Iowa City 4/30/10 Dead Week
We had one hell of a show last night. I would go so far as to call it special. We laughed, we cried, and we said our goodbyes. (Well those of us who are leaving) That being said, here is the order:
1 & 2) Two Songs -by Your Favorite Band
3) The Sins of Mr. Mayhue -by Kaz
3.5) A Friendly Reminder -by Calvin
4) The Good Word -by Dylan C.
5) Three People are Talking at the Same Time -by Asher Stuhlman, Spencer Abbe, and Morgan Miller
6) Dear No Shame -A. Theresa
7) Things I Have Observed -by Penny
8) The Brothers Awesome -by Spencer Abbe
9) Theme to the Buttercream Gang -by the Ghost of Michael Tabor (Who, incidentally has never seen the Buttercream Gang)
9.5) The Hottest Thing Ever Imagined -by Calvin
10) I Need You -by Eric Landuyt
11) An Entirely Unoriginal Piece -by the First Player
12) A Rant about What it means to Live with Schizophrenia -by David Rout
12.5) Wile E. Astronomy -by Katy Baggs
13) Sky Patrol Episode IV: The Season Finale -by Sky Patrol
14) Poems My Friend Wrote Whilst in an Altered State -Read by Jordi
15) Ode to Cody 2 -by Eli Wilkinson
16) From All of Us -by Luke Christensen
I will post these in the comments as well. See you all at Best Of! Next Week!
1 & 2) Two Songs -by Your Favorite Band
3) The Sins of Mr. Mayhue -by Kaz
3.5) A Friendly Reminder -by Calvin
4) The Good Word -by Dylan C.
5) Three People are Talking at the Same Time -by Asher Stuhlman, Spencer Abbe, and Morgan Miller
6) Dear No Shame -A. Theresa
7) Things I Have Observed -by Penny
8) The Brothers Awesome -by Spencer Abbe
9) Theme to the Buttercream Gang -by the Ghost of Michael Tabor (Who, incidentally has never seen the Buttercream Gang)
9.5) The Hottest Thing Ever Imagined -by Calvin
10) I Need You -by Eric Landuyt
11) An Entirely Unoriginal Piece -by the First Player
12) A Rant about What it means to Live with Schizophrenia -by David Rout
12.5) Wile E. Astronomy -by Katy Baggs
13) Sky Patrol Episode IV: The Season Finale -by Sky Patrol
14) Poems My Friend Wrote Whilst in an Altered State -Read by Jordi
15) Ode to Cody 2 -by Eli Wilkinson
16) From All of Us -by Luke Christensen
I will post these in the comments as well. See you all at Best Of! Next Week!
Labels: Iowa City
posted by Eli at 2:11 PM
8 Comments:
The Order (for your reviewing pleasure):
1 & 2) Two Songs -by Your Favorite Band
3) The Sins of Mr. Mayhue -by Kaz
3.5) A Friendly Reminder -by Calvin
4) The Good Word -by Dylan C.
5) Three People are Talking at the Same Time -by Asher Stuhlman, Spencer Abbe, and Morgan Miller
6) Dear No Shame -A. Theresa
7) Things I Have Observed -by Penny
8) The Brothers Awesome -by Spencer Abbe
9) Theme to the Buttercream Gang -by the Ghost of Michael Tabor (Who, incidentally has never seen the Buttercream Gang)
9.5) The Hottest Thing Ever Imagined -by Calvin
10) I Need You -by Eric Landuyt
11) An Entirely Unoriginal Piece -by the First Player
12) A Rant about What it means to Live with Schizophrenia -by David Rout
12.5) Wile E. Astronomy -by Katy Baggs
13) Sky Patrol Episode IV: The Season Finale -by Sky Patrol
14) Poems My Friend Wrote Whilst in an Altered State -Read by Jordi
15) Ode to Cody 2 -by Eli Wilkinson
16) From All of Us -by Luke Christensen
1) I was in this - no comment.
3)
3.5) A good .5.
4) This wasn't especially funny and the setup was unnecessarily straight.
5) I was in this - but I hadn't seen Spencer's or Morgan's piece in advance. I sorta wish we had all been at the same volume, but I think it worked out. I loved Spencer's monologue here.
6) Goodbye.
7) The decision to give Eric J. this piece was a very good one indeed.
8) Having never read the The Brothers Karamazov, this didn't really intrigue me much. Standard sci-fi-anime fare?
9) I am preemptively nominating this for Best of No Shame Fall 2010, Spring 2010, AND Fall 2011.
9.5)
10) I'm not sure if this was addressed to anyone. That missing detail made it harder for me to get a perspective on the piece.
