When we originally started down the "House Team" path over a year ago I was really excited about all the web-presence stuff we would be able to do with them to get word out about PHIT. Then I realized getting websites designed is expensive... and that we didn't have a graphic designer at our beck and call 24 hours a day... and that we had no publicity photos. Of course, I still *wanted* to do it - but we weren't quite ready when the House Teams premiered in October.
So here we are now and it's February and the publicity photos are finally starting to trickle back in along with people's headshots, and we've sorta added a 4th group with The Moops and I'm finally starting to get stuff up. I think the websites we have are quick and dirty for now. They have some nice stuff up, and for a designer with as limited a skill-set as I have they are pretty good - but we will be upgrading these sites in the future.
For now though... check out:
http://www.activitybookimprov.com
and
http://www.themoopsimprov.com
Comments are genuinely, sincerely appreciated below!
Showing posts with label house teams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house teams. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Dr. Cold and Miserable or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Have My Picture Taken
Last Saturday, which was one of the coldest days in recent memory, the members of Activity Book descended upon a warehouse north of Center City for our first-ever house team photo shoot.
Now, two things I always try to avoid are going outside on the coldest days in recent memory and having my picture taken, so I was not exactly bubbling over with enthusiasm as I headed out of my apartment (running a bit late, of course) and loaded up my car with an assortment of wardrobe changes and props. However, my mood started to change as my commute turned out to be stress-free and I managed to arrive ten minutes before the call time of 2 PM. Even better, I found a parking spot right in front of the warehouse. Movie star parking! My mood continued to elevate when I spotted Michael Schwartz getting out of his car with his assorted wardrobe changes and props. Within moments of exchanging hellos, Jason Stockdale pulled up and I felt even more at ease. There really is safety in numbers.
Entering the warehouse turned out to be a surreal experience. There appeared to be large double doors on the front of the building, but the entrance was actually a small door cut into one of the alleged large doors. (Visions of Jason's trompe l'oeil whistle danced in my head...) Even stranger, the door appeared to be too small to fit through, but as I approached, either it got bigger, or I got smaller. Curiouser and curiouser!
The warehouse turned out to be just as cold as the street, as the sole source of heat was a small propane heater, but that didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm of photographer Tom Lovelund and his crew, who were in constant motion, setting up lights, bounce cards, reflectors, and tripods. Just as enthusiastic were Executive Director Greg Maughan and Artistic Director Alexis Simpson, who had successfully supervised the Everything Must Go photo shoot earlier that day. I chatted with fellow ABers Alan Williams, Kim Breslin, and Rick Horner as the rest of the group arrived.
But the arrival that created the biggest sensation was that of the pizza delivery guy. Watching steam waft out the pizza boxes added a surreal touch -- a mouth-watering fog effect! Not one to be shy around food, I pounced on the pizza like a beach urchin on Sebastian Venable. Soon, we were all gathered around our "craft services" table, where Greg and Alexis led us in a discussion of the PHIT Resident Group (grant proposal-speak for "house team") Manual. They discussed their plans for the house teams and for PHIT -- a great pep talk!
Around this time, Tom signaled that he was ready to take our individual head shots. Naturally, I ducked behind everyone else and watched as my teammates handled their camera time with ease. Eventually, it was my turn, and I'm sad to say that nothing short of a morphine drip would have gotten me to loosen up. Standing in front of the camera, scowling and tense, I found myself thinking that I was fast becoming the neurotic, pain in the ass member of Activity Book, just a bottle of vodka and a handful of Seconals away from turning into the Neely O'Hara of PHIT. I think poor Tom knew he wasn't getting anywhere with me, so he snapped a few pictures and sent me back to the safety of my teammates.
As Tom and his crew prepared to shoot our group photos -- they set up one of those huge roll-out backdrops just like in the movies! -- the rest of us chatted, ate more pizza, and played with the props we brought for the shoot. Alexis captured these behind-the-scenes happenings with her camera, and the results can be seen on PHIT's Facebook page. (There's a picture of me with Mr. Peanut and I don't look half bad!)
