"I Forgive Myself"

 

One of my favorite philosophies, which I've learned from Improv, is the concept of "I forgive myself." There's NO FREAKING way I'd currently be performing one of my favorite musicals, on stage, if it weren't for embracing this tenet.

Performing and teaching improv has (almost) cured my stage fright...which, in high school, was damn near crippling. I have been a member of ComedySportz Philadelphia for the past 12 years. I have been teaching improv for the past 7 years. I freaking love it!

Through this sometimes maligned art form, I have grown to realize my fear was never "looking stupid on stage." As a comedian or entertainer or just a damn fool, that's kind of part and parcel to making people laugh. In fact, my low-rent super power is to convert people laughing at me into people laughing with me. Obviously a defense mechanism (also going back to high school). I've learned that much of my fear came from letting down those around me. My cast mates or fellow performers. If I drop a cue line, how does that affect their performance? THAT had long been my fear of stepping on stage in a scripted format. With Improv, there are no cue lines. There is no script. You accept ("yes"), you amplify ("and"), and you continue to tell the story...together.

But how do you take what you learn from improv and insert it into a scripted performance? By learning how to forgive yourself in the moment.

Last weekend, as we opened Assassins at City Theater in Wilmington Delaware, I new I was as prepared as I could possibly have been. I knew the script forward and backwards. The scenes. Two monologues. The songs. BUT, as sometimes can happen in a live setting, I slipped up. I transposed a line in a song... which happened to be a huge cue line for the rest of the cast. Collectively they salvaged my mistake, but I was so disappointed in myself. THIS is the FEAR come to life!

But then I said, "fuck it." I could sit there and let it eat at me for the rest of that performance, which will undoubtedly kill the mood every time I walk on stage, or I can do what I've learned from Jason Stockdale, Dave Jadico, Alli Soowal, Mary Carpenter, Kristin Finger, Don Montrey, Emily Davis, Darryl Charles, Sue Taney, Jon Colby, Steve Roney, Jim Burns, and a myriad of other teachers I've study with over the years and simply say "I forgive myself" and move on.

I'm not going to tell you it's easy. It's not! Quite the contrary. It takes a shitload of practice! But, since I fuck up a lot, and I'm old, I have to be damn close to my 10,000 hours needed to master it.

It works on as well as off the stage: Forgot to make the coffee, I forgive myself. Ran out of time before mowing the lawn, I forgive myself. Haven't showered in 3 days, I forgive myself...though those around you mind take exception.

The day after my error, I was back on stage in another performance. To alleviate it happening again, I was laboring over that part of the song. Jim Burns, who I have worked with on shorts, web series, improv shows, and various stage performances was helping me. After working it for a bit bit he finally said, "Okay. Don't over do it, or it becomes a thing." That advice greatly complimented the "I forgive myself" philosophy.

When that moment in the song came up, I concentrated on the words, but let go and didn't over complicate it. Everything went completely fine.

Forgive yourself. Also, if you can. get a Jim Burns in your life!

A LONG, LONG WEEKEND!

Sometimes it's hard to remember what I did over a weekend. There are a lot of times, when Monday morning rolls around, it doesn't seem like I did much of anything. THIS was NOT one of those weekends!

I figured I should put it down in writing, so on those "lazy weekends" I can remember why the LAZY is so desperately needed!

FRIDAY:

Normally my work day is 6am to 2:30pm. However, there was nothing normal about Friday April 8!

I started off filming a safety program for "Slips, Trip, and Falls." On this particular day, we were working on the OFFICE version. I don't typically like to film on half days, as there's not time to get much done. However, I wanted to at least get a handful of shots "in the can," so I could edit them Monday morning. 

That box is heavier than you think!
(Actually it's empty)

I was only working a half day, 6-10am. I had another commitment elsewhere.

My daughter's principal was hosting "An Ice Cream Social" at the school and they needed parent volunteers to help hand out the ice cream to the students (as well as sorbet - yay VEGAN!).  

This is our John Hughes photo. Very "Breakfast Club."

We were heroes to those kids! Thanks to Scoops of Media for the ice cream/sorbet.

There was about a hour of school left after all of the ice cream was handed out (those poor teachers!) So I had time to kill. I walked around Media for about 45 minutes.

It was nice and not something I get to do as regularly as I'd like to during the week.

