IC 3-9-07
Open the comments to read the order and respond to the show.
We'll be back in 2 weeks, Friday, March 23.
We'll be back in 2 weeks, Friday, March 23.
Labels: Iowa City
posted by AdamEggHahn at 11:12 AM
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17 Comments:
1. "Welcome" by Arlen Lawson (disturbing wedding, a birth)
2. "Poor Richard's Jokenac!" by Michael Tabor ("improv": Franklin meets Patton)
3. "I'm Not Lazy" by Cory Hate/Haight (toenails, war on terror, etc.)
3.5 "Two Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson (we still have options for our misogyny)
4. There's a Tiskey in My Whiskey" by Two Guys and Janani (southwestern-style song about drinking)
5. "Oingo Boingo, Kajagoogoo, Chumbawamba, & Spandau Ballet, Too!" by Andrew R. Juhl (love, loss, lust through nonsense song lyrics)
6. "Ooh, Valhalla is a Place on Earth" by Katy Baggs (video games, hideous lives, vocabulary lessons)
7. "Take the Forward Pass" by The Smiling Method (ungrammatical inspirational monologue)
7.5 "All Right, Okay" by Jake Gontero (2 guys are repetitive, enthused)
8. "The Cottage Cafe and Bakery" by Janani (blind man wants the davenport)
9. "Wire Ring" by Adam Hahn (heart attack at WalMart)
10. "If the Bitch Didn't Fuck Me, Her Kids Wouldn't Eat" by Jon Shelton (toy light sabers, at war and in love)
11. "Nigger-Sticks 2: The Niggering" by 2 More Gooks, Another Rape Slave, 3 Spics, A Chink, angelo the WOP, and the Kike Who Funds the Nonsense. Directed by McDrinkey McDrunk & Anne "Lumpy Tits" Frank (hateful Jesse as an effeminate male)
12. "Stiletto Cherries" by Mirri (disappointing night out with a friend)
12.5 "Granite State" by Adam Hahn (new state motto)
13. "Lost Generation" by Eli Wilkinson (build-up to vehicular homicide)
14. "The Second Session With Dr. Hartley" by Patrick Ashcraft (lustful therapist)
Adam Hahn smells like Jesus... they didn't have showers then. So he smells bad!
Adam Hahn smells like Jesus... they didn't have showers then. So he smells bad!
Snotnosed, Jesus is being cleaned and dried off with hair all the time in the Bible. You have no idea what you're talking about.
1. "Welcome" by Arlen Lawson
This told an excellent story and I enjoyed it immensely. However, I believe Arlen made an error during the bit about delivering the baby, when Max looks up into his wife's sex as the baby slides out and reflects how he'll never be going there again, Arlen substitituted "Larry" (father of the bride) for "Max" (groom). This is always a dangerous with Arlen's staccato, never-pausing delivery style. I don't consider it a problem or that it subtracted from the piece--it's just something I remembered. Cheers.
2. "Poor Richard's Jokenac!" by Michael Tabor
I wonder if it was a conscious gag to have Brian look and act more like Douglas MacArthur than George S. Patton who he was actually playing. I hope it was. This piece was delightfully absurd.
3. "I'm Not Lazy" by Cory Hate/Haight
I did not care for this.
3.5 "Two Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson
I greatly enjoyed the return of the Distinguished Gentlemen, and the joke was excellent.
4. There's a Tiskey in My Whiskey" by Two Guys and Janani
Janani's fiddlin' struck me as really sublime in this song, even more so than the previous appearances of her violin. Again, an excellent composition well-performed. The joke about the "rayson da-etter" floored me.
5. "Oingo Boingo, Kajagoogoo, Chumbawamba, & Spandau Ballet, Too!" by Andrew R. Juhl
I did not care for this either.
6. "Ooh, Valhalla is a Place on Earth" by Katy Baggs
My favorite part of this was how exquisitely horrible our lives were.
7. "Take the Forward Pass" by The Smiling Method
Funny, yes.
7.5 "All Right, Okay" by Jake Gontero
Those guys were really ready to go!
8. "The Cottage Cafe and Bakery" by Janani
I enjoyed this story each time I heard it, and I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in it.
9. "Wire Ring" by Adam Hahn
My roommate told me a story about one time he was in a Wal-Mart, where an older man fainted in an aisle and struck his head on a metal shelf. Apparently he laid there bleeding for several minutes without aid.
