Friday night (10-10) we had a Hammerspace show at the Studio (experiment) in Highland Park. It was sort of a part of a big party/event. The only people who actually performed were Kelly Chase and myself, and our only actual audience was a very supportive Juli Crockett. The door to the room was open and a loud party was going on right outside in the hall. People were walking in and out of the room to get beer and it was distracting and difficult to focus. That being said… it was very fun and a pretty solid and well played little piece of improv. It was a nice long scenic look at marriage and relationships, independence, personal differences within individuals, commitment, family, contractual obligations, and lack of communication. It was the first time Kelly and I had done a 2 person show and it went well. Later on Juli taught me how to do a cartwheel. I had wanted to learn how to do a cartwheel all my life. We went to the iO West Jam on the Main Stage after that and it was really fun.
Saturday night we had a Hammerspace show in the iO West Upstairs Black Box. The show was okay... it felt like it had so much potential and just never actually took off toward what it could have been. We haven't been practicing or rehearsing enough lately. I also don't really know for sure who is a member of Hammerspace and who isn't. I'm never entirely sure who is going to be there to perform with me. Those things are very important and worth putting some thought and work into so that the group doesn't feel so disconnected. I feel so excited and adventurous about the artistic exploration of long-form improvisation. Playing with super intelligent and high reference level scene, character, and environment sounds so exciting and I would love to start getting my hands dirty taking huge risks and failing gloriously onstage. I just know that there are limitless abstract, surreal, spiritual, and philosophical discoveries out there in the infinite expanses of improvisational performance and creation land. The fearless and thorough honest experimental excavation of thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and feelings is going to be necessary in order to start getting to the deep artistic heart and soul of long form improvisational theater. The journey is going to be magnificent. I need to assemble a fellowship of players willing to embark on this quest with me. It is going to be a grand thing indeed to attempt to live and breathe this fantasy vision of truth and beauty and I now begin my search for the creative and insightful comedy warriors I need to join me.
After we left iO West we went to the Steve Allen Theater for the Tomorrow Show. Ronald Lynch (Mr. Lynch from Home Movies) hosts there. His co-host for the evening was Janeane Garofalo (that was a big surprise). My favorite burlesque theater-performance-art-clown, April Hava Shenkman, was there performing a very cool surrealistic gibberish piece that seemed politically themed (I think).
On Sunday Kelly and I went to the 3 dollar movie theater in Pasadena and saw “Ghost Town”. I totally recommend it (Ricky Gervais is so awesome). Then we saw some scripted sketch comedy at iO West that neither of us really responded to.
On Moday we went to the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). The LACMA is an incredible museum with lots of Picassos. I need to go back soon. We went from the LACMA to Dave and Buster’s for Travis Dixon’s birthday party and played a ton of ski-ball.
Tuesday was an incredible night. I did some actor/model work with Sick End Films doing promotional pictures for their new horror website. Brittany Disston is a really incredible special effects make-up artist (and I totally mean it when I say artist). She is brilliant and I absolutely love working with her. I love being in the chair and having the blood and gore make-up applied. Bleeding sores, oozing, bruises, scars, grizzly track marks, lesions, open wounds, and puss… I just love it. It’s a very sensory (somewhat erotic) and meditative experience holding still while someone puts their hands all over you creating a thing of terrible and horrific beauty. In the first set of pictures I was an undead junkie. Sana Etoile was playing my evil and sadistic wife. She and I have the same birthday, November 2 (Dia De Los Muertos, we were born on the Day of the Dead, also All Soul's Day). Next I had my eyes gouged out. For the gouged out eyes look I was wearing a prosthetic piece that required my eyes being taped shut. I had to be led around by the hand, helped up and down the stairs, and given water. That was very cool and weird and an extra-sensory experience. Sci-Fi, Horror, Comics, and Fantasy have always been genres I have been a big fan of, ever since I was very young. Thank you so much Bruce Campbell. It is really sweet to be doing so much work in these kinds of projects and it makes me that much more excited to be doing film work in Los Angeles. Sick End Films is quickly becoming an entity that I am always excited to be in collaboration with. I will have the pictures to post soon and that is very exciting.
I had my final level 5B class on Wednesday with Miles Stroth. He said I was a sniper because I wait on the sides for the perfect moment to pop in and do and/or say the perfect thing. He says that I need to start risking not being perfect and be willing to come out at the wrong time, do the wrong thing and fail. I am in total agreement with him. After class I saw an incredibly amazing King Ten show and Laurel Coppock proved once again that she is a comedy genius! I love what she does onstage! She is also so nice. I was also able to confirm that I had in fact seen Jennifer Lutheran (iO West box-office intern and a very sweet girl) playing a prostitute in the Gem Saloon on Deadwood in season 3. That is so freaking cool! I love Deadwood.
I went to the House of Blues for the first time Thursday night to see Ballentine (led by Heather Ballentine). I know Heather from doing outdoor musical theater in Oklahoma at Discovery Land. She sent me free tickets in the mail and the envelope had a PETA sticker on it (good for her).
So much is going on right now. Every day is a new discovery. It is time to get this show on the road. It is time to go for it! I feel full of magic and promise. I feel like a crusader and I seek new creative adventure and want to explore all of the artistic opportunities this bizarre and wonderful city has to offer. Improv continues to get better. Working in film and meeting fellow artists is just so cool. The less I hold back and the more fearless I am the more outstanding the discoveries will be in art, in love, onstage, and in life. This is frightening, fun, groovy, and grand.
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