Second City Day #2

The second day of work at my immersion classes at Second City was incredible. Although it surprises me that I am actually preferring the comedy sketch writing class to the improvisation, they are both very rewarding. I think that I am enjoying the writing class more because it contains many more activities that I am unfamiliar with whereas the improvisation class we are completing many exercises that I have already led with my students. What I'm learning though from the improv class is that I have not been patient enough to allow the exercises really generate what they were intended to generate from the students. This is the difference between trying to learn from a book (or online) and actually learning from a professional that is in the room with you. Both instructors are full of energy and seemed versed in their disciplines. One of the young ladies in class with me study at LAMDA and has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and also has a series coming out in September on Comedy Central U.K. in which she is a featured actress. There is another young lady in the writing class that studies at Yale. The students are from all different backgrounds but all have the common desire to learn more about acting, comedy and truth in the theatre. The improvisation class is allowing me to work as a member of the ensemble, as opposed to the leader (teacher during classes) and that is helping free me up immensely. We also are really allowing the exercises to develop and then we are given time to reflect on our experiences in the exercises. The writing class has allowed me to really focus on different writing techniques to get students writing. By giving students a specific amount of time to write (5 or 7 minutes), we are forced to work within a short amount of time and simply produce something. It doesn't really matter if it is that strong, or if it works, just that we do it. The writing teacher explained that writing is liking exercising. You wouldn't just go out and run a 10K if you weren't training for it. Your body would shut down and you might not make it, or you may finish but end up suffering for that experience for weeks to come. It is the same in writing. You can't just sit down and write a novel, or a play for that matter. You must practice religiously in order to prepare for the big event. If you make time in your day (just like someone who goes to the gym 4 times a week or more) for writing, then eventually it will become part of your day and you will get better.

After class I took a ride across town to the highly recommended use book store, Myopic Books. It was a great find for a theatre teacher. There I was able to load up on plays and teacher resources for next school year. All of their books were gently used which made them quite affordable. Following my book store venture I ate at a lovely restaurant called Francesca's Forno where I took this picture.

I was positioned right by the window were three roads converged and it was great 'people watching'. Observation is one of the most important tools for an actor and I have been able to really soak up human behavior during my stay in Chicago. It is so much different than the suburbs. People are everywhere, all the time, from all different backgrounds. I saw a couple walking their large dog and the dog just kept jumping all over the lady from behind. She was laughing and the man holding the dog's leash was laughing even harder. I saw a man jogging, standing on the triangle shaped median, and he was clearly a boxer, you could tell by the way he moved his feet. I saw a man walking with a large bouquet of flowers.

I was also able to sit and enjoy my food and enjoy the sights. I also really tried to take my time eating, I have a tendency to rush when I eat, and it was nice to not be done with my meal in 3 minutes. I made special effort to enjoy every bite, take breaks and watch the hoards of people passing by, and then continue eating.

After my dinner I attend Second City's production entitled What the Tour Guide Didn't Tell You: A Chicago Revue, which was filled with jokes about Chicago and people, events, places and attitudes throughout the city. It was also spiced up with improvisation that was informed by the audience members. The final part of the show is entirely improv and they really knocked it out of the park. There were several scenes where I was crying. I sat with 3 other classmates from my immersion writing class. We all could not get over how quick-witted each member was and how brilliantly the cast performed. I'm looking forward to my third day of class tomorrow.

 

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2nd City Post #2

I feel like there is so much to tell you, but so little time. After being gone from the hotel room for 11 1/2 hours, I finally returned to sit down and work on the blog. I picked up a couple of used CDs from the Chicago record store (I'm a music fiend) and now I can listen to them and work on the day's reflections. This morning during orientation we learned that there were folks from NYC, Montana, Australia, London, Oregon, Connecticut, New Jersey, Chicago, Georgia, Alabama (yay! ME), Pennsylvania, California, Massachusetts and Indiana. There were only about 25 or so people in the room. All of these folks were here to study at the same place as I. There are so many levels of training at 2nd City and we are on the 'kindergarten' level. Many of the exercises we did in my morning improvisation class I have actually already done with my classes. But they were much different considering I was working in a class with 9 other students and everyone REALLY wanted to be there. That's much different than working in a class with 33 high schoolers, 3/4 of which might not want to be there (or in school at all). We took our time with the exercises and they were rewarding. I won't go into details, but we played a lot of actor type games and we laughed and smiled and started to get to know one another, albeit in an artistic light.

