"

DB: Austin has been very good to me.

CC: The scene there is just incredible. We were there last year and I was just blown away by what you guys have going on down there. It’s insane.

DB: Yeah, there’s so many people doing improv here for the love of the art form. There’s no one trying to get famous or noticed by networks or agents… but the impetus seems to be more about how far can we take the art and what other kind of show can we do.

CC: Which is so great to see. It’s weird out here. For the most part people are trying to get noticed relatively quickly and seeing if they can build a better Doritos commercial. But in Austin, it feels quite the opposite. The P-graph kids are the ones I hung out with quite a lot while i was down there. And their show was so good. they were doing the show….uhh, I’m drawing a blank… Roy (Janik) was mind-blowingly good.

DB: French Farce?

CC: No. it was, uh… just genius. Not French Farce. It was dark and medieval.

DB: Oh, the Grimm’s Fairy Tales?

CC: YES! Roy was some sort of hunchbacked guard character.

DB: They are unbelievable how they can just tackle genres that nobody has thought of yet.

CC: You don’t even know that they are genres until you see them do it.

DB: Right! You hear about it and you are, like “Wow!” and then you see their shows and your like “WOW!!! There’s no way in hell I can do that.”

CC: Yeah, there’s no way in hell I can do one of those things much less several. There was a really good improvised Chekov show out here, but that troupe… that’s all they do. P-Graph does several. They’re unreal. They also have the most unsellable name… outside of Mission:Improv-able.

"
— Out of Bounds Blog, Dave Buckman’s interview with Chris Compton of Nerdvana

We return to ColdTowne tonight with our good friends Venn Diaphragm. 8pm.

I miss you, tour.

-Roy

Nothing much happens in this video I forgot to post to the blog, but it makes me sad that the tour is over.

-Roy

At the Moonbase, courtesy of Ratliff. The tour is over!!

Touchdown in Austin. The end of the tour is imminent.

WI-FI on our plane from Raleigh to Atlanta. It’s a brave new world, and it only costs $5.95 a flight. Right now, all the other kittens are asleep, or at least nodding off in an exhausted stupor. I can’t speak for everyone, but at least for Kareem and I, it’s like our bodies are finally allowing us to be sleepy now that there’s no more shows to do. It’s been a fantastic trip. There’ve been no major catastrophes or personality clashes to speak of. Though sometimes Google Maps failed us, or our own brains got confused, by and large it’s been pretty seamless. The real fun of all these stops has been to experience all these different improv scenes. Some scenes had their own theaters. Some rented specific spaces on a regular basis. Some of them changed venues nearly every time. Some of the improvisers we met could define specifically what their style was (“We do fast-paced, Chicago style”), and others  professed to not have a style, but were open to whatever came their way. In some ways I felt like an explorer and/or an ambassador. You can look at the websites for these groups and theaters, but you really can’t get a feel for them until you visit them. The main things that all these people had in common was that they were really nice. They were all wonderfu, accomodating people, who gave freely of their time and experience to make us feel at home. That, and they all knew Asaf Ronen.

WI-FI on our plane from Raleigh to Atlanta. It’s a brave new world, and it only costs $5.95 a flight.

Right now, all the other kittens are asleep, or at least nodding off in an exhausted stupor. I can’t speak for everyone, but at least for Kareem and I, it’s like our bodies are finally allowing us to be sleepy now that there’s no more shows to do.

It’s been a fantastic trip. There’ve been no major catastrophes or personality clashes to speak of. Though sometimes Google Maps failed us, or our own brains got confused, by and large it’s been pretty seamless.

The real fun of all these stops has been to experience all these different improv scenes.

Some scenes had their own theaters. Some rented specific spaces on a regular basis. Some of them changed venues nearly every time.

Some of the improvisers we met could define specifically what their style was (“We do fast-paced, Chicago style”), and others  professed to not have a style, but were open to whatever came their way.

In some ways I felt like an explorer and/or an ambassador. You can look at the websites for these groups and theaters, but you really can’t get a feel for them until you visit them.

The main things that all these people had in common was that they were really nice. They were all wonderfu, accomodating people, who gave freely of their time and experience to make us feel at home.

That, and they all knew Asaf Ronen.

It’s a big scary world, but all the good people one meets makes it feel okay. We have found other improv actors to be some of the most welcoming, open, generous people in the world. Our tour would have been nothing without the support of our fellow artists. In my mind, the tour isn’t quite over yet - we still have two flights. Uncle Kareem just bought me ice cream. -Kaci

It’s a big scary world, but all the good people one meets makes it feel okay.

We have found other improv actors to be some of the most welcoming, open, generous people in the world. Our tour would have been nothing without the support of our fellow artists.

In my mind, the tour isn’t quite over yet - we still have two flights. Uncle Kareem just bought me ice cream.

-Kaci

Had an awesome lunch with Zach and Molly at Mama Dips. Now we’re killing time in Chapel Hill before we head to the airport.

i never

here, tour.  It’s over.  we’re still in nc, but flying home tomorrow.  I wish we were still on tour and driving home at least- i think we were just starting to get into the tour groove.  It was a great tour!  Great cities, great people, great audiences, great shows.  we went to a house party after tonight’s show, and i played “never have i ever” the drinking game with people I just met.  Now kareem made me write this on drink.  fun people- some of them are about to move to philadelphia, so you philaruskies watch out for alyssa and brian, i like them and so will you!

never have i ever had such a great time on tour!

-Val

At a house party!! Lots of improvisers, and a dog!!

At a house party!! Lots of improvisers, and a dog!!

Done! Last show to a full house went wonderfully! Now we’re drinkin and watchin prov!

Done! Last show to a full house went wonderfully! Now we’re drinkin and watchin prov!

We’re at DSI. Swag is put out, programs disbursed, and we’ve met with Zach. Last show happens momentarily. Wish us luck!

We’re at DSI. Swag is put out, programs disbursed, and we’ve met with Zach. Last show happens momentarily. Wish us luck!

We have arrived at the hotel in Chapel Hill, with a little less than an hour before call.

Car

Today is the longest drive of the trip… From Delaware to North Carolina, about a 7 hour trip. But it has been made longer by terrible traffic in Virginia. Wemay have to just drive straight to the theater tonight. Right now Val is driving, Kareem is reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (off and on), and Kaci is sketching something using art supplies she picked up in Philly. I’m mostly navigating.

Tonight we’re doing Screwball Comedy for our last tour show, which is what we began the tour with. I can’t wait.

-Roy

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