NC! Pimpin! Inspiration! Coco! MJ!

Last month I had the opportunity to travel to beautiful North Carolina to teach Improv at Duke University.

Friend Bob Kulhan owns his own company, ‘Business Improvisation’, and they have a great relationship with Duke. This year, I was chosen to be part of the team that would teach this course to business students at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

The course is basically a class/course in dynamic management using the basic fundamentals and beliefs of the art of Improvisation.

Bob has hired me on numerous occasions for these types of gigs at Duke as well as Columbia University in New York, but the gigs have never been longer than a couple of days with maybe a total of 6-8 hours in teaching his course.

But this time, I was chosen to do the intensive teaching course at Duke which consisted of teaching your own class from 10am to 5pm, Monday through Friday, where we also prepare our students to perform an actual show for each other at the end of the week.

I was honored to have been asked but was pretty nervous about the gig. I mean yeah, I’m comfortable teaching and besides the other gigs I’ve been on with Bob, I sub teach at iO, as well. But, it’s never longer than a 3 hour class…per week.

I’d never taught for as long as I was going to on this gig, especially to students who weren’t necessarily interested in improv. The students that signed up for this course had heard good things from past students that had taken to course, so they signed up. For some, the class is merely an elective and for some it’s a chance to make up credits needed.

So day one comes and I finally get to meet my students.

The last person to enter the classroom comes in, takes off her coat, announces she’s dropping the class, puts her coat back on, then leaves.

Oh, boy.

I quickly recovered and hit the ground running making sure I established a good sense of trust amongst the group as well as a good sense of suspension of judgment.

Thanks in large part to the wonderful students in my group, the week couldn’t have gone better.

This was easily the best teaching experience I’ve ever had.

To be able to teach the thing I love to people that don’t have a passion for it, and to have them understand where we’re coming from and find actual Value in what we teach and believe in was….wonderfully gratifying.

I’ve always believed it, but this week really solidified my beliefs that what we do has value and merit in the real world, and has the chance to make one a better person overall.

At the end of the week I silently thanked Del Close and Martin DeMaat for their dedication and for inspiring people like me to continue their work as best as we can.

Jen, Lee Anne, Javier, Yetunde, Min-Ki, Schree, Margaret, Arti, Rodnei, Adrienne, Joe, and Brandon, Thank You for helping make this a week to remember.

Eliza, Tara, James, Joe B., Sara, and Bill, thank you for the great company, laughs and tutelage.

And an even bigger Thank You to you Bob Kulhan, for giving me the opportunity to work this gig.

As for the rest of you, stay in school and say no to drugs.

Sincerely,

Professor Jaime

While in beautiful North Carolina, (seriously, this place is beautiful) I was pretty much secluded to the Fuqua center where they have housing. Since I couldn’t really venture out, I decided to see what movie I could rent from the front desk.

I looked through their catalogue and came across the movie “Hustle & Flow”.

For some reason I never cared for this movie, especially after a rap group –a RAP group- won the Oscar for best song.

A movie about a pimp, and the song about pimpin’ wins?!?

No, thank you.

So yeah, I never made that selection on my Blockbuster trips.

But for some reason I decided to give it a shot while on this trip. Still, after I rented it, I waited 2 days before watching it, and even then I almost didn’t.

But I did.

Immediately after the movie was over I regretted not having made that decision sooner.

I REALLY liked this movie, and liked it even more watching the extras explain how the movie was made and how it almost wasn’t made.

Yes, a movie that seems to glorify pimping and degrading women can of course make one want to look the other way.

But the movie isn’t about that. It’s about a pimp that doesn’t want to pimp. He wants something better and through a series of events eventually begins to follow his actual dreams.

And that right there is what the movie is about, Following Your Dreams.

“Well, that’s fine but why does it have to be a pimp?”

That question was asked by every studio that turned it down for obvious reasons but is explained nicely in the extras. I’ll leave it at that.

I couldn’t believe that a movie I avoided for so long was one of the most inspiring movies I’ve seen in a while. It has a great simple message that most of us are often to blind to see.

It still feels silly for me to say to people that the movie “Hustle & Flow”, about a pimp, was inspirational to me, but it was, because it’s completely different than what you expect, -if you’re willing to look a little deeper into the message being delivered.

And much like the movie “8 Mile”, I see and agree why the song for the movie won the Oscar.

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought what they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen”.

That was Conan O’Brien on his last show as host of “The Tonight Show”.

There’s lots of opinion and blame going around for that whole mess, so I won’t bore you with an opinion that is shared by many and that you’ve read before in different ways.

For the record, I’m a Conan fan. I’m a supporter because of the type of show he does, who he is as a person, and because I have friends that work (ed) on his show.

