Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Mix Tape: S.O.L. by Pat Young
Pat has been performing improv for a while, because that's all he's wanted to do. He got his BA in Theatre at Florida State University, while also performing on the school's improv troupe Oncoming Traffic. He has also performed at the Miami Improv Festival, the Dirty South Improv Festival, and the Black Box Improv Festival. He moved to Atlanta in July of 2006, where he began peforming at The Basement Theatre under the artistic direction of J*. He was appointed Improv Director of The Basement in January of 2007. One of his most memorable moments at the Basement was when Mo Collins of MadTV fame performed a scene with him where she became the physical manifestation of his pirate "man jewels." Currently, Pat performs in Free Kittens! with the JaCKPie Theatre Workshop at Relapse Theatre.
Pat wastes his free time by working for a brokerage and playing Guitar Hero.
Here are Pat's notes on creating this month's Mixtape:
Most people had anticipated me creating a mix with nothing but metal and fast paced songs with indiscernible lyrics. Oh ho, not so fast! I’ve designed shows before, and it wasn’t gonna be that way! I also purposefully only put ten songs on the tape to allow Jim some room to do longer scenes.
Obviously, SOL stands for Stages of Life, but I tried to be subtle and make it seem like it meant Shit Outta Luck.
I really wanted it to be a mixtape…not just a “tape” with songs that I like but a real MIX of songs that carry an overall theme. So I started looking for songs that had spoke or had mention of various stages of life. Tool had “infancy” Toys R Us is a kids song, BNL had 9th grade, ST was a very young-adult angst song. Aladdin was tough because I wanted it to symbolize graduation, and entering the real world.
After that it’s the stages of adulthood: first love, marriage, kids. Then I followed it with old age. I wanted to use Windows and Walls by Dan Fogelberg but couldn’t find it, so Beatles was my 2nd choice.Relient K definitely had the right tone I wanted to close the show with. Most songs were about killing someone, or themselves…seldomly did I come across a song about themselves dying of old age. But Relient K worked great, and I had confidence in Jim to make it work.
Jim did a great job of following interpreting not only the lyrics themselve, but the style of the singer/song itself.
I also got a kick out of some of the audience reactions, especially Whole New World. The clapping in When I’m 64 kind of caught me off guard.
I look forward to making another one!
Mix Tape by Pat Young
Title: S.O.L.
6/14/08
Pat did an amazing job on this mix tape. There were some fantastic surprises! His theme (I found out after the show) was life from beginning to end. Here is the songlist:
1. Tool - Lateralus
2. Toys R. Us song from commercial
3. Bare Naked Ladies - Grade 9
4. Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
5. Aladdin - A Whole New World
6. Mary j. Blige - Love At First Sight
7. Frank Sinatra - Love and Marriage
8. Ugly Kid Joe - Cats In The Cradle And The Silver Spoon
9. Beatles - When I'm 64
10. Reliant K. - Deathbed
The show was about the journey of an intelligent young boy named Hugo, his dealings with being a commercial actor, being a young genius moving too quickly through school, his mother trying to find a husband and him a father and young "love" with a girl named Penny.
Here is my breakdown of the show, song by song:
Mixtape set list from Pat Young
This is a shot of the set list from Pat Young. I got this right after the show was done.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Daddy Chris and Little Clara
Man that is one cute kid. Can't wait to see her grow up!!! Thank you Flickr!
Pat Young to create Mix Tape for June 14th Show!
More information about Pat Young COMING SOON!
Send me your mix tapes!
In an effort to better the production value of my one man show I'm going to be doing more work with actual mixtapes... to rehearse this and re-work the form I need some old mixtapes that won't be missed. Have one? Let me know and I'll get it from you at the theatre or find a spot to meet.
Permission to do a similar shot for Mixtape promo...
I thought this was an awesome shot and I contacted the owner to get permission to do a near copy of it for an upcoming mix tape promo... Might adjust the depth of the tape from the camera so that it looks a little bit more like eyes... The written part at the bottom would include information about the venue, website, cost etc... Might add a little space between the photo and the track list for "mixtape" to be written slightly larger. Anyone that wants to help me work on this please let me know!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
#1 "Twelve: Our Songs" a mixtape by Houston Longino
"12: Our Songs" - Mix Tape created by Houston Longino.
Houston Longino is not just sound and light designer for Mix Tape... he was also the first Mix Tape creator for the "world premiere" on May 31st at 8pm. Here was a note he made about his mix tape creation.
