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Gig List

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I went to sleep somewhere around 3 on Saturday night. I performed with my improv group Lost Tribe at Clearview Bungalow Colony. The gig started at 11 Jewish time and ended at close to 1. Unless you're Patricia Ryan Madson or someone else who really gets improv you may want to skip the following set list.

1. We started with a symphony of rants, in which the audience assigned us each something to complaint about and one member of the group conducted as we each one at a time, loud and low, and all together went off about out topic. This was well received and was a good group effort. We did their complaints like having a broken knee and why they don't like Bill.

2. Then we did a scene in different styles called out by the audience - Western, horror, etc. The setting we got was Alaska, and this was cute but didn't fly as high as it could have.

3. Then we did Ding!, in which a two person scene took place - but any time I rang my clerk bell the actor had to change and repeat their previous line. This is pretty much a sure fire hit (poo poo poo).

4. Then we did Fill In The Blanks, in which the actors paused and the audience shouted out the next word. Fun.

5. Then we did Slides, in which I displayed my summer vacation slides, which consisted of the other group members freezing in some shape and my saying what the picture was. It think it would have been stronger if someone else was describing the slides with me. It was a bit uneven having 4 people thinking of and making the forms and then the punch lines coming from my brain (with G-d's help) alone.

6. Next came the ABC game, in which we were assigned a letter and did a scene in which each line of dialogue had to proceed starting with the next letter of the alphabet. Maybe because of my affinity for writing I love this one. It went well. The funny thing is that the audience's favorite part is when we mess up.

7. Then we did Standing, Kneeling, Sitting, in which at any moment someone in the scene had to be, justifiably, standing, kneeling or sitting. They also enjoyed correcting us in this one. The hard part here is to have a reasonable excuse for switching positions often.

8. Then we did A Day In The Life, in which I asked an audience member to describe a recent day and we made a scene about it. I took the idea of a bad golf game and went back in time to the character as a little boy telling his mother that he wanted to be a golf champion one day. Co-star Elisabeth really shined in this one as The Lady of the Lake, presenting the protagonist with a magical golf club and reappearing at key times in his life.

9. Next came The One Headed Expert, in which 3 of us answered questions from the audience by speaking one word at a time and forming wise advice. This is a cute crowd pleaser. We got playful boos when we answered a question about the chances of the Yankees beating the Red Sox this year.

10. Then we did Kiddush Quirks, in which one person had to guess the idiosyncrasy of each "guest." As in many of the games, we included audience members, some of the audience suggestions were someone who is sexy, someone with gas, and someone selfish.

11. Then we did another Day In The Life (this one was about a guy having 4 wisdom teeth pulled). We had some fun with the pulling and the need to have his French mother serve him baby food (peach is his favorite) after. What's that saying about details?

12. Then we did a little thing in which an audience member read the lines of a script and one of us replied with a spontaneous line. As in many of the skits the audience member being in it made it a hoot for the audience filled with friends.

13. We ended with a scene in which everyone had a word and when their word was said and they were offstage they had to come into the scene, and if their word was said when they were in the scene they had to leave. Lively, madcap...
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Like Book Ends

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Yesterday I had a great long talk with a friend going through a major life decision. It brought out memories and a lot of emotion for me. My friend's present situation involves a choice between helping low functioning mentally ill people in a run down, cold setting versus a more hoity toity better paying role working for the worried well. People are telling him that the real world choice is clear. After working many years towards a PHD and finally getting it at 35 some feel it's time to take the highest paying, most practical, most prestigious job available. My friend's not so sure. Either am I. And tears were shed as he wondered who he want to be - and does he have the guts to be who he really wants to be. The book Mountains Behind Mountains came to mind and I recommended it. Who am I is a good hard question we all need to ask ourselves. Sigh.
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"Improv For Life"

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I used to wonder about rock groups and why they split up. Having had an improv group for the last few years has taught me a lot about this question. Control issues are everywhere. Can't we all just get along? Not necessarily. I want to write about this and I don't. Delmore Schwartz, a perceptive man, had a poem called The Ego Is Always At The Wheel.
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Published! (Sort Of)

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About a year ago I mentioned a book called I'm Proud of You. I wrote the author and told him how much the book meant to me. He wrote back to thank me. Some time later the author Tim Madigan asked if he could include some of my words in the start of the paperback version of the book. On Friday I received the softcover book in the mail with a beautiful personal inscription. What a mentsch! He called me his friend and co-author and expressed affection and appreciation. I just shuddered as I wrote that last line.

