the softest bulletin

LA Home

2011-11-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

I have been in LA for a week now.
Making these lemons into my lemonade home.
Not even lemons so much. I just have to give it time and figure it all out.
I have this limited time to make naive NEW GUY "mistakes", so I'm trying to
take all of those opportunities. There's a lot of stuff out of my control, so I'm
doing my best to stay as productive as possible.
Luckily I've got a lot of great friends here to help me out every step of the way.

Work Day Wednesday

2011-11-09T19:02:00.000-08:00

We took today off from the office. We started the morning by having breakfast with the game director/producer. 2 hours of a great discussion about this game and what we need to do to get everything in order. We're all on the same page and it's going to be very fun.
Next, Amanda and I decided to take a tour of Old Quebec. It's a huge section of town and an amazing sight. Surprises around every corner.

We tried to get some lunch, but it was impossible to find the burritos in this place...

We walked to the St. Lawrence River then up to see the incredible Chateau Frontenac.

Then we paid $2 to ride up a steep cliff in a Funicular. An experience I never thought I'd get!

All in all, Quebec is a beautiful city... but 90% of the retail customer service is terrible. Quebec seems to hold a bigger grudge against Americans than anyone in any other place I've been. Weird.

Work Day Two

2011-11-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

"Ubi Tuesday"
My writing partner and I decided to push ourselves and put in a double work day today. We tried to write two days worth of work in one day so we can take some time off tomorrow and check out the city. We almost accomplished our task. I estimate we'll have two hours of work tomorrow, so plenty of time to check this city out in the daylight.

Not much video today.
We were the last people to leave the office today, which is weird considering yesterday was our first day ever even in the place.

Work Day One

2011-11-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

Something I learned on my first day of work in Quebec today...
The famous KFC slogan, "Finger Lickin' Good!" doesn't translate very well into Chinese.

Quebec Food Challenge

2011-11-06T13:28:00.001-08:00

This goes out to my Kobos people.
Morgan, Devon, Jamie - as you requested.

Old Quebec

2011-11-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

I think it's this crazy staircase that separates the new and the old in Quebec.

Occupons Quebec

2011-11-06T12:42:00.001-08:00

This is happening on the artsy end of the Quebec University (as I understand it) and that's a couple blocks from my hotel... near the starbucks. Coincidence PORTLAND???

(For Sean Fleek)

Quebec is in Canada

2011-11-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

I am spending a week in Quebec City, Quebec Canada to work on another Ubisoft project.
I will be updating this blog with my hilarious adventure quips.

Please come along on this adventure with me!

dear blog

2011-08-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

When it's been over two months since my last post and I haven't really thought about you at all, it's probably a sign that the end of our relationship is near. Who knows? Maybe I'll get inspired and start a brand new blog full of new, fun information about the world at large. Like the infinite wisdom bestowed upon us by the band ASIA, Only Time Will Tell...

Birthday

2011-05-26T01:17:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to me. Thank you to all my friends around the world for helping to make me feel like a pretty special fellow. I surround myself with great people and it makes me feel like I can accomplish anything. Thank you friends!
Birthday Mixtape http://www.mediafire.com/?euy0jpid4zd8jmd
Tame Impala - the sun
Nino Rota - amore per tutti
Cults - abducted
the Boy Blues - coming down to you
Shannon & the Clams - you will always bring me flowers
Craft Spells - party talk
France Gall - faut-il que je t'aime
the Antlers - every night my teeth are falling out
Veronica Falls - found love in a graveyard
Cold Cave - pacing around the church
Parenthetical Girls - for all the final girls
Beach Fossils - out in the way (ft. Jack Tatum)
the Ponys - 10 fingers and 11 toes
Dynamic Tints & Pieces of Peace - rosemarie
Toro Y Moi - leave everywhere
Rex Garvin - sock it to 'em JB
Girls Names - no more words
the Tribe - fickle little girl
Ween - piss up a rope
Crystal Stilts - shake the shackles
Dead Man's Bones - buried in water (theremin version)

Enjoy!
and Happy Birthday to ME!

hard work

2011-04-16T16:23:00.000-07:00

Day 3

2011-04-13T12:54:00.001-07:00

Day two of the trip was kind of wasted. I left Portland Oregon at 1:15pm on Monday - then arrived in Paris France at 11am on Tuesday. It then took me about 3 hours to get to my hotel (I slept maybe an hour and a half on the plane) so I was pretty much a zombie all of Tuesday.
Today, Wednesday was my first day of work. I put a video together this morning (day 3)

Day 3 from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Hopefully I'll be able to continue to keep some sort of journal video every day. I'll do my best.

Day 1

2011-04-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

Day 1 from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Day two doesn't count, seeing as how Paris is 9 hours ahead...

to France, again

2011-04-11T09:32:00.001-07:00

I am leaving Portland today. I've got a quick stop in Salt Lake City, then on to Paris France. I will be there until April 22nd. It's my 4th time in Paris since moving from Chicago. I'll be working at Ubisoft, helping out with a script for a videogame. I am bringing a camera, so I plan on doing daily video posts. Lookout!

my loves

2011-04-11T09:31:00.001-07:00

a couple a' dopes. from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

A few weeks ago

2011-03-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

We woke up to snow, the only time this year in Portland.
It was melted as soon as the sun came up, but Arlo loved it for a minute.

Arlo walking in the snow from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

and then there's this...

Stacey smooshing Arlo from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Headshots

2011-02-23T22:56:00.001-08:00

thank you to Travis Nodurft for taking such wonderful pictures and being so great to work with!

Photos!

2011-02-23T22:54:00.001-08:00

From the Curious Garden!

reading is exhausting...

2011-02-05T16:53:00.001-08:00

Somebody got tired while reading his li'l book.

Kids show is back!

2011-02-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

the Garden of Curious

2011-02-02T10:17:00.001-08:00

D & D

2011-01-06T10:41:00.001-08:00

a quick, blackout sketch from our last show.

D & D from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Happy New Ears!

2011-01-01T15:32:00.001-08:00

From Curious Comedy Theater correspondent Kim Jong Kim from three different time zones!
NEW YORK

New York City : Live! Curious Comedy Theater from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

CHICAGO

Curious Comedy NYE 2010 Chicago Live! from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

and SALT LICK CITY

Curious Comedy NYE 2010 Salt Lake City Live! from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Happy New Year from the Curious Comedy Theater. May your 2011 be filled with inappropriate laughter.