"Walking around media" consisted of getting coffee at Cafe Isla and a shit load of candy at Games on State. the arcade on State Street.

Once Kit's school ended, we went home and walked the dog. Then, I headed to Fan Expo (previously Wizard World) in Philadelphia for the first of three very different shows this weekend (two of which were at Fan Expo).

I played NerdProv with ComedySportz (in our NEW uniforms!)

Always one of my favorite matches of the year, and this one was special.

With the exception of Remark with Kristin & Mike, and a performance of Roll Play in late December with Shaun, I hadn't performed with any of these fine people in a very long time!

It was my first ComedySportz match since March 8, 2020!
That was 761 days ago!!!

After the match, many of us hung out on the exhibit floor...after all WE'RE at Fan Expo!

SATURDAY:

We had a slightly early start to Saturday morning as we needed to get Kit up, breakfast, and dressed in her softball uniform for her team photos at 9am, AKA pure chaos! I forgot, as a coach, I had to get a photo too! I met the team's head coach to get MY uniform.

TWO NEW UNIFORMS THIS WEEKEND!
(You'll have to tune back in for THOSE photos once we get them).

Then Kit and I hightailed it over to her theater class at the Media Theater (still in her softball uniform). We were about 10 minutes late. If you know me, you know this is worse than being stabbed in the gut to me!

I then had down time as I waited for Kit's class to end. I walked to the softball field, where Kit's softball league would be having Opening Day ceremonies in the afternoon.

They found that their American flag was missing! So, as the Media Area Girls Softball board prepped the field for Opening Day, I ran to Deal's in Media and bought a lot of American flags! I even helped hang them and the MAGS banners. If they are crooked, you know who to blame.

That's not crooked, that's the wind blowing!

Then, after Kit's class, we went grocery shopping since she was staying over Grammy's house that night.

I made Kit & myself lunch as Julie did our taxes. Then I took the dog for a walk.

Kit and I packed the car for her sleep over AND went back to the softball field for Opening Day!

Kit wanted EVERYONE of these balloons!

The Opening Day was filled with a bounce house, Easter egg hunt, and hanging out with friends! A very welcome return to normalcy that these kids have been missing for the past two years.

The mayor even threw out the first pitch...twice. He wanted a do-over. 

Robert A. McMahon - Mayor of Media, PA

I then took Kit straight to Grammy's. "The Greatest Showman" immediately went on the TV and I headed home to shave my beard into a mustache...

It was for a show that night, I swear!

City Theater had been hired by The Delaware Contemporary to help with their fundraiser. 

So Kerry and I developed and performed "An Art Heist."

This was an absolute JOY! Some of these people I hadn't performed with in many, many years! Who do you think stole the painting?
(*It was determined by the patrons)

After the show, Julie and I drove home from Wilmington. I staved off my mustache. We couldn't find anywhere to eat a late night dinner. So we drove BACK to Delaware and went to Home Grown in Newark. Good thing gas is so cheap!

After dinner we went home and fell asleep many times during Saturday Night Live.

SUNDAY:

(*It ain't over yet!)

Awoken by a puking cat, we feed the animals and decided to take advantage of having the house to ourselves and watched like 4 episodes of Parks & Rec.

We took the dog for a walk and found the sun to be a big fat liar as it was much colder than the thermometer indicated. It was a quick walk.

Julie went to pick up Kit and went to my third and final show of the weekend...back to Fan Expo to do a recording of Remark in front of a LIVE audience.

THIS was also the first time, in the two years of doing Remark, that Kristin and I (and Mike) were in the same room!

It was an awesome, dare I say "exhausting," weekend.

I got to see some dear friends, reconnect with people I haven't seen in two years, and meet many new faces! Including Harley Quinn.

I also behaved and barely spent any money at the various events I attended...except the $1100 I spent on gas!

Sean Gunn Has Amazing Hair!!!

Let me start off by saying this:

Sean Gunn has tremendous hair!
Absolutely gorgeous!
Like, possibly top 5 hairdos ever!

I know that sounds like I'm pandering, but I mean it.
And I've studied the hell out of his hair!

Why you ask?
Because there are too many ways to spell his name.

Wait, what?!?

Bear with me...

November 3rd 2013, my friend (or he'd soon become my friend), Shaun Kreider was cast into ComedySportz.

