Time: Mon, 01-Oct-2001 23:57:01 GMT     IP: 24.6.203.142

The story of my No Shame 9/28/01

1. "Schindler's Poop," by Al Angel_A Angel, AJM River. A 
professes his belief in fairies and gets pooped on anyway; 
comedy 
sketch.

  The joy in this sketch is how, just like in the piece it 
parodied, when the lights went down, you knew very well what was 
going to be there when they came back up.  These Blackout Poops 
that Al is doing have some serious potential.  It's not the same 
joke and it is the same joke.  Like Krazy Kat and the Drunkard 
Skunkards mixed with Old School Chris -&- Jamal.

2. "Holy Shit, Brad! My Balls Are Glowing! And I'm Going to Poop 
in Your Mouth!" by I Wanna Be a Dog_Juggly Brad, Juggly Steve. 
Glowing balls make juggling so exciting; skill performance.

  I said to both of them, in the halls of the Theatre Building, 
though only Juggly Steve responded, that this was quite possibly 
the coolest thing I've ever seen at the No Shame.  And I meant 
it.  I would now like to change "coolest" to "most thrilling, 
visually."  I just can't compare it to a good monologue/piece of 
comedy.  In fifth grade, there was a halloween costume contest, 
and my foster mother had done an incredibly elaborate job on my 
clown make-up that morning, so when we went around the class 
room voting on whose costume was "funniest," or "scariest" or 
what not, my teacher clarified the vote for "coolest" to 
mean "best overall," and I was, in my clown costume, sent to 
compete against bikers and Fonzies from other classrooms.  I 
lost and it's not the same category, at all buddy.  I just told 
you a story while pretending to review a juggling piece.  

3. "Things that I Think Would Be Beautiful," by Michele Thompson 
with inspiration from Michelle Schlesseman_M Thompson, N"B" 
Campbell. M talks about all the different ways babies can be 
beautiful; posing in flower pots is not among them; comedy 
sketch.

   So, yeah, it was great.  The babies falling from the sky onto 
an umbrella and into her arms was more wonderful to me than the 
babies splattering.  I can't tell if I wanted this piece to be 
about the character wanting an actual baby or not.  I assume 
that it was not, and maybe that is for the best, but there was 
that potential there and, when the piece was done and it hadn't 
been addressed, I was left wondering, "Did I want that to be 
addressed."
   I agree about the poster, though I'm not sure to what 
extent.  I agree that as soon as it came on, the piece became 
weaker than it had been.  Whatever.
   I want Michele to write more, every week.  Twice a week.  
Three times, even.  Sorry, though, Michele, you don't get to put 
three pieces in.  That was greedy.

4. "Opus 20_The Recorder," by Willie Barbour_W Barbour. W 
ruminates on "Happy Birthdays" past via sound recordings; 
dramatic 
monologue.

   I also was wondering, during the piece, what that son's brain 
was going through.  The character was referred to as Willie.  It 
was not a character.  It was a full confessional onstage and in 
front of somebody it must have concerned.  It was heartbreaking 
even to me.  I could, mind you, plainly see that my heartstrings 
were being deliberately manipulated, but still_

4.5 "Ernest Goes to_Over There," by Seth Brenneman --&-- Stuart 
Stutzman_S Brenneman, S Stutzman. SB, portraying Ernest, goes 
over there; comedy sketch.

   It was great and funny and quick.  What else can I say?  
Ernest does commercials for Cerritos Auto Square in Cerritos, 
CA.  He continually refers to the camera/consumers as "Vern."  
This, and my witness of certain scenes of  "Ernest Goes to Jail" 
at a Drive-In movie theatre, without sound, and while I was 
supposed to be watching some other movie, for which I was 
hearing sound, is my only exposure to Ernest.  This piece was 
still funny to me, regardless of what I said in another review 
about Hideo not playing here no mo'.

5. "Don't Tell Mom, the Babysitter's Oedipus," by Mark J Hansen_
M 
Cassady, P Rust. M and P find various people/animals/things 
attractive and euphemize their desires; comedy sketch.

   The characters honestly being excited about wagging a dog's 
tail and changing a light bulb was great.  The we-appear-to-be-
speaking-in-euphemism-but-are-really-speaking-literally format, 
while funny at first, would, I think, have grown old if not for 
Mike and Paul committing to it so feverishly.  And if not for 
the closing line, which was wonderful.  

6. "Chevrolet Bel Aire," by Carolyn Space Jacobson_CS Jacobson. 
Woman discusses the circumstances of an uncle's death and her 
unpreparedness for it; dramatic monologue.

   Wow!  Sincere and touching writing that kept my attention 
and, as far as I could tell, that of the audience, without 
resorting to comedy that wasn't a natural extension of the 
piece.  This is delicate and almost unique at No Shame.  This is 
not knocking other No Shame pieces and monologues for not doing 
this.  I'm just saying that it's different from what I'm used to 
at No Shame, with the exception of the occasional Chris Okiishi 
piece that falls into this genre, and, yes, good.
   Also, yes, that cell phone angered me to excess.  I was 
distracted by this anger and was unable to concentrate on the 
piece as much as I should have.  There was a moment or two, as 
there are often in my brain, in which I accept a thing that 
maybe should not be so readily accepted, when I thought that the 
cell phone must be part of the piece.  So then there was a 
moment or two when I felt ridiculous for being angry.

7. "Clyde Collides," by Paul Rust_P Rust, some other people, A 
Galbraith. P talks about running, lots of other things, 
swimming, 
getting eaten by a shark; very, very comey performance.

   Yes, this was great fun at first.  By the end, I had stopped 
laughing.  The screaming just stopped being funny to me.  But, 
yes, it was very funny to me at first, so I guess this is just 
saying that the piece went on a little too long.
   One more thing was, was there something to get?  Or was it 
supposed to be random fun?  I had random fun?  What did you 
have?  

8. "Lines of Decay," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson. Man encounters 
Jesus (quite unlike a Care Bear) and finds himself part of a 
parable; dramatic/comedic monologue.

  Do you hate it when some No Shame writer sort of half-tries to 
apologize/defend hisself.  Then skip to 9.  That one's tasty!!! 
  So, I just now wrote out a plot synopsis of this, but decided 
that it was dumb to do so.  And then, after writing the last 
sentence, I wrote an explanation for the hat, but decided this 
was also dumb to do.  Then, just now, after those two, I tried 
to write out what I wanted to do with that piece and generalize 
it to all my pieces.  That was also dumb.  I liked the piece 
when I wrote it.  I was nervous for the first time in a long 
time when I performed it, partly because I was following a wild 
piece (Paul's) with a mellower one and was certain the audience 
wouldn't get what I was trying to say or laugh when I was trying 
to be funny.  I will say that this is my least favorite piece I 
did all semester.  But my opinion of my own stuff is very, very 
reliant on my perception of the audience's opinion.  This is a 
character flaw.   
   One more thing is this piece was not about Jesus Christ and I 
am not either.

9. "A Moment of Silence for Those Who Have Passed," by Steve 
Heuertz_S Heuertz, P Rust. Accompanied by recorded popular 
music, 
man reads a list of names of those who died in WTC attacks, gets 
sad; dramatic reading of list.

   Yes, this was the same man who did Five Minutes for the Best 
Five No Shame Skits of All Time and Things That Were Wrong With 
`Batman and Robin'.  Yes, you are correct, "Freebird" was 
playing.  Does this inform the thing that happened in front of 
you?  Does the fact that Paul Rust would probably, as is simply 
the conjecture of one or two people I talked to,  not come down 
to stop a friend's piece without having been instructed to do so 
help?  How about the fact that, I hear from others, so

Time: Mon, 01-Oct-2001 23:58:44 GMT     IP: 24.6.203.142

reliant on my perception of the audience's opinion.  This is a 
character flaw.   
   One more thing is this piece was not about Jesus Christ and I 
am not either.

9. "A Moment of Silence for Those Who Have Passed," by Steve 
Heuertz_S Heuertz, P Rust. Accompanied by recorded popular 
music, 
man reads a list of names of those who died in WTC attacks, gets 
sad; dramatic reading of list.

   Yes, this was the same man who did Five Minutes for the Best 
Five No Shame Skits of All Time and Things That Were Wrong With 
`Batman and Robin'.  Yes, you are correct, "Freebird" was 
playing.  Does this inform the thing that happened in front of 
you?  Does the fact that Paul Rust would probably, as is simply 
the conjecture of one or two people I talked to,  not come down 
to stop a friend's piece without having been instructed to do so 
help?  How about the fact that, I hear from others, some people 
in the audience were giggling and some people telling them to 
shut up?  
   Of course any of this could be wrong, and what looked like 
fake-crying could have been real crying, because often times 
real things look fake if analyzed as probably fake.  And the 
September 11 was this enormous event that made me cry a lot, so 
I can't really say that this being the same guy who did a couple 
comedy skits means anything.  Of course, there was Freebird, but 
maybe he has an honest appreciation for Freebird.  So, I can't 
tell either way.  And this is the interest factor of the piece 
as far as I am concerned.  I can't tell if I like it.  I can 
tell you that I've heard more speculation about this piece than 
any other piece that night.  Whatever.  I don't hold any firm 
convictions here.  I won't argue with you if you say I'm dumb 
about this.

10. "Elbow the Letter," by Georgia Athens_N Clark, A Lawson, 
N"B" 
Campbell, A Galbraith, AJM River. N announces letter 
combinations, AL and AG roll around, AJM and N"B" dance and say 
several lines; performance.

   I have no idea what this was like to experience.  I know what 
the floor and then the ceiling and a couple times some curtains 
and Jamal's legs, and my keys rattling around and jabbing into 
my leg was like to experience.  Do you want a review of this?  
Teetotal fun!!!!!

11. "Tie a Pink Ribbon, OR Why God Hates the French," by Aprille 
Clarke_A Clarke, AJM River, A Lawson. AC is actually Allah and 
loves breast cancer and celebrities; AJM and AL think it's so 
sad; 
comedic monologue/sketch.

   Jamal and I were very good in this piece.  Ask Jamal.  Ask 
me.  Heck, ask me again.
   I was amused by this piece, but kept waiting for the 
buzzwords at the top of my part of the script.  This was a 
distraction for me.  Still, I was amused, did enjoy the piece.  
   

12. "Her Name Should Be," by Luke Pingel_L Pingel. Though her 
name is unclear, a woman has emotional effects on a man; comedic 
monologue.

   Each line of this piece seemed forced into existence in 
a "What would be funny, now?" kind of fashion.  Wow.  That 
sounds more terrible than I meant it to.  I did not hate the 
piece.  It just seemed a little too self-conscious, as far as I 
was concerned.

13. "Michael Rothschild Loves Spain and He Lived There for a 
Year!" by Silas Crombacha_N"B" Campbell, AJM River, C Stangl. 
N"B" is a little old lady who poops in inappropriate places; she 
gets a flag in her buttcrack for sure; comedy sketch.

   `Allo!  A poop sketch from Jamal?  The first in ages!  It is 
funny.  Jamal's last line, or really his last action, was 
great.  

14. "Broom Hilda," by Neil "Balls" Campbell_N"B" Campbell. In 
the 
light of a stark bulb, N"B" tells the story of his destruction 
of 
a four-year-old Broom Hilda look-alike named Broom Hilda; 
comedic 
monologue.

   Okay so this was great and I do remember it, but still have 
little to say.  Things I liked the most was the constant "and 
then there was a warm ending" followed by "Die, death troll!" 
and the mowing down of orphans in pursuit of an innocent ugly 
girl.

15. "Trouble in Dog Island," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl. In the 
form of several vignettes, C talks about different kinds of 
trouble in the brain (including a writing sample from second 
grade, illustration included); comedic monologue.

   Was the title something from that notebook?  Who can tell?
   The devil's in the details, says the Daily Iowan.  He is also 
in the womb!  This is a great thing.  I was pretty recently 
thinking about little gypsy feti with tiny pieces of very sheer 
fabric on their heads and bits of grit in their ears that would 
grow, as the fetus did, into bandanas and earrings.  It was 
funny to me.  And racist!
   The end is sweet, but sweet like holding a door open is 
sweet.  In the situation presented, the character found the 
prettiest and noblest action to take, yes, but extend the idea 
behind it a little further and what you'll find you're dealing 
with is a humdinger of a conundrum.  Go on, do it.  I dare you.
   Suddenly getting hit in the neck with a knife for no reason 
except choosing whether to split up or stick together is the 
best Choose Your Own Adventure ending I ever heard.  

And that was my No Shame.

Time: Tue, 02-Oct-2001 02:52:13 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

Before I jump into this review (head first, Monty!), I want to 
say that more audience members should write reviews.

1. "Schindler's Poop," by Al Angel_A Angel, AJM River.  A 
professes his belief in fairies and gets pooped on anyway; 
comedy 
sketch.

I was gone last week, so I didn't see the Erin King sketch this 
was referencing. I still laughed though, so I guess it means you 
didn't have to be there to think it was funny. This is good b/c 
references can have a tendency to alienate audience members. I 
should know! (That last statement is a REFERENCE to my affinity 
for references - ha ha ha!)

2. "Holy Shit, Brad!  My Balls Are Glowing!  And I'm Going to 
Poop in Your Mouth!" by I Wanna Be a Dog_Juggly Brad, Juggly 
Steve. Glowing balls make juggling so exciting; skill 
performance.

I liked how this went above what could have been considered 
enjoyable. Glowing balls - enjoyable. Being able to juggle in 
the dark - more enjoyable. Having a phantom ball come in and 
out - aaaaargh!

3. "Things that I Think Would Be Beautiful," by Michele Thompson 
with inspiration from Michelle Schlesseman_M Thompson, N"B" 
Campbell.  M talks about all the different ways babies can be 
beautiful; posing in flower pots is not among them; comedy 
sketch.

Michele's stage presence is great. She's foreful, energetic, and 
interesting enough to keep people's eyes on her, but her voice, 
mannerisms, and every nerve in her body makes it seem like she 
doesn't want to be looked at.  As a result, there's this 
wonderful tension b/t getting ppl. to look at you and then 
acting like you don't want it at all.

4. "Opus 20_The Recorder," by Willie Barbour_W Barbour.  W 
ruminates on "Happy Birthdays" past via sound recordings; 
dramatic monologue.

Probably stating the obvious, but my favorite part of this piece 
was how one song was resung by various characters according to 
their personalities. In a way, it was like hearing different 
bands cover the same song. You get a feel for each band by 
noticing how they approached the song and made it their own.

4.5 "Ernest Goes to_Over There," by Seth Brenneman --&-- Stuart 
Stutzman_S Brenneman, S Stutzman.  SB, portraying Ernest, goes 
over there; comedy sketch.

Great piece - blackout or otherwise.
In a related story, I talked to Seth afterwards and he didn't 
know Ernest (aka Jim Varney) had been dead for two years.
Asshole.

5. "Don't Tell Mom, the Babysitter's Oedipus," by Mark J Hansen_
M 
Cassady, P Rust.  M and P find various people/animals/things 
attractive and euphemize their desires; comedy sketch.

I like it when characters shoot out phrases, which seem like 
dialgoue, but can be considered independent entities. In this 
piece, it worked out really well b/c it fit the characters - 
these two guys were just spitting out their own thoughts without 
caring if the other one heard.

6. "Chevrolet Bel Aire," by Carolyn Space Jacobson_CS Jacobson.  
Woman discusses the circumstances of an uncle's death and her 
unpreparedness for it; dramatic monologue.

It was satisfying to see a monologue that was written with such 
emotion performed non-melodramatically. I don't want to say 
Jacobson was cold or detached. There was obvious feeling behind 
her performance. I just appreciated the control of the 
performance. It didn't distract the audience from the words.

7. "Clyde Collides," by Paul Rust_P Rust, some other people, A 
Galbraith.  P talks about running, lots of other things, 
swimming, getting eaten by a shark; comey performance.

The other people in this were DJ Ruden as Neil Armstrong, Jake 
Livermore as Mr. McKnifehead, and Ellen Flaherty as Mrs. 
O'Cheeseburger. 

8. "Lines of Decay," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson.  Man encounters 
Jesus (quite unlike a Care Bear) and finds himself part of a 
parable; dramatic/comedic monologue.

I was behind the curtain during this, so I missed the visual 
aspects, but the words were wonderful.  Ugh. Arlen's pieces are 
hard to review on the web-board. I want to review it on a 
literary level b/c that's what I think is strongest, but without 
a text in front of me, it's difficult to point what was good and 
what was bad. If Arlen puts them up on the net, I'll try to 
review them then.

9. "A Moment of Silence for Those Who Have Passed," by Steve 
Heuertz_S Heuertz, P Rust.  Accompanied by recorded popular 
music, man reads a list of names of those who died in WTC 
attacks, gets sad; dramatic reading of list.

