Before I begin the epic conclusion of our improv odyssey, I would just like to announce that from now on, things are going to be a little more consistent around here. Blog updates will be posted every week on Wednesdays and Fridays. So, if you were having problems scheduling blog-perusing times, hopefully this will help.
Now, onto the exciting conclusion! Faithful readers will remember that the final event of the weekend was the actual competition. Here's how it went down. Two teams would be called onto the stage, and one would challenge the other to a game. The challengers had three minutes to play the game, and then the challenged took a stab at it. The judges (Eric Davis, who did the workshop, and Scott Brison, MP) would pick the best, and give them a point. As you might expect, the team with the most points walks away victorious.
Now, I'll admit it, my memory of the proceedings is a tad foggy, so I'll just give you the highlights of the evening's entertainment.
- Scott Brison, Member of Parliament for Kings-Hants, Nova Scotia, as an improv judge, was a bizarre and beautiful thing to witness. He offered punny advice to the teams as they were judged; nuggets of advice like "in the world of the blind, the one eyed man is king" after a game where someone ended up blind. My favorite moment, though, was the response to a skit where a man accidentally (and repeatedly) ran over his son with a lawn mower. He said something to the extent of, "I don't see why the father couldn't just accept his son's sexual orientation." Odd, yes, but definitely funny. I hope he comes back to judge another year.
- Whilst on the subject of judges, they decided to institute a penalty system. If you're too rude onstage, or if you break an improv rule, you'll get a penalty. Some penalties included; presenting your scene through dance, being silent for the scene, or portraying a Disney character.
- Now, onto the games themselves. I'll be frank, the games we played didn't really have too many bloggable moments. Until, that is, the final game. A game we had never played, entitled "Family Sitcom." Basically, it takes the situation from a sitcom like "Full House," only each character has an unusual trait. For this game, Dan and Randy - the two oldest members of the team - both smelled really bad (not really, just in the game). Justin (improv enthusiast with the uncanny ability to...well, you'll see) was given the task of impersonating a character from Disney's Aladdin. I was told to express myself by singing Abba, and Luke...well, I kind of forget. Sorry man. Anyhoo...the scene begins. I warble the choruses of "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," and "Fernando" while Dan and Randy go around smelling bad and Luke...does his...thing. All in all, it's a pretty good scene. Then, Justin comes on, and proceeds to recite the whole opening scene from Aladdin - you know, the one where the merchant of Agrabah sets up the story? Yeah, that one. Word for word. And that's how we won the hearts of the Aladdin fans in the audience.
Well, the time came to tally up the votes, and lo and behold, SUSHI wins! We get a nifty wooden trophy with a plastic sword driven through it, and we are free to celebrate with our fellow improvisers. The celebrations include pool, shuffleboard, loud music and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (my triumph for the weekend was remembering the level select code - simply go to the sound test screen and select 19, 65, 9, 17, then hit start, hold down A and start a new game).
After a night of celebrating, we awoke and said goodbye to Wolfville in style - by rolling down the car windows and blasting "The Final Countdown" while rocking out in unison. An epic end to an epic weekend.
I hope you've enjoyed this little peek at one of Mount A's underappreciated activities. When you come here, give SUSHI a shot, or just come out to a show.
'Til Friday, keep fit and have fun!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
2007: An Improv Oddyssey: Part One: A New Hope
So, the AUIC (that's the Atlantic University Improv Challenge, for those not in the know). It's a friendly little competition, held annually around the Maritimes. This year, it was held in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and attended by teams from Acadia University, University of Cape Breton, King's College and, of course, Mount Allison.
