The Comedy Life of Brian

Got a funny email from Nick Mendillo:

"This was a text message i received from a friend of mine upon returning from nyc:

"Is it strange for me to say that i just saw brian perry and two other dudes riding unicycles on grand street?"

i had to say no... it's not strange. "

Labels: unicycles

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

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

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

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

And on Howard Stern the other day Jimmy Fallon (meh) was talking about how someone with props and a wig auditioned before him for SNL. They started joking about it and someone asked 'did he have a unicycle?' implying that was the absolute lowest form of comedy. Yes my friends, yes it is.

I love how my blog (if you can call it that) has become almosot exclusively about unicycling...

Labels: unicycles

Back out there again today. It was my first session where I was free mounting (getting up on the unicycle without assistance like a pole or a wall) exclusively. Tons of false starts, but I'm starting to feel what a good mounting attempt is and a bad mounting attempt is. And the great thing is that once I'm up there and steady, I'm good to go - doing multiple laps around the lot.

So to close it all off, I gave myself a free mounting pop quiz. I went 6 for 15. 40% yall. I counted a mount as a success if I got up there and was able to pedal for three revolutions - although on all but one of those I was able to do multiple laps around the parking lot once I got up there.

All in all, it seems like some good progress. That's good news because a) - it was my fifth day of unicycle work in a row, and b.) - I'm taking the day off tomorrow (IB auditions), trying to squeeze some work in Wed., and then I'm taking four days of from unicycling while I'm in Chicago for wedding prep stuff. Getting back will be a true test - will I still be able to ride the thing?

Currently listening to - LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver. Duh.

Labels: unicycles

This is where I am going to have one long ass post reviewing my experiences trying to learn how to unicycle over the past week and a half. I haven't written it yet, but when I do, sweet lord it will be awesome.

Labels: unicycles

The past two days have included some serious Unicycle time and some serious Unicycle progress. Still a ton of work to do, but I'm more hopeful now than ever. Tomorrow is a first meeting with out Unicycle guru. Yeah, you read that right...

Report Number: 5 (June 9th)
Days until DCM: 50
Progress: Starting to have some success with free mounting. Able to make extended runs without wall assistance. First two major falls.
Self Evaluation: A major milestone. I'm much farther along then I thought I ever would be.
Notes: What a day. Me, Pete and Eric were out there for 2 hours. Fell twice (to the ground) and have some serious cuts and bruises now. I'm at the point where I don't need a wall now - I mount from a wall or a pole and go off on my own. Had my longest runs thus far. I'm also close to cracking the code with free mounting I believe. Also, unicycling is far more addictive than I ever thought it would be.

Report Number: 4 (June 8th)
Days until DCM: 51
Progress: Able to traverse the length of a basketball court with a chain link fence nearby.
Self Evaluation: Dedicated to my craft, but not making a ton of forward progress.
Notes: This was my first time waking up before work to get some practice time in. Doing so really wiped me out later in the day. Very structured today. Did 50 wall assisted runs and attempted to free mount 20 times. Didn't notice major improvement over Tuesday.

Labels: unicycles

First Unicycle blood - not even sure how I did it.


Report Number: 3
Days until DCM: 53
Progress: Have my own unicycle and found a place to practice on my own.
Self Evaluation: Giving it my all, but it is slow going.
Notes: Found a good practice spot - an old abandoned tennis court. Happy to be working with my own unicycle. Working hard, but I don't fell like I've made a ton more progress from my first time on a unicycle.

Labels: unicycles

Brace yourself for a Unicycle status update.

Report Number: 2
Days until DCM: 55
Progress: Able to practice by myself with an appropriate chain link fence handy.
Self Evaluation: Hopeful, but still have a long way to go.
Notes: Just happy to have gotten out there and popped my Unicycle cherry. Realy glad that Pete was around the first time I tried it out. It kept me from wasting time and prevented me from getting discouraged. Overall I would say that learning to ride a unicycle well is diffcult, but not impossible.

Odd Unicycle Fact - Patrick Dempsey of Grays Anatomy has Unicycle Experience.

Labels: unicycles

Remember how I bought a Unicycle? Well it was for this show that I was planning on doing with some friends from Neutrino called 'Uniprov'. It pretty much is what is sounds like - a long form improv show performed while riding unicycles. We don't talk about the unicycles, we just happen to be on them the whole time we are improvising. Crazy, huh?

Honestly, this whole thing has been like a joke taken way too far. First we started joking about it, then we gave it a name, then we all bought unicycles, and well, now there is no turning back. You see, in the process of real-life hightening we also decided to submit the show to this years Del Close Marathon - before we all knew how to ride unicycles. Last week we found out that we were accepted to the DCM - Saturday July 28th at 2:15 AM at the UCB theatre. Well, looks like I have some training to do.

With that in mind, here is my first Unicycle status update:

Report Number: 1
Days until DCM: 55
Progress: Never ridden a unicycle.
Self Evaluation: I'm not taking this seriously enough.
Notes: Still don't have my own working Unicycle. Expecting one Tuesday. Task seems daunting and nearly impossible.

Labels: unicycles

Guess who bought a Unicycle tonight? Hint - it was me. Feast your eyes on the glory.

I left the folllowing comment with the order:

"I am excited to enter the amazing world of unicycling. Thank you for helping with this major turning point in my life."

Comments from Kim - "Unicycles will crush yout balls." Amen.

Labels: comedy, unicycles