The roof of Jake and Bobby’s apartment building is clearly becoming the official Comedy Studies hangout. Both of my previous two nights have culminated there, and for good reason. The view is just amazing. It’s an obstructed view of the skyline on the river. The roof itself is great, with chairs, tables, benches, and deck chairs. There’s something very cliche about it, but there’s a reason you keep doing something over and over again. It’s because it works. Once the weather turns, I have a feeling the hangout spot will move indoors, but for now, we’re appreciating that it’s nice out while it still is.

I have, however, done other things than just hang out on the roof. Yesterday, Steve and I went exploring. We went to the jazz festival in Millennium Park. There was a guy there performing who was celebrating his 80th birthday. 80th! I expect to be walking around my house, pants up to my belly button, farting, when I’m 80, not performing.

I also got to thinking about theater/comedy improv vs. jazz improv. I get the former type of improv. I understand the beats of a scene, and I know how to keep it going, how to steer it in a certain direction, and how to heighten the stakes to make it more interesting. I know how to create funny characters, and I know how to let the scene go, and let the humor derive from that. Yet, with all that knowledge, I have absolutely no clue how jazz improv works. I just can’t figure it out. Now, granted, I have no musical knowledge whatsoever, but beyond that, I just can’t figure out how something as quick, and as dependent on immediately-previous patterns, such as music, can be improvised. I am continually in awe by it. The fact that lion’s share of what I saw performed yesterday was probably improvised just blew my mind.

At the festival, there were also a mini-arts festival. This guy’s paintings were simply amazing. Take a look at his flickr page. I was really into the the “Gathering”, “We”, “Market” and “Chicago” sets.

But jazz was not all that happened. We walked North, over the lake, and up Michigan avenue. Along the way, we saw the following: A massive statue of American Gothic, what appeared to be the U.S. Open of Squash, and an old-school break dance crew. Good times.

We chilled at my place for a bit, and then went to meet up with a bunch more of the kids in the program to go see Extract. I really liked it. Mike Judge has an amazing handle of the Texas working class. The best part though: The over-the-top personal injury lawyer character, Joe Adler. I love how it was clearly a spoof of Jim Adler…a joke that only fellow Houstonians will understand.

I’m watching Planet Earth right now. This show is so damn good. During the commercials, they sometimes have ads for upcoming Planet Earth episodes, and they advertise the show, literally, as “awesome.” They also have those ads with The Most Interesting Man in the World for Dos Equis. They clearly know their target demographic.