Happy Christmas from Arlo

2010-12-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

Arlo's got his new Christmas bone. Wishing everyone a Merry Little Christmas and the best in the New Year!

End of 2010

2010-12-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Who the hell am I to critique music? I've never recorded a song. I don't even play any instruments. I've been appreciating music for as long as I can remember and I generally tend toward stuff most people haven't heard. Here is a list of the albums and EP's that have stuck with me this year. The two trends I've apparently enjoyed most about music this year is good harmonies and 80's style hazy, reverb-echo.

Top Albums / EP's of 2010

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
the Morning Benders - Big Echo
Wild Nothing - Gemini
Tame Impala - Innerspeaker
Twin Shadow - Forget
Librarians - Present Passed
Casa Castile - Vake EP
Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr - Horse Power EP
Gigi - Maintenent
Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils (this song is on a 7", not on this album, but they don't have any videos...)
Wolf Parade - Expo 86
Parenthetical Girls - Privilege Pt. 1 & 2 (Parenthetical Girls are releasing their next album over the course of... a year(?) one 4 song EP at a time)

Favorite 15 Songs of 2010 (songs not found on the favorite albums/EP's list above)
LCD Soundsystem - dance yrself clean
Rafter - no fucking around
Warpaint - billie holiday
Born Ruffians - what to say
Woods - death rattles
Black Keys - tighten up
Tame Impala - remember me (it's not on innerspeaker)
Books - I didn't know that
Cee Lo Green - fuck you (that's a catchy tune)
Suckers - before your birthday ends
Dumbo Gets Mad - eclectic prawn
Forgetters - vampire lessons (blake schwarzenbach's return!)
Gayngs - cry
Inlets - bright orange air
Reggie Watts - fuck shit stack

Biggest DISAPPOINTMENTS of 2010:
Maximum Balloon (Come on David Sitek, was this just a bunch of crap you had laying around the studio and thought you should release as something outside of TVOTR?)
Interpol It's no wonder why Carlos D left. Nothing has been that good since your debut a decade ago. boo.
Menomena (What a boring album. Sometimes Less is LESS...and dull)
the National (Every song on this new album has the same pace and tempo. They are better than this.)
Miles Kurosky (Remember being awesome in Beulah? What happened?)
Best Coast (I guess I was expecting more, what with all the hype around this band. It's nothing new or different. "Boyfriend" is a decent song, but it does not live up to the hype)

New Discoveries in 2010:
Yo La Tengo
I know, what kind of indie music nerd am I? I never really gave them a chance, but one day I purchased I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass simply because I love the title. It's a great album and I'm stupid for not getting into them before.
A continued fascination with Raymond Scott. I'll bet this guy was a lunatic with a brilliant, one-channel mind.
Nino Rota. Specifically the soundtrack to Giulietta Degli Spiriti. It is one of the coolest sounding albums I've heard in a long time.
Jonathan Fire*Eater. Where was I when these guys were all the rage in NYC? I fell hard for these guys and collected everything I could find in about two weeks. They are so much better than the Walkmen. Crazy. Get their EP Tremble Under Boom Lights and see how awesome they are.
I got into finding weird, obscure oldies in 2010. Some easy to find, some just strange.
Highlights:
the Treniers - poontang
Thurl Ravenscroft/Roberta Lee 45 - wing ding ding / I wanna talk about texas
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons - beggin'
Byrds - you showed me (turtles song / cover)

Also - I don't understand how the Arcade Fire album that came out this year is topping everyone's lists. It sounds like they are doing their best Bruce Springsteen impression all over that thing.

Holiday Coffee

2010-12-04T23:46:00.000-08:00

I work for a wonderful family owned coffee shop in Portland, Kobos Coffee. This is the holiday coffee we're packaging and selling this season. I love that the decaf snowman has been decafitated.

M&M's

2010-11-23T21:26:00.001-08:00

My Holiday M&M's commercial is on line.

Daylight Savings

2010-11-07T18:32:00.001-08:00

This is what I did with the extra hour of daylight I saved today.

the Ponys - let's kill ourselves from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

I was listening to the Ponys and got inspired to make a video. I took footage (for free) from Archive.com, which is supposed to be public domain footage. If you look and listen carefully there might be a hidden message in here somewhere...

Love Gun

2010-11-04T23:16:00.000-07:00

Who's Love Gun do you prefer? Paul Stanley & Kiss
Love Gun - Kiss by joelneto
or Cee-Lo Green & Lauren Bennett?
Love Gun - Cee Lo Green feat. Lauren Bennett by RU2010
It's kind of a tough call.

Neutrino Halloween

2010-10-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

The Portland Neutrino Project at the Curious Comedy Theater
"Curious zombies"
October 29, 2010

Curious zombies from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Halloween

2010-10-31T21:29:00.001-07:00

I'm against dressing dogs up in people clothes, so this year for halloween we let Arlo pick his own costume. He decided to go as the dog who got eaten by pillows. Good boy.

Local Natives

2010-10-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

It hasn't been since I first heard Grizzly Bear's album YELLOW HOUSE that I've been this obsessed with a new band / album.
If you are not listening to the Local Natives yet, you need to get on this train.
Their album GORILLA MANOR is the best thing I've heard in a long time. It's been out for 10 months and I've listened to it over a hundred times. I love everything about it.

star wars

2010-10-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

I'm not much of a start wars fan, but I thought this was pretty funny.

Scary Neutrino

2010-10-29T13:06:00.001-07:00

Pinkerton's Revenge from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

This show is best seen in the live setting. This movie is created on the fly. The audience is in the theater and we run out and shoot scenes - the tapes are run back to the theater and projected as the next scenes are being shot.

The upload quality is not the best here, as it's a 30 minute movie - but this is a good sample of what the Neutrino Project in Portland is like.

and so we don't end on a scary, bad note - we also do silly movies:

Short Short Jollies from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

With each live production, the audience chooses the genre.

Right Hand Reg

2010-10-07T10:36:00.001-07:00

The new Curious Comedy Sketch show opens this weekend. It's called Right Hand Red and it's game themed. You will receive a bingo card with ticket purchase. When you come in there will be four game stations around the theater where you can play Connect Four, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots and more!
When the show begins, we will pull a number out of our Bingo ball machine and the audience will cross it off their Bingo cards. Each number has a corresponding scene that will be performed. The running order will be different with every show - and if you get BINGO you win a prize! It's very fun, very different and very exciting.
Come check it out Fridays and Saturdays at the Curious Comedy Theater!
Written by and starring:
Alex Gavlick, Bob Ladewig, Don Colliver, Gabe Dinger, Jack Morrison, Joe Boulenbaugh, Josh Fisher, Katie Behrens, Laura James, Stacey Hallal & Virginia Jones

www.curiouscomedy.org

Paris Recap 2

2010-09-30T05:32:00.001-07:00

Of course these were in most of the places we stayed. I'm sad to say I never used one...

