So, I’ve got to say that this past Wednesday was the best day of that moon for RJ.
I’m grateful that I got to partake in one of my favorite activities, practice my craft, have fun, Be Silly and Nonsense, and do it all with some of my favorite people ever.
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I’m also grateful to have been able to be a part of one of Mrs. Brown’s last events/shows as a Drama Teacher/Mentor. I have to credit Mrs. Brown almost fully for my connecting with who I am today and what I love, that being the art of acting and performing and exploring. It was her who kept badgering me to join in on the Theatre Company, and it was her who kept badgering me even though I refused for three years straight. Every now and again you get those people in your life who shape it in a huge way, making them unforgettable and making your thankfulness for them unmatched. She is one of those people for me. I can say with confidence that I’d probably be a lot lamer if it wasn’t for her, although I probably wouldn’t realize or admit it. I can say with confidence that she helped me through the process of filtering through negative-but-seemingly-cool influence that I thought was me but really wasn’t, and leaving in the pan who I am and who I love today. I am grateful for her persistence and her truly believing in my potential as a performer, and as a human person.
So, yeah, this past Wednesday my friends and I got to participate in an Alumni Improv Show, in which a handful of us high school alumni came back and, quite honestly, dominated the current Improv Team, in every definition of the word. I mean, no hard feelings and all guys, but let’s be honest.
Improv was the first thing I became involved with in Mrs. Brown’s Theatre Company. It was there where I developed the silliness and the nonsensical whatever I live with today, and it was there where I began to craft the lasting, loving friendships with which I am still blessed.
I still remember my audition for the Improv Team. It took place in Mrs. Brown’s second room, that was used mostly as Theatre Company student storage, a place to hide from classes, a clubhouse, and a place for naps. There, she one of those portable raised platforms, where we auditioned. One of my auditions was “60, 30, 10,” which I did with Steve Nara. It was something about being a dark alley with a clown, and Steve died, and I mourned his death in a totally NOT melodramatic fashion. I remember doing a flying karate kick at one point. I was/am very much about the physical, hyper-active comedy/acting when I’m improv-ing.
But anyway, it was great to just be back, in my element, making crap up, making people laugh, and making either no sense or nonsense. It was great to just be there with my friends doing this, just like we used to, doing our thing, just having plain old fun. It’s a special type of fellowship that I’ve experienced that, thus far, hasn’t been matched or duplicated by anything else that I’ve done.
It was great to just perform again. It’s been so freaking long.
To be honest, I had some nerves. I mean, naturally. I hadn’t done improv in forever. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be quick enough or loud enough and I was concerned that I might accidentally drop too many inside jokes that would only connect with my family and my friends, most of whom were on the Improv Team.
But I mean, we did well! I mean, we won, of course. And I was proud to see all of my friends perform, as if they hadn’t missed a beat since the last time. I was uplifted by how many of the jokes were connecting, the roars of applause, and the chillness and intimacy of the entire thing. All of that, I miss intensely.
I just felt so comfortable. More comfortable than I’ve felt in a long time. It was one of those “forgetting that you’re performing and just being” things. Yeah.
So yeah, it was great. I’m glad I got to participate.
Sad that it was Mrs. Brown’s and Blaze’s last show. One, because I cannot imagine a Theatre Company without them, and two, because now future students won’t be able to understand the awesome that is them, but they had a beautiful run, and like many beautiful things, they end eventually.
So here’s that sappy “don’t cry because it ended, smile because it happened” quote.
There.
So yeah, that was a fun time.
