Monday, February 22, 2010

Olive Juice

So we had Olive Juice's first improv show as a group on the 13th. It was in Improv Thunderdome. The experience was really good for me personally. When the show was over, I was extremely disappointed about it. Mostly about the final scene. It was horrid, and there was no way to escape from it. The edits were missed. The content was crass. There was no high point to edit on. The final edit, was the ONLY medium high point in the entire scene. To my mind. That scene had no redeeming qualities. As for the rest of it... I honestly don't think that it was that bad.
OJ did a doo-wop opening. It was great. We all had good stories relating to the suggestion which was 'Be Mine' from the candy hearts. When the opening was over, we went into scenes. The first few were okay... not amazing. We did a couple pretty good ones... Next- came the dirty. We covered everything from having sex with you own child, to being raped by toys, to Jesus Dildos, to child magazines smelling like sex, to racism. It was a little much. And by a little I mean a lot. And by a lot I mean that we were way over our head and COULD NOT figure out how to get out. In the middle of the smut, we had another doo-wop... it was great too. That, in hindsight, is funny because we were most worried about that.
Despite being Smut, the show wasn't bad. We had good emotional connections, Varying characters, good job raising the stakes and we stuck together. Dennis DuPont said that we made 'Bold Choices'. Tactful way of putting it. Dennis is nothing if not tactful. <3 .
Right after the show Trish and Nikki talked to us and told us that we did fine, we did make the audience uncomfortable.... I personally really appreciate the honest answer. They talked to us for a long time and I think that was quite generous. They were gentle with our egos. Which may or may not be fragile. I feel super grateful for the opportunity to be able to work with Trish, Nikki, and Megan. I also feel grateful to have Dennis to be honest (if tactful) with us. Moving on...

Things I will (hopefully) not do again:
  • Skip rehearsal to drink right before a show
  • Ask ahead of time if Shit and Fuck are okay to say... puts you in that mindset
  • Stop BEFORE elmo actually humps from behind
  • Edit if it is bad. Even if there is no high point. Cut my losses
  • Keep out of the gutter. It is okay to dip in, but not okay to set up residence
  • Keep up in my head during the Doo-Wop part. I must listen to the other's song
I'm sure there is more , but at this moment, can't think of anything else.

Things I will (hopefully) do again:
  • Make an emotional connection with my scene partners
  • Be playful
  • Continue to support my scene partners
  • Keep playing fun characters
  • Be myself during the monologue
  • Have fun
Again, I'm sure that there is more...

All in all. Good experience. I am working toward my goals for the year. I am performing in new locations. Soon, I will perform in Chicago, and hopefully I will get to play at the fishtank. Keep on Swimming, if you will forgive the pun.
~

2 comments:

TBinKC said...

YAY!

These are the words of an insightful, self-aware, confident improviser. You're keeping what worked, learning from what didn't, taking credit for what you did right, and not beating yourself up over what went wrong.

I heart this post. I heart OJ. I heart Julie.

Jewels said...

The feeling is quite mutual Trish! <3