I saw a lot of fun signs around, which is what most of my pictures are of. Something about the signage of a different culture catches my eye. No walking with children allowed on this small street near Sacrecure.
All of the parks we visited have roped off/fenced off grass sections. People are not allowed to walk or sit on the grass in Paris. All the lawns are well manicured and have little paths cut through the lawns where you walk. In one small park where our apartment was, they even had a tiny section cut out for dogs.
and whatever it is you're thinking, just know that you do not have priority.
In La Maison de La Vache Qui Rit they had a lot of old advertisements all over the walls. This one caught my eye, for obvious reasons.
And while we were there we ate a lot of different cheese, but none of them were as tasteless as this kind... (Ha Ha). My body still has not come back to West Coast US time. I'm waking up between 4 and 5 AM every day. I should be asleep right now, but I can't. Damn you, timezones!

Paris Recap 1

2010-09-26T19:33:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun on our long trip to France. It's hard to make it all make sense in a recap right here - and I have to upload my pictures one at a time, so I'm doing it step by step. Here is the first batch of pictures and brief explanations of some of the things we did while in France.
As part of our accidental creepy tour of Paris, we stumbled into two different cemeteries, one where Oscar Wilde was buried - and the other where Serge Gainsbourg was laid to rest.

At this park there was a little pond where French children could rent tiny boats to push around with sticks. So Cute.
Check out this lovely park
Hung out around Montparnasse for a while
and of course... the famous french tower thing.

final work day

2010-09-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

And finally, after 4 days of working with La Vache Qui Rit, the presentation went well - they're excited about Character findings and now know what their main story conflict is, Stacey has gone to bed... in her new Parisian dress. How adorable.

Back in Paris

2010-09-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

We left the small town of Lons at 8 this morning and made our way back to Paris.
For tonight, we're staying in the Hotel Bedford, but we're moving to the Apartment we rented tomorrow. Everyone from Character is doing the presentation this afternoon / evening. I spent a few hours wandering around the area we're in. We're near a huge Opera and everything looks exactly the same. It's pretty touristy with a lot of American stores to shop in. Not sure what I'll be doing tonight, but I'm happy to be back in Paris.

Lons Le Saunier

2010-09-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

We took two trains for a total of just over three hours Southeast from Paris. We are maybe 60 miles from Geneva? Something like that. It is a small town that is home to La Vache Qui Rit (Laughing Cow Cheese). We set up the Character camp at Le Maison de la Vache Qui Rit this morning. I'm pretty sure it's the whole reason this town exists. Yesterday, when going from the local train depot to our hotel we asked a depot employee, the guy at a pizza place and our cab driver all "What is there to do in this town?" The most popular answer was "Pfffftttt!" Bonne Chance. The second most popular answer was Masion de La Vache Qui Rit - so luckily that's where camp is.
It is a beautiful French village with a lot of charm, narrow roads and nothing to do. We are staying at Hotel de Parenthese. The Parentheses Hotel... I think they're waiting for something exiting to put between the parentheses...

France arrival

2010-09-17T03:34:00.000-07:00

We traveled nine hours into the future over the course of the day/night. I am writing you to let you know - it looks good. I realized that I will not be able to post any of the pictures that I'm taking, so I will have to go back and update each blog post I make while I'm here in France, because my phone has to send my pictures to my account.
I used to be able to plug in my phone and access it like a hard drive, but A) I didn't bring any firewire cables and B) My new phone doesn't even operate that way...
So - I will write up what I want to write and do my best to remember to post pictures at a later date.
We left Portland around 10:30 Thursday morning and flew 25 whole minutes to Seattle.
We then left Seattle headed for Paris around 1:15 pm Thursday afternoon. We arrived in Paris at 8:45 am Friday morning, boarded a train and made it to our hotel.
We unpacked our stuff and went out in search of a light lunch. We found some decent stuff (pictures of funny-named boulangerie stuff and crazy meringue things). Got a good picture of Stacey taking a bite of a gigantic coffee meringue.

It's lovely. Now we have to do our best to stay awake until 9pm tonight - we're fighting off jet lag. ugh.

Home Again

2010-09-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

We had a great time away from Portland over the past week and a half.
Saw plenty of friends, family and fun times happening. It's nice to be back home, if only for two and a half days. How cute is this baby???

Stacey and Matt at the alter, about to use the powers vested in them to marry Sarah and Arnie.

A strange upload of a picture of Natalie and Stacey on the Addison redline platform. Hello friends!

Another pretty view of the chapel with our good friends Scot and Holly posing as the happy married couple on a bridge.

where the hell is Galena, Illinois?

2010-09-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

We set off around 11 am from Chicago and headed Northwest to Galena. Holy crap is it far away from reality. I can't remember the last time I saw this much corn. Arnie and Sarah's wedding is this afternoon and things couldn't be prettier. It's a strange town, but I can't think of a better place for these two weirdos to wed.

Pictures from our Austin show

2010-09-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

The festival had a photographer at every show. We got some good pictures taken of our performance thanks to Roy Moore for taking such great pictures of us.

Friends!

2010-09-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

We spent today seeing as many friends as we could. It was so great to see all the wonderful people we haven't seen in far too long. Thanks to everyone for being such great people and listen to us bother you about coming to Portland.

Here's Jay and Melissa with their beautiful baby boy, Colin. We love these jerks.

These are things that make me laugh

2010-09-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

remix song:

Chicago 2010

2010-09-07T16:14:00.001-07:00

We have been in Chicago about 24 hours now. It hasn't changed a bit. Of course, we've only been at the airport and around wrigleyville - so I haven't seen all my old haunts yet.
There is a huge Target a few blocks North of where we used to live... so I guess that's one change.
I had to pick up one of these today, while I was out grocery shopping for the dinner we're making our hosts tonight.
Our hosts. Sarah and Arnie. They are getting married this weekend, which is the whole purpose for our visit. Don't they already look like a perfect couple, here at dinner last night outside at Leona's..? Too perfect.

