that just happened to be at the same time and place, in the same format, as No Shame. But then again, I have no idea how clever the people who come sit in our audience are these days.
Spats, how'd it feel to you that you thought you were starting the party, but you didn't?
Oh, TBone, just because you showed up first didn't mean you were the one to start the party.
How do YOU feel about THAT?
I have done the following things:
- Drawn a picture of Michael Tabor (he's a madman!)
- Written a review of the show:
1) "It's Fun to Trick When the Tricks are Treats" by Katy Baggs -- An example of when a good piece comes from a single good idea (putting underpants in the showerhead results in lots of underpants all over you). No Shame needs a good dose of prop gags now and again.
2) "Halftime" by Flabbergasted Jakers -- Hilarious. I can't wait to have my mind blown by whatever Jake has to say next week!
3) "E" by Brian Lenth -- Spats: the "not fucking around" is not THAT big of an inside joke. It just sort of turned into T-bone's catchphrase, is all.
4) "Fuck The Fourth Wall" by Nick May -- Pieces about the writing of No Shame pieces is a pretty common genre among new writers, and there's a reason that they stop doing them: they're almost impossible to do well, because the audience sees them as a sign of creative bankruptcy. Don't paint a picture of paint.
5) "High Tea With Bill Murray" by Alyssa Bowman -- Alyssa made my night! Alyssa would do well to write more, says I.
6) "Lick Bush And Eat Rice" by Dick Roberts -- Whoever introduces the show next week, when talking about the five-minute rule, needs to stand directly in front of Dick Roberts, if necessary pointing at his beard.
7) "A Farewell Letter" by Evan Schenck -- This piece was quite good. Adam Hahn was up there on that table! Oh man.
8) "Mad Club" by Eli Wilkinson -- This piece had some great stuff. Casting Michael as an angry madman = a good idea.
9) "I'm A Noodle Guy" by Michael Tabor -- This didn't blow my mind quite as much as Michael's other piece. That's not to say Bobby didn't do a great job with it. Funny stuff, both of you.
10) "I Think This Might Be The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done" by Zwephany Dell -- Patrick's writing is nostalgic and fun. The idea of using audience members as visual aids was inventive and good.
11) "I Will Date You On The Internet: 5 Scenes From Week 2" by Adam Hahn -- Not quite up to Adam's usual standards. Maybe it was the episodic nature of this piece that seemed to make it drag a little bit. I still liked it.
12) "Aprille's Humiliating No Shame Archives, 2000" by Aprille Clarke -- This self-referential stuff is definitely not a result of a lack of ideas - Aprille has probably more ideas than almost any other No Shamer I've watched, past or present - but it's still self-referential and must be a little difficult for the non-regular crowd. I still like it, and I'm glad she's annotating it with those snappy Adam Hahn lines instead of just re-performing old stuff.
13) "Impolite" by Bobby Evers -- For what it was, it was good.
14) "Such A Disappointment" by Sadie Smith -- I am dumb and didn't understand ever that it was supposed to be Sadie talking to her younger self (sometimes pieces this late into the show don't get my full attention). Despite not knowing this, I liked it quite a bit, and am glad somebody's still doing good serious pieces.
15) "What The Smooshy Face Is Wrong With You" by Sean Shatto -- Sean's pieces are always lovable.
16) "Corduroy sunburn, Part Intermission (Part 2) : Because I Don't Like The Way Y'all'ree Looking' at Me 'And Now Heres's Something We Hope You'll Really Like...'" by Cool Jesse and if you laugh like you're on the inside, he'll cut you like a minority! -- Jesse's pieces are all over the place sometimes. This one was less aimless than usual, and I remember enjoying a few lines.
Brian! What drawings you do! We should make you do an intricate, old-timey, group No Shame scrimshaw. You will work your fingers to the bone, and then you will SCRIMSHAW ON YOUR FINGERBONES!
Wasn't it Nick May who on last week's comments agreed with Eric that we should be less in-jokey, and then wrote the in-jokiest piece ever? ...Huh.
I DO enjoy prop pieces! I think it would put a spring in No Shame's step to have more silly/functional props in pieces, and to see more consideration of visual jokes in addition to dialogue.
Hi everyone so here's my review of last weeks show.
1) "It's Fun to Trick When the Tricks are Treats" by Katy Baggs
What a great way to start off a show! By the time she put up the drawn showerhead I was like, okay this pieces ending is gonna rock. Then it did. The impossiblity of such a prank happening really made this piece great. And not only that but I got some M & M's afterwards!