I struggle with my feelings about artistic ambiguity. On one 
hand, I think its great b/c then you're not getting one 
particular idea sermoned at you.  On the other hand, its 
difficult b/c you don't know how to respond to the viewpoints 
expressed.  For example, you can't say, "Well, I disagree with 
this artist's politics..." b/c you don't really know.  
With this piece, I think the ambiguity worked. Right now, a lot 
of people - particularly those accustomed to that social escape 
hatch known as ironic detachment (myself included) - don't know 
how to feel about the terrorist acts. How far can you satirize 
the situation without being cold-hearted?  How much sympathy can 
you show without being cheesy?  In my opinion, this piece 
portrayed both poles and tactfully used ambiguity as a way of 
not saying what was right and what was wrong.

10. "Elbow the Letter," by Georgia Athens_N Clark, A Lawson, 
N"B" 
Campbell, A Galbraith, AJM River.  N announces letter 
combinations, AL and AG roll around, AJM and N"B" dance and say 
several lines; performance.

I respect Nick's confidence that he doesn't have to be funnyman-
funnyman at No Shame. I also respect his faith in the audience 
that they'll be open for experimentation. Although this piece 
wasn't stand-up cheery cheer at the time, once I learned about 
its concept, I was intrigued and satisfied. Hopefully, other 
audience members have the same experience as me. This maybe 
difficult, however, since most audience members don't go to the 
web board, which would allow them to disover the secret.

Also: I dig those two REM references.

11. "Tie a Pink Ribbon, OR Why God Hates the French," by Aprille 
Clarke_A Clarke, AJM River, A Lawson.  AC is actually Allah and 
loves breast cancer and celebrities; AJM and AL think it's so 
sad; comedic monologue/sketch.

I liked how Aprille reversed her piece's usual archs. This time, 
it started off seriously (breast cancer survivors!) and ended 
comically (god loves big tittied women). So that was really 
satisfying (why am I using this word two reviews in a row?).
My only complaint about this piece was that I felt Aprille had 
taken too much on her plate. She had breast cancer, religion, 
and the WTC attack all in one piece. Don't get me wrong. I love 
it when pieces layer and try to be more than a one-joke sketch. 
I just felt that by taking all these things on in a five-minute 
monologue, Aprille didn't have enough time to expand on each 
subject.   

12. "Her Name Should Be," by Luke Pingel_L Pingel.  Though her 
name is unclear, a woman has emotional effects on a man; comedic 
monologue.

Smart idea. Clever joke. I would have been happier though if it 
had expanded into other territories.

13. "Michael Rothschild Loves Spain and He Lived There for a 
Year!" by Silas Crombacha_N"B" Campbell, AJM River, C Stangl.  
N"B" is a little old lady who poops in inappropriate places; she 
gets a flag in her buttcrack for sure; comedy sketch.

The addition of a smarmy narrator was perfect. That was my 
favorite character of the whole night.  I also liked the Mr. 
Magoo-like joke of the old lady going into the wrong room.

14. "Broom Hilda," by Neil "Balls" Campbell_N"B" Campbell.  In 
the light of a stark bulb, N"B" tells the story of his 
destruction of a four-year-old Broom Hilda look-alike named 
Broom Hilda; comedic monologue.

My thoughts are similar to Nick's. I liked how this piece 
deconstructed the horror genre.  Also, the fact that Neil was 
purposely resisting any narrative advance at a point when it 
shou

Time: Tue, 02-Oct-2001 02:53:34 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172


13. "Michael Rothschild Loves Spain and He Lived There for a 
Year!" by Silas Crombacha_N"B" Campbell, AJM River, C Stangl.  
N"B" is a little old lady who poops in inappropriate places; she 
gets a flag in her buttcrack for sure; comedy sketch.

The addition of a smarmy narrator was perfect. That was my 
favorite character of the whole night.  I also liked the Mr. 
Magoo-like joke of the old lady going into the wrong room.

14. "Broom Hilda," by Neil "Balls" Campbell_N"B" Campbell.  In 
the light of a stark bulb, N"B" tells the story of his 
destruction of a four-year-old Broom Hilda look-alike named 
Broom Hilda; comedic monologue.

My thoughts are similar to Nick's. I liked how this piece 
deconstructed the horror genre.  Also, the fact that Neil was 
purposely resisting any narrative advance at a point when it 
should be going somewhere (i.e. the monster's death). Both from 
a literary and performance perspective, stretching out the death 
was both critical and humorous.

15. "Trouble in Dog Island," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl.  In the 
form of several vignettes, C talks about different kinds of 
trouble in the brain (including a writing sample from second 
grade, illustration included); comedic monologue.

I saw this piece as a strong analysis of "blood and guts" jokes, 
which I think is overdue - especially since they're so prevalent 
in No Shame. Although I don't write such jokes, I can respect 
and appreciate them, but I think there's a lot of psychological 
baggage with them.
That's why I liked how Chris compared them to a sick 8 year old 
boy fantasy.  And I think that's where the connection between 
sections lied. He started with a startling, horrorific image 
(Satan in the birth canal) and in a way, commented on its use by 
showing its similarity with something he wrote in 2nd grade. It 
says something though that what an 8 year old considers 
entertainment can still be artistically powerful for adults.


Final thought (for you to grapple with morally): This was one of 
the best No Shames I've seen in awhile.

Time: Tue, 02-Oct-2001 16:34:58 GMT     IP: 24.182.66.31

I apologize for my cell phone, for me not turning off my cell 
phone.  I feel very bad.  I dont think there needs to be a rule 
about turning them off, I think that should be obvious, its just 
this one time I forgot.  Maybe a reminder at the beginning might 
help.  I just forgot.  I am truly and sincerely sorry.

Time: Tue, 02-Oct-2001 23:23:15 GMT     IP: 205.244.160.109

That's really cool of you to come forth and identify yourself 
and offer an apology.  I for one really respect the ability to 
admit one's mistakes.  I admire a cel phone that doesn't 
interrupt a show more, but this is the next best thing.

-nick

Time: Wed, 03-Oct-2001 17:38:13 GMT     IP: 132.161.1.161

Very cool indeed.  And worry about making fun of yuor ring, 
Sarah, but I do think you might enjoy another like a snippet of 
Trane doing My Favorite Things or Daniel Schorr musing about the 
now-defunct budget crisis or the crack of a bat's bony wing.  
Snaps to that.

And I was serious about making the cell thing a fourth rule or 
elsewise something to be said at the beginning of a show 'coz 
when the show is about members and dismemberment and choosing 
peradventure your fate but not remembery it's easy to forget.  Or 
I suppose it would be easy since I don't have a cell 
phone.  'Coz "cell" brings back too many memories and I have 
quite enough voices hitting my head when I walk around, sir.  But 
thanks anyway.  

0

Time: Thu, 04-Oct-2001 17:52:30 GMT     IP: 132.161.1.161

Time: Thu, 04-Oct-2001 19:46:37 GMT     IP: 209.152.104.183

I echo Nick's response (well said, Nick), and maybe echo Nobody's 
response (oddly said, Nobody).  Thanks for speaking up, Sarah.  

--CSJ

Time: Sat, 06-Oct-2001 07:19:51 GMT     IP: 205.244.162.42

No Shame Theater 
ORDER 10/5/01

1. "I Wanna Be a Shit that Dogs in Your Mouth," by Nutball and 
Butternut_Juggly Brad, Juggly Steve.  After much preparation and 
the involvement of an audience member, B and S briefly juggle 
eggs; skill/comedy performance.

2. "Amazing Tales of the Astonishing," by Paul Rust_P Rust, C 
Stangl, M Cassady.  P is a superhero, Strength Man, who can 
neither banter nor read; M teaches him tenderly; comedy sketch.

2.5. ""Mo' Better Poop," by Al Angel_AJM River, A Angel.  Is AJM a 
liar?  Will a lie detector detect it?  Are his pants on fire?  
Poop!  Comedy sketch.

3. "Get Off the Stage, Fuck-o!! Or Adventures in Conflict 
Resolution Or Death of a Salesman II," by Virgin Ears_??, ??.  ?? 
and ?? engage in sword and dagger stage combat; there is some 
rolling and some crotch stuff; skill performance.

4. "Opus 22_It's the Fear of Not Knowing," by Willie Barbour_W 
Barbour.  W tells the tale of a pained old woman by the sea; 
dramatic monologue.

4.5. "Hitler Was a Douche Bag," by Calvin Hennick_C Hennick, ??.  
One Jew and one non-Jew discuss the way Hitler ruined stuff for 
people; comedy sketch.

5. "Formula Plots Part 2:  Epic Superhero Battle," by Thomas 
Kovacs_T Kovacs, E King, A Lawson, N"B" Campbell, AJM River, C 
Stangl, P Rust.  In the guise of various actors, a shirtless 
superhero has gay sex and does other stuff; comedy sketch.

6. "Estoy Hablando Espanol" [sic] by Erin King_E King.  E likens 
the recent cancellation of a Snoop Doggy Dog concert to 
discrimination against Muslims; comedic monologue.

7. "Salt and Poverty," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson.  Incorporating 
salt water and matches, A recounts summer camp-related adventures; 
comedic monologue.

7.5 "Act 4:  The Beginning of the End_Or, the Summer We'll Never 
Forget." [Whoever reads this title hast o then grab his or her 
crotch and rub it vigorously for a short amount of time_] by 
(uncredited, but probably Seth Brenneman and crew)_S Brenneman, 
??, Boylyssa.  S bites into some spaghetti, but he didn't know it 
had been electrified; comedy sketch.

8. "Mary's Skull," by King Toad_AJM River, A Angel.  AJM on guitar 
and vocals, A on guitar, they perform a hit song; hit song musical 
performance.

8.5. "Misery Train," by Muffy Stennesy_A Lawson, W Barbour, P 
Rust.  Ramon has daydreams and depression; comedy sketch.

9. "My Life Story.  A Life Story" by Al Angel_A Angel.  Munching 
cookies or crackers and drinking water, A explains his nature and 
why; comedic monologue.

10. "The Skit Skat Sketchy Ska Hep! Hep!  Oi! Oi! Sketch," by J 
Lin Erwin_J Erwin, AJM River, A Angel.  J keeps the beat with his 
feet and chest while AJM and A say "Hep" and "Oi" rhythmically; 
sound performance.

11. "On the Consequences of a Contract of Meaning," by Aprille 
Clarke_A Clarke, M Cassady.  A and M alternate a fairy tale and 
"actually, x was y" jokes; comedy dialogue.

12. "Deep Thumb," by Toni Wilson -&- James Erwin_T Wilson, J Erwin, 
A Clarke, W Barbour, M Cassady.  T has sexual problems, J tries to 
solve them via thumb sex, A and W enter, M is a velociraptor; 
comedy sketch.

13. "Romance Monologue for Michael Jackson to Read," by Sam P. 
Drew_A Angel.  A says/shouts stuff while music loudly plays; 
monologue set to music.

14. "All About Dinosaurs!   A Play With Music," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell_N"B" Campbell, P Rust.  P sings the dinosaur theme song 
and N"B" talks about them, also jumps over chairs (not all the 
time!); comedy performance.

15. "There's My Girl," a poem by Chris Stangl_C Stangl, AJM River.  
Accompanied by AJM on saucepan drums, C performs a metered poem 
involving varying depths of October leaves and his girl, sometimes 
with a megaphone; poetry performance.

Time: Sun, 07-Oct-2001 04:14:49 GMT     IP: 63.14.92.234

1. "I Wanna Be a Shit that Dogs in Your Mouth," by Nutball and 
      Butternut
There was not a lot of juggling here, but what there was was fun.  
The more comedic areas of performance represented some really great 
ideas for physical comedy which seemed to fall shy of their mark.  
Involved physical comedy like this requires a great deal of 
expressiveness and preparation.  That's one reason why I'd never 
attempt anything on this level, and another reason I really respect 
the juggle punks' courage.
      2. "Amazing Tales of the Astonishing," by Paul Rust
The shower thing was an obvious setup, and maybe its obviousness 
was supposed to be funny.  There were some great moments here, and 
I feel that Mike's lines were written especially for mike, and 
delivered very well.  But, as with last week's Paul piece, there 
was some dragging, and some editing may have made the fun more 
consistent.
      2.5. ""Mo' Better Poop," by Al Angel_AJM River
Is it possible to keep a formula fresh when its base is such a 
complex, defined collection of activities?  Current evedince 
says... YES!
      3. "Get Off the Stage, Fuck-o!! Or Adventures in Conflict 
      Resolution Or Death of a Salesman II," by Virgin Ears
I saw guys in the lounge with swords.  I thought, this better be 
good, cause I know what a staged swordfight looks like, and it 
hasn't held my attention before.  Well, I'm glad that No Shame is 
the kind of place where things that don't hold my attention can 
take place if they want to, just as long as the people involved 
feel strongly enough about their work to show up for the order-
taking line.  What I mean is, when I don't otherwise enjoy a piece, 
it's always good to know that the people in it were committed to it 
and took it seriously enough to commit time and energy to it.  
These guys put a lot of energy, and probably a lot of time into 
this, but, yeah, I was bored.
      4. "Opus 22_It's the Fear of Not Knowing," by Willie Barbour
I don't like to say that a Willie Barbour piece didn't hold my 
attention, but this was a lot to digest, and perhaps it wasn't 
aligned in the order for the proper synergy.  In any case, my 
attentions wandered to places far from Willie's text, and what 
little I did hear was very pretty and sorta sad.
      4.5. "Hitler Was a Douche Bag," by Calvin Hennick
As I've said before, the most effective kind of laughter is nervous 
laughter.  I laughed a lot at the final joke, though I didn't want 
to.  I didn't get the impression that there was a lot of subtext at 
play here, so I felt a bit cheated by my nervous laughter.
      5. "Formula Plots Part 2:  Epic Superhero Battle," by Thomas 
      Kovacs
Superwierd piece brings together the best moments of TK's prior 
comedy writing and Sam Negron's cranium crushing wierdness (where 
are you, Sam!?!?).  Some of it was funny, but mostly it was just 
very difficult to make sense of, and ultimately, this was much more 
enjoyable than a piece which would have tried too hard to be 
straight comedy.
      6. "Estoy Hablando Espanol" [sic] by Erin King
Short and sweet, fairly clever.  I was stricken by the wierdness of 
the statement "It's not racism, he's a Muslim too." since Islam 
isn't a race.  It didn't come off as an attempt to lampoon 
ignorance, but what do I know?
      7. "Salt and Poverty," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson.  
I don't know what to say.  This might have been the first time I 
believed that an Arlen mono was really specifically about the true 
history of Arlen.  I read this piece a lot like a David Sedaris 
essay.  Yes, that's real life, yes that's horrible and disgusting, 
no I don't have the emotional balls to face my own past head on and 
dredge out the details which make this so identifiable.  Then 
there's the part about the blonde girl, which is a really important 
image to me, and one I plan to discuss separately later.
      7.5 "Act 4:  The Beginning of the End_Or, the Summer We'll 
Never 
      Forget." 
So cleverly set up... So convincingly executed (pun!).  So short.  
So keep coming back, fellas.  Please.
      8. "Mary's Skull," by King Toad
This is among my favorite songs on the new King Toad CD.  I was 
intrigued to see the way in which it was carried off onstage, but I 
have become familiar enough with the album version (to the point 
that I could karaoke it without lyrics in front of me) that the 
relative sedateness of this nifty acoustic singalong was mildly 
dissapointing.  This is a personal failure, and not one of Al or 
Jamal.

Look for Part Two soon!

love Nick

Time: Sun, 07-Oct-2001 08:00:23 GMT     IP: 64.12.104.177

Just for the record, I do love Spain but I didn't live there for 
a year. I was there for 10 days. But it was pleasure enough for a 
lifetime.

And now...don't even ask.

Time: Sun, 07-Oct-2001 15:26:15 GMT     IP: 205.244.161.241

9. "My Life Story.  A Life Story" by Al Angel
Funny but mostly through hackneyed approaches to being 
gross and disturbing.

10. "The Skit Skat Sketchy Ska Hep! Hep!  Oi! Oi! Sketch," by J 
Lin Erwin
This was totally awesome, and I can understand why some 
people were laughing, even though there was nothing funny - 
it was just such a nifty, happy good time.

11. "On the Consequences of a Contract of Meaning," by 
Aprille 
Clarke
Another piece with disparate elements whose relationship 
was not readily obvious.  I really liked the contrast of Aprille's 
tenderness and Mike's boorishness, but when that 
tenderness was revealed to be vanity, the whole piece 
became depressing.  That was probably the point, maybe...