New Pals, mini golf

2010-09-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today, as part of the improv festival we had a mini golf challenge. We were put into teams with other improvisors from around the country and played a two hour round of mini golf. it was great. I was on a group with my friend Joel from Seattle, a couple (Tom and Anna) from Minneapolis, Jeff Griggs from Chicago, and Rod, Raychel and Prescott - who I never found out where they were from. It was a lot of fun... even though it was hot as Texas.

Also, I found a flickr page with a group of photos from our show on Friday. Thanks to Roy Moore for taking and posting pictures of us in action! Click this link::> Jean Louis

Austin

2010-09-05T14:55:00.001-07:00

Fun things I've learned about Austin since I've been here
1. Austin's Capital Building faces south so they will have no problem turning their back on the rest of the country when they declare themselves a sovereign nation.
2. Ironworks - a famous Austin BBQ joint with their own BBQ sauce recipe tastes, to me, just like the BBQ sauce at Mcdonalds.
3. Also - they have Texas' most impressive salad bar

Checked in, Checked out (shows)

2010-09-02T22:02:00.001-07:00

We made it to the Salvage Vanguard Theater this evening. We checked in and got our badges / T Shirts and we checked out a couple shows.
Grandma Hates Technology was a very fun, cute improv show. A father/daughter team who improvise together. She's twelve (I think) and already a very clever improvisor. They're from New Jersey and they're not muscle-bound idiots!
Available Cup Holders - holy crap. The improvised set they did was hilarious right from the beginning. A group of "actors" putting up a play from the first table read - to the final show night. A ridiculous format for a team of 4 great improvisors. They had us laughing for 45 minutes straight.
Jill Bernard and our host Asaf did their two person set called Switch, in which Jill had the line of the night, "You are about to have the most magical evening of your night." Ridiculous.
She then surprised Asaf with a scooter she has been taking collections for, from the Austin improv community. It was pretty great. He was shocked. Now he'll never have to ask for a ride again.

Good first night for the Out Of Bounds comedy festival. Tomorrow night, we perform!

Hey Austin!

2010-09-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

I made a postcard for our show here at the Out of Bounds festival. If you're in Austin, come check us out.

Made it to Austin

2010-09-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

We left our home in Portland at 4 am and have landed in Austin.

Hey everyone... Austin is freakin' HHOOTT!! No joke. I forget how spoiled we are in Portland because we have weather. Austin - so far: Dry and Hot.
We were picked up by one of our hosts (Tom... thank you, Tom) and were driven back to Asaf (and Tom)'s apartment, where we'll be staying this weekend.
Asaf then took us out to lunch and grocery shopping so we could stock up and not have to spend thousands of dollars on food at every meal. Look what Texas has. Individual servings of jalepeno peppers, packaged for your convenience.
Also - we have a pair of weiner dogs as neighbors. Fun times. We'll be checking out the festival tonight and performing tomorrow.

Jean Louis world tour!

2010-09-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at 6:15 am our flight leaves Portland - headed to Austin Texas for the Out OF Bounds Comedy Festival. We will be performing Friday night at 9pm. Check out the
Out Of Bounds Festival for more details. I hope to keep up-to-date posts here during the trip.

Saturday August 21st

2010-08-26T10:21:00.002-07:00

We made a Romantic Melodrama called the "Short Short Jollies". Keep in mind, we make these movies as the audience watches them... well, moments before the audience watches them. Seeing them as a final product without the process is nowhere near as fun - but they can turn out good short films as well.

Short Short Jollies from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Friday August 13th

2010-08-26T10:21:00.001-07:00

We made a horror movie for Neutrino. Try to not pee yourself.

Pinkerton's Revenge from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Neutrino

2010-08-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

We're doing it again. This time... for real. "Live every week like it were Shark Week"

this place

2010-07-23T10:28:00.001-07:00

If you haven't been to this place yet, what the hell are you waiting for? We've got the Curious Comedy Covers show this weekend and next weekend and the Portland Neutrino Project each weekend in August. There is no reason you should be looking for comedy anywhere else.

I'm not sure

2010-07-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Have you seen how sweet this little guy is? I know, it's been a while - so you might as well take in a little reminder of how goddamn cute Arlo is. Seriously, it doesn't get much cuter than this dumb little mutt. (he also poses for glamour shots)

New Shows startin' up

2010-07-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

Two big things started this week at the theater, 1) we are preparing the cast for the Summer 2010 Portland Neutrino Project. We have started the rehearsals for next month's Neutrino Project. With a cast of 16, I have six of them as returning participants - so TEN BRAND NEW PEOPLE who have never seen a Neutrino Project before. That makes it tough, but the rehearsals are fun. We're streamlining the format in an effort to make a better movie. I think it's going to work. You should check it out every Friday and Saturday in August at 8pm.

Escape Velocity from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

2) We have begun rehearsals for our next full sketch show. It will open in October and have an experimental format. Right now we're still working it out, but we're looking at doing a certain number of scenes in a specific amount of time in random order. We will have areal artists and a musical director, performer/writers and just writers. So, a lot of people will be working on this show that, as of right now - has no specific format other than "Variety Show". It's going to be crazy fun. The cast is awesome.

stop doing terrible improv

2010-07-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

Please,
If you are a college improv group and you're having fun doing short form improv and being really jokey and hilarious, do me a favor and stop. Learn about what you're doing.
If you ever are on stage and you say a line and then look out to the audience for approval - stop performing. Stop doing improv and stop performing all together. You are doing it for all the wrong reasons. You are an asshole and you shouldn't be on stage.
It makes me angry. Sorry for my tirade.

New Show in July

2010-06-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

Coming in July we'll be doing a covers show at the theater. It's an idea Stacey had a while ago. We asked our cast to learn a stand up set from their favorite comedians and to put their own modern spin on it. It's the Curious Comedy Covers show. You can see Stacey pay tribute to Bob Newhart and I'll be doing some Emo Philips jokes. It should be fun. We'll be doing it every weekend in July!

Moratorium

2010-06-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

I have been watching a lot of sketch/stand up/short film/live comedy lately and I've noticed a few things that get over-used and are no longer funny. Some of them I'm not sure ever were funny, so I thought I'd make a list of things for people to reference when writing or performing comedy. I want people to know what things they can avoid simply because it's not worth anyone's time. These situations/topics have been milked of all their comedic value and are not worth using.

1. The Patient / Psychiatrist Scenario.
How many goddamn movies/books/scenes have we seen a patient sitting on a couch forwarding a plot by slowly revealing bullshit story lines to his psychiatrist? Too many. It is no longer a worthy plot tool. Don't do it. It has been done. Try something new.

