Grantblings

Puppet Up Down Under 2014 – April 25, 2014 – Batting Average

Slept in a little this morning after not being able to fall asleep last night. Upon waking up I immediately hit the gym and ran on the treadmill. The gym is in a cinder block room in the middle of the parking garage in this hotel and it heats up fast. It is sort of like working out in a sauna, which is actually pretty great.

After showering I went over and visited with Brian a bit. After weeks sharing what was basically a two bedroom apartment, it’s weird now to be in two separate rooms. We had a nice chat and then I struck out to get some food.

It still makes me stop when I see a car drive by and see someone in what I think should be the drivers seat, have both hands on their cell phone. Then I quickly remind myself that that is actually the passenger seat. Brian and I were talking about how weird it is going to be to actually start driving again after months of not driving. It’s been really nice. Another thing that has been really nice is not having regular cell phone service. I enjoy not being at the beck and call of my cell phone. That’s something I may bring back to the States with me.

Anyway, I went out and grab some lunch and then just walked around for a bit. I passed by a hotel called the Empire Hotel. It is really unique on the outside and it has a waterfall running down the outside glass. The inside is even crazier. It looks really weird and I don’t know if I would want to stay there. But it’s definitely unique! Then I came back to the hotel room to relax a little bit and do some writing. Then it was call time so Brian, Dan and I hopped the taxi to the venue.

Patrick is fond of saying, “Improv is a batting average.” Meaning that not all improvs are going to be fantastic. Tonight was an off night for me. I feel like I was just spinning my wheels. My Jamboree son was just a disaster, couldn’t get a rhyme in at all. And it was especially painful because I could tell the audience really wanted to like it but they just couldn’t because the rhymes weren’t there and it just didn’t make sense. Then I. The rest of my improvs I was off. No characters, the voices I was doing changed halfway through scenes. I was just completely unfocused. My batting average dropped a lot tonight. At least I have I’ve Grown Accustomed To Your Face to buoy me a little bit. The crowd liked that one.

The show overall was great, no thanks to me. Solid,fun suggestions from the crowd again, seems like Brisbane prefers odd suggestions over dirty and we like that just fine. The Hot Dogs went sunbathing, we saw a scene about a burrito, learned the perils of being a hair dresser and out audience puppeteer applied for the job of a bridge painter. The Alien Barbershop suggestion was theme parks.

At the theme parks
Soda’s $10 a cup
You ride a bunch of rides
Then you throw up.

Meh. Didn’t help the batting a peerage at all.

After the show, I met a Brisbane puppeteer named Brett Hansen and his friend (sorry didn’t know the relationship there) Elissa. Always fun to talk about puppets and puppetry with someone who shares the passion. He has a show that’ll be going on in Brisbane later in May. Sorry I’ll miss it.

After the show we all met back at the hotel and we actually had a fun evening just chatting and laughing in Colleen and Peggy’s room. Soon it was after midnight and time to head to bed.

One more show. One more day. Can’t believe it is over. Sad to see it all end. Going to enjoy tomorrow as much as I can! Gonna get that batting average back up tomorrow night.