WooPigSooie!

traveled with SC BlueCo on Friday to Arkansas... Fayetteville, to be exact.
the running order ruled - lots of fun things - for you SC nerds, we did a scene called MSN from toronto's mainstage and a song from detroit called greatest day. both were really fun, and it was nice to honor different places by trying their stuff.

going to arkansas was fun because we had no idea what to expect - well, really, we did; but what we got was very much the opposite of what we thought we'd have. the 8 of us were cracking watch-out-for-klansy jokes on the way down, only to find that the show for 1200 at the walton performing arts center was to a liberal crowd who loved them the progressive comedo.

on each gig that you do on the road, whether for csz or sc or dave and co or whatever, we all take a little time to sort of familiarize ourselves with the surroundings for bits within the show that we can finagle. jordan was our ambassador in this particular travel, who met a guy on the plane named keaton. keaton told jordan a bunch of hot facts about the campus and his frat house, and clued us in on a very important cheer that would later be used in a scene that changes via location called Trash Talk (see title of entry for cheer). jordan, hetero jones, developed a platonic male crush on this guy after talking to him for the duration of the flight, which was adorable. don't you guys think he's cute?, he'd ask. what do you think he's doing right now?

the night progressed after royal treatment to our hotel and a bar within stone's throw, full of college students returning to campus for the school year. several of them ran out to greet us, yelling that they recognized us from the performance and bought us several rounds. we then stumbled from that bar to the connecting one, an actual reverse in decor than the bar we were just in. it was like stepping through a mirror or something - in one bar the chandeliers were white, the stools black; in the other, the chandeliers black and stools white. we soon found out the connecting bar was a gay bar, a fact that delighted the whole cast, since by chance 3 of the members traveling were gaybots (4, if you count my bisexual progressive ass). that bar had a basement blaring hip-hop and sporting fog machines, so we danced and laughed and stumbled the 100 yards home to the radisson.

cutting back: i don't know that i've ever felt that loved by an audience. at least, during a sketch show. every word was a success, every second resonated with someone. the improv games interspersed were amazing, the structured improv stuff was killer, the sketches were perfect. with a crowd that large, you really felt like a rock star. it was a blessing. i want everyone to feel like that for a second in their lives, doing whatever you do that makes you feel accomplished.

at the end of the show, we received three standing ovations. in a troupe, everyone knows that the collaborative is what got you there. it's a team game. it's a sport. still, it's fun to imagine that you gave something to that team, and someone out there is cheering right at you.