Houston handed me the Mix Tape (he already had it imported into the computer to run the show) and I saw the title was "Our Songs." I knew it would be somewhat romantic in nature and about relationships so I knew immediately I wouldn't just do a classic love story. I decided to start the first monologue right AFTER the two main characters had broken up. I turned my back, the lights went dark and Houston hit the first track...
(Each track below signifies a new song and also a new scene. Music and light cues were the edits and also the sources.)
1. Heaven by Talking Heads
Because the first thing that I hear in the show is influential both on the direction of the entire piece and also the first main character, it was awesome that Houston picked something with a nice even tempo and a really powerful specific. Obviously line one gave me a location... a bar. Line two was that the bar is called Heaven and so this character loves this bar, thinks it is perfect and bars play a very large part in his life. At this point I had enough info and "checked out" for a second or two of processing time. I didn't really listen to lines 3 and 4... just hid behind the music's "curtain." When the song ended I hit the stage and did a monologue of the main male character (We'll call him "Bruce") He was at "Heaven" and was speaking to a bartender about the breakup and how she was going to get his bar in the breakup as well as some of his close friends. He noted (somewhat intoxicated) that he would dress in a disguise so that he could come back to "Heaven." We got a strong feeling that he is an alcoholic...
2. (Happy to Be) Stuck with You by Huey Lewis and The News
I immediately grabbed "stuck with you" and I decided the the female character would be stuck with someone (besides the obvious romantic choice) and decided it was a therapist. She had been court ordered into therapy... For the second song, I was creating the "pair" character for my first main character. In this case it turned out to be someone who had just started dating him. In his monologue he was at the end of this relationship. In her monologue she was at the beginning of it. She had been ordered by the therapist not to date again because of her past... she should get a dog first and then work her way up to a human relationship again. She balks at the therapist and tells her that she is going to date him anyway. (We will call our 2nd main character "Sarah.")
3. Freefallin by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
This one was super easy... as soon as I heard "Free Fallin" I knew that they were skydiving. I decided it was their 3rd date and they were jumping out of a plane together. He had lied for the two of them and forged their documents to show that they were experienced skydivers. She told him she loved him, he panicked and then pulled himself together and decided not to just run away from her. Scene ended with them jumping out of the plane together.
4. Amazing Grace by The Blind Boys of Alabama
We jump back to the future again where he is struggling with the tail end of the relationship. He is drinking heavily and is speaking about his relationship to people on his same pew in the church at a friend's funeral. He asked the people around him if they would mind if he spoke about his girlfriend and what bothered him about her instead of speaking of the deceased. I justified this statement with "I haven't been to AA in a while and I have to get this out." Now we know he is DEFINITELY an alcoholic.
5. When you Were Young by The Killers
I grabbed the concept that Sarah was in a scene with someone very young that still saw hope in life. It turned out to be her 6 year old niece Penny. Penny is living in Sarah's old room in the house she grew up in. The discover that they even have the same kind of teddy bear (which Sarah momentarily accuses Penny of stealing from her things from the attic.) Sarah tells her that life is hard, there is no Santa Claus and that for her birthday speech she should tell everyone that they can't control her or her life and she will make the choices that she wants in life.
6. Nosering Girl by Nerf Herder
We discover in this lyric that Sarah is beautiful, strange and he is going to give up eating meat for her. We start the scene with the two and he is eating a salad topped with Parsley. Nuff said :)
7. Whole Thing by Peter Gabriel & Big Blue Ball
Bruce and Penny in a car heading to Penny's 6th birthday party. We discover that she loves the country and in this scene we feel that this must have been the high point in their relationship before everything went wrong.
8. Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors
Bruce is found kneeling by a chair where Penny sits crying. The entire family has gone off somewhere together on her birthday. She is left with only Bruce who has no idea how to talk to a child. He gives her more bad advice and completely fails to comfort the poor child.
9. Guilty Balloon by Young Agent Jones
Back to the past... Bruce is at the bar with all of his alcoholic friends. He tells them that he has given up eathing meat for her and that he is going to marry her... they tell him he has lost his gonads and they eat steak right in front of him to mock him.
10. Zombi by The Cranberries
Back to the future... Sarah is being surrounded by all of her friends (some of whom have flown in to help her.) She and Bruce have broken up and the girls have gotten together in an intervention to keep her from going back to him.
11. Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne
For some reason I can't think of what this scene was... I'll talk to Houston and see if he remembers.
12. Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel
Dying made me think of Airplanes for some reason and Fate made me think that the two, after breaking up and getting over each other end up sitting together on a long flight and potentially get back together (if only to destroy themselves again.)
Houston Longino is not just sound and light designer for Mix Tape... he was also the first Mix Tape creator for the "world premiere" on May 31st at 8pm. Here was a note he made about his mix tape creation.
For the first mix-tape show, I wanted to avoid doing two things. One, I wanted to avoid too much music snobbery. And two, I didnt want to make a tape specifically to mess with the improviser. In thinking about the mix, I eventually fell back on making something with songs that had a very personal meaning to me. This way they could be varied but also share a common (but maybe not obvious) theme. These twelve songs were picked because I associate each of them with a girl that Ive dated, liked, or loved in the past. So heres my mix tape:
- Heaven by Talking Heads
- (Happy to Be) Stuck with You by Huey Lewis and The News
- Freefallin by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
- Amazing Grace by The Blind Boys of Alabama
- When you Were Young by The Killers
- Nosering Girl by Nerf Herder
- Whole Thing by Peter Gabriel & Big Blue Ball
- Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors
- Guilty Balloon by Young Agent Jones
- Zombie by The Cranberries
- Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne
- Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel
Houston handed me the Mix Tape (he already had it imported into the computer to run the show) and I saw the title was "Our Songs." I knew it would be somewhat romantic in nature and about relationships so I knew immediately I wouldn't just do a classic love story. I decided to start the first monologue right AFTER the two main characters had broken up. I turned my back, the lights went dark and Houston hit the first track...
(Each track below signifies a new song and also a new scene. Music and light cues were the edits and also the sources.)
1. Heaven by Talking Heads
Everyone is trying to get to the bar.
The name of the bar, the bar is called Heaven.
The band in Heaven plays my favorite song.
They play it once again, they play it all night long.
Because the first thing that I hear in the show is influential both on the direction of the entire piece and also the first main character, it was awesome that Houston picked something with a nice even tempo and a really powerful specific. Obviously line one gave me a location... a bar. Line two was that the bar is called Heaven and so this character loves this bar, thinks it is perfect and bars play a very large part in his life. At this point I had enough info and "checked out" for a second or two of processing time. I didn't really listen to lines 3 and 4... just hid behind the music's "curtain." When the song ended I hit the stage and did a monologue of the main male character (We'll call him "Bruce") He was at "Heaven" and was speaking to a bartender about the breakup and how she was going to get his bar in the breakup as well as some of his close friends. He noted (somewhat intoxicated) that he would dress in a disguise so that he could come back to "Heaven." We got a strong feeling that he is an alcoholic...
2. (Happy to Be) Stuck with You by Huey Lewis and The News
Yes, its true, (yes its true) I am happy to be stuck with you
Yes, its true, (yes its true) Im so happy to be stuck with you
cause I can see, (I can see) that youre happy to be stuck with me
I immediately grabbed "stuck with you" and I decided the the female character would be stuck with someone (besides the obvious romantic choice) and decided it was a therapist. She had been court ordered into therapy... For the second song, I was creating the "pair" character for my first main character. In this case it turned out to be someone who had just started dating him. In his monologue he was at the end of this relationship. In her monologue she was at the beginning of it. She had been ordered by the therapist not to date again because of her past... she should get a dog first and then work her way up to a human relationship again. She balks at the therapist and tells her that she is going to date him anyway. (We will call our 2nd main character "Sarah.")
3. Freefallin by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
It's a long day livin' in Reseda
There's a freeway runnin' through the yard
And I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart
[Chorus:]
And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
This one was super easy... as soon as I heard "Free Fallin" I knew that they were skydiving. I decided it was their 3rd date and they were jumping out of a plane together. He had lied for the two of them and forged their documents to show that they were experienced skydivers. She told him she loved him, he panicked and then pulled himself together and decided not to just run away from her. Scene ended with them jumping out of the plane together.
4. Amazing Grace by The Blind Boys of Alabama
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.T'was Grace that taught,
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
We jump back to the future again where he is struggling with the tail end of the relationship. He is drinking heavily and is speaking about his relationship to people on his same pew in the church at a friend's funeral. He asked the people around him if they would mind if he spoke about his girlfriend and what bothered him about her instead of speaking of the deceased. I justified this statement with "I haven't been to AA in a while and I have to get this out." Now we know he is DEFINITELY an alcoholic.
