The BLUGH: April 5, 2023
“Laughter is much more important than applause. Applause is almost a duty. Laughter is a reward.”
Sacré BLUGH! It’s April! Y’all good with that?
Speaking of time moving right along, we are quickly approaching me having done improv comedy for half my life 😳. Y’ALL GOOD WITH THAT?!? How did I get into improv? Read on:
I was always a clown kid and did plays and drama camps and stuff like that. Also, readers of the BLUGH will know that I was DEEPLY influenced by late 90s, early 2000s Whose Line Is It Anyway and so I was destined to do improv at some point. I remember a local improv class popped up when I was in high school and I was like, “let me show em what I got” (I showed em). Then in college, I got to do improv at Theater 99 and later on in Greenville, I did improv at Alchemy Comedy. Improv has given me so much more than an outlet for my antics. It’s given me work experience, stage time, travel opportunities, friendships, and a boyfriendship. THANK YOU, IMPROV.
I still do improv at the Magnet and around but not as much as I used to (I’m really more of an email newsletter girl these days). Before the pandemic I was doing some kind of improv activity like 4 nights a week which is WILD to think about. I love improv though and it will probably always be my second favorite performance art to do (my first favorite is just making my fam and pals laugh).
✍️ LEARNING OF THE WEEK: I did a writing class this week -YUP- and the amazing teacher talked about craft books and how they can help your writing. I was like hm that’s weird that gingerbread houses can have that effect but ok! But then I LEARNED craft books are what we in the industry call books on the craft of writing. ✍️
PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION
I GOTTA DO IT. The product rec of the week is improv classes. In NYC, I am partial to the aforementioned Magnet Theater. Their classes expand beyond improv and the teachers are amazing. I literally met my core NYC friend group through these classes and learned so much about how to be a supportive improviser and have the most fun on stage.
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BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Want to laugh but aren’t up for an improv show? No problem, you can read Hits & Misses by Simon Rich. This is a collection of humor stories he wrote and they are a delight and very funny. He’s written a few books but this one is near and dear because it contains probably my favorite ever humorous short story, Riding Solo: The Oatsy Story, which you can read here without purchasing the book!
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TIKTOKS
GUYS, nothing to share here! The Tiks didn’t Tok for me this week. I AM SORRY. This is probably for the best because who really NEEDS more short form videos to scroll through so you are WELCOME.
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APRIL 2023
The Show Last Night
Jason and I got to do some comedy (not improv tho!!) in Hi, Nice People at Caveat last night and it was so much fun! Here’s a pic of a ridiculous presentation I did.