I'm learning

So, there's this commercial on the radio now, from Kraft Singles...about how if you bring in the wrapper to a baseball game, they'll pay for one of your tickets, right?

And said commercial bothers the crap out of me...before I get into why I should explain the commercial...in case you're unfamiliar. (Names were changed because I can't remember their actual names...)

It goes a little something like this:

Female: "I'm Kelly, Marketing blah blah blah from Kraft"

Male: "And I'm Todd, baseball fan."

Female: "We're here today to announce a special thing from Kraft. Called, [Insert Marketing Ploy Name Here]...where if you eat some cheese and bring a wrapper to the ticket window, Kraft will buy one ticket for you."

Male: "This is great! And maybe I can watch my home team hit a single!"

Female: "Wait. That's mean, why would anybody want to hit a single?"

Male: "No it's good. We want the team to hit a bunch of singles!"

Female: "Wait. No! We don't want people hitting our cheese!"

And it goes on like this, with the guy getting aggravated with the girl and vice versa...for like 2 minutes.

But today I figured out why it bothers me so much...I mean, beyond the cheesiness (no pun intended) of the commercial in general...)

It's because nobody would let this miscommunication actually go on that long. I mean, if it were and actual conversation...the moment the woman said "hitting our cheese" any normal person would simply say something along the lines of "Oh...you meant a Kraft Single. I'm talking about a play in baseball. When the batter hits the ball and takes first base. *haha haha awkward laugh*"

It bothers me because it's not an honest back and forth. The reactions are faked to create this commercial, as opposed to creating an actual conversation between two people who are misunderstanding each other and building the commercial out of that.

And I think I picked up on due to my improv classes. Truthful human interaction and response is much more entertaining...as opposed to forced situations...or those that simply try to get the "funny."


Also, I really hate cooked carrots.

a rip roarin' good time

Although the week was pretty much, well, shit...my Friday night turned out to be extraordinarily fun. The jam itself was a little rough...it lacked some, shall we say...energy?

But, it was a good experience nonetheless. I mean, as a budding improviser I realize that I'm going to have some bad nights on stage. What better place to experience that than at a midnight jam?

Got some really stellar advice from someone in the improv community that I look up to. Basically, he told me that it takes a lot of balls to get up there during a jam. It's the hardest gig out there. Succeed or fail, there shouldn't be any judgement. He also let me know that I'm going to have a blast at my iO classes...which start on Friday. I'm stoked.

This week, I plan on trying to catch the free Wednesday show, and I'm definitely going to check out Tj and Dave...it's been about a month since I caught that show. Thursday is class, Friday is class, and then the jam...which I hope is a little bit more full of life this week.

Then Saturday I start the house search all over again. It's out there. I know it. I just can't wait til I find it so that I can settle in and have one less thing on my plate to stress me out.

Also, I've discovered that "assbag" is my new favorite word.

Friday...(I couldn't come up with a catchier title...)

Soooooooo looking forward to the Jam tonight. After this week, man...I need to laugh at life a little. Going for sushi before the show. I'm addicted. So delicious.

What else? Oh...ROCKIN' class last night. Absolutely. And the funniest moments were when we were strictly playing reality. Even though deep down I know playing reality is key, sometimes it's so hard to jump out of your mind and just let things happen naturally. There's sometimes this pressure to get a scene started. And you know what? There really doesn't need to be.

Last night's class just reinforced that. And hopefully I can put it into practice tonight. Or sometime soon.

On another note, I have a monologue workshop tomorrow afternoon. Actually really excited about it. It's to help you prepare for auditions and whatnot. Who knows if I'll ever even have the opportunity to actually audition for anything...but, might as well keep that in my back pocket, right? I mean honestly, the more tools in my belt, the more...well, i don't know. I think it's nice to learn what I can...and the workshop is free.

I'm rambling now. To be quite honest, I'm killing time before I can leave and meet up with B for sushi. I'd really rather not stand alone in Wrigleyville, but, it's lookin that way. Oh well.

This entry was so lame. I apologize.

Elephant farts and rat gonads.

There. Non-sequitur.

And I Just Can't Hide It

I'm officially a card-carrying member of the iO Training Center Chicago! Truly excited, classes start August 28th.

This week (and the weeks that follow, most likely) will be spent seeing shows, doing jams, and perhaps taking a workshop (haven't heard back yet).

And this blog post is incredibly boring. I realize. But there are clients here at work and it's making me nervous.

There are also bagels.

Score.

yup...

That is DEFINITELY my son.