Iowa City, October 27, 2006
There was a show. I got cake!
Labels: Iowa City
posted by AdamEggHahn at 2:20 PM
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No Shame Iowa City
October 17, 2006
1. "The Steel Elephant" by Janani (1989)
2. "This Cake Is Not for You" by Evan Schenck
3. "Untitled: Spooky Halloween Story About This Thing That Actually Happened to Me One Time" by King Sophie
4. "Miser" by Sean Shatto
5. "I Got a Short Story Published Over the Summer and This Is How I Chose to Inform You All" by Mirri
6. "Improvised Concerto #2 1/2 for Pop Bottle" by Eric Jesteadt
7. "The Wrath of Resnet" by Katy Baggs
8. "Scenes from Adulthood: Part I" by Bobby Evers
9. "Olivia Newton-John" by Look at Me! I'm Michael Tabor! [Eric Landuyt]
10. "The Man Has Farted and Died of Embarrassment" by Michael Tabor
11. "Stiff Upper Lip" by Lydia Crowe
12. "Strip Poker" by Jamal River
13. "Alisa's Scare-a-thon Slime-a-thon Soul-Slutting-it-up-a-thon with Spook-tacular Savings!" by A-Boo!-sa Scream!-enthal
14. "A True Story About Race Relations in America" by Adam Hahn
15. "More Like Barely" by Rock 'N' Roll Norris
Announcements Included:
-This weekend in Theatre B: Machlin's "Bloody Lies"
-Next weekend in B: Kommes' "Twitch"
-Paperback Rhino improv show, this Tuesday at the Airliner, 9 PM. Wear a costume.
-Yes Shame at City High, not this Tuesday but some Tuesdays at 8 PM
-Use No Shame's props!
-Eric's TV show Sunday nights
-This show is dedicated to Eli Wilkinson, recently deceased (also running ths lights)
geee. Jamal.
1. "The Steel Elephant" - Hey, this was about me!
2. "This Cake is Not For You" - Evan will be a cruel father some day. As performance art commenting on last week's NS it was great, and the writing was the best I've heard from Evan...it just dragged at the end. Evan, say whatever you say in about 25%-33% fewer words and it will be PERFECT.
3. "Untitled: Spooky Halloween Story" - I'm sorry Sophie, I don't remember...
4. "Miser" - It was interesting. I wonder how it would have come off if we weren't all laughing. Is there any way to alert the audience "this is not funny" beforehand so we can experience it straight?
5. "I Got A Short Story Published" -
The first part, about friends' praise not being good enough, was dead on.
6. "Improvised Concerto" - Ahh, I thought he would actually be a virtuoso on the coke bottle. I was expecting arpeggios and cadenzas.
7. "Wrath of Resnet" - I was in it, so I dunno...
8. "Scenes from Adulthood: Part I" - This made me get a crush on Bobby Evers.
9. "Olivia Newton-John" - I liked! While listening I wanted some music staff paper to write out the various recurring motifs. I would like to set a Tabor monologue to music.
10. "The Man Has Farted" - I liked the Mimarrassments. I'm not sure how much I'm looking forward to next week.
11. "Stiff Upper Lip" - best of the night and definitely a best of the semester. Everyone who missed seeing Lydia's failed safari costume has few reasons to go on living.
12. "Strip Poker" - It ended well.
13. "Alisa's Scare-a-thon" - I was in it...not sure how it went.
14. "A True Story" - I am also the closest thing you have to an Israeli, a Palestinian, an Egyptian, a Brazilian, a Latina, and a Masai warrior.
15. "More Like Barely" - I really like seeing Mark Norris onstage. I always know something good is going to happen.
1. "The Steel Elephant" by Janani (1989)
I appreciated this so much more knowing she wrote it at a very young age. When I wrote stories at a young age they were like this too but not nearlly as entertaining.
2. "This Cake Is Not for You" by Evan Schenck
I don't like cake. So a good deal of this did not effect me. I know I should like cake... but I just don't so there. Its seemed like it would have been frustrating if I did like cake though.
3. "Untitled: Spooky Halloween Story About This Thing That Actually Happened to Me One Time" by King Sophie
I think the delivery was everything in this.
4. "Miser" by Sean Shatto
I like the pieces where Sean is a mummy who talks. Groaning just isn't the same.
5. "I Got a Short Story Published Over the Summer and This Is How I Chose to Inform You All" by Mirri
I think its pretty clear that this piece was kind of self-endulgent on my part.
6. "Improvised Concerto #2 1/2 for Pop Bottle" by Eric Jesteadt
The idea is brilliant. ENding kind of meh. All in all thumbs up though.
7. "The Wrath of Resnet" by Katy Baggs
This got kind of lost in the middle and seemed to drag but it started out great and the ending made it spike to the top of funny. Too much lotion! I thought i was going to pee my pants and die.
