a very special episode

yesterday morning after a show i finally turned the corner to wellness, just in time for a very long, fun, and hard weekend. tomorrow night are the final shows for CSz at 2851 n. halsted. it's really becoming comical how much we are mourning the place.

i did a couple of things here in chicago before i did CSz, but, as far as performing goes - this place was my first true home, professionally. this place convinced me that i could do what i came here to do, for real, in practice and spirit. it rejuvenated me, got me ready, gave me legs, made me better. as a home - well, i have lived at my apartment less time that i've been at that building; my mom lives in a different house than the one i grew up in, and, well, it's just one of those places i immediately feel comfort. everyone does.

for me, the reasons i feel comfort at this place goes beyond your average bear's. in a very, very dark time, i laughed there, cried there, got sick there, got better there, was scared beyond belief, loved as hard as ever, and found a secondary family - all inside those walls, some of which right there, on that stage.

last night we played to a sold out show, and as we took our bows i was one of the last to be called offstage. i felt that pang of jaw-tightening-avoiding-tearing-up when i stood there in the spotlight with friends. it's all super sappy to write about, and certainly sadder things have happened in my life, but this place is so dear to me.

as with any physical, tangible place- it's what happened there, the people you know, the memories you made that you take with you when that place is gone. so, we'll do it.

but first?
two more shows,
$1 drinks all night after across the street,
and about 18 rounds of YOUUUUUU GUYYYYSSSS THIIISS PLLLLLACEEEE!, promised from me to everyone, as we pass out in the lobby one last time.

come to the show.

i said, whatchoo doin', she said, movin'!

my nephs are obsessed with the MTV show, yo momma.
i say obsessed, but i don't really even know if they've ever seen it, they just rehash bits that other kids have heard at school. it's pretty funny and horrifying.
this show is god awful. i'm watching it as we speak.
i feel like this is an outdated 80s concept. am i wrong?

lateral move

back on health kick as of sunday, despite being a V Machine yesterday on the plane.
(v machine sounds dirts.)

i was up really late on sundo, after learning lines and transcribing a musical for a project i'm doing at the hotel. i took a shower and then curled up in my luxury room to watch a little tv (the nice perk of corporate work). i caught this infomercial for the lateral thigh trainer, hated it, laughed, then went on ebay and bought it.

i think mostly it just sort of made me happy to buy something from an infomercial. i can't wait! bring it here as fast as your hot paws can carry it! i think i'll probably fall off of it then go jogging, but who knows. i bet part of me will like it a bunch. i'm just over the gym right now - it makes me feel trapped in the spring, instead of happs.

have you ever bought anything from an infomersh?

long weekend

hi!
nice weekend away to my fam and friends in columbus. my pal pat rennick got married to his long-time gfri porsha, and fun was had. happy to see family and friends, rocked out with my bro and nephs/niece on guitar hero, all the things that make home fun and goofs.

flew from there to DC to meet eric for a dave and co gig... the gig went great, and then we left for the airport. somewhere in-between, i ate a caesar salad, and uh, things got bad. i got to the air-p and felt immensely ill, but just sort of gross. we got on the plane, i sat down, we taxi-ed, and then - blam-o!, barf machine. i mean, i'm talking, things were bad. we hadn't even taken off yet. i shot a warning fire to my seat buddy to get up and run for it. he did. i was quiet as a mouse and got the job done, but good god, there's not much lonelier than puking. there just isn't. isn't that weird?

suck it, salad.

now i'm laying in bed back in chicago and watching oprah with my cat. it's like a cathy comic around here.

what's happening to me?

i just cried at the radio show call-in part of sleepless in seattle.
i don't even know who i am anymore.

i have few movie weaknesses where i was a crybox.
my firsts:
a. savannah smiles - not all bad people are bad!
b. E.T. - the persecuted shall be free!
c. frosty the snowmo - death! questions of return! afterlife!

my constants:
a. it's a wonderful life
b. e.t.
c. terms of endearment

you name some.

