Ookie Cookie
I think I’m still a little jet-lagged. Then again, I also had to be at work today at 6:45 - so maybe I’m just dog-ass tired. I’m still processing all of my experiences in LA, but overall I just need to remember that any time I miss it, I just need to book a plane ticket. Three hours into my visit, I was ready to go home.
Such a silly, silly place. Good weather though - I will always miss that.
Today seems to be the day to post our theatrical theories and I am no different. I’ve had this post cooking in me for a few days…
I saw a show at Second City. I mentioned that I would post later about it and here it is:
The show was… precious. I know people have heard me use this term before and I have never done a very good job describing what I mean. Let me use this experience to clarify.
We all have our passions - mine are sketch and improvisation. I make no delineation between the two. They are interconnected to such a degree that you cannot have one without the other. Sketch should be born of improvisation and good improvisation should not die an ethereal death - it can, and should, be preserved in sketch.
What I saw was a 45 minute original sketch show that said - not a goddamn thing. It lacked the very foundation of sketch and improvisation (and stand up comedy): A point of view. Without it, you got a whole plate of nuttin’. And I don’t like watching plates of nuttin’.
My friend, whom I truly respect, touted this show (which she directed) as one of the best shows she’s worked on. She referred to the writing and “smart” the performances as “strong.” I believed her - until the lights went up. Now I don’t know how I can kidnap her and remind what “smart” and “strong” really are!
I’ve watched a lot of masturbating in LA - and there was some jizz flying in this show. There were no risks, no thought, no challenges - just four ‘actors’ (two men, two women) engaged in a whole lot of self-love. Trying to make the choices that would:
• get them cast
• get the “right” people to laugh
• get famous
There is a level of self-consciousness that is associated with young actors. Then there is a level of self-consciousness that comes when you observe and critique your every move for its own “inherent brilliance.”
These folks were not brilliant.
But they sure thought they were.
The scary thing is, people that I respect in LA were laughing. People I believe in were laughing. People who fucking should recognize hack for what it is - HACK - thought it was great!
The show had a reoccurring theme of zombies - yeah I saw Shawn of the Dead too - that was funny - you are not. The show had a reoccurring line of “That’s gay - third grade gay.” A phrase created and used by my friend (the director) and myself. I can only guess the writer heard my friend use it and then… Hacked it as his own.
So the plagiarism alone was tough to take. The zombies were just lame. The point of view? Non-existent. I don’t know one thing about how the writer feels about life, his place in the world, politics, society, everyday occurrences… The highlight was a scene about the urban legend of organ harvesting. The spin? The guy laying in the bathtub already had his organs harvested!!!! He’s been living without kidneys for who knows how long!!!! HAHAHHAHAHA!!!!
Or not.
Why the venom from me? Because my friend (the director) whom I have always respected, has fallen into comfort and safety. She has watched the circle jerk for so long - she actually cares who cums first.
The show, the theater, LA, the whole experience reaffirmed that it was time for me to leave it precisely when I did. I made the right choice to come to Florida (!) and do REAL work. I contribute to a company that is constantly in the artistic process, constantly inventing and never comfortable or safe. You want to see art - come to Tampa - see Machinal. Prepare to be blown away.
Here’s a newsflash - there is no art in LA. There are no risks. I know, I know, hard to believe as you spend the summer watching Bewitched, Batman Begins, The Honeymooners, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Dukes of Hazzard, War of the Worlds, Fantastic Four and (sorry) Episode 3 - but Hollywood has no original ideas. And it starts and the top and drips down to the lowly little theaters. Theaters filled with actors trying hard to be just as homogenized and bland as the big time studio execs. Trying hard to maintain a level of mediocrity that can be exalted and adored and rewarded.
That, my friends, is precious.
Such a silly, silly place. Good weather though - I will always miss that.
Today seems to be the day to post our theatrical theories and I am no different. I’ve had this post cooking in me for a few days…
I saw a show at Second City. I mentioned that I would post later about it and here it is:
The show was… precious. I know people have heard me use this term before and I have never done a very good job describing what I mean. Let me use this experience to clarify.
We all have our passions - mine are sketch and improvisation. I make no delineation between the two. They are interconnected to such a degree that you cannot have one without the other. Sketch should be born of improvisation and good improvisation should not die an ethereal death - it can, and should, be preserved in sketch.
What I saw was a 45 minute original sketch show that said - not a goddamn thing. It lacked the very foundation of sketch and improvisation (and stand up comedy): A point of view. Without it, you got a whole plate of nuttin’. And I don’t like watching plates of nuttin’.
My friend, whom I truly respect, touted this show (which she directed) as one of the best shows she’s worked on. She referred to the writing and “smart” the performances as “strong.” I believed her - until the lights went up. Now I don’t know how I can kidnap her and remind what “smart” and “strong” really are!
I’ve watched a lot of masturbating in LA - and there was some jizz flying in this show. There were no risks, no thought, no challenges - just four ‘actors’ (two men, two women) engaged in a whole lot of self-love. Trying to make the choices that would:
• get them cast
• get the “right” people to laugh
• get famous
There is a level of self-consciousness that is associated with young actors. Then there is a level of self-consciousness that comes when you observe and critique your every move for its own “inherent brilliance.”
These folks were not brilliant.
But they sure thought they were.
The scary thing is, people that I respect in LA were laughing. People I believe in were laughing. People who fucking should recognize hack for what it is - HACK - thought it was great!
The show had a reoccurring theme of zombies - yeah I saw Shawn of the Dead too - that was funny - you are not. The show had a reoccurring line of “That’s gay - third grade gay.” A phrase created and used by my friend (the director) and myself. I can only guess the writer heard my friend use it and then… Hacked it as his own.
So the plagiarism alone was tough to take. The zombies were just lame. The point of view? Non-existent. I don’t know one thing about how the writer feels about life, his place in the world, politics, society, everyday occurrences… The highlight was a scene about the urban legend of organ harvesting. The spin? The guy laying in the bathtub already had his organs harvested!!!! He’s been living without kidneys for who knows how long!!!! HAHAHHAHAHA!!!!
Or not.
Why the venom from me? Because my friend (the director) whom I have always respected, has fallen into comfort and safety. She has watched the circle jerk for so long - she actually cares who cums first.
The show, the theater, LA, the whole experience reaffirmed that it was time for me to leave it precisely when I did. I made the right choice to come to Florida (!) and do REAL work. I contribute to a company that is constantly in the artistic process, constantly inventing and never comfortable or safe. You want to see art - come to Tampa - see Machinal. Prepare to be blown away.
Here’s a newsflash - there is no art in LA. There are no risks. I know, I know, hard to believe as you spend the summer watching Bewitched, Batman Begins, The Honeymooners, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Dukes of Hazzard, War of the Worlds, Fantastic Four and (sorry) Episode 3 - but Hollywood has no original ideas. And it starts and the top and drips down to the lowly little theaters. Theaters filled with actors trying hard to be just as homogenized and bland as the big time studio execs. Trying hard to maintain a level of mediocrity that can be exalted and adored and rewarded.
That, my friends, is precious.