Our trip begins on Friday the 9th, as we depart Sackville with a Ford Explorer full of luggage and a pocketful of dreams. It's about a three-hour trip to get to Wolfville, and we arrive shortly after sundown. Wolfville, as it turns out, is a lot like Sackville; a small, picturesque little town with a small movie theater, a few bars, shops and restaurants and a lot of university-related events on the social calendar. After navigating the treacherous maze of the university roads in the dark, we hopped out of the car and made our way to the Improv Showcase, where each team puts on a 25 minute set, just for fun. We didn't go on until the end, by which time most of the audience had left. You see, a member of another team went on stage drunk, and pretended to rub his crotch, bleed, vomit and vomit blood during his scenes. With kids and families in the audience. Needless to say, the place was pretty much cleared out by the time SUSHI went on, but it was still a good show. After that, I went with Luke to see the Jimmy Swift Band at a local venue (they were awesome, by the way) before heading to our place for the night. We were put up at the house of Tom, a superb host and our guide to all things Wolfville.
The next day, we arose early to search the mean streets of Wolfville and find some breakfast. In case the suspense is killing you, yes, we found some breakfast and yes, it was delicious. We make our way back to the Acadia Student Union building where, there's a farmer's market happening in the lobby. I buy some delicious natural apple juice and SUSHI regroups to begin practicing. We start warming up, and we're quickly joined by some other teams and some small children who are playing in the same room - it's like that old commercial about teaching the world to sing by buying everyone a Coke, except instead of Coke, it's ice cold Improv refreshment. After a free pizza lunch (three of my favorite words, especially when used together), the improv workshop starts. It's taught by a local improv guru named Eric Davis, who has us run through a few exercises to build up our improv game. Here they are:
1) "Yes, and.": You get a suggestion for a scene, and you act it out. Thing is, every line after the first one has to start with the words "yes and", which forces you to build on the last sentence to improve the scene, instead of just dilly dallying. It works like a charm, but the words "yes and" will be seared into your brain for weeks.
2) This one didn't have a name, so I think I'll call it "A Sea Lion Named MacGyver.": You act out a scene with a partner. But you can't look at them. A useful tool indeed, and it resulted in a hilarious scene where one person was paddling a boat, while the other did a large hit of heroin. Weirder still, their suggestion was "pantry."
We left the workshop, ready for the final event; the actual improv challenge. Were we victorious? Defeated? Befuddled? Tune in tomorrow: same blog time, same blog channel!
Our trip begins on Friday the 9th, as we depart Sackville with a Ford Explorer full of luggage and a pocketful of dreams. It's about a three-hour trip to get to Wolfville, and we arrive shortly after sundown. Wolfville, as it turns out, is a lot like Sackville; a small, picturesque little town with a small movie theater, a few bars, shops and restaurants and a lot of university-related events on the social calendar. After navigating the treacherous maze of the university roads in the dark, we hopped out of the car and made our way to the Improv Showcase, where each team puts on a 25 minute set, just for fun. We didn't go on until the end, by which time most of the audience had left. You see, a member of another team went on stage drunk, and pretended to rub his crotch, bleed, vomit and vomit blood during his scenes. With kids and families in the audience. Needless to say, the place was pretty much cleared out by the time SUSHI went on, but it was still a good show. After that, I went with Luke to see the Jimmy Swift Band at a local venue (they were awesome, by the way) before heading to our place for the night. We were put up at the house of Tom, a superb host and our guide to all things Wolfville.
The next day, we arose early to search the mean streets of Wolfville and find some breakfast. In case the suspense is killing you, yes, we found some breakfast and yes, it was delicious. We make our way back to the Acadia Student Union building where, there's a farmer's market happening in the lobby. I buy some delicious natural apple juice and SUSHI regroups to begin practicing. We start warming up, and we're quickly joined by some other teams and some small children who are playing in the same room - it's like that old commercial about teaching the world to sing by buying everyone a Coke, except instead of Coke, it's ice cold Improv refreshment. After a free pizza lunch (three of my favorite words, especially when used together), the improv workshop starts. It's taught by a local improv guru named Eric Davis, who has us run through a few exercises to build up our improv game. Here they are:
1) "Yes, and.": You get a suggestion for a scene, and you act it out. Thing is, every line after the first one has to start with the words "yes and", which forces you to build on the last sentence to improve the scene, instead of just dilly dallying. It works like a charm, but the words "yes and" will be seared into your brain for weeks.
