Crazytown

ALL FOR LAUGHS

Walking away from a shot at Second City in order to start an improv troupe in Lincoln, Nebraska certainly isn't the obvious choice. Why this comedian says she's never regretted taking the road less traveled. (Part of the series Art Outside the City)
by Lauren Silverman Durban, writer 

The theater has saved Beth Muehling more than once. Her story is punctuated by the times when performing has pulled her out of dark places, given her better options, and pushed her in healthier directions.

At 12 years old, she moved from a tiny town in Iowa to the “big city” of Lincoln, Nebraska. She describes it as a major shock to the system, and says she sort of shut down for awhile. When a friend suggested she get involved in drama, she agreed. And then, when she performed a monologue from The Children’s Hour that made people cry, she was totally hooked. “There’s something so awesome about affecting people in that way. There’s no replacement for that.” She had found her niche.

At 21 years old when she came out of the closet, she spent her evenings sneaking into a local gay bar to watch the drag shows. She couldn’t believe how happy, silly, and free it all was, and she longed to be a part of that world. When she was given the opportunity to start performing there as part of a group, it was the beginning of a long string of drag/comedy groups she’d be part of founding. She traveled all over the Midwest, performing in bars and clubs. Again, she says she had discovered where she fit in.

Beth in her drag days

Several years later, Beth had stopped performing entirely after the suicide of one of her best friends. The AIDS epidemic was ravaging the gay community all across the country, and at one point she attended 13 funerals in 6 months. “I just couldn’t be funny anymore.” Once again, it was theater that brought her back. A friend from her drag days asked her to audition for a production of Rocky Horror that he was directing, and she ended up getting cast as Riff Raff-- in drag, of course. She discovered a new way to be on stage, and did back to back to back shows both as an actress and later as a director.

HINDSIGHT 20/20

Have you ever wished you could go back and slap some sense into your younger self? Yeah, me too.
By Ali Gordon 

From the ages of 11-15, I needed guidance. Since I didn’t have an older sister to simultaneously respect and burn with envy over, no one was there to kick my proverbial ass when I was headed down the wrong path. Teenagerdom is a maze, and one I didn’t do a very good job navigating. Have you ever wanted to find your younger self and shake them, hard? I mean, really hard? Yeah, me too. Here are a few choice words I would have had for younger Ali.

• Your parents raised you well, Ali. They instilled a great deal of self-respect in you, and they taught you that your brain is the best thing about you. (Note: Ali, later in life, call up your parents and specifically thank them for instilling this in you. This information makes you feel better after all of your break-ups.) But also, Ali, it doesn’t hurt to look good, either. No, no, I’m not saying you should become vain, or value looks over personality, but would it really kill you to get a haircut? I mean, it’s down to your butt.

Lucky ladies and gents... this is a real picture of my real hair circa age 14. And it still looked that raggedy after AN HOUR AND A HALF of blowdrying! 

• One day you will be sitting in the car with your father and he will be playing an album by Harry Nilsson. After listening to his warbling for a while, you will angrily exclaim, “Dad, you only listen to music that absolutely sucks.” First off, Ali, don’t talk to your Dad like that. He’s awesome. Secondly, let me tell you now that at the age of 23, Nilsson Schmilsson is one of your very favorite albums. Surprise! Now, go get a haircut.

MINDY KALING IS BAD BITCH

Why Mindy Kaling is a wonderful role model and everyone should want to be like her when they grow up.
By Annissa Omran (Writer/College Student)

This is the second installment in the "Bad Bitch" series I started in March with an ode to the wonderful Angela Lansbury. This series puts the spotlight on women with great talent you might have forgotten about or overlooked. 

(This woman is my spirit animal ^[source])

If you, like me, are a fan of the show The Mindy Project, you might be wondering how Mindy Kaling meets the "forgotten or overlooked" criteria. On the show she's plays a sassy partner in a gynecological practice dealing with the highs and lows of love and life in New York city. And while her character might be navigating daily ups and downs, you as the viewer will always be left sideways. On the couch. Laughing hysterically while concerned friends and family members in other rooms yell at you to remember to breathe.

Ok, that might just be my personal experience.

But even so, The Mindy Project is some seriously underrated TV. I place series creator Mindy Kaling in the "forgotten or overlooked" category simply because I don't hear people talking about her and I think they SHOULD.

 I know that some people aren't sure how they feel about her humor. I was originally one of those people. But then I actually paid attention to her work and now I'm definitely a Kaling-convert. 

AN ODE TO YES

I'm taking a break from Art Outside the City this week in order to declare my deep and abiding lady love for Tina Fey.
by Lauren Silverman Durban, writer 

Holy crap, do I ever love me some Tina Fey.