Sorry, I am having trouble rotating that picture, but I'll figure it out in due course. I'm new to this blogging thing. This is a picture of some of 2nd City's great alumni including Steve Carrell, Chris Farley, Eugene Levy, Tina Fey, Mike Meyers, Martin Short, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Akroyd, Tim Meadows, Bill Murray, Stephen Colbert, that lady and that guy from Cheers (can't remember their names), and more.

After lunch we began the comedy sketch writing immersion class and I have homework to do so I won't write about it too much. But I will tell you that it was very invigorating and I was glad to be using my little iPad keyboard while I was writing my timed scenarios. After the comedy sketch writing I took off down south to the Loop and their free concerts in Millenium Park. Below are some pics. It began to rain, just a little and I booked it to the CTA and the safe refuge of my hotel room. By the time I came up from underground it was raining pretty hard and I was glad I came on home.

 

 

It's odd having to ask complete strangers to take your picture, but it makes me happy when I see the finished result on my little blog. The next picture is what really takes me breathe away. If you are not familiar with it, then I beg you to look up the album Yankee Foxtrot Hotel by Wilco. One of the great albums of our generation and as I was taking pictures of the skyscrapers I noticed that this exact shot, or one very similar, is the same picture on that classic American Rock Band album cover. Wilco is one of the greatest bands in the world and they hail from Chicago. Their music is a mix of country, alternative rock, folk and Americana. Jeff Tweedy is their singer and his voice radiates the pain in many people's hearts across America. I'm so proud of this picture..........

 

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2nd City Post #1

We have started the morning off with a bang. We did our first Improv 101 class this AM and we'll starting the writing class in a moment. People from all over the country and the world in this class. Pretty unique perspectives to blend with mine.

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The Bill Maher show at the Chicago Theatre

Now I'm sitting in the famous Chicago Theatre about to see TBS' Just for Laughs tour. The comedian featured tonight is Bill Maher. Mr. Maher is a sharp tongued liberal and he hosts a controversial show on HBO. The Just for Laughs tour feature a number of famous comedians and tonight Bill Maher will be providing the entertainment at one of the most remarkable venues in the city.

The night was a huge success for Bill Maher. I had almost forgot that Barrack Obama was from Chicago and the full frontal attack on Republicans was well received in an enormous (and packed) theatre. Bill went after everyone in his 90 minute show. He attacked PROUD gun owners, and stated that he was a gun owner, just not a PROUD one. He compared being proud of gun ownership to being as ridiculous as someone being proud of their antibiotics. He compared Obama's treatment of the Republicans (Boehner, McConnell, Ryan, et al) as being a relationship like that between the Special Ed. teacher and student. He said Obama should be 'more black'. He skewered Palin, McCain, Romney, Fox News, the Drudge Report, Ann Coulter, Ted Nugent, Karl Rove, Peggy Noonan and said the Republicans are like the Beach Boys...all their fans are dying. He talked about Rick Santorum's choice of a sweater vest during his run at President. He said that Chris Christi would never be able to win the Republican nomination because he hugged Obama after Hurricane Sandy. He referred to the Tea Party as the Tea-Baggers and said that they surely were a racist organization that only took form after Obama became President. He talked about Donald Trump and the ferret living on his head (his hair). He lambasted folks who don't support gay marriage because they feared they might become gay. He ridiculed Catholics, Muslims and Mormons and talked about his movie Religilous which dealt with a plethora of different religious beliefs including his non-belief (atheism). He was always Politically Incorrect (just like the title of his show) and some jokes even caused the audience to say "Whoa" or "Awwww", but he was always engaging. Regardless of your political beliefs, he does have a great sense of timing and the audience was with him the whole way. I gave up my seat to a little old lady next to me, because she was behind a man with a giant head. I told her I'd sit behind him because I was taller and she refused at first and then I insisted right before the show started. So I saw most of the show through the curls of hair on this large-headed man. He also spoke about General Petraeus, Mormons again, Mitt Romney some more, Education, Gay Marriage, the legalization of marijuana, Marco Rubio and his quick water grab, Joe the Plumber, Defense Spending, the Military Industrial Complex, Mexicans, climate change, and Michelle Obama. Every time he was ridiculing the Christian Conservative folks of the U.S., he would speak in a Southern accent. I'm from the South, so associating people who talk slow with low intelligence is a little frustrating, but look at everyone else he attacked. He took no prisoners. He said he was pro-death, for assisted suicide, for non-assisted suicide, took pleasure when animals killed people because the person was probably messing with the animal and basically ended the show by stating that religion is about two things: Costumes and the fear of dying. He said the religious leaders dress up in such strange costumes (the Pope's pointy hat, staff & red shoes) that people are blown away by it and assume he must have some cosmic viability. As I stated earlier, regardless of your political beliefs (a few people left, they must have been Republicans), it sure was nice to sit in a giant theatre with thousands of people laughing for 90 minutes. Even if I wasn't laughing at all the jokes.