8. "Scenes from Adulthood: Part I" by Bobby Evers
I had read this piece before it was performed and really liked it. Evan did a good job too and I'm just really partical to pieces that have a serious note somewhere.
9. "Olivia Newton-John" by Look at Me! I'm Michael Tabor! [Eric Landuyt]
I have a thing against retaliation pieces and or parodies. Eric has done some really good skits before. Like the aliteration piece. HILARIOUS. And I mean we've all done a Tabor-esque monologue but it was more of because the delivery involved is so wonderful. We're not trying to actually mimic him. If this is experimentation I guess thats cool but I don't understand why parodies are realyl very funny. I'm sure this wasn't intended poorly at all but the very nature of an actual parody seems a little malicious or arrogant. I'm sure thats not how it was intended at all but thats how it comes across to me. Maybe I'm the only one who feels that way.
10. "The Man Has Farted and Died of Embarrassment" by Michael Tabor
Awesome but it was funnier the first time. I like that this is going to be an ongoing thing though. Its delightful.
11. "Stiff Upper Lip" by Lydia Crowe
I have never heard so much British terminaology in all my days of funny. twas impecable. At first I thought the ending was going to be expected and sink it but the spicey food thing saved the day. Mad props.
12. "Strip Poker" by Jamal River
Dragged a little but I think that was totally the point. Made the ending more unexpected. Still it dragged but whatchagonnado.
13. "Alisa's Scare-a-thon Slime-a-thon Soul-Slutting-it-up-a-thon with Spook-tacular Savings!" by A-Boo!-sa Scream!-enthal
I liked the tital best. Seemed a little disconnected. Fun head.
14. "A True Story About Race Relations in America" by Adam Hahn
I kind of was an ass by playing the recorder with a melody that may have been distracting in hindsight. It seemed very interesting and true though.
15. "More Like Barely" by Rock 'N' Roll Norris
I agree entirely with the steel elephant
1. "The Steel Elephant" by Janani (1989)
This piece was pretty good.
2. "This Cake Is Not for You" by Evan Schenck
As it turned out, the cake was for everybody except my girlfriend, who came by my apartment Saturday and found out there was no cake left for her. Oops.
I ran through it myself at home and it came in on time, but I really have no excuse for it going long. Sorry.
3. "Untitled: Spooky Halloween Story About This Thing That Actually Happened to Me One Time" by King Sophie
I have my doubts about whether this actually happened.
4. "Miser" by Sean Shatto
This was kind of creepy. I liked how the camera had a little red warning light before the flash, so that Sean would show up in red and then the flash. Spooky.
5. "I Got a Short Story Published Over the Summer and This Is How I Chose to Inform You All" by Mirri
Good Russia joke. I must say that this was more in the way of a .5 than a full-length piece, though.
6. "Improvised Concerto #2 1/2 for Pop Bottle" by Eric Jesteadt
This piece was okay but it seemed kind of simple to me.
7. "The Wrath of Resnet" by Katy Baggs
This happened to me one time when I was... buying the Sims 2 at Bestbuy in a completely legal fashion. Only I recall the penalty box only lasting like a day for me. Hmmm. Janani went really nuts with the lotion, and overall this piece would be described as Hi-Larious.
8. "Scenes from Adulthood: Part I" by Bobby Evers
I enjoyed reading this piece and I thought it was really funny and a little poignant at the end.
9. "Olivia Newton-John" by Look at Me! I'm Michael Tabor! [Eric Landuyt]
I have to agree with Michael in that this was basically an Eric L. piece performed in the style of Michael Tabor. That said, it was funny and I thought his impression was pretty true to life inasmuch as anyone without Michael's particular physiology can simulate it.
10. "The Man Has Farted and Died of Embarrassment" by Michael Tabor
This was pretty good. I'm glad I remembered my cue.
11. "Stiff Upper Lip" by Lydia Crowe
Great costume and good writing. I liked the completely inaccurate British slang for various things. The ending was a nice surprise, too.
12. "Strip Poker" by Jamal River
There was a naked man in this piece.
13. "Alisa's Scare-a-thon Slime-a-thon Soul-Slutting-it-up-a-thon with Spook-tacular Savings!" by A-Boo!-sa Scream!-enthal
I liked this piece. My only question would be whether the head that Alisa was making out with at the end was supposed to be a severed human head or not.
14. "A True Story About Race Relations in America" by Adam Hahn
That's a good story.
15. "More Like Barely" by Rock 'N' Roll Norris
Am I the only who thinks it is odd that you can do a piece about a guy who thinks he's funny but really isn't, and that the said piece can itself be very funny? Huh? Am I right?