As stupid and cheesy as it sounds, those words he said on his last show resonate with me and made me an even bigger fan.

I’ve always found that being patient was a fault of mine. And it didn’t help that the times I decided to be more assertive and ‘promote’ myself on advice from friends, didn’t help much.

So more often than not I’ve relied on the work speaking for itself in hopes that the ‘right’ people will notice.

The few times that way of life has produced good results, have often been the best experiences of my life.

Yet, I’ve always felt that sometimes it may be necessary to do more or try to do more, but have always been afraid of pissing people off in the process.

Not knowing if what you’re doing or HOW you’re doing it is wrong can mess with your head sometimes.

But hearing Conan say those words, with the honestly and belief behind them, really made me feel good about how I sometimes lead my life and what I hope for the future.

Now more than ever I really respect and admire the guy.

I will still try to be more assertive here and there, but I will no longer feel guilty about not being the person that’s constantly in your face in hopes of getting something out of it.

I’ll simply continue to work hard and believe in the things I can do and accomplish, be kind to people and the process, and hope that living my life in a more positive way can one day produce amazing results.

Anyone see Michael Jackson’s “This Is It”, movie/doc?

A gem.

In time, even those that remember MJ when he was sane, came to think of him as a weirdo. And if you’re even seen those weird tv specials where they give a glimpse into his life you’d have to agree: Wacko Jacko indeed.

When people talk about MJ and his weirdness they often say things like “When he was in his element, he was On.”… “He was really talented.”… “He was a true professional”… “It was when he was in show mode that he was at his best”… etc. etc. etc

When he announced his final tour, I had NO desire or curiosity about it. Because by now my memory of him wasn’t a performer, it was a weirdo trying to do what he was best known for doing a LONG time ago. Something he USED to be good at.

Almost like hearing that a great athlete wants to come out of retirement way, way, way after his prime. You know it’s going to be a circus, right?

Well hot damn if Michael didn’t prove us wrong.

I watched the movie/doc more out of curiosity about what was being said about the film.

The movie is ALL about how the show was going to be. There’s no cheesy interviews with him spouting off goofy things.

You see a man at 50 years old doing what you thought was not possible.

You see a man truly doing what he does best and you begin realize that the stage really was his life. That he was best and “normal” when on stage.

You see a man doing what you think he couldn’t do and singing –SINGING- like you thought he wouldn’t be possible of doing, -and sounding great!

Little by little you begin to enjoy watching this man in action and in his element. And little by little you begin to feel bad that this concert never happened.

In the end you wish that you’d have had a chance to see this concert

And most important, in the end you realize that this man was truly a genius of music, dance, and showmanship.

Sadly,because of opinions you may formed of the guy, you also feel ashamed of feeling the way you do about the movie/doc and about MJ himself. But despite how ashamed you feel, you still can’t deny that what you just saw truly was a master at work.

It never made sense to hear how many drugs the guy was on in his final days and how “exhausted” he was towards the end, but watching the movie you realize why.

The man was putting everything –I mean everything, into this tour and it was going to be great. But at a price.

Personally, after watching the movie/doc, I don’t think he would have gotten anywhere close to completing a 50 show tour. But I do think the few shows he would have been able to get through would have been truly enjoyable and entertaining.

I’m not ashamed to say I watched the movie/doc and that I enjoyed the hell out of it.

And I’m also not ashamed to say that I came to respect MJ the artist a lot more than I ever thought I would.

Rest in Peace, MJ.

michael_jackson

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I think LeBron’s kissing my ass now. He recently said that the NBA should retire the number 23, worn by Michael Jordan, and that nobody should use it out of respect for Jordan.

I already said I was a fan, bro! You don’t have to make me like you more!

Well, I’m a bigger fan now. You happy? Son of a…

I was teaching a class at iO last week, and while watching a scene between two students, there came a point in the scene where they got a fun reaction from the rest of the class, and I muttered to myself:

“…And there’s your laugh”.

I don’t remember using that term before so I kind of freaked myself out a bit because I realized the last time I heard that phrase was years ago. I heard it in a class at Second City from one of the kindest and most encouraging teachers I have ever had.

His name was Martin DeMaat.

Martin, or ‘Marty’ as he was often called, was the person that introduced me to this wonderful art form and community of amazing people.

I took an improv class from Marty in college, and learned of Second City in his class. He’s the one that later encouraged me to take classes there.

After a year of college, I took his advice and started my Improvisational education at Second City. A little over a year later, I was fortunate enough to get hired as a performer at the legendary theater. On my first day as an employee, I walked into the back offices to get some tapes to study, and I ran into Marty.

