An Experiment in Storytelling (The Other Side of The Weekend)

Well, that happened.

That’s one of my favorite things to say after a show because it’s non-committal. It doesn’t say “That went great, I am so proud of myself!” or “That went bad, please assuage my vanity.” It lands in the middle.

In my mind, it concedes a small amount of success because it implies that the show did, in fact, go on.

And last Friday. It Did.*

I was trying something new. An experiment in storytelling, as indicated in my previous blog post. And, as with any experiment, there were some hiccups. Tech issues that sent me running back home 45 minutes before we were to start. Audio for the “Plan D” that we ended up using wasn’t working even though EVERY indicator that I checked showed me levels and was responsive. I was flustered and thus did not properly introduce the event or myself. My friend Brian, who was one of the first to speak, said it best… “This whole thing is weird.”

Then, we took an intermission.

When 7 people returned after intermission, I was happy.

When each of those 7 people shared a story, I was elated.

When one of those 7 people (who had never been to our theatre before the event on Friday) came back to see our mainstage show on Sunday, enjoyed herself and promised to come back….I am not ashamed to say, I almost cried. Well, maybe I wasn't going to cry, but I was really really happy.

Well, that happened.

And I certainly hope it keeps happening.

*In all the craziness of the evening, I did not get a chance to properly thank all the people who participated. Special Thanks to:

David J. Loehr – Davidjloehr.com

Dave Charest-DaveCharest.com

Rebecca Coleman-Artofthebiz.com

Travis Bedard-Cambiareproductions.com

Chris Ashworth – Figure53.com

Scotty Iseri – Scottygotanofficejob.com

Monica Reida (fragments) who “skyped in” from Iowa.

And Paul, Brian, Andy, Pearl, John, Jesse, Chelsea, Hank, and Tim who all shared stories.

If I left anyone out please forgive me and come back to the next one which is TBA.

***UPDATE*** I've finally put up a couple of the videos from the 360. You can find them on my vimeo channel here. There are a couple on the 360 vimeo channel here. also-Dave Charest has moved domains...he's now at DaveCharest.com.

An Experiment in Storytelling

I'm putting together a Multi-media 360 Storytelling event on Friday the 14th at Strawdog Theatre. There will be live storytelling, pre-recorded storytelling via video, and other types of storytelling (see below)....oh, and the bar will be open.

"Oh, no!" you say, "I can't make it to Strawdog Theatre in Chicago on Friday night at 11pm. I'll be in Little Rock organizing my Chuck Dovish's Traveling Arkansas VHS collection."

You're in luck! If you can't make it out to Strawdog Theatre in Chicago on Friday night at 11pm you can watch via the INTERNETS!!! (caps lock borrowed without permission from @travisbedard and the above word "INTERNETS" is actually a "Link" that will take you "here"-http://www.ustream.tv/channel/somestorytelling)

"That's awesome, Kyle!" you say, "I'm super excited about this and I would like to participate!"

Well, you are also in luck! There are several ways to play!

Experiment 1-

Come and listen to stories and share a story of your own! We'll get started around 11pm at Strawdog Theatre in Chicago on Friday Night. There is a $5 cover that will go to pay the charge for the space. Any additional funds will go back to 2amtheatre.com to fund more theatre ideas like this one!

Experiment 2-

I'd like to read a fictional "And then" story written by the twittersphere. I will take all the posts that have posted with the tag "#360exp" from now until Friday May 14th at 6:00pm CST. I will read the "story" towards the end of the event on Friday. It will most likely be a beautiful mess but I'm interested to see what happens.

Experiment 3-

Skype a story- if you are not in Chicago (or in Chicago and trapped in your pajamas) and want to tell us a story, you can Skype in from where you are! Iceland? Turkey? Logan Square? Just Skype to khambone360 and we'll put you in the line up.

Experiment 4-

Got any ideas? I'm listening.

Also if you want to tweet-up or follow along on Friday-we'll be using the tag "360s"

Step number one in being a writer...

Write something.

