Funny, funny Friday

I do comedy. (shwing!)

I have always loved enteraining, cutting up, and doing anything for a laugh. I tried improv way, way back in the 2005 vintage and fell in love. That didn't last long...ahem... I can tell you the story another time (winkwink), but round abouts August of last year I found out about auditions for The Blacklist.
A new(ish) improv group here in the Quad Cities, they were an uncensored improv troupe. Something that we haven't seen in the last 20+ years that we've been inundated with family-friendly improv. "Not that there's anything wrong with that!" (spoken every bit like Jerry Seinfeld just then)

The limelight moon shone brightly that night and I went to the auditions and had an amazing time. Was reminded of everything I loved about improv and entertaining that I had been sorely missing for many years. And a week or so after that, I got the call from George, the grand old man of The Blacklist, saying that I had made it in.

Woohoohoohoo! Happier than a jackass eatin' stickers, I was. And I don't even know what that means, but it was me.

And it's been me, and about 15 other amazingly talented guys for the past year, and I have loved every millisecond that I've spent with all of them, doing this amazing, wild, unscripted, off the wall thing that I love. That we all love. Heck, we even pulled up an entire new crop of improvers and are training them right now to get out there and do their own collective thang! Yeah, buddy!

We have several different show formats, with more in the works. We have a definite following of faithful fans and best of all? We have definitely made a name for ourselves. We are a force to be dealt with. We are tightly knit group. We support each other. We tell each other the hard things when necessary. We pick on each other. We lift each other up. We build each other up. And we have damn good times together. (Nerf wars, anyone?)

On a related tangent, most of these funny, funny guys also do stand up. Believe it or not, stand up is something I, as a kid, always thought I wanted to do. I picked a great time to start thinking about it because in February/March the Quad Cities had two different stand up competitions going on, the C4 and the Comedy for a Cause. I spent a lot of time at these competitions watching my friends and strangers get up there and make with the funny. I think I even learned a thing or two. In April I decided to give it a whirl. And I didn't suck too awful bad. So I kept at it. And can you guess what else I also love?

Yup. Stand up. I taught myself to play the ukulele and now I sing and play songs with my stand up. Oh, wait... you probably know that because that's kinda how this whole blog started. I have been away from my spoken word comedy for a little bit because I'm having so much fun with the songs - I have 4 more written, 2 of which I'm actually in the process of working up - but I'm going to get back to the speaking of the funny again. I do like the stuff that I say sometimes. Okay, most times. Okay, so it's funny to me, alright? Geez.

Getting myself involved with not only The Blacklist but with the local (and distant local - Iowa City, Des Moines) comedy scene has brought so many hilarious, talented and unusual people into my life. I've decided that, for awhile now, or until I run out of things to say, anyway, I'm going to dedicate Fridays to the funny men - and women! - in my life. That might even include my boys, because they are hilarious and way too much like their mom sometimes. Every Friday, I will interview one of The Blacklist members and/or one of my comedian comrades and post it here. If I ever figure out how to do a video or audio blog you might be in for a treat, but for now just plan for some meat and potatoes entertaining reading. If I can manage it I'll track one of these illustrious men down today. If not? You're in for a treat next Friday. And who knows. Maybe I'll throw in some chitchat about improv in general. Sure, why not?

In the meantime... stay tuned. And keep reading. There is, at least occasionally, some pretty good stuff up in these here blogs o' mine.

Love ya, friends.

~h

NEXT TIME: Somerhalder Sunday (now to be known and Stalktastic Sunday)! Which stalkee will I dish on first? And what do you think my chances are? At the end of my top ten I'll take a poll of who you think I've got the best chance of successfully stalking and I'll set my sights to capture!