A while back, I wrote about my New Year's Resolution: to put myself out there more.
It's been a bit of an uphill climb, but I have managed to hit a few stages, here and there. I've tried to be more of a presence at some of the more alternative venues in the city. My bud, Justin, from the Spleen Jockey days recently sent me my old clown costume...so I'm thinking of doing one of my character monologues again. Second City's always there, and I do try to pop my head in, from time to time, to say hello. I've even done a spoken word gig!
Mostly I've just been trying to focus on having fun. I'm only ever really funny when I'm relaxed.
There are two specific projects that I've been a part of recently that I'm particulary fond/proud of. The first is a regular gig at the Bad Dog Theatre, at Danforth and Broadview. It's called the Fugue.
It's a musical improv show...which always interesting to do. Musical improv is not really my strongest suit, but we did an awful lot of it, back in my Tourco days. It's been pretty cool dusting off my singing and rhyming chops and trying them out in front of an audience again.
This show has also involved a rehearsal/workshop process that's a bit more intense than your usual improv gigs. People often find it funny that improv requires rehearsal at all, but we do meet fairly regularly to work out scenic elements and get to know each other's styles. With the Fugue, we've even hashed out a batch of new, untried formats, which I've found particulary satisfying. It also helps that I'm working with quite a few old friends from Second City, plus a couple of really good people that I'm hitting the stage with for the first time.
Our last show is this Saturday night at 10 PM. See you there.
The other project is this.
A couple of weekends ago, I was asked to be part of the promotional campaign for the Emerald City Comiccon, in Seattle. I spent about 18 hours sitting in a van, dressed as a wizard, but the end result is fantastic. It was pretty incredible that we managed to generate so much material with only a couple of shooting days. The process was so hysterical that it didn't seem like we were doing any work at all. The TV spots look great...but I'm particulary happy with the web-only B-footage.
Check it out.
I don't regret the hermit years, but it certainly has been nice to poke my head out into the real world and see some of the great stuff that's been going on. There's a hell of a lot of cool people out there, doing some really cool stuff. I'd like to be a part of as much of it as I can.
Put me in, coach!
Jim out.
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