This is unrelated to the Bill Maher show, but this magazine Michigan Avenue was on the table when I checked in the hotel. I will be going to the first showing of David Schwimmer's play Big Lake, Big City on Wednesday night. I was the first person to get through to the box office on the day tickets went on sale and they first tried to tell me only members could buy now, but I pushed through and they allowed me to be the first ticket buyer for this show. I thought it was pretty cool he was on the cover of the magazine promoting the show I'll be seeing in 3 days.

 

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Fat Pig by Neil Labute at the Garage Theatre Steppenwolf

Wow! What a great show. A 90 minute tour-de-force of young actors handling riveting material, about real life issues. Tom, played by Josh Bywater, unexpectedly meets a young lady in the local cafeteria. There is nowhere else to sit, so he is forced to share a table with her. She has just finished 3 slices of pizza and a cheesestick as Tom is eating his salad. Helen, the young lady at the table, is an intriguing character who does not fit society's idea of beauty. She is full-figured, confident, funny and engaging. Tom seems to be taken with her after the ice is broken and before the lunch is over, they have agreed to meet again. And so the saga begins. The play was performed without an intermission (which was great) and ran about 90 minutes. Tom is assaulted throughout the play by his co-worker Carter, who seems to be uncaring about hurting or crushing the feelings of others. He is narcissistic and crass. Tom is also attacked by Jeannie, another co-worker from accounting. We later find out that Jeannie is in love with Tom and is horrified that their relationship failed and now is pursing a relationship with what she calls a 'fat' expletive. The play is about how people cope with others opinions about who they date and what they do. The play was heavy and left you wondering what was going to happen next. Many people don't like it when a playwright, or a movie, leaves you hanging in the end. However, these are my favorite types of shows. I like to leave the theatre with work to do, I have a broad imagination that can do the work and I will decide what happens next to the characters. One issue that keeps creeping into Helen and Tom's relationship is that although it is progressing, they are always hanging out alone. Tom is not integrating her into his circle of friends and this is because (she believes) that he is ashamed of her. The play has an incredible ending where the actors are onstage in the bathing suits and Tom and Helen finally 'have it out' about their isolation. What happened next was horrible, but honest, and true to life. I won't tell you what happens, but I encourage you to go see the play if you ever can and judge for yourself.

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Sign outside the Garage Theatre

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Wall of scripts at Steppenwolf

After a fulfilling, yet unhealthy, meal of raw oysters, buffalo wings and a hamburger, I'm sitting in the lobby of the Garage Theatre at Steppenwolf. It has a great feel, with heavy house music playing in the background. The theatre is literally on the bottom level of their parking garage and it is a true black box. A black curtain separates the lobby from the stage area.

They have an entire line of papers stacked against the wall as you enter.

Here's a picture of the actual Steppenwolf Theatre and the Garage is about half a block south of the main stage. Not bad when you consider the folks who started this theatre many years ago began by working out of the basement of a church. I think their rent was $10 a month. Now they operate on a mulit-million dollar budget and consume nearly an entire block of North Chicago. I'm about to see Fat Pig, by Neil Labute, one of my favorite playwrights. The play is about, though I haven't read it, a guy who has an overweight girlfriend and his friends are making fun of him constantly because of her weight. Neil Labute likes to explore the dark side of human nature and that is why I find him so compelling.

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