No BLANKing WAY

So, word on the street is we might see a BLANK anniversary show early in 2012. Could the rumours be true?? (They could: it depends on availability of performers, though, and they're currently spread around the world. Time will tell...)

A Review by any other name

Those who have done any kind of public creative output at the amateur level must know the feeling of wanting to be reviewed. ANY exposure would be good, you think. If only the reviewers would come along to my show/exhibition/recital, the public would flock towards me like seagulls to a potato chip. (That is to say, they would fight among themselves for a piece of me. One may even pretend to be crippled, folding his leg under himself, in order to earn my pity. All because I gave a little piece to one of them, and his loud squawking told the rest there was something here - something worthwhile.)



Even if it's a mediocre review, you still think there is something to be made from it. I did a solo show a couple of years ago, to which a reviewer actually showed up, and actually wrote a mediocre review. In terms of pull-quotes (you know, those things you put on the poster - "Jaw-dropping"... LA Times), the only thing I managed to salvage from the mild-panning I received was "Lead is admittedly funny." Not exactly worth the lights I later had it re-printed in.

Now, those modern enough to have used the internet have probably submitted the fruits of their creativity to be inspected by the public en masse. I'm talking MySpace, Garageband (back when it was a music website), Live.com, Poetry.com (scam alert!) and, more recently, YouTube. The hope - expectation? - again being that if only people had access to my genius I would be discovered, idolised, popularised, and lifted out of this grey existence. It happens for some. Rarely, but occasionally.

Rarer still is a reviewer reviewing a live show which was recorded and uploaded to YouTube as a preview/advertisement for said show. But, you know, it happens!

"Sizzling, tasty... will get your heart pumping!"

And if anyone can salvage a pull-quote from this review they get a free double pass to the BLANK 50th Anniversary Show later this year. Leave your suggestions in the comments below.

http://bacontoday.com/bacon-the-musical/

A wave of fun

So, three more BLANKs under our belts. And what a fun time it has been. To be honest with you, I can't give a good review of the shows because I wasn't paying all that much attention. You see... we narrowly avoided Death the other night.

At the end of our show on Wednesday night ("Soot the Musical") we were backstage towelling down when one of the Princesses (that's what we call the girls from Princess Cabaret; we, in turn, are called BLANKers) received on her mobile phone a text message. It was read out as such:

"Tsunami warning for the East Coast"

Well, it was received with a mix of scepticism and fear. Phone calls were made, iPhones were put to good use, and the warning was confirmed. Fears were put at bay when we discovered the warning was for Lord Howe Island and the potential waves would strike between then and midnight. Over the next 15 minutes, however, the alert level was raised and the NSW coast (I feel I need not specify 'East coast' for I don't really think of NSW as having any other coasts exposed to the sea) was included.

Now, the important thing is to panic.

A moment before Princess Cabaret was to open, the producer heard the updated alert and decided to call the show off. The audience was informed (and greeted the announcement with a similar degree of scepticism and fear as did we) and everyone made an orderly panicked rush to lock up, jump into cars, and get up the hill to safety. Though I note that our hasty retreat was somewhat slowed by the man at the boom-gate who made us pay to leave.

The other (and probably more heavily-weighted) reason I cannot remember much of our three shows thus far - Towel, Soot and Tsunami (of course) the Musicals - is that I've been having too much fun with my shiny things during the shows.

Those who have seen many a BLANK will know that I have a habit of playing non-essential roles. I have continued to do so this week, playing an English-understanding cat and a grisled old man for much of the last two shows and pretty much playing around with the characters and not paying all that much attention to the other characters (or 'lead roles' as they are sometimes called). Which is fine, because they didn't pay much attention to me. An improv writer once called this "finding your shiny thing". It is something that Jon does very well, and I've been quite pleased with doing so myself.



Anyway, that tells you very little about the shows, doesn't it? And we haven't been videoing them. So really, the best way to experience a BLANK the Musical is to see one live. You've two nights left, so please waste no further time.

BLANK the Musical & Princess Cabaret at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre (which is still standing, despite the tsunami alert) tonight and tomorrow night from 8pm. Details at http://tumbleweed.org.au/

A cubist peg in a round hole

So, another long month with no BLANK to keep you warm. How will you cope? How do we?

