Yesterday felt like a very “comedy-type” day. I went to run some errands (bank, post office, etc.) but none of these things were open because it was Labor Day. When you don’t work or go to school, you forget that every day isn’t like Labor Day. I wanted to feel productive, so I made myself do some writing. I really should be writing every day. I have a few classes that I know will be making me write, but I should be doing it for myself as well. I went to the Starbucks a block away from my house and wrote the first draft of the first episode of a 3 part series I’d like to do next semester for The Institute. It’s an absurdist take at overyl-dramatic television (heavily influenced by the simply hilarious Childrens’ Hospital and the surprisingly well-done 7th Floor West.) I’m gonna edit it tonight, you know, just to see if anything I wrote actually makes sense and is funny.

That night, I went to go see Armando Diaz at I.O. This was pure long-form. There was a monologist who told some great stories about growing up in Atlanta, and then a really strong team when and did the scenes. I say it was a strong team because not only was every scene funny, but the callbacks towards the end were amazing. I don’t care what style of comedy you do, callbacks are always funny. I definitely want to see more shows at I.O., especially T.J. and Dave (TJ is the guy from the Sonic commercials, and is generally considered to be the top improviser in Chicago,) and Bassprov.

But, that was all yesterday. I’ve got to quit living in the past. Today was the first day of classes! This morning I had my outfit all picked out and I was ready to go. This was the first time the entire program (save for one girl) was in a room together. It was pretty amazing to say the least. Anne Libera, who runs the program, introduced us to all the teachers (except for one, who I think we’re meeting tomorrow.) Then she did a short run through of the program, and gave us a tour of the whole Second City  “complex.” The best part though, was at the end, when she said she would answer any question we had. We asked some general program stuff, but soon enough, we got her telling stories. These involved Chris Farely vomiting (2 separate stories) and a certain Alumnus smoking pot in the building during the 40th anniversary celebration. I’m learning here! Remember? I’m getting credit for this! I should not be allowed to do this.

There will be plenty more stories to come, I’m sure. We just got a taste today.

Then, after lunch, we had our first class: Physical and Vocal Training for Comedy. Of all my classes, this was the one I was most worried about. This kind of stuff was always out of my comfort zone. I can act, in that I can perform a scene, but I’ve always known that I never spent nearly enough attention on my physicality and vocal work. As I’m quickly learning, this is the stuff that makes a character.

We played some warm-up games which were surprisingly fun. I haven’t done true theater warm-ups since high-school. We don’t really do them before shows at Tufts, and despite them being “noidy” I really can see the benefit in them.

After that, we worked on sound-scaping, body movement, and putting it all together. I’d explain to you what the game was, but it’s actually very hard to describe without me wildly gesticulating and showing you an example as I explain it. Needless to say, I’ve never really done anything like it before. I’m glad though. I can tell that the main benefit of this class, for me, will be risk-taking. One of the first games we played caused all of us to mess up very quickly. Our teacher told us to own messing up. Rather than trying to hide it, we should be big about it, get laughed at, and move on. It’s actually very liberating. As I gradually get rid of the fear of messing up or looking stupid, I’m going to take more risks with my comedy. This is something that’s going to be helpful for sketch, stand-up, and improv.

I anticipate a quiet night tonight. Some of us may go see the free improv set at Second City tonight. Who knows. I also caught a few heavily edited minutes of Training Day on TNT last night, so, seeing as I have that movie, I may watch that.