Break a Leg

I'm pretty sure I've written about opening nights for other shows before, and, though each show is very different from the last, it's always a very exciting time.  The opening for All The Great Books (Abridged) certainly was not different.

The show was sold out for the entire weekend before opening night even rolled around, which is pretty awesome.  Granted: it's only a 96-seat house, so filling it isn't all that difficult, but it's also in the middle of Sebastopol, CA which is somewhat off the beaten path.  Most of the people showing up would naturally be friends, regular patrons of the theater, board members, etc... What we didn't know what that a writer for The Bohemian (a Sonoma County newspaper that talks about the latest social events) was there to review the show...and this guy NEVER reviews shows for this particular theater.  Anyway, we were excited.  We were also exhausted from having 4 hour rehearsals every day for the past several weeks with barely a moment to rest.  But opening night tends to stave off fatigue until, well, usually the next night.  The Second Night Lull is a pretty common occurence in the theater world.

But opening night was awesome.  Everybody was there because they A) wanted to support us and B) wanted to laugh, and I will toot my own horn enough to say that we didn't leave them wanting.  There were a couple slight bumbles here and there, but nothing major, and we generally just mowed right over anything that got in our way.  By intermission our stage manager was telling us that people were already complaining of having sore sides.  By the end of the show, they were weazing and trying to keep their insides inside.  In fact, for the first time in my life, we got a standing ovation BEFORE WE WERE EVEN DONE WITH THE SHOW.  We couldn't even finish, they were cheering so loud.  It was awesome!

I'm not sure how to relate how it feels to do a show like this, but I'll try.  Imagine having something you really want to do, but at the same time are dreadfully afraid of because of the sheer amount of work that it will require and the fact that if you fail, you fail HARD.  Then it starts and you are FLYING; not a moment to stop, not a moment to breathe, not a moment to enjoy the moment: just go as fast and as hard as you can until it's done.  And you make it.  And you can raise your hand in the air and say "I have fought the giant."  "I have ridden the shark." "I have looked over the precipice into the abyss and I flipped it the bird."

And then you have to go do it all over again at least 18 more times.

It's a hell of a ride.

Happy Jenday!

I have been extremely busy the last couple weeks and haven't really had time to write a blog and most of the stuff I've been going through wasn't really blog-worthy in my opinion.  I've been in rehearsals for The Great Books (Abridged), which opens this Friday, so I invite everybody to come see it.  Thursdays are pay what you can night, so you have one less excuse there, but it IS in Sebastopol which is a bit of a hike.  Still, it's going to be a pretty awesome show if I do say so myself, and will be well worth the trip. 

I've also been doing a bit of car shopping, which has taken up the rest of my time that hasn't been spent working or sleeping.  So far I haven't been able to find the car I'm looking for, either because it was already sold by the time I got to the lot or it wasn't there to begin with.  Or in one case, the car was there but it was dead and the mechanic was still working on it when I left the lot 15 minutes later.  The only really interesting thing that happened while out on my quest for vehicular acquisition was that I was driving down the freeway when a car swearved across several lanes and then chucked a cup of soda at another car 2 lanes over.  The driver then proceeded to flip off the driver of the newly moist car and take the next exit. 

Anywho, I just wanted to let all of you wonderful people know that I hadn't forgoten about you, and I'll be back to regale you with my amazing anecdotes soon.

Happy Jenday!

Not much to report this week.  I'm still in rehearsals for The Great Books (Abridged).  If you ever have a chance to see any of the works by the Abridged Company, I suggest you take it. When done wrong, they're still good.  When done right (as is what happens when I'm involved) it's awesome!

But that's not really exciting journalism: "Here's what I'm going to be awesome at that you won't go see."  See, for me, there is so much going on in the world that is being thrown at me all the time that I can't, surely, be expected to go see all of it and make a judgement on all of it, while maintaining a job which allows me to spend the money to exist and then go and experience all these things I should be experiencing.... Yes, the answer here is "Get a Better Job".  We've been over this.  Another solution might be: "just go see the parts that seem like you would enjoy".  And SOOO many factors exist there.  I.E.

1.) What do I enjoy?

2.) What is playing?

3.) What do the critics tell me I will enjoy?

4.) What do my friends tell me I will enjoy?

5.) What percentage of the shows I have seen that the critics told me I would enjoy, have I actually enjoyed?

6.) What percentage of the shows i have seen that my friends told me I would enjoy, have I actually enjoyed?

7.) What, despite what everybody else is saying, would I like to go see?

8.) How far do I have to go so see it?

9.) Who can I get to go with me?

10.) Will there be booze?

11.) Have I subjected my friend to film shoot after film shoot at terrible hours again and again without pay and should I do them the courtesy of going out of my way to go support them just this one time?

12.) How far is it again?

13.) Can we carpool?

14.) Can we get comps?

15.) Can we get a group discount?

16.) Can we get a place to stay?

17.) Will there be drinking afterwards?

Jimmy, you can pipe in anytime here.

And SO, back to my original point, in a quite round-about way: there's been a lot going on, and it's only exciting to me, because it's only been happening to me and/or a small group of specific people which you only be familiar with if you hung out in radio kol chat for an extended period of time.

I am not excluding you.  I am inviting you.  Anything further will just sound creepy.

Happy Jenday

I would have posted this story last week, but since I've started rehearsals, my schedule typically goes like this..

6:30am Wake up.  It's not actually time for me to wake up, but I don't sleep well and this is typically when my body starts ramping up for the day...or something.  I'm pretty much in and out of consciousness for a while.

