Drink it in

I’ve been working on Fringe stuff, and I’ve learned something very important- writing does not come easily to me. I mean, I am am pretty good with written communications. I can bang out a formal email or a whimsical blog very quickly and well, but *writing*… that’s got pressure and judgment and all other forms of ickyness around it.

So for my show, I’m going to read a series of formal emails.

Actually, I am really excited for my show.  I like what it is and what it sets out to accomplish. I’m still putting stuff together for it, but I have a solid beginning, a solid ending, and some solid stuff in the middle. I just need to give it a bit more body. I think a dance is in order. Belly dance. Ha ha, get it? Body? Belly?

The show is much better. Promise.

Flier for my Fringe show in less than 3 months!

Lampshade with a little fringe…

I put in for the MN Fringe Festival. Last Monday was the drawing. And I got lucky.

Bill and I showed up just before things were about to start, but we did manage to find seats together. I saw people I knew, Bill saw people he knew. Some were the same people, some were not. I was surprised at how many people I could name.

It was really cozy. Standing room only by the time numbers were called off of ping-pong balls..

And mine was called.

I had the 2 second “wait- that’s me!” when my number was called. A couple people actually gave a ‘w00t’ and I caught the eyes of people I knew.. giving me thumbs up and air bumps. It was a popular-like feeling. Not super popular (I’m not Fotis), but more than I expected. To humble me afterward, mnfringe twitter listed me as Jan Zolar.

After the slots were filled, there was a break before the waitlist drawing. I had told a friend I’d find out where she fell on the list, so I got coffee, Bill got beer, and we mingled. People congratulated each other or gave condolences as appropriate. Lots of people asked Bill if he got in, and my trophy boyfriend of the evening pointed in my direction. When stating that I got in for fringe, I got asked “with vil?” or “with ____ production?”… I honestly expected a worse response when stating that I was producing my own one woman show. I mean, a one woman show is so edgy and daring… that’s nowhere near cliche at the MN fringe…

Then I listened to the wait-list. It wasn’t as formal as the first part. People cheered out of a sense of completion. After about a third of the way through, pizza arrived, and a food break was called. The masses swarmed.  Pizza and more wait-listing. There was conversation at this point. People discussing shows. Loud cheers for people still there that FINALLY had their number drawn.

There was elbow rubbing. Literally with certain friends. Some catching up with people I haven’t seen in a while. People asked about shows. After talking with some people who don’t even have CONCEPTS for their shows, I’m feeling better with my concept, outline, and partially written script.

Speaking of… This weekend is for writing. And even if I do seem steps ahead of some Fringers, I got a ways to go if I’m gonna write a hit fringe play.

I will say this, though. I can already tell it’s going to take a lot more than this one woman to put on a one woman show. The support that people have offered, from editing to guest “directing” to promotional shots to plugging to “whatever the hell you need…”  it’s all absolutely mind-blowing. I am honored to have you people in my life. Fuck ping-pong balls… these people are why I’m lucky.

Well, okay. These people AND the ping-pong ball.

Critical Review and Other Horrors.

This popped up in my iGoogle this morning:

“In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.
  – Hubert H. Humphrey”

Who the hell are you to judge, Hubert? Who are YOU to judge? If we named the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome “Stinksville,” I bet the same number of fans would show.

Speaking of fans and shows, Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead is holding steadily as one of the top fringe shows, which weirds me out a bit, but I’ll take it. Come judge for yourself. U of M Rarig Center Thrust on these dates:

Sat., Aug. 2 @ 1:00 p.m
Sun., Aug. 3 @ 5:30 p.m
Tue., Aug. 5 @ 10:00 p.m
Wed., Aug. 6 @ 7:00 p.m
Sun., Aug. 10 @ 7:00 p.m 

Zombies at 10pm? Holy crap is that going to be awesome. If you can’t make that, consider this post your reminder that we have a show tomorrow at 7pm, which is going to be packed with my friends, which will also be awesome. You know what’s not awesome? This horrible zombie joke I’m going to tell you.

Q: What does a vegetarian zombie eat?


A: GRRRAAAAIIIIIINNNNSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

The show is better, I promise you. But now I have some “brain food” for you. (why the hell do people let me keep a blog? seriously, you guys. this is ridiculous)

I have medical issues that have taken a lot of research by a lot of people over several years, and is still left unproperly diagnosed. However, they can come to some idea how to treat symptoms and possibly help myself out. I have had several experts tell me that fish and seafood are quite possibly the best things I can do for my body. It has to do with the Omega-3’s. I don’t get it all, but everywhere I turn, I hear “omega 3”. Infact, the best food for me to have is sushi.

