Craig’s Lust

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Craig’s Lust performed at this year’s Fringe Festival. I had two opportunities to sketch these improv comedians at work prior to the Fringe.  On April 30th, the Comedy Death Match, held in the black box theater at the Orlando Shakes, featured 3 local groups competing against each other for pride and prize! Each group was given 20 minutes to put on their best show. Anything goes! Short form, long form, weird form, it was all acceptable. The winner of the show automatically had the option to move to be in the next show in May.

This month featured the returning champs The Third Thought from Tampa, The Pool Boys doing their wonderfully energetic and personable style, and the up-and-coming Craig’s Lust which performed a lively program about dating and sex. It was up to the audience to decide who group would be victorious.

Directly after the Comedy Death Match there was a long form presentation from a new local long form group. Then an all-play elimination style Improv Royal Rumble for anyone else who wants to get on the stage for a chance to strut their stuff.

Since I was following Craig’s Lust, I was rooting for them to win. Their comedy involved uncomfortable dating situations and people who don’t understand other peoples personal boundries. Voting involved audience members putting their ticket stub in one of the yellow buckets on stage. Craig’s Lust came in second place, and Pool Boys came in first place. Everyone in the audience won because it was an evening of non stop laughter.

Weekend Top 6 Picks

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Weekend Top Six Picks.

Saturday July20, 2013

10am to 12pm Free to watch: Splash and Dash, Baldwin Park, New Broad Street and Jake Street. Runners face splash zones, water gun snipers, balloon attacks, slip and slides and more.

11am to 5pm Free: Fairy Festival. Avalon 1211 Hillcrest Street Orlando FL. Craft vendors best dressed Fairy prizes. 

4:30pm and 7:30pm Shows Saturday and Sunday. $20 “Violin(ce)“. Mandell Theater, The John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center. Located in Loch Haven Park across from the Museum of Art. A Violent Fusion of Combat/Dance/Movement/Spoken Word/Aerial. https://www.facebook.com/events/525430484160506/


Sunday July 21, 2013

11am to 1pm Show for a burger: Broadway Brunch at Hamburger Mary’s.  110 West Church Street Orlando, FL 32801 Ph (321) 319-0600.

5pm to 7pm Free: Orlando Bike Polo. Langford Park 1808 East Central Blvd. orlandobikepolo.com

9pm to 11pm Free: Comedy Open Mic.  Austin’s Coffee: 929 W Fairbanks Ave Winter Park, FL 32789. Free comedy show! Come out & laugh, or give it a try yourself.

Pepe

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Pepe made an appearance on the outdoor stage at Fringe. Pepe is flamboyant and colorful. His spiky red Mohawk could be spotted from across the lawn. He spoke with a thick rich Spanish accent calling everyone, mommies and poppies. Logan Donahoo joined Pepe to talk about the Fringe show he was directing called, Cannibal! The Musical. Pepe is always funny. He made fun of the fact that he had been reduced to performing on the outdoor stage.

Ruby Darling, dressed in a Star Trek uniform got on stage to promote Skill Focus Burlesque. She performed a sultry dance number and the uniform went flying. She then told Pepe she had a superpower. A male performer got on stage with her and she said in a commanding voice, “Take off your clothes.” He complied. Pepe perked up and shouted his glee. Women in the audience screamed and laughed. Skill Focus burlesque had been called to perform at the Fringe at the last minute when another show canceled. For this reason, they weren’t even in the printed program. They had to rely on word of mouth and a little skin to promote their show.

I went to a performance of Hysteria Repeats Itself! Mike Maples was in the cast and the executive producer, Kelly Rands introduced himself when Terry and I entered the Blue venue. I knew that Hysteria would be a series of fast paced skits, so for once, I left the sketchbook closed. This was the first night’s performance and unfortunately there were fewer than ten people in the audience. Much of the show was political satire. The performance was funny and intelligently written. Several Sondheim show tunes were given new lyrics that were fun and fast paced. Terry was laughing loudly. Later Mike commented that her loud laughter made up for the size of the audience. The next performance was sold out which made perfect sense.

Improv at Full Sail

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As part of my continuing education at Full Sail I took a two hour workshop that taught the basic principles behind improvisational performance, and how to use the hidden communication framework within improv to connect with students.Ten to fifteen Full Sail instructors and staff gradually filtered into the classroom. Adam Bellis and Simon MacDonald, both SAK comedians were at the front of the classroom. They asked people to sign in as they arrived. They had a few power point slides but from the start it was obvious that participation would be needed from everyone. Everyone was asked to stand in a circle to participate in an acting warm up exercise.

