reunion

My Sketch Comedy group is back. Last year we did mulitple online sketches for MUTV and we also had a live show. But after the show was done, we just kind of fell apart. But over the weekend, we shot another video for one of the members final projects and after editing it, threw Ultra Boom on the beginning credits. After we watched it, we brainstormed for a few hours about potential sketches for next semester. So make sure to watch for updates on YouTube.

here is a link to some of our stuff from last year: http://www.youtube.com/user/johngal33

the new video should be up by the end of this week. Its a new twist on the Chirstmas song I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus.

Study Break... again

Someone just sent me this website for free improv comedy "jam" sesions in Milwaukee. the website is here: http://www.alchemisttheatre.com/. It seems like a cool idea, for three bucks you get to do improv with a bunch of people and from what I understand its a wide range of skill levels.

Next time you think about going to ComedySportz, check this place out first. It seems like they haven't sold out yet and are way cheeper. Plus 100% of the ticket fees go into helping independent theater in Milwaukee.


jimmy

Comedy week to Hell week

Man last week was the best! A sketch show and an Improv show all in a 6 day period with two improv practices in between. Fun times. This week, not so much. As of this moment, I am supposed to be doing research on the Cold War. So far its not going that great. And to top that off, I have two papers and two tests to go. This is for sure not comedy week.

Wish me luck. I don't think I can use improv to get me out of finals week.

jimmy

That's a long time

Second City had it's 50th anniversary celebration this weekend. 50th. That is unbelievable for a comedy group. Fifty years really means something and for Second City it is pretty evident. They helped produce almost every great comedian for the last well, the last 50 years. And they still are doing it. Four years ago I went to go see a show, and the guy that I thought was the funniest is now a writer for SNL and on Sonic Commercials. I remember the first time I saw him and just thought that it was the coolest thing.

But I am real happy for Second City. I think its great that they can still stay afloat in these times. It just goes to show that laughter may really be the best medicine out there.

Here is an article with some great pictures from the festivities:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-091211-second-city-reunion-pictures,0,3913056.photogallery

jimmy

salted pork

I talked to an alum of MU the other day who pretty much introduced me to sketch comedy when he was here. He was able to make it up for Carpe Denim and loved it. It was awesome to hear that good of news from a guy like him. I really hold him in high regard and have loved his shows in the past, so it was a huge deal when he told me it was great.

Throughout the week a lot of people have come up to me and said it was great, and it just makes me look forward to doing another show.

jimmy

Over

The show went great. We had one mix up when the lights decided to go out, but we were able to cover that up with some awesome improv. We didn't have 99 people like we hoped, but got around 70ish, which is still good. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and we even had a Marquette grad who started to sketch shows come. He really enjoyed it, so it was awesome having his approval of sorts. I just want to say thanks to all of those who were able to see it and the people who helped put it together. If all goes as planed, we should have another show coming at you guys by this time next year, and if things really go well, sometime next semester.

jimmy

It's here

The show is about 1 hour away. The last count on Facebook was 99 people coming, so we'll see how it turns out.

Promo Video!

Here is the Promo Video for Carpe Denim: Jeans the Day!

It is entitled: "Sketch Comedy and You!"

Check it out:

The bees knees

We are getting to the point in rehearsal where we need an audience badly. I can't tell if anything we are doing is funny anymore. All of the repetition has trained us to not laugh at what we should laugh at and because of it, we are lost. Don't get me wrong, things are going great and the scenes are really looking good, but we are just in a weird stage.

However, last night we had a breakthrough. We were rehearsing our last sketch and in the last few minutes of it, a few of the members did a bit of improv and the ending was fantastic. So good that we are keeping it. We spent over five minutes laughing about it.

I hope that this can continue, regardless we will have some people watching the show this week, so that will be a big help.

The flyer...

I finally got on to a computer with photo-shop on it, but due to some time constraints, I probably could have done this in paint. But whatevs. Check it out, it is the flyer for "Carpe Denim: Jeans the Day!"

Hopefully, I will be able to get another one out by this weekend.

Keep an eye out for our promo video coming sometime this week.

A couple days off.

I bet most of you thought that we would stay in Milwaukee over Thanksgiving Break to rehearse the sketch show. Well, we didn't, but what we did do, was decide that by the time we get back, we have to have all of our scripts memorized. I'll let you know how that goes. Going over the ones I wrote is pretty easy, but with so many crazy characters, and different writing styles, the rest may be a bit harder. Any tips?

Fugee Thanksgiving

Last night was a Studio 013 Refugee tradition called "Fugee Thanksgiving." Every year, the Sunday before Thanksgiving my improv group gets together and has a Thanksgiving dinner of sorts. The menu last night included pizza, pasta, chicken nuggets, cabbage, chips and salsa and we finished it off with drumsticks. Yum. It was a blast. Check out our family picture.

Finalilized!

All the sketches are finally in. Our first run was yesterday and took just over and hour and a half. That will be trimmed for sure, but it is nice know exactly what we are doing. I'll have a list of the sketch names sometime this week, so that will whet your appetite until the show. Check back for more updates throughout the next couple of weeks.

jimmy

2nd Sketch Show

Men and Women,

As of this moment, I am gearing up for my second sketch show. Last semester I did an all musical one which was a fantastic experience. The show is called "Carpe Denim: Jeans the Day!"

I think as of now, we have about 9 scenes, which were all written by the performers in the show. So the material is all ours, and because of that we have complete creative control on how everything is done.

Right now, we are just in the initial rehearsal, so nothing spectacular has happened so far, but we have had some great moments in improvisation within the written scenes. That kind of stuff keeps me excited for practices and eventually for the final show.

I'll be doing more updates as we go along, but I hope to see you there on December 6th.

jimmy

some deep shit

I heart comedy. I do.

Comedy is the only thing that has remained consistent in my life. I have always loved to laugh and I have always loved to make people laugh. This love of mine is the sole reason that I have met the people I know call my Friends. My college improv group, The Studio 013 Refugees, is how I met my best friends and the people who have the most influence on my comedic style. The years I have spent working with them have been some of my best.

Now, in my third year in the group, my comedy has grown. I have reached far beyond my comfort level and by doing that, I have made my pastime even more apart of my life.

Doing comedy in college is a very odd feeling. During parts, all I can think about is how much I would love to do comedy for the rest of my life. Then at others, a feeling sets in that I'm going to college for a reason and that its not comedy. It doesn't really get me down, but it gives me more freedom to explore because I know that i may not be doing this forever.


For that reason, I consider college comedians some of the most experimental group out there, and that is what this blog is for, to showcase that freedom to experiment.

jimmy