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.)
Showing posts with label shubin week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shubin week. Show all posts
Saturday, October 25, 2008
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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