2) This one didn't have a name, so I think I'll call it "A Sea Lion Named MacGyver.": You act out a scene with a partner. But you can't look at them. A useful tool indeed, and it resulted in a hilarious scene where one person was paddling a boat, while the other did a large hit of heroin. Weirder still, their suggestion was "pantry."
We left the workshop, ready for the final event; the actual improv challenge. Were we victorious? Defeated? Befuddled? Tune in tomorrow: same blog time, same blog channel!
Friday, March 2, 2007
Back to the Sack.
Well, March Break has come and gone, and now it's time to get back to business. Though the second half of the semester is still young, there's still lots of cool stuff going down. Here's the scoop:
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-As the last hurrah of the break, I got to see the Barenaked Ladies in concert at Harbour Station in Saint John. What a great performance; the musicianship was flawless, which brought some of their so-so new songs up to the level of their classics. Speaking of which, they played through some of their biggest and best: "If I Had $1000000," "What a Good Boy," "Pinch Me," etc. Best of all, though, they were extremely funny and charismatic, breaking out into choreographed dancing and fights during the set. They also played a couple of improvised songs and made a few Saint John jokes. All in all, a great show, especially since they were one of the first bands I remember hearing as a kid.
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- I decided to run for Bigelow House president on Wednesday, and I'm now in the middle of getting posters, slogans, and other campaign paraphernalia. It looks like a fun race, and I have a lot of plans for next year, which I can't really go into detail about here...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- You may have noticed that there aren't any visuals on my blog. I know I certainly have. So, over the next few days, I'm going to try and update the blog with photos, pictures and maybe some other cool stuff. Stay tuned.
Current music: The Avalanches - "Since I Left You"
I missed out on this album when it came out back in the early years of the millenium. But this track is pure genius - a collage of samples taken from God-knows-where, and stitched together into four minutes of sunny, crackling pop bliss. Perfect for a cloudy day like today.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-As the last hurrah of the break, I got to see the Barenaked Ladies in concert at Harbour Station in Saint John. What a great performance; the musicianship was flawless, which brought some of their so-so new songs up to the level of their classics. Speaking of which, they played through some of their biggest and best: "If I Had $1000000," "What a Good Boy," "Pinch Me," etc. Best of all, though, they were extremely funny and charismatic, breaking out into choreographed dancing and fights during the set. They also played a couple of improvised songs and made a few Saint John jokes. All in all, a great show, especially since they were one of the first bands I remember hearing as a kid.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- I decided to run for Bigelow House president on Wednesday, and I'm now in the middle of getting posters, slogans, and other campaign paraphernalia. It looks like a fun race, and I have a lot of plans for next year, which I can't really go into detail about here...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- You may have noticed that there aren't any visuals on my blog. I know I certainly have. So, over the next few days, I'm going to try and update the blog with photos, pictures and maybe some other cool stuff. Stay tuned.
Current music: The Avalanches - "Since I Left You"
I missed out on this album when it came out back in the early years of the millenium. But this track is pure genius - a collage of samples taken from God-knows-where, and stitched together into four minutes of sunny, crackling pop bliss. Perfect for a cloudy day like today.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Breakin'
Ah, the simple pleasures of March Break. Sure, it's technically called "reading week," but there's no doubting what it really is. I've been home in Saint John NB (represent) for almost a week, and I'm proud to say I've accomplished nothing. Oh sure, I've done some reading and socializing here and there, but mostly I'm recharging my batteries and getting ready for the last month of classes. Here's what I've been up to:
- Watching movies: Babel (excellent), The Departed (ditto), Marie Antoinette (pretty good), The Science of Sleep (ehhhhh...not so much).
- Getting caught up on reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins for my prose fiction class. It's a superb mystery told from multiple perspectives that laid the foundations for modern thrillers.
-Played FEAR on the Xbox 360 'til my eyes bled.
-Updated this very blog.
-Checked out all my old haunts, and took in an evening of one-act plays at my old high school.
