Can't Hardly Wait

OK, so this weekend was pretty cool. We had our 101 Grad show, and I have to say it was pretty surreal to get to be on the UCB stage. If you've never been to the theater, let me put you in one of the seats.

The UCB Theater is located on W 26th St. in Chelsea (that's kind of southwest Manhattan), and when you go in the front door, you go down a set of stairs to the box office, and go to the right, and it's sort of a three-quarter round set up (for those not familiar with theater terminology, imagine a stage that where the audience sits in front of the stage, to left of the stage, and to the right of the stage, all facing said stage). Got it? Good. The theater used to be a "gentleman's club," but Guiliani shut it down back in the day, and now it's a theater. It's also underneath a Gristedes (that's like a Kroger if you're from the south, Jewell-Oscoe if you're from the Midwest, and a Vonn's if you're from the southwest). It's got a gritty, intimate feel to it; definitely New York, and it's always packed (the line goes down the street most nights to get in). So, I get there before my call time, grab a Gatorade from the Duane-Reade (drugstore like Eckerd, CVS, or Rite-Aid), and start talking basketball with my instructor, Ari (he was a fantastic teacher...like a high energy Chapman, but I digress). Everyone showed up, we warmed up a bit, and then we were divided into 2 teams (I'm kind of glad we got to go first, because then I got to really enjoy the second set and not be influenced by anything I saw previously). So our group heads backstage, and as we're hanging out, I throw the idea out there for "Mutual Admiration Society." It's not a new concept, as we've done this a bunch with PIT in Atlanta. It's just a great way to get centered and bring good energy onstage. The premise is to have one person face the group, and we go down the line and each person says something nice about the person facing the group. We go until everyone has heard how awesome he or she is, and then you get to rock out. As we're mutually admiring, Ari lets us know that we're about to go on and wants to know who our captain was (it ended up being me, which was pretty cool). Team captains act as a pseudo emcee by getting an audience suggestion and introducing the next group. The only awkward thing for me was that I had to be first onstage, which if you know me or you've seen me perform, I really like being the last one onstage (or up the stairs). Not only that, I really like taking my sweet-ass time too. No biggie, that's just a Brian thing. So, channelling my friend and mentor Brian Chapman, I proceed to get an audience suggestion (which ended up being "paper-cut"), and the show was on.

Man, did I miss performing!!! It felt like being home again, I had so much fun. Both teams did a great job (Incidentally, our name was "Accidental Europe" and the other team name was "The Screaming Dingleberry's). Remember that scene in "Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl," where Jack Sparrow is reunited with the Pearl at the end of the movie? Yeah, that times about 1.4 million is about how I felt getting onstage. Our scenework was very good overall, and I had a great time. I'm also glad my buddy Dale talked me into doing the slightly longer intensive, as I got to meet and hang out with some really cool people. I think I'm going to try an intensive foe 201 (if it's still open tomorrow; as of now, I'm signed up for Tues/Thurs starting July 7, but I'm really looking to take a big bite out of this thing. I'd love to start earlier because I'm getting so much out of it. Jeff Pack is enjoying his journey into improv in LA as well, and we had the idea together about some of the Atlanta folks making a pilgrimmage to either NY or LA to take an intensive. By doing that, you can knock out all the classes (including 401) in less than a year AND it's tax deductilbe (I'm not a tax expert, I haven't played one on TV, but it is a business expense, so there you go). If any of the Briantologists are interested in this idea, let me know (I have to limit this to actors looking to A) move to one of the big two markets, 2) be an actor right now, D) I have to know you pretty well, which if you have to ask yourself that question, you know the answer). Anyway, just throwing that idea out there. Helen and I are up here, so...it's cool. Man, 201 is going to be so exciting...