Cleaning Ladies, the Remix

my friend ithamar organized a reunion show for us last night. it was amazing fun.

quite a few people try out for something called an incubator team when you first start in chicago. i was lucky enough to get placed on the perfect first team for me, the Cleaning Ladies. at first, our team began with about 11. at the end, we were down to four dedicated people that - in my head, were the funniest ones.

everyone got really busy in 2002ish - i got CSz, Josh started doing iO more intensely, Jill started the Cupid Players, and Ithamar began touring with SC. we knew it was time to disband.

now that our schedules are slightly more under our own control and the playground theatre has been so sweet to us, yesterday and next tuesday, we're doing shows for kicks. we might even do a run in june each wednesday. i'm not sure that a minute has passed in those four years.

victory in defeat

this is beth on the phone with victory auto wreckers.
please note that she is serious as hell, and she's holding a moldy, wet title.




this is the logo for victory auto wreckers. we laughed at it a long time.

faretheewell, dear saturn.

One woman's trash

My roommate Beth is in town until Wednesday morning, moving her stuff into storage. She and other great pals are staying to write a new revue for SC Denver, a new theatre that opened up a few months back that they tentatively moved for. Beth's getting rid of stuff right now, so we've been moving a ton of sh*t to a storage pod downstairs to be hauled away and making multiple trips to the Brown Elephant.

In the meanwhile, Beth was deciding to do with her bedroom furniture. Sort of as a bit, I suggested posting on Craig'sList. She didn't think it would work, but we figured there was no harm in trying. I posted a pic of the set, and within an hour, a woman named Avril had shown up to take the stuff away.

We then became amazed and obsessed, and now have listed:
a. A Toshiba Laptop from 1871,
b. An IBM thinkpad from the Ottomon Empire,
c. A Dirt Devil Vacuum Cleanski,
d. A Jameson Whiskey Embroidered Jacket, appropo for the lead singer of Smashmouth in my head, and
e. A big basket thing that's probably used for Snake Charming

Responses came in steadily all night last night, and we really lost it laughing pretty bad. It just seemed funny that people want these things, let alone would drive to get them and pay. Great.

Beth stared at the boxes she had left to put in the Pod downstairs. Moving sucks, she said. Why don't we hire laborers?, I said, again as a bit.

Give it up for Ashley and John.
Moving is fun again.

easter parade... of bits

Happy Easter, everybody!

Easter away from home this year? Yep. But the hosts with the most (R&D) made a wonderful easter feast, and held a pretty ridiculous photoshoot.

Thanks, RanceRizzutto.com!

back to you, tom

fans of the family guy should be pleased to know that i am a contender for the voice of diane simmons, the husky-voiced, pretentiously snarky newscaster on the series, for the CD-Rom game. more at 11.

clo-sing tiiiime

this tuesday, we had a big clean-up at csz. the office is moving on friday, so the ensemble packed up the third floor and said some mini-goodbyes to the space.

fearless leader dave gaudet gave a moving speech to all of us. on sunday, we had a farewell event to the place, honoring it's ex-rentees: St. Nicholas Players, the Steppenwolf, The Organic Touchstone, and ourselves. a super list of talents on that role-call. on sunday, it sort of hit us that comedysportz was the only one who was lucky enough to retain the space, that we were head-above-water enough to stay in it. that's pretty big for any theatre in a city. it's just hard work. after packing up, some emotions were high. dave reiterated all the times they've all moved since 1987, just keeping ahead of the game by an inch.

comedysportz is operated at times like a co-op; people have a really vested interest in the marketing, the sales, the shows, the training. there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen - and sometimes though that can work against you, for the most part, it makes cast members feel like they have ownership, stock; that they "get it". so, on the move. for us, it's big. it feels big. it's the only csz i've known as a cast member. for the oldest, this time feels better, because now we actually have a conventionally successful thing going. dave reminisced a while. you guys, we did it. and now we get to do it again.

everybody bee cool

bunny breakfast. 2006.
working actor.
bee all that you can bee.

she wants revenge

friend lori told me about this band she wants revenge. it's a self-proclaimed "s&m band". i didn't know what to expect, so i listened, and now i'm pro. it's pretty fun, dirty brit-pop sounding, 80's dance-ish music. ...with a lot of stocking references and innuendo bombs in it.

drop your keys in a bowl, everybody, let's do this.

i shall wear purps

ALERT!
nearly best part of trip: the red hat society is staying in our hampton inn.