2. Pot Humor.
Good lord. How many movies did Cheech & Chong make in the 80's? Twenty? Has pot humor ever been funnier than the first time you saw it? No. Has pot humor changed at all since the first time you saw it? No. Pot makes people slow and/or lazy. People that smoke pot don't react quickly. People that smoke pot get hungry and are not as smart as everyone else. We get it. Stop Doing It. It's not funny.

3. Religion is CrAzY!?!
Everyone who believes in any certain religion sure is different than people who don't believe in any religion at all. Am I right? Who cares? Move on. You pointing out that people who have a certain religious belief is boring. I get it. People believe in things based solely on faith is weird. Hey, I think that too. Stop 'preaching to the choir' (ha ha...ugh.) You're not changing anyone's opinion and it's no longer funny. I just stopped listening to myself.

4. Hipsters sure are jerks.
It's true. We know. Big deal.

5. People from the south like guns and trucks.
Yes. And airplane food tastes funny. What's your point?

6. I call my scene partner "Sis" or "Uncle" to better establish our relationship.
This isn't used to make things funny (always) but it is over-used in poorly written short films and improv scenes and I want it to stop. People don't talk that way in real life, why make your movies or scenes worse by cheapening the dialogue? Stop it.

Feel free to add to this list.

making Portland more home-like

2010-06-10T12:00:00.003-07:00

Guess what we found in Portland just this week?
A Jimmy John's!!! Delicious, rapidly prepared fresh subs - Originated in my college-town of Charleston Illinois has made its way to Portland and I am happy. I've gone there twice in 4 days. I may have a problem. PS - congrats to the Blackhawks for a Stanley Cup win.
Over the weekend we had visiting guests at the theater. Julia and Mark from Chicago brought some crazy, chicago-improv energy to the stage and we had one heck of a fun show. Thanks to a great crowd and great friends!

Arlo is 4 years old

2010-06-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

this little mutt turned 4 on June 6th. Happy Birthday to the best, most spoiled little dope you will ever meet.

birthday recap

2010-06-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of it was digitally captured, but I had a great week long birthday celebration.
It began with a quest for a new bicycle helmet on Wednesday. Stacey tried to surprise me and took me to 5 different bike shops in Portland. We eventually found out that what I'm looking for doesn't exist (or at least, wouldn't be obtainable that day - a matte brown skate helmet), so we decided to give up. We walked to the bike shop near our new house to make a donation (Stacey's 15 year old bike) and it turns out - they had a great helmet there for cheaper than any of the other places we went. We Win! When we finally got home there was a letter in the mailbox addressed to me from Chicago. Stacey got me a cat from our friend Steve who wants to draw a cat for you.

Stacey then took me out to our favorite and tastiest eatery for a wonderful birthday dinner. Thank you Stacey and thank you Veritable Quandary. We ended the night teaching Level 2 improv class at the theater to a great collection of students!
Thursday was a great show at Mississippi Studios featuring SUCKERS and LOCAL NATIVES. My friend Alex bought me a ticket for my birthday and she, Stacey and myself saw an incredibly tight set by Local Natives. It is obvious to me that they have been touring this album for over a year, but it sounded amazing. See them if they come to your town. Along with the ticket, Alex also got me this boss coffee traveler. Thanks Alex!
On Friday, my friends Allegra and Kristian (who both live in Brooklyn now) had a wedding reception at the theater. It was woodland creature themed and the theater looked awesome. Even in the day! - So it was nice to be at the theater on a Friday night at a party for two great people and not have to do too much work. It was a wonderful wedding reception. Thanks for including us in your plans Legs and Kristian!
Saturday saw our good friend from Seattle, Joel (who's birthday was on the 28th) come to town and we asked him to play in our show. It's always fun to play with Joel. He's a great improvisor and a great person to be around. I can't believe I didn't piece it together as the evening progressed, but throughout the night many friends of mine kept showing up during the show/at intermission. I didn't know why... I guess I was focused on the show - we had a sold out crowd, so I wanted to make sure everything went well. Turns out, Stacey had organized a surprise party for me. I had no idea and it was a perfect way to see all (at least MOST) my Portland friends together for my birthday.
Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with me. I appreciate all the birthday wishes from my friends everywhere. I really needed it after a stressful couple of weeks. Things are really wonderful and I'm in a great place thanks to everyone around me!

fun.

2010-05-26T23:01:00.001-07:00

I love it.

Brrrrthday

2010-05-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

I had a great birthday. Thanks to all my friends, family and that girl I love, Stacey for helping me ring in my 33rd year. I'm one lucky fella.

still moving in

2010-05-23T19:27:00.001-07:00

So we're slowly moving out of our old place and into the new one. There is a lot more room in our new home. It's pretty great. Boxes are slowly getting unpacked and things are getting put into place. It's a process, but it's nowhere near as stressful as every other move we've done. We're staying pretty happy, and Arlo is as cute as ever. He loves all the windows he gets to stare out of. He's a weirdo. As Stacey and I were getting ready this morning, I looked out our bedroom door to find this: Apparently, somebody's already been up for a while and would like to go outside... so hurry up.

Things at the theater have been up and down lately. Friday night was rough-times. A tough crowd and a show that wasn't very good. We tried, believe me we tried, it just wasn't right. Then Saturday night we had two different birthday parties and a full house. The shows were great, the audience was awesome and everyone was happy in the end. It felt a lot better than the previous night. Sometimes it's hard to remember that you can please all the people all the time. Live and learn, I suppose.

why do I do this?

2010-05-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I've been watching this 21 second clip every day for a week - and forcing friends to watch it. I can't explain why I think it's the funniest thing in the world right now.

Furniture in

2010-05-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

We have decided to allow ourselves to take a month to move instead of getting everything from one place to the other in a weekend. It's a wise move on our parts as we already have very little free time as it is, so the more time we have to move the better.
Last weekend we got some really great furniture (for our GREAT room) from City Liquidators... like this chair This matching loveseat and this wicked couch For real, check this sectional chaise out! We got this rug too, but it was a little small for the size of this great room, so we have since returned it and ordered another We have been watching a lot of MadMen lately, which is what I blame on our choice of style for the furniture. I wanted our livingroom to look like a place where a group of well dressed men could sip gin, smoke cigars and verbally abuse women like they did in the early 60's.

where the heart is

2010-05-05T23:04:00.001-07:00

The papers were signed and keys were exchanged. Stacey and I are now officially HOMOwners. It's difficult to capture the whole "Great Room" of our space, but here are some photo attempts at doing just that... The whole place is pretty awesome. We're waiting for the carpet to be laid upstairs (the old carpet was ripped up as part of our purchase agreement). Walls have been painted to our liking and today the furnace was serviced (which is why I had so much time to take these pictures). It seems like a really great place we'll be happy in for a while. Minimum of five years I'm guessing. We even have a small backyard we'll have to learn how to take care of ourselves!

a Political Success

2010-04-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

Candidates Gone Wild photo from Willamette Week.

