Friday, November 23, 2007

The Shadow over Cambridge

My father found this photo of H.P. Lovecraft in a book.  Usually when I’m told I look like somebody else, I chafe.  In this case the similarities are undeniable.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Cat Password

SuperDeluxe’s uploader has been finicky; I hoped to have this up earlier, but better late than never.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Friends!

I am now seeking full- or part-time employment.  If you have any leads please email me.  No job too strange for consideration!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Recap: Intimacy

Week three!  We sold out the theater in pre-sales alone, which is great news for us but sad for our friends and family who tried to buy tickets at the door.  If you’re planning on attending one of the four remaining Wasteland Comedy Hours, buy tickets in advance.

This show was a turkey.  And by turkey, I am referring to a three-time streak of awesomeness in the sport of bowling—of course.  A lot of the material came together at the last possible second, which will be the norm now that we’re mid-run.  Another warm, supportive, and super-smart audience who appreciated our artsy moments as much as our dollops of, shall we say, raunch dressing.  Highlights of this show included a five-part running musical exploration of Craigslist’s Missed Connections, a Hitchcockian thriller about babies, a talking cat, a silent film porno, and that part where we gave everybody in the audience a mix CD.

I’m working on getting a video uploaded.  Hopefully by Wednesday?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Recap: The Self

I wish I had a copy of that damn Lisa Frank Van Gogh slide….

Week two was our most personal show, “Oh Mirror, You Always Know What to Say!”  Another full house with people content to sit in the bleachers and loft.  For Friday’s show we asked every willing member of our cast to prepare a personal monologue around two minutes in length.  With such loose instructions, I was genuinely amazed at how well these monologues developed.  Our cast had so much fun with their stories, presentations, and anecdotes that the two minutes invariably ballooned into 3-5.  Our show ended up running 1:20, but I don’t think we overstayed our welcome.  My friends and colleagues took some big risks out there, alone with the audience, and reaped the rewards. 

Another one of my goals for The Wasteland, accomplished: create a safe space for sincerity.  With all our silliness and satire it’s easy to distance ourselves from our material.  Putting the “i” in “comidy” could have been tough for our particular cast because we aren’t practiced stand-ups or monologists; we often rely on characters and hilarious scenarios to sell our ideas.  But we rose to the occasion, and shared some pieces of ourselves amidst the bits and jokes.  I hope the rest of the shows are able to occasionally pull this off, but it’s not their stated goal.

This Friday’s show, “Love the Ones You’re With Whom You Are,” is going to be exciting.  It’s a perfect blend between film and stage material, and we bounce between touching and raunchy like your favorite pinball game.  If you haven’t already, consider buying yourself some tickets....

Edit: a clip from The Self: