Iowa City, February 16, 2007
order in the comments
Also, scroll down in the comments for info on this weekend's City Circle New Play Festival, featuring works by current and former No Shame writers.
Also, scroll down in the comments for info on this weekend's City Circle New Play Festival, featuring works by current and former No Shame writers.
Labels: Iowa City
posted by AdamEggHahn at 12:03 PM
34 Comments:
1. "MacHeartfelt" by Janani (MacGyver in love)
2. "The Desert Shone Blue" by Arlen Lawson (lovers' quarrel, mountain driving)
2.5 "Stuffed Tiger" by Eric Landuyt (gift for girlfriend)
3. "My Nightmare: A Piece Written in a Hallucinogenic Stupor" by Eli Wilkinson (falling, voices taunting)
4. "Professor Teeth: A Song" by The C. Everett Poops
5. "The Future of Gaming" by Katy Baggs (video game is made of people)
5.5 ""A Very Good Example of My RAZR Wit" by Michael Tabor (cell phone pun)
6. "The Third Law" by Professor Science (action/reaction)
6.5 "It's My Birthday" by Sad Green Monster (basketball assault)
7. "XO" by Christina Gulick (telling off bad friend)
8. "Ellis" by Matthew Benyo (dream of Ellis Island)
8.5 "Arlen Quits Smoking" by Mirri (carrot poor tobacco replacement)
9. "An Exercise of Mental Agility" by Timm Sitzmann (Timm has mental sex with most of us)
9.5 "The Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson (rape manners)
10. "Sergio Leone" by Evan Schenck (quick-draw vs. quick-toast-theft)
11. "Adam Reads a List" (events for the company calendar)
11.5 "A Very Serious Moment in Which We Question the State and Direction of Our Lives" by Eric Landuyt (men with sporting ball head experience ennui)
12. "Nigger-Sticks" by Two Gooks and a Rape Slave (unhappy people, Jesse in a dress)
13. "The Invisible Man" by Patrick Ashcraft (marijuana addict wants to be leading man, invisible)
14. "Dionysian Lovers" by Jim and Tom (last minute addition song)
1. I worried that people could not hear Matt's personal-ad wooing over the sound of my violin.
2. I spaced! Sorry Arlen.
2.5 I liked how audience laughter, I mean Gulick's laughter, lasted longer than the entire piece. Did we maul its meaning?
3. A lovely piece by Eli. No irony, no yelling, just a good old shot of despair.
4. Sole composer/lyricist credit goes to Lenth. Afterwards we discussed how in rehearsal, the song didn't seem all that funny, but then you all roared so I guess it was funny.
5. YEAH for a simple, physical character-driven piece by Katy. I enjoy Katy's verbal virtuosity but I also enjoy just watching her yell and be fiendish.
6. ?
6.5. Having only heard of this sad monster, but not actually seen him in action, I liked him well.
7. The last line, "that's a reaction," confused me. Was this a parody of an acting class where the instructor is whaling on a lazy student? Am I 150% off here?
8. Earlier I talked with Matt about this piece. I'm not sold on that final line about not accomplishing anything with his life. After he explained its real meaning in the context of the dream I was persuaded, but as it is it sounds too easily nihilistic.
9. Timm is terrific to watch when he is talking. But he is even terrificker when he says nothing.
10. Ditto for Evan!
11. Hurrah for Adam humor again.
11.5 I couldn't hear what the monsters were saying. Wasn't one of them the demon child mask?
12. I enjoyed the randomness. But someday I want to see a man wear a dress onstage at No Shame WITH PRIDE.
13. I continue to be unnerved by the fact that Sid Glissen, Lord Bennington, the Supporting Character, the Dating Game emcee, and Quote Boy all occupy the same body.
14. Oolala - that guitar. I want lessons from that guy.
BTW I think we should define a .5 sometime soon. Because some of those .5's were like full pieces.
1. "MacHeartfelt" by Janani
-Really funny. Though Christina's reactions when he read the 'newspaper' to her made me believe she was going to just jump MacGyver and fuck his brains out. The end was the best part though. Good job Janani.
2. "The Desert Shone Blue" by Arlen Lawson
-The best part was the screaming in the darkness. Somehow everyone knew when the lights cut that the piece was not over. Not with Arlen. He wouldn't leave us lingering like that.
2.5 "Stuffed Tiger" by Eric Landuyt (gift for girlfriend)
- Too long for a .5. I agree with most. The piece should have been just the first line.
3. "My Nightmare: A Piece Written in a Hallucinogenic Stupor" by Eli Wilkinson
-Many of those images do appear in my nightmares though the metaphor about falling into a black sea and not being able to swim came from my opinions about how I am doing in school this semester.
4. "Professor Teeth: A Song" by The C. Everett Poops
-Very good. Very tight.
5. "The Future of Gaming" by Katy Baggs
- I knew she was going to make them make out. The only time we seem to see Mirri and Travis on the stage together it is to do something like that. Dare I say, they are No Shames most popular couple? All in all an excellent piece. Could've gone farther though. Next time take Travis' pants off.
5.5 ""A Very Good Example of My RAZR Wit" by Michael Tabor
-I laughed. but not that hard.
6. "The Third Law" by Professor Science (action/reaction)
-This piece wasn't that bad. Really. It just needed something to hook the audience better.