My own ComedySportz mentor, Sean Curran, would constantly tell Shaun, he's spelling his name wrong.

According to the Bleacher Report, there are 11 variations of "Sean."

For example the aforementioned Sean and Shaun, as well as Shawn, Shawne, and even the overly Irish, Chone. For our purposes we're just going to stick with Sean & Shaun.

Somewhere around the end of 2016, I had told another ComedySportz Player/Friend, Josh Holober-Ward, that I had never played Dungeons and Dragon, but I had always wanted to.

January 22, 2017, I had my first D&D experience.

Along with (MORE) ComedySportz Players/Friends: Emily Davis (#27), Kristin Finger (#7), Kevin Pettit (#25) and Alli Soowal (#36).
*I have included ALL of their numbers in case you wanted to play the lottery or something...mine is #9.

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH SEAN GUNN AND HIS HAIR?!?

Hold on...I'm getting to it.

So our D&D campaign continued for quite a while. Some people came and some people went. But we continued to meet, semi-regularly.

Then, on June 3, 2017, something magical happened...

We were asked, by our friend Mike Gregorek (ComedySportz NYC player), to PERFORM a D&D style Improv Show at Wizard World in Philadelphia!

Shaun and I had performed the year before at Wizard World as part of ComedySportz, in a rare 1 on 1 match. It was probably my favorite ComedySportz moment from 2016.

We'd be performing as ComedySportz again (or as NERDPROV) this year...

But before we donned the Blue & Red jerseys, we'd be dressed in all black for the origin of "Roll Play."

Our D&D journey was just beginning. With Shaun and Sarah LeClair added into the mix:

(Have you won the lottery yet?)

SEAN GUNN!!!


It's coming! Jeez!

So we performed "Roll Play: An Improvised Adventure" (though that name would come later). The crowd LOVED it! So much so, people ditched the Michael Rooker panel to come see us. Or Michael Rooker's panel was sold out and people had no other option...either way, it was terrific!

We've waited long enough. Now, tell us about SEAN GUNN's FUCKING HAIR!!!

Ok.

So after Roll Play and after ComedySportz, most people went home. Shaun, Kristin and I decided to go back out on the floor which was closing in about 20 minutes.

Suffice to say, there was almost NO ONE there.

The Fans and many of the vendors had packed it in for the day.

Sean Gunn was still there however, and Shaun thought it would be cool to get a photo with him for his Dad for Father's Day (The Kreider's are Gilmore Girls fans...that's not a judgement merely a statement of fact).

Now it should be mentioned, that me, a balding man, am jealous of Shaun Kreider's hair. And Shaun loves to point this out. So as we walk up to Sean Gunn to get a photo (yes we paid and followed all the rules), I decide to take a shot at my buddy and say, "Hey Shaun, finally someone with nicer hair than you."

They took this great photo:

While Shaun was looking at the photo I took on his camera, I shook hands with Sean and told him I LOVED Guardians of the Galaxy 2 which I had seen back in April. While shaking my hand, he kind of ignored me and then walked away.

I immediately became pissed! My buddy had just shelled out a decent amount of money to get this photo, and we were all the sudden being ghosted?!?

As we walked away I looked back and saw Sean Gunn was staring daggers at me. WHAT THE HELL???

I realized it was the end of the day and he'd seen a lot of people, but I had been there all day too and had performed two shows!!!

I was just as tired, man!

Also, I rule the Seven Kingdoms, bro!

Or I guess Kristin does. But I digress...

So I let it go, because Shaun was so happy and I didn't want to ruin his moment.

I was seething while driving home.

I trashed Sean Gunn to my friends Jimmy and Petra who we had over for dinner that night.

I was still annoyed while going to bed.

The next morning, in the shower I replayed the event in my head forwards and backwards. Why was Sean Gunn a dick to me?

Then, while playing it forward again, my mind's eye caught this line:

"Hey Sean, finally someone with nicer hair than you."

I immediately thought, "er...Shaun, not Sean..."


OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Sean Gunn thought I was being a dickhole right to his face...and I WAS, though I meant to be a dickhole to Shaun's face.

Fuck.

How could I right this wrong?

My daughter and I were going back to Comic Con for the last day so she could meet some of the Disney Princess...okay Harley Quinn:

Yes Kit was shy until Harley said, "Wanna hold my bat?"
It was a nightmare getting the bat back from Kit.