I’ve thought this for years: does anybody else think the announcements run on way to long? It seems like whoever is doing the announcements (and this is NOT a dig at Adam) and order (even me when I did them) showboats and tries to entertain too much. And people don’t get to the point. It just goes on and on and on and it’s boring. I think that the order/announcements should be 3 minutes or under. That is a reasonable goal: “Welcome to No Shame Theatre. Here are the rules…Here are the announcements…Here is the order.” Quick and to the point and gets us right into the show.
1. "The Steel Elephant" by Janani (1989)
Janani is very awesome. I'm happy that she comes to No Shame. I hope she becomes one of those people that does it regularly for years and years.
2. "This Cake Is Not for You" by Evan Schenck
This could have done with some editing. The monologue at the beginning could've been three paragraphs long instead of seven. That would have made it better. But this was hilarious anyway. Also, I can't fucking BELIEVE he gave people cake! What was supposed to be a little bonding thing between me and Evan turned out to be him blowing it! What of our vision, Evan??
3. "Untitled: Spooky Halloween Story About This Thing That Actually Happened to Me One Time" by King Sophie
I thought it was funny.
4. "Miser" by Sean Shatto
This was my favorite piece of the night. I don't think that Sean should tell people if his things are serious or not before hand. He should just get up there and do it and let the audience experience it. That's the fun. If they laugh, they laugh. Great. They're having fun. It was awesome.
5. "I Got a Short Story Published Over the Summer and This Is How I Chose to Inform You All" by Mirri
Was it true?
6. "Improvised Concerto #2 1/2 for Pop Bottle" by Eric Jesteadt
These guys were SO enthusiastic!
7. "The Wrath of Resnet" by Katy Baggs
I could not related to this at all.
8. "Scenes from Adulthood: Part I" by Bobby Evers
I love Bobby. This was one of my favorites.
9. "Olivia Newton-John" by Look at Me! I'm Michael Tabor! [Eric Landuyt]
The content was so far off anything I would write about, I think it was a failure on Eric's part to actually do a parody of me, but Mark Norris explained some similarities and I agreed with them, but still. I'm glad there is a "Michael Tabor" style at No Shame. It's like my mark on No Shame. Even though it's incredibly easy to do and I think any writer there could do it (if they pay attention to the content). I don't know how good of an impression of me it was, because I never see myself doing it. His stance looked like how it feels to stand up there. I agree with Mirri, I did sense some hostility from Eric, especially since he's tried to parody me before ("The Dog Can't Fly") by trying to get Jake to do a Flabbergasted Jakers piece, but then he ended up doing it himself. Sometimes I feel a sense of hatred coming from Eric to me, which is odd because I don't recall ever doing anything to him that would make him feel that way. I'm nice to him, I think, and I don't hate him.
Also, everybody in front of me, at least once, turned around to look at me during this.
I was not pleased with the pseudo-credit to me ("Look at me, I'm Michael Tabor!") because it looked initially like I was trying to pull something (as I've been known to do (See: Big Butt Theatre)), but I'm trying to be good. It was clear afterwards that it wasn't me, though, so that's fine.
10. "The Man Has Farted and Died of Embarrassment" by Michael Tabor
I agree with Adam on looking forward to the next one. This one didn't go well. I don't blame the writing or the acting. Those were good. It was the directing. I didn't have enough scripts and queues were being missed. It could've done with a run through, but I think I may kill the series. I'm going to WRITE more, though...just probably not present them at No Shame. Do people want to see more, or no?
11. "Stiff Upper Lip" by Lydia Crowe
Very, very funny!
12. "Strip Poker" by Jamal River
We laughed and laughed and laughed when Jamal thought of this idea. I think it dragged on, because the four of us weren't trying hard enough to say things while we played cards, but what a great piece.
13. "Alisa's Scare-a-thon Slime-a-thon Soul-Slutting-it-up-a-thon with Spook-tacular Savings!" by A-Boo!-sa Scream!-enthal
It was funny.
14. "A True Story About Race Relations in America" by Adam Hahn
This one was pretty good, but it really didn't live up to what Adam is capable of, I think. It lacked a certain flair...it was stale.
15. "More Like Barely" by Rock 'N' Roll Norris
I gave this man his nickname.
WHAT A WEIRD NIGHT OF NO SHAME!
"He should just get up there and do it and let the audience experience it. That's the fun. If they laugh, they laugh. Great. They're having fun."
I've decided to call this philosophy of mine: "The Rigga Philosophy."
I think that a little showmanship during the opening announcements can be good because it serves as a bit of a warmup to the audience. It gets them ready to see the show, sort of, and so it takes a little pressure off of the first few pieces.
