Where's The Desks?..(You know, like Where's The Beef?)...Sigh...Lame Joke

Hey all! Well, the first week of classes is officially over. Let me tell you, it has been one crazy week. My classes are amazing and I already feel like I'm learning so much. After this whole experience, it will be hard to return to Grace classes. I'll walk into a classroom full of desks and wonder where we're supposed to jump around and roll on the floor. I miss the people there, but I love all my classes here. I can't even decide which one I like the most. The homework is stuff I would normally do for fun! Wanna know what my history class is like? We sit around a table and discuss what we do and don't find funny. It's like a fun lunchtime conversation, except the head of the table is a brilliant author and improvisor, and I get grades for simply saying that I think Will & Grace has more worth than Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong. It really is hard work.

My acting prof is a mix between a drill sergeant and...and...and an old man that has travelled the world acquiring wisdom and hard drugs. Yeah. He's kind of like that. He asks questions that seem to have no answer, but we all desperately throw out suggestions, in hopes that we will land a right answer and win his everlasting love and affection. I am terrified of him, yet I desperately seek his approval. It was, of course, in his class that my cell phone went off. We were doing a silent focus and listening excercise, when I heard buzzing. I just knew it was mine. Gellman was sitting right beside my purse and I heard him mumble, "(explatives and the word "buzzing")." I wanted to disappear into the floor or run over and shove my phone down my throat. I suppose if I did the latter, that would not have solved the buzzing problem, but it sure would be a dramatic guesture. I will be more careful of that in the future.

My fellow comedy students and I have really been bonding this week. I really like everybody, and I know that some of the friendships made here are going to be long-term. In fact, we've been out together almost every night this week. Good times. Such good times. Aside from the bus not coming and having to split a taxi AGAIN at 2 in the morning, in one degree weather. These are the moments we'll remember. Hope you all are doing well and keeping warm, but don't worry. One out of two isn't bad. Love you all and have a lovely day!

Move Over Disney...This Is The Happiest Place On Earth

So, I'm sure you're all dying to know how the first day of classes went. Magical!! Absolutely magical!! We met our professors and jumped right into the improv scenes. Usually I get nervous for this stuff, but I promised myself I was just gonna jump in with no regrets. It felt so amazing to be up on that stage, building characters and just getting absolutely crazy with a mess of people that are as crazy as I am. I can't describe the feeling of being in an environment where everyone else shares your passions and goals. I don't think this paragraph is coming across quite the way I mean for it to. Go back and read it again, but imagine me saying it really fast and jumping around using grand hand guestures. That will give you more of the sense of excitement without me having to use gratuitous exclamation points.

I can't believe I'm already having so much fun, and it's only the first day!! Thank God, I found this program. I really can't imagine being anywhere else right now. Tonight, Casey and I went to an improv show, because three of the other Comedy Studies students were performing with their troupe. The three troupes before them were beyond painful to watch. I would describe them to you, but if you were even able to make it through reading about them, you would denounce God and turn emo. The group with our friends was good though. They were really happy that we came and supported them. Afterwards, we travelled most of the way home with Spike (from Comedy Studies), and it turns out he's a super cool guy. He has an album out and he's a yoyo master, amongst other things. (But can he work the tassles like me? I think not!) I doubt that if we hadn't been in that situation, we would ever have gotten to know him, so it's cool how those things work out.

Tomorrow begins day two, but I'm really not used to going to bed at a reasonable hour. Changing my sleep schedule should prove interesting. Well, I'm off to lay in bed for an hour, trying to sleep, but thinking about how incredibly lucky I am to be having this experience. Keep on truckin'!

Twas The Night Before Classes

I learned a very important lesson last night. The brown line that takes me to the "el" to get home from Second City stops running at one in the morning. They don't care if it's a twelve block walk to the next stop and and it's so cold your blood is frozen. Casey, Abhi, and I went to see a couple of late night shows at The Second City, only to find that we had no way home when we got to the "el" station. We ended up having to hail a cab, further cementing in my mind that Chicago might actually be somewhere near Russia. No Communications degree could help the cab driver and I reach an agreement as to where I lived. Thank God I'm a master of charades.

The shows themselves were, well, they were. Hmmm. The first show cost 5 bucks, and was not a regular Second City show, I might add. It was in the building, but not one of their casts. The premise sounded good. Four guys were putting on a sketch show, but they had gotten a government bailout to do so, so they had to follow a list of crazy arbitrary rules from the government. The audience was given 3-D glasses for the last sketch, but Casey and I decided to wear them the whole time to make the show more bearable. At least that way, the stage had a fun rainbow glow. It gave us both a whole new level of confidence, knowing that we could have walked up there and done a few good jazz squares, and it would have been an infinitely better show. The second show was a free improv set with a Second City cast. It was fabulous. I want to be one of them so bad.

Tomorrow, I start classes. I'm so excited. Tomorrow is the first step to what will hopefully become a long and fulfilling career. And if I don't make it, then no one can say I didn't try. But I really hope I do, since as I see it, my other choices are Emu Jockey or Hog Caller. Wish me luck! Or rather, wish me leg breakage! Keep on truckin'!

Free Food...How Jewish of Me

Hey all! I'm writing this, only because I promised to do so. Unfortunately, I don't have any actual good news to report. First of all, I have to make a correction from my last post. The big 50th Anniversary celebration is going to be this year but not until December. *My head sinks in sad defeat.* However, Ann Libra, a producer at Second City and one of my professors said they have alumni periodically stop in, so it wouldn't be unusual for someone big to drop by. She knows a lot of inside information. Apparently, Bonnie Hunt is an unbelievable *ahem* "witch" and Steve Carell was a huge tool, as he was involved in a love square for awhile. Yup. Dating three women at the same time. May be he should star in "The Brothel" instead of "The Office." She also used to be roommates with Stephen Colbert who had originally planned to be a carpenter after college. He built several futons in her basement...poorly. They promptly fell apart and he resorted to a life of comedy.