5. When you Were Young by The Killers
You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch him now, here he come
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young
I grabbed the concept that Sarah was in a scene with someone very young that still saw hope in life. It turned out to be her 6 year old niece Penny. Penny is living in Sarah's old room in the house she grew up in. The discover that they even have the same kind of teddy bear (which Sarah momentarily accuses Penny of stealing from her things from the attic.) Sarah tells her that life is hard, there is no Santa Claus and that for her birthday speech she should tell everyone that they can't control her or her life and she will make the choices that she wants in life.
6. Nosering Girl by Nerf Herder
Yeah she had pretty hair and beautiful eyes
And a Dalmatian jacket (Dalmatian jacket)
And she was the kind of girl who you
would give up eating meat for
We discover in this lyric that Sarah is beautiful, strange and he is going to give up eating meat for her. We start the scene with the two and he is eating a salad topped with Parsley. Nuff said :)
7. Whole Thing by Peter Gabriel & Big Blue Ball
the whole thing would still go on without you
and something would still be there to move me
my own thing is always to inspire you
the one that I love I dream beside
the one that I love I dream beside
the one that I love is close as I can get
the one that I love I dream beside
the one that I love I dream beside
sometimes I can't remember
sometimes I can't forget
Bruce and Penny in a car heading to Penny's 6th birthday party. We discover that she loves the country and in this scene we feel that this must have been the high point in their relationship before everything went wrong.
8. Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors
Lift up your head
Wash off your mascara
Here, take my Kleenex
Wipe that lipstick away
Show me your face, clean as the mornin'
I know things were bad, but now they're okay
Bruce is found kneeling by a chair where Penny sits crying. The entire family has gone off somewhere together on her birthday. She is left with only Bruce who has no idea how to talk to a child. He gives her more bad advice and completely fails to comfort the poor child.
9. Guilty Balloon by Young Agent Jones
Even if you feel it hard enough
So that you just might blow
Unless you act on impulse
There are emotions you may never know
Over and over again
It swells so big inside of you
You're full of it, your skin is thin
And soon your skin is see-through
Get it out or get blown apart
No one is elastic enough
You'll stretch until your head's a wreck
The best of you is hidden yet
That feeling in your gut is gold
That feeling will make you explode
There are times when we get down
We sit and stare across the room
We need to scream and break some things
We need to cut our puppet strings
I wish that I could think this way
When I hold back on something I should say
Stick a pin into your soul
And watch the pressure drop
Tell a shrink about it
He'll write it down on paper
And put it in a folder
Back to the past... Bruce is at the bar with all of his alcoholic friends. He tells them that he has given up eathing meat for her and that he is going to marry her... they tell him he has lost his gonads and they eat steak right in front of him to mock him.
10. Zombi by The Cranberries
Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence we must be mistaken
But you see it's not me it's not my family
In your head, in your head they are fighting
Chorus (same chords)
With their tanks and their guns and their bombs and their guns
In your head, In your head they are crying
In your head, in your head, zombie, zombie, zombi-e-i-e-e-i
What's in your head, in your head, zombie, zombie, zombi-e-i-e-e-i
Another mother's breakin' heart is taking over
When the vioence causes silence, we must be mistaken
It's the same old theme, since 1916,
In your head in your head, they're still fighting
Back to the future... Sarah is being surrounded by all of her friends (some of whom have flown in to help her.) She and Bruce have broken up and the girls have gotten together in an intervention to keep her from going back to him.
11. Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne
Hey hey, you you
I could be your girlfriend
Hey hey, you you
I know that you like me
No way, no way
You know it's not a secret
Hey hey, you you
I want to be your girlfriend
You're so fine
I want you mine
You're so delicious
I think about you all the time
You're so addictive
Don't you know
What I can do
To make you feel alright
( alright alright alright)
For some reason I can't think of what this scene was... I'll talk to Houston and see if he remembers.
12. Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel
Come out come out virgina dont let me wait,
The catholic girls start much too late
Sooner or later it comes down to fate
I might as well be the one,
U know that only the good die young
Dying made me think of Airplanes for some reason and Fate made me think that the two, after breaking up and getting over each other end up sitting together on a long flight and potentially get back together (if only to destroy themselves again.)
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