Stacey and I have had a busy few weeks. We're doing our best staying on top of it all, but if it takes a little while for us to get back to you on anything - we apologize.
This past Monday night we performed with Willamette Week's CANDIDATES GONE WILD show. We wrote a speech and song for Sarah Palin to sing (Stacey playing Sarah Palin) and participated in a Cop Training sketch written by fellow Portland sketch comedians LiveWire! The review and image above can be read/seen here:
CANDIDATES GONE WILD
It was a very fun show to be a part of and we're happy we got asked by WW and Courtnay from LiveWire! to participate in the show.
Here I am in the greenroom w/ Sarah Palin. This is taken through the mirror, which is why it looks so weird.

This coming weekend closes our sketch show called Sock It To Me and next weekend Stacey and I will be opening our (mostly)new 2 person show under the Jean Louis moniker. We don't have a lot of time to get the show up and running, so we're going to be a little out of contact (hopefully) focusing on our show.

We also just signed on our house, so as far as I know - we're homeowners. We'll be moving into it in a couple weeks.

more to come...

Bridgetown Saturday

2010-04-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Last night was one of those evenings where doing comedy feels amazing. It was the Bridgetown Comedy Festival all this weekend and we had our own shows at our theater. Most of the performers in our 8 o'clock show were double-booked and needed the night off to play at Bridgetown, or were otherwise engaged, which brought our cast of 8 down to 3. We knew we couldn't do our regular show with those numbers - so instead we put together a "best of" kind of at the last minute and had no idea how it would turn out. Luckily, we're all improvaders and it was pretty awesome. Our good friends Nate and Nathan stepped in and helped us out. We had at least 60 people in the crowd, which is always the way when you have no idea what to expect. All our dancers / aerial artists were there, so those pieces were done - and we did a 40 minute longform set with five of us... which was probably the best set of the night. Stacey and I did a Jean Louis set in the second act... at the end of which we had to rush across town to perform in the Bridgetown Comedy Festival. We did a 4 person improv set opening for ASSSCAT (the UCB Theater).
The Hawthorne Theater was packed and we had a pretty good set. I say pretty good because we were told we'd have 10 or 15 minutes - so we prepared for that. Around the 15 minute mark we started to end our show, but no lights were pulled... so we kept going. We got about a 25 minute set, so we made it work (remember - we're improvaders, that's what we do) but it wasn't as strong as it could have been.
Either way, it was a great/crazy night to remember - where improv comes out on top!

video for our kids show

2010-04-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

The Curious Garden is the kids show we do once a month. It's episodic and each show tells a story (and if you're not careful you may learn something). With each episode we always have so much fun, we inevitably come up with bits that are a little inappropriate for kids - so we have an adult version we do.
In our April episode, Daisy is a rap star. Here's his music video with a song we recorded:

Daisy's Rap Video from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Every character in the show lives in a garden. Daisy is, of course a flower. We also have Button, who is a Bunny who eats everything:

Button's Confessional from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Razzie is a fairy that lives at the Garden and has brought all these creatures to life.
There is a Farmer and a Lawn Jockey who don't have videos or pictures yet, but the Gnome represents them in the music video above.

Service

2010-04-16T01:06:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of differences between living in Chicago and living in Portland, but the one that probably bothers me the most is the service industry out here. I haven't found a restaurant with a dependable, speedy staff yet... AND service industry folks here get minimum wage. It is insane HOW GODDAMN SLOW everyone at every restaurant here is. I could go anywhere in Chicago and get quicker / better service at any time of day. It was rare that I would go to a place and not get waited on in under five minutes. Here in Portland you're lucky to get anyone in five minutes. It's stupid. What's wrong with these west-coasters?

a scene in the dark

2010-04-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

This is a fun scene that was originally done by Stacey and Sean Cusick in Chicago in their two person sketch show. We revamp it a bit for Jean Louis because it's a great example of communication and relationship, which was the theme or our show.

the Jean Louis show (pt 3 of 6) from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Turbulence

2010-04-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

For a long time I wanted do a scene dealing with two strangers' possible last moments during serious turbulence on a plane...

the Jean Louis Show (pt 2 of 6) from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Jean Louis show footage

2010-04-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to uploading and editing video of our two person show. I'll periodically post some scenes here. Here's a favorite scene of mine called Maternity Window:

the Jean Louis Show (pt 5 of 6) from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Sausage Party

2010-04-06T01:09:00.001-07:00

Sausage Party! from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

Sock It To Me!

2010-04-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

We opened last night to a great crowd. Come to the Curious Comedy Theater to see one of the most quick-paced and quick-witted sketch comedy shows we've ever done. Every weekend in April!

Uh...

2010-03-27T16:05:00.001-07:00

yikes.

Sprungtime

2010-03-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

Boy is this little guy cute.

HOUSE

2010-03-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

At the end of this summer it will be three years that Stacey and I have lived in Portland. We have a great theater and a shitty apartment... so we finally took the next step and made an offer on our own house. It's a townhouse, not a HOUSEhouse, but it is lovely (especially comparing it to the tiny box we've been living in for seven months). We'll finally have a place that we can comfortably invite guests over / entertain / or even house guest-performers who we have at the theater. It's exciting! The place isn't exactly ours, yet. Our offer was accepted and we still have to go through the closing, but if all goes well - we should be moving in by May first. We'll have a big house-warming / birthday party!!!