6.5 "It's My Birthday" by Sad Green Monster (basketball assault)
-Once again should've ended sooner. The whole peeking though part was great then telling Patrick music should be playing was great. But it was also fun to chuck that basketball at Eric. Hopefully it wasn't too hard.
7. "XO" by Christina Gulick (telling off bad friend)
-Good choice in letting Michael read it. Though I was unsure if it was supposed to be that Zany.
8. "Ellis" by Matthew Benyo (dream of Ellis Island)
-Cool. Nightmares are fun.
8.5 "Arlen Quits Smoking" by Mirri
-But it was jesse. not Arlen. Why was it Jesse? Oh well it worked.
9. "An Exercise of Mental Agility" by Timm Sitzmann
-Was it good Timm? Was it good? Funny. But made me think Timm didn't have time to write anything.
9.5 "The Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson
-Good casting.
10. "Sergio Leone" by Evan Schenck
-There should've been a twist. Like Patrick's gun wouldn't work because Evan filled it with Jam! Oh NOZ! either way I liked it.
11. "Adam Reads a List"
-Not Adam's strongest piece and it needed a better closing joke day. Oh well.
11.5 "A Very Serious Moment in Which We Question the State and Direction of Our Lives" by Eric Landuyt (men with sporting ball head experience ennui)
-I couldn't hear it and me and Michael tabor were the closest too them.
12. "Nigger-Sticks" by Two Gooks and a Rape Slave
-Funny text. Kinda Beckett like in some of the randomness. Sorry I changed validated to violated. And Jesse. You should've been naked.
13. "The Invisible Man" by Patrick Ashcraft
-I agree. Good movie. I didn't know if this piece was auto-biographical or not.
14. "Dionysian Lovers" by Jim and Tom
- I enjoyed the guitar playing. I just wish they wouldn't have commandeered Brian's guitar like that.
my interpretation of the 'reaction' line in XO is that it was michael REACTING to the action/reaction piece, two pieces earlier in which the two gentleman took an unnecessary jab at RIGGA the MUTHAFUKIN fart machine. am i right? because when it was over i yelled OH SNAP!
1. "MacHeartfelt" by Janani (MacGyver in love)
The character with the paper seemed odd to me. The fiddler was great, also odd, but functioned well as the joke of a street musician being like a machine, put in a quarter and they play. then they shut off. but the other character... i don't know. her lines didn't seem to have a reference. i remember thinking that her last line was humorous, but i'm at a loss for what it was.
2. "The Desert Shone Blue" by Arlen Lawson (lovers' quarrel, mountain driving)
most satisfying use of theatre b's limited lighting abilities that i have ever seen.
2.5 "Stuffed Tiger" by Eric Landuyt (gift for girlfriend)
wow. that first line. that could (should?) have been it. I can't really say should because i didn't really hear the rest of it, all i could think of was how funny that first line was.
3. "My Nightmare: A Piece Written in a Hallucinogenic Stupor" by Eli Wilkinson (falling, voices taunting)
the edge/falling stuff was interesting but the blocking in general was kind of distracting. I didn't feel engaged. i can't say exactly why though.
4. "Professor Teeth: A Song" by The C. Everett Poops
this was really awesome, not enough fiddling gets done. fiddle and guitar with words is nice. it's nice. the lyrics were silly which is why it was kind of funny, i think. also brian's singing is funny (not in a bad way) but in a expository manner that makes me laugh no matter smile
5. "The Future of Gaming" by Katy Baggs (video game is made of people)
the image of the bodies smashing together was great. were those wii controllers? i want to play a wii.
5.5 ""A Very Good Example of My RAZR Wit" by Michael Tabor (cell phone pun)
HARDY HAR BOYS@
6. "The Third Law" by Professor Science (action/reaction)
it was hard for me to hear the lines. also the guy on the left (stage right) seemed really nervous. i enjoyed the technique of statement/response new statement/response, etc.
6.5 "It's My Birthday" by Sad Green Monster (basketball assault)
Again, something unexpected happened which was just as funny as the actual piece. especially because ashcraft was one of the people yelling stuff.
7. "XO" by Christina Gulick (telling off bad friend)
the vocal inflections made me LAFF. at the first the school/lady/teacherish style. LAFF'd a lot. i don't remember much of the content though, unfortunately.
8. "Ellis" by Matthew Benyo (dream of Ellis Island)
i remember being quite smitten by the idea/lines of being surrounded by representations of the location instead of the location
8.5 "Arlen Quits Smoking" by Mirri (carrot poor tobacco replacement)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
9. "An Exercise of Mental Agility" by Timm Sitzmann (Timm has mental sex with most of us)
mEanLI: "Funny. But made me think Timm didn't have time to write anything."
Sounds like fighting words. Actually, I spent a bit o' time conceiving of the lighting, reactions, interpretations, and meanings of this piece. quite a bit o' time actually. more so than a lot of the other pieces which i have written! (also, I didn't have a lot of time to write anything)
According to the "Pound scale" this is the best piece I have ever done at no shame. How does the pound scale work, you ask? Well, before I could even sit down, two people pounded me saying that they liked it. That beat the previous record of 00.
9.5 "The Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson (rape manners)
easily the rape joke which requires the most thought. kudos.
