Basically Awful Closes
Waking up this morning was odd. When I woke up, I was in my apartment, as usual, but I knew that my entire family was very close... but that I wouldn't get a chance to see them until mid-morning; and then only briefly. For the brief time together, we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. The Cheesecake Factory is quickly becoming my favorite restaurant. It was a great meal and the whole family was VERY full by the time we were finished. And then, before I knew it, they were gone. Gone again...

Today was the closing night of Basically Awesome. We were opening for Poppyseed Lane, again, and I was very excited for this particular show. I figured that it would be the best show yet, considering how comfortable my cast had become on stage (for the first time, for some of us)... and considering the last time we went first I felt the audience responded to us better, I was really looking forward to a great show. Um... that sort of happened. WE did well... but the audience was... well, um, the audience was particular. Let's be honest here, the audience knew what it liked... and certainly knew what it didn't. After the dance number they clapped... after Evolution, silence. Not even mercy clapping. Then we sang the Jesus song and got more clapping... then some more scenes with less (read: no) clapping... and it went on like that for the rest of the show. It was a harsh lesson for my crew... but something we needed, I think. Everything about this show has taught me to aim higher... and I think this particular night taught all of us why we aim so high: because no one likes to finish a scene to a silent audience. It's painful.
And pain leads to... the bar! We decided to go out as a double-bill... our show and Poppyseed Lane. Everyone was there. Unfortunately for us, there was only room for half of us at the front of the bar, and half of us at the back of the bar. So we were, again, broken up by cast. But, after getting some greasy-fried bar food, and having a few of our members leave to go home, the bar cleared out enough that we could sit with some of the Poppyseed Lane crew. There were only three of their five members there, but we still had a pretty good time with them. One of the guys, Bill, has been on Premium Blend on Comedy Central... and he works at the Howl At The Moon dueling piano bar here in Chicago. If you go on the website, you can even see a picture of him. He's the guy in the picture at the bottom, who looks like he's really into it. He is hilarious... and was very good in their show.
On the way back to the Poppyseed Lane table, I passed another table of actors. It was, perhaps, the most awesome table ever. Seated around this table was half of the Second City mainstage cast and half of the e.t.c. cast. Jen Bills wasn't there or I would have stopped... and Claudia was there, but I'm not so sure she remembers who I am. Maybe she does... maybe she doesn't. I do think she probably remembers I was a student of hers... she just doesn't remember which one. You know?

And, finally tonight, a great man and entertainer of millions, Johnny Carson, passed away today at the age of 79. His final Tonight Show was in 1993, and I was 12 years old. I'm not really old enough to remember much of him... just that he used to make my dad laugh... and my grandfather thought he was a good man, with a kind heart. And I remember Dana Carvey's impression of him, too... it's probably the only impression I still do that's any good. Rest In Peace, Johnny... you were one hell of an entertainer.

#3 Best Post of 2004 - CrazyJohn get Political Yes, 2004 was the year I started getting vocally political. I think the first good example of this was on June 4th when I took on the 10 Commandments. I think I felt comfortable starting here because the article was basically talking about law... and I feel comfortable talking about law, because I think I know a little bit about it. I then used that confidence to speak about the gay marriage debate on July 10th... speaking specifically on the "destruction" of marriage as it relates to the foundations of a society. That means I was basically trying to actively debate Bush's stance. I even posted some things about the election in early November! And we should ALL remember the verbal beat-down I gave We Are Not Sorry.com on December 4th. I ripped them a new one... basically because the site looks like it was created by ten-year-olds. All in all, a very political year for the Crazy One... which will probably end now that I'm apathetic to everything everywhere. Hooray!