Dear TV Executives...

I'm watching last week's episode of Prison Break while simultaneously using my Prison Break promotional nail file. I've actually had the nail file for a couple of months, but just starting watching the show. And not so much because of the promotional nail file, but because I know people on the show. So to Fox and other networks, I suggest that if you want people to watch your shows, you cast their friends in them.

I just got back from a day in New York doing some Sonic voice-overs. Or should I say "voices-over"? I think I'll start saying that. Anyway, it was a whirlwind trip with no time for site-seeing, but it was kind of nice to get away for the day anyway. Last night (Tuesday) was a big night; it was a student night at Second City, meaning that current students can see the show for free and then we do a Q & A afterwards. Also, a couple of our producers came to see the show, and we were given the opening date of Thursday, December 22. So we have three weeks to go.

But we only have 1 day to go until Rich and I get our new TV. Stay tuned for a full review of what will no doubt be a huge ordeal thanks to Best Buy.

Doing our part for the economy

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and for I believe the 4th year in a row, Rich and I got up at the crack of the middle of the night to join the Black Friday crowds. We've gotten pretty good at this, planning out a strategy the night before of which stores we need to go to, where the best shopping area is that allows access to most or all of these stores, and how to divide and conquer in the most efficient way. This year was probably our easiest one yet, since Best Buy was the only place we had to go, and we weren't in search of any big-ticket items (in years past we've purchased an LCD monitor, digital camera, etc.). Today's primary objective was DVDs.

So at 4:15 this morning we headed just north of us to the Chicago/Evanston border, where there is a shopping center featuring Best Buy, Office Max, Target, and Jewel. Best Buy opened at 5, and when we got there just before 4:30 there was already a big line. What can I say, people are nuts, us included. And for those of you not aware, it was 15 degrees in Chicago yesterday and this morning, but we were layered up and equipped with those bean bag sort of thingies for your hands and feet that heat up when you expose them to air. They actually didn't get that warm as we were waiting out in the cold, but after walking around Best Buy for 30 minutes, I put my hands back in my gloves and my fingernails almost melted.

Here's a consistent fact of early morning Black Friday shopping: it stinks. Literally. People don't shower before they head out, and I don't think a lot of people brush their teeth either. It's truly amazing. I walked out of Best Buy briefly to pick up a couple of things at Target, and when I came back in it was like walking into a locker room where people had eaten Indian food after the big game.

We headed back home and I got another 5 hours of sleep or so. Rich had to leave again at 9:30 to work a Marshall Field's gig downtown. We did make one big ticket purchase today, but in the comfort of our home: we ordered a new TV from the Best Buy website, where it was on sale and we didn't have to worry about getting it home. It's being delivered Thursday, and it may very well change our lives. We'll see.

November 23

It's my dad's birthday today - happy birthday Dad!

What's in a name?

Today was a very productive rehearsal day, despite missing Antoine once again for another Prison Break filming. We rehearsed for 5 hours, which we'll do again tomorrow to make up for no rehearsal on Thanksgiving (though we do have a show). Unfortunately, the final 2 minutes of rehearsal soured the otherwise good day when it was announced that our show title will be "Iraqtile Dysfunction." Yep. How is a show name chosen, you ask? We, the cast, submit a big list to the producers, and they choose one from the list. As with improv, you try not to censor yourself too much in coming up with titles, just writing down as many as you can think of. And then, unfortunately, you sometimes end up with a name you (and by you I mean me) pretty much hate. I just think there were a lot of smarter, more sophisticated names offered, and we end up with what is not only essentially a dick joke (apologies to my parents), but also something that in no way represents the show's theme. Anyway, I was disappointed. I'll admit, sometimes Second City doesn't live up to my expectations - temple of satire and all that. But...

Then we had a great show. Our first act lost its last Red Scare scene tonight - unintentionally, as it was accidentally skipped by an anonymous ensemble member. With any luck we'll just leave it out, since the show had been running a little long anyway. We'll see. But we had a great audience, and a really solid set with all brand new stuff. To top it off, my former touring company stage manager Dale and his wife Hannah watched the show; they're in town from Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving. I hadn't seen them in over a year. Dale toured with us from the beginning of 2003 to the spring of 2004, and then moved to Pittsburgh to work with a children's theatre as their technical director. He's one of my favorite people I've ever worked with because he's one of the world's nicest guys and always up for an adventure. Granted some of those adventures included fairly dicey activities such as skiing in a roped-off area and playing a game boy while driving, but in hindsight those things are charming. Anyway, it was really good to see both of them.

