One of the best things about my "job" / what I do for a living, is visiting other places and seeing their improv world, maybe play in a show, or teach a class or two.
Last year, I was lucky enough to visit Australia for a month to extend the reach of Good Lady Improv and that was an amazing trip (well, for me, at least.) This year, so far, I went Lincoln, IL to do a show. That was a day trip and a lot of fun. I love performing, but to be honest, I think I'm a better teacher than an improviser though I've been working on my show chops. Close Quarters is probably the best example of my own "learning through doing"; I've done improv things in there that I haven't done in any other show and I've been lucky enough to be having a wonderful time doing so.
This week is an incredibly busy one for me. Lots of rehearsals for Breakfast Club: the Totally 80's Musical and some extra duties thereof (repainting the flats of the iO Theater personally so that they're done for our opening) are eating up my time. But that's to be expected. We open on Thursday! Gulp! Actually, we had a great rehearsal last night in front of some post-show stragglers and they laughed and clapped at all the right places.
So, we open on Thursday night and then I leave on Friday morning to the Lone Star State! I'm the guest of Dallas Comedy House, where I'll be sitting in with their Main Event show on Friday night and then teaching a workshop on Saturday afternoon.
After that, it's a quick drive up/ down/ over to Austin! I'll be at the New Movement Theater for more workshops and shows! The whole thing centers on my book, "Longform Improvisation and the Art of Zen." I'm so grateful to Chris Trew, Amanda Austin and the whole Texas community of improvisers for inviting me to come down. I'm so excited. I mean, without exaggeration, this is what I live for. I'm no millionaire, hell, I'm not a thousand-aire, but to paraphrase Clarence the Angel, "No man is poor who has improv friends."
This year, I'm trying to visit more places to teach and perform. Don't get me wrong, I love the Chicago Improv World, but I'm interested in other cities and venues. I hate travel, but I adore new places and people.
After a three year dip in my own personal Q rating, I recently discovered that I'm desperately eager to do new shows. I'm working on a three man show and a two person show.
I love improvisation. And I want more people to love her.
Filed under: classes, Del Close, Jason's Shows, rehearsals
Tags: Austin, Breakfast Club Musical, Close Quarters, Dallas, Dallas Comedy House, New Movement Theater, teaching, Texas