12. "Deep Thumb," by Toni Wilson --&-- James Erwin
I wasn't too big on this.  Basically there was just one 
complicated joke, and then a velociraptor.

13. "Romance Monologue for Michael Jackson to Read," by 
Sam P. 
Drew
To me, punk rock has always been about lonliness.  The 
Ramones and the Modern Lovers always sang about 
wishing they had a girlfriend.  And love songs were more 
about someone you'd wish you'd meet than about the person 
you were actually dating.  I know, there's lots of punk love 
songs out there, but if you wanted to pick a genre of music 
that was about wishing you had a girlfriend, what would you 
pick?  I guess nobody could really hear the words to this 
monologue, which is fine, since there's a lot I plan on 
borrowing from it for a song.  I cast Al because he seemed 
the most unlikely person I could think of to do a song like 
that.
14. "All About Dinosaurs!   A Play With Music," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell
Why is it that a Neil Campbell misreading of history / 
archaeology is such a guaranteed laugher?  Why is it fun to 
know that you're getting complex information which, even 
when factual, serves no real purpose?  And then that 
information is not factual.  I can't write today.  I guess it points 
out just how valueless a lot of the information we absorb 
really is.  And the laugh is a sort of cathartic way of letting go 
of all the senseless education we've tolerated.
15. "There's My Girl," a poem by Chris Stangl
This was supercool great.  I wanted a CD of this to play over 
and over again and sing along to.  I overheard Aprille telling 
Chris that it made her wish that she was Chris' girl, and I 
realized that I felt that way too.


luvsexdrugsnroknrol
-nick

Time: Sun, 07-Oct-2001 17:30:13 GMT     IP: 128.255.175.179

Hey, my name is Calvin Hennick, and I wrote the Hitler thing, 
and I though it might be fun to review the show.  So here it 
goes.

1. "I Wanna Be a Shit that Dogs in Your Mouth," by Nutball and 
Butternut_Juggly Brad, Juggly Steve.  
--I'm glad that these guys come every week, because it gives you 
a little extra bang for your buck.  A very clever skit in which 
so little juggling worked for me surprisingly well.

2. "Amazing Tales of the Astonishing," by Paul Rust_P Rust, C 
Stangl, M Cassady.  
--This was hilarious.  The ending was beautiful.

2.5. ""Mo' Better Poop," by Al Angel_AJM River, A Angel.  
--Though I think these are well done skits, I must confess that 
I'm a bit tired of the poop.

3. "Get Off the Stage, Fuck-o!! Or Adventures in Conflict 
Resolution Or Death of a Salesman II," by Virgin Ears
--I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.  It changed things up 
a little, which is probably a good thing.  I think.

4. "Opus 22_It's the Fear of Not Knowing," by Willie Barbour
--truthfully, Willy's monologues depress me and lose my interest 
quickly.  They are always performed well, though, and this one 
was no exception.

4.5. "Hitler Was a Douche Bag," by Calvin Hennick
--My friend Amir Efrati was the Jewish guy in this.

5. "Formula Plots Part 2:  Epic Superhero Battle," 
--The part where they "fight" was great, but I don't remember a 
whole lot more.

6. "Estoy Hablando Espanol" by Erin King
--Erin wrote this at my place, and I told her not to do it 
because I thought it sucked.  It didn't suck.  I was wrong.  
Erin, you're a genius, and I know nothing.

7. "Salt and Poverty," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson. 
--Though I generally dislike monologues, I don't like I have 
ever actively disliked anything of Arlen's.  This was great, and 
I was thoroughly impressed with the ability to gargle salt water 
and not gag.

7.5 "Act 4:  The Beginning of the End_
--Great.  I love short stuff that is smart.  The earnest skit 
last week rocked my world.

8. "Mary's Skull," by King Toad_AJM River, A Angel.  
--When these guys came on, my friend leaned over to me and 
said, "i hope this doesn't suck." And then it didn't.  It was 
surprisingly catchy, and overcame my friend's expectation of 
suckiness.  For that, I commend you.

8.5. "Misery Train," by Muffy Stennesy_
--I remember Paul not getting on stage, but that's all I 
remember. Sorry.

9. "My Life Story.  A Life Story" by Al Angel
--I remember this being funny, but I remember the cookies more.

10. "The Skit Skat Sketchy Ska Hep! Hep!  Oi! Oi! Sketch
--I liked it. I thought it might go somewhere, and it didn't, 
but that was ok for some reason.

11. "On the Consequences of a Contract of Meaning," 
--This was probably my favorite piece of the night.  Very 
generous of Aprille to give Mike so many hilarious lines.

12. "Deep Thumb," by Toni Wilson --&-- James Erwin
--My second favorite piece all night. Random humor does it for 
me.  The velocoraptor made me want to wet my pants.

13. "Romance Monologue for Michael Jackson to Read," by Sam P. 
Drew
--I don't remember a lot about this one.  I think the two comedy 
sketches before it put me in a laughy mood, so I probably just 
never got into this one.

14. "All About Dinosaurs!   A Play With Music," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell
--Very funny.  The physical humor and singing were well balanced.

15. "There's My Girl," a poem by Chris Stangl_C Stangl, AJM 
River.  
--I wasn't sure if i would like this at first, but I did.  
The "drums" worked surprisingly well, and the poem-song rocked 
out.  Every time the refrain came up, I half expected "The 
Beautiful People"s power chords to come in.  More than anything, 
though, it was interesting to see Chris without a suit jacket.

Time: Sun, 07-Oct-2001 19:36:10 GMT     IP: 24.5.238.138

If you are Karl Miller, I read your email at work so that by the 
time I had a chance to answer it, I didn't have the address 
anymore.  I am a dumbass.  Please send it to me again.  
Probably you will never read this message board, though, 
and that makes me sad.

Merideth

Time: Mon, 08-Oct-2001 01:46:15 GMT     IP: 128.255.108.48

Hey Cal(vin),

Didn't think I had the chance to tell you, I loved the Hitler 
thing. Very nice.

Toni 

Oh, and I will post a review too, just not right now because i 
have homework (god school gets in the way of EVERYTHING!) 
althought the show was quite fab overall!

Time: Mon, 08-Oct-2001 04:07:48 GMT     IP: 208.129.184.150

No Shame Theater 
ORDER 10/5/01

1. "I Wanna Be a Shit that Dogs in Your Mouth," by Nutball and 
Butternut_Juggly Brad, Juggly Steve.  

I liked the facial expressions on the "dumb one".  It was nice 
seeing all the set up and only alittle juggling, becuase usually 
you see just the opposite!  And opposites are funny.

2. "Amazing Tales of the Astonishing," by Paul Rust_P Rust, C 
Stangl, M Cassady.  

Like someone said earlier...it seemed as if the lines were just 
writen for Mike to deliver.  Mike and Paul work very well 
together I think.  It turned from a typical superhero thing, 
into the typical after-school-special thing!   After school 
speicals are also funny, especialy if they are opposites.

2.5. ""Mo' Better Poop," by Al Angel_AJM River, A Angel.

I mean really, how is the a way a skit like this can possoble go 
wrong?  It has all the necessary components of a good skit, 
butts, poop.  Thats all you really need when it boils down to it.

3. "Get Off the Stage, Fuck-o!! Or Adventures in Conflict 
Resolution Or Death of a Salesman II," by Virgin Ears_??, ??.  

Oh man. I was scared that either one of those swords would 
somehow find thier way into one of my eye sockets.  I had no 
reason to be scared because both of them seemed like trained 
professionals.  This was cool because I could not do it, but I 
bet if I tried something funny would happen, like my opponent 
would cut my pants and they would fall to the ground showing my 
embarrasing polka dot boxers.

4. "Opus 22_It's the Fear of Not Knowing," by Willie Barbour_W 
Barbour

Willie is extemely expressive in his language.  lots of 
ajectives.  I'm not good at analyzing pieces like this because I 
have an extremely short attention span.  I ended up thinking 
about my watch for some part of this skit.  not because it was 
boring, but because my medication probably had worn off.

4.5. "Hitler Was a Douche Bag," by Calvin Hennick_C Hennick, 
??.  

I like skits like these, short ones, that leaving you laughing 
alittle bit into the following one. this one did that too me...I 
was not expecting the last joke.  I have heard all the stuff 
about the facial hair.  but not the killing the jews part.  I 
never noticed how "douche" is spelled so funny before.

5. "Formula Plots Part 2:  Epic Superhero Battle," by Thomas 
Kovacs_T Kovacs, E King, A Lawson, N"B" Campbell, AJM River, C 
Stangl, P Rust.  

I liked this one.  theres not really much I can say.  I like 
seeing several people shirtless that I had not previously seen 
shirtless.

6. "Estoy Hablando Espanol" [sic] by Erin King_E King.

Anything making fun of this sort of stuff gets a hilarity level 
of Mach 5!  It seemed sort of static to me.  I don't like seeing 
people still on stage...but I guess that was unaviodable seeing 
as how it was a news cast and those arn't normaly action 
packed...so I guess that was a pointless thing to say.

7. "Salt and Poverty," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson.  

I really like Arlens work.  I liked the salt water because I 
used to have to do that alot and understand how crappy it can 
be.  I also like the smell of the matches.  neither of those 
have anything to do with Arlens writing however.  I think that 
might be why I enjoyed this peice.  I wasne't jsut the 
writing..other stuff was enjoyable.

7.5 "Act 4:  The Beginning of the End_Or, the Summer We'll Never 
Forget." 

The title is in reference to a good friend of mine named Elliot 
Stapleton.  It was the title of a part of a movie called 
"Elliot's Feature Film". and after he said the title he rubed 
his crotch in a funny manner.  I just want to relive that 
magical moment.  and the other person in this is named Stuart.

8. "Mary's Skull," by King Toad_AJM River, A Angel.

This one of the songs that I really wanted to hear off of the 
new album...I really enjoyed it. So much in fact that I am going 
to put that cd in and listen to that song and masturbate my 
penis.

8.5. "Misery Train," by Muffy Stennesy_A Lawson, W Barbour, P 
Rust

I liked the look Paul's face.  that was all I really could 
enjoy, but that was enough.  It didn't really leave a lasting 
impression on me.

9. "My Life Story.  A Life Story" by Al Angel

It was funny when he was talking about harming kids and old 
ladies.  I don't see how he could stand to eat cookies and drink 
water at the same time...they tried to force me to do that at 
the brownie factoy where I worked as a brownie taster.  So I 
quit and i got a new job as the rollor-coaster tester.

10. "The Skit Skat Sketchy Ska Hep! Hep!  Oi! Oi! Sketch," by J 
Lin Erwin

Very good. Reminded me of the part in the simpsons when some 
police men went "oi oi oi"

11. "On the Consequences of a Contract of Meaning," by Aprille 
Clarke_

It also seemed like Mikes part was made for him in this one...I 
don't really remember the details.  I liked the fish eating 
part, I nearly soiled my pants.

12. "Deep Thumb," by Toni Wilson --&-- James Erwin_T Wilson, J 
Erwin, 

I though that the orgasm could have been more convincing.  I 
liked the male porn, I was so pissed that I didn't get it.  the 
rapor was also damn hilarious.

13. "Romance Monologue for Michael Jackson to Read," by Sam P. 
Drew_

I really could not hear what Al was saying....I was too close to 
the boombox I suppose.

14. "All About Dinosaurs!   A Play With Music," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell_N"B

This is the one that probably made the night for me.  Seeing 
Neil dance around with that look on his face was pretty funny, 
and also hearing paul sing.  Paul has the voice of an angel.

15. "There's My Girl," a poem by Chris Stangl_C Stangl, AJM 
River.  

The drums were very nice and added alot to the piece.  Chris 
also has the voice of an angel.  The poem seemed to make a 
strange sort of sense to me. but when I was talking to people 
afterwards...no one seemed to agree with my interpretation.  I 
like this piece

Overall...a good noshame...not a great one...good one

Time: Mon, 08-Oct-2001 20:18:28 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

hello, all -
i realize the danger in posting a message that's not related to 
no shame right after one makes accusations of junk postings, 
but... oh, well. i want you to come see the new band i'm in. 
we're called "my business failed in three weeks." info:

My Business Failed in Three Weeks at...
The Green Room
Wednesday, October 10th - 9:00 pm
$3-4
(we are playing with two bands: racecar radar and another band 
whose name I have not yet been given)

you should come. all of our songs create a narrative about 
office work. subjects include: love affairs with office 
equipment, QED reports (a "don't tell mom the babysitter's dead" 
tribute), lack of spreadsheets, hurricanes, and much, much more. 
there's little acting pieces between each song, so it's sort of 
like a rock opera.

(desperate plea following...) so yeah, please come. it's our 
first show and we need to prove (to show-makers) that we can 
draw an audience. we'd really appreciate your support. 

oh...and to show i'm not a complete exploiter of the board, i'll 
use it correctly and write a review by tonight. deal? deal. deal-
a-meal.

-paul

Time: Tue, 09-Oct-2001 03:10:00 GMT     IP: 205.244.167.23

Here's some reviews of pieces from weeks I haven't 
reviewed yet.  If I didn't review your piece, it's not because I 
liked it or didn't like it or didn't remember it, it's because I felt 
like any criticism I could give would not really be any more 
helpful than very similar criticism I've given in the past. No 
More Ado!

2. "The Dark," by Ronnie Wright.  
Poetry is something that's meant to be read or recited aloud, 
so it's a wonder that more of it doesn't pop up at No Shame.  
This worked well because it not only was a good poem well 
read, but because its length slipped it in under the radar of 
the 'Everything should be a comedy sketch' crowd.

3. "Chataqua #4_On the Upcoming Release of Attack of the 
Clones" 
by James Erwin.
What I didn't get here was Erwin's opening, claiming he was 
praising TFM.  There was no indication in the social film 
analysis lecture that followed of the snideness or sarcasm 
set up in the preface.

6. "Talking to Your Kind," by Paul Rust.  
Part of the humor here was that asshole Paul wasn't that 
much more of an asshole than 'normal' Paul.  Also, there 
are times when meticulous preplanning creates comic 
effect, just because of the ridiculousness of the evident 
effort which went into a simple joke.  The cassette was 
precisely timed to give the right amount of response time 
between each of its lines.  It reminds me of Neil 
VanGorder's bagel vest piece in the following respect - the 
real humor is just in the ridiculousness of the effort 
evidenced before us.  Kovacs, take note!  Here's a technique 
which generates humor BOTH inside and outside the 
diegesis.

8. "Desert Pepper," by Arlen Lawson
I sure do remember a funny bit about being armed with a 
fart.  That was a funny bit.  The relationship  between this 
and a baby in a tree escapes me.  I guess my feeling is that 
if you have two almost good monologues, and fragmenting 
them and interlocking them creates a stronger whole, why 
would you want the whole to seem like the two monologues 
don't have a specific relationship?

10.  "'The Act or Process of Falling into Decay,' a Hymn " by 
Al 
Angel
This was very interesting as a song, because there was no 
melody, no notes, only drums and a sort of chant - grunt, yet 
it was decidedly a song.  The lyrics were quite good, but 
their specific target was fairly unclear.

0.5 "Topical Comedy Monologue No. 1:  I Wish I Was a 
Dog," by Neil 
"Balls" Campbell
1. "I Wish I Was a Dog," by Paul Rust  
A very good sendup of the idiotic and annoying reactions to 
the stuff.  In my work, people were making photocopies of 
this picture somebody had downloaded from the internet of 
the smoldering towers with a crying bald eagle in the 
foreground.  I was angry that people wanted to hang this 
lame excuse for concern in their cubicles.  I guess Neil -&- 
Paul know some people as stupid as the ones I know

2. "Hideo Don't Play Here Nomo," by John
The wordplay had a cute sound and cadence, but the 
content of the piece (if there was any) was lost on me.  The 
overall effect was mediocre.

4.  "The Penis Passion Play:  A Response to a Talking 
Vagina, or I 
Wish I Was a  Dog, a classic Vagina Envy Story," by William 
Barbour
I was wary of the idea when Willie first mentioned it to me, 
but the proof was in the pudding.  What I liked about the 
piece was the way that it somehow avoided the 
overwhelming gravitational pull of the need to make a 
response to the Vagina Monologues funny just because it 
wasn't about vaginas.  Willie's piece was nice because it 
took itself about as seriously as the VMs themselves do.  
There's laughs - in fact there are some big laughs, but 
there's room for meaning as well.  And hey, penises ARE 
important (and sometimes impotent...  so funny!) and so are 
men, so why not?

5.  "Skit for NO SHAME theaatre:  Concierto en Buildingo 
Teatro," 
by Jake
It was fairly clever for a first piece.  It didn't work great, 
because the joke necessitated a longish setup, and the 
joke(s) itself was repeated a little beyond its threshold of 
humor.  Could have used a trim.