10. "Sergio Leone" by Evan Schenck (quick-draw vs. quick-toast-theft)
Excellent (physical?) comedy, simple, pleasing to watch, funny.
11. "Adam Reads a List" (events for the company calendar)
pretty good list. bring your daughter to tears day.... i wish that was a real holiday
11.5 "A Very Serious Moment in Which We Question the State and Direction of Our Lives" by Eric Landuyt (men with sporting ball head experience ennui)
when those heads got on and evan tried to talk, i started laughing and couldn't stop. i couldn't hear anything the whole time. when i stopped enough to hear 3 words, i had no context and that made me laugh even more. and then evan laughed, and i laughed even more. god it was great.
12. "Nigger-Sticks" by Two Gooks and a Rape Slave (unhappy people, Jesse in a dress)
i wonder at the implications of the vulgarity. what does that do to the audience as preparation for the piece? how does it change their reactions? their expectations? what they're left with? I felt like when it was over, a lot of people were relieved that there were no jokes about "nigger-sticks" or "gooks" yet were very worried up until that point. i bet some people were ready to praise jesse for not making jokes about it, but prior were ready to scold for the possibility of it! strange.
13. "The Invisible Man" by Patrick Ashcraft (marijuana addict wants to be leading man, invisible)
seemed as if it could have operated without the marijuana subplot. unless that was the reason for not being able to pursue the goal of being the leading man. i preferred the interpretation that the movie has been cast and filmed and it is impossible to change that now. i wouldn't want this to be explicit, but just that this character is the supporting actor, nothing else and there isn't anything he can do about it.
14. "Dionysian Lovers" by Jim and Tom (last minute addition song)
good guitaring, good singing at first but then after 30 seconds i remember thinking that he changed his style and it wasn't as good
you know, this was a very very awesome all-around show. AND it was pretty short. I have a lot of people tell me that they would come to no shame if it wasn't so long. also, i feel like a lot of people (especially me) have a feeling like a full piece HAS to go to 5 minutes. this night, a lot of people seemed to have 2 - 4 minute pieces which was very nice.
Wow, this was such a good show! Afterwards, it seemed like everyone was just... in awe.
1. "MacHeartfelt" by Janani
I like the crazy place in the human subconscious which Janani's pieces occupy. Abstract, poignant, funny and gross.
2. "The Desert Shone Blue" by Arlen Lawson
Arlen often uses a lot of great Southwestern imagery. Did anyone else catch his play, "Desert Pepper", a while back? It was good.
2.5 "Stuffed Tiger" by Eric Landuyt
Eric has a sort of self-deprecating style of writing and performing that works with modest pieces like this, but produces, in my mind anyway, a sort of cognitive dissonance when he does "outrageous" stuff like... well, we all know the pieces I'm referring to.
3. "My Nightmare: A Piece Written in a Hallucinogenic Stupor" by Eli Wilkinson
I didn't see this piece, as I was off looking for my guitar.
4. "Professor Teeth: A Song" by The C. Everett Poops
I wish I could go back to a week ago and tell my past self that this song would not be a total disaster. I would have had a much better week!
5. "The Future of Gaming" by Katy Baggs
Katy's a brilliant comedic actor. Her reaction to having killed Travis and Mirri - the glancing around and fumbling with the Wii controllers - was subtly played and funny.
5.5 ""A Very Good Example of My RAZR Wit" by Michael Tabor
I also did not see this one, but I read the script, and it was a real knee-slapper.
6. "The Third Law" by Professor Science
Good first piece.
6.5 "It's My Birthday" by Sad Green Monster
Refer back to what I said about 2.5.
7. "XO" by Christina Gulick
Michael's falsetto voice, broad gestures and scraggly beard were what made this funny to me.
8. "Ellis" by Matthew Benyo (dream of Ellis Island)
Yay for people getting away from their usual genres.
8.5 "Arlen Quits Smoking" by Mirri
Was it written for Arlen, but he refused to do it? Jesse seemed right for it, though.
9. "An Exercise of Mental Agility" by Timm Sitzmann
Timm, that orgasm that you imagined I had? I faked it!
9.5 "The Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson
I don't remember this one.
10. "Sergio Leone" by Evan Schenck
It's a rare thing at No Shame to see comic acting that's timed so well. I wanted to watch it frame-by-frame!
11. "Adam Reads a List"
There were some very good lines and it was the right length, which is about the best praise you can give list-reading pieces.
11.5 "A Very Serious Moment in Which We Question the State and Direction of Our Lives" by Eric Landuyt
I hope you don't keep those masks in your bedroom, because they'd be the sort of thing that would freak you out if you saw them in the middle of the night when you can't sleep.
12. "Nigger-Sticks" by Two Gooks and a Rape Slave
A bit long. Jesse's appearance at the end was kind of a payoff though.
13. "The Invisible Man" by Patrick Ashcraft
I admit I spent a good portion of it trying to figure out how it was going to turn into a Quote Boy piece. After I figured out that it wasn't, I enjoyed it a lot.
14. "Guitar Stealing Song" by The Two Douches
I won't review their song, but I will review their behavior. When borrowing someone else's musical instrument, it is courteous to ask them first, and also it is kind of rude to be better than them at playing it.
1. "MacHeartfelt" by Janani
As a MacGyver fan I considered this hilarious. The solution which he worked out to fix his personal crisis was a little less mechanical than usual but still very pleasing.