Chicago recap

2010-03-20T16:18:00.001-07:00

I am sitting in Chicago's O'Hare Airport awaiting my delayed flight back home to Portland. I suppose it hasn't happened all that much to me in my life, so I was bound to be forced to spend FAR TOO MUCH TIME IN AN AIRPORT OR TWO sooner or later.
Anyway, I had a great visit with my family. I really love all these great/crazy people. I wouldn't be who I am today without 'em.
The highlights of my day, so far:
I've been here for five days. Each day saw clear skies and temperatures in the 60's. It was incredible. Of course today, the day I leave - I wake up to this: Snow. I guess it's mid/late March in Chicago, so I shouldn't be surprised... but really? The day I leave? Thanks, sour-home Chicago.
Then, I went to the grocery store with my grandmother (Good ol' Jewel/Osco) and saw something that reminded me why Chicago is so special: Bucket O' Ribs. I'll always remember my friend Rich's Second City scene where that was a small punchline. "Bucket O' Ribs".
After getting home and unloading the groceries from the van I told my grandmother I forgot to leave the keys in the van. She told me I should put them back in there now, "otherwise the next time I get in there to go somewhere I'll have to come back inside for the keys and the swearing will begin". Hilarious. I love that lady.

So yeah. I'm heading back home to Portland. I might make it before tomorrow, but you never really know. awesome. Thanks Mother Nature.

babies babies babies

2010-03-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

Spent a good portion of my day with my cousins. My uncle Dan and his wife Maya are two of the greatest people in the world. Their children, Aydan, Ethan and Sofia are seriously the best looking kids you will ever see. Here is little Sofia in the arms of my Grandmother Gracie. and Aydan & Ethan with my mother Pam. I've got a pretty great family. I'm glad I got to see them this week.

Chicago

2010-03-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

I got to see some great things yesterday. The first one (or two): My good friend Matt robbing his baby Simone. It was so nice to get away from emotional family time to see a good friend and his new baby girl. Not only is she cute, but a great conversationalist...

Simone Larsen talking from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

After that, I headed over to Second City where my friend Beth got me in to see her ETC show. They are in the middle of the process of transitioning from their last show to the new one. It was great. Everyone in the cast is hilarious and all the sketches worked. I don't know how many of the scenes from the show were new or old, but everything flowed really well and it looked pretty solid already. Hard to believe they're only halfway through the process. Bill (the director) is doing a great job and Tom, Brendan, Mary, Christina, Tim and Beth are brilliant in the show. I guess I've needed some inspiration for the sketch shows we're doing at my theater - and I couldn't have asked for a better show. Congratulations guys, it's going to be amazing.
A nice night away after a difficult and emotional week. Thank you, friends.

Precious

2010-03-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

My family is great. It was so nice to see some family members whom I haven't seen in over five years... not to mention my 10 day old cousin Sofia: Seriously, the cutest, tiniest little 10 day old girl in the world. She is a living doll.
It's been close to five years since I've seen my sister and lovely little nieces (though they're not so little anymore - they're growing up fast!) Ashley, 15 Emily, 12 Hannah, 9
Mandie & Me It is great to see everyone and I am promising to be better at keeping in touch.

Rough Monday

2010-03-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a strange few days and it just seems to be getting worse. Right now, I'm sitting in the Phoenix Airport waiting for a flight to Chicago. I left Portland this morning at 5:30 am, got here at 8 am and have been bumped off the first 3 to Chicago. As my last resort, I'm flying from here to Milwaukee Wisconsin at 6:45 pm.
I'm going to Chicago because my Grandfather passed away this weekend. I will miss him more than I can explain on a blog. He was a great man and had a solid impact / influence on my becoming who I am today. Both he and my Grandmother (Nana & Papa) are the greatest people in the world. So kind, funny and family oriented. I love them both dearly and I know this week home in Chicago is not going to be easy for any of us.
The day I found out about Papa's passing, I had an audition for Leverage (the TV show that films in Portland). It was my 3rd audition for the show and I felt like I finally got it right... So, of course - I leave Portland this morning, spend an entire day in the Phoenix airport and find out - I got a callback for Leverage. Of course I did. I could have left Portland on the last flight out to Chicago and made it after going to the callback today, but that's not how it works. So here is my mixtape of Songs from my Trip Through Phoenix:
Airport Waiting Music
Broadcast 2000 - rouse your bones
Man Man - 10 lb moustache
Brasstronaut - six toes
Local Natives - sun hands
Class Actress - journal of ardency
Francoise Hardy - oh oh cheri
Erland and the Carnival - disturbed this morning
the Bee Gees - nights on broadway
Princeton - eminent victorians
Mereva Galanter - bang bang
Fang Island - the Illinoise
Miles Kurosky - notes from the Polish underground
Stereo Total - moi je joue
Pavement - harness your hopes
Sisters of Transisters - sisterhead
Gothic Archies - shipwrecked
Dirty Projectors - remade horizon
Race Horses - pony
Au Secours Aidez - moi
Parenthetical Girls - afterwords

Gong Show Night

2010-03-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight. We watch Gong Show Episodes.
(That's Danny Elfman playing trombone)

Sock It To Me!

2010-03-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

The next full sketch comedy revue at the Curious Comedy Theater will be called SOCK IT TO ME. A modern day take on the old comedy variety shows of the 1960's format. We took photos this week and some of our characters look real. Almost too real... Virginia Jones / Bob Ladewig photo taken by Scott Rogers.

Ignite Portland 8

2010-03-05T11:13:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday, March 3 Scott Rogers and myself did a 5 minute presentation at Ignite Portland IGNITE PORTLAND Our speech was about Sketch Comedy. Ignite Portland is an event put on by a group of computer geniuses who wanted to create a forum for folks with unique interests. It gives people a chance to share something they are passionate about with a room full of a thousand people. You provide them with 15 to 20 slides and you give your presentation. We had worked with a few of the organizers at a different variety show type format, the 30 Hour Day. They knew we were going to mess around with the format a little bit. Here's what happened:

a new Covers Collection

2010-02-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've had a music post. I've been listening to a lot of older stuff lately. Mainly, stuff I used to listen to in junior high and high school. Instead of making a compilation of that music (which not many people will enjoy) - I thought I'd compile a new COVERS Collection. I've always been a fan of covers, so here's my early 2010 Covers Compilation:
2010 Covers
01)One Line Drawing - savory (jawbox)
02)Primus - making plans for nigel (xtc)
03)Robbers on High Street - cool it now (new edition)
04)J Church - last of the famous international playboys (morrissey)
05)Vampire Weekend - everywhere (fleetwood mac)
06)Elliott Smith - trouble (cat stevens)
07)Local Natives - warning sign (talking heads)
08)Mates of State - starman (david bowie)
09)the Faint - mote (sonic youth)
10)Parenthetical Girls - handsome devil (the smiths)
11)the Cardigans - iron man (black sabbath)
12)Matt Pond PA - holiday road (lindsey buckingham)
13)Grizzly Bear - he hit me (and it felt like a kiss) (the Crystals)
14)Antony & the Johnsons - crazy in love (Beyonce)
15)Lou Barlow - cold as ice (foreigner)
16)the Futureheads - hounds of love (kate bush)
17)Spoon - peace like a river (paul simon)
18)Of Montreal - friends of mine (the zombies)
19)Jawbox - cornflake girl (tori amos)
20)the Go Team! - bull in the heather (sonic youth)
21)the Last Shadow Puppets - in the heat of the morning (david bowie)
22)Lackthereof - what a fool believes (michael mcdonald)
23)Man Man - I'd rather go blind (etta james)
24)Koufax - steppin' out (joe jackson)
25)TV on the Radio - mr. grieves (pixies)