To get us warmed up (figuratively and literally) for the conceptual group shots, Tom took a series of photos of all seven of us interacting with each other. (Hats were involved.) Immediately, being with my teammates, I started to feel more at ease. Then, for the first set of group photos, we were told that we would be photographed in groups of two or three, and then those photos would be composited into a full group photo. First up were Kim and Jana, who invoked The Wizard of Oz and seemed enviably at home in front of the camera. Next came Kelly Jo, Michael, three very large crayons, a crocheted Big Bird, and some very interesting antics. Finally, Jason, Alan, and I were called into service. Having Jason and Alan to lean on (as well as a Nintendo machine and a stuffed Fievel to play with), I was finally able to relax fully and get into the spirit of things.
Then came the time to shoot our "Find the Differences" photos. The idea was to recreate one of those games in which the player must spot the differences between two seemingly identical drawings. Much time was spent on finding just the right pose for us. Then, as we held the pose, Greg and Alexis added and subtracted props, and made other changes. More photos were snapped, and before we knew it, we were finished.
However, there was still a bit of unfinished business to attend to, as Tom announced that two people had to have their head shots retaken. One person had to have his/her photos retaken due to "shine" issues, and -- surprise! surprise! -- I had to have mine retaken because I looked "cold and miserable." "But I'm always cold and miserable!" I protested, to no avail. "That's just who I am!" Ever the diplomat, Greg calmly and patiently explained that PHIT simply could not use photos of one of their performers looking uncomfortable. So, before long, I found myself back in front of the camera. Sensing my discomfort, everyone stepped up to cheer me on and distract me from the task at hand, and Tom managed to get the necessary shots.
And, on that note, the first-ever Activity Book photo shoot came to an end. I have to admit that, when it was all over, I actually felt a bit sad. Although I was not exactly the easiest or most cooperative subject, I did manage eventually to get into the right frame of mind. Plus, it's hard to stay in your shell when you're surrounded by supportive people whose company you genuinely enjoy and who make you feel at ease. So, I want to take a moment to thank Greg and Alexis for making all of this possible, Tom and his crew for all their hard work and patience, and Rick Horner and my fellow ABers for putting up with me and my moodiness.
(Now, if I can just convince Greg to use the Mr. Peanut photo as my official headshot...)
Now, two things I always try to avoid are going outside on the coldest days in recent memory and having my picture taken, so I was not exactly bubbling over with enthusiasm as I headed out of my apartment (running a bit late, of course) and loaded up my car with an assortment of wardrobe changes and props. However, my mood started to change as my commute turned out to be stress-free and I managed to arrive ten minutes before the call time of 2 PM. Even better, I found a parking spot right in front of the warehouse. Movie star parking! My mood continued to elevate when I spotted Michael Schwartz getting out of his car with his assorted wardrobe changes and props. Within moments of exchanging hellos, Jason Stockdale pulled up and I felt even more at ease. There really is safety in numbers.
Entering the warehouse turned out to be a surreal experience. There appeared to be large double doors on the front of the building, but the entrance was actually a small door cut into one of the alleged large doors. (Visions of Jason's trompe l'oeil whistle danced in my head...) Even stranger, the door appeared to be too small to fit through, but as I approached, either it got bigger, or I got smaller. Curiouser and curiouser!
The warehouse turned out to be just as cold as the street, as the sole source of heat was a small propane heater, but that didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm of photographer Tom Lovelund and his crew, who were in constant motion, setting up lights, bounce cards, reflectors, and tripods. Just as enthusiastic were Executive Director Greg Maughan and Artistic Director Alexis Simpson, who had successfully supervised the Everything Must Go photo shoot earlier that day. I chatted with fellow ABers Alan Williams, Kim Breslin, and Rick Horner as the rest of the group arrived.
But the arrival that created the biggest sensation was that of the pizza delivery guy. Watching steam waft out the pizza boxes added a surreal touch -- a mouth-watering fog effect! Not one to be shy around food, I pounced on the pizza like a beach urchin on Sebastian Venable. Soon, we were all gathered around our "craft services" table, where Greg and Alexis led us in a discussion of the PHIT Resident Group (grant proposal-speak for "house team") Manual. They discussed their plans for the house teams and for PHIT -- a great pep talk!