2) "Halftime" by Flabbergasted Jakers
I for some reason knew right from the start that Michael had written most of this piece. It was so his style. But that didn't distract me from enjoying this throughly. My one comment is that I thought the ending could have come sooner. By the end it was just a repetition of what he had heard for the past few minutes.
3) "E" by Brian Lenth
Okay so I thought this piece definately could've been cut down by 20 'E's or so but it was still hilarious. The trombone at the end was a very nice touch.
4) "Fuck The Fourth Wall" by Nick May
To be honest I really didn't like this piece. I didn't mind the one the week prior so I don't see why he needed to explain it. I mean my comments are just the same as all yours prior, but even being in it wasn't fun. There was no character relations until the end, no comedic conflict except for those who know the piece from last week, and worst of all it was probably the hardest script ever to read. Nick if you ever want help with standard playwriting format consult a theatre major or something.
5) "High Tea With Bill Murray" by Alyssa Bowman
I loved it until the end. But I don't think that was Alyssa's fault at all. If the lights would've just cut sharply then the bit after Adam's last line would've been better. With the fade it didn't work.
Oh and I'll volunteer to run lights next friday. I don't know if I'll have a piece because of Puzzle Locker so yeah.
6) "Lick Bush And Eat Rice" by Dick Roberts (song parodies)
Now I hate the Bush administration just as much as Dick probably but these parodies are/ have gotten old. I think by this point most people realize they are all idiots so insulting them is like pointing at an obvious loser and yelling "loser!"
7) "A Farewell Letter" by Evan Schenck
I liked it. It had a slow start but it needed that slow start to tell us all the information that made the jokes later funnier.
8) "Mad Club" by Eli Wilkinson
Eh it was okay. Eli really needs to work on writing his pieces before 9:30 pm. Although the reaction to it was something he didn't really expect since Shelton told him the idea was dumb and lame and that Eli shouldn't do it. Although he will admit that he sold out a bit on this piece and finds it sad that his best pieces always include people yelling and stomping around the stage. Sigh...
9) "I'm A Noodle Guy" by Michael Tabor
I like Noodles so I liked this piece. Bobby singing is always fun.
10) "I Think This Might Be The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done" by Zwephany Dell
It was the story of my childhood dances all over again! Guess what type I was?
Give up?
One of the losers on the side.
But I really enjoyed this collaboration between Patrick and Zwephany.
11) "I Will Date You On The Internet: 5 Scenes From Week 2" by Adam Hahn
A great piece. The use of three separate story lines was very Tarintino.
12) "Aprille's Humiliating No Shame Archives, 2000" by Aprille Clarke
It was pretty funny. The way Aprille references past pieces was much more enjoyable than Nick's. With this her explanation of her writing styles was actually very benificial to younger writers (I.e. the Skitalogue? reference).
13) "Impolite" by Bobby Evers
I hate those people at the Java House. "You finished your coffee right? Then get the f*** outta here!" Is what I always want to say and Bobby expressed that in a good way.
14) "Such A Disappointment" by Sadie Smith
Great concept. The actual piece kinda dragged in places but I really enjoy the idea of talking to our past selves. I mean what would you say to yourself from all those years ago? Do you reveal the dark parts or do you hide them so that they experience that for themselves.
15) "What The Smooshy Face Is Wrong With You" by Sean Shatto
Okay so my beef with this piece was that it just seemed like Sean was doing this just to do a piece. It was funny, don't get me wrong there. But it just didn't have a purpose other than to get a few laughs and take up a spot in the order. It wasn't like the spirals speech from last fall or anything. But I guess that's just me, because I see this as a writers forum to try out ideas and experiment with audience reaction. Something that is hard to do with improv because, well anyone could've done this piece. Sure it wouldn't have Sean's great stage presence. But anyone could've done it.
16) "Corduroy sunburn, Part Intermission (Part 2) : Because I Don't Like The Way Y'all'ree Looking' at Me 'And Now Heres's Something We Hope You'll Really Like...'" by Cool Jesse and if you laugh like you're on the inside, he'll cut you like a minority!
Jesse is like my god. Batman having abortions / poking road kill: NOT what we expect out of Batman. Thus it is funny.
Well there you go peoples. I hope I don't stir up to much debate this week and everyone have a pleasant and enjoyable week of school / work/ slacking.
Geez, Lumo...give me red hair and I'd look like the bad guy from Care Bears Movie II. Am I happy or angry in that picture?
Tell me what you think, and I'll tell you what I know.
Hey Brian, do you mind if I use that picture of Michael to make some No Shame posters with?