Brydie, Amanda and Benny are down in Melbourne, funnying it up in their respective shows (Dolls Cabaret and Alice; Beaconsfield the Musical; Axis of Awesome vs a Bee). No doubt some of you have received emails from the free wifi at the cubist paradise of Federation Square.

Tim is putting his voice to (good?) use hosting karaoke.

Jon is teaching kids. He is doing practical placement at a school near you, and also coaching a bunch of young improvisers who will soon be heading over to an improv competition in Canada. Exciting, eh?

Adam? I've not heard from Adam. He may have metamorphosised himself into a tiny insect during some (botched? deliberate?) science experiment and is unable to contact us except by landing on our phone keypads and tapping out a message. But the message would be lost, because Adam never did fully grasp predictive text.

Jason has been organising improv nights of his own, scoring Canadian improv duo Scratch for a charity fundraiser show. Nice work, Jase!

I'm currently in rehearsal mode for a production of Steve Martin's play Picasso at the Lapin Agile. It's a fantastic script, as you would imagine of Mr Martin, and full of history and wit. It is set in a little bar in Paris (called the Lapin Agile, where Picasso did actually hang out in the early 1900s), with Einstein, Picasso, Schmendimen, and other odd genii (plural of genius; not the magical djinn). Obviously there are a variety of accents, and if you've ever seen an improv scene with several accents in them you'll know how they can go awry. So it's practice practice practice and I'm watching lots of YouTube Antonio Banderas clips to get the accent right for Picasso.

Oh yeah, I'm playing Picasso. Which is somewhat coincidental seeing as I fell in love with him when I went to MoMA in New York last year and saw his painting Les Demoiselles D'avignon. The process of painting it - of playing with different styles to create something shockingly new - floored me. Basically, the piece signalled the beginning - the invention? - of cubism. Now, a year later, I am playing the artist just before he paints that very picture.

Anyway, the show is playing from 28 April to 9 March, Tuesday to Saturday. Come along. It will be fun. Scripts are funny things...

Cushion and Jelly. What's next?

We've had two fun shows over the past two nights. Tuesday night was "Cushion the Musical" - a rollicking adventure about Dr Cushings (Pete - a zombie), intelligent puppy Puddles (Jon - with cushings disease; also a zombie), and veterenary assistant Andrew (Adam - creator of said zombies); Susan (Amanda) and her quest to stop telling the truth (learning to cushion the blow); and a Cushion Kid (Jon) who wanted to be loved. The first and last of these things are based on real-life FACT.



Wednesday night was "Jelly the Musical", introducing Elena (who is so good I haven't even been told her last name!) to the improvised musical stage, and with special guest Steve Lynch. Stevie (Tim) is a soccer striker who needed to learn to control his fear; Katie (Brydie) has dreams of turning her priveleged upbringing into a life of high-class prostitution and madamery; Michael (Steve) yearns to beat the 90-pound weakling girls in the jelly-wresting ring, wearing only his spandex bikini. How will they achieve their dreams? And will they appreciate it when they get there? What can we all learn from their example?

You have to be at a BLANK to truly appreciate it. So get along to the Roxbury Hotel this Friday and/or Saturday night and we'll make your BLANK come true.

Another visit to the BLANK

You may have noticed, dear followers of all things BLANK, that it has been some time since we have given you a show, something to read in this weblog, or something to look forward to. Well, let me assure you that things are changing. All three of the above, in fact.

True, it has been some time since we last BLANKed. And in that time much has changed. The dear Ms Buckley has played a big part in the success and popularity of Beaconsfield: The Musical in its Melbourne an Sydney seasons, and is right now setting the Adelaide punters' hearts aflutter. Ms Lee Kennedy has been busily writing and directing her talented Princesses in a new revue, Dolls Cabaret (more on that soon) and some old-fashioned storytelling shows headed for Melbourne. Mr Yardley will soon be hitting our screens in a reality-show spoof about comedians. Mr Judge has been racking up nametags and hairnets in search of fulfilling employment, and thinking up new ways to inspire his cast of BLANKers. Mr Williams has been planning a school excursion to the improv world capital (Canada), starring in Sydney's favourite regular improv show (FBCNL Tennis), and helping steer Sydney's longest-running improv show (Scared Scriptless) to its new format and home at the Roxbury. Mr Lead eloped, avoided being crushed by a glacier, visited Wellington's finest improvisers, moved offices and moved house. Mr Davis took his cohorts from the The Axis of Awesome touring to Edinburgh and Asia, and is set to take their new show around Australia. The last I heard from Mr Rushton he was headed for the snow-fields of Japan and coordinating fundraisers for Willoughby Rotary Society (two separate projects, I understand).