2. "The Desert Shone Blue" by Arlen Lawson (lovers' quarrel, mountain driving)
Wow, scary. Sometimes I think about the implications of a piece on the characters, as if they were real people instead of fictional, and I have to say that crash or no crash, that relationship would pretty much be over after that stunt.
2.5 "Stuffed Tiger" by Eric Landuyt (gift for girlfriend)
I don't think that line was intended to be funny, but Eric somehow hit the audience's collective funny-bone with a rubber hammer.
3. "My Nightmare: A Piece Written in a Hallucinogenic Stupor" by Eli Wilkinson (falling, voices taunting)
That sounds like a horrible nightmare.
4. "Professor Teeth: A Song" by The C. Everett Poops
I was so impressed by the quality of the arrangement that I didn't actually laugh that much at the song. This was probably the most technically outstanding piece I've seen at no-shame.
5. "The Future of Gaming" by Katy Baggs (video game is made of people)
That was cute when they didn't want to make out and their faces were just being ground against one another.
5.5 ""A Very Good Example of My RAZR Wit" by Michael Tabor (cell phone pun)
I don't even remember the pun. Sorry.
6. "The Third Law" by Professor Science (action/reaction)
This piece was pretty okay.
6.5 "It's My Birthday" by Sad Green Monster (basketball assault)
I had thought that the first couple minutes of this piece were Patrick playing a practical joke on Eric, but it turns out that he just plum forgot. When I thought it was intentional, it was incredibly hilarious. When I found out it wasn't, it was still funny but not as funny.
7. "XO" by Christina Gulick (telling off bad friend)
Good performance. Eli, if she didn't want the piece read "zany", she wouldn't have given it to Tabor.
8. "Ellis" by Matthew Benyo (dream of Ellis Island)
Another dream about failure? What gives, No-Shame? This had some good imagery.
8.5 "Arlen Quits Smoking" by Mirri (carrot poor tobacco replacement)
lolz
9. "An Exercise of Mental Agility" by Timm Sitzmann (Timm has mental sex with most of us)
Who was the one person who didn't get any mental sex?
9.5 "The Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson (rape manners)
Wow. Amazingly funny.
10. "Sergio Leone" by Evan Schenck (quick-draw vs. quick-toast-theft)
I also thought the timing went really well and I have to thank Patrick for that. When I wrote the piece I was going to make full use of time and the stare-down would last for like three minutes, but Patrick made it shorter--which I'm pretty sure made it a lot better. Kudos.
11. "Adam Reads a List" (events for the company calendar)
I don't know why everybody laughed at Satanic New Year. That's a for-real holiday.
11.5 "A Very Serious Moment in Which We Question the State and Direction of Our Lives" by Eric Landuyt (men with sporting ball head experience ennui)
Okay... I knew as soon as I put the mask on that nobody was going to be able to hear a word of it. This might work better as a skit for his UITV show, wherein he could overdub the dialogue and it would be audible. What I tried to do was communicate ennui via body language, and I guess as long as people were laughing it was a good piece. I failed to stop myself from laughing one time because I happened to think about what the piece must have looked like from the audience--two insane masks mumbling incoherently.
12. "Nigger-Sticks" by Two Gooks and a Rape Slave (unhappy people, Jesse in a dress)
The best line was "It's my fault there are blind people." Wow.
13. "The Invisible Man" by Patrick Ashcraft (marijuana addict wants to be leading man, invisible)
I thought the line, "I want to be high forever" was one of the saddest I'd heard at No-Shame. The sentiment it expresses is a lot deeper that it seems at face value, or at least that's what I think. Good piece.
14. "Dionysian Lovers" by Jim and Tom (last minute addition song)
The song was okay and the guy made some pretty good guitar noises (I still have to say B. Lenth is better) but the backstory about them being all touchy with his instrument prior to getting permission, and then being really petulant when he got mad at them, was annoying. You don't just grab somebody's musical instrument and fiddle with it without permission, it's really uncool; to give an idea of how basic that rule is, I learned it in like, fifth grade band.
Maybe these musicians came from some hippie musical commune where instruments are held in common.
Hey guys it's one of the highschoolers and I have a question that hopefully someone here can answer:
I bought the Steven Hiro CD (Just Another White Shark) like a while ago when he was selling it during no shame, and I was wondering if anyone had a tracklisting for that CD. Hopefully someone can help. Thanks.
This was apparently the bestest ever noshame of all time and I missed it because I was sick and I have a show this week. This makes me sad. I am hereby DEMANDING that the entire show be repeated this coming week, for my purposes only, for I am KING.
my interpretation of the 'reaction' line in XO is that it was michael REACTING to the action/reaction piece
I was surprised to find that line was actually in the script, thus not an MT ad-lib and probably not a reference to the piece performed earlier in the evening.
BTW I think we should define a .5 sometime soon. Because some of those .5's were like full pieces.
Yeah. My feeling is that a .5 should end within 30 seconds, 45 at the outside. If your piece is a minute long, that's fine, but it's not a .5.
It didn't really hurt us this week, and the whole show was quick and short.
Keep in mind:
-A piece like the sport ball-head conversation could have been rehearsed a couple of times to end within 30 seconds. The speed would have made it something different (less full of ennui?), but you can fit a lot of dialog in a short period of time if you try.