Around this time, Tom signaled that he was ready to take our individual head shots. Naturally, I ducked behind everyone else and watched as my teammates handled their camera time with ease. Eventually, it was my turn, and I'm sad to say that nothing short of a morphine drip would have gotten me to loosen up. Standing in front of the camera, scowling and tense, I found myself thinking that I was fast becoming the neurotic, pain in the ass member of Activity Book, just a bottle of vodka and a handful of Seconals away from turning into the Neely O'Hara of PHIT. I think poor Tom knew he wasn't getting anywhere with me, so he snapped a few pictures and sent me back to the safety of my teammates.
As Tom and his crew prepared to shoot our group photos -- they set up one of those huge roll-out backdrops just like in the movies! -- the rest of us chatted, ate more pizza, and played with the props we brought for the shoot. Alexis captured these behind-the-scenes happenings with her camera, and the results can be seen on PHIT's Facebook page. (There's a picture of me with Mr. Peanut and I don't look half bad!)
To get us warmed up (figuratively and literally) for the conceptual group shots, Tom took a series of photos of all seven of us interacting with each other. (Hats were involved.) Immediately, being with my teammates, I started to feel more at ease. Then, for the first set of group photos, we were told that we would be photographed in groups of two or three, and then those photos would be composited into a full group photo. First up were Kim and Jana, who invoked The Wizard of Oz and seemed enviably at home in front of the camera. Next came Kelly Jo, Michael, three very large crayons, a crocheted Big Bird, and some very interesting antics. Finally, Jason, Alan, and I were called into service. Having Jason and Alan to lean on (as well as a Nintendo machine and a stuffed Fievel to play with), I was finally able to relax fully and get into the spirit of things.
Then came the time to shoot our "Find the Differences" photos. The idea was to recreate one of those games in which the player must spot the differences between two seemingly identical drawings. Much time was spent on finding just the right pose for us. Then, as we held the pose, Greg and Alexis added and subtracted props, and made other changes. More photos were snapped, and before we knew it, we were finished.
However, there was still a bit of unfinished business to attend to, as Tom announced that two people had to have their head shots retaken. One person had to have his/her photos retaken due to "shine" issues, and -- surprise! surprise! -- I had to have mine retaken because I looked "cold and miserable." "But I'm always cold and miserable!" I protested, to no avail. "That's just who I am!" Ever the diplomat, Greg calmly and patiently explained that PHIT simply could not use photos of one of their performers looking uncomfortable. So, before long, I found myself back in front of the camera. Sensing my discomfort, everyone stepped up to cheer me on and distract me from the task at hand, and Tom managed to get the necessary shots.
And, on that note, the first-ever Activity Book photo shoot came to an end. I have to admit that, when it was all over, I actually felt a bit sad. Although I was not exactly the easiest or most cooperative subject, I did manage eventually to get into the right frame of mind. Plus, it's hard to stay in your shell when you're surrounded by supportive people whose company you genuinely enjoy and who make you feel at ease. So, I want to take a moment to thank Greg and Alexis for making all of this possible, Tom and his crew for all their hard work and patience, and Rick Horner and my fellow ABers for putting up with me and my moodiness.
(Now, if I can just convince Greg to use the Mr. Peanut photo as my official headshot...)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
what won't we do for a little publicity?
Today I went to my first ever photo shoot. It would have been a lot of fun to see how this type of thing goes down, but it turns out that I was also in charge of the artistic direction of the photos. I thought we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted going in, and then I just had to work desperately to keep up with trying to learn how to do something as I was doing it.
It turns out pictures are not taken the way they appear on publicity postcards. So after a fair deal of goofing around, our awesome photographer Tom Lovelund, pulled me aside and explained that although the end product was a picture of all 8 members of my cast (for example), the actual photos would be best taken individually and then stitched together. Mind blowing. Honestly, I didn't know how to react... so there was a lot of trusting that went on.
The next most prominent thing to mention about the shoot was that it took place in a HUGE warehouse. And said warehouse ended up sorta, lacking...um... heat. Very chilly. As people were processing through headshots we had a few cast members running out to wait in their idling cars, and many other huddled around space heaters in coats. Then Rob Cutler from Everything Must Go completely lost it and started posing for photographs wearing only a carboard box (large at least) and socks. Real trooper, that guy. Or maybe a nutcase. I really can't be sure.