The game was called GO! The premise was simple, you must point to someone in the circle. They would say “Go” and then you would walk to take their place. They would then point, seeking permission from someone else. It was surprising how tricky this was. You really had to listen. There was a sense that decisions and permissions were rushed. In another pass the verbal, “Go” was replaced with a simple nod. Being a visual person I found this easier yet following the flow sometimes left me glancing around aimlessly. Was I making a fool of myself? Was everyone thinking the same thing?

The next exercise was called, “The Name Game” or Johnathan’s alliteration. You had to state your name and then add a descriptive action while acting it out. Everyone in the group had to repeat the name and action. I think I said something like, “Thor is thirsty” as I acted like I was sipping tea. What was I thinking? Everyone repeated the action raising their pinkies delicately. By the end, I felt I knew the people around me. This was a perfect ice breaker.

Adam and Simon then conducted an improv where they were puppets being manipulated by audience members. I volunteered and controlled Adam. It was fun raising his arms to gesture as he spoke. They worked together building a sacred bridge of trust. They validated each other and forwarded the story by creating new options. It is easier to tear down a bridge than to build it. Everyone in the room was free to openly express themselves which was a good environment to communicate and learn in.

It turned out that Simon is producing a Fringe show this year which is a Star Wars musical. I love the premise and I hope to sketch rehearsals as it develops.

Put a Cork In It!

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Amanda Chadwick invited Terry and I for a night of Absent Minded Improv Comedy at Put a Cork In It (7339 W Sand Lake Rd). One wall was stacked with fine wines and patrons are encouraged to pick their own bottle from the racks. Amanda and Terry sat in the front row in some thick leather arm chairs. I found those seats too restrictive so I found myself a table in the back. The comedy was lively and entertaining. The Absent Minded Improv Comedy Troup performs here every Saturday evening from 8pm to 9:30pm and there was a $5 cover charge that was tagged onto the bill at the end of the evening.

I drew Elisabeth Drake-Forbes and Mike Besaw as they performed a piece in which then had to say, “If you know what I mean,” after each statement. Terry yelled out that the routine should incorporate a Llama. Elisabeth said, “I need to go outside and shear the Llama, if you know what I mean…” The sexual innuendos flourished and everyone laughed. The quaint space was packed seating about 20 people in plush seats arranged around coffee tables.

After the performance I sat back up front with Amanda and Terry. Comedian Drew McCalmon stooped baseball catcher style in front of our coffee table joking with Terry. Terry gave him a playful shove and his arms spun up as he tried to catch his balance. He hit a wine glass which crashed to the floor. Amanda gave Terry a time out locking her outside the wine bar. Jokingly Terry pounded on the glass doors reminiscent of the final wedding scene in the Graduate. Amanda couldn’t stop laughing.

Squatters

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Squatters was conceived by Jeremy Seghers. This was one of the few improvised shows at Fringe this year. Jeremy built the idea around the premise that a sitcom about people living through hard times can be funny. I arrived a little early and blocked in the set in my sketchbook since I knew the show was only half an hour. Logan Donahue was a guest star. Every performance of Squatters at Fringe would be unique. Jeremy said he had given prompts and suggestions the evening before in a prior performance and he suspected the actors had too much time to over think the possibilities. On the evening I sketched the actors were given prompts just moments before they went on stage.

I found myself doing improv once when director Aradhana Tiwari insisted I join her group of actors. I was way out of my comfort zone yet the thrill of scenes taking on a life of their own is a thrill. Therefore I was rooting for the cast with every quirky turn.

The show started with a stage hand wearing a head set came who out to announce the beginning of the show. We were the studio audience. The set consisted of an ugly lime green rug and furniture that looked like it was from the 60’s. Hints that the family was squatting were subtle, like when Cody Bush bragged that he had landed a job at Walmart. Logan added a real spark when he entered as a new age guru with a purple mask painted on his face. Scenes where he seduced Ashli Conrad were inspired.

There were plenty of laugh out loud moments and some outright strange surreal moments that were so campy I had to laugh. The laugh track added another layer to the humor. I must say, I had fun and this show took many chances many of which paid off. This is what Fringe is all about.

Comedy Open Mic

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On the morning after Thanksgiving, Terry is breaking jokes but I don’t laugh because I am so caught up in trying to steel a wireless connection from my sister Pat’s neighbors. After an hour of trying I finally found a spot. I opened the front window and rested the computer on the window sill to get a signal. I would go outside but it is raining. This sketch is of a comedy open mic I went to at “The Other Bar” (18 Wall Street) downtown. Two or three of the comics were really funny that night others were painful to watch. The old man on stage, named Uncle Ralph, was really fun and the person at the bar turned out to be a comic as well. He studied the notes the whole time until he was called up to the stage. Actually most of the people in the bar were comics.

Katie Windish was with me this evening. A friend of hers named Kingsley Everett Bennett , is a comic and he introduced her to this event. He came to our table to let us know he might not get on stage. He was called up after all and he was very funny. He returned to our table after his set and gave me a hard time for not sketching him. I couldn’t resist sketching Uncle Ralph however. As the audience drank more, the hecklers grew louder. It was fun to see how abusive some comics had to be as they lost audience support. It takes some serious guts to be a stand up comic, especially if you aren’t funny. This was a fun evening that I would gladly sketch again.

Improv Full House

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Of all the theatrical events I have sketched, I have never seen a sold out house. When I entered the Winter Park Playhouse on the second night of the festival, Brian Feldman seated in the front row said to me, “Get up on stage and sketch, this is the audience we should have had.” He was referring to “Thomas Thorspecken Sketches the Audience” where we only filled at most a quarter of the seats. Tonight every seat was taken. I watched “The Arm” improv group from Atlanta. I was there to spend time with Terry since she had left early the night before without seeing a show. She recognized some of the the scene structure since we lived in NYC. We laughed the whole show, even when one comedian during a fast-paced routine stood center stage and blurted out, “I got nothing.” He laughed, was pushed aside and someone else took over.
We decided to stay for the next performance which was “Some Like it Improvised” from Austin, Texas. This act consisted of the duo of Roy Janik and Kaci Beeler. I wanted to sketch this go around, so I asked Mark Baratelli about sketching the audience from the sound and lighting booth. Mark pointed out Cody Bush, the tech, and so I followed him up to the booth. We walked through the dressing room past a couple in 1930s period clothes. In the back room there was a rickety ladder made of two-by-fours that ascended into a hole cut in the ceiling. It was a tight squeeze with my backpack of art supplies. It was dark up there so I pulled out my book light. The audience poured in as I sketched lightly in pencil. Every seat was filled. People finally had to sit in the center aisle.
Roy and Kaci were amazing. They performed one long improv show that involved them being bootleggers after the prohibition. Kaci would change characters on a dime. Some of the remarks made were so absurd it is amazing they kept their forward momentum. Since probably half the audience were improv comedians, it felt like the room was rooting for them. This was like watching a feature film being improvised on the fly. A stunning performance.
I knew I only had about 45 minutes to sketch so I rushed. After the show everyone crowded into the lobby. Brian Feldman was talking to Terry. He pulled me aside and said, “You should have been sketching the performers. Kaci is a sketch artist just like you.” He insisted I walk up to Kaci and ask her if she was an artist. I did so while Mark filmed the meeting on his digital camera. It turns out Kaci sketches set designs besides being an improv actress. She has a girlish charm while on stage, and can be the femme fatale as well as a comic. After this show, Terry was tired and wanted to go home. For once I joined her, since I had my sketch and an amazing success story.