Right. I can afford sushi every week. Can I get a prescription for that?

The problem I have with seafood is that I’m pretty picky about my seafood. I hate the “fishy” taste of unfresh fish. Makes me queasy, which kind of defeats the purpose of eating it. And good fish takes a lot of prep. I have little to no time for such tom foolery.

But not all seafood is fish. The other day, I was at a super target (it wore a cape), and I found the holy grail. And sitting right next to it was a 16oz package of peeled, pre-cooked, de-tailed, de-veined shrimp. Now, I love shrimp. I love shrimp more than Bubba Gump. No lie. And shrimp is full of Omega 3’s, and other things my body could really use.

So I have now added shrimp to my regular dietary rotation. Today, I made Linguini Alfredo with Shrimp. It took me 20 minutes, and that was mostly waiting for water to boil. To be fair, Alfredo from a jar (and almost any dairy) probably isn’t good for me. But screw it. It was delicious. And it was a zombie’s dream meal. Brain food and GRRRAAAAIIIIIINNNNSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Okay. Stop reading. Go see the show. I’m pretty sure I left all my funny there.

Tags: Grains, Brains, Shrimp, Zombie, Pasta, Alfredo, sushi, Omega+3, Hubert+H+Humphrey, Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s+Land+of+the+Dead, Fringe, Fringe+Festival, Minnesota+Fringe, iGoogle, Rose, name, seafood

Monster Fringe Post

We opened Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead today for 170 some people. The most important of which was my son, but other people whose opinions I respect were there. I admit, there was a tiny piece of me that was “afeared” that our somewhat Shakespeare soaked performance wouldn’t be able to keep an audience, but when the audience started laughing, it was honest laughter. Gut laughter. Laughter that makes the world go ‘round. And they didn’t stop. They laughed for the intelligent witicisms and the stupid jokes alike. It was HOT. 

So far, the only critisisms I’ve heard are that it’s a pretty geeky show, and I don’t think that was so much a critisism as it was a fact. I mean, the title pretty much tells it all. Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead. No title has been more straight forward about the contents of the show since Snakes on a Plane. There will be Shakespeare. There will be zombies. If you are surprised by either one of these events occuring, it may lead to me defriending you on one of seventeen social networking sites. And I don’t mean Myspace either. I mean somewhere you would notice and/or care.

The other complaint I heard was from my son, who didn’t think I was very manly. He said it was the hair that tipped him off. Come judge for yourself. U of M Rarig Center Thrust on these dates:

Sat., Aug. 2 @ 1:00 p.m
Sun., Aug. 3 @ 5:30 p.m
Tue., Aug. 5 @ 10:00 p.m
Wed., Aug. 6 @ 7:00 p.m
Sun., Aug. 10 @ 7:00 p.m 

If you would like to read a couple of reviews, there are some on the right-hand side at Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead page at the Fringe Festival site. We have been rated 4 1/2 kitties. This has us sitting pretty with An Inconvenient Squirrel, Mortem Capiendum, and An Intimate Evening with Fotis: Part Two, which are a couple of shows that come up under the “Users Also Scheduled” area that seem to have connected followings.

A review forwarded to me: http://nattienatnat.livejournal.com/57374.html

I admit it. I read reviews to see if someone is going to call me out on not being a man. I expect to read something along the lines of “SLotD was an absolutlely brilliant masterpiece of a performance, except for the chick trying to be a dude.” My Brilliance is probably right. It’s the hair.

I was invited to see 21 Fringe shows this year. I don’t have a pass because our cast is huge, so I will not be seeing any of them. I do not have $250 or at least 42 hours out of the next 168 that isn’t already dedicated elsewhere. I am sorry to all of you who invited me… had I the ability, I would see them all.

*Last night, my child beat a large group of adults in a game called werewolf, where logic and bluffing are used to sway popular opinion. I have a feeling one or two adults may have figured him out and let it slide. I goaded the crowed into taking me out right away because I was pretty sure that he was a werewolf, and I am a mom first and foremost. Getting taken out early meant that I was available for him to talk to about strategy, and wouldn’t have to out my own son. But he didn’t really seem to need advice. I was Hella Proud of my boy’s game last night.*

Tags: hair, chick, dude, Fringe, MN+Fringe, Shakespeare, Zombie, Brilliance, review, laughter, games, cross-dressing, werewolf, Shakespeare’s+Land+of+the+Dead, Myspace, wit, Land+of+the+Dead

All the World’s a Stage I’m Going Though (~B.M.)

