I was late the first day, because there is only street parking around the theater, and Monday is a street cleaning day in the area, so only one side of the street is available for parking. I parked forever away, and was none to pleased about my first impression. Being late, I missed role call, which also meant I missed a very telling introduction from a classmate.
For our purposes we will refer to the teacher as "Teacher" and the other student as "Student".
Teacher: "Student? Is Student here?"
Student: "Student? I know that guy. He's pretty funny."
Teacher: "Is he coming?"
Student: "Yeah, I'm Student"
Teacher: "Oh. Nice. Brilliant introduction"
Student was annoying throughout the two weeks.
The first day mostly consisted of little games to get warmed up to each other and the process. It really didn't take too long to see who might be pretty good at this whole thing, and who might struggle. I hadn't made up my mind about myself yet, but I didn't feel too much like an idiot, so that was a nice start. The second day, we started to really get into more scene work. After class, the guy who ended up being the best in class, pulled me aside and said, "Hey man, really funny stuff today. You really had me going." So, that was pretty good to hear.
I am trying to remember details from each day, but that is proving to be too tough as the days sort of run together. I was able to make a couple friends, who happened to be the two best in class. They are also from Canada, but that doesn't really have much bearing on anything. We ended up hanging out a bunch outside of class and going to comedy shows and whatnot. Towards the end of class we would talk about who we wanted, and didn't want, on our team for the graduation performance. No one was sure how the teacher would split us up. Would he do A team and B team? Split up the best people and make sure the teams were even? Totally random? It was a source of much debate.
RBD3 was in town for the weekend to watch the performance and report back to the rest of the family whether or not this whole acting thing was working out for me. Friday we went for a quick bite at the Oaks before going to an open mic night to see if one of my Canadian friends would get some time. We were obviously good luck, because both people I knew who put their names in the hat were drawn. After the open mic we drove to City Walk (very reminisent of Orlando) to see a friend of mine's movie. (It's called 'Gone' if you want to see it to support her, just don't expect a great movie. She is definitely the bright spot of the whole thing. She's also married, so no questions of that nature will be answered.) We went out for drinks with the whole group of friends after and that was a pretty good time.
Saturday. The big day. Showtime at 5:30p. Unfortunately there was quite a lot of noise early in the morning because one of my roommates had movers here taking all of his stuff to storage. He is headed back to Spain for a TV show. It looked like we had been robbed. RBD3 and I then headed out for lunch to a place I had never been. It was pretty good. After lunch, I entertained the thought of trying to entertain, but then decided just to go back to the house and watch some golf prior to getting my mind right for the show.
I get to the theater very early. 440. Supposed to be there at 5, but I didn't want to be late. Kill some time and head back to the theater to meet up with everyone else, go through warmups, and get our team assignments. After warmups we are standing in a circle when the teacher starts counting us off. 1-2-1-2-1-2 and so forth. I quickly realize this is his highly scientific way of forming teams. I also catch that team number 1 is looking awfully strong. A slight panic begins to set in that I will be a 2. I am not. Team 1. Varsity. Literally everyone I wanted to be on a team with was on my team. Now, that's not to say it was perfect, because there were also two people I would have exchanged, but the people I cared about being on my team were on my team. Team 1 was happy. Team 2 was not.
So we go back to the green room to discuss team names and use the restroom or puke if needed. My phone has now started to blow up with texts from family members, which I don't read. I can't decide if I'm excited or full of dread for what is about to happen. 5 minutes till curtains. Teacher comes back to tell us, "if you're not a little bit nervous, you're not human- and there's nothing you can do about it now anyway."
Team 1 is up first, naturally. We file backstage and I kind of jump around a little (and do a little shadow boxing against the wall). I am nervous. But, in a way, feel ready. It sort of feels natural back there, which I took comfort in. Our name is called. We head out, clapping. The lights, blinding. I literally could not see past the first row, which I decided was a very good thing.
The show itself is a little bit of a blur, but we were on stage for 30 minutes, much of which was filled with laughs. It feels really good to get a laugh. I am out there for the first scene with Canadian friend P, and we get some great laughs. I feel good. My next scene is with Canadian friend B. Again, some good laughs. I didn't get a joke in that I wanted, but overall it was good. He said a line about beating me to monster.ca (the jobs website) and I wanted to make a Canada joke, since it is monster.com here in the states, but alas, the lights were called and it didn't happen. My last scene left a sour taste in my mouth as I sort of dropped the ball. And by sort of, I mean, totally. Canadian friend B and I went out on stage after an uncomfortable pause in which no one was headed out. A joke that was made in class was, when this happens, someone has to save the show. We did. Sorta. We fumbled through some lines, I was reaching hard, not coming up with anything. "Student" from earlier came into the scene and made it worse (and better since we could now make fun of him for making it worse) and after a couple minutes of scattered either polite or confused laughs, the scene was over. I think there was one or two more, but I can't remember exactly as I was very much in my head now. Our portion ends. Applause. I sit back down and re-run all of my mistakes, and get very down very quick. As the night progresses though, I feel better and better about everything. I was also drinking, so I'm not exactly sure how much that played into it.
In all seriousness, I had about 6 friends show up, which was really great. They all complimented me, which at first felt a little empty, but later I think they meant it. Over drinks and conversation with the Canadians I announced that I gave myself a C+ based on what I thought I could do, and what I did in class. I asked for their honest opinion. They said B- and based it solely on nerves. Probably right. The biggest compliment came from the Canadians as they said they would have no problem trusting me enough to plug me into their group if need be (they both do multiple forms of comedy as professionals). That made me feel pretty good. They also agreed that I should continue with it, and see where it leads, so I am planning on signing up for the 201 intensive course beginning in April.
I didn't know what to expect from this adventure, but I am very happy with what I got out of it. A great experience, some new friends, and maybe a better grasp on what it is I am good at.
Thanks for sticking with me. I meant that as like, thanks for reading a long post, but then thought, "hey, thanks for sticking with me in general." So, that too.
PS I think the video my roommate took didn't really turn out and has since been erased. There were some curse words in the show anyway and this is a PG blog. I didn't say any. Promise...