She’s hilarious, scary smart, and attractive in that fabulous “I don’t care if you think I’m attractive” kind of way. She’s a kick-ass woman in a male-dominated field without ever being annoying or preachy about it. And I recently came across this article she wrote (go read it-- I’ll wait here) for O Magazine about how the improv comedy rules she learned early in her career have shaped her outlook on just about everything, and I fell in love with her all over again.

“The things I learned in that class became part of the way I live my life. A couple of times I've been called on to do things -- jobs or whatever -- where I've felt, Maybe I'm not quite ready. Maybe it's a little early for this to happen to me. But the rules are so ingrained. "Say yes, and you'll figure it out afterward" has helped me to be more adventurous. It has definitely helped me be less afraid.”

Artists, almost by definition, live a life jam-packed with opportunity for fear. We’ve all felt like impostors-- that at any minute, someone could find out that we’re really not talented enough for whatever it is we happen to be doing. Who am I to call myself a writer/singer/composer/actor/director/etc anyway? Why do I think anyone will care what I have to say? Why did I think I was ready for this? And when they all figure me out, I’ll obviously die broke and alone and humiliated. (Or maybe that last one is just me?)

But here’s the truth, and it bears repeating-- if you’re not afraid, then you’re probably not doing it right. When what you’re doing becomes so comfortable that you’re never nervous anymore, then you’ve stopped pushing hard enough. And while that can feel deceptively good from time to time, it’s a decidedly unexciting and uncreative way to live.

ONE LESS LONELY GIRL

Never Say Never? How about Never Say Anything?
By Alisha Giampola (Actor) 

You guys. Since the news broke that Justin Bieber was getting his WWII history on in Amsterdam and wrote a slightly awkward entry in the guestbook at the Anne Frank House, I'm sure you've all been wondering sleeplessly if Anne Frank would, in fact, have been a 'belieber' as Justin hoped. If you have somehow missed this amazing moment in American pop culture, and have not yet become alarmed that possibly no one under the age of 20 knows anything about Anne Frank, or you know, World War II, please take a moment to catch yourself up.

(And I really cannot even discuss right now that Justin Bieber was born in 1994, because that just makes me feel HORRIFYINGLY OLD. I need to procure a lawn, so I can start yelling at people to stay off of it.)  

To the credit of pretty much everyone on the planet, most people reacted on a spectrum between outrage and irritated disbelief at Bieber's comment, although 50 Cent had the Beib's back. In all fairness, if we ever hoped to discover what was on the mind of a teenage Jewish girl during the Holocaust, 50 Cent's guess is probably as good as anyone's. Also, it's pretty clear that Bieber's comments were made in fairly profound ignorance, as he doesn't even know who the Germans are, let alone the Nazis.

And then, Anne's own posthumous stepsister, Eva Schloss, steps forward and makes the ultimate defense for Bieber's comment. Eva constructs this very scientific logical syllogism for us: all 15 year old girls love Justin Bieber, Anne Frank was (and will eternally be) a 15 year old girl, therefore Anne Frank would have loved Justin Bieber. 

“Tell me what you like girl, tell me what you don’t.
I could be your Buzz Lightyear, fly across the globe.”

ANIMATION CEL BLOCK TANGO

Your favorite toe-tappers from an unlikely source...
By Ali Gordon 

Today's post is dedicated to unexpected and, ahem, unsung musical heroes... great music found in animated TV shows! And no, Disney movies and any sort of full-length film don't count. I'm talking 20 minute, animated, made-for-tv episodes with music that nails it. 

Strangely enough, "adult" cartoons like Family Guy have embraced the big-orchestra, full-chorus, pull-out-all-the-stops musical number as a means of humor and entertainment (think not just the Fat Man Anthem but also Shipoopi) but it's just not cutting it with "kids" cartoons anymore. Even the Arthur theme song is somehow superior to say, anything ever on Dora the Explorer. 

Why is that? Everyone loves music, and it's been proven that children learn better when lists and facts are set to music. Yet, somehow, the 90s were a time for killer music in animated shows. And many of them are underrated, still.

This may not count, because the song isn't found "in" the TV show, but Disney's PepperAnn had one of the best theme songs ever.

 

I'm sorry, but if this song didn't introduce all you soon-to-be musical theatre nerds to the notion of "screlting" I don't know what you were doing in your childhood. (P.S. It's freaking me out that this video was found on "retrojunk.com" because if this is 'retro' I'm offically old and going to jump off a bridge.)

And does this song stand the test of time? Let this cover answer that question for you.

 

(Hint: the answer is "yes.")