11) The piece's name could've been better chosen - the piece itself was pretty good.
12) Poignant and meaningful. Thank you for delivering it.
14) The imagery here was impressive. The delivery did a good job of conveying it, too.
15) Okay, you got me.
16) Goodbye... or BEST BYE?
Here's my review!
1&2) I got kinda busy putting clown stuff together to really pay attention. That said, I think that my favorite band is only good for one song at a time. I thought the second one was better, but it was still overload.
3) A simple few things could have helped this one out a lot. I would have liked to have seen the actors down center, the guy with the smooth voice running the monte game needed to speak up and I think that and a few cuts would make the piece much stronger.
4) I thought the second chart looked a little like a boner so I enjoyed that. Then I wanted the entire thing to be anti masturbation, but laden with sexual references of all sorts. Overall I thought it was a simple idea with a strong performance. I would have liked to have been surprised more, but I wasn't disappointed either.
5) I only heard Spencer. And I guess vaginas are funny.
6) I like the sentimentality that comes about at people's last shows. The ones in years past with hahn, and timm, and greg were especially heartwarming. I hope that sort of tradition comes back more.
7) I wasn't a fan of this one so much, but I think Eric did a pretty good job with it.
8) I don't know the Brothers Karamozov so I had to take this at face value and enjoy the Gundam & Ender's Game stuff juxtaposed with the Russian names. I got the feeling that the two who were fighting would become lovers in the end, but they didn't. Sad
9) I had fun
10) I liked this. I liked the change of pace, and the sincerity in the piece. I did find myself wondering what the circumstances he would be saying these things in such an uncensored way. I imagined i must have been at her funeral. Funeral or not, I think choosing a specific moment before would have helped get us in the piece better.
11) Thespis! Vaginers are funny once again. Props for having the thing memorized and well rehearsed.
12) This went well over the 5 minutes, but I didn't want to bring the lights down on the piece without first giving it some sort of chance to resolve. I think it did resolve nicely. Sure it might've broken an arbitrary rule, but I used my judgement and I think any of the other board members wold have done the same thing. I'm glad David's doing better
13) I apologize for my performance in this. I read my highlighted lines, but not the stage directions! Here is an example of when the script formatting workshop I've been talking about would have come in handy.
14) These were pretty cool. It seemed like a drug-induced mad libbing of a well structured poetry piece. It was well delivered and the nonsense was pleasing. I was sort of looking for an arc or a connection between the two pieces, and didn't get one. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did.
15) I thought it was really funny when Eli grabbed his junk and lifted it, then dropped his underwear so we saw the void of where his genitals should have been and we all still acted like we saw it. We all saw "oh!" and covered our faces and had a start.
16) I'll miss it.
1 & 2) Two Songs -by Your Favorite Band
These were funny and catchy. I had the "Boutras Ghali" song stuck in my head the rest of the night, I agree though that 2 songs back to back was a bit much.
3) The Sins of Mr. Mayhue -by Kaz
This was an interesting concept, and a funny piece, but it needed more energy and volume.
3.5) A Friendly Reminder -by Calvin
Each line made me giggle hysterically anew.
4) The Good Word -by Dylan C.
As someone who tends to automatically tune out people who start talking about or quoting the bible, I would have preferred less fluff in the buildup so we could get to the good stuff. That being said, I laughed so hard at the end of this.
5) Three People are Talking at the Same Time -by Asher Stuhlman, Spencer Abbe, and Morgan Miller
There was a lot of loud vaginas, the penises were rather quiet in comparison. Perhaps this is some sort of social commentary. Or maybe it was just yelling about genitalia in classical literature form.
6) Dear No Shame -A. Theresa
I already miss No Shame as well
7) Things I Have Observed -by Penny
I have observed this piece.
8) The Brothers Awesome -by Spencer Abbe
Unfamiliar w/ the book, but enjoy futuristic russian battles
9) Theme to the Buttercream Gang -by the Ghost of Michael Tabor (Who, incidentally has never seen the Buttercream Gang)
I don't understand, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. This is still stuck in my head, and I'm quite alright with that.
9.5) The Hottest Thing Ever Imagined -by Calvin
Eli's miming of tongue nipples amused me.
10) I Need You -by Eric Landuyt
I wish there was more serious stuff at No Shame. Laughing's great, but it's nice to feel other emotions once in a while too. The only problem is I have to fight the compulsion to run and hug people after each one.
11) An Entirely Unoriginal Piece -by the First Player
VAGINAS!
12) A Rant about What it means to Live with Schizophrenia -by David Rout
Speaking of fighting the urge to run and give hugs...
12.5) Wile E. Astronomy -by Katy Baggs
That painting would come in handy in real life.
13) Sky Patrol Episode IV: The Season Finale -by Sky Patrol
I find these funnier each week.
14) Poems My Friend Wrote Whilst in an Altered State -Read by Jordi
"Jesus nailing babies to crucifixes." Wow. That whole thing was awful--ly hilarious.
15) Ode to Cody 2 -by Eli Wilkinson
Maybe you left the piece you were looking for in your other anus.
16) From All of Us -by Luke Christensen
Awww, I'm going to miss all 4 of them. :(
1 & 2) Two Songs -by Your Favorite Band
I loved the first one, and while I liked the second one, I kind of wish the boys would have quit while they were ahead. The first one was a great parody (the "Smoke on the Water" trombone solo was EXCELLENT!), and transitioning from a song I knew was joke to an original that I took more seriously kind of short-changed the second song in my opinion. Also, "Buddhist Nudist" suffered more from the technical problems with the drum machine (there was a noticable delay between James striking the drums and the machine playing the sound). Since the first song was meant to be goofy, the occassionally muddled tempo didn't seem like such a big flaw, but on "Buddhist Nudist", Eric and Asher were clearly struggling to keep time since they were hearing two different beats and James trying to adjust to them didn't help matters any. By itself, "Buddhist Nudist" would have been okay, but doing it immediately after "Butrous Ghali" made everyone compare the two, and one clearly came out as the winner.
3) The Sins of Mr. Mayhue -by Kaz
I wasn't overwhelmed by this piece, but I wasn't underwhelmed either. Consider me whelmed.
3.5) A Friendly Reminder -by Calvin
I'm surprised people liked this one as much as they did. I thought it was funny on paper, but I figured people would be somewhat bemused by it. Instead, they loved it.
4) The Good Word -by Dylan C.
I really enjoyed the use of props. The "God hates porn and masturbation kills kittens" joke was a little old to me, but the acting was energetic and committed and made the piece a success.
5) Three People are Talking at the Same Time -by Asher Stuhlman, Spencer Abbe, and Morgan Miller
Even if this one had been just Spencer's "Tale of Two Vaginas", it still would have been a smashing success. His voice was a lot stronger than Asher's and Morgan's (I heard some of Morgan's penis remarks, but Asher was totally unintelligible to me). On that front, I guess the concept of three people talking at once failed because one clearly drowned out the others, but it was still very fun overall.
6) Dear No Shame -A. Theresa
This was sweet and sincere, but I was left wanting more. It might have worked better if Theresa had just shared her favorite memories and dispensed with the breakup letter device. Her reminiscences were really genuine, but then it felt like she had to reign herself in and force the "it's me, not you" stuff.
7) Things I Have Observed -by Penny
Not as good as "Things You Should Know About Me", but still enjoyable in a bizarre way. The bathroom one stood out the most. I was kind of thrown by the ending; did Penny and Calvin break up or something? I know the debate over whether they are one person or not is still ongoing, but maybe this piece was just an excuse for Penny to take out her/his anger on Calvin in front of everyone.
8) The Brothers Awesome -by Spencer Abbe
This was fun (although I think Dostoevsky might be spinning in his grave). Between this and "Tale of Two Vaginas", no piece of classic literature is safe from Spencer (maybe he could do "Moby Dick"?)
9) Theme to the Buttercream Gang -by the Ghost of Michael Tabor
I'm sure this was funnier to people who remember Michael Tabor, but I think everyone enjoyed it at least a little. It was fun to have everybody dance onstage. I took off my clothes because I couldn't think of anything else to do at that point, which I can't recall Michael Tabor ever doing, but I think the homage to his yelling and being absurd for five minutes still came through.
9.5) The Hottest Thing Ever Imagined -by Calvin
Eli did a good job. My reactions probably could have been better.
10) I Need You -by Eric Landuyt
This is probably the most sincere writing I've done in over a year. Hopefully it came across that way. I just wish I'd had it memorized.
11) An Entirely Unoriginal Piece -by the First Player
More vaginas! Almost any story can be made more interesting/funny by randomly replacing words. Good energy too.
12) A Rant about What it means to Live with Schizophrenia -by David Rout
I applaud David for having the courage to describe his situation to anyone let alone an audience. I think schizophrenia is often reduced to stereotypes and hearing an honest personal assessment of it did everyone some good. I think it helped everyone understand a bit more and probably gave some people more encouragement to face their own problems.