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Beauty Is Truth

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In B&N the other day I saw a new unabridged audio version of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. The reader, Carrington MacDuffie does a remarkable job, getting voices and nuances perfectly. Something about that book.

At one point Francie talks about how Saturday is her favorite day. This is my adaptation of her words:

Glad for Saturday

A day which is without fault

Monday far away

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In the store the other day I took a look at this new book. One of the chapters in this how to write book by a super successful writer was about poetry. He says that poetry is the hardest domain of writing and that all good writing should be poetic. I was thinking about that as I was taking in the gorgeous poetry of Betty Smith. And I wrote this:

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What is poetry?

Nothing if not a word for

High level writing.

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Revisited Haiku

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I came across this one I wrote a while ago and I'm not sure it gets across what it means to me. To me this one is profound, personal, and profoundly personal. I think the odds are low that anyone would get it but letter is supposed to have a double meaning. It's the metaphor of a paper letter that you read. But I was thinking also of a letter as in one who lets, allows. (And Rahway is just Rahway, New Jersey):

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I am a letter
read me and get permission
I will let you be

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On Communication Modes

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In recent years I've gotten very into emailing and less into phoning. Some people are right there with me. My producer/director and his company do all major contacting via email. Some people, on the other hand, don't do email and must be reached by phone. Some people who set me up (tarti mashma) are that way. Many live in the middle; they do some email, but are of a mindset that calling is more respectful, personal, real. In social settings the fairer sex seem to prefer the phone call, like in the old days. Specific contexts aside - it may come down to this, are you a word lover/writer type who likes to write, even when geography doesn't necessitate it or are you a more conventional face to face talky type?

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Soundtrack

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Joni Mitchel has a new, yet to be released , song that's playing as I write. It's called If and is adapted from Rudyard Kipling's poem. As a kid I had to memorize that one. On my wall I have a Hebrew version of it (Im tuchal lishmor al sheket vekor ruach et misaviv lecha shoreret mevucha...) On this new album, Shine, she also joins the bandwagon of remakes of Big Yellow Taxi something she certainly has a right to do. The song is very beautiful. She stuck closely to the original poem and the words work, sounding up to the second relevant.

Springsteen will have a new album with the old band out in October. One of the songs has the intriguing title - Your Own Worst Enemy. Hmm.

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"Entertainment"

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I like my entertainment heavy. Some people turn to film, music, literature for escape. I look for insight. The Willow Tree will not give Rush Hour Three a run for it's money but has more meaning in on second of ts running time than all three Rush Hours put together (plus all the Lethal Weapons, Terminators, Matrixes, and more). Seven months ago I ended a post with a wry joke about seeing Pans Labyrinth, which was true, together with a movie that I wouldn't see if you paid me (or at least hope I'd be strong enough to never see. Because the question would gnaw at me - why, why. why? My two favorite movies are Ordinary People and A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. I do like comedies, but I like them to wisdom and maybe warmth mixed in. My ultimate favorite dramedy is My Favorite Year along with its little known companion piece by the same director - the film version of Laughter on the 22nd Floor.

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HaMelech BeSadeh

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The analogy of the King in the field is attributed to Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, although I first heard it from a dear friend and colleague, who first heard it from his co-teachers in a zionistic Israeli high school. The idea is that Ellul is unique as it's the time that G-d is readily available, and in a way it's higher than the ten days of teshuva. By Rosh HaShanah G-d has returned to His palace throne, but for now he is right beside us. Simon (as in simon tov umazel tov) Jacobson in his 60 Days explains that "All year round there are many layers that shroud your own essence from yourself; there is a split between your inner self and your outer self - who you truly are and what you do, your spirit and your activities. In Ellul many of these layers are stripped. (This idea, based on a Torah essay of the original Lubavitcher Rebbe, is also written up by Rabbi Manis Friedman on his website.)

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If you're not in a yeshiva setting it's hard to really feel Ellul. May we be blessed to remember that we are in this special time of increased divine closeness and love.