So, another days of ups and downs, but at the end of the day, the ups won. It's going to take more than a horribly embarrassing show title to break me, Second City. Nice try! Yeah!!!!

100th Erdmania Post!

Greetings. I got back yesterday (Thursday) after three days in Phoenix with the friendly Sonic folks (be on the lookout for fruit smoothies and the return of last year's Valentine's hit the Sweetheart Blast, now with brownie chunks). It was 50 degrees when I left Chicago Tuesday, 80 in Phoenix, and then 25 when I got back to Chicago Thursday night. Upon my arrival back in Chicago, I headed straight to Second City in hopes if catching any new stuff going in the set that night. I got there in time to see the second act of a horrible buy-out (horrible because of the audience, not the show). We ended up just doing improv in the mercifully short set. But I got caught up on some changes, so I was glad I stopped by anyway.

Here's a quick example of how bad this buy-out crowd was. I went to get a suggestion in the set. I ask "What's a reason a crowd of people might gather, like a funeral or a wedding." Answer: "A lynching." Yeah!

I decided to drive to the airport Tuesday, since Sonic reimburses me for it and I knew it would make it easier to get to Second City when I got back. Unfortunately, one of the main parking lots was closed and the others were full, so I had to park in the distant economy lot. This involved parking my car, getting on a bus which took me to a tram which took me to the airport. While on the bus to the tram, a trio of businessmen made no fewer than 5 comments about "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." By parking in economy I did save Sonic about $36, so I think some free tater tots are in order.

Today was a long day; we had lunch at 1:30, rehearsed from 2:30 until 6:30, and then had 2 shows. But we got a lot done and the shows went well. I'd say we're about 75% turned over at this point, which is very exciting. It's been a weird week, because in addition to my absence, Antoine has been out filming episodes of Prison Break. He had done one a few weeks ago, and I actually saw him on it Monday night. He plays a guard. Watch for him. So anyway, there's been a bit of a hiccup in our progress this week, but things are still moving along.

Oh, and we have DirectTV now. All is well.

Dishing it out

As I type this, two DirectTV guys are on our roof. On purpose. We'll see how that pans out.

It was a fruitful weekend of shows; we put in a lot of new stuff, most of which is going well and just getting better every time. Last night (Sunday) was the ETC opening, though by the time we finished our set and got notes, the official festivities had ended. It was a strange feeling to sense all the excitement in the building for their opening night, while still struggling through the process on our side. But that's the circle of life, or some other Elton John song. As soon as our show ended I ran over to catch the last 45 seconds or so of their closing number; it made me excited to open our show (eventually), but it also made me realize how much work we have ahead of us.

After celebrating with the ETC cast and other friends last night, I was awakened at 7:30 this morning to the soothing sounds of our parking area being paved. I'm not sure why paving requires a jackhammer, but I'm not in the paving business, so what do I know?

I'm off to Phoenix tomorrow for another Sonic shoot. While I still worry a little about missing three days here, I have to admit that it'll be nice to take a break. And now I'll actually only be missing two days of rehearsal, since we moved our Thursday rehearsal to Friday. Antoine's missing a couple of days too, since he's filming two more episodes of Prison Break (he did one a few weeks ago, which I believe aired last week...but having no TV, I can't back up that statement). So on Friday I'll be back and he'll be back and hopefully we'll pick up where we left off.

I'll admit, I thought I would be writing a lot more about this rehearsal process than I have been. One reason for that is that I just don't have that much free time. When I'm not at Second City, I've been trying to make our new place a bit more hospitable. It seems like I'm always thinking about one thing or the other. Also, it's kind of hard to describe the ups and downs of this rehearsal process - of which there are many. My mood changes so often depending on how a show or set went, or even how a particular hour of rehearsal went, that by the time I get home it's hard to summarize or even remember what's happened. At 4:15 today I was absolutely miserable, but by 5:30 I was excited and eager to do the show.