- Singlehandedly brought down two crime syndicates, a racketeering ring, a money laundering operation and a Tim Horton's that gave me a stale Timbit. In one day.*
- Challenged Kiefer Sutherland to a game of gin rummy, and totally almost won. It was really close.**
...I think I'm ready to go back now.
*Not true. But if we had a crime syndicate in Saint John, I would definitely bring it down.
**Also not true. But shouldn't you be out enjoying your March Break?
- Watching movies: Babel (excellent), The Departed (ditto), Marie Antoinette (pretty good), The Science of Sleep (ehhhhh...not so much).
- Getting caught up on reading The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins for my prose fiction class. It's a superb mystery told from multiple perspectives that laid the foundations for modern thrillers.
-Played FEAR on the Xbox 360 'til my eyes bled.
-Updated this very blog.
-Checked out all my old haunts, and took in an evening of one-act plays at my old high school.
- Singlehandedly brought down two crime syndicates, a racketeering ring, a money laundering operation and a Tim Horton's that gave me a stale Timbit. In one day.*
- Challenged Kiefer Sutherland to a game of gin rummy, and totally almost won. It was really close.**
...I think I'm ready to go back now.
*Not true. But if we had a crime syndicate in Saint John, I would definitely bring it down.
**Also not true. But shouldn't you be out enjoying your March Break?
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Might as well Jump
If you recall my last post, I had some unfortunate backspace key-related issues which kept me from mentioning the JUMP campaign launch. If you don't, just scroll down a bit. Go ahead, I'll wait.
Up to speed? Excellent. Anyway...yes! The JUMP campaign. Basically, Mount Allison wanted to start a ten-year fundraising campaign (the 'quiet phase' of it started in 2004) with a bang, so the town closed off the streets to attempt a new mass-participation jump rope record. Whether or not the university will make it into the Guinness Book of World Records is up in the air, but the JUMP launch afforded me the opportunity to make a fool out of myself in front of hundreds of people. You see, I am a tall person - six-foot-something, to be exact. The skipping rope I used for the jump rope portion was made for someone much shorter than I. As you can imagine, the skipping didn't go too well; the rope would smack me on the back of the head, get tangled in my hood or feet, and even hit another, more successful skipper.
Up to speed? Excellent. Anyway...yes! The JUMP campaign. Basically, Mount Allison wanted to start a ten-year fundraising campaign (the 'quiet phase' of it started in 2004) with a bang, so the town closed off the streets to attempt a new mass-participation jump rope record. Whether or not the university will make it into the Guinness Book of World Records is up in the air, but the JUMP launch afforded me the opportunity to make a fool out of myself in front of hundreds of people. You see, I am a tall person - six-foot-something, to be exact. The skipping rope I used for the jump rope portion was made for someone much shorter than I. As you can imagine, the skipping didn't go too well; the rope would smack me on the back of the head, get tangled in my hood or feet, and even hit another, more successful skipper.
Me, before the actual jumping started (Photo from JUMP website)
But, I managed to get through the skipping without maiming myself or anyone else, so even if we didn't break the record, it was a huge success.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Witty Blog Title!
Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay - posts will be ridiculously frequent from now on. As much as I'd like to say I was off saving the world from imminent destruction in that time, truth is I was just in a wild frenzy of midterms, papers, etc. However, that doesn't mean nothing exciting has happened...here's a taste of life since the last entry.
- There is now a small skating rink on the lawn in front of Bigelow and Bennett House, the brainchild of some very dedicated Bennett residents. "Bennettonian Square Gardens" is the site of a weekend-long 3-on-3 hockey classic that's drawing plenty of spectators and players - and even media attention; a CTV cameraman was filming it all. Kudos to the rink masterminds - they were out at 4 am some nights, just keeping it in order.
- I've got a little part in a movie being shot for the annual Sackville Film Festival, being written and directed by a fellow Bigelonian. It's great - I get to wear a suit AND play a character with the same name as my favorite Baldwin brother (Alec, of course). Speaking of which, the suit I get to wear was a $7 Salvation Army find that might be the most comfortable suit I've ever worn. Plus, it's a nifty shade of dark green - it's like being Mr. Green in a life-size game of Clue. But I won't go off on a suit related tangent now...the movie is tentatively titled Sinny and it will rock your socks or any other footwear you prefer.