Eli-
I thought about it, and I do sort of mind. I'm sure you'd do a good job, but when my art gets distributed in any semi-formal way, I like it to be a little more professional-looking than just a doodle from my break at work. Sorry to be a hardass.
Eli-
Might I suggest that you use today's "Red and Rover"for the posters? Hilarious!
Lumo said: "Spats: the "not fucking around" is not THAT big of an inside joke. It just sort of turned into T-bone's catchphrase, is all."
I totally agree. "I'm not fucking around" is not an inside joke. In the case of your piece and Eli's piece, you don't have to know that I've said it before to think it's funny that I just said it now.
It's a fun catchphrase, but I think we should be carefull that it doesn't turn into an inside joke. In some cases it could be used as an inside joke. For example, in Dick Roberts's piece where he said "You tell that Michael Tabor that we're not fucking around!"
Spats said: "Oh, TBone, just because you showed up first didn't mean you were the one to start the party.
How do YOU feel about THAT?"
I feel about that that you you started doing your review before I posted mine and typed that you were going to start the party to reference that your review was the first. Then when you posted it it wasn't the first and you looked like sort of a dope. And now you are trying to backtrack and make excuses so you don't look so much like a DOPE! I WILL KNOCK YOU OUT IN THREE ROUNDS! I'M NOT FUCKING AROUND!
1) "It's Fun to Trick When the Tricks are Treats" by Katy Baggs
Katy gets point for creativity and bravery. A very original idea, and she had the guts to show some skin.
2) "Halftime" by Flabbergasted Jakers
This was frickin’ hysterical.
3) "E" by Brian Lenth
I agree with the comments that there were a few too many e’s. Otherwise quite funny. I loved the trombone.
4) "Fuck The Fourth Wall" by Nick May
This piece tried to cram too much into too many levels, and it didn’t really work on any of them. I barely knew what was going on, and I was in both pieces the last two weeks. If the concept had been focused on just one level, it might have worked better.
5) "High Tea With Bill Murray" by Alyssa Bowman
This was a silly romp, and I like a good romp.
6) "Lick Bush And Eat Rice" by Dick Roberts
Normally, Dick’s banter is funny and his songs aren’t, but this time the banter wasn’t even funny. This one went on too long and had only one funny line in the whole thing.
7) "A Farewell Letter" by Evan Schenck
Very well done. I also thought Adam had written it because the writing seemed so much like his voice. One of the highlights of the night.
8) "Mad Club" by Eli Wilkinson
This was hilarious! Michael Tabor at his finest.
9) "I'm A Noodle Guy" by Michael Tabor
Once again, I thought Bobby had written this because he seems like a noodle guy. Excellent writing.
10) "I Think This Might Be The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done" by Zwephany Dell
It was great because it’s so true. Except I was never in show choir; do I seem like a show choir person?
11) "I Will Date You On The Internet: 5 Scenes From Week 2" by Adam Hahn
Not as good as Week 1, but still pretty good.
12) "Aprille's Humiliating No Shame Archives, 2000" by Aprille Clarke
I liked this better than her last archive piece because there was actual performance and not just her giving a synopsis of what she did.
13) "Impolite" by Bobby Evers
I didn’t really get this one.
14) "Such A Disappointment" by Sadie Smith
I really appreciate a good piece about failing to meet your own expectations and thinking how your younger self would be really disappointed in you. This was a good one.
15) "What The Smooshy Face Is Wrong With You" by Sean Shatto
I may be the lone dissenter, but I wasn’t too high on this piece. I’ve found Sean’s stream-of-consciousness stuff to be a little hit and miss lately, and while this one didn’t totally miss the mark, it wasn’t a direct hit either.
16) "Corduroy sunburn, Part Intermission (Part 2) : Because I Don't Like The Way Y'all'ree Looking' at Me 'And Now Heres's Something We Hope You'll Really Like...'" by Cool Jesse and if you laugh like you're on the inside, he'll cut you like a minority!
Jesse Blaine is a different breed of animal. I’m never sure what he’s going to do, but I almost always like it.
All in all, a vast improvement over our last couple shows. I look forward to this week.
When are you free Nick? I have time on thursday.
Eli and Nick,
Don't refer to standard formatting as "proper playwriting style". It makes it sound so much more important than it really is. What's at issue here is how the script looks on the page, not what it contains.
Eli, I hope what you used for your "Mad Club" script is not what you've decided to teach others.
It is not. I typed that up in a hurry at the library and did not have time to propery put it in Standard Formatting.
Post a Comment
<< Home