That being said, tonight (Thursday) we put 3 brand new things in the show. That brings us to maybe just under 50% new material, I'm guessing. Tomorrow we're adding 2 or 3 more new scenes, so we should be well over half at that point. Tonight's show went really well, and all our new stuff got a good reaction. Two of tonight's new scenes that I was in got a lot of laughs that we hadn't necessarily anticipated; it's a fun problem when you find yourself talking over laughter. I think things get a much different reaction in the show than in the set, since in the show they are there without the tacit apology that "we're trying this out to see how it goes." As far as the audience knows, a scene appearing for the first time in a show could have been in there for months.

Oh, and we still don't have DirectTV. Monday. Supposedly.

Where was my seat-filler?

Tonight (Monday) I went to the Jeff Awards. For those not familiar, they're kind of like Chicago's version of the Tony's. Two actors from Red Scare, Maribeth and Antoine, and the director, Mick, were nominated for Jeffs, so the whole cast got to go. We arrived to a lobby packed with theatre people, which is as annoying as it sounds. One of the first people I saw, however, was Ana Gasteyer, which was kind of cool. Later I saw her again in the bathroom. She's doing "Wicked" and was nominated, but lost. Similarly, we were shut out of every category, which was disappointing, but by the time it got to our categories I wasn't surprised our folks didn't win. It's a very clique-y group of musical theatre folks who I'm guessing don't really know what to do with Second City, so they lump us in the "revue" category even though we have nothing in common with the shows we're up against. No one else writes and performs their own shows. But what can you do.

There were tons of inside jokes about various productions and several speeches worthy of a hidden chuckle. For instance "I moved to Chicago five years ago and was a cardboard box salesman, but I longed to do theatre." You can't make that stuff up.

It was a good experience and I'm grateful I got to go, but I can't say that I'm itching to go back. Frankly, I think it would be a good thing if Second City weren't included in the Jeffs, since it seems kind of contradictory to ensemble work to single people out for awards. Right?

I called it an early night because I have some writing to do and we're adding an hour to our rehearsals starting tomorrow. So it's time to hit the books.

Staring at the walls

DirectTV, I'm not mad at you, but I am very disappointed. A year ago you saved us from our Comcast-plagued life, and we came to know you and love you. When we looked for a new place to live, we made sure we could bring you with us. Maybe we should have asked you if you still wanted to be with us...is that what this is about? Did we take your feelings for granted?

Two days after we moved in, we had a DirectTV appointment in which the installer realized that he was not prepared for what needed to be done in our new place. He needed to bring a ladder. So we rescheduled for the next available time...one week later. Yesterday. A different guy showed up, with a ladder but not the equipment he needed. And without white cable, which Rich had called and requested. So now we've had to schedule a third appointment, but fortunately those DirectTV folks were nice enough to give us the next available appointment...in two weeks. I guess if there's any good time to go without television - which there isn't, and don't try to tell me otherwise - it's now, with my rehearsals taking up much of my time, but I really hate it because I just feel out of the loop. I already missed Sunday night's presentation of "Vampire Bats," and now I'm also going to miss "Category 7: the End of the World," which is a shame because I thoroughly enjoyed last year's "Category 6: Day of Destruction" starring Brian Dennehy, Nancy McKeon, and the guy who played Greg in "Dharma and Greg." The most destructive thing about that movie was the fact that Nancy McKeon pronounced the word "vulnerable" as "vunerable." And when you're talking about a major storm hitting a big city, everything is vunerable!!!

But in more productive news, the mainstage show is coming along nicely. We have, as of Wednesday night, 4 big scenes in and a few shorter ones. The second act is still almost entirely intact, but the first act looks very different from a week ago. Our improv sets have been going pretty well, and it looks like there are a couple more scenes that will be ready to go in the show by the end of the week.

I'm getting a little nervous because I'll be missing three days of rehearsals and shows in a couple of weeks when I go to Phoenix for a Sonic shoot. I don't necessarily think I'm going to get written out of the show during my absence, but I do feel as though I need to assert myself a bit more in the time leading up to then so that I feel ok about leaving.

Well, off to go listen to the radio!