While we were there I saw Sean Gunn taking photos at his booth.

I thought, I should go over and apologize. Then I thought, will he even remember? So instead Kit and I went and said "Hello" to Rider Strong, who was awesome and we got waved to by Kristy Swanson (the original Buffy) because kids are adorable!

In the end, I did NOT apologize to Sean Gunn. I did however tell Jimmy & Petra that I was terribly wrong and they laughed in my face.

Maybe someday I'll work with Sean Gunn and I'll tell him this story and he'll laugh. Or maybe he'll remember and have me removed from the set.

Sorry Sean. You have terrific hair!

ComedySportz & The Punch Up Podcast (MASH UP!)

This Saturday (July 22nd) is the 25th Anniversary of ComedySportz in Philadelphia. It's the longest running show in Philly!!!

I have been extremely fortunate to have been a cast member since 2011 and a Board Member for about the same amount of time. 

In my time with CSz Philadelphia, I have met some of the kindest, funniest, and most talented people in the city...and also Joe Sabatino.

If you're able to make it to the special 25th Anniversary match(es) this Saturday night (7pm or 9:30pm) located at The Mandell Theater on Drexel University's campus, I highly encourage you to do so! I have been working with some of the best and brightest to produce this momentous night. So cancel your eff-ing plans and do this!!!

Get your tickets by CLICKING here.

Last week and this week, The Punch Up Podcast has been hosting players, to tell their ComedySportz origin stories.  Here's mine...no spider bites, no alien rings, and no dead parents in an alley way. Just good old fashion "Yes, And."

Reunions vs Insecurities

When my 5 year High School reunion came around in 1999, I had no intention of going. And I didn't. Not that I didn't like High School, but I knew it was more than just my friends that I'd be revisiting, I would also be reunited with all of my insecurities - of which there are many.
I was still enrolled in college and was still working the same retail job I had at the end of High School (though now in management). I was however in a new relationship in which I had high hopes.

Then my 10 year reunion rolled around. It was 2004. I had reconnected with a lot of classmates on Facebook and decided I was going to go to the reunion. I even told a few people I would be there. To make things even easier, the reunion was being hosted at a bar only a handful of blocks from where I was living. But, though we're not friends on Facebook, my insecurities "poked" me reminding me they were still around.
I was STILL working that same retail job, just a different location. Never mind that I was really good at it. I was in an apartment not a house. I also wasn't working in Hollywood, which would for a long time be the measuring stick I'd fall way short of...of course I had been making short films with my partner Joel, as well as working in some pretty spectacular theatrical productions...oh yeah, and I married that pretty awesome lady from the relationship 5 years earlier.

Tick, tock, tick, tock...then it's 15 years, 2009. I don't recall my excuse for this one at all. I guess at that point I had given up on even fooling myself into thinking I was going to go.
I was no longer working in retail, but rather at a Fortune 500 company - though you wouldn't know it from my paycheck. My wife and I were home owners. I had a pretty successful web series, with another one on the horizon. But still those insecurities were getting older and wiser.

Boom! 20 years! 2014.
I have a kid.
I go.

Is that the difference? Is that why I was able to say, "You know what? Fuck this! I'm going."

I see a bunch of people I haven't seen (other than on Facebook) in 20 years! --- That's fucking crazy! I'm not old enough to have not seen people I was extremely close with in 20 fucking years!

But there I was. I left all my insecurities behind...but they caught an Uber. Halfway through the evening, they appeared. And not just mine. It seemed everyone's came too. Uber had a carpool rate. Halfway though the night, I watched as all of the cliques started to reform. Nobody was pushed into a locker and no wedgies were given, but slowly people started to gravitate to the people they were most comfortable with. Never mind that most of us have kids, and mortgages, and bad knees, and gray hair (if we have any at all). The same unspoken worries connect us all, yet we all reverted right back to 1994 as those insecurities drank on our tab.

Jump ahead 3 more years, to two weeks ago - Saturday June 24th.

A reunion.

Not mine. So zero insecurities.

My wife's reunion. Not High School. But a group closer than High Schoolers could ever be. You HAVE to go to High School, but Pulsations was a place where so many young "outsiders" in High School could feel comfortable in their own skin. Call them freaks, or misfits, or punks, or whatever, they were all kids going through many of the same things, together.