And what of Ms Daley? It would sadden you to learn that she is dead. Thankfully she isn't dead. Keira performed in a fantastic little cabaret called Speakeasy with the newly-formed Cabaret Merlot, and will perform another couple of shows with them later this year (Wagons Ho and The Roxbury Horror Show). Sadly though she is no longer with us in the BLANKing sense, having hung up her BLANKs at the end of last year.

That takes care of the 'giving you something to read' trio of needs. Now for the 'something to look forward to' section. More BLANKs! Next week we'll be back at the Roxbury Hotel in Glebe, this time on the downstairs stage, supporting Dolls Cabaret for four big nights. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with BLANK at 8pm and Dolls Cabaret at 9:30pm. You get a discount for seeing both shows, so why not huh?

Go to http://tumbleweed.org.au/blank for more information and to book or reserve tickets.

With all our separate projects, it had been a while since we had all improvised together when we had our first re-rehearsal a few weeks ago. (Yes, we practice improvising. Yes, it's somewhat ironic. But you'd practice for a soccer match, even though that is essentially improvised within a set structure.) After the initial excitement of performing with each other again, the main feeling was self-consciousness. This came as quite a surprise. We have performed as a BLANK cast for two years now, and most of us had performed together for years before then. After acknowledging that and shaking off the alien feeling we got into proper rehearsal mode. What came out then was quite sub-conscious - desires, fears and whatnot. Had I a psych or philosophy background I could possibly identify these as basic Freudian personality/id development building-blocks or somesuch. But I have not, so I'll just say that it was quite a raw reflection of us as humans. It was an interesting experience, and I think it has brought a fresh twist to the BLANK experience - one that I hope will be glimpsed on stage.

Ah yes, the third leg of the tripod of needs: giving you a good old BLANKing. We've got a show. Will you be our audience?

Sacrifice

Buckers and Yardley thought they would hold us back for our latest BLANK, so the remaining five of us and Jason took to the stage on Sunday for an almost-matinee 7pm Roxbury show.

Quite fitting then that we should perform "Sacrifice the Musical".

I quite liked the title, as it gave us a strong theme to build from. The opening number saw Jesus (Jon Williams) lamenting his decision to be crucified; Susan / Sunita (Keira Daley) giving up her weekend to work for Mr Hodgeson (Tim Judge); and John (Tim) and Judy (Brydie Lee Kennedy) being held on detention by their teacher (Pete Lead) until one of them owned up to spilling the milk.

Summarising a BLANK never truly does it justice, and never makes as much sense as the show does on the night. So I won't attempt it here. But feel free to do so on your own blogs, or in email when you tell people about the show, and how they should come and see it. If you weren't there you missed some beautiful moments of scheming and remorse from Jesus and Judas, delightfully girlish manipulation from Judy and her Mum, and the timely growing of a pair from John. And there was also a beautiful kiss. (Followed by Sunita/Keira telling John/Tim: "You never need to speak again.")

Jason was on form playing a mix of hip-hop, Carribean groove, death march, ballad, tango, and a whole lot more. It's a true delight sharing the stage with this man, even if he does take up a whole corner of it and never moves. (Because he's too busy making you move... aw.)

And that's it for another month. Check out the other shows happening around Sydney, including Gorilla Theatre on Thursday 4 September 8pm at the Roxbury Hotel. Stay tuned, and we'll see you in September for the next BLANK the Musical.

Decay the Musical

Our first Sydney BLANK since before the Melbourne Festival, and it was a doozie. From the title "Decay" we discovered the importance of dental care (to ward off the temptations of the evil "tooth bear"), what happens when you scare everyone away from you, and why you shouldn't be so upright and evangelistic that your crippled son runs away. Sugar may be the tool of the devil, but it tastes so good.

My favourite bit was a touching moment where Jon's character told his daughter, Barbara (Brydie), that his wife died because she was never happy with what he did for her. And now Barbara's love, Billy (Adam), had done everything he could to make Barbara happy and yet whatever he did for her just made her demand even more. It was time for Barbara to realise that it was her problem, not his.