Orientation was actually quite boring, because it was our Columbia College orientation. The specific Second City orientation is on Monday. The tour felt useless. I just don't see me riding the "L" for a half hour to a creepy area of downtown to use a computer lab. I got my student ID and at least I don't look like a fat clown this time. (I hope the lady at the DMV doesn't get into headshot photography any time soon.) They served us boxed lunches that were totally decent, and there were some left over so Casey and I each took a couple. Unfortunately, the group hung our afterwards, so we carried armloads of boxed lunches through Chicago. We stopped by a fellow classmates apartment to get a bag. But then I looked super cool walking through downtown Chicago with a giant trashbag. When people stared at me on the train I would just lean over to Casey and whisper, "I just hope the head doesn't roll out."

I got to meet Sheldon Patinkin today, one of the founders of Second City. I was sitting in the presence of greatness; tiny, frail greatness that looked like it might tip over if you breathed on him too hard. It was very cool, nonetheless. Monday's the really big day. Day one of Second City. I. Can't. Wait.

Tomorrow I Get Oriented

Hey all! So, yesterday I hung out with Casey (the girl from my class who lives down the street). Turns out, she's pretty cool, and she has a lot of inside information. She interned at The Second City last summer, so she knows all the big wigs and a lot of insider information. She once sent a fax to Saturday Night Live. I know, right?! That's like every comedic secretary's dream! Anyway, she informed me that this year is The Second City's 50th Anniversary. Do you kow what that means?! You probably don't, so don't pretend. It just makes you look foolish. Anyway, it means there's gonna be a BUNCH of really sweet alumni back for the celebration. Need I remind anyone that Second City alumn include names like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Steve Carrell, Steve Colbert, Amy Sedaris, Big Movie Star, Famous Comedian, Sitcom Phenom, That One Guy From That One Thing, Etc... The list goes on and on. This means I will be in the presence of greatness. I'm hoping when I meet Tina Fey I don't giggle uncontrollably and wet myself. This isn't my high school graduation. I don't know when all this is going down, but believe me, you'll be the first to know. Well, besides all the people that hear me running down the street screaming, "I'm gonna meet comic gods!!" I'll likely be streaking while I scream this. It just seems to make sense.

Casey also informed me that our "end of semester showcase" (hereby referred to as "e.o.s.s.") is bigger than I thought. I guess I kind of figured that the e.o.s.s. was more of a "show your friends and family what you learned" type of thing. Nope. It's gonna be filled with producers and casting directors, keeping their eyes open for the next big thing. They just need to see that it's ME! I'M THE NEXT BIG THING! I'M HUGE! No fat jokes please. It's too easy and it makes the joke look cheap.

I swore to myself that I wouldn't make this another long post, but so be it. Boo hoo, you have to read three whole paragraphs. I have to wander the streets of Chicago alone in the dark with only my extensive knowledge of gang symbols to protect me. I should probably go to bed now anyway. I have my first day of orientation tomorrow. I'm so excited! I'm going to wear my cutest outfit so as to attract the comedy boys and impress the professors. I just hope I pick the right pair of boob tassles. There will definitely be a post tomorrow night to share how it goes. Have a lovely day. Keep on truckin'!

Came For The Comedy...But Staying For The Pizza

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I'm finally here!! And by "here" I mean Chicago, the land of big dreams and deep dish pizza. I'm here for both. As I'm sure you know, since you've been interested enough to check this out, I'm here for the semester to study comedy with The Second City. This whole adventure has not started off easy, from difficulty getting consortium to losing my first apartment two days before I was to move in. Somehow, everthing finally fell into place and I've been living in Chicago for a little over a week. I'm even finding my way around, which is impressive for someone who typically gets lost backing out of the driveway. The only time I was truly lost was when I was trying to pick up Brice from the train station when he came to visit. After wandering aimlessly through downtown, in the dark in -8 degrees plus windchill, I accidently got on a bus that took me out of town. As we drove south of Chicago and I could see the cityscape disappearing behind us, I hummed "I Have Confidence" from The Sound of Music to myself and tried desperately not to cry. Or move, lest I flash the wrong gang symbol. I clearly did not belong there. They dropped me off at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. I was able to get on another bus nearby and get back to town, but all in all I ended up being hopelessly lost for about two hours. I have since found the redline "L" stop that takes me right to the station.

My apartment has been great. It's a very small studio, but it suits my purposes and has its own charm. My building is about a hundred years old. David Lepor informed me that that must mean that it's full of ghosts. Luckily electric costs are covered by my rent, because now I have to sleep with the lights on. Thanks, David.

Today, I set up a get together with some of the other students from the program. It was great to meet them, and I really think our group is going to get along well. It turns out, one of the girls lives just down the street from me, which is great, since now we can do a lot of our traveling together. This saves me the money from having to pay some mob family for protection.

I realize this is a long post, but I have over a week to catch up on, and frankly three paragraphs isn't that long, so stop complaining, and just read the dang thing! Anyway, I figured a blog was the best way to keep everyone updated on all my crazy chicago adventures. Please continue reading my blog, as I'm sure wackiness is bound to ensue. Have a lovely day. Keep on truckin'!