-Sitting down to an essay midterm based on 170 fact-packed pages of a textbook and tons of different material from lectures, and finding out that the two questions are on stuff you actually know really well = the best feeling in the world. It's like opening up a toxic waste barrel to find delicious premium ice cream.
- The backspace key just fell off my laptop keyboard. I don't know how to put it back on. I think I'll wrap things up, or else I might sxtart makeing typpoz.
Current Music: Yo La Tengo - "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House"
Apparently the name of this song comes from a Simpsons episode. And I didn't get the reference. Congratulations Yo La Tengo, you have stumped me on Simpsons trivia. I shall now retire to my bed in defeat.
Oh, it's good song, too.
- There is now a small skating rink on the lawn in front of Bigelow and Bennett House, the brainchild of some very dedicated Bennett residents. "Bennettonian Square Gardens" is the site of a weekend-long 3-on-3 hockey classic that's drawing plenty of spectators and players - and even media attention; a CTV cameraman was filming it all. Kudos to the rink masterminds - they were out at 4 am some nights, just keeping it in order.
- I've got a little part in a movie being shot for the annual Sackville Film Festival, being written and directed by a fellow Bigelonian. It's great - I get to wear a suit AND play a character with the same name as my favorite Baldwin brother (Alec, of course). Speaking of which, the suit I get to wear was a $7 Salvation Army find that might be the most comfortable suit I've ever worn. Plus, it's a nifty shade of dark green - it's like being Mr. Green in a life-size game of Clue. But I won't go off on a suit related tangent now...the movie is tentatively titled Sinny and it will rock your socks or any other footwear you prefer.
-Sitting down to an essay midterm based on 170 fact-packed pages of a textbook and tons of different material from lectures, and finding out that the two questions are on stuff you actually know really well = the best feeling in the world. It's like opening up a toxic waste barrel to find delicious premium ice cream.
- The backspace key just fell off my laptop keyboard. I don't know how to put it back on. I think I'll wrap things up, or else I might sxtart makeing typpoz.
Current Music: Yo La Tengo - "Let's Save Tony Orlando's House"
Apparently the name of this song comes from a Simpsons episode. And I didn't get the reference. Congratulations Yo La Tengo, you have stumped me on Simpsons trivia. I shall now retire to my bed in defeat.
Oh, it's good song, too.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Follow the Yellow Brick Road...
Ten great things about Garnet and Gold's production of The Wizard of Oz:
1) The Yellow Brick Road is portrayed by two people in yellow shirts helpfully pointing the way.
2) The little house that was lifted off the stage during the twister scene.
3) The Lollipop Guild.
4) The use of a gigantic pipe organ to represent the Emerald City.
5) The Great and Powerful Oz, as created by some nifty lighting tricks.
6) Flying monkeys.
7) Great costumes - including a hefty dose of silver paint for the Tin Man.
8) Smoke machines!
9) Being able to walk out of the theatre telling people you have classes with Munchkins.
10) The whole cast and crew.
Kudos to the G&G society for a job well done.
Current Music - The Flaming Lips - "Suddenly Everything Has Changed"
1) The Yellow Brick Road is portrayed by two people in yellow shirts helpfully pointing the way.
2) The little house that was lifted off the stage during the twister scene.
3) The Lollipop Guild.
4) The use of a gigantic pipe organ to represent the Emerald City.
5) The Great and Powerful Oz, as created by some nifty lighting tricks.
6) Flying monkeys.
7) Great costumes - including a hefty dose of silver paint for the Tin Man.
8) Smoke machines!
9) Being able to walk out of the theatre telling people you have classes with Munchkins.
10) The whole cast and crew.
Kudos to the G&G society for a job well done.
Current Music - The Flaming Lips - "Suddenly Everything Has Changed"
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