He came up to me, put his hands on my shoulders and said “Welcome Home”.

It was a moment I will never forget because of who it came from, what it meant at the time, and how it was delivered.

For more reasons than one, Marty was one of the most respected improvisational teachers of his time. He was also one of the most encouraging and kindest –if not thee kindest –person to ever teach and direct this art. He was known as someone that always made sure to check in with you if he saw or recognized that you needed to be checked on.

He loved this art so much and what it had the capability to a person, and it showed in his classes.

I later got to know someone that shared the same passion for this art: Del Close.

In their time, with their similar love and passion for this art form, Del was often known as the cranky and stern Father of Improv, while Marty was known as the kind, nurturing Mother of Improv.

Del passed away in March of 1999 and Marty passed away in February of 2001.

Along with my great friend, Jeff, I created a documentary for Del shortly after he passed. I am extremely proud of that film and continue to show it at Improv Festivals around the country, but I always felt a twinge of regret that I was never able to create a similar piece for Marty.

I have no idea why one of Marty’s class quotes crept into my brain that day. I do know that although it freaked me out a bit, it also felt very good. It took me away for a moment and when I came back I was smiling. If that was Marty’s way of saying Hello, I’ll take it.

If I am ever given the chance to access archive footage, notes, etc., from Marty, I would gladly put forth the effort to create a documentary for him because not only was he a huge influence to me, he very much deserves it.

I can try to put a nice cap on this little tribute to him, but I can’t come close to the words Lisa Lewis wrote

in an article she wrote shortly after Marty passed away:

“His ability to support and nurture young talent was legendary, as was hi gift at providing a warm and safe environment for anyone taking an interest in his work—performers and non-performers alike.

And while our grief is deep, we can and will celebrate what de Maat brought to Second City and to his place in the world. His kindness and brilliance will live on in every playful and

joyful moment an improviser or audience member has while experiencing the art-form

Martin de Maat helped create.”

While we’re on the topic…

There is a group at the iO Theater made up of old friends and veteran improvisors that goes by the name “3033”. They play every Sunday night and consistently put up extremely good shows.

Last weekend they had one of their best shows and I hope the young improvisors in attendance were doing more than enjoying a good show; I hope they were learning.

This team does an extraordinary job of showing that more often than not, all you need for a successful and entertaining scene is right at the top. Stop looking past what was first said and or done, and if you’re patient, you will find magic.

A few weeks ago while watching this show I commented to a fellow improviser that it was weird how many younger students and improvisors come to watch this show, but don’t realize that week to week these guys are giving them the perfect example of how to create art out of nothing –and have it be highly entertaining at the same time.

So if you’re one of us, next time you watch this show, make it a point to also treat it like a class. Pay enough attention and you will find that what you take from it will make you a better improviser.

If you’re not one of us, come to iO Sunday nights, sit back, and be prepared to be highly entertained by some of Chicago’s finest Improvisors

I haven’t done ‘Lotto Time’ in a while. I was going to do it, but I was thinking that for the past few months, on and offline, I’ve been blabbing about my two tv shows that I grew to love and that have now become maybe the top two tv shows of all time for me. I’m speaking of ‘The Wire” and “Battlestar Galactica”.

Many people had a hand in making me give in to watching these shows, but I would not have become a major fan and happy addict of both of these shows if I didn’t have easy means to watch them both from the comfort of my own home with my darling 50 inch plasma without the kindness of friends Jorin Garguilo and Adal Rifai.

Jorin owns most of the BG series and Adal owns all of the Wire series, and they were both kind enough to let me borrow the sets with no timetable.

So I thought it would be more than appropriate to have a special Lotto Time for these two cats.

I met both Jorin and Adal around the same time and we gradually became friends. They are both very good improvisors and very nice people in general.

I don’t think you can spend more than 10 minutes with either one of them without kicking yourself in the face for not having gotten to know them sooner.

Jorin sat in with ‘Felt’ a few times and it wasn’t long after that that we decided to add him to the cast. The more I got to know him, the more I realized how lucky we were to have him, and lucky the theater itself is to have him. He’s an exceptional learner of the art and his passion and eye for the work shows both in his play and his direction of others.

I got to know Adal more gradually through friends. The more time I got to hang with him, the more I realized how nice of a guy he is. Talking to him you get the sense that he’d donate a kidney to you if you asked him. He just comes across as that nice of a guy. He too is very talented and very fun to watch on stage.

I’m happy I got to know them and that they are part of the same community.

Jorin and Adal, thank you for being my friends.

OK, I’m done sounding like I want to bone these two jerks.

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NC! Pimpin! Inspiration! Coco! MJ!

23! Hello! Learn! Lotto Time…sort of.