Last year's celebration of my birthday officially ends on January 25, 2012. That's the day before this year's celebration begins.
We have swing dancing, improv shows and classes, food-ishness and some as-yet-unplanned wackiness. The kick-off event is spread out over several days. Make it happen.
Last year, I challenged folks to try things they hadn't done much. The challenge is extended again this year. It runs on the honor system.
For some reason people have gotten the crazy idea that I don't want presents. If this is you, you've been misinformed. I love presents! Here's where to go if you want ideas about what to get: me want. If you get something from this list it is likely that I will weep openly. Sorry about that.
Here's the schedule as it stands. It's subject to change.
Thursday, January 26th
7:30pm beginner lesson
8:30pm-midnight dancing!
LindyGroove - This is my regular spot and always a blast. Admission is $8 and comes with a free beginner lesson. I also have less than 10 free passes I can give away for this night only. If I know you from Improv, yoga or math, this is a night I really want to see you! Swing dancers are welcome, but you were going to be there anyway so find another night.
Friday, January 27th - IO West -
Three hours of comedy shows on the main stage at IO West and admission is $10 for all the shows you want to watch.
09:00 PM - $10
Opening Night: The Improvised Musical!®
10:00 PM - $10
Orpheus Roy & Old Milwaukee
11:00 PM - $5
The Wild & Glory Stories
I want as many Lindy Hoppers here this night as possible, since they mention the possibility of a dance party afterward. Actually, everyone should come out for this, because it's always a hoot!
IO West
6366 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
After Lindy bombing IO, my bud Marshall is opening up a new club on the same block. It's an Electro Speakeasy, whatever that means. As I understand it, there's no cover.
1am-3am - Confidentiel
Saturday, January 28th -
12:45pm - Mixed level Yoga class at Mission Street Yoga
5pm - Cafe Gratitude - I've never been. There's food here!
7:30pm - Enter Spider at Nerdmelt - $10 at the door
Sunday, January 29th -
2pm-4pm - Improv Trick - Improv class
At the Underground Theater Annex
1314 N. Wilton Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
4:30pm - Doomie's Home Cookin'
6pm-whenever: let's go roller skating around Hollywood!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
How to Read Nancy
Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik wrote How to Read Nancy. (A pdf will download if you click on the link)
I've never really read Nancy, but I was so blown away at Newgarden's short comic Love's Savage Fury when I first read it in Raw so long ago that it sticks with me today. I couldn't find a full copy online, but a detail shows above. It's available in Newgarden's collection We All Die Alone.
It takes Nancy and Sluggo and casts them as a young man and woman who may have exchanged a glance on a subway train. It's told from the mind's eye of the young man as he tries to recall the moment.
What is it about that strip that resonated with me?
I don't know. It's like poetry.
Visions of Frank
I've been a fan of Jim Woodring's for, dunno, maybe 20 years now. Frank is a character who has permeated my dreams.
Looks like someone went and animated some Frank stories.
Looks like someone went and animated some Frank stories.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Inside the Master Class + Bonus!
Still been doing a ton of improv! I just started level 1 at IO West this week. I've been playing at the jams with The Improv Trick and classes will resume tomorrow. I will be returning to Monkey Butler classes after I'm done with level 1 of IO since they're on the same nights. Seeing even more shows than last year, since I can get into the IO main stage for free now.
More about that later, of course. Here are some clips!
Maybe this will only be funny if you've ever been in an improv class. Here's all of Matt Besser's Inside The Master Class!
***
Thematically speaking:
From Life's Too Short: Liam Neeson wants to do improv.
Michael Scott does improv
More about that later, of course. Here are some clips!
Maybe this will only be funny if you've ever been in an improv class. Here's all of Matt Besser's Inside The Master Class!
***
Thematically speaking:
From Life's Too Short: Liam Neeson wants to do improv.
Michael Scott does improv
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Glory Stories: It's in the Hole! It's in the Hole!
Glory Stories has rocked my world. I went to the show last Friday, featuring the legendary Nina Hartley, and I can't remember a show that left my jaw so thoroughly dropped!
What's the behind Glory Stories? It's an improv show at IO West featuring a guest monologist from the local porn/kink/sex industry. The monologist talks about a suggestion from the audience and then the players improvise riffs on the monologue. If you're already familiar with improv, this is basically an Armando. The difference here is the culture from which the guests have been drawn. I think that's what could make this show uniquely Angeleno.
The audio isn't great on this clip (heck, I can hardly hear what anyone is saying) but I imagine that it captures at least a fraction of what happened that night.
Nina Hartley, by the way, was a great "Armando." Completely fearless and hilarious in her own right. She gave story, really nice details and perspectives, and that made for a great show. I think honestly that she probably didn't know what to expect, but she really seemed to be having a genuinely fun time!
Here are some of the upcoming Glory Stories dates:
Glory Stories with Aly Sinclair: Friday, December 30, 11pm
Glory Stories with April Flores: Friday, January 13th, 11pm
These shows are five bucks, with two for one tickets for kinky folks.
***
Bonus: I also love the Let's Talk About Sex podcast from Aurora Snow. It's really thoughtful and practical advice from folks who've had a lot more sex than most.
What's the behind Glory Stories? It's an improv show at IO West featuring a guest monologist from the local porn/kink/sex industry. The monologist talks about a suggestion from the audience and then the players improvise riffs on the monologue. If you're already familiar with improv, this is basically an Armando. The difference here is the culture from which the guests have been drawn. I think that's what could make this show uniquely Angeleno.
The audio isn't great on this clip (heck, I can hardly hear what anyone is saying) but I imagine that it captures at least a fraction of what happened that night.
Nina Hartley, by the way, was a great "Armando." Completely fearless and hilarious in her own right. She gave story, really nice details and perspectives, and that made for a great show. I think honestly that she probably didn't know what to expect, but she really seemed to be having a genuinely fun time!
Here are some of the upcoming Glory Stories dates:
Glory Stories with Aly Sinclair: Friday, December 30, 11pm
Glory Stories with April Flores: Friday, January 13th, 11pm
These shows are five bucks, with two for one tickets for kinky folks.
***
Bonus: I also love the Let's Talk About Sex podcast from Aurora Snow. It's really thoughtful and practical advice from folks who've had a lot more sex than most.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
From Buddha to Batman
I haven't had a chance to watch this fully yet, but I remember loving the talk that Grant Morrison and Deepak Chopra gave together at Comiccon a few years back. I've posted elsewhere a clip from Morrison's 18 Days, which is an epic re-telling of the Marabharata.
In fact a lot of my spiritual considerations date back to my early Morrison readings back in the 80s.
So I'll get back to you after I've had a chance to watch the whole dang thing.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon 2011 redux
It's a week later and I haven't properly written up the 24 Hour Cancer Dance-a-thon. Maybe I can't properly sum it up. The event this year was my favorite to date. The population was perhaps a bit smaller than in the last couple of years, but everyone who was there was there in a big way!
Video by Vince Fry
This clip from the Garden Grove News was probably shot around 12 hours into the event. About midnight, since they got Jonathan Stout and the Campus 5!
Our team, Old School, was a bit smaller than usual this year. I'd say we went in with a skeleton crew of about 10 members. That's five under the official minimum, but we didn't tell anyone about it. I made sure that we were all smart about conserving our energy for the weekend and we had a few folks who were working for the event so their work time was going to be our official representation.
I don't have a group pic of Old School ready. If anyone wants to send one I'll post it.
Here's a link to the story in the Orange County Register. It includes a short video and a photo slide-show. Dancers Fight Cancer, One Step at a Time. A direct link to the video is here: video
This is the 2am jam. I'm behind the camera and having a heck of a time! I kinda wanted to get on the floor but I'd have had to stop shooting. Plus my shoes were off at the moment. (Excuses, excuses.)
What I learned more than anything else is that it's effortless to put out a low quality video on YouTube. The resolution isn't great and the camera ain't steady, but it was really exciting to shoot, so it's share time! I also got two more videos of JS and the C5 playing, but I haven't been able to check those for quality yet. I'll assume that the audio on those clips are really poor.
Is there any footage of the Karaoke session run at 3am by Eli Charne? That was a hoot!
At 6:00, a small band of dancers made their way to KTLA Studios in Hollywood to shoot this for an hour.
This meant that I got to teach the Wake-up class at 6:30am. I pulled out my improv for dancers class "Adventures in the Groove" and abbreviated it to fit into an hour. I had intended to shoot at least a few moments of the class since I get to teach it so rarely. We started with a modified version of Pass the Itch, then I did bang, then I did noses and then it got crazy. (If you don't know what that means, you'll have to take one of my dance classes) Many dancers later told me that the class was one of their favorite moments that weekend. When one student said the class was inspirational, I got really weepy.
I guess there are plenty of things I didn't catch this weekend. I really wish I could have gotten some footage of that class.
Okay, let's move forward. At about 8, Danny Maika starts his set. He's a great talent and a good guy! Check him out!
There's still so much more, but I have to close now. In all, the dance-a-thon raised over $124,000.00. Next year we're aiming to more than double that to bring the total for the event to $1 million!
Video by Vince Fry
This clip from the Garden Grove News was probably shot around 12 hours into the event. About midnight, since they got Jonathan Stout and the Campus 5!
Our team, Old School, was a bit smaller than usual this year. I'd say we went in with a skeleton crew of about 10 members. That's five under the official minimum, but we didn't tell anyone about it. I made sure that we were all smart about conserving our energy for the weekend and we had a few folks who were working for the event so their work time was going to be our official representation.
I don't have a group pic of Old School ready. If anyone wants to send one I'll post it.
Here's a link to the story in the Orange County Register. It includes a short video and a photo slide-show. Dancers Fight Cancer, One Step at a Time. A direct link to the video is here: video
This is the 2am jam. I'm behind the camera and having a heck of a time! I kinda wanted to get on the floor but I'd have had to stop shooting. Plus my shoes were off at the moment. (Excuses, excuses.)
What I learned more than anything else is that it's effortless to put out a low quality video on YouTube. The resolution isn't great and the camera ain't steady, but it was really exciting to shoot, so it's share time! I also got two more videos of JS and the C5 playing, but I haven't been able to check those for quality yet. I'll assume that the audio on those clips are really poor.
Is there any footage of the Karaoke session run at 3am by Eli Charne? That was a hoot!
At 6:00, a small band of dancers made their way to KTLA Studios in Hollywood to shoot this for an hour.
This meant that I got to teach the Wake-up class at 6:30am. I pulled out my improv for dancers class "Adventures in the Groove" and abbreviated it to fit into an hour. I had intended to shoot at least a few moments of the class since I get to teach it so rarely. We started with a modified version of Pass the Itch, then I did bang, then I did noses and then it got crazy. (If you don't know what that means, you'll have to take one of my dance classes) Many dancers later told me that the class was one of their favorite moments that weekend. When one student said the class was inspirational, I got really weepy.
I guess there are plenty of things I didn't catch this weekend. I really wish I could have gotten some footage of that class.
Okay, let's move forward. At about 8, Danny Maika starts his set. He's a great talent and a good guy! Check him out!
There's still so much more, but I have to close now. In all, the dance-a-thon raised over $124,000.00. Next year we're aiming to more than double that to bring the total for the event to $1 million!
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