Puppet Up Toronto Tour Diary – Day 16 – Home
Up early today. Well, earlier than in past days. Our van to the airport arrived and we bid farewell to our home for the past two weeks. Upon arrival at the airport we all dealt with the pleasures of air travel: Checking in, paying excess baggage fees, customs, security check. Once through everyone was a lot less stressed out. Brian and I had a nice breakfast/lunch. I had been starving because i hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before.
Soon we were boarded and winging our way back to Southern California. Did a lot of writing on the flight and checked out the rest of World War Z and watched most of Pacific Rim on the flight. After landing we hopped a shuttle back to where it all began, The Jim Henson lot. Goodbyes were said and I believe the general feeling was this was a really successful string of shows. Some tech bumps in the beginning, but soon it was smooth sailing. It was ALL fun.
Big thanks to our crew who do amazing things to make us look so good on stage. Juliana keeps us all on schedule, Greg gets us up and running, Brandon who got our video up and running and the local Toronto crew who kept us looking and sounding good the whole run.
Thanks to Dan Ring, our music man. Missed dancing with you as much on this tour Dan but always fun to hang out with you. Let’s compare laptops when we get them!
Big shout out to Amanda for being the besets puppet wrangler and here’s to finding a new friend! As I said before, always incredibly nice to meet someone who has that level of passion for puppetry. Thanks for all the kind words you said. Hope we meet up again soon, and I’m looking forward to seeing YOU perform sometime.
Thanks to Arnold of Westbeth Entertainment for believing in the show and always seeing to that we’re taken care of. Big thanks to Brian Henson, without whom, the show would not exist.
To my fellow puppeteer freaks, I love each and every one of you and am grateful for those laugh moments we shared…
Colleen – Our Squirrel scene will live on in the Puppet Up Hall of Fame
Ted – our pilot scene early in the run was great but you managed to pull off the most amazing puppet effect I’ve ever seen during that last Bond improv.
Peggy – Always a pleasure to be ‘out there with you.’ Loved our Flashback fun, each and every time. Never before have Kidney Stones made me laugh as hard.
Michael – Two words….List Them. Your non-sequitors during the Bedtime/Spooky story were always hilarious.
Brian – “We’ll deal with you later French Canadians” – You are an inspiring improviser to watch, so loose and free. You always kept me on my toes during the Bedtime/Spooky stories. You are a good friend. Appreciate all our talks. And thanks for introducing me to Indian Food.
Thanks to all the amazing Toronto audiences. Your suggestions, laughter and kindness will long be remembered by this Puppet Upper. I truly do hope we are back very soon.
Finally, to Patrick. Amazing director. Amazing teacher. Amazing friend. Thank you for letting Leslie Carrara-Rudolph talk you into taking a chance on me, a non-improviser, limited puppeteer, way back in 2007. These past 6 years (6 YEARS!!!) have been an incredibly journey and the most fun I’ve had….ever. Grateful for all I’ve done and hopeful there will be more/ Will gladly follow you into improv battle any day of the week.
It was an absolutely perfect trip.
Well, that’ll wrap it up for this tour. Thanks, so much, for following along with this tour diary. Feel free to stick around to see my mostly-irregular ramblings or we’ll see you back here next time there’s a tour I’m on. If you want to keep in touch with what I’m up to you can…
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PUPPET UP!
Puppet Up Toronto Tour Diary – Day 15 – Goodnight Toronto!
(Photo By Dan Ring)
I knew this day was coming, but it still hit me…last day of the tour. Last Puppet Up shows for awhile. Last full day in Toronto. The ‘End of Tour’ Blues setting in big time.
After waking up, I worked on my words and got a good 1919 written in my NaNoWriMo novel. It’s coming along. It’s all garbage, but it’s coming along.
I then got ready to head out to the theatre about an hour before our call for the matinee show. I stopped by the theatre to do a quick load of laundry as I realized the day before I’d done my laundry a day early and was now in need or a few more clothing items to wear on our travel day home.
After starting my laundry, I decided on a burger joint that’s right next to the theatre. A place that also sells gelato. While waiting in line Peggy came in so we had a bit of an impromptu lunch date. This place had a flavor of gelato called: Bacio. I thought I deserved a free scoop, seeing as it’s a good portion of my last name. The woman behind the counter was so dour I didn’t press it. Peggy and I had a great time talking about our love for the show and how we hope we get to do it again soon. After our lunch it was time for soundcheck for our final two shows of the run.