THEY ARE AMAZING!
I CAN'T STOP WATCHING THEM!
THERE ARE FLOCKS OF THEM!

steph mc. commented that they scared her a bit, but i feel oppositely - i look forward to being one of these women in 40 years. i am spying on them at every turn! i am losing it! i'll talk about my medications and skyrocketing prices! i will eat continental breakfasts and sing camp songs! shit, i'll do it right now!

what's round on the ends and high in the middle?

...O H I O, and that is our riddle!

recap for the interested...
man, coming here was about the best thing out there. i'm currently at denison university, on a road show for CSz. it was awesome.

first, on thursday, i got to spend the day with lots of family in columbus - my mom, vince, nick, his new g-fri kathy and her daughter, and my nephs and niece. we just hung out and it was PERF! lots of laid back time, grabbing dinner and graeter's (yeah, cinci!). my nephews make me laugh a lot and my family is rule city.

my bro vince drove me to the airport on friday, to meet up with the CSz cast. we rented a car and drove the 45 minutes to denison, which dave g. and kat attended. they were really fun to hang around with, just reminiscing and telling stories, etc. everyone here has been in great spirits - it's amazing how being in a college town makes you immediately feel like you're in college, too (or, immediately feel ancient, but let's stay pos). we lazed the day away until meeting our contact with dollar drafts (!) and walking tours of their greek houses (Phi Delt and DG, respectively).

the show was awesome - i subbed in and reffed per dave's request, and all four members on the road played - dave, kat, randy, and martin, joined by ever-talented doc mccullough on keys. the college troupe here - Burpee's Seedy, a team Dave was on and that Steve Carell founded - opened for us and then joined us for the final game of freeze. they were adorable and worked hard, fun to watch. i remembered being even more enthusiastic about improv, and i want to take some of that back with me.

we went drinking at a college tavern called the Granvilla afterwards, saw two dudes puke, and one girl run out crying. martin dared me to console her, so i did. she apparently was accused of bangin' someone's b-fri and doing coke in the bathroom. whaaaa? college is hard! after we left, we passed the not-in-chicago chain of Papa John's, and the four of us in our car eagerly called with an order. it was closed, so i told them our story, and the sympathetic dude who answered the phone lamented with me that he would fire up the oven if he wasn't the guy who answered the phones. fair enough.

drunk times in ohio = perf.
show in ohio = perf.
family in ohio = perf.
therefore, ohio = perf.

Surprise. It's Columbus.

the above is an actual slogan that the columbus chamber of commerce thought up for the tourism bureau. unbelievable. Surprise. It's Columbus reaches heights unparalleled by other cities in my mind, both because i don't get what it means, and secondly, it's so underexcited. hey. surprise. it's columbus. z. are you surprised? there's things here. i guess. are you still reading?

tomorrow (today), very early, i leave for a short but sweet trip home to columbo. i am so excited to go home. comedysportz is doing a touring show at denison university, about 45 minutes or so away from my fam. i'm going home a day early and meeting the CSz crew at the airport on friday for the show that evening, returning to Chicagski saturday morno.

i am so homesick. i am uber-excited to go home, albeit a short escape. i always eagerly anticipate going home, but now it's gotten even harder to get there. i love it. i'm taking it every chance i can get.

va-ca-tion, all i ever want-ed

hi, everyone!
thanks for your words of support - i got through all my shows, which i could talk about for days, but won't bore you with details. all in all, really fun and nice to have a few under my belt. amazing to be in a two hour show that you've never once run. amazing. keeps you on your toes.

i've been a bad blogger this week, but a good liver. from thursday to sunday, between the bunny breakfasts at MFields, SCity, CSz, iO, and rehearsals, i realized i had literally 9 hours of sleep. it caught up to me on sundo, when i looked like walking Z, and spent the day beyond 5pm passed out. s'nice. and, s'needed.

since, there's been a lot of hang time with great friends. a few people are in town and have time off, so there's been lots of hang outs and less shows. trying to find the calmer, gym-ier, catch-up-ier groove again. it's lovely. it makes it feel like we're on spring break or something, and that has been an amazing treat.

girls gone mild!