2 for 2

Well, it's great to get reaffirmation. We must be doing something right. GLOC was accepted to perform at the Dirty South Improv Festival in Chapel Hill, NC in February. The Dallas Comedy Festival already invited us to come back for the 2006 festival, again in July. Ever heard that saying "sometimes you gotta go out of town to get respect!" I don't think there's an actual saying like that. I think I sort of made it up. Although, there's nothing new or completely made up as far as that stuff goes. Ya fallaw? Anyway, it's true. Not as far as audience, but as far as fellow improvisers. I can understand it, though. If you've seen a not so great show in the past it gets stuck in your head.





On another note, we did a show last weekend with a new improv group in Atlanta called Diversionary Tactics. Grads of Ga Tech and the Let's Try This Players. They definitely want to contribute to making a stronger improv community and I'm all for that. We were full house and a friend of mine tried to make the show and they turned her away in the parking lot. Although, I did see a seat or two open. Well, it was a cool show. They did a form, we did a form and then we joined to do a longer form for the second half and that was really great. We had one workshop with them the night before the show and so it was great to be thrown on stage with 5 new-to-us players like that and do long form. Love it! Another friend made it to the show and he said he was standing in the parking lot and heard people coming to the door saying "is this where the women are doing improv?" Hey, this would have bothered me a bit in the past, but whatever gets 'em to the door. We are women doing improv. I embrace that. Whatevs. DivTac loves and respects GLOC. So does DCIF and DCF. Thanks to the improv gods that they do!

play play

I think I may have mentioned this but in case I didn't... my band:

anna nicoleminers daughter
at the Masquerade Holiday Rockfest
Presented by Atlanta Music Unites and Woods Entertainment
December 17th
4:30pm

anna nicoleminers daughter features:
JC - bass and vocals
Jamie Caldwell - guitar
Freddie Gilbert - drums
All proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross and Toys for Tots.

We've been together for a while now, played some parties and small shows. We consider this our sort of 'coming out' show. It's going to be pretty cool. Only $10 and there are some great local bands playing from 1pm on. One stage will be acoustic, one rock and one metal! A little something for everyone. I'm pretty excited about it. Would love to have you froggers there.

Tegan and Sara play on Monday. I can't wait! I think there are still tickets. Is anyone else going? Not that I care because I'll be there regardless.

a few words.

I just got an two emails and two phone calls, from four seperate people, telling me one of my professors that I was close with, died in a motorcycle accident. I went to that link, not expecting that graphic picture, which really f'd me up. Completely senseless and avoidable.

He was the technical director of the theatre department at VSU. He was a good man and helped me out a lot. I had an intro class with him my freshman year and he was one of those guys that in my senior year would let me skip out of class when I was doing one of the many shows, projects, etc that I was involved in and needed some time. There were four professors that were truly amazing to me and treated me as a colleague and not a student. He was one of them. I worked my butt off for them and they responded with a great mutual respect like I had never known. I still keep/kept in touch with the four of them. I usually try to visit once a year and we would email etc. I had not talked to Mike in about 8 months or so.

Mike Harbin and I drank many a beer together. He taught me a lot about life and art.

long lost...

Do these tools look familiar?

Back in the day, at the Bongo Nacho Supreme! Now, that was a party. And those were the days. On the boat! There are some pictures somewhere of a big love pile including the three of these cats, ablebody, zombie sitcom and others we all know and love... just a cuddlin'. I believe this was Novemberish of 2000. No comments necessary.

we saw it coming...

I knew this show was too creative, too well written and too well acted to ever run as long as Friends (which I don't hate but it's nowhere near the same level of AD) or Everyone loves Gaymond (which I do hate... and by gay I mean, 7th grade. Not sexual orientation. I still don't understand how that show ran as long as it did). AD will probably do like Family Guy and Foxx will realize and bring it back a few minutes down the road.

dust off that old tiara

well, GLOC is on a great new path. This is one of the 300 or so photos we took last night. It makes me happy. I've been a little frustrated for a little while with our direction. My big quote to the ladies is we can't just be good, we have to be great. I think that's true regardless of men or women Comedians. There is an overabundance of mid-twenties to mid-thirties white males in improv. So for men to stand out, they have to be fast and funny. And let us be real, women are judged more harshly than men in this particular genre, because there are so few of us. So there's a magnifying glass always looming above. I don't think that's a bad thing, but there are plenty of men (and women) who don't think women are funny. Other than the only so often greats of Gilda, Carol, Lucille, O'Hara. And those amazing ladies weren't doing the specific type of improv comedy as it evolved into what it is today. I know that I judge women harshly. That's why we (GLOC) have to be great, or I don't want to do it. I think the Dallas Comedy Festival was huge for us. They have already invited us back for next year's festival and to do a weekend run of our show anytime during their regular season. Others invited us to do and submit other places. You know that whole, go out of town to get respect. I think it works. Since I returned from Chicago... we have been rocketing forward. We had 2 days of strategic planning, which I must admit I thought was going to be crap, and it proved well worth it's weight in paper, beer and warm-fuzzy ideas. Hey, we're chics! I'm beginning to embrace that. As far as our improv specifically, I have coached workshop since I've been back and that has been pretty awesome as well. Just working on scenes and telling good stories. Not pushing plots (platforms or tilts). Just playing slowly and discovering the story instead of inventing it. As a general rule, women play more slowly than men... that's why you find more women doing long-form improv than short-form... and yes, there are plenty of exceptions to this general rule. It's been very supportive and most importantly (for me and now for GLOC) freeing. That's been my mission since I've been back. I was free in Chicago. I want to be free as an improviser, wherever I am. So, it's a good feeling to see this pic. As a new start. We haven't seen any of the others yet. I can't wait to see the set where we are wrestling in the tiara's. It is nice to see the fresh start. And yes, when I pulled my tiara out, it was tarnished.

ask and ye shall receive

i asked for it. and now i have so much work that i'm a little concerned that i will not be at the top of my game with everything. audition for an indie feature tomorrow: don't know my sides yet. i want this movie. gloc photo shoot tomorrow night. murder mystery on tuesday night: don't know my script yet. i'm singing in a small 'choir' (group) to back up (harmonize) with Rain Pryor (Richard Pryor's daughter) for a M.S. fundraiser wednesday afternoon: don't know the song yet. And at some point I have to meet with a CEO b/c I have a gig for his company on friday (a driver will be picking me up in a Denali and drive me south to Reynolds plantation then drive me back after) playing one of three consultants (you know, the Bobs! hired by Lumberg) as a practical joke on his company: know nothing about real estate, just that something I will be saying a lot is "what we need is to outsource China". workshop wednesday night. then i booked all three (not one but...) abbadabba's commercials: no script and don't know shoot days yet, though they say they want me so they're working around my schedule. it is also crazy-busy time with laughing matters and i have much to do there when not doing this other stuff. i'll be there. no, i'm not complaining one bit. i'm thrilled. i so enjoy the pressure of times such as this. and i'm going to need some beer come saturday. or late friday night. it's going to be a good week. i so enjoy the pressure of times such as this.