6. "I Wish I Was a Dog," by James Horak
It's funny how many pieces on this night actually involved 
dogs.  Horak's dog was a really admirable character, more 
fully fleshed out than most human characters in NS 
monologues.  The pacing was a bit slow, but I think it 
worked with the kind of information James was laying down.

9. "I Wish I Was a Dog," by King Toad
It's difficult to put musical apparati (by which I mean 
methods of producing music, not musical instruments) with 
which the No Shame audience is unfamiliar to use at NS 
and not draw unwelcome laughter.  I'm not certain why this 
is, but it is.  And it sucks because, hey, where else are you 
gonna do it?

10. "I Wish I Was a Dog," by Aprille Clarke
I got the impression that Aprille started writing this 
imagining that she was Mark Hansen, then remembered 
she was Aprille Clarke about halfway through.  Starting from 
the 'shitting me' pun and letting the world defined by it build 
the rest of the piece is such a familiar Hansenian tack.  For 
example, remember when one Markologue said something 
like "My dad's heart's in the right place, but his liver's where 
his kidney's supposed to be, his stomach's where his 
pancreas should be, and his foot, well, that's another story."  
I para[site]phrase.  And from that one pun on a common 
idiom, we get the rest of the mono.  Aprille did that too, but 
then we start getting into all this bizarre horrific stuff about 
infanticide and the abusive husband.  All the Clarke bread 
and Aprille butter.  I see AC experimenting with a lot of 
styles, but she remains pretty well set into her niche.

12. "I Wish I Was a Dog_so I had a chance at your mom!" 
by James 
Erwin
James Erwin has some kind of magical knack for No 
Shame.  If you saw this piece on paper, would you think it 
would be much fun to watch?  I doubt that I would.  Yet it was 
absolutely hilarious and wonderful, and that seemed to 
come from something more than just the good 
performances given by Adam and Arlen.  (James gave a 
good performance too, but it's his piece)

15. "I Wish I Was a Dog, or The Punch --&-- Judy Show," by 
Chris 
Stangl
Here's an instance where physical elements, though 
abstract, bear such a direct and striking relationship to the 
text that the whole is a singleminded steamroller of 
metaphor, intent on crushing its insight into a bleary-eyed 
audience.  This piece held up as both essay and 
performance art because the elements were so clearly and 
directly linked.  (Smacking one's own fist over its head with a 
machete until it dies, for example.)  The piece had one very 
specific thesis to impart: comedy is not nice.  And it provided 
the evidence and the eloquence to do so convincingly.  
Better still, it redefined eloquence by using that machete as 
a rhetorical device as valid and powerful as vocabulary, 
diction and elocution.

Time: Tue, 09-Oct-2001 03:23:14 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

1. "I Wanna Be a Shit that Dogs in Your Mouth," by Nutball and 
Butternut_Juggly Brad, Juggly Steve.

This was funny.  Not only b/c they stretched out the joke (thus 
building up the punchline, so it's amusing no matter what), but 
also b/c there was potential for some rule breakage (i.e. 
damaging the space). And you can't buy that kind of tension!

2. "Amazing Tales of the Astonishing," by Paul Rust_P Rust, C 
Stangl, M Cassady.  

Interestingly enough, unlike some have speculated, I did NOT 
write this character for Mike. Okishi wasn't there to do it. I 
don't mean this as a slap in the face to Mike. No! It's a 
compliment. Mike's that good - he can make a character his own.

2.5. ""Mo' Better Poop," by Al Angel_AJM River, A Angel. 

Take that, Spike Lee circa 1990!

3. "Get Off the Stage, Fuck-o!! Or Adventures in Conflict 
Resolution Or Death of a Salesman II," by Virgin Ears_

Since I don't know what good or entertaining stage combat is, i 
was happy that they sprinkled some comic elements into this 
piece to keep me interested. Otherwise, I would have been 
awfully bored.

4. "Opus 22_It's the Fear of Not Knowing," by Willie Barbour_W 
Barbour.  

Aurally, this piece was lovely - especially the ocean sounds. I 
particularly liked how the environment was described in a way to 
establish character (i.e. the forgotten amusement park).   

4.5. "Hitler Was a Douche Bag," by Calvin Hennick_C Hennick

At first, I was all, "Bor-ing! I'm so tired of those old 
Seinfeldian observations like Hitler ruined a name and facial 
hair style!" I've heard it all before, Boris! But then they 
threw in that extermination joke and it saved the day! Yahoo!

5. "Formula Plots Part 2:  Epic Superhero Battle," by Thomas 
Kovacs

I was behind the curtain during this. I couldn't see anything. I 
have no right to critique this piece. It sounded to go 
smashingly, however. Yes, assholes, you heard me 
right... "smashingly."

6. "Estoy Hablando Espanol" [sic] by Erin King_E King.

I dig Erin parodying that age-old cop-out, which is, "He/She can 
make those jokes because he/she is that..."  It always bugged 
me. I don't know why. And don't ask me why either! Okay, okay. I 
think it was b/c it just seemed too cute. So it was nice to hear 
Erin stick it to that idea.
Also: interesting that the Hitler sketch may have gotten the 
same treatment (i.e. "oh, they can do that sketch b/c the person 
in it was Jewish")

7. "Salt and Poverty," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson.

Wonderful, wonderful piece. I liked that Arlen dropped the 
highly fictional aspects of his work for one night, so he could 
explore his past. Beautiful as when a riddle-making songwriter 
like early Lou Reed or Frank Black decides to write a straight-
forward, confessional song. 

Note: Although this worked well in Arlen and Al's pieces, both 
used props as visual puncuation marks. Although I'm sure this is 
been around since the beginning of theatre, I've been seeing it 
a lot lately at No Shame and more and more it's becoming a tired 
trope. If it keeps getting used, it won't be effective anymore. 
Not for me, at least.

7.5 "Act 4:  The Beginning of the End_Or, the Summer We'll Never 
Forget." [Whoever reads this title hast o then grab his or her 
crotch and rub it vigorously for a short amount of time_] by 
(uncredited, but probably Seth Brenneman and crew)_S Brenneman, 
??, Boylyssa. 

All of these blackouts have been terriffic revisitings to 
childlike comedy. The Ernest movies, the cartoon-esque 
slapstick. They're so good! 

8. "Mary's Skull," by King Toad_AJM River, A Angel.  

You know what? After every performance, I say to myself, "That's 
the best King Toad song I've ever seen performed." And no! It's 
not the recency effect kicking in either! They seriously get 
better and better.

8.5. "Misery Train," by Muffy Stennesy_A Lawson, W Barbour, P 
Rust.  

I apologize for not getting on stage on time.

9. "My Life Story.  A Life Story" by Al Angel_A Angel.  

My favorite part was that Al said what I think any rational 
person has been thinking: Why ARE so many people donating blood 
to people who are probably dead? I know. It's probably a 
psychological comfort - as in, "I'm doing something to help. I 
can feel better now." However, if it is JUST a comfort to 
ourselves, it's good for Al to make people address that.

10. "The Skit Skat Sketchy Ska Hep! Hep!  Oi! Oi! Sketch," by J 
Lin Erwin

This was fun. It was neat to see people singing in a structure 
like most songs, but with completely non-sensical words. And as 
a result, undermining it all. 

11. "On the Consequences of a Contract of Meaning," by Aprille 
Clarke_A Clarke, M Cassady.  

I liked how Aprille made this a fairy tale existing in the 
modern world, but didn't put too much modern aspects in it or be 
all-cutesy "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories." You get why 
they're funny, right? Because they show how politically 
incorrect our fables are while at the same time showing how out 
of hand our p.c. views have become! Ha. Ha. Effin' ha.

12. "Deep Thumb," by Toni Wilson --&-- James Erwin

I was bored by the conventional "patient-doctor" set-up and 
disheartened to see sex jokes in a night when few were uttered. 
If the whole sketch was as sporadic and inventive as that last 
glorious minute, I probably would have liked it more.

13. "Romance Monologue for Michael Jackson to Read," by Sam P. 
Drew

I dug the punk rock tribute, but to not let the words be heard 
is kind of a slap in the face to the genre. It suggested that 
lyrics don't matter in punk.  That it's only attitude and 
approach which count. I disagree with that.

14. "All About Dinosaurs!   A Play With Music," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell_N"B" Campbell, P Rust.  

Again, I was too involved in this to give a fair judgment, but 
I, too, like Neil's playing with history. As Nick suggested, it 
kind of shows how fragile it truly is. Weird to think that by 
saying anything in front of 150 people, it can be somewhat 
validated as truth.

15. "There's My Girl," a poem by Chris Stangl

Cheesy as it may sound, Chris proved one thing: you can compare 
anything to beauty so long as you do it with passion. Those were 
some pretty cold and grotesque things he was singing about, but 
thru that megaphone, it still seemed like love.

Time: Tue, 09-Oct-2001 03:47:13 GMT     IP: 205.244.167.23

:I dug the punk rock tribute, but to not let the words be heard
:is kind of a slap in the face to the genre. It suggested that
:lyrics don't matter in punk.  That it's only attitude and
:approach which count. I disagree with that.


I completely agree, Paul, and the words weren't supposed to 
be inaudible, but I wanted the music loud, and I didn't realize 
that nobody else could hear Al either.  I reassure myself that 
it was a good thing that nobody heard the words, since I want 
to recycle some of the ideas in a song, but I'm really just 
hiding from the fact that the music was simply too loud, and I 
fucked up and wasted everyone's time.

Time: Wed, 10-Oct-2001 22:50:35 GMT     IP: 24.4.252.112

Dreamwell Theatre is currently seeking submissioons for next 
years "festival of locally written one acts" (just a working 
title for the evening I assure you).  If you have a short play 
(15min to an hour)that you would like us to consider please send 
it electronically to DreamwellAD@home.com or mail it to 
Dreamwell Theatre, PO Box 10063, Iowa City, IA 52244.

Email me if you have questions.  We look forward to pieces in 
any stage of their development and authors who want to be a part 
of the process of the production.

Thanks

Time: Sat, 13-Oct-2001 07:29:19 GMT     IP: 63.95.18.53


0.5. "The Alyssas Bowmen," by Chris Stangl_A Bowman, 
Boylyssa (real name unknown to me), C Stangl.  [Alyssa and 
Boylyssa are so alike_comedy sketch]

1. "Theater?  Ontology!  Fight!  Fight!  Fight!" by James 
"Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jammy-James" Erwin_AJM River, J Erwin, 
?? [EMPIRE group noise song_noise performance]

1.5. "I Wannabe a Dino-dog with flames coming out of my 
Brontosauras butthole," by Turn of the Wheel_Juggly Brad, 
Juggly Steve.  [Jesus fucking christ_naked dangerous skill 
performance]

2. "Eulogy for Bill Evans," by Al Angel_N Clark [N's 
character reflects in a short paragraph that involves tender 
looking_monologue]

3. "Lament," by G.E. Wilker_G.E. Wilker [character talks 
about experience of being stuck in elevator with 
corpse_monologue]

4. "Tag_I'm It!" by Adam Burton, Eric Burton, -&- Chris 
Okiishi_A Burton, E Burton, N"B" Campbell, A Clarke [AC is 
on a date with E, but sometimes with AB_twinful comedy 
sketch]

5. "Sir Chan Destroy," by Dee Troy_A Lawson, N Clark, C 
Okiishi, W Barbour, K Barbour [N is sad and smoking under 
an umbrella; balloons and balls and frisbees go 
everywhere; C is tender to him_visual and physical 
performance]

6. "Doing Lunch," by Mark J Hansen_W Barbour, A Burton 
[W and A have a pun-filled conversation; comedy sketch]

7. "Genre Pt. IV:  Romance," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson [A 
tells story of driving with a former beloved and the troubles 
that ensue; monologue]

7.5. "Porno Bucket," by Matt Goolsby_M Gooslby [M makes 
sounds and rhythms and shouts; sound performance]

8. "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Rehab," by Alison 
Reeger_A Reeger, ??, ??, ?? [in the form of regular 
humans, the 4 Horsemen discuss their effects on the world; 
connected monologues]

9. "Testament of Th," by Silas Humbucker -&- Abe  Strand_A 
Lawson, N Clark, AJM River, A Clarke, N"B" Campbell, J 
Erwin, C Stangl, ?? [people make many noises, some 
rhythmic; sound performance]

10. "Here's the Thing," by Christopher Okiishi_C Okiishi [C 
says many words while expressing very few points; 
monologue]

11. "Poop Magnolias," by Aprille Clarke_A Clarke, C Stangl, 
N"B" Campbell, J Erwin [A and C alternate stories about 
virile squirrels and midgets; Swamp Thing gets involved; 
comedy sketch]

11.5 "City Slickers 2:  The Legend of Curly's Poop," by Al 
Angel_A Angel, AJM River [AJM fears terrorists in his 
butthole; against his better judgement, A gets sucked in 
face-first; comedy sketch]

12. "A Brief Synopsis of Operation:  Enduring Freedom," by 
Arend Miller_A Miller [A explains what's happening 
overseas in military aggression; who knew pop culture was 
so involved?  Monologue]

13. "Opus 45_Little Brown Jug or String of Pearls, it's all 
just scat to me," by Willie Barbour_W Barbour [the 
relationship with the punkster girl didn't work out, and all 
that's left is dirty sex toys; monologue]

14. "The Career Day Massacre," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell_N"B" Campbell.  [N"B" is a career day speaker, 
a movie critic who loves basketball and insult comedy; 
monologue]

15. "The Jesus and Judas Shattering Kandy Korn 
Inescapable," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl, A Lawson, A 
Clarke, AJM River.  [Jesus and Judas talk about their failed 
relationship; there is cinematic talk, kissing; comedy sketch]

Time: Sun, 14-Oct-2001 18:54:37 GMT     IP: 205.244.160.179

Hey kiddos, looks like the 'index by date' thing is working 
again, so do that thing.
Here's a weak preliminary review to keep the message 
board from getting bored.  It's not a for real review, and 
hopefully I will get around to one later, so don't be upset that 
it sucks.

0.5. "The Alyssas Bowmen," by Chris Stangl
Bannanas are funny.  I like to see Alyssa onstage.

1. "Theater?  Ontology!  Fight!  Fight!  Fight!" by James 
"Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jammy-James" Erwin
So fun pretty noises and good audence noise.

1.5. "I Wannabe a Dino-dog with flames coming out of my 
Brontosauras butthole," by Turn of the Wheel
"You're not fully dressed without a smile"  Brad and Steve are 
now on my list of naked people I have seen.

2. "Eulogy for Bill Evans," by Al Angel
I didn't want to go on after those guys.

3. "Lament," by G.E. Wilker
Pretty long but not entirely unenjoyable.

4. "Tag_I'm It!" by Adam Burton, Eric Burton, --&-- Chris 
Okiishi
I saw Eric and Adam in the lounge and thought, 'Hm, Eric 
looks like Adam, only straight.' 

5. "Sir Chan Destroy," by Dee Troy
I used to smoke a pack a day.  Now a few drags makes me 
feel sick.

6. "Doing Lunch," by Mark J Hansen
Missed most of it.  Hope my knocking on the door didn't 
interrupt.

7. "Genre Pt. IV:  Romance," by Arlen Lawson
Sarah, Arlen says the cell phone was NOT a referrence to 
you.

7.5. "Porno Bucket," by Matt Goolsby
Fun fun dancy Goolsby noise fun.

8. "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Rehab," by Alison 
Reeger
Awkward pacing but some good writing.

9. "Testament of Th," by Silas Humbucker --&-- Abe  Strand
Noisy scary cool.

10. "Here's the Thing," by Christopher Okiishi
Pretty, fun, neat.

11. "Poop Magnolias," by Aprille Clarke
Confusing.  Also my name was in it, but I didn't quite hear the 
context.

11.5 "City Slickers 2:  The Legend of Curly's Poop," by Al 
Angel
Good title.  I think there was a terrorist in there and Al had to 
eat him.

12. "A Brief Synopsis of Operation:  Enduring Freedom," by 
Arend Miller
Pretty funny, but it's a big issue deal, so what's the big idea?

13. "Opus 45_Little Brown Jug or String of Pearls, it's all 
just scat to me," by Willie Barbour
Do people actually go around with the anal beads still in their 
anus and play a set?  I'd be afraid if you left 'em in too long 
they'd get lost in there or something.

14. "The Career Day Massacre," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell
Yet another ball on stage.  O God-on!

15. "The Jesus and Judas Shattering Kandy Korn 
Inescapable," by Chris Stangl
SO wierd.  What happens when Jesus and Judas make out?  
Jesus dies!  'Well, it was fun while it lasted, Judas.  You gave 
me a God-on, Judas.'

