Class of 2011
Hey, guess what I didn't do last week? That's right! I didn't do the regular entry I had intended. (What do you expect when I make a Public Statement of Intent™ at the end of a quiz-filtered entry?)
It's very sad, too, because I was all kinds of excited to tell you about something that began the previous evening. Now that another session has transpired, I'm slightly less excited. Not that the event is less exciting, but that the "new and shiny" is not there so much.
That's right, kids -- last week, October 4, was the first of six sessions of my improv class! Irene White is the instructor, and she's all about the positive, even when we royally screw it up. And yes, sometimes we royally screw it up.
Last week (session 1) I came off as kind of insane. I didn't do anything particularly crazy outside of the exercises, but during them, I ran around like a madman to dump a pitcher of water on a restaurant patron, I was a student who was stalking his favorite teacher, I was a psych ward patient who may or may not have been pretending when he told a fellow waiting roomer that his wife was having a baby, and then had a mental breakdown relapse when a home improvement project proved too much to handle. The only "normal" moment I had during an exercise was when I was (again, a student) having trouble with a math problem. And then I just came off as stupid -- "That explains why there are letters instead of number!"
This week (session 2), Irene managed to tap into one of my biggest performance fears: She made us sing. Yes, there was a time I could sing. I could even sing for other people. That was one of my three dreams, even! That time is long gone, however. When it was my turn, I was terrified. I did it anyway, because that was the exercise... but it took everything I had not to collapse. Once the singing was over, the class was a lot of fun. It's getting tougher, because we're learning what they call "long form" improv. This means that the scenes aren't necessarily funny like on Whose Line is it Anyway or a live show like Comedy Sportz here in Austin. They're more slice-of-life vignette scenes... and we make up the story as we go.
One of the interesting things she's bringing to us is the idea of avoiding conflict in our scenes. As a pretend-writer in November, this goes against all of my storytelling knowledge. Conflict drives a story -- how are we supposed to avoid it and still engage an audience? One of our exercises last night involved situations that breed conflict -- our goal was to play the scene and avoid the conflict. My scene involved two guys who showed up to the same door to take the same woman on a date.
Yeah. It was hard.
The circle warm-ups are usually pretty fun. We play a pattern game that involves different words with different themes (e.g. colors, drinks, states). It gets tricky when Irene layers the patterns atop each other. Last week she did two. This week she did three. I thought my brain would explode. She has vowed to get us up to five. My theory is that she won't be happy until she makes someone cry. My fear is that I'll be the one to do so.
The class is all kinds of fun, though. It's three hours each time, but it sure doesn't feel that long.
Movies: Last week's movie was Abduction. Taylor Lautner is Nathan, a high school kid whose world is turned upside-down when he learns that the parents who raised him are not his actual parents. The title is a bit of a misnomer, but the action promised in the trailer is delivered in spades. It was your basic paint-by-numbers thriller that offered little in the way of surprise, but it was still a fun ride. It would have gotten bonus points if Alfred Molina had sprouted his Doc Ock arms or if Lautner had turned into a wolf creature... or if Sigourney Weaver had (as one moment suggested the possibility) pulled the girl behind her and said to a bad guy, "Get away from her, you bitch!" Pop culture, for the win?
This week we saw Real Steel, or as I like to call it, Clawless. (Sorry. More pop culture.) Hugh Jackman stars as Charlie, a down-on-his-luck former boxer who has not managed to parlay his experience into a winning robot fighter. He is forced to reunite with his estranged son Max for the summer. The boy finds an old sparring 'bot in a junkyard and, against Dad's urgings, enters it into an underground match. Before they know it, they have an exhibition match in the big league: The World Robot Boxing league! Again, there isn't much to surprise you -- it's more or less a mechanized retelling of Rocky -- but the movie had heart. The munchkin has a few moments that tug on the heartstrings, and Jackman's portrayal of Charlie's struggle to redeem himself is worth seeing.
TV: All I watched at all last week was Charlie's Angels. At least on TV. I ended up buying the second season of The Glades through Amazon's On Demand service. I was not able to be a patient monkey -- since the season on A&E had just ended September 5, I knew it would be almost a year before the DVD hit. Of course, now I still have to wait a year (assuming it's getting a third season) -- but at least I'm caught up.
I've been a bad monkey and haven't watched much Hulu. That needs to change this weekend, since stuff is getting ready to expire already. With November fast approaching, too, my time is going to be a little more limited. I should watch what I can while I can. Right?
Speaking of November, the new and improved National Novel Writing Month site is live! I made my donation and ordered this year's shirt today. I really like the shirt (pictures, at any rate) -- it's full of what they're calling "Batyisms." The things that founder and executive director Chris Baty has said in the 12 years of the wrimo's existence are now immortalized on a shirt. The central theme, featured prominently in a circle, is: "The world needs your novel." I can't wait to get the shirt so I can read some of the smaller-print items on it.
As for the event itself... well, I still haven't decided what I'm writing. I'm currently leaning toward something that would make a really crappy Movie of the Week thing. Hopefully, something better will pop into the void before November strikes.
Also, just as an FYI / warning: I'll be using the Nano filter again this year. After the last October entry (which may or may not end up being November 1), you may not hear from me again until December -- unless you're in the filter.
There's prolly a crapload of other stuff to say, but none of it is coming to me at the moment. It's also well past time to get back to work... so this is it for now.
I'll talk to you soon-like, Dear Journal!