The past couple weeks was full of performance stuff… and the next couple of months will be, too!

Monday Night Comedy Show– Last week, we did a roast for the host. I was a roaster. I had so much more material, but I wasn’t feeling well. Still, I got to put down some of my favorite people, and I was even funny! I know, right? Remember, Every Monday at 8pm at the Beat Coffeehouse, there is a variety of comedy.. stand up, improv, sketch, film, music… it is never the same show twice!

Improv– Okay, so I haven’t actually performed any recently. But classes are going really well, and I do have a performance coming up. Tuesday, July 29^th, at 7:30 pm at Brave New Workshop, my class will be performing on the same stage as other, more experienced graduates of the BNI classes at Six Ring Circus. Improv for a dollar? How can you beat that? Oh wait– did I mention that they also sell beverages that you can take into the theater with you? Now I dare you to do better. NOTE: Six Ring Circus happens Every Tuesday at 7:30pm, but not this coming Tuesday, as the workshop is getting ready for their next Mainsatge show.

Stand up Comedy– I did some at the Monday Night Comedy Show a while ago. I did some last Wednesday. Every Wednesday at 10pm at the Downtown Grumpy’s, there is a stand up show called DEATH COMEDY JAM. It’s hosted by The Grin Reaper, and there are all sorts of Stand ups. Sometimes there could be me. But I’m not telling when… you’ll just have to go see for yourself. Why not? It’s FREE!

Vilification Tennis– We performed at a Sci-Fi Convention over the 4^th of July weekend, because we are all geeks. I was amazing. And by that, I mean I did not throw up even though I was -not feeling well– at all. BTW: To the fan that told me he thought “A” cup was a nice size– 1) I WASN’T actually insecure about my breast size until you said something, and 2) I’m a “B” cup, damnit!!! And yes, we have a show this month. Saturday, July 26^th, at 10 pm at Bryant Lake Bowl we will be doing the Olympic Show. It will be awesome. I make no guarantees that I will be there, but I’m also not saying that I’ll be missing from the show, either. Ooooh, how mysterious. But I promise you do NOT want to miss this show. Get tickets here: http://blb.ciceron.com/calendar.asp?date=7/26/2008.. $12, or $10 with Fringe button.

Fringe Festival– Speaking of, I am in a Fringe show this year. It’s frigging awesome. It’s all scripted and stuff, so I’m a little out of my element, but damn! It’s called Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead, A True and Accurate Account of the 1599 Zombie Plague. No shit. Zombies try to take over the Globe theater in 1599. How the hell can you miss THAT?!? Did I mention it’s being put on by Walking Shadow Theater Company (http://www.walkingshadowcompany.org/)? Not to spoil it, but I play a man. Awe yeah. MANLY! That’s me. And what could be manlier than a thrust stage? We’re taking over the U of M Rarig Center Thrust on these dates:

Sat., Aug. 2 @ 1:00 p.m
Sun., Aug. 3 @ 5:30 p.m
Tue., Aug. 5 @ 10:00 p.m
Wed., Aug. 6 @ 7:00 p.m
Sun., Aug. 10 @ 7:00 p.m

When I said thrust, I meant like with a sword, all manly like. What were you thinking? For more information and tickets, go to http://www.fringefestival.org/2008/show/?id=910. Make sure to put us on your Fringe schedule so that all the kids know where the cool kids will be (that’s right, I called you cool).

MN Renaissance Festival– Yes, I will once again be out at The RenFest, but I’m not sure in what capacity or which weekends. I know I will be doing Vilification Tennis out there, and I should be out there almost all weekends, but I may have to miss Labor Day weekend to move. The hell, you say? Yes, having a roof over my head does in fact precedence over my Faire performance. Barely. I may also have a conflict towards the end of September, but it’s very uncertain right now, so I will say not more. MN Renaissance Festival in Shakopee runs weekends and Labor Day from August 16^th to September 28^th, 9am to 7pm. For more information, go to http://www.renaissancefest.com/MRF/

And now I’m spent. For those of you who say you never have the opportunity to see me perform, I dare you to tell me you’re busy every single one of those nights. I mean, I am, but that’s no excuse for you. Hope some of you can make it out to some of these things. I like friendly faces.

Tags: Fringe, Renaissance, Shakespeare, Improv, stand+up, Comedy, theater, thrust, sword, Olympic, sick, Monday+Night+Comedy+Show, Six+Ring+Circus, DEATH+COMEDY+JAM, Brave+New+Workshop, Grumpy’s, Bryant+Lake+Bowl, Walking+Shadow, Ren+Fest, Renaissance+Festival