The Sunday Matinee show was a ton of fun. Was honored to be in a piece that was really a standout on this tour. It was a new choice scene with me and Colleen and the suggestion was Squirrel Baiting. Colleen had already picked up the red squirrel puppet, her favorite, so the path of the scene was clear. She was the squirrel and I was baiting her. What made the scene so great is Colleen didn’t say a word in the entire scene. It was just me leaving out nuts for her and her advancing and then creeping backwards. It was simple, it showcased puppetry, it was just a really funny scene. It ended with her attacking me and me yelling, “Squirrel Rape!” but other than that it was a classy scene.
Alien Barbershop suggestion was Hunting. My rhyme:
Oh every season,
I got hunting deer.
Never shoot anything
But I kill four cases of beer.
Not the best of the run, but it got a good chuckle. The Sunday matinee crowd was great and after the show I got a chance to chat with puppeteers Kanja Chen and Tom Stewart. Glad to talk to them in person as opposed to virtually. Both great guys.
Took the break between the matinee and the call for the 8PM show to walk back to the hotel and drop off my laundry. Soon it was back to the theatre for the final show.
What a show. This show was just loose and crazy and from the opening moments, the cast just seemed to decide that we were all going to screw with each other. From the opening number to the closing number were were having just as much fun as the audience. In the James Bond number the suggestion for the villain was The Ejaculator. By the end of the song, Ted had run off stage and come back with a bottle of hand sanitizer and created what might have been the single greatest and grossest puppet effect ever performed on stage. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what he did.
During another scene, Michael was playing a condemned man and I came in as the executioner. After strapping him into the ‘gizmo’ I said something to the effect of, “Clybourn, you have been sentenced to death for your crimes.” Without missing a beat Michael goes, “List them.” It was just so perfect. The audience loved it.
My final Alien Barbershop suggestion was Mediation.
People who meditate,
To you I scoff
I get more relaxed
If I just jerk off.
Dirty, but that’s where it seemed the show was going.
The crowd for the 8PM show was amazing. A great way to wrap up a great tour. After the show the whole cast went to the lobby for photos and then we hustled back to the stage to help Amanda pack up the puppets. We got it done in record time.
After we went to the Artful Dodger Pub to have a closing night get together. Ironic because that’s where we went the first night after arriving in town.
After the hang out in the pub, it was back to the hotel. Once there I had a nice time talking with Amanda about puppetry and the projects we’ve both worked on. Always super fun to connect with someone who has similar passions as you. Even though we’re on separate coasts, we know a lot of the same people so it was fun figuring out who we both knew.
(Photo by Dan Ring)
Then it was super late and it was time for bed to put the cap on the final day of Toronto shows.
Puppet Up Toronto Tour Diary – Day 14 – The Women
Woke up Saturday morning with the realization that there was only 4 shows left. End of tour blues set in hard.
I got up and did a little writing. Attempting NaNoWriMo this year. For the past couple of years I start writing and usually wind up being too busy to finish, but it always gives me a good start on something that I can work on throughout the year.
I then met up with Dan, Amanda and Brian as we were going to go get that indian food lunch special we had the other day. We walked over to the place that was supposed to be open by 1. At 1:15 they were still not open and the guy inside was ignoring our walking. We decided to take our party to the place up the street called Spring Roll. We had a delicious lunch and went back to the theatre for the first of two shows.
The Saturday Matinee crowd was just fantastic. They threw out great suggestions and the show was a total blast. We had a fun game show called Wheel of Death that was a ton of fun. One of the ‘punishments’ was death by Miley Cyrus. Ted’s interpretation of that was just way too funny.
(BREAKING BAD SPOILER BELOW)
The Alien Barbershop suggestion was Breaking Bad. My rhyme was:
Oh Walter White
Jessie was his friend
He got cancer and cooked meth
And he died in the end
Then my alien just started saying, “Spoiler Alert, Spoiler Alert!” That got a big laugh.
A really fun matinee show and a great time meeting folks in the lobby especially, superfan, Randall who is already leading the charge to get us back in Toronto! Go, Randall, Go!
Between shows, Michael, Dan and I wound up at the Indian food place which was now open for a quick meal then it was back over to the theatre for our second show.