HUMOR, BOSTON, AND ME

Finding the funny when it's needed the most. 
By Rachel James (Treasurer/Writer) 

It's been a weird week, folks.  In between the super busy post-opening, pre-Tony buzz at work and celebrating a big birthday next week, I'm pooped.

Plus, as one of the many people "of Boston", I am still figuring out how to comprehend the events that occurred on Marathon Monday.  Going to Emerson College and walking down Boylston Street every day for four years, it was pretty surreal to see these streets I knew so well look utterly decimated. Not only was it terrible to see the explosions on the news over and over again, but to see the streets of Back Bay desolate in the aftermath was quite eerie.  

 
Greg wrote about this quite eloquently last week, both in song and prose. We could all use another listen.

Which brings me to the below video.  I don't know what else to say or do, but this video made me cry and laugh.  It reminded me how finding the positive, while corny and cliched, is of the utmost importance.

 

Like many other victims of the bombings, there is a website set up for Celeste and Sydney to help with their medical funds.  I can't wait to see Celeste run in the marathon next year. 

What else is there to do except pick up, live life, laugh often, and sing a song for Boston?

For Boston, for Boston, we sing our proud refrain...

 

RACHEL JAMES is a native New Yorker and theatre baby. Her plays have been produced by The 52nd Street Project and Starfish Theatreworks. She currently makes a living as a Broadway treasurer.
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10 THINGS NOT TO SAY TO A COMIC

A few of the most common comments that should be filed under the 'Keep That To Yourself' column.
-By Leah Bonnema (Stand Up Comic)

In general I believe people mean well. And I should be so lucky that anyone was interested in talking to me at all or listening to my stand up. BUT... I get the idea that people don't realize comedy is also a job. And that that job entails putting very personal things out into the world. AND that people have spent years working on a single joke. AND also that coming up to someone and saying something mean isn't funny. The below lists of comedy-don't does not include heckling, that is a whole entire list until itself.

KEEP CALM AND BE SUPER EVIL

In which I admit that I like bad guys. And girls.
By Alisha Giampola (Actor) 

When I was about ten I spent every Tuesday and Thursday from June to August in a summer children's theatre group doing kid-friendly acting games, wearing really basic costumes that fit over my regular clothes, and taking regular breaks for snacks. The course culminated in a short play that we presented for our parents, the kids who took the Monday/Wednesday class, and probably a lot of press and important critcs and maybe some talent agents. All I knew was that I was super excited for that show- it was an updated, "hip" kids' version of Cinderella, and I already had my costume all planned out. When it came time to cast, the really sweet middle school drama teacher who had been directing us all summer asked me if I wanted to play Cinderella. I wasn't even a little bit flattered. "No thank you," I replied. "I would really prefer to be the evil stepmother." 

I wish I had a picture of that production to show you, but suffice to say that I played the Stepmother as a cross between Norma Desmond and Paris Hilton. Finally a childhood spent studying the subtle body language of Ursula and the minute eyebrow gestures of Jafar had paid off. Villains were interesting. Their motives are simple expressions of unadaulterated selfishness and I loved watching their intricate plans crumble. 

Recently Daniel and I have been marathoning old James Bond movies. We began at the beginning; Dr. No is the first Bond film, and one of only two (Goldfinger being the other) that is named for its villain. Immediately audiences were introduced to the idea that the bad guys in these movies were going to be the reason for watching. 007 might look fantastic drinking a cold martini, but no one but a Bond villain can pull off a full beige futuristic pants suit or steel teeth. Bond villains are the ultimate villain's villain. I started keeping track of their motivations for my own entertainment. Most of the first films are haunted by the incredibly complicated evil group of superevil, SPECTRE (the SPecial Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). Besides having patented the most awesome company name ever, these guys specialize in creating crazy expensive elaborate plots to do relatively simple, or even vaguely unnecessary things. 

WORLD'S SNEAKIEST TEAR JERKERS

Just when you thought you were safe... the saddest moments in TV sitcoms.
By Ali Gordon 

Firstly, it's my birthday! Hooray! So let's take this Crazytown post to talk about one of my favorite things... crying!

It's your favorite night of the week - the night a brand new episode of [insert favorite sitcom] airs! You settle down with some friends and a nice bag of popcorn. You're ready for the good times and the belly laughs. And then... bang... you don't know how it happened, but suddenly this is the saddest damn episode of television you've ever watched! You try to pretend you're not crying (just like you did when you went to see Toy Story 3 with your family) but it's too late.

The waterworks have burst forth. The dam can't hold them back, now! Ah, yes, you recognize the scene well. It's famous tearjerking scenes in TV sitcoms and no one, not even you, is safe.