10. "If the Bitch Didn't Fuck Me, Her Kids Wouldn't Eat" by Jon Shelton
11. "Nigger-Sticks 2: The Niggering" by 2 More Gooks, Another Rape Slave, 3 Spics, A Chink, angelo the WOP, and the Kike Who Funds the Nonsense. Directed by McDrinkey McDrunk & Anne "Lumpy Tits" Frank
I've known people like that.
12. "Stiletto Cherries" by Mirri
This was a good performance.
12.5 "Granite State" by Adam Hahn
Hah.
13. "Lost Generation" by Eli Wilkinson
It was the Duke boys.
14. "The Second Session With Dr. Hartley" by Patrick Ashcraft
I was sort of disappointed with this piece. Though good, it did not live up to the high standard that Patrick has established for himself this semester.
2. "Poor Richard's Jokenac!" by Michael Tabor
I wonder if it was a conscious gag to have Brian look and act more like Douglas MacArthur than George S. Patton who he was actually playing.
I'd like to make it known that no, it was not an intentional joke. In my excitement at being cast in Michael's piece, I confused Patton with MacArthur, and since I'd spent so much time making a little paper MacArthur pipe, Michael didn't want to break it to me that I was thinking of the wrong general. But I mean, isn't MacArthur a funnier person than Patton anyway?
>1. "Welcome" by Arlen Lawson (disturbing wedding, a birth)
I enjoyed this pretty well, but I don't think it was as strong as the other monologues Arlen has been performing lately. Which, you know, doesn't mean anything.
>2. "Poor Richard's Jokenac!" by Michael Tabor ("improv": Franklin meets Patton)
Before the show Lumo asked, "How good is this?" and I replied: "Eh...well...it's very, very weird that's about all I'll account for it."
>3. "I'm Not Lazy" by Cory Hate/Haight (toenails, war on terror, etc.)
Oh, geez! This was B-A-D BAD. Cory's performance was very bland and his "jokes" were either offensive to me OR more just observations than jokes. Don't worry, though, Cory, it wasn't the worst piece of the night the worst piece of the night goes to:
>5. "Oingo Boingo, Kajagoogoo, Chumbawamba, & Spandau Ballet, Too!" by Andrew R. Juhl (love, loss, lust through nonsense song lyrics)
Pookman's back! With a vengence! AND he's the same ol' loveable terrible writer and performer. This was long and tedious and I hated, hated it. I've seen the "song lyrics as lines" piece before (what springs to mind first is Aprille Clarke's piece made entirely out of Prince lyrics) and I've seen it done better (what springs to mind is Aprille Clarke's...). But this was just not fun to sit through. One unfunny joke...for 5 minutes.
>3.5 "Two Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson (we still have options for our misogyny)
I like the two distinguished Gentlemen pieces.
>4. There's a Tiskey in My Whiskey" by Two Guys and Janani (southwestern-style song about drinking)
Good band name! Good song! "Everybody sings it!" was great.
>6. "Ooh, Valhalla is a Place on Earth" by Katy Baggs (video games, hideous lives, vocabulary lessons)
I'm already sick of writing a review! I liked this!
>7. "Take the Forward Pass" by The Smiling Method (ungrammatical inspirational monologue)
Funny!
>7.5 "All Right, Okay" by Jake Gontero (2 guys are repetitive, enthused)
Squishy!
>8. "The Cottage Cafe and Bakery" by Janani (blind man wants the davenport)
Funny, but I saw Shelton "look" at Janani while he was talking to her. Way to pretend you're a blind man!
>9. "Wire Ring" by Adam Hahn (heart attack at WalMart)
I liked it. It made me sad.
>10. "If the Bitch Didn't Fuck Me, Her Kids Wouldn't Eat" by Jon Shelton (toy light sabers, at war and in love)
Shelton, we have to talk about an idea for a piece that I have for us to write together.
>11. "Nigger-Sticks 2: The Niggering" by 2 More Gooks, Another Rape Slave, 3 Spics, A Chink, angelo the WOP, and the Kike Who Funds the Nonsense. Directed by McDrinkey McDrunk & Anne "Lumpy Tits" Frank (hateful Jesse as an effeminate male)
Funny.
>12. "Stiletto Cherries" by Mirri (disappointing night out with a friend)
This one was a pager!
>12.5 "Granite State" by Adam Hahn (new state motto)
I get it!
