First I will throw in my obligatory apology that I have been scarcely updating this thing, sort of. That sentence is all you get really. I am not sure who has been keeping up with this much because when I have done my more recent posts, I have gotten little to no feedback whatsoever. So, I will make my promise to do my best to keep up with this thing. I have been busy of late (which many of you know, and the rest of you are about to hear about) with a very large project. I wanted to take some time and fill everyone in on it and all. So, this will be where I do that. My closing thoughts on Fall Follies 2008, and my involvement with it.
Everything started back in April (I think it was then) when I got an email informing me that this year Fall Follies - the SNL type variety show Belmont puts on every Fall - would be introducing an all new role for the show. The writer. In years past the show was written by the actors. This created a very mixed bag of a show, in my opinion. The problem with that formula is that when it came down to it, the actors basically started writing the show in August when school started, and had until mid-October to get everything ready to show. This year, however, with a separate writing staff, it would allow a team of 3 people (plus the director) to get together on a fairly regular basis (in theory) over the summer to begin putting together a cohesive body of work for the actors. So, I became excited over this. I really wanted an experience writing comedy and with a group of people, and this excited me very much. Also, I don't hold my acting skills in very high regard.
So, I applied. Going into the interview I was quite nervous, which is typical of me with interviews. I had met Stephanie, the director, in my interview to do TT. I didn't know her too well when I went into the interview for Follies, so I was nervous as she was the strongest tie I had to the organization. The interview went well enough I thought, and finished my weekend. The next day, the cast and writing staff went up, and lo and behold, I made it. I was so excited! I didn't really know many people in the cast or writing crew (though I had met Ben Smith who was the other person in my TT interview, and would be a fellow writer) so I was excited to learn that we would be having a gathering at Stephanie's apartment to meet everyone involved.
That meeting got me pumped up in a very good way. There were definitely some really awkward bits of not knowing anyone there, but the interactions between everyone were so great, I could tell from that night that it was going to be an awesome show. I feel like I underestimated it.
We started meeting as a writing crew (Stephanie, Ben, Matthew Ross and myself) in May, and we started throwing around ideas for sketches. Just really little things. I was so excited after our gathering at Steph's that I started work on a song parody for "Bohemian Rhapsody" about Belmont. Our little group, though I felt the least a part of, really clicked. We started coming up with some crazy awesome ideas. All of us have different comedic styles, yet we were able to feed off each other and really build up a good number of sketch ideas.
Then came summer staff.
I think I had written maybe 1 or 2 sketches in full before then, but nothing I was incredibly proud of. Summer staff was an incredible experience and through it I really learned how to be a part of a larger group. At the same time, my being around Belmont culture really got my brain going. I started thinking about sketches, and trying to remember my ideas. We couldn't really meet then because Ben, Steph, and myself (Ben and Steph more so) were incredibly busy with orientation stuff. So, when we met again in July, we felt like we were in a crunch.
We started throwing more ideas around, and getting a "theme" for the show. We didn't exactly stick to the theme over all, but it was something to work from. We had about 16 sketches ready to go when school started in late August, and we started meeting twice a week with the cast. The first two weeks or so were spent mainly getting the cast working together and being funny with improv games. Then came out sketches. I had all but 2 or 3 sketches completed to some extent by then, as was the case for almost everyone else who wrote, but that's not important. When we did table reads of the sketches, they got alot of laughs, and I was glad that our humor from the summer extended beyond our little group of writers.
In the end we had about 36 sketches overall to show to our school this past Saturday, 7 of which I wrote. There were 2 that really took a whole mess of work, and there were doubts that my humor would really translate. The others I wrote I was more comfortable with, but these two in particular I was really concerned with. I felt like from the time I wrote them that they were my best work. If you went to the show, they were "Real World: Wright Hall" and "That's What She Said." We all knew "Bohemian Rhapsody" would be a great closing number, and my others had worked well from practice, but RW and TWSS were both full of rapid fire dialogue that had to be worked into a good rhythm, which would be challenging for everyone.
Then, suddenly it was Saturday November 1, and our first show was approaching. It went well enough, though it was a crowd of mainly parents, and our show was made to appeal to students more than anyone. So, when 8 rolled around, and there were still a kink or two in the two sketches, I was somewhat nervous. It wasn't so much for the actors at this point. They had been getting better and better with each run. I was terrified that "That's What She Said" would be lost in translation to everyone, and kill the momentum leading to the end of the show. "Real World" went really well, and I was happy. Then, about 20 minutes later, came the moment of truth, as Chase and Allison took the stage. I stood in anticipation backstage as the first joke came out. And sure enough, people lost it. It was the dirtiest sketch in the show, and it was played up so well by Chase, Allison, Joseph, and Brendon, that it got what I felt were some of the biggest laughs of the night. Maybe I was just proud of it, and that gives me a bias. But I was so happy.
We finished the show, and ran outside to talk to everyone after it was over, and I had one of the top 5 moments of my life right then. All of my friends, and some acquaintances too, all were shaking my hand or hugging me telling me how much they loved it. I felt like my mouth was going to fall off my face, I was smiling so hard. It was incredible. And so many people were raving over "That's What She Said" which could only have made it with the incredible actors who played the parts so well.
But now it is over.
Here's what I have taken form the experience: Sophomore year of High School, I knew I wanted to make movies. Senior year of High School, I knew I wanted to write them. Freshman year of college, I knew I wanted to just write anything and everything I could. On the night of November 1, 2008 I learned that I am SUPPOSED to write. Everything just fell into place. Everyone gave me so much encouragement and support after such a long and demanding experience. I truly and deeply appreciate it. From the bottom of my heart. So, I am out for now. I will try to get back on here next week with another post. Life isn't going to be quite as busy for the moment. Have a great week until then eveyone.
Here endeth the lesson.
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