Time: Wed, 17-Oct-2001 00:55:47 GMT     IP: 128.255.108.61

0.5. "The Alyssas Bowmen," by Chris Stangl
The banana added a sense of depth and urgency that heightened this 
beyond the Boylyssa gag.  Plus I love it when Alyssa gets on 
stage; she is so cute.

       1. "Theater?  Ontology!  Fight!  Fight!  Fight!" by James 
       "Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jammy-James" Erwin
It was definitely a night for non-narrative pieces; this was 
pretty good.  I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the familiar (the 
Empire song) with the weirdness of a noise piece.  It nudged me 
just enough out of my Empire comfort zone.

       1.5. "I Wannabe a Dino-dog with flames coming out of my 
       Brontosauras butthole," by Turn of the Wheel
I especially liked how, after the introductory muddling about, 
nobody even cared that they were naked.  I mean, I didn't care 
anyway, except for some concern about their weiners getting burned 
off or something.  This piece took No Shame's usual "most shocking 
thing ever" (nudity) and de-shocked it.  smart and horrifying, 
since a torch almost landed on my billowing, flammable polyester 
dress.  Jesus.

       2. "Eulogy for Bill Evans," by Al Angel
The only thing I could remember about this when I wrote the 
expanded order was that it involved someone looking tenderly at 
someone else.  So that image must have been clear and meaningful.  
That's what I'll say about that.

       3. "Lament," by G.E. Wilker
Better than I expected.  The performance was lacking--it needed 
something to give it a little kick, whether it was just someone 
who would have a nicer voice to listen to doing the monologue or 
some more bodies on stage or something--but the writing was good.  
And really, maybe the delivery was right under the circumstances.  
I just don't see it working very well for very long.  Interesting 
idea.

       4. "Tag_I'm It!" by Adam Burton, Eric Burton, --&-- Chris 
       Okiishi
I thought Eric was gay, even though he didn't play a gay guy in 
the sketch.  I don't remember why I thought that, though.  Maybe 
Adam told me.  Anyway, it was a cute gimmick that didn't try too 
hard and didn't go on too long, and Neil was good at being the 
waiter.

       5. "Sir Chan Destroy," by Dee Troy
Nick looked so, so sad.  I was really glad when Chris came and was 
tender to him.  If someone were to describe this piece to me as a 
potential NS piece, I'd say, "It won't work, because the sad 
umbrella guy will get lost among the flying objects," but that 
didn't happen.  Maybe the umbrella was visually stimulating enough 
that it kept the balance.

       6. "Doing Lunch," by Mark J Hansen
This was very Hansen-y; that is, it was verbally playful and 
innovative.  I think I needed something else to happen, though, or 
maybe for it to be shorter, because I got bogged down in all the 
language I had to pay attention to.

       7. "Genre Pt. IV:  Romance," by Arlen Lawson
Very nice and very sweet.  I'm glad Arlen's back on the genres:  
it's a good challenge for a writer and fun for the audience to see 
different sides of his writing.  There were some haunting images 
in there...or maybe I'm mixing it up with the week before's.  Hm.  
Anyway, I remember feeling charmed but not sappy.

       7.5. "Porno Bucket," by Matt Goolsby
Cute idea, but James had already done it sort of.  I think the 
weakness of this was that since it was only one person making the 
noise, he was automatically limiting the performance.  On the 
other hand, he made a greater variety of noises with one body than 
your average body, so that was pretty good.  I just would have 
liked him to stop about one verse earlier.

       8. "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Rehab," by Alison 
       Reeger
I was looking forward to finding out what the other horsepeople's 
afflictions would be after Famine was anorexic, but then it never 
happened.  This piece started out strong but sort of lost me 
toward the end.  Plus I don't know much about Bible things, so I 
wasn't sure who all the horsepeople were.  Which one was Death's 
son?  It needed to maintain the structure that made it interesting 
in the beginning.

       9. "Testament of Th," by Silas Humbucker --&-- Abe  Strand
This was pretty loud.  The people shouting and making noises from 
elsewhere in the house was nice; that's not something you usually 
see/hear in a sound performance.  It made it un-static.

       10. "Here's the Thing," by Christopher Okiishi_C Okiishi [C 
       says many words while expressing very few points; 
       monologue]
Same deal as Mark's:  clever and cute, but sort of lacked the 
other elements that make something meaty.  I guess that was the 
point.  

       11. "Poop Magnolias," by Aprille Clarke

       11.5 "City Slickers 2:  The Legend of Curly's Poop," by Al 
       Angel
My favorite butthole sketch so far. Good use of current events in 
combination with buttholes, which I wish would happen more. Hey, I 
did a piece like that once.  Now all I do (except other stuff) is 
thinking of title's for Al's pieces.  

       12. "A Brief Synopsis of Operation:  Enduring Freedom," by 
       Arend Miller
I couldn't pay attention for some reason.  I really don't remember 
much of this except the guy had nice cheekbones.

       13. "Opus 45_Little Brown Jug or String of Pearls, it's all 
       just scat to me," by Willie Barbour
This was a different kind of base level for Willie.  I mean, he 
often deals with base-level emotions and stuff, but generally on a 
more emotional and spiritual level.  I don't think I needed the 
props; he could have gotten the same point across in a more 
interesting way by writing it rather than taking it out of his 
pocket.  Great title.

       14. "The Career Day Massacre," by Neil "Balls" 
       Campbell
Especially impressive considering his illness; good commitment to 
the role, great energy, nice mix of all-over-the-place and focus.  
His character was just sad enough that I didn't hate him, and just 
obnoxious enough that I didn't barf, unlike Neil.

       15. "The Jesus and Judas Shattering Kandy Korn 
       Inescapable," by Chris Stangl

I read it a few times and I don't think I can offer anything more 
than the people in the audience who saw it once.  That's what it 
was, all right.  I think I've had more purely circumstantial 
kisses with Chris than anyone else in the world.

Time: Wed, 17-Oct-2001 03:37:27 GMT     IP: 205.244.160.64

I said I would, now here's a for real review.

0.5. "The Alyssas Bowmen," by Chris Stangl
Am I the only one who doesn't think the two look that much 
alike?  Chris' reaction's overblown-ness was more annoying 
than anything, but at least he had a banana.  Alyssa really 
looks cool onstage because her reluctance to be there 
makes her more human.

1. "Theater?  Ontology!  Fight!  Fight!  Fight!" by James 
"Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jammy-James" Erwin
I didn't know the empire song, but this did something I've 
been trying to do: incorporated audience involvement as an 
integral part of the piece without asking more of the audience 
than it was prepared to give (see "It's time for lunch!").  Not 
only did it accomplish that, but it stirred that into a supercool 
song sound cool a-la Jamal last semester type of thing.  SO 
great.
1.5. "I Wannabe a Dino-dog with flames coming out of my 
Brontosauras butthole," by Turn of the Wheel
I don't need to say anything.

2. "Eulogy for Bill Evans," by Al Angel
Al said, "Hm, this is a lot like the piece I did for you last week.  
I wasn't even thinking of it."  Indeed it was.  Very similar.  Only 
audible, so vastly improved.

3. "Lament," by G.E. Wilker
Ever seen 'Manhattan Murder Mystery'?  Woody Allen says 
something like "Trapped in an elevator AND a dead body.  It's 
a neurotic's jackpot."  Of course, GE's narrative was not much 
like anything Allen ever wrote.  I may have said this before, 
but this piece was overlong and needed a trim.  I ceased 
concentrating on it about halfway through.

4. "Tag_I'm It!" by Adam Burton, Eric Burton, --&-- Chris 
Okiishi
Regardless of whether Eric is straight or not, he looks 
straight to me.  I'm sure my gaydar's not the best, but 
anyhow...  The idea had potential, but the Adam/Eric 
characters were too stereotypical of gay/straight to be of 
much interest beyond that, and Aprille's character seemed 
an even emptier foil.

5. "Sir Chan Destroy," by Dee Troy
The pained expression was in large part due to the fact that I 
was smoking.  This time, the music should have been 
louder.  What a mess!  I don't like the title.  Overall, I felt really 
good about this piece, and Aprille's summary is exactly how I 
intended it to read.

6. "Doing Lunch," by Mark J Hansen
Missed most of it.  What I saw was supercool funny.

7. "Genre Pt. IV:  Romance," by Arlen Lawson
Arlen felt that his action of tearing and throwing was nothing 
compared to the wild theatrics and audience involvement of 
earlier in the evening.  I thought it was a really significant and 
bold statement about his work, his words and his love.  Here 
he is destroying the words as he reads them, like a teacher 
with chalk in one hand and  an eraser in the other.  If you 
didn't catch that, it's too late.  That's love.

7.5. "Porno Bucket," by Matt Goolsby
I agree with Aprille's assessment that this might have 
worked better stopping a verse earlier.  This is not because I 
was tiring of the song, but because Goolsby appeared to be 
tiring, and his performance slowly became less engaging.  It 
would not have worked as well a verse shorter in the sense 
that the audience wouldn't have been so stoked to sing along 
with the final 'porno bucket'.  All this said, I thought it was a 
really cool performance.  Really.

8. "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Rehab," by Alison 
Reeger
Haha.  I saw war trying to make lusty eyes at famine and she 
totally didn't notice.  It came off as a failure of theatrical 
elements to unite rather than as a preordained attempt to 
illustrate famine's resistance of war's seduction.  Death's 
final line was cute.  He came off as the most admirable 
character because he didn't need to say anything else.  
Perhaps the slightly exhausting length of the other 
characters' speeches was targeted at this contrast.  
Speaking of contrasts, this was like seeing the text-based 
work of 1999-2000 in a night of post millennial sound and 
visual work.  Makes you appreciate both.

9. "Testament of Th," by Silas Humbucker --&-- Abe  Strand
Great way to fill not just the stage but any and all available 
space with sound.  Supercool.

10. "Here's the Thing," by Christopher Okiishi
I don't remember the bulk of this one specifically, except that I 
felt that the final line 'i don't know what i'm saying' 
[paraphrase] seemed obvious and unnecessary.  I felt that 
the desperate lack of communication would have been better 
communicated without such a clear statement as that one.

11. "Poop Magnolias," by Aprille Clarke
So there was my name in this thing somewhere, and after 
the show Aprille goes 'it was supposed to be a compliment' 
and I goes what was?  I couldn't hear the context.' and she 
goes 'change of subject'  so later I go 'can I see the script?'  
And when I see the script I realize that it WASN'T a 
compliment, it was a joke.  See, first time I heard something 
about how Jesus and Nick Clark will die virgins.  And I 
thought, wow, that's weird that Aprille would devote enough of 
her time and attention to such an intimate aspect of my life to 
feel the need to include it in a piece like this.  I was totally 
weirded out.  But then, see, I read it and the reason why 
Jesus and me and Barry White will die virgins is that we're 
too virile for any mortal woman.  That's a funny joke but a 
damn creepy compliment.  I preffer not to think of Aprille as 
damn creepy.  SO finally I got a bit past the fact that my name 
was in it and I looked at the script, and realized it was about 
finding sex.  For some it's so easy they don't even need to 
touch to get pregnant, for others it's so rare that it's 
celebrated at the same time as the wedding, and for still 
others, it's completely impossible becuase of a paridoxical 
problem with being too sexy.  Swamp thing?  Another 
interesting take on sex - once we get it, is it really worth it?  
Will we just make excuses for why we slept with this 
disgusting creature?  Thought provoking, but still ST has a 
lame and predictable final line.

11.5 "City Slickers 2:  The Legend of Curly's Poop," by Al 
Angel
I have heard so much paranoid BS about terrorists that this 
wouldn't surprise me as a true story.  If I hear the word 
'Anthrax' in refference to anything other than a cheesy metal 
band, i'll scream.  I won't be happy if you bring up the metal 
band either.

12. "A Brief Synopsis of Operation:  Enduring Freedom," by 
Arend Miller
At the time I laughed, because of the funny oddity, but in 
retrospect I gotta say, hey, you deal with a big issue, you 
dredge up big emotions, and did you really use those to best 
advantage?  I mean, it got me thinking, but seemed like it 
was trying not to get me thinking, and that seems a bit 
perverse to me.  I donno if that makes sense to anyone.

13. "Opus 45_Little Brown Jug or String of Pearls, it's all 
just scat to me," by Willie Barbour
The pearls in this would have worked a lot better if Willie 
would have actually pulled them out of his ass.  Physically 
seeing the pearls didn't do the piece any real good at all, tho.  
Pretty good pacing - held my attention without sacrificing 
descriptiveness or depth. 

14. "The Career Day Massacre," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell
I had a dream about an insult comic a couple nights ago.  It 
was scary, cause an insult comic not only insults somebody 
by singling him/her out, but encourages the audience to 
laugh at him or her for some minor failing.  It's much like 
being in junior high and being singled out by a cruel teacher 
for something you're doing wrong in typing class, and then 
everyone makes fun of you for hitting the 'j' with your left index.  
Well, in my dream, it was like, the insult comic knew all these 
secrets about the people in the audience.  And everybody 
knew that when he said something about someone, it was 
true, and everyone was hoping they wouldn't get singled out.  
Even pretend Neil Campbell insult comedy is kinda 
horrifying.

15. "The Jesus and Judas Shattering Kandy Korn 
Inescapable," by Chris Stangl
Apri

Time: Wed, 17-Oct-2001 03:39:55 GMT     IP: 205.244.160.64


13. "Opus 45_Little Brown Jug or String of Pearls, it's all 
just scat to me," by Willie Barbour
The pearls in this would have worked a lot better if Willie 
would have actually pulled them out of his ass.  Physically 
seeing the pearls didn't do the piece any real good at all, tho.  
Pretty good pacing - held my attention without sacrificing 
descriptiveness or depth. 

14. "The Career Day Massacre," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell
I had a dream about an insult comic a couple nights ago.  It 
was scary, cause an insult comic not only insults somebody 
by singling him/her out, but encourages the audience to 
laugh at him or her for some minor failing.  It's much like 
being in junior high and being singled out by a cruel teacher 
for something you're doing wrong in typing class, and then 
everyone makes fun of you for hitting the 'j' with your left index.  
Well, in my dream, it was like, the insult comic knew all these 
secrets about the people in the audience.  And everybody 
knew that when he said something about someone, it was 
true, and everyone was hoping they wouldn't get singled out.  
Even pretend Neil Campbell insult comedy is kinda 
horrifying.

15. "The Jesus and Judas Shattering Kandy Korn 
Inescapable," by Chris Stangl
Aprille says that seeing a script doesn't make this one any 
easier to understand.  I think I'd like to see a script for this 
one, cuz it was pretty hard for me to follow.  O God-on.  If you 
have a mix tape, and there's the Ramones' "Sheena is a 
Punk Rocker", then Robyn Hitchcock's "Queen Elvis II", then 
Captain Beefheart's "Kandy Korn", well, Queen Elvis gets lost 
between a loud song and a long song.  And it's a shame 
because that short pretty song is the most satisfying of the 
three.  That's what I felt like was happening here:  all the 
most satisfying elements were getting completely 
submerged.

Time: Wed, 17-Oct-2001 04:20:04 GMT     IP: 24.4.252.101


Circus Night! See oddities of nature, daredeviltry, and shouting 
to wake the dead! Circus Night!

Two weeks ago, the Jungian undercurrents of the theater produced 
a bunch of skits involving dinosaurs and superheroes. This week, 
we moved into a pubescent fascination with spectacle and 
demonstration. Next week, I guarantee many pieces involving 
reflection, crisis, and sophomoric name-dropping, as No Shame 
leaves home for college and finds its own identity. Two weeks 
later, No Shame should be about as old as me, and whatever I do 
will click with the Zeitgeist so well that I will receive 
countless accolades, monetary rewards, and sexual offers. Aw 
hell yeah.

0.5. "The Alyssas Bowmen," by Chris Stangl_A Bowman, 
Boylyssa (real name unknown to me), C Stangl.  [Alyssa and 
Boylyssa are so alike_comedy sketch]

More important than the physical resemblance, both BowWoMan and 
BowManMan share an unbearably cute awkwardness in manner and 
speech. That having been said, 

1. "Theater?  Ontology!  Fight!  Fight!  Fight!" by James 
"Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jammy-James" Erwin_AJM River, J Erwin, 
?? [EMPIRE group noise song_noise performance]

(I saw the torches in the hallway. I immediately went to the 
head of the line and asked Chris to go first if at all possible. 
No way in Christ I was following Juggly Brad -&- Steve.) Many of 
you know the Empire Carpets jingle, which is cool. Many of you 
don't want to hear a stern reminder of our nation's founding 
libertarian principles after chanting EMPIRE EMPIRE EMPIRE, 
which is also cool. I guess. 