A wonderful reunion was put together at Bar XI (Used to be Mojo 13) because Pulsations is no longer around (a retirement home is in it's place, which I like to point out to my wife). The night celebrated all of the "kids" who used to hang out at Pulsations as well as Steve Singer who would spin the records they would dance to.

I "people watched" throughout the night and noticed how comfortable everybody seemed with each other. 20 some odd years later, and it seemed like these old friends had just seen each other in the alternative room last Sunday night.

Though some have remained close, there didn't see to be any cliques within the group. Just everyone getting together to dance and have a good time.

Julie had spoken so highly of so many of these faceless names I was now able to meet. Of course there were a handful of them I had already met. Everyone of them, new and old, was kind and welcoming to me, the new outsider.

And their music was pretty okay, too.

At some point during the night, watching my wife dancing from across the bar, I realized this is her ComedySportz.

Everyone belongs somewhere. It's an amazing thing when you find those places, because insecurities can't afford the cover charge.

************************************

OKAY, some truth for you: I actually started writing this a few days after the reunion. Then I decided not to post it. I'm not exactly sure why. A lot of time I hide behind comedy when I want to say anything or meaning, and this post isn't particularly funny. For every 10 blogs I post, I probably delete 1 for that same reason.

Insecurities? Probably.

Then last night, Julie found out one of her friends from Pulsations (and the reunion two weeks ago) passed away suddenly.

Now it feels like not posting it because the writing isn't from a comedic point of view is disingenuous.

I'm very grateful that Julie got to go to this reunion and see her friend one last time. I'm glad that any insecurities she may have felt were beaten back allowing her this opportunity. I'm also honored to have been adopted by this fine group of people, and look forward to going to the next Pulsations reunion.

Don't let your insecurities keep you from doing something you love.

Holy Crap, I've Done A Lot of Podcasts!

HOLY PODCAST!!!

The first podcast I ever did, was WAAAAY before podcasts were invented.

Jim McCabe and I recorded a bunch of goofy audio bits (including prank calls) for no reason at all. We had no outlet. This was LOOOONG before the internet would be introduced to the public. It was really just to entertain ourselves. I'd use some of the pieces between songs on mixtapes I'd make for friends/girlfriends/acting teachers.

I remember a bit that had John F. Kennedy & Ted Kennedy as Biff and William Loman in "Death of a Salesman." You know, ground breaking stuff. My acting teacher at Temple University, Jimmy Blunt, loved it!

Fast forward many (many) years later when Joel and I would talk on the phone until 3 in the morning. We both worked odd hour retail jobs, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for us to talk that late. We'd joke, we should record this. We (and the public in general) were still unaware of podcasts.

Then Joel suggested a podcast in which we'd discuss film, television, comic books, video games...pretty much anything in the realm of Geek Culture. Along with James Hunsinger, we'd start "You've Got Geek on You." An homage to Shaun of the Dead's "You've got red on you." Eventually the show title would be shortened to "You've Got Geek."

The cast would change through out the show, Joel being the only constant. It would see various cohosts come and go in Bob Trate, Brendan Carr, Chuck Francisco, and Michael Henley.

In total, we did over 250 podcasts!

We are slowly in the process of rebuilding the library of episodes on Soundcloud (Totally my fault! James, I need to move much faster, I apologize.)

You can find them here: You've Got Geek

I also, briefly tinkered with a podcast idea through CSz Philadelphia called "The Advice Panel." This was a podcast based on the improv game of the same name we play in ComedySportz. It even had a kick ass theme song written & recorded by Hot Breakfast (HOT BREAKFAST! *fist pump).

Don Montrey was the host, and we'd have various characters on the show to give advice to our "audience." This was originally designed as a studio piece, where the questions would be gathered from Twitter or just made up completely.

We changed it from a studio show to a theatrical show in front of a live studio audience. We recorded 5 episodes before pulling the plug as attendance was low and it unfortunately affected the energy of the show.

It's one I'd like back. I still think it would work as a studio show, ala Comedy Bang Bang.

Between GEEK and The Advice Panel, I worked on a web series called The Clink. One of our writers (and Guard Carson) was Brendan Carr. 

