Well, another sketch comedy revue is over and it's always a little sad. I get too much enjoyment, I think, out of making fun of the mayor and the city council and Denny Anderson and anyone else who had managed to make it into the news over the previous year; it's always hard to leave it behind.
I have been doing these end-of-the-year shows since 1987 when I got the unbelievable opportunity to join Colder by the Lake. I remember that first show so fondly ("While Shepard Watched His Flick By Night" for all you trivia buffs!)...I was in such awe of that all-star group of local comedy legends--Julie Ahasay, Bruce Ojard, Susan van Druten, Andy Nelson, Donn L. Hanson, Bud Backen, and the group's founder Margi Preus--that I barely contributed. I just sat and listened to these pros laugh and make stuff up and riff off each other. At one point early in process, Margi had to finally ask me if I wanted to continue to be in the show. She mistook my quietness for a feeling of being overwhelmed but it was completely the opposite; I was having a blast! Just watching these people play and create was amazing and a memory that I will always cherish. (Of course, I DID feel a bit intimidated when I got my first chance to perform a Bruce Ojard-written script. I finished reading it, all alone on the stage at Fitger's, then looked out into the seats, towards the back where Bruce were sitting, eager to get his feedback. There was a pause as Bruce thought about what he had just seen, then he turned to Margi and asked "Can't we have Donn do this one?")
But I eventually figured it out (sort of), and went on to write, perform, and even direct a few more Colder revues, followed by lots of revues for Renegade, and now I'm doing it with Rubber Chicken Theater. It's important to me that we continue this wonderful Twin Ports tradition of fun-poking that Margi and Colder by the Lake started way back in the 80s (and by Aristophanes a few years prior to that). The artists that surround me every November/December have gotten younger, but the talent remains top-notch. I don't know how much longer I'll be doing these revues...maybe 25 years is a good time to turn it over to someone else (stay tuned)...but I do know that it is my first theatrical love.
Well, that and spit takes.
I have been doing these end-of-the-year shows since 1987 when I got the unbelievable opportunity to join Colder by the Lake. I remember that first show so fondly ("While Shepard Watched His Flick By Night" for all you trivia buffs!)...I was in such awe of that all-star group of local comedy legends--Julie Ahasay, Bruce Ojard, Susan van Druten, Andy Nelson, Donn L. Hanson, Bud Backen, and the group's founder Margi Preus--that I barely contributed. I just sat and listened to these pros laugh and make stuff up and riff off each other. At one point early in process, Margi had to finally ask me if I wanted to continue to be in the show. She mistook my quietness for a feeling of being overwhelmed but it was completely the opposite; I was having a blast! Just watching these people play and create was amazing and a memory that I will always cherish. (Of course, I DID feel a bit intimidated when I got my first chance to perform a Bruce Ojard-written script. I finished reading it, all alone on the stage at Fitger's, then looked out into the seats, towards the back where Bruce were sitting, eager to get his feedback. There was a pause as Bruce thought about what he had just seen, then he turned to Margi and asked "Can't we have Donn do this one?")
But I eventually figured it out (sort of), and went on to write, perform, and even direct a few more Colder revues, followed by lots of revues for Renegade, and now I'm doing it with Rubber Chicken Theater. It's important to me that we continue this wonderful Twin Ports tradition of fun-poking that Margi and Colder by the Lake started way back in the 80s (and by Aristophanes a few years prior to that). The artists that surround me every November/December have gotten younger, but the talent remains top-notch. I don't know how much longer I'll be doing these revues...maybe 25 years is a good time to turn it over to someone else (stay tuned)...but I do know that it is my first theatrical love.
Well, that and spit takes.
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