Fortunately the morning group helped us work through kinks in our system so that the afternoon went quickly and got great stuff for us to use promoting Activity Book. The stories from that session were far more tame, although the photos themselves were not.
We're going to try and get up some photos of us taking the photos on the blog - as well as some short snippets of what a photoshoot looks, sounds, and feels like. Keep an eye for them sometime next week (once I've figured out how to get them off the phone and onto the interweb).
It turns out pictures are not taken the way they appear on publicity postcards. So after a fair deal of goofing around, our awesome photographer Tom Lovelund, pulled me aside and explained that although the end product was a picture of all 8 members of my cast (for example), the actual photos would be best taken individually and then stitched together. Mind blowing. Honestly, I didn't know how to react... so there was a lot of trusting that went on.
The next most prominent thing to mention about the shoot was that it took place in a HUGE warehouse. And said warehouse ended up sorta, lacking...um... heat. Very chilly. As people were processing through headshots we had a few cast members running out to wait in their idling cars, and many other huddled around space heaters in coats. Then Rob Cutler from Everything Must Go completely lost it and started posing for photographs wearing only a carboard box (large at least) and socks. Real trooper, that guy. Or maybe a nutcase. I really can't be sure.
Fortunately the morning group helped us work through kinks in our system so that the afternoon went quickly and got great stuff for us to use promoting Activity Book. The stories from that session were far more tame, although the photos themselves were not.
We're going to try and get up some photos of us taking the photos on the blog - as well as some short snippets of what a photoshoot looks, sounds, and feels like. Keep an eye for them sometime next week (once I've figured out how to get them off the phone and onto the interweb).
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Activity Book Report
World Series fever ran high this week in the world of Activity Book. However, we managed to resist the siren call of Game 1 just long enough to meet for a pre-game rehearsal.
Joining us this week was that prodigal Activity Book member, Kelly Jo Little, who recently returned from an extended vacation in Colorado. Kelly Jo was in the Centennial State ostensibly to attend a wedding and her 25th high school reunion. However, you can bet that she was also conducting discreet field observations in search of inspiration for characters to portray in future Activity Book shows. Are there bitter bridesmaids and faded pom-pom girls in AB's future? Only Kelly Jo knows for sure!
With Kelly Jo back on board, our work featured fresh moods and colors. Strong physical offers dominated the proceedings, not only in our scene work, but also in our group games and warm-ups. In addition, we learned that a silent offer can be every bit as effective as a verbal offer -- and sometimes even more effective. (This is a lesson I definitely needed to learn!) And, to top it all off, the Phillies enjoyed a Game 1 victory.
From the Department of Shameless Plugs: Activity Book will be performing at the Shubin Theater on Friday, November 7 at 8:00 PM and on Saturday, November 8 at 10:00 PM. On Friday, we will be joined by Bethany Asplundh and the Moops, and on Saturday, we will be sharing the bill with The Gentlemen's Rotary Auxiliary. Tickets for both shows are only $10. (Swing on over to http://phillyimprovtheater.com/shows.html for more information.)
Joining us this week was that prodigal Activity Book member, Kelly Jo Little, who recently returned from an extended vacation in Colorado. Kelly Jo was in the Centennial State ostensibly to attend a wedding and her 25th high school reunion. However, you can bet that she was also conducting discreet field observations in search of inspiration for characters to portray in future Activity Book shows. Are there bitter bridesmaids and faded pom-pom girls in AB's future? Only Kelly Jo knows for sure!
With Kelly Jo back on board, our work featured fresh moods and colors. Strong physical offers dominated the proceedings, not only in our scene work, but also in our group games and warm-ups. In addition, we learned that a silent offer can be every bit as effective as a verbal offer -- and sometimes even more effective. (This is a lesson I definitely needed to learn!) And, to top it all off, the Phillies enjoyed a Game 1 victory.