1.5. "I Wannabe a Dino-dog with flames coming out of my 
Brontosauras butthole," by Turn of the Wheel_Juggly Brad, 
Juggly Steve.  [Jesus fucking christ_naked dangerous skill 
performance]

I can die now. You can all die now. Only the second time in No 
Shame's history there was an immediate standing ovation and 
encore demand. And the first time was for a Sanford Meisner joke 
that only theater majors got! Oh, oh so beautiful. Take me now, 
Jeebus.

2. "Eulogy for Bill Evans," by Al Angel_N Clark [N's 
character reflects in a short paragraph that involves tender 
looking_monologue]

Nick looked so horrified to follow these guys, and he sort of 
rushed through the delivery, but what he delivered, was good. 

3. "Lament," by G.E. Wilker_G.E. Wilker [character talks 
about experience of being stuck in elevator with 
corpse_monologue]

I found myself skeptical, and then fighting that skepticism, and 
so I wasn't really clicking with the piece through its first 
minute. But hey, this thing worked good, and I'd like to see 
this writer refine her stuff. 

4. "Tag_I'm It!" by Adam Burton, Eric Burton, --&-- Chris 
Okiishi_A Burton, E Burton, N"B" Campbell, A Clarke [AC is 
on a date with E, but sometimes with AB_twinful comedy 
sketch]

Cute! Light! And as cute light stuff, it worked. 

5. "Sir Chan Destroy," by Dee Troy_A Lawson, N Clark, C 
Okiishi, W Barbour, K Barbour [N is sad and smoking under 
an umbrella; balloons and balls and frisbees go 
everywhere; C is tender to him_visual and physical 
performance]

I like you for this, Nick. Thanks.

6. "Doing Lunch," by Mark J Hansen_W Barbour, A Burton 
[W and A have a pun-filled conversation; comedy sketch]

I remember when I was the clever smarmy one, but Mark's 
cleverer, and Cassady's better at smarmy. Of course, they'll 
graduate soon, and I'm a CR townie, so advantage: me. In the 
meantime, Mark writes the cleverest words at No Shame and I 
really like that from the getgo, Mark writes for himself and 
waits for the audience to catch up. 

7. "Genre Pt. IV:  Romance," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson [A 
tells story of driving with a former beloved and the troubles 
that ensue; monologue]

Are these monologues actual tales from Arlen's life? Do those 
forgeries of Monet and Picasso have any less merit than actual 
works by the masters? I ain't no monkey, but I know what I like. 
And Arlen pulls my damn heartstrings. 

7.5. "Porno Bucket," by Matt Goolsby_M Gooslby [M makes 
sounds and rhythms and shouts; sound performance]

Nick said it all in his review. He has my proxy.

8. "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Rehab," by Alison 
Reeger_A Reeger, ??, ??, ?? [in the form of regular 
humans, the 4 Horsemen discuss their effects on the world; 
connected monologues]

Fun, but yes, the speeches needed trimming. I was distracted by 
the efforts of two actors to remain in character and react to 
other speeches and the deathly stillness of the other two when 
not speaking. 

9. "Testament of Th," by Silas Humbucker --&-- Abe  Strand_A 
Lawson, N Clark, AJM River, A Clarke, N"B" Campbell, J 
Erwin, C Stangl, ?? [people make many noises, some 
rhythmic; sound performance]

I made people jerk back in fear! Neat! However, here it is four 
days later and I still sound like a cross between Tom Waits in 
the Heartattack and Vine years and a bullfrog with emphysema. 

10. "Here's the Thing," by Christopher Okiishi_C Okiishi [C 
says many words while expressing very few points; 
monologue]

A piece like this obviously depends on the performer really 
delivering, and Chris delivered. Again, as Nick has stated, the 
closing line was superfluous. But hey, if you read the archives, 
you can tell I've prayed a few times for the studio fadeout 
instead of an actual ending.

11. "Poop Magnolias," by Aprille Clarke_A Clarke, C Stangl, 
N"B" Campbell, J Erwin [A and C alternate stories about 
virile squirrels and midgets; Swamp Thing gets involved; 
comedy sketch]

Aprille's sense of the absurd refines with every piece she 
writes. 

11.5 "City Slickers 2:  The Legend of Curly's Poop," by Al 
Angel_A Angel, AJM River [AJM fears terrorists in his 
butthole; against his better judgement, A gets sucked in 
face-first; comedy sketch]

I do love coprophagia. Uh, coprophagia jokes. Yes.

12. "A Brief Synopsis of Operation:  Enduring Freedom," by 
Arend Miller_A Miller [A explains what's happening 
overseas in military aggression; who knew pop culture was 
so involved?  Monologue]

See Nick.

13. "Opus 45_Little Brown Jug or String of Pearls, it's all 
just scat to me," by Willie Barbour_W Barbour [the 
relationship with the punkster girl didn't work out, and all 
that's left is dirty sex toys; monologue]

Again, see Nick. Get out of my fricking head, Nick.

14. "The Career Day Massacre," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell_N"B" Campbell.  [N"B" is a career day speaker, 
a movie critic who loves basketball and insult comedy; 
monologue]

Could you tell Balls was sick? I couldn't. Neil shoves 
performance down our throats. I always lose exactly what I 
wanted to talk about with Neil's pieces, cause he could get up 
there and read the phone book and we'd come away thinking, "Man, 
that was the most fun. That was goofy ten-year-old fun." 

15. "The Jesus and Judas Shattering Kandy Korn 
Inescapable," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl, A Lawson, A 
Clarke, AJM River.  [Jesus and Judas talk about their failed 
relationship; there is cinematic talk, kissing; comedy sketch]

This night, Stangl took us from the tense giddy laughter of 
frenetic anxiety into the hysterical sobbing laughter of psychic 
collapse. Golly! Who digs it? Your faithful correspondent, 
that's who.

Time: Wed, 17-Oct-2001 06:13:11 GMT     IP: 24.183.162.188

1. "Theater?  Ontology!  Fight!  Fight!  Fight!" by James 
"Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jammy-James" Erwin_AJM River, J Erwin, 
?? 
     I have never purchased carpet, yet I remember a phone 
number I learned in my boyhood of a carpet store hundreds 
of miles away from everywhere I've ever lived. I learned this 
phone number while watching re-runs of Batman, starring 
Adam West and Burt Ward.
     How did James know this? How did he find this, among 
all my weaknesses, to exploit? I will die without a 
satisfactory answer.

1.5. "I Wannabe a Dino-dog with flames coming out of my 
Brontosauras butthole," by Turn of the Wheel_Juggly Brad, 
Juggly Steve.  
     Jesus Fucking Christ indeed.

3. "Lament," by G.E. Wilker_G.E. Wilker 
     I dug this, though throughout I kept thinking, "The space 
under that platform is shadowy and elevator-shaped. Why is 
G.E. Wilker not standing there while delivering a monologue 
about being trapped in a dark elevator?"
     This piece left me with a lot of unanswered questions 
(when/how/why had this character become accustomed to 
the presence of dead bodies? would she escape the 
elevator?), but none of them seemed large enough to add to 
the piece. If we'd learned more unusual fragments about 
the character, her past would have been more mysterious. If 
we'd heard more about her thirst/hunger/need to relieve 
herself, then leaving her trapped indefinitely would have 
been more horrifying.
     This was good, but it might have been just two or three 
revisions away from a true masterpiece.

5. "Sir Chan Destroy," by Dee Troy_A Lawson, N Clark, C 
Okiishi, W Barbour, K Barbour 
     I have never felt less self-conscious during an audience 
participation piece. The grabbing/tossing/bumping should 
have been distracting, but they forced a conscious effort to 
pay attention to Nick that he was too interesting to really 
require.
     I loved the mess that was left for the rest of the night.

6. "Doing Lunch," by Mark J Hansen_W Barbour, A Burton 
     I enjoyed individual lines, but I can't even remember now 
if knew/cared what the piece was about when I watched it.

7. "Genre Pt. IV:  Romance," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson
     The balls of script were a good contrast after the beach 
balls and frisbees. Instead of flying and bouncing, they 
refused to travel past the third row. They helped focus 
attention on Arlen's tearing and crumpling.

8. "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Rehab," by Alison 
Reeger_A Reeger, ??, ??, ?? 
Four Horsemen: Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death 
I didn't learn that from the Bible, I learned that from X-Men.
     I did get the feeling during Famine's speech that we'd 
learn the disorder that defined each horseman and that 
there would be a generally parallel structure among the four 
parts, but I wasn't disappointed when those things didn't 
appear.
     Why would Death be sorry now? Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki didn't slow him down.

10. "Here's the Thing," by Christopher Okiishi_C Okiishi [C 
says many words while expressing very few points; 
monologue]
     Beautiful.
     I realized in the first thirty seconds or so that this probably 
wasn't going anywhere (that's not a bad thing; it was already 
where it needed to be), but Chris kept things moving and 
finished before I could be sure. Perfect pace, perfect length.
     I felt like I was watching an exaggerated version of 
myself.

12. "A Brief Synopsis of Operation:  Enduring Freedom," by 
Arend Miller_A Miller 
     This piece came a week too late to be painful and a week 
to early to be old, and it was over before anybody could think 
of being offended.

15. "The Jesus and Judas Shattering Kandy Korn 
Inescapable," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl, A Lawson, A 
Clarke, AJM River. 
Same as #6

     If I did not review your piece, then what I feel has probably 
already been said.

Time: Wed, 17-Oct-2001 15:25:16 GMT     IP: 128.255.55.122

MORTAL SIN ALERT:  I'm going to say something about my own piece, 
in regard to the following:

11. "Poop Magnolias," by Aprille Clarke
        So there was my name in this thing somewhere, and after 
        the show Aprille goes 'it was supposed to be a compliment' 
        and I goes what was?  I couldn't hear the context.' and she 
        goes 'change of subject'  so later I go 'can I see the 
script?'  
        And when I see the script I realize that it WASN'T a 
        compliment, it was a joke.  See, first time I heard 
something 
        about how Jesus and Nick Clark will die virgins.  And I 
        thought, wow, that's weird that Aprille would devote enough 
of 
        her time and attention to such an intimate aspect of my 
life to 
        feel the need to include it in a piece like this.  I was 
totally 
        weirded out.  But then, see, I read it and the reason why 
        Jesus and me and Barry White will die virgins is that we're 
        too virile for any mortal woman.  That's a funny joke but a 
        damn creepy compliment.  I preffer not to think of Aprille 
as 
        damn creepy. 

OK...SO...I'm not going to write everything here that I wrote to 
Nick privately, but I honestly DID mean it as a compliment (within 
a joke, albeit, but a compliment nonetheless).  Maybe it was 
creepy, but I don't think so, except for the obvious creepiness 
that comes with sitting around thinking about the sexuality of 
someone you're not sexually involved with.  But anyway.  The gist 
is that as far as I can tell, Nick's sexuality is very complex and 
has many opposing elements, and it was an homage to that.  Nick 
knows the rest, unless he reads this before he reads his email.

Time: Wed, 17-Oct-2001 20:27:21 GMT     IP: 128.255.52.157

no shame's juggly boy bradley has his own webpage. it's 
www.adita.org. you should go. it is neat.

footnote: last thursday, a couple of my friends and i saw bradley 
in the currier stairway. we spoke for a minute about this and 
that and then parted ways. once bradley left and walked down the 
steps, i turned to my friends and said (quite honestly and as 
heterosexually as possible), "that is one good-looking man." 

but oh, no! the currier stairway's levels are not separated by 
complete floors, but rather grates! hence, things said on the 
third floor can be heard on the second! oh, folly! bradley 
probably heard me gush over his good looks. i feel like a grade-A 
idiot! the last time i was this embarrassed was when i had my 
period in my frosted jeans! somebody ask bradley in gym class if 
he still likes me.

Time: Fri, 19-Oct-2001 13:50:02 GMT     IP: 205.244.162.250

best post ever.

joe goboogagoogaboo

Time: Fri, 19-Oct-2001 14:23:28 GMT     IP: 216.243.220.117

I have twenty-four chocolate menorahs.
I regret to say that current projections indicate that I will be 
out of menorahs at approximately 2:20 EST. 

Time: Sat, 20-Oct-2001 07:52:53 GMT     IP: 63.95.18.87

No Shame Theatre
10/19/2001

0.5. "Police Academy 2:  Their First Poop," by Al Angel_A 
Angel, AJM River.  [Is there anthrax in AJM's butthole?  A will 
find out with his face; comedy sketch]

1. "I Wanna Be the_GRAPE DILLONI" by Jugglies!_Juggly 
Brad and Juggly Steve.  [Juggly Steve can catch grapes in 
his mouth so well; skill performance]

2. "An Enlightenment," by Tom Nixon_T Nixon.  [Getting hit 
on the head with nuts helps man figure out the mysteries of 
God/life/dildos; monologue]

3. "We Admit It," by Ben Heinen, Steven Slye, Alex Kimble_B 
Heinen, S Slye, A Kimble, P Kanwar [Magic_The Gathering 
hobby results in bullying and inner conflict; comedy sketch]

3.5. "Jurassic Pork I" by Seth Brenneman, Michele 
Thompson, Paul Rust, -&- Bill McKenna_Billyssa, P Rust.  
[Magic bottle rubbing results in naked pig-masked dancing; 
comedy sketch]

4. "Windows of the Soul," by Andrea Blong_A Blong.  [A 
detective falls victim to a metabolism-shifting, eye-gouging 
crimester; monologue]

5. "I'm a Non-Conformist Like All my Friends," by Doug Fern 
-&- Amir Efrati_A Efrati.  [Former geek gets cool through retail 
purchases; monologue]

6. "I Am Awesome -&- Thus You Should Like Me," by Jason 
Nebergall_J Nebergall.  [As evidenced by letters from 
celebrities, Jason Nebergall is awesome and smokes 
drugs with cool people; monologue]

7. "Hard to be Jones:  a Total Song," by Arlen Lawson_A 
Lawson, AJM River.  [A and AJM play guitar while A also 
sings; musical song performance]

7.5. "Jurassic Pork 2:  The Lost Sam Neill," by writers of 
#3.5_M Thompson, P Rust [pigs in a blanket make 
woman's butt rumble, naked dancing pig appears; comedy 
sketch]

8. "Peachees the Somersaulting Poodle Has Dreams 
Where She Fucks a Wolf," by James Erwin_J Erwin [J 
recounts traumatizing childhood memories and the painful 
confusion of being unlike his peers; monologue]

9. "OH GOD!  OOOOH POOP!!"  a tragedy in two parts by Erin 
King_E King, A Clarke.  [Through the medium of 
eye-gouging and influenced by the moon, E sums up 
Christian and Greek tragedy; comedy sketch]

10. "Flash!  Flash!  Flash!  Flash!" by Al Angel_N"B" 
Campbell.  [N"B" is so evil that he does evil things, also 
skates around on broken skateboard; monologue]

10.5 "Jurassic Pork 3:  Dinosaur Scratches," by writers of 
#7.5_S Brenneman, P Rust.  [Pikachu (sp?) is summoned, 
naked pig mask guy shows up; comedy sketch]

11. "Chets and Balances," by Aprille Clarke_A Clarke, AJM 
River, A Galbraith [3 characters talk about facial eating and 
tenderness; comedy sketch]

12. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Part I:  The Adventure 
Begins_" by Paul Rust_P Rust, M Thompson, ??, ??.  
[School newspaper kids vow to form a mystery-solving 
team; comedy sketch]

13. "Da:  Dry 55," by Silas Brown_AJM River, A Bowman, A 
Clarke, A Lawson, A Galbraith, C Stangl.  [Some people spin 
at different rates, others say "I" at different rates; 
visual/sound performance]

13.5 "The Punctuation Egg," by Tyson R. Xauna_N Clark, A 
Angel.  [How does the vegan like his eggs?  Ovaries-y; 
comedy sketch]

14. "Arlenita, the Prettiest Girl," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell_N"B" Campbell, A Galbraith, A Lawson.  [Old 
Neil remembers the Young Neil days when he loved pretty 
Arlenita; comedy sketch]

15. "Encyclop�dia Fantastique," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl.  
[Man recounts ghosts of 50 states as recorded in the 
Encyclop�dia Fantastique; monologue]

Time: Sat, 20-Oct-2001 15:28:53 GMT     IP: 128.255.109.56

:10. "Flash!  Flash!  Flash!  Flash!" by Al Angel

Strictly speaking--and for the record--the title was "Flash!  
Flash!  Flash!" rather than "Flash!  Flash!  Flash!  FLash!"

Jesus, people.  Jesus.

"There is no question that Dr. Dre excells at what he does.  The 
question is whether or not it is worth doing."

--Al

Time: Sat, 20-Oct-2001 18:42:52 GMT     IP: 24.4.252.100

I will not review last night's show. I will say only this.