Weak End

2010-02-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

It's finally gotten back to "winter" here in Portland. Rain and grey skies for a few days. Still, we're not buried under a few feet of snow like everyone on the East coast, so that's good. Stacey and I did our first show outside the theater last night. Since we opened our place it's rare that we ever have a night off from it, but last night we went to the Woods and performed a few pieces of our sketch show. It was nice of the folks at Backfence PDX to ask us to play. The Woods is a cool place in SoutEast. So cool, in fact that Isaac Brock was there hanging out. He stopped us near the bar and told us what we did was neat. It's pretty hilarious to get a compliment from a half-drunken Isaac Brock. The night was a lot of fun and we made a lot of great connections. It's nice to be getting recognized for what we love doing.

Another Sunny Afternoon

2010-02-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

somebody is happy outside. It's a beautiful February here in Portland Oregon. We're going to see the Magnetic Fields tonight! It's wonderful!!!

gorgeous

2010-02-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

Oh my. It's been a lovely few days here in Portland. 60 degrees and sunny. I took the little guy out for a walk and had to take a picture of his cute, smiling face.
Stacey has been working in New York all week, so I've been running the theater all by myself (totally not true, we have a great crew of folks that put in a lot of awesome work - so thank you Laura, Greg, KT, Gabe and everyone else) But I'll tell you, it's exhausting. Now I have to get ready to do a show tonight, and the premiere of Jonah Weston's show 'The Devil and Billy Markham'. Get ready weekend... we're going to take you down.

Valentimes

2010-02-14T16:15:00.001-08:00

What a fun Saturday night the Curious Comedy Theater had last night.
I have some video of it, but haven't uploaded or looked at it... perhaps I will in the future. Probably not, but let's say I will.
Anywho - it was the first time we offered a special 'Dinner & a Show' at the theater for Valentines Day. Our awesome executive director Laura and a student of ours, Sean worked together to prepare one heck of a meal for the 14 folks who bought the special.
We also sold about 40 more tickets at the door. It was a pretty incredible night.
Nate & Nathan played with us, Stacey and I put on an improvised Jean Louis show and we did a great monologue based group show in the middle. It was super fun and enjoyed by all.
10 pm saw the Garden of Curious, our kids show for adults which featured one of our new, favorite games: Celebrity Vagimathics (remember, the Garden of Curious is a Kids Show for Adults... rated R)

Celebrity Vagimathics! from Curious Comedy on Vimeo.

I could tell we offended a few audience members last night, but we warned 'em before we started!
Stacey and I finally got home around 1 am, only to return to the theater at 9:30 this morning to put on the KIDS VERSION of the kids show (which didn't include the video above)... And now we're trying to relax and celebrate Valentines Day.
Sheesh.

bumper stickers

2010-02-12T16:23:00.001-08:00

Classy! right? Ah well. I got some Curious Comedy bumper stickers made. We have finally made it! Valentines Day Weekend. We got some comedy for the lovers!

The Boats Go

2010-02-10T17:50:00.001-08:00

They do.

February

2010-02-08T22:22:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody,
It's February. Things are a'happening. We've had a lot of great shows and audiences at the theater. We got a valentine's day special with dinner and a show. It's going to be ridiculous. That's this Saturday. You should be there! Blammo!

A review

2010-01-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

...more like a 'synopsis', but still - it's something in the Oregonian.

Review: 'Tandem' offers an amusing look at how men and women communicate (or don't)
By Holly Johnson

Dialogue between men and women, whether in real life or performance, is a circular, unending duet, both discordant and sweet.
In “Tandem,” created by a sketch comedy duo named Jean Louis (comprised of Stacey Hallal and Bob Ladewig), the subject of instant communication between the sexes or the total failure to communicate covers all sorts of ground in a one-hour show at the Curious Comedy Theater in North Portland.
Stereotypes are skewed, relationships are refreshingly unpredictable, and quick glimpses of life, surreally loopy or strikingly familiar, quickly come to life as the two lovingly cultivate that hybrid called the comedy sketch.
The short sketches fill about an hour, and in them often the actors’ characters are indeed in tandem. When a couple first meets in a café and find themselves saying the exact same things to each other in unison, and are unable to stop, as if some kind of metaphysical gear got stuck. “It was pretty funny at first, but now it’s getting a little creepy,” they chorus to one another in desperation.
In another scene, a man and woman on an airplane experience rough turbulence and lunge at each other lustfully for the few moments that it lasts.
Other times, communication is bewildering: When a first-time dad watches his newborn in a maternity ward, he meets a woman who regularly frequents the ward to offer men sex. It takes him a while to register her come-on.

Much of the best comedy is physical, and saturated with rich musical accompaniment. In an office scene (my favorite), a man and woman mime their sexual fantasies about each other to a dreamy score, never seeing each other’s actions, and only connecting on a superficial level when the music suddenly changes to something nerve-jangling.

Hallal and Ladewig come together hilariously as an in-sync couple when they appear to be selecting pets at a dog pound, with unwitting members of the audience serving as the dogs.
Hallal is best-known for her highly successful “The Humperdink Family Reunion,” a one-woman show previously performed in Portland before it toured North America. Ladewig, who looks a bit like David Tennant, the British actor playing the current “Doctor Who,” is a former student of the renown comedy theaters of Chicago, a writer, performer and teacher of improvisational and sketch comedy and an actor in commercials.
The atmosphere at the Curious Comedy Theater is laidback, friendly and casual. It’s usually a packed venue on weekends, but the cheerful folks in charge always seem to miraculously pull out extra chairs for late-comers. It’s a party where you may not know everyone, but where after a show you feel connected.

cut and pasted from here