From the Department of Shameless Plugs: Activity Book will be performing at the Shubin Theater on Friday, November 7 at 8:00 PM and on Saturday, November 8 at 10:00 PM. On Friday, we will be joined by Bethany Asplundh and the Moops, and on Saturday, we will be sharing the bill with The Gentlemen's Rotary Auxiliary. Tickets for both shows are only $10. (Swing on over to http://phillyimprovtheater.com/shows.html for more information.)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
A Page from the Activity Book
Well, hello!
This is John, reporting on the latest happenings in the world of Activity Book, the PHIT house team directed by Rick Horner.
As many of you know, Activity Book (along with fellow house teams Fletcher and The Scramble) made our official debut on October 10 and 11 at the Shubin Theater. They were exciting nights for us, filled with the kinds of emotional highs and lows that could send even the strongest improvisers straight into the Valley of the Dolls. But, fear not! All of us emerged happy, healthy, and positively glowing with the knowledge that we were part of an exciting moment in the development of the Philadelphia improv scene. Endless thanks to Greg Maughan and Alexis Simpson for working so hard to make PHIT an important presence and for making these house teams a reality.
We in Activity Book are not the kind to rest on our laurels, so this past Wednesday we resumed our regular rehearsal schedule. Guided by our ace director, we discussed our performances and spent considerable time working on our edits. In the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I must confess an almost pathological inability to edit a scene. Blame it on my parents, who taught me (far too well, apparently) never to interrupt someone when he or she is speaking, and on my teammates, whose scene work is so strong that I get completely wrapped up in it and forget that I'm on the stage and not in the audience.
Of course, no Activity Book rehearsal would be complete without an exciting, free-flowing exchange of ideas and information. Among the topics discussed were possible methods of promoting and merchandising for our team, Philly sports fans vs. Detroit sports fans, and the latest breakthroughs in feminine hygiene technology.
As you can see, the world of Activity Book is a world of wonder, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to share it with you, not only through our performances, but also through this blog (thanks, Milkshake!).
This is John, reporting on the latest happenings in the world of Activity Book, the PHIT house team directed by Rick Horner.
As many of you know, Activity Book (along with fellow house teams Fletcher and The Scramble) made our official debut on October 10 and 11 at the Shubin Theater. They were exciting nights for us, filled with the kinds of emotional highs and lows that could send even the strongest improvisers straight into the Valley of the Dolls. But, fear not! All of us emerged happy, healthy, and positively glowing with the knowledge that we were part of an exciting moment in the development of the Philadelphia improv scene. Endless thanks to Greg Maughan and Alexis Simpson for working so hard to make PHIT an important presence and for making these house teams a reality.
We in Activity Book are not the kind to rest on our laurels, so this past Wednesday we resumed our regular rehearsal schedule. Guided by our ace director, we discussed our performances and spent considerable time working on our edits. In the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I must confess an almost pathological inability to edit a scene. Blame it on my parents, who taught me (far too well, apparently) never to interrupt someone when he or she is speaking, and on my teammates, whose scene work is so strong that I get completely wrapped up in it and forget that I'm on the stage and not in the audience.
Of course, no Activity Book rehearsal would be complete without an exciting, free-flowing exchange of ideas and information. Among the topics discussed were possible methods of promoting and merchandising for our team, Philly sports fans vs. Detroit sports fans, and the latest breakthroughs in feminine hygiene technology.
As you can see, the world of Activity Book is a world of wonder, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to share it with you, not only through our performances, but also through this blog (thanks, Milkshake!).
Friday, October 17, 2008
What's the deal with PHIT?*
Hey everyone,
Look at me following through on a promise to post! So PHIT had another exciting staff meeting this week, and as always it was not boring when Alexis and I got together.
The theater is growing very rapidly right now and it feels like we constantly have to balance the pace people want to move at with what is achievable from two people who are working other jobs full time. That's tricky. For instance, we really want to finish the initial building up of our house teams - specifically 1) getting the videos we shot and production photos we took last weekend polished off, 2) getting headshots for cast who need them, 3) getting group publicity photos, 4) creating websites, 5) creating press kits, 6) creating generic team postcards/flyers. All this stuff done will give us really good looking press packs to begin applying to festivals with.
