Neil Reynolds: writer, improviser, guy


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Recap: Money

Not much to say about the money show.  Full house again (yay), but whether it was due to the audience’s age, disposition, or post-Thanksgiving haze, we had to wake them up with a cattle prod.  By the end of the show they were on board—except for the poor old folks who hated rap, and so hated the Will Smithian ditty that ended our show.  I got some decent feedback from friends in the audience, despite feeling like the two sketches I wrote and directed completely tanked.  C’mon, people, suicidal talking bananas are funny!  Right?  Right?!

Happily Pope’s ode to the glass ceiling went over well:

I checked out for a lot of the show, which was a small problem because I was on stage for much of it.  As noted earlier last week, I lost my job on Monday, and many of the filmed bits we played on Friday took place in that office.  I found it hard to focus.  Today marks my first week of pavement-pounding and resume updating, and all the despair that these things entail.  Although I’ll be posting (whining) about the job hunt pretty regularly on this blog, I won’t be writing about the circumstances that led to this situation.  Indeed, many of them are still a mystery to me.  It should be sufficient to say that my severance paperwork also included a non-disparagement agreement, a wise move on their part.

Onward.  Upward.  There must be a job in Boston that synergizes my creative and professional talents.  I can only hope it pays.

Posted by Neil on 11/26 at 04:25 PM

Ahh good ole Rondelson. Though we shouldn’t discuss your job, I do want to share that I’m currently picturing that lifesize plastic man sitting at your old desk currently.

I was responsible for 4 older folks being at the show, but they friggin LOVED it. Probably less boisterous than a younger crowd, but I don’t think that’s an indication of their enjoyment. More inward laughers like yourself, perhaps. And specific to the rap, I don’t think anyone disliked it because it was rap. I think the issue was really just the problem of not being able to hear what we were rapping about. I wish we’d used a mic, and contrary to what some people said, I don’t think it would have been really hard to pass it off from person to person. It really doesn’t take a lot of coordination to hand somebody something. That’s my one regret of the show, the lack of mic!

Also I will take any and all blame for Banana not working, if that is indeed the case. WHICH ONE OF US WAS THE INANIMATE OBJECT?!?! IDUNNO!!!!!!!

Posted by Pope  on  11/27  at  10:50 AM

Unemployment is awful. You have my deepest sympathies.

As for the show, I’ll agree with Pope that it was hard to hear some folks during the rap. A mic probably would have been helpful.

In both cases, onward and upward.

Posted by  on  11/27  at  12:25 PM

Pope, you’re a goddamn micophile.  Sorry to reduce this comment thread to quabbling, but I think the decision to go sans-mic was an excellent one. Even putting aside the practical concerns—cords, handoffs, levels—singing/rapping into a mic is a practiced skill we didn’t have time to rehearse. Mics make you louder but they also make you breathier, boomier, and dependent on maintaining a consistent distance and angle between your fist and your mouth. Especially IB’s little condenser mic.

So, mic does not equal easy fix. You guys sounded great in the levels setting earlier that evening, and I stand by our decision to omit the mic, another potential point of failure.

Also, please remember that if I write OUR OLD AUDIENCE HATED RAP or MY SKETCH BOMBED in my blog it doesn’t mean anything. It’s my blog and I’m trying to make it entertaining. This isn’t an official postmortem of the show, and I don’t want to turn it into one.

Posted by Neil  on  11/27  at  03:35 PM

Well let’s just both agree I’m guilty of microphilia and move on then!

Thread reduced!

Posted by Pope  on  11/27  at  03:42 PM

It goes without saying, despite me saying it, that anything I can do to help in the job search, I’ll do.  My eyes are open.  You’ve always been the friend of mine with the strangest job, so I have no doubt that your next job, whatever it is, will at the least be unconventional.  But it may also be difficult to acquire.  I wish you the best through it, and do your best to stay firmly clear of despair, as it will not serve you.

Posted by Klondike  on  11/27  at  09:10 PM

I like the concept that Neil always has to have the strangest job out of anyone Eric knows.  Its like a reality show.

Posted by Meatball  on  11/28  at  09:51 AM
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