One of the cardinal rules of show business is "Always leave them 
wanting more." The obvious corollary here is "Never leave them 
heartily sick of your premise, as you have explored every 
possible facet of it for them." 

At the point where you're racking your brain for just one more 
joke- stop. Don't put that joke in. You don't need to squeeze 
that last joke in. Have you got an interesting sideplot? You 
have five minutes! You're talking to 150 Americans! Sideplots 
bad! If your piece is about the kitchen table, don't talk about 
what's in the armoire! Do another piece about the armoire!

So yeah.

Time: Sun, 21-Oct-2001 03:04:14 GMT     IP: 63.14.91.135

Another half-ass review?  Will I do a review with my whole ass 
later?  Only Andrew Lloyd Weber can say.

0.5. "Police Academy 2:  Their First Poop," by Al Angel
I had to scream twice.

1. "I Wanna Be the_GRAPE DILLONI" by Jugglies!
Did you know Steve's last name is Dillon?

2. "An Enlightenment," by Tom Nixon
It started out mediocre and turned into standup.  I got chills.

3. "We Admit It," by Ben Heinen, Steven Slye, Alex Kimble
To have so many cards, you'd have to care about the game, but you 
broke them.

3.5. "Jurassic Pork I" by Seth Brenneman, Michele Thompson, Paul 
Rust, --&-- Bill McKenna
Too bad the keyboard was inaudible.  Sorta.

4. "Windows of the Soul," by Andrea Blong
Worked best if you closed your eyes.

5. "I'm a Non-Conformist Like All my Friends," by Doug Fern 
But to have all those props, you'd have to actually own them...

6. "I Am Awesome --&-- Thus You Should Like Me," by Jason  Nebergall
I guess he's too cool to hang with anyone I know.

7. "Hard to be Jones:  a Total Song," by Arlen Lawson
Sounded totally like a song.  I think that's what he was going for.

7.5. "Jurassic Pork 2:  The Lost Sam Neill," by writers of 
#3.5
Paul is very skinny.

8. "Peachees the Somersaulting Poodle Has Dreams Where She Fucks a 
Wolf," by James Erwin
I don't want to reduce this to an annoying 1/2 ass sentence.

9. "OH GOD!  OOOOH POOP!!"  a tragedy in two parts by Erin King
Who was that telling her it was poop?

10. "Flash!  Flash!  Flash! [Flash!]" by Al Angel
A hurricane once blew a houseboat into my mom in real life.

10.5 "Jurassic Pork 3:  Dinosaur Scratches," by writers of 
#7.5
So was Paul really Pikachu, or what?

11. "Chets and Balances," by Aprille Clarke
Chet is a totally handsome name.  Chet Atkins isn't all that 
handsome, but don't eat his face anyhow.

12. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Part I:  The Adventure 
Begins_" by Paul Rust
Why "The Carrot Kids"?  Why "The Breakfast Club"?  No one knows.

13. "Da:  Dry 55," by Silas Brown
I i i i i i i i i i      iiiiiiii      iii iii iii iii was in this.

13.5 "The Punctuation Egg," by Tyson R. Xauna
The Temptation of Egg, by Giant Sand, a band from Tucson, Arizona.

14. "Arlenita, the Prettiest Girl," by Neil "Balls" Campbell
Did he try the wrench thing?  I forget.

15. "Encyclop�dia Fantastique," by Chris Stangl
� �.  How does the keyboard do it?  I had to cut and paste.� �

o*oooooo � � � � �*'rY�"�o*"`��_������_��*�c�*�*=�**��**�*����� �

Time: Sun, 21-Oct-2001 05:46:32 GMT     IP: 24.4.252.100

I give you here an astonishing glimpse into the world of anal 
retention-

My piece's title was "Peaches the Somersaulting Poodle Has Dreams 
Where She Fucks a Wolf," and NOT "Peachees the Somersaulting 
Poodle Has Dreams Where She Fucks a Wolf". Peaches- Peachees.

Goddammit, world. *sob*

And why are naked people always punchlines? Why do people scream 
when they see naked people? Do I scream whenever I see my penis? 
I'm sure my neighbors would have told me by now. And what's up 
with the subway these days? And have you ever really smelled 
cheese? Up close? HA! I'm a riot! I love me! Thank me! I've been 
great! Tip my waitstaff!

Stupid dumb Bailey's.

Time: Sun, 21-Oct-2001 05:54:30 GMT     IP: 216.248.99.3

I miss the curtains.

0.5. "Police Academy 2:  Their First Poop," by Al Angel

Although everyone knows the eventual outcome of the poop 
sketches, the elaborate back stories leading up to 'poop-in-the-
mouth time' are getting better and better (and better.) 


1. "I Wanna Be the_GRAPE DILLONI" by Jugglies

The audience wasn't very responsive during this. It might have 
been because they saw last week's, nearly untoppable, and this 
wasn't as extreme. I've got the utmost respect for the Jugglies--
most everything they do impresses me and makes me wish I had 
hand-eye coordination.


2. "An Enlightenment" by Tom Nixon

The reasoning behind his God-Woman idea didn't quite click with 
me, but I suppose that was the point a few of the times. Or was 
it? The transition from the beginning to the ranting seemed a 
little rough. Going off-script with monologues is usually a bad 
idea unless you know it by heart, otherwise you get some talky-
filler that weakens the piece. It drug. Pookman in disguise?


3. "We Admit It" by Ben Heinen, Steven Slye, Alex Kimble

The Violence Guys: A New Hope. 
Return of the Violence Guys.
The Violence Guys Strike Back.
So when I bought their cookies and kool-aid at last semester's 
BONS, it was going to fund this sick addiction? I've been 
swindled! Very fun filled overall, the bully had some great 
lines.


3.5. "Jurassic Pork I", 7.5. "Jurassic Pork 2:  The Lost Sam 
Neill," and 10.5 "Jurassic Pork 3:  Dinosaur Scratches," by Seth 
Brenneman, Michele Thompson, Paul Rust, --&-- Bill McKenna_
Billyssa 

If only the keyboard music could have been heard over the 
crowd's shock, I would have been entirely satisfied with our 
series. Credit to Paul for the wonderful titles. Oh, and it was 
Pigachu--ha ha! 


4. "Windows of the Soul" by Andrea Blong

I was still in the process of recovering from the piece I was in 
before this, so I didn't catch much of the first part. While 
trying to figure out what I had missed, I missed some more, so I 
ended up not retaining much except the word "cult" and the last 
2 sentences. I'm sorry, Andrea. 


5. "I'm a Non-Conformist Like All my Friends" by Doug Fern 
--&-- Amir Efrati

Reality is funny. The spoiler on a car line was good. Oh my, 
visors.


6. "I Am Awesome --&-- Thus You Should Like Me" by Jason 
Nebergall

I kept a continuous small laugh going through most of this. 
Absurdity is also funny. It was a very classy hat.


7. "Hard to be Jones:  a Total Song," by Arlen Lawson

Awesome Arlen singing + great lyrics'n'tunes = awesomely great 
song. It was a beaut, and I want more of them if there are more. 
I must, at the same time, say that not having an Arlenogue in 
the show made me a little sad.


8. "Peachees the Somersaulting Poodle Has Dreams Where She Fucks 
a Wolf" by James Erwin

I don't have all the right words to review this. It was written 
and performed brilliantly... somber.. that doesn't quite hit the 
nail, but I can't come up with anything else fitting.


9. "OH GOD!  OOOOH POOP!!" by Erin King 

Drastic change between this and the skit before. I know I paid 
attention at the time, but I'm left more with pictures of what 
they were doing on stage than the actual plot line. I laughed, 
and I cringed at the thought of putting a rock in my eye socket. 
Rock in my eye socket. Rock in my eye sock. Rocket in my eye 
socket. 


10. "Flash!  Flash!  Flash!" by Al Angel

I'll try and be less sleepy next week if I plan to review. By 
this time I was getting kind of tired--it was a long No Shame--
and it took a lot to snap me out. I do remember Neil's 
skateboard antics and also laughing.


11. "Chets and Balances" by Aprille Clarke

It seems less and less necessary to review Aprille's pieces. 
Each one is unique and never disappointing. Great story with 
that certain beautiful Aprille spin.


12. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Part I:  The Adventure 
Begins_" by Paul Rust

Although I heard Paul didn't like how this turned out, I enjoyed 
it. It wasn't a beginning-to-end, solid laughtacular fest, but 
it was well done. It's begging for the adventure to continue. 
Begging.


13. "Da:  Dry 55" by Silas Brown

Very neat, especially as you figure out how it works. I'm in 
love with the visual/sound experiments; my favorite is still the 
rolling one (by Mr. Mark Hansen, I believe?)


13.5 "The Punctuation Egg," by Tyson R. Xauna

Despite the fact I didn't get it until 5 seconds after lights 
down, it was good.


14. "Arlenita, the Prettiest Girl" by Neil "Balls" Campbell

I laughed because of old men. I laughed because because. And I 
laughed because of how poorly the great name Arlen becomes 
feminine. 


15. "Encyclop�dia Fantastique" by Chris Stangl

This was reminiscent of the 'President's Deaths while Eating 
Tapioca' sketch in last semester's dead week. That one made me 
tear with laughter (can you nominate from last semester's dead 
week for BONS this semester?) This one was a bit under the 
President's Deaths one, only because Rhode Island isn't nearly 
as funny as Martin Van Buren. The falling book was a frightening 
surprise, and the Halloween poppers were great attention-
grabbing props.


I was very tired and toasty after this No Shame. Mmm. Sleepbed.


Not quite a doppelganger,
Bill..yssa.

Time: Sun, 21-Oct-2001 15:48:23 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.75

James said this:
And why are naked people always punchlines? Why do people 
scream when they see naked people? Do I scream whenever I see 
my penis? I'm sure my neighbors would have told me by now. And 
what's up with the subway these days? And have you ever really 
smelled cheese? Up close? HA! I'm a riot! I love me! Thank me! 
I've been great! Tip my waitstaff!

And I say:
I agree completely. It always surprised me when people regarded 
nudity as the biggest shock you could provide at No Shame. 
There's so much more you can do. For example, when Stangl 
ingested massive amounts of pain-killers... that was a much 
more shocking, scary, and thrilling experience than seeing 
somebody's wink-wink whistle-doo. 

That's why I was pleased to hear the audience groaning during 
my second and third appearances as the shock of nudity wore 
off. Don't misundersand me. I'm not saying anything so bold 
as "I killed nudity at No Shame." Of course, I didn't. It will 
still be used and that's fine. Hopefully though, it was 
revealed to some audience members how unshocking nudity really 
is and how they should expect so much more from No Shame.

Time: Sun, 21-Oct-2001 22:30:42 GMT     IP: 128.255.175.179

I didn't write anything, but I remember someone wanting more 
audience members to write reviews.  So here.

Overall, the night was really long with too many monolougues.  
The good pieces suffered by being surrounded by worse pieces.

0.5. "Police Academy 2:  Their First Poop," 
--the anthrax stuff was funny, but the punch line isn't getting 
any newer.

1. "I Wanna Be the_GRAPE DILLONI" by Jugglies!_
--last trick was very impressive.  i always wonder how they will 
come up with something new.

2. "An Enlightenment," by Tom Nixon_T Nixon.  
--I really, really didn't like this.  Poorly written.  Poorly 
performed.  Weak logic.  Too long.  Sorry 

3. "We Admit It," by Ben Heinen, Steven Slye, Alex Kimble_
--This was really funny.  I don't even play magic, and the 
destruction of the cards still had an effect.

3.5. "Jurassic Pork I" by Seth Brenneman, Michele 
Thompson, Paul Rust, --&-- Bill McKenna_Billyssa, P Rust.  
--Way too funny.  Worth coming to the show for this.  If 
thinking that pig mask-nudity is funny makes me a moron, then 
I'm a moron.

4. "Windows of the Soul," by Andrea Blong_A Blong.  
--This was SO long.  I mean, really long.  I didn't listen.  
Also, this seemed to be a short story, not a monologue.

5. "I'm a Non-Conformist Like All my Friends," by Doug Fern 
--&-- Amir Efrati
--I've already told Amir this, but I don't think that 32 ounce 
jugs are so much a trend.  Bootyliscious rendtion, however, was 
great.

6. "I Am Awesome --&-- Thus You Should Like Me," by Jason 
Nebergall_J Nebergall.  
--easily the best skit of the night.  hilarius.  I loved it.  I 
want more.

7. "Hard to be Jones:  a Total Song," by Arlen Lawson_A 
Lawson, AJM River.  
--though i love arelen's monologues, i also love when people try 
new things.  and this song shows why.  it was awesome.

7.5. "Jurassic Pork 2:  The Lost Sam Neill," by writers of 
#3.5_M Thompson, P 
--i really thought this could be funny three times, and it kind 
of was.  

8. "Peachees the Somersaulting Poodle Has Dreams 
Where She Fucks a Wolf," by James Erwin_
--I sort of feel like the subject matter makes it so that I'm 
not allowed to dislike the skit; i don't like that.  However, it 
was really powerful.

9. "OH GOD!  OOOOH POOP!!"  a tragedy in two parts by Erin 
King_E King, A Clarke.
--In response to Nick's question, I am the person who informed 
erin that she was placing excrement in her eye socket.  I 
thought the skit would go over better than it did.  I'm not a 
good judge of that.

10. "Flash!  Flash!  Flash!  Flash!" by Al Angel_N"B" 
Campbell.  
--the stuff in the dark was the funniest.

10.5 "Jurassic Pork 3:  Dinosaur Scratches," by writers of 
#7.5_S Brenneman, P Rust.  [
--The trilogy is complete.

11. "Chets and Balances," by Aprille Clarke_
--Aprille's apology to James distracted me, but it was a funny 
skit overall.

12. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Part I:  The Adventure 
Begins_" 
--i didn't like this.  Maybe because Paul had clothes on and no 
pig's mask.  No, that probably wasn't it.

13. "Da:  Dry 55," by Silas Brown_AJM River, A Bowman, A 
Clarke, A Lawson, A Galbraith, C Stangl.  
--didn't do a lot for me.

13.5 "The Punctuation Egg," by Tyson R. Xauna_N Clark, A 
Angel.  
--only one joke, but a pretty funny one.

14. "Arlenita, the Prettiest Girl," by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell_N"B" Campbell, A Galbraith, A Lawson.  
--I like Neil's old man voice.

15. "Encyclop�dia Fantastique," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl.  
--good use of props.  lots of funny lines.  

Time: Mon, 22-Oct-2001 02:23:38 GMT     IP: 205.244.167.67

The other half of the ass you've all been waiting for.

0.5. "Police Academy 2:  Their First Poop," 
You know what I just got today?  If the anthrax spores couldn't 
incubate in Jamal's butt, they sure could once they got 
pooped into Al's mouth.  Oh no!  Why would Jamal wanna do 
that to poor Al?  As if pooping in his mouth every week 
weren't enough.

1. "I Wanna Be the_GRAPE DILLONI" by Jugglies!
I don't remember music with this piece.  Maybe I am wrong, 
but dammit there should be music everywhere Brad and 
Steve go.  I love their stuff together, but I oddly miss Brad's 
solo stuff.  Also there was fun and watch out not to step on 
those!

2. "An Enlightenment," by Tom Nixon
I must agree with Carl's review.  Except for the part where he 
says sorry.  The initial setup was mediocre, tolerable, fairly 
funny for a nervously delivered comedy monologue.  Then the 
thing just turned out to be an excuse for a not remotely 
engaging or funny stand up routine, broken up and stretched 
to a total eclipse of the attention span by too many 'um's and 
'you know?'s

3. "We Admit It," by Ben Heinen, Steven Slye, Alex Kimble
I like the fact that when the violence guys are at home, they're 
suddenly back in high school.  I also like the fact that the 
violence guys made a fairly well paced, good, funny piece 
after a draggy 'hypno' thing at the outdoor dealie.  I also liked 
that, for all the almost real violence between people, the thing 
that really hurt to watch was the destruction of those cards, 
though, like Carl, I don't have any notion what playing Magic 
is like.  Just that to have a collection like that, you must value 
the things.

3.5. "Jurassic Pork I" by Seth Brenneman, Michele 
Thompson, Paul Rust, ---&--- Bill McKenna
Somehow I think this would have been funnier if I wouldn't 
have been able to figure out who that naked person was.  
That was kinda the point of the magical appearance of 
someone in a pig mask, right?