That said, I wish David would have rehearsed this beforehand. He stated up front that he wanted it to be funny, but it became impossible to laugh as he went into darker and darker areas. Had he crafted the material more and given it a humorous slant, it might have worked as dark comedy. But I think most of the few laughs came out of discomfort or an attempt to be polite. Again, the content of the piece was strong because it was true, but I think David would have been better served by playing it totally serious and honing the material into five really strong minutes.
12.5) Wile E. Astronomy -by Katy Baggs
Probably would have been funnier had it not followed David's piece, but still a bit of silly fun.
13) Sky Patrol Episode IV: The Season Finale -by Sky Patrol
This is the first episode of Sky Patrol that I've seen, so I'm sure I would have enjoyed this part more if it had more context. Also, I hope my strange voice was all right; I just suddenly decided to speak my one line that way.
14) Poems My Friend Wrote Whilst in an Altered State -Read by Jordi
Good overall. While some parts were a little too psychedelically bizarre, others were excellent ("there would be no need for a mother's hate"). The serious delivery made them seem even funnier.
15) Ode to Cody 2 -by Eli Wilkinson
Oh, Eli. I'm flattered that you chose my piece to stick up your ass. I also liked how before and during the show you made a point of running around the building to make it easier to believe you had lost your real piece.
16) From All of Us -by Luke Christensen
I will miss all of you clowns. Very much.
@Eric L: Yeah, about halfway into my piece, I came to the realization that more preparation would have been better, because I just knew I had a lot to say with not enough time to say it in, like what Luke said. All in all, though, I think I didn't do too bad of a banged-up job of it.
Now, onto the show!
1 & 2) I agree, the first one was better, but I liked the novelty of the second more because I know it took more to create it.
3) I missed the first half of this, but that ended up being a good thing because it would have been nearly impossible to see from where I had been sitting. All in all, a good beginning piece. You didn't make it painfully obvious where you were going with it but you didn't shake me either. You're good, and you've got the potential to be great.
3.5) Sadly, I don't remember this.
4) This was horribly forced, which added to the humor. I really enjoyed the ridiculousness of this piece, and hope Dylan C. comes back with more.
5) Three people talking at the same time sounds like Spencer screaming about vaginas. I get it now.
6) Heartfelt, and congratulations on sticking to your gimmick. We'll miss you, even if we didn't see much of you--I didn't anyway.
7) I love how Eric J. is always picked to read these because he always adds to the humor by keeping a straight face. He's just got the voice for 'em. This one was pretty hit-or-miss.
8) Interesting piece, if only because I hadn't a clue what it was you were reediting. Still, wasn't painful.
9) I fought the urge to run up on stage, and now regret it. If this shows up again, I'll definitely join in!
9.5) I loved the way Eli mimed and Eric sat there looking horrified.
10) Unfortunately, Eric, after Eli's piece I began to question the sincerity of this one. Jury's still out. That said, though, it really did feel like it was from the heart, like you were talking to someone specifically, like it was personal. I like personal pieces, it shows us what you're really made of: flesh and bone, human on the inside, despite how you might front.
11) I hated following this! You had this memorized, and even though it was something like what Spencer did in Asher's piece, it was still standalone good!
12) I should have prepared this more, because then I would have gotten the audience to laugh with me, but the applause was empowering.
12.5) Yeah, the audience wasn't quite ready to laugh again, and that's my fault. That said, this piece helped kick them into gear.
13) This was bonkers. That's all I can really say. Some good, some bad, all-around...what we expect from Sky Patrol.
14) I loved this! I heard someone in the audience say she wrote them, and I was struck by that. Also, I loved the--intentional or not--allusion to Twilight.
15) I caught on to this quickly, but it was still a clever attempt. I think it paid tributes, though, like Eli wanted to share some of No Shame's past with us. Made me doubt the sincerity of Eric's piece, though, made me think.
16) Luke is awesome because he has other people living inside him too. Keep developing that ability, Luke, to emulate and be others. Should be helpful, I think.
Just to clarify: I didn't know Eli's plan until a little while before the show when he asked me what my piece was and whether he could "borrow" part of it. The fact mine was a genuinely serious monologue worked as a nice contrast to the absurd silliness of Eli's piece, but I didn't know Eli's plan until Friday night and all I told him was "it's a serious monologue" and gave him the first few lines. I'd been working on my piece for a couple weeks because I felt it was important and I contributed a bit of it to Eli's last piece because that was important too. I didn't want mine to sound cliched or self-indulgent (anyone else have that problem when they try to write serious?) and I didn't think it would seem that way in light of Eli's piece.
Hope this clears things up.
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