I want to take a moment to talk about the two women on this tour, Colleen and Peggy. Colleen is just an amazing improviser. She’s so relaxed and incredibly smart. She has an ease in her improvs where she’ll just drop a hilarious little line that will just KILL. Tonight in the audience participation bit, the audience puppeteer was sort of standing crooked, with the puppets head to one side and the audience was just rolling and Colleen just bides her time and says, “Tony, is your neck broke.” Probably not that hilarious in print, but it just tore the house down and I was laughing uncontrollably in the chair. So lucky I get to perform with her. Our ‘New Choice’ scenes have been a lot of fun.
Peggy is just so much fun to be on the road with and perform with. Out of the whole class I’ve known her and Brian for the longest (excepting Patrick) and Peggy and I started in Puppet Up, roughly, about the same time. She is always so funny and there are so many memorable moments with Peggy on stage. Tonight during our ‘Flashback’ scene I just found myself smiling from ear to ear at her ‘passing her kidney stones’ screaming. I was in the scene but just laughing right along with the audience. At that moment I thought to myself, “This is the most fun job in the world.” It really is.
The crowd for the evening show was just as crazy and into it as the matinee crowd. The Alien Barbershop suggestion was YouTube.
I love YouTube
Best entertainment around
Nothing but hours of videos
Of people falling down.
Got an okay laugh. Not the strongest rhyme. But it did okay. The rest of the show was fun with, of course, a lot more Mayor Ford references that the audiences just love. Well most of them anyway.
After the show we hung out at one of the nearby pubs and just chilled. I’m really going to miss this once it’s over.
Now, to bed! Two more shows tomorrow! Gonna make them count!
Puppet Up Toronto Tour Diary – Day 13 – Amazing Show
November is here! So shortly after midnight I began my novel. For those that don’t know, November is National Novel Writing Month where people attempt to try and write a complete novel in 30 days. I’ve attempted before and never completed it, but I have stated things that have become bigger projects later. The goal is 50,000 words in total by December 1, which works out to about 1666 words per day. So last night, again after midnight, I got about 1100 words down and then turned in for the evening.
In the morning, I got a tweet from Tyler Stewart, drummer of Barenaked Ladies replying to my query about where to find good Barbacue in Toronto. He told me of a few places, one of which was Stockyards, where Brian and I went last week. I looked up the two other places he mentioned and decided on Barque. I figured out how to get there on the subway and was off for some barbecue.
The trip out was easy and the place was easy to find. Nice little walk through the neighborhood where the restaurant is, lots of interesting shops.
The restaurant was a little trendy looking, but nice. Took a seat at the bar and was given a bucket of popcorn while waiting to order. It was the lunch menu, and if you know me, I like to order combos, but I finally decided on a brisket sandwich and then some pulled pork. I thought the pulled pork would come on the side, but they put it on the sandwhich. Didn’t phase me one bit. The barbecue was good and I had a pumpkin mousse for desert. Good stuff! Then I was back on the subway and back to the hotel to wallow in my meat coma.
After a bit I got up and continued on the novel. Another 771 words which puts me ahead. Just got to keep it up.
After writing, I practiced a little with the I’ve Grown Accustomed To Your Face track to get the beats down. I popped over to the theatre early to get some practice time in with the puppet too.
Tonight’s show was just absolutely amazing. The best show of the run and Patrick said one of the best shows ever. It really was a fantastic night. Backstage we could almost tell that it was going to be amazing because of the energy of the audience. Their laughter was infectious. Seriously. They were laughing, we were laughing. Everyone shone tonight and, more importantly, we shone as a team. That team included the audience as well.
So many funny sketches. The ‘What if’ of the War of 1812, the life story of Rob Ford (Toronto’s Mayor), a hilarious game show sketch, a scene where the first line was ‘Nice Pants!’, a great Bond song, the Hot Dogs recreating Annie….every sketch was just the tops. The improv was great, the puppetry was funny. Just a classic night and one I was so honored to be part of.
Alien Barbershop was okay, the suggestions was The History Of The Universe. Someone had also shouted out Easter as well and Patrick said, “Bonus points if you can work in Easter.” So my rhyme was:
There was a Big Bang
The universe started to fill.
And because it did,
We dye eggs in April.
Got an okay laugh. Not the strongest rhyme of them all, but I got them bonus points.
And tonight was just amazing because I got to do the Lady Singer in I’ve Grown Accustomed To Your Face and Big Java in Java. I cannot describe to you how that makes me feel. I still have a lot to learn on both, especially Face, but I got a great reaction on Face and look forward to developing it further.
After the show we took in some pub food and just basked in a really great show. We will go out there tomorrow night and try to recapture it again.
I love doing this show. Don’t want to do anything else.