And then there was the moment when Tim's religious nutter revealed to Jessica (Amanda) that he too used to love sugar, and pulled out his dentures to reveal the consequences. And then a sugar-crazy street-dweller (Pete) stole them. It was then up to Amanda to (mis)interpret Tim for the rest of the show. It was good.

As good as all of this fun was, in the end we came to the conclusion that everything is good in moderation. And so it shall be, with a BLANK at the end of each month.

Mind you, if you want to see more there are plenty of other shows out there starring various BLANKers. Why, at the Roxbury Hotel alone there is Full Body Contact No Love Tennis twice per month (http://www.myspace.com/tennisimprov) and Gorilla Theatre once per month (www.twistedmelon.com.au). So, should you miss us, do pop in and see us sometime. We'll be around and about.

Take care now, and be sure to pack an umbrella.

More fun and GAMES (the Musical)

Yes, as Pete tells below, I am BLANK's champion of driving games. The secret really is to never, ever use the brakes.

A similar approach worked well for BLANK's season at the 2008 MICF (hold your applause for that segue).



If there were a prize for the Comedy Fest's most over-committed cast, BLANK should've won it - with some people starring in/directing/producing several shows simultaneously, and others doing a lot of stapling before BLANKs. And I mean a lot.

One day, I really hope we'll have cheap electronic-paper flyers that we can add things to digitally - ie: without the RSI of using a stapler. That'd make adding things such as pull quotes from reviews much easier (ready for another supreme segue?). Quotes such as these from Funny Tonne reviewers:

"if you like impro, this is as good as it gets"

and

"masters of impromptu"

Nice.

Speaking of games (my segue-gland has dried up), we did GAMES the Musical. And it involved computers. Good thing we visited Game On, huh? We can claim those tickets on tax as "research" now!

As for brakes (in improv, we call that reincorporation of ideas "shelving" - impro skillz are life skillz, okay?), a few of us also took a bike ride from St Kilda to Sandringham and back again in only two hours. Had we used our brakes, it would've taken much, much longer.

What we learned about video games

It was Wednesday - one of our two days off for the week - and cycling was the order of the day. However, it was Melbourne, and the sun was quickly replaced by wind and clouds. A second plan was concocted: head to the Game On exhibition at ACMI.

Game On is a (mostly interactive) museum of computer games. From the original arcade machine (an early version of Space Wars) through 30+ consoles to machinima. Before we even made it down to the exhibition we came across a two-player driving game.

Lesson 1: Being able to drive in real life means nothing to a machine.
Players:
Pete (11 years' driving experience);
Tim (Red P-plater);
Keira (failed her L test).

Keira and I raced first, followed by Keira vs Tim and finally Tim vs Pete. After the tournament Keira revealed her secret tactic, which was "never use the brakes". Tim revealed his secret tactic midway through the final lap of our head-to-head race for second place when he knocked the back of my car out on a sharp turn, sending me into a spin, careening into the wall, and finally resting facing the wrong direction. My own secret tactic, humility, served me better off the track than on.

Final Standings:
Keira Daley - Gold
Tim Judge - Silver
Pete Lead - DNF (so much for nice guys finish last!)

Lesson 2: Arcade games are racist
Well, old arcade games. For example Metal Slug, a side-scrolling (awesome) arcade shooter, in which you shoot people of Middle-Eastern descent. Actually, they're people of Middle-Eastern residence. So I guess that makes the American soldiers (or are they mercenaries?) the invaders and murderers. Which is just plain racist. But it's lots of fun, especially as you progress into zombie and alien levels. And we had unlimited credits. That's right. We may have paid $15 each to get in, but we would have pumped twice that into Metal Slug alone.

Lesson 3: Life is cheap when you have unlimited credits
A few nights later we walked past one of those tiny arcade parlours they have in Melbourne. No Timezone or Intencity this - just a barren store filled with arcade machines (and Asians). Now you must understand that after the few hours at Game On Keira was OBSESSED with Metal Slug. And the very front game at this arcade parlour, facing us - nay, taunting us - as we walked by was Metal Slug 5. Bam! In a flash Keira and Tim were facing the zombies or racists or whatever this sequel presented. And bam! a few flashes later the machine was asking for more coins. What? All of a sudden the importance of dodging bullets and saving your grenades dawned on the stunned pair.

They may never kill again.

Well, not entirely true. On the last night of BLANK Tim did pick up a gun again to make one final glorious mark on Melbourne. What happened? Find out soon on...
BLANK the Blog