Having worked so well with him on You've Got Geek, I suggested to Joel we bring him onboard for The Clink. Joel agreed whole heartedly, and our Tuesday night writing sessions began. Many a night would see Joel, Brendan, Jim Burns, Andrew Mitchell, and myself sitting in my living room or family room or front room (all the same room, but Julie and I never really settled on what to call that room. At easter it's our dining room).

Though the sessions didn't have a rigid structure, they were all very similar. Often starting with me making Brendan tell everyone a crazy story about Elvis Presley. Brendan and I had bonded long before this over our love for the King of Rock and Roll, and the fascination with his less than normal lifestyle. To this day, I think Joel, Jim and Andrew were just humoring us.

Brendan and I pitched the idea of doing an ALL-Elvis episode of You've Got Geek. Joel was 100% on board. But it just never seemed to work out.

Also during The Clink writing sessions, Brendan turned me on to a podcast called Comedy Death Ray (which would soon become change it's name to Comedy Bang Bang) as well as the Superego podcast.
(If you've never heard the James Bond "How British Am I?" sketch, you owe it to yourself to listen to it RIGHT NOW!)

I immediately fell in love with Comedy Death Ray. It would be a while until I'd actually give Superego a chance, but when I did, I fell in love with that too, especially it's format!

Brendan and I then developed a podcast about Elvis with a heavy Superego influence. That podcast is called Elvis, And (a play on the Improviser's philosophy "Yes, and"). Our tagline is "Mostly Improvised, Slightly Edited." It's a show that I REALLY want to try live, to prove that it is truly made up in the room.

Obviously, Brendan would be Elvis. We rounded out the cast with Lew Indellini, who I had recently worked with on a play. Jim McCabe, my original podcast buddy. Adam Wahlberg, a funny ass mother fucker! And Steve Roney, who I work with at ComedySportz. Steve came about almost at the last minute. He and I met to discuss a podcast idea he had (more on that in a minute). I mentioned Elvis, And and asked if he'd be interested. In typical "Yes, And" fashion, he said he would be. Then he came and slayed!

Matt Casarino, who had been kind enough to provide music for The Advice Panel, provided a TON of music for Elvis, And. Then in season 2 we put Matt on a mic. This gave us such gems as Dr. Nick as well as Carl Perkins (and his Blue Suede Shoes). Jill Knapp and Rodney Linderman (who I grew up worshipping as the frontman of "The Dead Milkmen") would also get involved.

We'll kick off season 3, which will likely be it's final season, this Summer.

Now back to Steve's idea.

After a night of ComedySportz matches, it's very common for the players to unwind at a bar a couple of blocks from the "arena." Inevitably, while relaxing after performing for over 3 hours, someone would start to tell a story. While the surrounding comedians would constantly interrupt. This was the inception for The Punch Up Podcast.

A weekly podcast where we bring in some of the funniest writers and performers from the Philly comedy scene. Someone tells a story while the others "help out." While it's a comedy, there are many deep, deep moments explored by the storyteller and panelists. Not quite WTF, but a long way from The Kennedys demanding that "attention must be paid."

Steve is the host, with panelists Eoin O'Shea, Jessie Preisendorfer, and myself, as well as frenquent guest Dave Jadico, and various guest storytellers such as Alli Soowal, Mary Carpenter, Kevin Dougherty, Don Montrey, Jim Carpenter, Darryl Charles, Sean Curran, and Kristin Finger (just to name a few).

I'm extremely proud of all of the episodes, but especially one in which I was the storyteller talking about my honeymoon. You can listen to "The Florida Keys" right here.

And that's not all! Brendan and I are working on a NEW podcast that we hope to debut in the Fall,
(Remember when I used to film stuff? No? Me neither.)

Five podcasts in the past decade.
Now if only I could get you to listen to one of them...

You've Got Geek
The Advice Panel
Elvis, And
The Punch Up Podcast
*To be announced SOON!

#ImprovSavesLives

About 5 years ago, I became a company member of ComedySportz Philadelphia. I can't tell you what an honor it was and how amazing it continues to be.

The other company members are my friends, and some of them are as close to me as family. The shows (or matches) are still as incredible to participate in as they are to watch. This weekend was no exception. 

I was neither in the matches, nor in the "arena" to watch them. Instead I watched this whole story unfold over social media. 