(referring to the order)
It's nice having it long because if for some reason your are late to noshame you have some time to fall back on.
evan, i didn't mean it ran over 5:00 (i don't think it did) - i just agree with michael that it could have been tightened. it built up really, really well with the turd cake and the Second Coming, then relapsed into a general "this cake is awesome!" one time too many. i say, with that deadpan delivery, leave the audience wanting more.
"I think that a little showmanship during the opening announcements can be good because it serves as a bit of a warmup to the audience. It gets them ready to see the show, sort of, and so it takes a little pressure off of the first few pieces."
I agree. Running around and screaming with the lights going on and off is great. Being jovial and making jokes is great, but it consistently goes on too long. 3 minutes. That should be the goal. In my opinion.
I mean..nothing prompted this. I didn't feel the announcments were exceptionally terrible on Friday, or anything. In fact, maybe a little more tolerable than usual...it's just something I've been mulling over.
Evan I was timing some of the pieces and yours almost ran 6 minutes. I slightly dimsed the lights if you remember.
I know, Eli. I was saying I timed it in practice, and it ran on time, but then I performed it and it went all sideways.
Oh, Evan, in case you didn't know, you're skit had a cake in it on Friday.
LIES AND SLANDER.
if more people start bringing cake to no shame the audience with double, tripple, want rights, riot and eat all the cake everywhere...
but they will all owe us a dollar so give a little take a little.
and by all I mean each
1. "The Steel Elephant" by Janani (1989)
As a piece, this was fun. As a tree, I'm sorry I fell down too soon (you said when Adam "swooshes" but did not specify which swoosh was our cue).
2. "This Cake Is Not for You" by Evan Schenck
I wonder what Jesus thought of the cake being too good to be his second incarnation. I liked this piece, but it did go on too long.
3. "Untitled: Spooky Halloween Story About This Thing That Actually Happened to Me One Time" by King Sophie
I didn't really care for this one.
4. "Miser" by Sean Shatto
At first, I thought, "This will be another one of Sean's make-odd-noises-in-the-dark pieces." But then he came out as a mummy, and I thought the taking pictures of himself was brilliant.
5. "I Got a Short Story Published Over the Summer and This Is How I Chose to Inform You All" by Mirri
I liked the setup but not the punchline.
6. "Improvised Concerto #2 1/2 for Pop Bottle" by Eric Jesteadt
This piece is up there with Lydia's Raven/Peter Lorre piece as the most confident performance by a newcomer this year. Eric had very good stage presence. That said, it didn't need the second person there at the end.
7. "The Wrath of Resnet" by Katy Baggs
I enjoyed this one. Janani being diabolical was very fun to watch
8. "Scenes from Adulthood: Part I" by Bobby Evers
I've found myself pondering some of these same things. I like Bobby's new serious stuff.
9. "Olivia Newton-John" by Look at Me! I'm Michael Tabor! [Eric Landuyt]
When I first came up with this, I thought, "This seems like the kind of thing Michael Tabor would do" (i.e. nonsensical stream-of-consciousness). I debated whether to perform it as Michael or as myself, and somehow I didn't think the audience would buy it coming from me. During the performance, there came a point when I thought the audience had stopped enjoying it and thought I was being mean-spirited, which was not my intent.
I do not hate Michael Tabor, and this was not meant to be retaliation for anything. It was partially motivated by the fact that, as Michael himself said, the "Michael Tabor style" is "incredibly easy to do and any writer could do it." Michael has been doing the same schtick for as long as I've been coming to No Shame, and I was poking some fun at that. The idea behind the Flabbergasted Jakers parody was to see if I could imitate that style so well that people would think it was a real Jake/Michael piece. With "Olivia Newton-John", I knew it was not the kind of content Michael would talk about, but the style seemed similar, and I thought I could get the mannerisms and delivery pretty close to Michael's. I wasn't trying to be mean, though. In retrospect, this piece was probably closer to Jason Nebergall's style than Michael's.
10. "The Man Has Farted and Died of Embarrassment" by Michael Tabor
It would have been really weird if Michael had followed my monologue with his own monologue. I'm glad he did something character-based. The accordion music was fun, and I liked how Evan appeared for only one line at the end.
11. "Stiff Upper Lip" by Lydia Crowe
Brilliant! I love British slang, and Lydia delivered it all so well. We all thought we knew how it was going to end, but she put a great little twist on it. Good show!
12. "Strip Poker" by Jamal River
Predictable, but hey, we saw some nudity.
13. "Alisa's Scare-a-thon Slime-a-thon Soul-Slutting-it-up-a-thon with Spook-tacular Savings!" by A-Boo!-sa Scream!-enthal
A little uneven. I didn't quite get the purpose of the head.
14. "A True Story About Race Relations in America" by Adam Hahn
Janani is the closest thing to a black person No Shame has. Very funny.
15. "More Like Barely" by Rock 'N' Roll Norris
Pretty good.
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