I wrote this for a Sprint contest and submitted it:

Okay. Here's the deal. I know it sounds crazy but I can grow a beard really fast. I'm not braggin'. I'm just sayin'. I've got a video to prove it but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to tell you about this wonderful thing that I can do very quickly. Here it is: I can, believe it, or not, tie my shoes in less than a minute. I know what you're thinking. "Under a MINUTE?!? That's Incredible!" I know. It is. But there is really nothing magical about it. It just. takes. practice. You build up stamina and agility and eventually it just flows, you know? So, Chin up. With determination, you'll get there.

then I read the rules...had to be at least 150 words. Whoops. This is like 115 or something.

Oh, well. Guess I won't win a Sprint phone. and I guess I'm not a writer.

or am just a rebellious writer who can't be put in a box?

I mean, it IS "published" on my "blog."

So... does that mean I'm a writer?

If so, when do the checks start arriving?

Kyle

p.s. another one of the rules was that this work has not been previously broadcast or otherwise distributed or disseminated in any media or format. So now, I'm REALLY not going to win.

Nostalgia

Nostalgia: nos·tal·gia

Pronunciation: \nä-ˈstal-jə, nə- also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl-\

Function: noun

1 : the state of being homesick : homesickness
2 : a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition; also : something that evokes nostalgia

so i was just going though photos trying to do some organizing and i realized..."i really like looking at old photos."

It reminds me of when I was a kid. Every time we went to my Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's house, the first thing I wanted to do (after hugs and kisses and unloading the car) was look at all the old photo albums that Maw-Maw had stashed away under the coffee table in the living room.

We would pour over the photos (some of which were of people I had never met) and would laugh about all the funny stories that came along with the photo.

so,

here's some random old photos.

transportaion.

This summer has been great.
I started riding my bike a lot more than ever. Using it instead of the car to go to the grocery store or hardware store or to the theatre. Then I started having trouble with the rear derailleur and so took it in to get it checked out. Ended up having to replace the cassette, get a new chain, a new derailleur and a full tune up.
Great.
Everything is working fine now.
And then, wouldn't you know it? The CAR has issues.
I waited to take the car in cause I knew it was gonna cost money but lo and behold I get a flat tire. What was particularly annoying about this flat tire though was that I had a spare but no jack. So I had to get one of those fix-a-flat cans that you spray into your tire to give it just enough to hobble over to a gas station to put some more air in it. What a mess.
So I finally take the car in and they replace the tire and it's gonna cost an arm (no leg, just an arm) to have the front alignment fixed so that it'll stop having these issues.
During all this I realize my CTA card is cracked and doesn't work properly so I need a new card for taking public transportation.

AND

the sole of my boot is coming off.

So, to sum up... all the way around (Car, Bike, Public Transport, Feet) it has been a challenging summer as far as transportation goes.

But seriously, this summer has been great.

hmmuh?

ahh crap. i fell asleep. what day is it?

you mean i went a whole week without posting?!? Again?!?

HAMSMELL!!!!!!!!

so sorry for the gap. i'm really trying to get better.
no, really.

anywho...here's the haps. we did some really great work on the show over the weekend. breaking down some of the scenes and putting them back together. but this time...faster. stronger. this show is truly shaping up to be a lean mean comedy machine that kicks you in the groin and i can't wait to start playing on the set that anders and judy are cooking up. it's gonna be a lot of fun. yeah, like a whole lot.





on the flip side, i got the three way switches for the basement stairs installed so you can turn on the light at the top and the bottom which makes things a lot easier when it's dark and scary down there.





we were going to go see inglorious basterds but decided to watch the bears preseason instead. they are looking good. i'm excited about this culter fella. and iglesias had a nice catch. actually there were quite a few nice catches. ooooo...now i'm getting excited for some football.


last thing...then i'll go.

kyle's basement is now Variety Underground. going to have some new faces playing and it's going to be great. october 17th. put it on your calendars.

checkya.

and now for something completely different.

a moose once bit my sister.