>13. "Lost Generation" by Eli Wilkinson (build-up to vehicular homicide)
Pretty good!
>14. "The Second Session With Dr. Hartley" by Patrick Ashcraft (lustful therapist)
Funny!
Well...there's my review...I sort of petered out there in the middle, but I wasn't having fun writing it.
3. "I'm Not Lazy" by Cory Hate/Haight (toenails, war on terror, etc.)
I've said this before, and I'll say it again. When you're doing a stand-up monologue like this, you NEED to have it memorized. You NEED to be able to look at an engage/judge your audience. I would love to see what could have been if Cory knew this piece by heart and hadn't lost his place three times.
Tabor mentioned: Aprille Clarke's piece made entirely out of Prince lyrics.
I have a fond memory of this piece because someone in it said "I want to fuck the taste out of your mouth" and it made people gasp.
Also, I'm pretty sure I blew my cue in Shelton's Star Wars piece, I was zoning out behind the curtain because I was trying to decide what to do with the lightsaber.
6. For this piece I researched the differences between determinism and fatalism, and then decided I didn't care because I'm not a damned Calvinist.
8. "The Cottage Cafe and Bakery" - Evan was whispering real stuff, but I just couldn't hear him so I was merely miming conversation. NOW YOU KNOW.
And Arlen Lawson is right when he says that chauvinism is not the only way to enforce the inherent inferiority of women. Check out Laura Mulvey's points on "the male gaze," and then practice it in real life, in the library, at restaurants, wherever. Women will find you creepy.
On Jesse's piece: Maybe one night we can all conspire to have offensively-titled pieces, just to make Adam Hahn say horrible things.
Katy--
"8. "The Cottage Cafe and Bakery" - Evan was whispering real stuff, but I just couldn't hear him so I was merely miming conversation. NOW YOU KNOW."
One of the things we could have learned from piece #5 is that a fake conversation in gibberish words looks bizarre and unnatural. I was mostly talking about other pieces I had already seen that night.
I'd like to say that my performance was less than unacceptable. It was embarrassing for myself and the people watching. This is the 10th time I've attempted to do stand up and I've never used a script...until now. BIG MISTAKE. I thought that since everyone else uses scripts, it shouldn't be a problem. IT WAS. If I ever attempt to do stand up comedy again at No Shame and I walk onto the stage with a script, I give you the right to tackle me and drag me off stage. Good thing I'm not a theatre student...
Cory, I don't think you should be discouraged, though. I say, what the hell, go ahead and do more. Learn from your performance and hopefully you can improve on your next outing. And that's what it's all about!
Cory, I totally echo Tabor's comments.
My piece went over like a lead balloon with only a few giggles. The piece I did the previous week didn't do much better. But that shouldn't stop me from writing new pieces and trying new things.
And your night off shouldn't stop you, either.
Hell, learning from your mistakes is kind of what No Shame is built on.
++Andrew (not Pookman)
2. "Poor Richard's Jokenac!" by Michael Tabor
Framing this as "improv" added an extra layer by mocking its own structure: abritrary celebrity/historical figure 1 meets abritrary celebrity/historical figure 2 in an arbitrary setting. The scene itself felt long, static, and not particularly funny.
3. "I'm Not Lazy" by Cory Hate/Haight
This was not a good piece.
Don't joke about 9/11 and The Holocaust on stage unless you're sure it's worth it.
I thought that since everyone else uses scripts, it shouldn't be a problem.
You know what? Nearly every No Shame piece would be better memorized than script-in-hand.
Also, admitting as you take the stage that your piece isn't as good as what it follows doesn't help. I'd rather watch you believe in your work and perform your bad piece confidently than be given permission to ignore you.
5. "Oingo Boingo, Kajagoogoo, Chumbawamba, & Spandau Ballet, Too!" by Andrew R. Juhl
Extra points to Andrew for footnoting the sources of the nonsense lyrics in his script. Points off for mangling "Toora Loora Toora Loo-Rye Aye"
A bit longer than it needed to be, but not as terrible as Tabor would have you believe. From behind the curtain, it seemed like the audience enjoyed parts of it.
Am I the only one who thinks Andrew's girlfriend looks and sounds like she could be Aprille Clarke's little sister?
6. "Ooh, Valhalla is a Place on Earth" by Katy Baggs
Fun, and educational. Ended at exactly the right time.