-We probably wouldn't take three separate .5s from anyone on a night with a full order, but it is perfectly legal to submit a script for several short pieces to be performed together. Any set-up/transition time still counts as part of your five minutes.
bring your daughter to tears day.... i wish that was a real holiday
The reason it isn't is that every day is Bring Your Daughter to Tears Day
Satanic New Year. That's a for-real holiday.
Right, but it is not listed in the ACT calendar.
I was wondering if anyone had a tracklisting for that CD.
OSean, if you have iTunes, it should automatically get the track listing from the online database when you put in the CD. If you don't, the tracks are:
Amity
Ben Gardner's Boat
Teeth
Chrissie Watkins
The Indianapolis
A Letter Of Condolence
Fangs
Amity Part 2 / The Complete History Of Alex Kitner
By the way, the first CDs Steve-O gave out were messed up. They didn't have everything listed, and I think they had a track or two repeated. If you have one of these, iTunes won't know the track names, but Steve-O probably wouldn't mind me or someone else burning a copy of the revised CDs he gave out after realizing the error.
I love that album
Janani, this was probably like the second or third time I'd invented some reason to wear a dress to No Shame and I can think of at least one of those times that WAS WITH PRIDE. I wore it from the time I turned in my piece until the show was over, and my piece actually had nothing to do with a woman or a guy pretending to be a woman or a guy in a dress. Completely just because.
Jesse I believe you.
Timm, Christina's sole function in my piece was to give MacGyver the idea of making catgut condoms.
For all: here are some time-tested precautions for mental sexing, real sexing, and all other kinds of sexing (mostly for y'all to share with your lady friends):
1) Jump backwards seven times after sex
2) Induce sneezing after sex
3) Turn the wheel of a grain mill backward four times at midnight
4) Spit in a frog's mouth three times
5) Avoid moonlight
6) Drink mercury, arsenic, and/or strychnine
I was surprised to find that line was actually in the script, thus not an MT ad-lib and probably not a reference to the piece performed earlier in the evening.
It's true. Not a reference at all to anything...just reading what's on the paper.
my interpretation of the 'reaction' line in XO is that it was michael REACTING to the action/reaction piece, two pieces earlier in which the two gentleman took an unnecessary jab at RIGGA the MUTHAFUKIN fart machine. am i right? because when it was over i yelled OH SNAP!
I didn't mind the reference to Rigga...my understanding is that maybe some people didn't like it? Truth be told, I was pleased just that somebody mentioned it.
I don't know how the other people associated with Rigga felt about the reference.
I'm never any good at writing reviews but here goes:
1. MacHeartfelt - This and my piece strained my voice that night. It's kind of fun to fake cry but I can never tell if I'm doing it convincingly. Fun piece, and I can tell Janani spent a few minutes researching old contraceptive methods.
2. The Desert Shone Blue - Arlen always has great imagery, and when the lights went off it was chilling. People don't experiment with lighting possibilities enough. Good work, sir.
2.5. Stuffed Tiger - I can't even remember exactly what the first line was, just that Eric looked surprised that it got such a loud reaction. If Eric put a few black streaks in his hair, maybe he would be a bit more tigery.
3. My Nightmare - I don't remember what was going on until the "You killed her" part because I was waiting for my turn to say that. It seems that Eli has scarier dreams than I do. Once I had a dream that I had a weiner and I was in a monastery that was also a warehouse and I was playing with my weiner, but it wasn't a nightmare, it was just...weird.
4. Professor Teeth - Janani and Brian are both better at their instruments than I will be at anything ever. Adorable. Sometime I'd like to hear a song with them and Jake's trombone.
5. Future of Gaming - I first wanted Mirri and Travis because at first I didn't know how far I would take the making out, and then I kept them because they are adorable. Also, I'd say my piece is ironic because in my piece they DIDN'T want to make out, and IRL I'm sure they make out all the time.
5.5. I don't recall how this went. Sorry, Tabia Majora. I'll review another Tabor piece in its place:
5.75. a long time ago Tabor was a rich Texas oil guy and there was also 'spook juice' - I remember laughing at this.
6. The Third Law - Ah, new people. Keep on writing.
6.5. It's My Birthday - The mistake was funny. Boldly absurdist monster abuse.
7. XO - I remember Tabor's high voice more than the actual content of the letter.
8. Ellis - Short and sweet. For many pieces I can't remember the actual words as much as the feeling it left me with, and this one left me with, "Aww, someone needs a hug."
8.5. Arlen Quits Smoking - Shorter and hilarious.
9. Mental Agility - I wanted to shout "GET THE FUCK OFF THE STAGE!" but I didn't know how many people would know I was quoting Wet Hot American Summer, and I didn't want to accidentally shout over Timm. Building suspense and diffusing it with funnyness.
9.5. The Distinguished Gentleman - At first I didn't realize Arlen's grammar was being corrected, I thought Jesse was asking if Arlen was fit enough to physically dominate him. And then I thought, "Ohhh of course. That thing that teachers do. Ha ha!"
10. Sergio Leone - I recently watched a Leone film for my Intro to Film Sound, so this was meaningful to me. Also, I enjoy the rare dialogueless physical humor piece.