8:00am Alarm goes off.

8:00:01am Snooze button is hit.

8:09am Alarm goes off again.  I will usually get up at this point, unless I really didn't sleep well or I had a late night.

8:10am Find clothing suitable for going to work in.

8:12am Stumble to bathroom.

8:14am See how horrible I look at 8:14 in the morning.  Remove unwanted hairs.  Brush teeth.

8:17am Shower.

8:27am Dry off & dress.

8:40am Head to work.

9:00am Work.

5:15pm Get in car and drive to Sebastopol

6:00pm - 6:30pm: Arrive in Sebastopol.  Hopefully have either time or for though to have snack and drink for rehearsal.

9:30pm Finish rehearsal.

10:15pm Arrive home.

10:20pm Run turns on Kingdom of Loathing.

11:00pm Get in bed.

1:00am Fall asleep.

6:30am Start again.

• • •

Now, perhaps I could be writing the blog on the Tuesday night previous like a responsible blogger, but let's be honest, nobody's just itching for the next installment of Jenday, and at that point in the day my brain function is minimal as far as useful contributions are concerned.

Anyway...

The other weekend some friends were planning to come up from San Diego and hang out with us NorCal piplz.  These, for those of you that have been following the saga, are some of the same people that I went down to San Diego with Nate a few weeks prior to hang out with. Also, this particular weekend, Nate's parents were out of town, so we were going to have the party over there.

I will skip to the explosion.

We were hanging out, and suddenly there were Nerf guns.  My friend Scott and I did not have Nerf guns, but we knew that it was imperative to the good of all mankind that we get some. 

So we sang a song to Scott's wife demanding that she give us a ride to the nearest Target.  Part of this song was recorded on a friend's phone, which he then posted to his facebook page.  I have since posted it to MY facebook page.  I don't know how to post that video here, but just add me as a friend there and check it out.  Or maybe one of the more tech-savvy people can tell me how to do it.  Whatev.

Scott's wife refused, REFUSED, to take us to Target.  The nerve of the wench.  But shortly after we stopped singing, Scott's wife's brother Paul showed up, and even though he was sober, agreed to give us a ride to Target.

So we rolled into Target and went to the toy isle.  When we got to the Nerf section, there was a hot mom with child in tow.  She started pointing out which guns we should buy.  It was pretty hot.  We decided to go with battery powered, rotary, tommygun-style weapons.  And swords.  We got Nerf swords.  The swords did not last the night.  Paul and Bruce (who also tagged along with us) went halvesies on a friggin monstrous, belt fed machine gun.  The thing is sweet.  We picked up some batteries, purchased our goods, and walked out into the parking lot, where we proceeded to assemble and load and giggle.  We took pictures.  It was very dramatic.

Then we drove back to Nate's house.  Now, we knew everybody would be in the back yard.  So the plan was to walk in the front door, through the living room, out the back door, and open fire.

Which is pretty much what we did.  Then chaos ensued.  Well, OK...we're pretty much a big sack of chaos wherever we go, but now we had more toys.  People started shooting each other pretty much continuously for the next 5 hours.  Many Nerf Duels were fought.  More weapons were acquired.  Wrestling ensued.  Bruises were handed out like party favors.

Later, in a moment of quiet reflection, I thought to myself: "Is this really how a 32 year old man should be acting?"  And the answer, of course, is "No, but it's EXACTLY how a 32 year old boy should be acting."  Being happy with that answer, I ate some chips and had a juice box.

Happy Jenday!

You know, I think I may have used that title before.  But I'm ok with that, because it's a good metaphor for my life at times.  See the following.

One of my roommates moved out two months ago and I haven't been able to find a replacement, which means I'm chucking an extra $625 out an open window every month because the lease is in my name.  My car has started hiccupping and occasionally loosing all power while driving, and something keeps coming up and keeping me from getting it checked.  I start a new show this week, which is actually a good thing.  However, look back at the point that my car is about to die and I'm quickly running out of the funds to fix or replace it.  I am tired of my apartment, but can't really move right now.  I can't sleep at night because I'm stressed about these things, which is affecting my job performance, and quite frankly, my health.  And I'm still bald!  Oh, and there's a recession or something going on.

There's more stuff, but, eh, it's mostly just stuff I know I should do but don't do or stuff I do do but shouldn't.

Yes, I said "do do".  Poop jokes are funny.

So that's the bad stuff.

The good stuff is that I'm starting "The Great Books (Abridged)" which is 3 guys on stage running around like idiots for about 2 hours.  I got the opportunity to do "The Bible (Abridge)" with the same company a couple years ago and it is one of the most fun shows I have ever done.  So I'm stoked on that.

And then immediately after that, I'll be Rochefort in The Three Musketeers.  That will be awesome because if there's a fight with a bad guy, the bad guy is usually Rochefort.  Stage combat is fun.  Additionally, there's this cool little twist: a couple years ago I was Lt. Kendrick in "A Few Good Men" (played by Keifer Sutherland in the movie).  Well, the guy who played Col. Jessup in that show is going to be Cardinal Richelieux...however the hell you spell it.  This basically means he'll be the head asshole - again, and I'll be his right-hand asshole - again...hmmm, perhaps those weren't two coloquialisms I should have used together.  Anyway, the guy is a great actor and a great guy, so it'll be cool to team up with him again.

If I make it through the week.

Oh, and if anybody knows an agent that needs any voice actors, tell them where to find me.  My demo is but an email away.

Happy Jenday!