The Comedy Life of Brian

It was great to wake up today and feel no pressure to head to a parking lot and Unicycle before work. Awesome...

The whole Uniprov experience was amazing. Still more to come on the weekend and the Unicycle lifestyle in general.

Labels: unicycles

Battle scars from a weekend I won't soon forget. Bitchin.

Right now Eric is asleep in a sold out theatre as we wait for a show to go on. This improv shit is hard work.

Hot damn! One show down at the Del Close Marathon and it lived up to all expectations.

So lets jump to the middle - we went on at 2:15 to a packed UCB theatre. Not 'sold out', but still crazy packed. That kind of packed where there were people sitting on the stage in front of the front row of seats. As you might imagine, that specific type of packed is extra scary for nervous inexperienced unicyclists.

The front row was clearly the biggest issue of the evening. Right from the start I would say that there was a general feeling of fear that started from the exposed front row and circulated through the entire theatre. We delivered on it - more than any of our other shows we did in fact have unicycles coming near or in some cases in contact with audience members. It was funny, but at the same time provided a really strange level of pressure.

We got some laughs - I did a cross on stage that got some good laughs, we had simulated sex on Unicycles (don't ask) and ended up in fun group game to close out the show. But when it all comes down to it the show was really about spectacle and related danger of inexperienced Unicylists performing in a very small space. The comedy aspect was more the icing on the cake. I was fine with that - the show was tons of fun, had a really cool energy, and we got a very strong audience reaction when our time was up (although I wonder if this was really more about the audience being safe from danger and less about them commending our performance).

Thanks to all of the friends I saw around the theatre at 2:15 AM. Another thanks goes out to Neil for taping the show for us. Probably some clippage to come at a later date.

Some highlights from the rest of the trip thus far:
* Unicycling down the empty NYC streets at 5 AM.
* A delirious late night conversation in the Uniprov hotel room.
* The 'Stepbrothers' show at UCB - one of the best long form sets I have ever seen.
* Code Duello with a great set that the UCB crowd really ate up.
* Seeing RI, NY, and MA friends all around the UCB theatre.
* Unicycles on the Subway.

Tonight is sure to be awesome. Some more shows. Some social activity. Second show tomorrow which I could be an entirely different animal - 30 min set, different venue, less warmup, likelihood of sleep deprivation and hangovers.

Viva la Del Close!

Labels: DCM, improv, unicycles

It doesn't get much better than this...

Labels: DCM, unicycles

Backstage in the green room at the Del Close Marathon before the 2:15 AM Uniprov set. Crowded, crazy, and hot. Did I mention crowded?

Labels: DCM, improv, unicycles

Unicycles fit in the overhead compartments on Metro North trains.

I'm on the verge of heading out the door to go to NYC for the Del Close Marathon. I'm giddy about that, but I also feel a whole lot of pressure right now. Tough to pick what the cause is, it could be a combination of things - the show tonight, lack of sleep, work, wedding prep, or a bunch of written comedy projects that I'm far behind on.

Here is to hoping that this is either a weekend that allows me to make headway on some of those things, or at the least a good fun weekend that lets me reset the clock.

Probably more to come in this space as the weekend continues. Be sure to check my twitter as well.

Labels: DCM, General

Meet robot Jesus.

Labels: technology

So this morning I'm out at 10 AM to unicycle. I go to my favorite lot by my house (after a pretty decent spill on the way over) and even though it is 10 AM on a Sunday, there is still a decent amount of activity in the lot for some reason. It quickly becomes apparent that I should head over to my backup lot, so I hop on my unicycle and head in that direction. About halfway through a van parks and as I approach it, the doors open to expose an Asian family with young kids. At that moment I get to hear the following amazing quote:

Look daddy, it's a clown!

I thought about it for a while, and while I'm sure the kid meant something else he was surprisingly right on target.

I still wish I had even more time for it, but recently I've been doing a lot of writing and also learning how to write in a screenplay format. Through that I stumbled upon the concep of a 'Show Bible' - basically the rules for a television series. Interesting concept and it is not surprising that such a thing exists. Oddly enough the bible examples that are the easiest to find are the ones about 80s cartoons. Like these:

Masters of The Universe Bible

Transformers Bible

I'm tired with no end in sight. Where you at sleep?

Labels: comedy, unicycles, writing

Please consult the post title. Thank you.

'The State' was a sketch show on MTV in the 90's. Without it I wouldn't have gotten on stage, I wouldn't have started writing sketches, I wouldn't have started doing improv, and if you really want to go for a big chain of events type thing, I wouldn't have learned to Unicycle. Depending on your personal view, you may be thanking 'The State' or cursing them right now.

In any case, I find it interesting how much of an impact this inactive group and their very active members can still have on me today. Tonight I read an article on The State reflecting on The State (PDF) and I found the whole deal very inspiring. I encourage you to do the same thing. Things like that really help me understand why I spend so much (possibly too much) time and effort on this whole comedy thing. The State is a prime example of how talented people can find success on their own terms - and I just need to remind myself sometimes that I truly believe in that concept, no matter how painful it may be at times.

The State MTV Series is coming out on DVD in October. You bet I'm taking a day off when that hits stores.

Final note - I saw The Walsh Brothers for the first time last night. They were extremely funny, and seemed like really nice guys. I'm going to try to give them some Fringe festival tips. I wonder if they know what they are in for...

Labels: comedy

I'm starting to think that I picked up unicycling during an upswing in popularity (I'm not going to be an a-hole and say that I created it). Even the New York Times is talking about it.

Labels: unicycles

Turns out that this stuff tastes exactly as advertised. Don't try this at home - these stunts are performed by professionals.