At the same time we've got lots of great groups we don't want to ignore who have been doing festival stuff already - Rare Bird Show, Makeout Clinic, Illegal Refill, Industrial, etc. - and we want to find ways to bring these groups into the theater more and offer them more support. Then we've got offshoot sort of shows - Comic vs. Audience Comedy Show, Kent Haines' Why Am I Not Famous ?!?, and Bedtime Stories. These shows are doing great stuff and helping connect the various communities that all fall under "alternate comedy" in the city.
Above all though, I want to try looking beyond the little tight-knit group of people who know each other fairly well and run around producing and putting on shows. PHIT needs to start reaching out to the general populace and impressing them. Which is why I am spending a lot of my time for PHIT right now focused on larger picture stuff - namely our own independent branding (the website changes, new signs for the windows, posters, flyers, postcards - all designed by Jon Billett, our awesome graphic designer). I'm also trying to get mechanisms in place to make issuing press releases and getting listings for the shows EVERYWHERE a much simpler process. It's slow moving work, but it is starting to come together.
Parallel with this I am working very hard to try and improve/simplfy tech at our shows. We had a bunch of people step forward and volunteer to help with tech at shows last May - but what we found after the initial training was that we made things too complicated. So we're beefing up the tech software in the booth and automating more things - like having voiceover recorded announcements instead of live ones. That stuff should start to really be in place starting next month. We have had people helping out in the booth (big shout out to Tim Callahan who has volunteered EVERY month since we started), but sometimes they haven't had enough guidance or have shown up while I've been trying to finish up the tech cues and I inevitably make a mistake. This new setup should reduce some of that. Hopefully it will make the shows seem just a bit slicker and more produced.
So that's where my focus lies these days: 1) improve publicity, 2) improve tech/production values.
I realize now that this wasn't so much about what the theater is up to, but what the heck - I can post more about that later!
Greg
*no bonus points for telling me what this is a reference to.
Look at me following through on a promise to post! So PHIT had another exciting staff meeting this week, and as always it was not boring when Alexis and I got together.
The theater is growing very rapidly right now and it feels like we constantly have to balance the pace people want to move at with what is achievable from two people who are working other jobs full time. That's tricky. For instance, we really want to finish the initial building up of our house teams - specifically 1) getting the videos we shot and production photos we took last weekend polished off, 2) getting headshots for cast who need them, 3) getting group publicity photos, 4) creating websites, 5) creating press kits, 6) creating generic team postcards/flyers. All this stuff done will give us really good looking press packs to begin applying to festivals with.
At the same time we've got lots of great groups we don't want to ignore who have been doing festival stuff already - Rare Bird Show, Makeout Clinic, Illegal Refill, Industrial, etc. - and we want to find ways to bring these groups into the theater more and offer them more support. Then we've got offshoot sort of shows - Comic vs. Audience Comedy Show, Kent Haines' Why Am I Not Famous ?!?, and Bedtime Stories. These shows are doing great stuff and helping connect the various communities that all fall under "alternate comedy" in the city.
Above all though, I want to try looking beyond the little tight-knit group of people who know each other fairly well and run around producing and putting on shows. PHIT needs to start reaching out to the general populace and impressing them. Which is why I am spending a lot of my time for PHIT right now focused on larger picture stuff - namely our own independent branding (the website changes, new signs for the windows, posters, flyers, postcards - all designed by Jon Billett, our awesome graphic designer). I'm also trying to get mechanisms in place to make issuing press releases and getting listings for the shows EVERYWHERE a much simpler process. It's slow moving work, but it is starting to come together.
Parallel with this I am working very hard to try and improve/simplfy tech at our shows. We had a bunch of people step forward and volunteer to help with tech at shows last May - but what we found after the initial training was that we made things too complicated. So we're beefing up the tech software in the booth and automating more things - like having voiceover recorded announcements instead of live ones. That stuff should start to really be in place starting next month. We have had people helping out in the booth (big shout out to Tim Callahan who has volunteered EVERY month since we started), but sometimes they haven't had enough guidance or have shown up while I've been trying to finish up the tech cues and I inevitably make a mistake. This new setup should reduce some of that. Hopefully it will make the shows seem just a bit slicker and more produced.
So that's where my focus lies these days: 1) improve publicity, 2) improve tech/production values.
I realize now that this wasn't so much about what the theater is up to, but what the heck - I can post more about that later!
Greg
*no bonus points for telling me what this is a reference to.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
of house teams and kings*
I'm going to start trying to post on this every to let people know what PHIT is up to in the more "official" sense (we have the staff meeting every Thursday night so that timing makes sense), but I figured it's never too early to start something - so here goes...
House Teams premiered yesterday evening which filled me with a kind of joy that is hard to describe. I've been working on PHIT nearly every day since Oct. 13, 2005 - exceptions: 4 days around the death of my grandmother, Amie's birthday, 2 days while I was on Grand Teton in 2006, 8 days while I was on Kilimanjaro this year... and that's it - and seeing part of the mission/vision/goal accomplished last night was freakin' awesome.
Let's get the names over with right now: Fletcher, Activity Book, The Scramble (last name pending change/settling on a real name)
So our 8pm show had a small audience, which was sad for Fletcher - who banged out a great set with no support from the crowd (you gotta have enough people for this stuff to work, laughter can't be contagious when people aren't sitting next to each other) - and somewhat less sad for The Scramble who benefitted from both the audience being warmed up and a strange and wonderful form - never before seen in Philadelphia - that drew folks in. It was very quiet during the set but there was hearty applause at the end.
10pm show was amazing. Activity Book totally held their own against the kids of Ragnarock from the UCB in New York City. Those folks had better warn the Big Apple we're coming. The later show definitely had the advantage of not competing with the Phillies game and drew a big crowd. All in all, I gotta say that Activity Book had the best premiere of our new children (so hopefully we've got some healthy competition coming from the others now). Sure, they had a lot of advantages: good crowd, later time, the anticipation of something bigger coming down the tracks - but they also clicked along nicely. This is going to be a horse-race I'm sure, there's no way they'll hold the top banana spot for long with the kind of crazy talent coming out of the other groups. Hell, they could be toppled from their perch this evening.
Alright, so there's a breakdown of premiere madness. Now I'll hop off to run stuff, and try to get back on Friday to KEEP MY PROMISE.
Wheeeeeeee! Go Improv.
*bonus points to whoever can comment and tell what what my title is referencing.
House Teams premiered yesterday evening which filled me with a kind of joy that is hard to describe. I've been working on PHIT nearly every day since Oct. 13, 2005 - exceptions: 4 days around the death of my grandmother, Amie's birthday, 2 days while I was on Grand Teton in 2006, 8 days while I was on Kilimanjaro this year... and that's it - and seeing part of the mission/vision/goal accomplished last night was freakin' awesome.
Let's get the names over with right now: Fletcher, Activity Book, The Scramble (last name pending change/settling on a real name)
So our 8pm show had a small audience, which was sad for Fletcher - who banged out a great set with no support from the crowd (you gotta have enough people for this stuff to work, laughter can't be contagious when people aren't sitting next to each other) - and somewhat less sad for The Scramble who benefitted from both the audience being warmed up and a strange and wonderful form - never before seen in Philadelphia - that drew folks in. It was very quiet during the set but there was hearty applause at the end.
10pm show was amazing. Activity Book totally held their own against the kids of Ragnarock from the UCB in New York City. Those folks had better warn the Big Apple we're coming. The later show definitely had the advantage of not competing with the Phillies game and drew a big crowd. All in all, I gotta say that Activity Book had the best premiere of our new children (so hopefully we've got some healthy competition coming from the others now). Sure, they had a lot of advantages: good crowd, later time, the anticipation of something bigger coming down the tracks - but they also clicked along nicely. This is going to be a horse-race I'm sure, there's no way they'll hold the top banana spot for long with the kind of crazy talent coming out of the other groups. Hell, they could be toppled from their perch this evening.
Alright, so there's a breakdown of premiere madness. Now I'll hop off to run stuff, and try to get back on Friday to KEEP MY PROMISE.
Wheeeeeeee! Go Improv.
*bonus points to whoever can comment and tell what what my title is referencing.
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