from wbez chicago...
So I'm sure you're all by now used to me coming back from shows and events and heartily professing my love for those involved. Well, I'm going to do it again.
I love Ira Glass. He is just too awesome. Tonight I went with aliste to go see him "duel for ultimate supremacy" with Beau O'Reilly, a prominant person in the Chicago theater scene, in the Radio vs. Theater: The Final Smackdown.
Oh, was it ever awesome. But first, a bit about being lost and having fun with fire:
So aliste and I took the bus up to the Art Institute, where we, erm, "knew" that the event would be held. Trouble was, we didn't know where exactly, and neither of us had bothered to research the exact location. Oops. The Art Institute itself was closed, so we walked all the way around it (only getting rained on once) looking for signs of life. I remembered that the theater was in the School of the Art Institute, and we found an entrance to that, but the security people at the desk knew nothing about it, so we went back around front. We considered trying to call WBEZ, or finding some internet somewhere, but decided to first try to find a Chicago Reader somewhere that might have some information on the event. We walked across the street to a COSI coffee shop, but there was no paper there; at that moment, however, we saw that we were right next door to a building that said "The School of the Art Institute." We tried this building, with success! There were two guys sitting at a table, and when I asked (oh so eloquently) "Is this where... erm, um, This American... um, erm..." they quickly affirmed that it was. They told us the doors wouldn't open for a little more than a half an hour though, so we figured we had enough time to get a snack at the COSI. I'm not entirely sure it's perfectly legal or safe to have an open fire on your table in a restaurant for an extended period of time, but we did indeed with our "S'Mores for Two." It was really quite fun, and something about roasting marshmallows in a restaurant was truly amusing, especially when they would catch on fire.
Anyway, soon we were inside and in the front row (what a surprise, heh). A referree came our to begin the battle, equipt with frying pan on a lanyard that he beat with a little mallet and used as his "match bell." He introduced Beau, who came out in a cape and a rag-tag bunch of theater people in tow, throwing little foam sticky cutouts of sea life and insects around. Then he introduced Ira, who came out in a sharp pinstripe suite, badass sunglasses, smoking a cigar and throwing not an insignificant number of $1 bills into the audience (I caught one, they were definitely real). They "boxed" at each other in the kind of overly theatrical fist waving that is supposed to signify fighting, and commenced in trash-talking.
Beau, to Ira: I love your mother! And your father!
Ira: Do you know the meaning of the phrase trash-talking?
Ira stubbed out his cigar on top of one of the nearby amps, and the matches began. There were 8 matches of varying lengths, and Ira and Beau would each do a small bit (theater monologue, mini radio story). Some had specific subject matter: there was a long-story match, and a "Voice of the People" match, and the last match was stories about their fathers. They had us vote in several different ways, too: one "loudest cheering" match, one "most people standing" match, a sociologist from the UofC (woohoo!) who was in the audience, and a "radio call in," where they told us to get out our cell phones and the first person to call would cast the vote. I couldn't get to my cell phone quickly, but aliste got her's out, and as we were sitting in the front row (and on the "Ira side" as it were), Ira asked to borrow her cell phone and tried to call in himself using it before he was stopped by the ref.
For the last match they asked God to decide the winner; honestly, I didn't hear who the winner was, so I don't really know if one of them won, or if it was just a draw (they were tied up to that point). It doesn't really matter to me, though, I was just too thrilled to see Ira up there doing his thing and being so goofy in general. aliste and I went up to meet him after the show, shook his hand, and I got him to sign my Lost Buildings DVD. As always, people (ie John Flansburgh), when writing my name, seem to like including an exclamation mark at the end of it, so I got a "Sara!" on my DVD booklet with his signature.
So yes, seeing him live (for the second time, admittedly, but still) affirmed my love for him all the more, even if all of his ex-girlfriends (and his wife) say he's not as sensitive as he seems on the radio. :D
I love Ira Glass. He is just too awesome. Tonight I went with aliste to go see him "duel for ultimate supremacy" with Beau O'Reilly, a prominant person in the Chicago theater scene, in the Radio vs. Theater: The Final Smackdown.
Oh, was it ever awesome. But first, a bit about being lost and having fun with fire:
So aliste and I took the bus up to the Art Institute, where we, erm, "knew" that the event would be held. Trouble was, we didn't know where exactly, and neither of us had bothered to research the exact location. Oops. The Art Institute itself was closed, so we walked all the way around it (only getting rained on once) looking for signs of life. I remembered that the theater was in the School of the Art Institute, and we found an entrance to that, but the security people at the desk knew nothing about it, so we went back around front. We considered trying to call WBEZ, or finding some internet somewhere, but decided to first try to find a Chicago Reader somewhere that might have some information on the event. We walked across the street to a COSI coffee shop, but there was no paper there; at that moment, however, we saw that we were right next door to a building that said "The School of the Art Institute." We tried this building, with success! There were two guys sitting at a table, and when I asked (oh so eloquently) "Is this where... erm, um, This American... um, erm..." they quickly affirmed that it was. They told us the doors wouldn't open for a little more than a half an hour though, so we figured we had enough time to get a snack at the COSI. I'm not entirely sure it's perfectly legal or safe to have an open fire on your table in a restaurant for an extended period of time, but we did indeed with our "S'Mores for Two." It was really quite fun, and something about roasting marshmallows in a restaurant was truly amusing, especially when they would catch on fire.
Anyway, soon we were inside and in the front row (what a surprise, heh). A referree came our to begin the battle, equipt with frying pan on a lanyard that he beat with a little mallet and used as his "match bell." He introduced Beau, who came out in a cape and a rag-tag bunch of theater people in tow, throwing little foam sticky cutouts of sea life and insects around. Then he introduced Ira, who came out in a sharp pinstripe suite, badass sunglasses, smoking a cigar and throwing not an insignificant number of $1 bills into the audience (I caught one, they were definitely real). They "boxed" at each other in the kind of overly theatrical fist waving that is supposed to signify fighting, and commenced in trash-talking.
Beau, to Ira: I love your mother! And your father!
Ira: Do you know the meaning of the phrase trash-talking?
Ira stubbed out his cigar on top of one of the nearby amps, and the matches began. There were 8 matches of varying lengths, and Ira and Beau would each do a small bit (theater monologue, mini radio story). Some had specific subject matter: there was a long-story match, and a "Voice of the People" match, and the last match was stories about their fathers. They had us vote in several different ways, too: one "loudest cheering" match, one "most people standing" match, a sociologist from the UofC (woohoo!) who was in the audience, and a "radio call in," where they told us to get out our cell phones and the first person to call would cast the vote. I couldn't get to my cell phone quickly, but aliste got her's out, and as we were sitting in the front row (and on the "Ira side" as it were), Ira asked to borrow her cell phone and tried to call in himself using it before he was stopped by the ref.
For the last match they asked God to decide the winner; honestly, I didn't hear who the winner was, so I don't really know if one of them won, or if it was just a draw (they were tied up to that point). It doesn't really matter to me, though, I was just too thrilled to see Ira up there doing his thing and being so goofy in general. aliste and I went up to meet him after the show, shook his hand, and I got him to sign my Lost Buildings DVD. As always, people (ie John Flansburgh), when writing my name, seem to like including an exclamation mark at the end of it, so I got a "Sara!" on my DVD booklet with his signature.
So yes, seeing him live (for the second time, admittedly, but still) affirmed my love for him all the more, even if all of his ex-girlfriends (and his wife) say he's not as sensitive as he seems on the radio. :D