11. Adam Reads a List - Quick and funny. I would have liked to see some of these holidays acted out or elaborated upon. Adam, if you write a sequel, please include Bring Your Daughter to Orgasm Day (which could very well be the same day as Bring Your Daughter to Tears Day).
11.5. Very Serious Moment - It does work better with the voices dubbed, but the masks were still funny, and Evan looked so downcast as that sad football-headed man.
12. Nigger Sticks - Which one was the Rape Slave and which two were the Gooks? I liked that Jesse's bra matched his dress.
13. Invisible Man - A sad, good monologue. I give it a thumbs up. I think audiences are primed to laugh at drug references even when they aren't meant to be funny.
14. Dionysian Lovers - I can't remember what the words were, pretty good guitar playing (though if you're going to play a guitar song, bring a guitar).
>1. "MacHeartfelt" by Janani (MacGyver in love)
This was pretty funny, I do believe. But, as a person that has seen every episode of MacGyver and every TV movie, I'd like to point out that MacGyver never said and is way to cool to ever say "Gadzooks!"
>2. "The Desert Shone Blue" by Arlen Lawson (lovers' quarrel, mountain driving)
AMAZING. This was the best Arlen piece of the semester. I loved the effect of shutting out the headlights and the stage lights going out. It was so good.
>2.5 "Stuffed Tiger" by Eric Landuyt (gift for girlfriend)
This is the second time I can remember that Eric refused to end a piece early when the audience busts out laughing at the very beginning. Remember that time Eli's change fell out of his pocket after the first line of a Landuyt piece and the audience laughed for a very long time? He insisted on going on with this piece as well. I propose the a true showman knows when to end his piece, and it's after the audience laughs that much!
>3. "My Nightmare: A Piece Written in a Hallucinogenic Stupor" by Eli Wilkinson (falling, voices taunting)
When the audience was yelling "You killed her" at Eli, I thought to myself that I could yell it too and nobody would even know the difference. So, I did and Eli looked right at me. I was afraid that he was mad that I was saying it and not supposed to, or, even worse, that my unexpected saying it had thrown him off and he was going to stumble through the rest of the piece now. But he did the rest of the piece without a hitch and I talked to him afterwards and he was cool that I did it.
I like it when people try to "mix it up" at No Shame. I can appreciate people trying to do dramatic things instead of the usual goof. But it doesn't mean I liked the piece!
>4. "Professor Teeth: A Song" by The C. Everett Poops
AMAZING. I want to hear it over and over again! Lumo is a great song writer and composer. Me and Jamal went to a composer's workshop where Lumo had a composition being performed and it was the best piece there. This guy is good. Also, Janani did good playing and my favorite part was when she did the background "Aaaaaaah"s during the song.
This was by far the BEST piece of the night.
>5. "The Future of Gaming" by Katy Baggs (video game is made of people)
Here's my thing: where the hell did Katy get a SECONDE WII CONTROLLER? I've been working like the dickens to get a second controller, but they are hard to get a hold of! Also, I liked this piece. It was very funny and I was worried about my piece following it and that song...I thought I was going to break up the "good."
>5.5 ""A Very Good Example of My RAZR Wit" by Michael Tabor (cell phone pun)
A throwaway. The title was Jake's idea and it was his idea to perform it as a piece after I said it. I think it's a fairly funny joke, but nothing too exciting.
>6. "The Third Law" by Professor Science (action/reaction)
Whateve's people! Talk to my hand!
>6.5 "It's My Birthday" by Sad Green Monster (basketball assault)
Well, I was disappointed. I thought this was going to be about a monster that was too shy to come on stage. The whole audience was pretty into that. We were all reacting to his peaking out through the door and we all thought if we were quiet we could get the monster to come on stage. I thought this was a funny idea for a piece and then Eric yelled out the door and we all realized that that was not what this piece was about and I was sad, because the shy monster idea is such a good idea and it got wasted.
>7. "XO" by Christina Gulick (telling off bad friend)
Fun to do!
>8. "Ellis" by Matthew Benyo (dream of Ellis Island)
I thought this was pretty good. I usually enjoy the pieces of Benyo's where there isn't a lot of talking. (That one where that lady was fighting tiny aliens the whole time and she never talked and then at the end the alien talked and it turned out they were humans and we were rooting for the wrong people the whole time, is a good example.) This one wasn't quite as good as that, but still pretty good. It was a nice "what's the use of blowing each other up?" message and I think it was very poignant to current events.
There was some pretty good tension too, where the woman has that laser rifle and she points it at him and I thought that she might actually shoot him! But then when she puts on the dress, I think it's very sweet. I liked imagining what will happen in the future. Seeing as that they are enemies from different countries in a post-apocalyptic world, and they couldn't talk to each other (why there's not a lot of talking-adds to dramatic effect), I imagine them trying to learn each other's language.
Also, did anybody else think it was kind of gross when he was eating what appeared to be chicken out of a can? How long were those cans there? How long do they keep? Did radiation from the bombs affect this food?
All and all, it was pretty good, but not a "classic" Benyo.
>8.5 "Arlen Quits Smoking" by Mirri (carrot poor tobacco replacement)
This was great and weird. Fat jokes? Way to steal the thing from last week!
>9. "An Exercise of Mental Agility" by Timm Sitzmann (Timm has mental sex with most of us)
Funny.
