An all Second City day.
So my co-worker and friend-in-progress, Anthony was asked to fill in on the mainstage at Second City. It's his second time filling in. This time it's for three days. Anthony's a pretty quiet guy but everyone who has seen him perform said he was amazing. So I thought it would be a nice thing to mention his performances in the breakroom at the trolley company. Anthony was apparently pleasantly surprised when I did that. He thanked me like I had really done something nice. Then later in the week he called me on my work Nextel to ask me when I wanted to come to the show. I told him Thursday (last night) and he said he was going to get me two tickets.
end part one.
I was asked recenly if I'd like to direct a sketch comedy troupe for Chemically Imbalanced Comedy. I gladly said that I would. They had the auditions. I watched the tape. I read their writing samples. I chose who I wanted in the troupe.
end part two.
When I arrived at work yesterday, I really had no confirmation from Anthony that he had actually gotten me the tickets. And I had no understanding of how I would get the tickets. I don't have Anthony's phone number. So I checked out my trolley and picked up some school kids in the suburbs. Part of the charter was to drop them off at Lincoln Park Zoo for two hours, so I figured during those two hours I could do two things: call the people who I cast in the sketch troupe and go check on those tickets at the box office of Second City. So I drove the two blocks from the zoo to Second City, I double parked the trolley with the flashers on and ran upstairs to the box office. When I got to the box office window, I recognized the woman in the window as the first person I was going to call to inform that she was cast in the troupe.
So I said, "First off, you're in the show." She looked a little confused. "I'm Chris Churchill." She was no longer confused. She smiled and thanked me. "Secondly, I believe Anthony Irons set some tickets aside for me."
Pretty fun luck.
End part three.
So, as I've mentioned before, Nate Herman is a double decker tour guide that I work with. He's also a former director and performer with Second City and a writer on Saturday Night Live. My wife, Cathy, told me that she was too tired to go out last night. She let me know the night before. I spent a good part of yesterday trying to find a fill-in. I did think that it would be cool to go with Nate. He'd have a lot of stories about when he was there. So I mentioned it to him and he said he'd love to go. Time constrictions being what they were (work ending at five, tight traffic, getting me and Nate out of our work clothes and Cathy dropped off at home) we ended up going by my apartment first where I changed and Cathy stayed. Then we drove to Nate's where he changed and walked his two beautiful dogs. They're both 9 1/2 year old Shepherd mixes that barked at me a lot until Nate gave me some meet to feed them. We took them for a walk and a poop. One of the dogs (Dorene) hates skateboarders. One went by and Dorene pulled Nate horizontally. I had to step in and grap the leash. But I did explain to Dorene that I don't like skateboarders much either.
So we got to the show. Pretty good show. Anthony was great. He won't just be "filling in" for long, if you ask me.
After the show, hugged one of the cast members (with whom I shared the bill for the "Unhinged" series last year at Second City). I was seriously seeking her eyes for any signs of non-recognition but she seemed to actually remember me. So that's cool. Then I asked where Anthony was and she led me back to talk to him.
I told Anthony part one and part two from the above. Turns out Anthony is a friend of Ali from the box office and my new sketch troupe. And he knew of Nate Herman but had never met him even though we all work together.
Oh...apparently Nate was in a band that opened for David Bowie a couple of times in the late sixties.
Oh...and I forgot about an audition I was supposed to go to. That's okay. I probably did more for myself by going to see this show and building two promising friendships.
As exciting as this all was, Nate, Anthony and I will all be returning to work at the trolley company on Saturday.
Drat.
end part one.
I was asked recenly if I'd like to direct a sketch comedy troupe for Chemically Imbalanced Comedy. I gladly said that I would. They had the auditions. I watched the tape. I read their writing samples. I chose who I wanted in the troupe.
end part two.
When I arrived at work yesterday, I really had no confirmation from Anthony that he had actually gotten me the tickets. And I had no understanding of how I would get the tickets. I don't have Anthony's phone number. So I checked out my trolley and picked up some school kids in the suburbs. Part of the charter was to drop them off at Lincoln Park Zoo for two hours, so I figured during those two hours I could do two things: call the people who I cast in the sketch troupe and go check on those tickets at the box office of Second City. So I drove the two blocks from the zoo to Second City, I double parked the trolley with the flashers on and ran upstairs to the box office. When I got to the box office window, I recognized the woman in the window as the first person I was going to call to inform that she was cast in the troupe.
So I said, "First off, you're in the show." She looked a little confused. "I'm Chris Churchill." She was no longer confused. She smiled and thanked me. "Secondly, I believe Anthony Irons set some tickets aside for me."
Pretty fun luck.
End part three.
So, as I've mentioned before, Nate Herman is a double decker tour guide that I work with. He's also a former director and performer with Second City and a writer on Saturday Night Live. My wife, Cathy, told me that she was too tired to go out last night. She let me know the night before. I spent a good part of yesterday trying to find a fill-in. I did think that it would be cool to go with Nate. He'd have a lot of stories about when he was there. So I mentioned it to him and he said he'd love to go. Time constrictions being what they were (work ending at five, tight traffic, getting me and Nate out of our work clothes and Cathy dropped off at home) we ended up going by my apartment first where I changed and Cathy stayed. Then we drove to Nate's where he changed and walked his two beautiful dogs. They're both 9 1/2 year old Shepherd mixes that barked at me a lot until Nate gave me some meet to feed them. We took them for a walk and a poop. One of the dogs (Dorene) hates skateboarders. One went by and Dorene pulled Nate horizontally. I had to step in and grap the leash. But I did explain to Dorene that I don't like skateboarders much either.
So we got to the show. Pretty good show. Anthony was great. He won't just be "filling in" for long, if you ask me.
After the show, hugged one of the cast members (with whom I shared the bill for the "Unhinged" series last year at Second City). I was seriously seeking her eyes for any signs of non-recognition but she seemed to actually remember me. So that's cool. Then I asked where Anthony was and she led me back to talk to him.
I told Anthony part one and part two from the above. Turns out Anthony is a friend of Ali from the box office and my new sketch troupe. And he knew of Nate Herman but had never met him even though we all work together.
Oh...apparently Nate was in a band that opened for David Bowie a couple of times in the late sixties.
Oh...and I forgot about an audition I was supposed to go to. That's okay. I probably did more for myself by going to see this show and building two promising friendships.
As exciting as this all was, Nate, Anthony and I will all be returning to work at the trolley company on Saturday.
Drat.
posted by Churchill at 7:51 AM
2 Comments:
Close. So damn close.
Rife with trolleys, the loop was, yesterday. I saw many but you were not driving any of them. I looked for you, though.
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