7. "Take the Forward Pass" by The Smiling Method
We've seen the Flabbergasted Jakers bit, and this didn't cover any new ground.
8. "The Cottage Cafe and Bakery" by Janani
I gather this was based on a true story? It had that mix of futility, humor, and random malice common in real life. I liked the use of "davenport", which is a term I remember my parents applying to furniture, then abruptly abandoning sometime in the late nineteen-eighties.
10. "If the Bitch Didn't Fuck Me, Her Kids Wouldn't Eat" by Jon Shelton
Yes, the title of this piece was something I said during a conversation about an hour before the show. Believe it or not, it was appropriate in context, the irony completely clear as Arlen and I discussed pornography and the abhorent treatment of women therein.
It sure was fun to watch Katy masturbate in this piece.
11. Jesse's piece
Maybe one night we can all conspire to have offensively-titled pieces, just to make Adam Hahn say horrible things.
Yes, let's do that. On Friday, March 23rd. When I'm in Milwaukee.
14. "The Second Session With Dr. Hartley" by Patrick Ashcraft
I love being cast in this kind of thing, especially opposite Patrick. I wish we would have walked through the blocking once before the show, but Patrick does such a great job of adjusting to whatever imprecise physical shit I do.
I think that every No Shame script I've ever been handed using the word "Masturbate" has mispelled it. M-A-S-T-U-R-B-A-T-E! Masturbate!
"It sure was fun to watch Katy masturbate in this piece."
I didn't know how I was going to do it until I was onstage, and then I ended up riding the lightsaber like a hobby horse.
I had to look up the motto of New Hampshire later to get 12.5.
I was tickled by 7.5. It was so simple, but then I started to wonder what conscious part of my brain I'd have to turn off to keep that kind of thing going, and I think I wouldn't be able to pull of such a thing like Flabbertaborjakers do.
My advice to the people whose pieces weren't well received is to edit, revise, get a second opinion (someone not afraid to criticize), edit, revise. Try being concise. You don't have to throw every idea into a piece and fill up your whole five minutes. The unfunniness of a piece is exponentiated when it's also too long.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my frustrated breakdown. I just need to put more effort into my pieces; the jokes and the performance.
1. "Welcome" by Arlen Lawson (disturbing wedding, a birth)
Good, not great. ...Just kidding! it was great!
2. "Poor Richard's Jokenac!" by Michael Tabor ("improv": Franklin meets Patton)
Framing this as "improv" added an extra layer by mocking its own structure: abritrary celebrity/historical figure 1 meets abritrary celebrity/historical figure 2 in an arbitrary setting. The scene itself felt long, static, and not particularly funny.
3. "I'm Not Lazy" by Cory Hate/Haight (toenails, war on terror, etc.)
This was a good piece.
3.5 "Two Distinguished Gentlemen" by Arlen Lawson (we still have options for our misogyny)
Extra points to Andrew. Points. As terrible as you believe. From behind, i enjoyed it.
I think Andrew looks and sounds little?
6. "Ooh, Valhalla is a Place on Earth" by Katy Baggs
Fun ended.
7. "Take the Forward Pass" by The Smiling Method
We see gas cover you.
8. "The Cottage Cafe and Bakery" by Janani
I ate this watery mix of tumor and lice in real life. I liked the taste.
10. "If the Bitch Didn't Fuck Me, Her Kids Wouldn't Eat" by Jon Shelton
Yes, I said believe it is appropriate, pornography and the abhorent treatment of women therein.
It sure was fun to masturbate in this piece.
11. Jesse's piece
Maybe one night we can all conspire to make Adam Hahn a horrible thing. Yes, let's do that. I'm in.
14. "The Second Session With Dr. Hartley" by Patrick Ashcraft
I love the job of dusting shit.
"Masturbate" . MASTURBATE! Masturbate!
Late Announcement:
Hey all, I forgot to give this to the hosts last Friday.
My cover band, The Ugly Truths, is playing the Mill on Tuesday, March 20, starting sometime between 9-9:30. Cover is $5. We have requested that it be an all-ages show, but we won't really know until then. You should stop by anyway.
Reasons to stop by:
We cover good songs. We do cool arrangements of Madonna, the Zombies, the Stones, Nouvelle Vague, and the Thong Song in our famous bluegrass version. We feature a singing hacksaw. I play violin. Our bassist, Elena Passarello, is a show unto herself. The costumes will be unforgettable.
You will discover the meaning of life.
Thanks!
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