So, I finally figured out how to add comments to the blog. Now, I can know what you think of what I think! Funny comments will be rewarded with gold stars. Mean comments get demerits. I also give demerits to people I don’t like. Also, I’m instituting Demerit Wednesdays…so keep that in mind.

It’s been a busy and exciting couple of days. I’ve started meeting all the Comedy Studies kids, which has been really amazing. While I’m sure you’ll hear more about each of them individually, the thing I’ve been most amazed about is how eclectic the group is. A lot of the kids are theater majors, but we have everything from speech communications to business as well. Also, the vast majority of the kids aren’t from Chicago. So far, I’ve counted people going to school in Maine, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts (not just me), Ohio, South Dakota (didn’t know they had comedy there) Colorado, and probably some other ones that I’ve forgotten. Everyone is amazingly nice, and I can tell already that this is going to be a really cool group. How do I know this? Well, we’ve hung out already! Where? Good question.

• Annoyance Theater- Stephanie, who goes to school in Chicago had a show here, so a few of us went down to see her. She (as well as her group) did a really great job. It was one group, broken up into two with an intermission. Her group went first and featured some great scenes and really strong characters. The second group, was also good, but in a very different way. They were pattently absurd. It would be like if Stella did long-form improv. Comedy nerds, I’ll let you dream about that for a little bit.
• Pick Me Up Cafe-After the show, those of us that went to the show, plus another kid that had just gotten into town went to this late night cafe in Wrigleyville. We stayed for a few hours and bonded. I kid you not, we played two truths and a lie (half ironically, but also half because we were interested.) Those who know me should be able to figure my lie out very quickly, but my 3 answer were: I once tripped the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the House of Representatives, I am an intermediate level trapeze artist, and I was, at a time, ranked one of the top 20 epee fencers in my age group in the country.
• Pequod Pizza- 9 of the kids in the group got together for pizza at the place that was highly recommended. While it was a bit of a hike to get to (for me and those that live near me) it was very, very, good. This was evidenced by the fact that I still have leftovers in my fridge. Also, their logo is a whale wearing a thong on its head. Fact.
• Second City/Roof Drinking- After dinner, some of us went to go catch a free improv show at Second City. We only got there for the last 10 minutes, but it was 10 minutes filled with much ribaldry. As I was walking up the stairs, I started seeing all the pictures of SC alumni, and realized that I was going to be learning there. It was a pretty amazing moment. After that, we decided to get some beers, and go onto the roof of Jake’s apartment building. We went to the grocery store, and lo and behold, there was Shiner Bock! I explained that this was my favorite beer, and convinced them to pick some up. Then, I got super nervous that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. It did. For me anyway. The view, by the way, was absolutely spectacular. Post card worthy.
• Orientation- Today was orientation. We got our ID cards, passes for the El, a tour of Columbia College, and a lunch with the chair of the theater department and the SC liason. We met a bunch of the kids who are also in the program, but didn’t find the facebook group, so they hadn’t been hanging out with us for the past few days. It was like finding the survivors from the other half of the plane from Lost. Also, we got split up into two gropus. These are the two sections that we’ll be taking classes with. I’m section 1. I can already tell section 1 is going to be really funny…a lot funnier than those section 2 assholes.

So, it’s been an eventuful 48 hours…capped off by my recent return from Target. I realized that in order to make this a livable apartment, I needed a hell of a lot more stuff than I had, like plates, and sponges. I feel like I spent too much money, so I may leave some stuff un-opened and try to find some deals on craigslist over the weekend. Via craigslist, I should find either cheap stuff, or serial killers. Either works.