Re-establishing A Groove

Thursday morning and I am doing laundry and blogging. The laundry room in our apartment building sucks. It is dimly lit, only has two washers and two dryers that sort of work, and there's the added un-attraction of having to hang with a neighbor who may (or may not) be doing their laundry at the same time. SO, I am at a laundromat a short block away. I never knew the name of it until a month or two ago because it didn't have a sign. The fancy new sign says it is called Brendel's and is a European style laundry. They play Telemundo on the television and all their signs are bi-lingual, so I guess that's what they mean by European. They also have a card you can get stamped every time you use the triple load machines. 14 washes, and they give you three bucks. Fortunately, I have a thing for triple load washes and have made back nine dollars since using their services. I did just discover that they have free wi-fi, which is now a benchmark for whether or not I like a place. Or person. If you have free wi-fi, I like you.



HEY, WE OPEN NEXT WEEKEND!!!

Robot vs. Dinosaur Presents
The Greatest Stories Never Told . . . TOLD!

Chicago, IL (April 2008): Robot vs. Dinosaur presents the world premier of their sketch comedy show, The Greatest Stories Never Told . . . TOLD! beginning April 26 through May 11, Saturdays and Sundays at 4 pm, at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago 60647. Tickets are $10; to purchase tickets call 773-598-4549 or visit www.gorillatango.com. The Greatest Stories Never Told . . . TOLD! is a whimsical look at stories of adventure, tall tales and fairy tales, blended together seamlessly into a unique piece that is a hybrid of sketch comedy and storytelling.

Three story lines are interwoven through the show as well as an eclectic mix of comic scenes that combined make for a multi-layered, engaging and fun theatrical experience. Audiences won’t have time to blink as stories and scenes move from one fantastic world to the next, giving this show a more unified feel than a typical sketch comedy revue.

“We’re trying to create a new kind of show here,” says director Chris Othic, a five-year veteran of the Chicago comedy scene. “We tried to focus on story telling as a medium for our comedy writing. It’s still sketch comedy, but we’ve written some fairly complex, narrative scenes and focused on the staging so that it feels a little more like a play. It’s an interesting mix and I think audiences will love it.”

“A large chunk of our material was performed in the 2007 Chicago Sketchfest, and we got a lot of positive feed back afterward,” Othic said. “We’ve expanded on that material and we’re really looking forward to bringing something new to the sketch comedy scene.”

I wrote one of the Tall Tales pieces and have stuck my nose in about everything, so come see my piece and the tip of my nose. There's a lot of good stuff in this. Solid writing and solid performances.


AUDITIONS ARE THIS WEEKEND FOR METALUNA!!!

WNEP Theater announces auditions for Metaluna and the Amazing Science of the Mind Revue, by Joe Janes and directed by Jen Ellison. Metaluna will be produced at A Red Orchid Theatre, July 17 - August 16. Auditions will take place April 19 & 20, 10am - 4pm at the Peter Jones Gallery ( 1806 W. Cuyler, 2nd Floor). Please prepare 2 minutes of anything: Magic tricks, cooking tips, personal stories, a monologue, etc. To schedule an audition time, please send an email to auditions@wneptheater.org. You may also schedule an audition by calling 773/552-3133 on April 8th, 12pm - 5pm (Calls at any other time will not be accepted.) Walk-ins are welcome, though we cannot guarantee a time for you.



THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY

Yesterday, while sitting near the bar in Orlando, I asked...

"Kidegaarden, a nursing home in Denmark, provides a service some people in that country are protesting. It is what?"

16% said "VIP express line in the cafeteria"
- Yah. Think it through. Do you really want to be first in line for creamed corn?

8% said "Geriatric beauty contests"
- The swimsuit contest would be frightening enough. I would be more annoyed that the answer to the "How do you solve the world's problem?" questions would all be "What? Speak up!"

No one went for "Conjugal visits with spouses"
- Create your own mental image for that one.

75% got it right with "Arranging prostitutes"

According to Bloomberg.com, when a male resident at Kildegaarden nursing home in Denmark made an indecent sexual proposal to a member of the staff, the home's director, Inger Marie Kristensen, told a nurse to telephone for a prostitute. ``There was a considerable change in his demeanor after the escort girl had paid him a visit,'' Kristensen said in an interview. ``We do this for our clients just as we offer them other services that they need as human beings.'' That, my friends, is a case of people dealing with people like they were, well, people. I wonder if Medicare covers a good crank yanking.