Orlando Improv Festival

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Mark Baratelli of theDailyCity.com organized the first annual Orlando Improv Festival. I know he has been organizing the event for months so I had to stop by the Winter Park Playhouse and see how the inaugural night played out. When I arrived Mark seemed a little harried but from the start I could see that the event was a success. The lobby of the playhouse is warm and inviting. There are comfortable couches and a full service bar. It has what I consider a Parisian flair. I sketched the box office where Dina Peterson and Ileana “Blue” Johns, were greeting people as they entered. Dina would chime in with, “So, are you here to see a show?” The lobby quickly filled up. Hannah Miller who was also a volunteer sat with her handmade high heeled bunny slippers, working diligently at sidoku on her cell phone. Rabbits that resembled Betsy Die’s wonderful quirky creations were everywhere. I texted Betsy and she explained that Mark had asked her to create rabbits as improv mascots. She didn’t want to spend the 2 hours needed to sew each rabbit. Mark recruited the mom of a friend who ended up sewing the lookalikes. Betsy did have final approval of the final product but some of the demonic charm was lost.
I heard a woman seated at the bar say to her friend, “I think that is Thor.” Since it is a small lobby, I heard her and walked over to say hello. Terry stopped in after work, but she had to get up early the next morning so she didn’t stick around for a show . Hannah and Mike Maples sat at my table and we talked and laughed for the longest time while I finished my sketch. Hannah and Mike went to get some sandwiches and we had dinner before finally heading in to see a show. when we entered the theater, it was pitch dark. I got my iPhone out to use as a flashlight and Hannah shouted out, “Hey help guide us in with your cell phones! ” I believe Sultana or Brian guided us to some seats in the third row.
Mark bounded on the stage and the crowd hooted and hollered . He introduced Boston Improv and everyone cheered. They had me laughing out loud from the start. Scenes changed quickly and the fast pace never slackened. 0ne scene was at a dating service where one woman was training another on how to act when first meeting her date. Someone was pulled from the audience and he was seated next to her. She pushed up right next to him and rubbed her head on his chest like a cat. when she was reprimanded she clutched his knee refusing to give him any space. When she was prompted to say something about herself she said, “I like to drug people while they are asleep.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
The second act I went to see was Droll Academy from Orlando. I was told they perform every week at “The Funky Monkey”. They started with musical improv which had me bopping my head to the beat while I laughed . They too pulled an audience member on the stage. They chose a beautiful Asian woman who they serenaded gently till the lyrics showed the truth, that they wanted to make love to her. As she stood embarrassed one actor writhed on the ground as he continued to sing.
Both performances I went to were packed and people lingered in the lobby between shows. I hope this festival grows and returns bigger and better each year.

Truth or Dare with Pepe

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Terry and I went to The Peacock Room to catch Pepe. We entered and paid the five dollar cover to Mike Maples who had on a very stylish fedora. At the bar we sat next to Devin Dominguez and Shannon Lacek who was just getting up to leave. Devin and Terry talked about the various boards they work for. Rob Ward was greeting people up and down the bar. I ordered a Corona and relaxed.

I decided not to sketch until the show started so I sat back and enjoyed the social interactions firing up all around me. We waited for quite a while since some of the guests for Pepe’s show hadn’t arrived yet. Aradhana Tiwari breezed up to the bar and ordered a cosmo. The bartender wouldn’t accept any of her credit cards so she had to go out to her car to get cash.

Terry and I were some of the first people to enter the backroom performance space. I collapsed into a beanbag chair at Terry’s feet. The set had gotten much more elaborate since I had been on the show many months ago. A gorgeous red patterned couch filled the stage along with Pepe’s giant red pump chair. Pepe’s co-star for the night was Blue Star from VarieTEASE Dance Company. Megan Boetto dressed in a tight red corset was the evenings Jello shot girl. Guests of the show were Beth Marshall and Mark Baratelli.

Mark arrived late and sober so he started sucking down jello shots one after the other. When asked by Pepe if he wanted to pick Truth (gasp from crowd) or dare. Mark picked Truth. Everyone was very disappointed. He related a story about someone who stole a show idea intending to use it as a fundraiser for a cause but then the individual pocked the money. It was a true arts community scandal. Beth Marshall was asked to pick someone from the audience to some on stage and she picked Air who had to be just about dragged up on the stage. She complained, “I have been up since 7:30 this morning, this isn’t fair.” She was offered the truth or dare challenge and she picked dare. Pepe explained, “I have a privacy screen behind this chair and I will allow you to sit behind it and then verbalize your best orgasm.” She asked, “Do you want the whole thing or just the ending?” He pulled the screen out and set it up in front of her. She gave a performance worthy of that deli scene in “When Harry Met Sally.” I was shocked and amazed. Directors are mighty fine actors.

Two men were pulled from the audience and one was told to do a lap dance for the other. Mark kept shouting out, “Take off the shirt!” When the shirt finally came off the crowd went wild. The two men were then given a slip Jim meet stick and told to chew from either end until their lips met in the middle. his was another hilarious moment. At the same time Beth and  Blue Star were doing something involving a banana on the other end of the couch. A woman at the back of the room started to dance to the song, “Put a ring on it.” She shouted out that her name was Snipples. Megan started doing the dance on stage with plenty of hip action. When jello shots were thrown out to the crowd again, Pepe offed a toast, saying, “To the arts community in Orlando, may it thrive!” I raised my shot high in the air and sucked it down by shoving my tongue all around the rim dislodging the tasty jiggling mass.