Dear Diary,
My goodness, how are you?? The last couple weeks have been a wild ride, Diary, and Tuesday, June 6 was our four week road anniversary! Can you believe it? We only have four more weeks to go. No, diary, it's too soon--the cold dive back into reality will be quite a shock...but we are far from that plunge. Indeed, we are in Hartford! Ah, we skip ahead, diary. I believe we left off in Chapel Hill.
Yes, we spent a wonderful weekend with Dirty South Improv Comedy doing two shows and a workshop and, my god, were these improvisers fantastically friendly. After our first show on Friday night, the 10pm troupe invited us to join them on stage and we jumped into their delightful Armando-esque, storytelling format. On Saturday, we did a clowning for improvisers workshop and saw the FUNNIEST FARTING SCENE EVER. Imagine a man attending the opera and farting uncontrollably but trying desperately to remain calm. The laughter, dear Diary, was wild. Thank you DSI Comedy for a wonderful weekend!
And thanks to Shara's brother's best friend, Eric F., from middle school's 2-year-old son Ezra for hosting us! He asked us the most important question all weekend, which was, "Are you going to have a baby?" Good inquiry, Ezra, and the answer is NOPE. But thanks for your hospitality!
From Chapel Hill, we drove to D.C. and enjoyed many different forms of car entertainment: delicious snacks given to us by Heidi and Bob M., delightful Mad Libs given to us by Steven M., and so many fun toys given to us by Rebecca P. Still have yet to unwrap the maracas, but we've got time.
In D.C., we stayed with Mona's parents, the family cat and...HER SISTER! Yes, Lizzie T. whooshed into town, surprising Mona and Shara (and no one else) so much sister time was had.
Beyond the fantastic family time, delicious home-cooked meals, and a couple loads of laundry, we taught a loud, boisterous Shakespeare workshop in a kindergarten classroom with tiny chairs and improvised a comedy-horror vampire story for an audience of mostly Mona-people at a Washington Improv Theater show. Oh, and we performed at Mona's high school, Georgetown Day School. Diary, 'twas a RAPT AUDIENCE. Ha, just kidding. But it was fun. All in all, PRETTY STELLAR, D.C. THANKS.
On Friday, we headed to Baltimore for a one-night stay. Short but very sweet as it turned out. We crashed on the couches of a friend of a friend of a friend. We thought he knew our friend, Austin M., but he did NOT. Even though we were one degree more removed than we thought, he and the other Johns Hokpkins med students in the apartment were very generous. Thanks Matt M. and Company! P.S. The rent on this three floor, three bedroom apartment was AMAZING and the city was COOL. Conclusion: Everybody should move to Baltimore. You heard it here--make it the new place to be.
Ah, and the improv! We played with Hostel, a Baltimore Improv Group...group, and they were awesome hosts. Afterwards, they treated us to Baltimore beers and pizza with Indian cuisine toppings. TOO GOOD. Diary, Baltimore was a not-so-hidden gem. Grazie mille BIG and Hostel and Baltimore!
Saturday, we jumped into our trusty VW steed and journeyed to Bethlehem, PA where Shara connected with old friends and met many new friends. A couple years ago, Shara lived in PA working as an intern with Men's Health magazine--a great time of self-discovery for her--and she weaseled her way into the improv scene while she was there. 'Twas fun to come back and see how the community had grown/changed! We guested with two groups in their Power Hour show at Steel Stacks and taught two workshops, one of which was a fantastic Sex and Violence workshop led by Mona that left people jazzed about life.
We also looked for some new group names. The two above are the big contenders. Send any thoughts to monaandsharadoimprov@gmail.com.
Woo, and then we made it to the BIG TIMES in the BIG APPLE! New York Ci-tay. What a place. For a few days, we lived the city life--hanging out with friends, eating bagels, Central Park-ing, and actual parking. Yes, to secure a parking spot in Manhattan, we sat in our car for 1 hour and 45 minutes so we could immediately repark after the street sweeper passed. Turns out the street sweeper wailed past us, no cleaning necessary, and we only had to move when a couple police officers started ticketing. But we did it! Felt very rebellious AND got free parking.
We spent our first lovely evening in a Brooklyn brownstone with Mona's relatives: Annie, Jeff, Eleanor, Isabel and Will. Thank you all for a great stay, and thank you especially to the kids for a fantastic rendition of Hamilton's "My Shot." And then we moved on to Manhattan where Gnarly, this elegant New York dog, hosted us in his apartment with his humans, Michael, Grace and Theo. Thanks for the wonderful NYC hospitality, Gnarly and friends!
Oh and we did some improv! Two shows, two casts, two audiences, two great times. The first one was at the Magnet Theater with the normal cast: Mona and Shara. But at the PIT, we were joined by three SF-to-NYC improvisers for a Shakespeare show. Called "Death Amongst Thieves", it blew some minds. Mostly, Mona's relatives' minds because again, the audience was full of them. But thanks Ben S., Joe G. and Jessia H. for joining us! Truly a blast.
Diary, we started this blog post while were in NY, and since then, we've been to Boston, New Haven and Hartford, but those updates will come LATER. Our apologies, diary, for the delay, but we will talk to ya soon and peace out. Stay chill, Diary!