>9.5 "The Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson (rape manners)
Funny.
>10. "Sergio Leone" by Evan Schenck (quick-draw vs. quick-toast-theft)
Funny.
>11. "Adam Reads a List" (events for the company calendar)
Funny. "Flag Eve" was a great joke.
>11.5 "A Very Serious Moment in Which We Question the State and Direction of Our Lives" by Eric Landuyt (men with sporting ball head experience ennui)
I liked it. It was good. Maybe too muffled through the masks?
>12. "Nigger-Sticks" by Two Gooks and a Rape Slave (unhappy people, Jesse in a dress)
So offensive!
>13. "The Invisible Man" by Patrick Ashcraft (marijuana addict wants to be leading man, invisible)
Like everybody else (?), I was expecting Quote Boy to somehow pop out. He didn't.
>14. "Dionysian Lovers" by Jim and Tom (last minute addition song)
What the hell dudes?
On the subject of point-fives being too long...
The piece with the masks would have been a point-five if it had been performed exactly as written, but I thought that since the show was so short it would be fun to milk the ennui and stretch it out.
Jesse did the jokes on his own. I just wanted him to be mean to someone and try to smoke a carrot and it not be the same. Also yes it was supposed to be arlen though first I thought it should be Jesse but then was like... wait arlen goes through like two packs a day... and wrote it. ANd then because Arlen's a chicken-shit prick fuck (oh snap! Challange!) he didn't want to be in it and Jesse's performance kicked the ass of any performance he could have given
- I think this is all the information anyone needs from me. :)
I would like to reveal my motives for my title and the piece in general. Mind you, this is not an apology or anything close to such a thing.
Firstly, the title and byline popped into my head as I drove home from work and although it was unrelated to the piece, I knew that someone else, not I would be reading the order. Thus, I thought it hillarious that someone other than myself would have to either confront me (probably not going to happen) or read it as written (super-hillarious-big-time-funny! to me).
As for the piece itself, I didn't think it was that offensive to anyone person or group of people. It actually was meant to be a sort of satirization on those overly dramatic, self-involved pieces we see at No Shame. Not that I am above self-involvement (if I were, I would clearly not be making people put up with my malarky every Friday night). Drama & self-realization too has its place and value (i.e. Arlen's, Stangl's, Brooks' monologues or some of Paul Rust's more poignant pieces). However, when it is done with a total and absolute consciousnes of the self as star, purpose, and major thematic pivot (especially when coupled with such easy and trite themes such as loneliness, hopelessness, o desperation to name a few) in such an obvious and overt manner, these pieces tend to be a bore/even a chore for the audience. Thus I was trying to manipulate their base ideas to a painful/humorous extreme in order to make light of writers who take themselves and their feelings far too seriously.
P.S. Michael - Yes, once again I stole from you. However, my instructions were to make fun of Jamal (absent) then to make fun of Jake (who knows?) and the only way I could think to do that and be playful without actually making fun of someone I didn't know enough to make fun of, was to steal your joke of publicly mocking an obviously not-fat person for being fat. A good joke. One which I readily stole. You keeping thinking up the gags, and I'll keep stealing/recycling them. :)
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My piece had Nothing to do with Rigga.
Where are people finding the reference? What was #6 again......Shit I am so confused
MICHAEL!!!!!!
i know exactly what you are talking about! that is the funniest/worst/most ridiculous episode of the twilight zone ever!!! i have seriously thought about doing a no shame piece based on it. you read my mind.
Katy Baggs--
"Once I had a dream that I had a weiner and I was in a monastery that was also a warehouse and I was playing with my weiner, but it wasn't a nightmare, it was just...weird."
"Adam, if you write a sequel, please include Bring Your Daughter to Orgasm Day (which could very well be the same day as Bring Your Daughter to Tears Day)."
This is probably the hottest post ever put on the blog.
Michael Tabor--
where the hell did Katy get a SECONDE WII CONTROLLER? I've been working like the dickens to get a second controller, but they are hard to get a hold of!
Okay for ones, it's called a "wiimote". For twos, you could maybe try eBay or Amazon.
Adam Burton Sends the following info about the City Circle New Play Festival this Thurs/Fri/Sat:
City Circle Theatre Acting Company of Coralville presents their 2007 NEW PLAY FESTIVAL -- but it's a bold lie! For one thing, it should be called the "short play festival" as that's what it really is, AND -- several of these pieces and/or the authors have seen the light of No Shame before. To get specific, the show opens with a piece by Todd Ristau, features a piece by our own Janani Sreenivasin in the stretch heading towards half-time, returns from intermission with a piece by Adam Burton performed by him and Chris Okiishi, and wraps up with a piece written by Chris Okiishi (with characters "Chris" and "Adam" performed by *other people* -- weird, huh?), followed by one written by Jeff Goode! This is a NO SHAME EXTRAVAGANZA disguised as, well, something not called No Shame!
There may be other No Shamers involved as well, sorry if I've not recognized other names from the performer/writer list...
SHOW INFO
Cost: $10 at the door, or call the Coralville Rec Center for advance/credit purchases: 319-248-1750
When: Feb 22-24; Thurs 8pm, Fri/Sat 8:30pm
Where: The Children's Museum at Coral Ridge Mall (at the edge of the food court at the exit by the ice rink)
And no, this show is not geared towards children -- City Circle just happens to be in between venues at the moment...