We perform matches every Saturday night at 7:30pm & 10pm. Saturday 1/2/2016 was no different...more or less.  There are 40+ members in the company and hundreds of games to choose from. Each match features between 8 and 11 players (which includes a musician) and 9 games (give or take). Because it's improv, EVERY SHOW IS DIFFERENT. 

The 7:30pm match was sold out. Not an empty seat could be seen.

Then, the 10pm match. Also, not an empty seat could be seen, but that's because at 9:55pm, the entire city block in Philadelphia lost power due to a Restaurant fire nearby. The Theater was plunged into darkness. What to do?

I'll allow our artistic director Dave Jadico to explain:

The entire block had a power outage at 9:55PM. We decided to do the match anyways. We offered refunds to anyone who wanted to leave, explained that we would do an hour and ten minute match without a halftime. Everyone was excited to be a part of it, no one left. We adjusted a few games, shortened the show by one game and removed the halftime. Fortunately, our accompanist Josh Rosen had brought his acoustic guitar, so he did all underscoring and music acoustically, including singing Closing Time at the end as the audience left. The National Anthem sounded like the whole audience was sitting around a campfire. I’ve never heard the entire audience sing that loud. Several of the new cast members held flash lights from the center aisle, a few fire safety lights were on and many audience members provided cell phone lighting. Additionally, a woman was there in one of those huge powered wheel chairs that had a HEADLAMP on it. She provided all of the side lighting that you see in the photo on Facebook. We started the match with Ghost Story with a flash light for pointing at the players like we do at Halloween. We played Radio Play with John Zak as the announcer and the audience provided the rumbling for an earthquake John described by stomping their feet, UNSOLICITED. It was one of the most spontaneous and awesome things we have ever done. The audience had a blast, the players had a blast.

Intro in the DARK

Company member and CSzPhiladelphia Director of Education Kristin Finger (one of those "family members" I mentioned earlier) has a hashtag she lives by: #ImprovSavesLives 

The New Jersey Turnpikes getting ready in the dark - Photo courtesy of Darryl Charles 

The Philadelphia Fighting Amish getting ready in the dark - Photo courtesy of Don Montrey 

I couldn't agree more, though on this night you could amend it to #ImprovSavesLights and you'd get the same sentiment.

Volunteer Player photo - courtesy of CSzPhiladelphia

If you've never seen a ComedySportz match, I implore you to do so. 
If you HAVE seen a ComedySportz match, I implore you to see another one. As I stated above, they're never the same show twice.

If you're in the Philly area check out www.comedysportzphilly.com/tickets/ for details or hit me up and I might give you a couple of comps.

If you're no where near the Philly area, check out www.cszworldwide.com/find-csz-worldwide.html for a city nearest you.

The Elvis, And - Podcast

When I was writing The Clink, a web series I wrote with Brendan Carr, Joel Rickenbach, Jim Burns, and occasionally Andrew Mitchell, Brendan would often regale us with entertaining stories about Elvis Presley.

Brendan had been a guest star on a previous web series I produced with Joel called The League. 
Editor's Note: Brendan is the Magician

That's when I found out that he and I shared a common love for the King of Rock and Roll...it's rather obvious Brendan is a fan of 50s music, because he looks like he probably rolled with Carl Perkins and the like.


Each week we'd all coax Brendan into sharing a new twisted tale to ease us into our writing sessions.

Joel and I had been doing a podcast called "You've Got Geek On You" (an homage to Shaun of the Dead's, "You've got red on you, did you know that?") The show has since been shortened to simply "You've Got Geek." We asked Brendan to join the podcast because of his unique voice and veracious love of ALL things "Geek."

Week after week, long after The Clink had wrapped, Brendan and I would recount various strange Elvis stories. We'd talk about doing a special "You've Got Geek" episode or maybe even a podcast of it's own, specifically about the man we called, "E."

Things got busy, life got crazy and my short sabbatical from the podcast turned into 2 years.

Then, last fall, Brendan and I went out for drinks. We discussed the podcast and talked of structuring it like an Improv montage. (Brendan had turned my on to MANY character driven Improv podcasts such as Comedy Bang Bang and Superego). This would almost be a homage to those podcasts...or, Elvis willing, a podcast to sit among my favorite shows on iTunes.

I recruited various comedian/actors to come play the parts. 

The first person I thought of, was Lew Indellini. We had done a play together in early 2014 (immediately following the birth of my daughter). The late night rehearsals, where I was sitting in a corner learning my lines while missing my wife and daughter who were at home, were made easier in meeting Lew and finding out (among other things) that he too was a HUGE fan of podcasts such as Superego. When it came time to cast "Elvis, And" I knew I wanted him on board.
*Editor's Note: He was also once my parents-in-law's mail carrier!

Then, Adam Wahlberg. Adam and I had done various shows, including "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson," as well as an original musical I wrote with Joe Trainor (of "The Joe Trainor Trio" fame) called, "On The Air." We also did a murder mystery dinner together that was maybe the most amazing, punk rock, murder mystery that ever was! We toyed with doing a web series based on those characters, which I haven't ruled out. Adam also helps me with my "day job." He's been in front of the camera for A LOT of safety reg videos. So of course he's gotta be part of my Memphis Mafia!

Jim McCabe. I have known, "The Voice" since I was 6 years old. In our first meeting, Brendan said, "McCabe for the Colonel, right?" You're goddamn right! Jim also jumped in to do some gratis VO work. I hate asking friends to ply their trades for no payment. But Jim was happy to do it, and even offered to do far more.

Rounding out the cast for season 1 is one of my fellow ComedySportz players, Steve Roney. Steve and I had been working on another project, and when I mentioned "Elvis, And" he said, "Oh that sounds fun." I asked if he'd be interested in doing it and the next thing I knew a microphone was in front of him. Perfect.

Finally, though not a cast member (yet), his presences is felt in EVERY episode, Matt Casarino. He, along with Jill Knapp, provide the rocking rockabilly back bone that is the music of the entire series. From the theme song to the transition music between scenes, Matt was only too gracious to take on every weird (Elvislike) request I had. We now own a monkey together. Seriously, Matt & Jill are a FORCE in the band Hot Breakfast (HOT BREAKFAST!) If you haven't and can, SEE THEM LIVE!

So here we are. The first episode of what I hope will be a fun monthly show for people to enjoy. Episodes are approximately 30 minutes in length. Maybe they help ease a part of your commute during the month. Or give you a laugh while taking a walk on the weekend. Or even just allow you some much needed humor as you unwind at the end of the day.

Taking the Improv tenet of "Yes, And..." and adding a pair of side burns to it, here is the monthly podcast, "Elvis, And." 

Look for new episodes the first of the month through February 2016.

CLICK HERE for Episode 1: "Elvis, And Scatter"

#100DaysOfSelfies #22 ComedySportz

#100DaysOfSelfies #22 ComedySportz

Played a show tonight at Xfinity Live!

Check out those jerseys behind us...

#100DaysOfSelfies #3 The Sound Man

The Sound man.

Tonight running sound for the Blue Show at Comedysportz. I love saying "fuck" on the mic.

THE ADVICE PANEL

The Advice Panel is here!

"The Advice Panel. You have problems? We have advice. Some of which, might even be useful."

Don Montrey and I, with the help of SOOOOO many others, have been working on a podcast/Live Show for...over a year now (WOW is that even possible?) Actually, when I do a search of my emails, the first time we discussed it was on Oct 11, 2012.  

After ALL that time, we are finally having our first show! Okay...it's our second show. Matt Nelson & Maggy Keegan were kind enough to let us put it up at Figment Theater back on May 9th.

Don is the host. With guests:  

The show is loosely based on the CSz game "Advice Panel." Based in that it's call the ADVICE PANEL, loosely because that's about the end of it. These characters run much deeper than the 4 minute game, bringing this show's running time to approx 45 minutes. 

And as if this wasn't enough, the theme song was written & performed by Hot Breakfast! Delaware's premier acoustic dork-rock power duo. 

The shows are record for a future Podcast.

So, hit us up with for any advice you need:

email: Kevin@ComedySportzPhilly.com

tweet: CSzPhilly #advice

SHOWs (hosted by Don Montrey):

Thursday June 12 at 9:30pm - Jim Burns, Mark Leopold & Joe Sabatino 

Friday June 13 at 9:30pm - Langston Darby, Dave Jadico & Kelly Jennings 

Doors open at 9:00pm at The Playground @ The Adrienne - 2030 Sansom St, Philadelphia PA

#CSz30