COME SEE THE SHOW!!
I had another Wiimote pre-ordered with the console and Zelda, I think. Or at least I had a second one from the time I got the Wii. Do you know there's a picture on the Internet of a lady putting a Wiimote in her vagina?
If you get one off eBay, don't get that one.
What if that's the one he wants?
I looked for that picture, I couldn't find it.
Katy, how do you like that Zelda game?
Man that was a fun show last Friday! Best show of the season by far! (I can't wait for tomorrow, let's hope it's just as good!) Anyway, this is the 1st show I've reviewed, here goes:
1. "MacHeartfelt" by Janani
-Really funny. Though Christina's reactions when he read the 'newspaper' to her made me believe she was going to just jump MacGyver and fuck his brains out. The end was the best part though. Good job Janani.
2. "The Desert Shone Blue" by Arlen Lawson
-The best part was the screaming in the darkness. Somehow everyone knew when the lights cut that the piece was not over. Not with Arlen. He wouldn't leave us lingering like that.
2.5 "Stuffed Tiger" by Eric Landuyt (gift for girlfriend)
- Too long for a .5. I agree with most. The piece should have been just the first line.
3. "My Nightmare: A Piece Written in a Hallucinogenic Stupor" by Eli Wilkinson
-Many of those images do appear in my nightmares though the metaphor about falling into a black sea and not being able to swim came from my opinions about how I am doing in school this semester.
4. "Professor Teeth: A Song" by The C. Everett Poops
-Very good. Very tight.
5. "The Future of Gaming" by Katy Baggs
- I knew she was going to make them make out. The only time we seem to see Mirri and Travis on the stage together it is to do something like that. Dare I say, they are No Shames most popular couple? All in all an excellent piece. Could've gone farther though. Next time take Travis' pants off.
5.5 ""A Very Good Example of My RAZR Wit" by Michael Tabor
-I laughed. but not that hard.
6. "The Third Law" by Professor Science (action/reaction)
-This piece wasn't that bad. Really. It just needed something to hook the audience better.
6.5 "It's My Birthday" by Sad Green Monster (basketball assault)
-Once again should've ended sooner. The whole peeking though part was great then telling Patrick music should be playing was great. But it was also fun to chuck that basketball at Eric. Hopefully it wasn't too hard.
7. "XO" by Christina Gulick (telling off bad friend)
-Good choice in letting Michael read it. Though I was unsure if it was supposed to be that Zany.
8. "Ellis" by Matthew Benyo (dream of Ellis Island)
-Cool. Nightmares are fun.
8.5 "Arlen Quits Smoking" by Mirri
-But it was jesse. not Arlen. Why was it Jesse? Oh well it worked.
9. "An Exercise of Mental Agility" by Timm Sitzmann
-Was it good Timm? Was it good? Funny. But made me think Timm didn't have time to write anything.
9.5 "The Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson
-Good casting.
10. "Sergio Leone" by Evan Schenck
-There should've been a twist. Like Patrick's gun wouldn't work because Evan filled it with Jam! Oh NOZ! either way I liked it.
11. "Adam Reads a List"
-Not Adam's strongest piece and it needed a better closing joke day. Oh well.
11.5 "A Very Serious Moment in Which We Question the State and Direction of Our Lives" by Eric Landuyt (men with sporting ball head experience ennui)
-I couldn't hear it and me and Michael tabor were the closest too them.
12. "Nigger-Sticks" by Two Gooks and a Rape Slave
-Funny text. Kinda Beckett like in some of the randomness. Sorry I changed validated to violated. And Jesse. You should've been naked.
13. "The Invisible Man" by Patrick Ashcraft
-I agree. Good movie. I didn't know if this piece was auto-biographical or not.
14. "Dionysian Lovers" by Jim and Tom
- I enjoyed the guitar playing. I just wish they wouldn't have commandeered Brian's guitar like that.
Tabor, I DIG Zelda, although I haven't played it in a while and I think I'm still at the horseback battle in Hyrule Field. I'll get back to it sometime.
ummm... that last review is just my review reposted. WTF.
"ummm... that last review is just my review reposted. WTF."
Eli, I must apologize for that, and I confess that it was I, Malc Genc, who reposted your review. In fact, I Malc Genc, have posted under "false names" a couple times now (Mumphrey, for example). I feel I owe all of you a deep apology, but ya see, it felt like all you No Shame "cool kids" didn't have time for old Malc. It, maybe felt like, that you didn't even want to see Malc's comedy skit about a telephone pizza! I guess I was just angry, and I expressed it in an innappropriate manner. I understand if any of you are upset with me, and I would be happy to discuss it, but I feel any such discussions should be moved OFF THIS BOARD, which should be reserved soley for NO SHAME RELATED posts.
"ummm... that last review is just my review reposted. WTF."
Eli, you were a little out of line with your last post in that respect, but under the circumstances I can kind of understand your reaction, though really, it's kind of like "fule for the fire". Anyway, I just wanted to set all this to rest, and if any of you feel the need to talk to me more about this, please use my own personal blog, and don't clog up this website any further. Thanks, and see you at the big show!
Malc Genc
A telephone pizza? I'd love to see that! I hope the hot cheese doesn't burn your ear! OUCH!
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