4. "Windows of the Soul," by Andrea Blong
Yes this was too long.  Yes it was a short story and not a 
monologue.  Yes it was extremely too long to sit and listen to 
one person talk without anything to look at but her talking.  
Yes it was too fucking goddamn long.  Excuse me.  But 
anyhow, tired as I was with this, I concentrated on paying 
attention, and that meant closing my eyes.  Because it was 
actually very well written and interesting, and it might have 
made a fantastic radio play, but yes, again, it made a pretty 
dismal No Shame piece.  All that negative stuff said, I really 
did like the writing, and, once she learns to edit, I hope she 
does more NS stuff.  New NS performers (me when I was 
new) tend to think of the venue as a forum in which to try out 
material intended for other venues, when in fact, NS is its 
own entity with its own aesthetic.  If you don't acknowledge 
that, you wind up walking a thin, fragile wire.

5. "I'm a Non-Conformist Like All my Friends," by Doug Fern 
---&--- Amir Efrati
I am still very curious as to where a person who has nothing 
but disparaging sarcastic things to say about all of this 
equipment got his hands on it.  Really funny sarcasm stuff, 
and I really like, in my advanced years, hearing something 
that sounds like a joke by and for college freshmens.

6. "I Am Awesome ---&--- Thus You Should Like Me," by Jason 
Nebergall
More joke that sound like for by college freshmints.  I was 
amazed at how aptly he was able to recycle the same 
formula so many times, and each time it was just a bit 
funnier.  It could have even gone on longer.  Reminds me a 
bit of Paul Rust's "Entertainment Weekly" thing.  A sort of self 
mocking attempt to capitolize on commiseration of lonely 
college freshrumps.

7. "Hard to be Jones:  a Total Song," by Arlen Lawson_A 
Lawson, AJM River. 
It was good, yes, but Arlen's singing style, musical taste and 
frequent repetition of the word 'Jones' made a Counting 
Crows comparison unavoidable.  I've never been terribly fond 
of the Crows, so there was a chunk of that not-fondness 
rubbing off here.  Which was unfortunate, since it was 
basically real good.

7.5. "Jurassic Pork 2:  The Lost Sam Neill," by writers of 
#3.5
This, I thought, was the real joke of the three.  An honest to 
goodness joke, a visual pun.  It might have been executed 
better, and seeing as how it was the real joke of the three, it 
might have been better last. 

8. "Peache[e]s the Somersaulting Poodle Has Dreams 
Where She Fucks a Wolf," by James Erwin
Erwin, I hate your title.  Of all the scars mentioned, the only 
one I could see was the slashes on the wrist.  Whenever a 
performer at No Shame does something intensely personal, 
I have a bad habit of overanalyzing every tiny choice of how 
they did it.  I won't do that out loud here.  But know that it's 
going on in my head.  And it's hard for me to put them aside 
long enough to offer other criticism.  Shucks.

9. "OH GOD!  OOOOH POOP!!"  a tragedy in two parts by Erin 
King
Well, I wasn't really interested in what particular audience 
member did the yelling, I meant 'what entitiy or person is 
represented by the voice calling out "Poop!"?'.  It might have 
been more interesting if it had gone deeper into the issue of 
why ocular dismemberment is soo deeply ingrained in so 
many cultures as the ultimate form of atonement.  Erin's face 
can pull off some really funny expressions sometimes, and 
the gestures and expressions immediately following the 
revealation were without equal on God's green earth.  They 
get better on His puce one, but I digress.  I also digest; I had 
a good dinner.  But that's irrelevant.  And there's a lot of y'r 
elevants in the circus.  But that's neither here nor there.  
Where it is I'm not sure.  Maybe I'll find it someday; after all, 
it's pretty hard to misplace an elephant.  Maybe you never 
forget an elephant, but I've got a memory like a goldfish, 
which is about two seconds.  You might be surprised to 
know that I've got a memory like a goldfish, which is about 
two seconds.  Did I mention that I have a memory like a 
goldfish?  About two seconds.

10. "Flash!  [Flash!]  Flash!  Flash!" by Al Angel_N"B" 
Campbell.  
I could have done without the final line.  Does the audience 
really need this little acknowledgement of source material?  
Was this just an attempt at avoiding copyright infringement?  
Ultimately, I feel that the piece would'a stood on its own 
much more gooder than it did when it let us know beyond a 
doubt what the text was Al was riffing off of.

10.5 "Jurassic Pork 3:  Dinosaur Scratches," by writers of 
#7.5_S Brenneman, P Rust.  
I am sad I couldn't hear that keyboard too good.  I expected 
Paul to be inside the poke-ball.  Although Seth "Jad Fair" 
Brenneman sure picked it up easily.  What a trick!  They sure 
fooled me.

11. "Chets and Balances," by Aprille Clarke
I'm sorry to say I don't remember this one too well.  I know 
that Chets are handsome and good to eat the faces off of, 
and that eating a face is like kissing, only with more chewing 
and digestion.  Maybe a statement about how tenderness is 
destructive.

12. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Part I:  The Adventure 
Begins_" 
I think Paul is more adept than anyone I know at evoking a 
truly childlike quality through his writing.  Who else would 
have made Clue such a big deal?  THis wasn't gut bust 
funny, but it didn't need to be.  It managed its charms 
elsehow.

13. "Da:  Dry 55," by Silas Brown
J'mal, I don't like your title either.  I wish I could have seen 
this from the audience since I was mostly concentrating on 
when I could see Aaron's mouf and go "IIIIIIIII".

13.5 "The Punctuation Egg," by Tyson R. Xauna
The vegan line was not in the script, but I just said it to try to 
fuck with Al, since he was drunk.  Then I gave up on fucking 
with Al, and the joke seemed like it was supposed to be 
more complicated than it was.  But it wasn't.

14. "Arlenita, the Prettiest Girl," by Neil "Balls" 
I didn't really get to enjoy this since I wa

Time: Mon, 22-Oct-2001 02:26:26 GMT     IP: 205.244.167.67

12. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Part I:  The Adventure 
Begins_" 
I think Paul is more adept than anyone I know at evoking a 
truly childlike quality through his writing.  Who else would 
have made Clue such a big deal?  THis wasn't gut bust 
funny, but it didn't need to be.  It managed its charms 
elsehow.

13. "Da:  Dry 55," by Silas Brown
J'mal, I don't like your title either.  I wish I could have seen 
this from the audience since I was mostly concentrating on 
when I could see Aaron's mouf and go "IIIIIIIII".

13.5 "The Punctuation Egg," by Tyson R. Xauna
The vegan line was not in the script, but I just said it to try to 
fuck with Al, since he was drunk.  Then I gave up on fucking 
with Al, and the joke seemed like it was supposed to be 
more complicated than it was.  But it wasn't.

14. "Arlenita, the Prettiest Girl," by Neil "Balls" 
I didn't really get to enjoy this since I was preoccupied with 
getting up to the catwalk to drop the book for Chris' piece.

15. "Encyclop�dia Fantastique," by Chris Stangl
The Evil-Dead referrence was as clear as it was the funniest 
thing of the night - which is almost but not quite.  There was a 
clear relationship in formula to the tapioca presidents, and, 
as with Nebergall, should the repetition of forms within a 
formula yield results where each item is funnier than the last, 
then stick to it.  ace!

-n

Time: Mon, 22-Oct-2001 03:44:38 GMT     IP: 128.255.195.202


  Hey, i'm that loser with the backwards upside-down visor from 
the "non-conformist" skit. I wanted to say that the ICC floor of 
Hillcrest and I think that "I Am Awesome --&-- Thus You Should 
Like Me," by Jason Nebergall was absolutely hysterical. It was a 
simple, though creative, idea that made me pee my pants and i'd 
like to see it again at the Best Of show. And to James Irwin, 
thanks so much for the chocolate Menorahs! Delicious!!

Time: Mon, 22-Oct-2001 15:03:11 GMT     IP: 128.255.107.115

OK people.

Believe it or not, I don't ordinarily go out of my way to point 
out my accomplishments or beg for praise.  But this is getting 
ridiculous.

Several semesters ago, NOBODY reliably posted the order at all.  
If it happened, great.  If it happened during the weekend after No 
Shame, great.  Sometimes it didn't happen until late the next 
week.  Occasionally it didn't happen at all.  Let's not even talk 
about an expanded order, including descriptions, authors, and 
actors whenever possible.

A trend emerged.  When the expanded order was posted right away, 
the board room (or the ISCA forum or whatever was in style at the 
time) was way more active.  People posted reviews, questions, 
debates.  If the order wasn't posted right away, people sort of 
forgot about the show, and it existed only on Friday nights at the 
Theater Building and no where else.

This is why I go home every Friday night (except on the unusual 
occasion that I'm not there), very late, usually after some 
socializing and eating, and post the expanded order.  I sit 
throughout the whole show and take notes in order to make the 
expanded order as accurate as possible.  I started doing this when 
I realized that I sometimes didn't remember every piece well 
enough to post a brief description of it.  I wanted to do my job 
better.

Do I get paid to do this?  No.  Do I mind doing this?  Not at all.  
In fact, I enjoy it because I appreciate the effect an early-
posted order has on the board room.  I want to encourage 
discussion and activity, and getting the order posted really helps 
that.  It is a service to No Shame Theater because I care about 
its well-being and its role as a forum for self-improvement and 
experimentation.
 
So what I'm saying is it's often 3 a.m. or later before I get to 
bed on Friday nights, because I stay up, semi-conscious and 
drooling, trying to reconstruct that night's show.  As others who 
have also done this job (and still do at times--thanks to Neil, 
Chris, Adam) can attest, it is not a quick and easy process.  I 
could wait until the next day...but I know that there were many 
times in the past when I wanted to write a review on a Saturday 
morning, but whoever was in charge of posting the order hadn't 
done it.  That's a very frustrating feeling that I don't want to 
impose on anyone else.
 
I'm sorry that I sometimes commit typos.  I'm sorry Al's piece had 
too many "Flash!"es in it.  I'm sorry James's had too many e's.  
When I make such errors, feel free to correct them, because I 
absolutely want the integrity of your titles to come through.  But 
for the love of god, can you please be polite about it?

I'm not asking for everyone to come up to me and say, "Damn, girl, 
you so fine!" or "Thanks for posting the expanded orders so often" 
or anything.  In the larger scheme, it's not THAT big a deal--it's 
not like I'm donating goats to poor kids in Nepal or something.  
I'm just saying that what I do is a favor to the writers and 
performers, so I'd appreciate it if errors were pointed out 
without rude commentary.  Also, I am aware that some/all of said 
rudeness was likely intended in a spirit of mock exasperation and 
elbow-nudging, but such sentiments don't translate well to a 
written medium.
 
Jesus.  This is really long.  To tell you the truth, I'm not that 
upset.  I was planning on just writing a brief paragraph about 
this, then writing a review, but I guess I got carried away.  

I'll get to the review soon.

AC

Time: Mon, 22-Oct-2001 15:22:43 GMT     IP: 216.243.220.117

My bad. *hug* And yes, Aprille, you do a hell of a job with the 
orders. And thanks. Sorry if I came across snide. 

Time: Mon, 22-Oct-2001 16:57:06 GMT     IP: 128.255.208.136

I'm sorry, Aprille.  I really wasn't trying to be an asshole in 
anything but a tongue-in-cheek way.  But that isn't the point--or 
the meat of it anyway.  What matters is that I upset you and I 
did not mean to do it.  I do appreciate you both in terms of you 
yourself and what you do--specifically--for the web board, and I 
do not wish to demean you in either capacity.

Just so you know.

Al

Time: Mon, 22-Oct-2001 22:15:50 GMT     IP: 128.255.175.179

Nick says:

I must agree with Carl's review.  Except for the part where he 
says sorry.  

AND also:

like Carl, I don't have any notion what playing Magic 
is like.  


My question:  Who is Carl?

Time: Mon, 22-Oct-2001 23:30:10 GMT     IP: 205.244.167.96


:Nick says:

:I must agree with Carl's review.  Except for the part where he 
:says sorry.  

:AND also:

:like Carl, I don't have any notion what playing Magic 
:is like.  


:My question:  Who is Carl?

Dear Bejeezus, sorry for not paying more attention.  This is a 
cardinal sin.  I was just thinkin' "Audience member, review, 
Carl the Audience Me"  I should'a remembered a name like 
Calvin, since it's only my favorite boy's name in the whole 
wide world.

Appy-polly-loggies
-n

Time: Tue, 23-Oct-2001 01:13:33 GMT     IP: 128.255.195.202

  Carl-

  Dude, where have you been for the last year? Nalgene water 
bottles "with the lines" have most definitely become a trend. 
Anyone who says differently may challenge me to a dual to the 
death--or a thumb war. I should have also mentioned friday that 
when you try to drink from them, the water spills around your 
mouth and drenches your clothes. Maybe that's its appeal. And 
Aprille, your order is much appreciated.

  Amir

Time: Tue, 23-Oct-2001 16:13:19 GMT     IP: 128.255.109.162

Very neat, especially as you figure out how it works. I'm in 
       love with the visual/sound experiments; my favorite is 
still the 
       rolling one (by Mr. Mark Hansen, I believe?)

Actually, no. The piece you're referring to was called Elbow the 
Letter and was by Georgia Athens. I was in it, but I didn't write 
it. Georgia Athens, who is no relation to Georgia Hubley, as is 
frequently the case with people who have the same first name but 
not the same last name, is a wonderful gal. 

Last night I went to a Pumpkin Bar. It was a really seedy joint. 

Markh.

Time: Tue, 23-Oct-2001 18:14:46 GMT     IP: 63.95.18.70

OK, now I'm all embarrassed about that thing about the 
orders.  I really enjoy posting them.  I was just feeling touchy 
and pissy when I wrote that.  Apologies accepted, and let us 
never speak of this again.

Now, a review.

0.5. "Police Academy 2:  Their First Poop," by Al Angel
Cute.  I'm enjoying the mix of topical humor with very base 
humor here_it seems a commentary on the art form.

1. "I Wanna Be the_GRAPE DILLONI" by Jugglies!_Juggly 
Brad and Juggly Steve.

I agree with someone (Nick?) who said the scariest part 
was watching their feet, hoping they wouldn't squish the 
grapes.  I'm so glad the jugglies have been coming a lot 
this semester.  They're so nice.  Even Juggly Steve is slowly 
gaining my acceptance and approval.

2. "An Enlightenment," by Tom Nixon

What was this enlightenment?  That God is a woman 
because that's the only reason women would be so 
nagging?  That men need never make any effort to 
communicate with women or treat them as equals, because 
women can be so easily dismissed as completely different 
from men?  As others have mentioned, WAY too long, WAY 
too under-developed (weird combination), WAY not funny 
enough for something that was going to take up 15 minutes 
of my life trying to be funny.

3. "We Admit It," by Ben Heinen, Steven Slye, Alex Kimble

Adorable.  I enjoyed the ending_the eternal dilemma is not 
Be a Nerd vs. Don't Be a Nerd; the dilemma is which kind of 
nerd to be.  Do we side with Jamal's character's brand of 
nerdiness or Pooja's?  This is making me think about 
things I might use in a piece later, so no fair stealing my 
idea.

3.5. "Jurassic Pork I" by Seth Brenneman, Michele 
Thompson, Paul Rust, -&- Bill McKenna

From Paul's comments, I got the idea that this was 
supposed to sort of deconstruct No Shame nudity, point out 
its inherent unshockingness and boringness.  However, I 
think that just happened a couple of weeks ago, with the 
naked fire juggling.  I talked about it in my review of that 
show, but it basically makes the same statement.  At first, 
the nudity was all crazy and sexy, then something happened 
to dwarf it (perhaps the drafty quality of the stage?).  That put 
the uninterestingness of nudity into focus, at least for me.
Besides, naked men kind of horrify me, so it upset me that 
there were THREE pieces where Paul's weiner was the 
punchline.  That's not Paul's fault, though.

4. "Windows of the Soul," by Andrea Blong

I had high hopes for this one, what with Andrea's stellar 
performance some time ago, but it didn't really work out.  It's 
sad that this piece is getting lumped together with the 
nuts/God is Woman piece, because it was head and 
shoulders above it.  For one thing, Andrea seemed to have 
paid attention while writing it.  The writing was actually quite 
nice, but I think it would have worked better either 1) fully 
dramatized, so I wouldn't have to pay such close attention to 
the words in order to make sense of it, or 2) not performed 
at all, just written down for me to read, so I could go back 
and review when I needed it.  It wasn't well-suited to 
monologue format.  Future monologuers:  take a lesson 
from Chris Stangl_add layers.  These may be visual, 
topical, stylistic, whatever_but monologues are boring 
when they only have one level.

5. "I'm a Non-Conformist Like All my Friends," by Doug Fern 
-&- Amir Efrati

Having never really had much relationship to popular style, I 
didn't get a lot of these jokes.  It seemed like other people 
enjoyed it, though, so that was cool.  I have always 
wondered about those visors, though.  Were all of the trendy 
things mentioned actual things people use?  That backpack 
thing was really impractical.  Was it made up?

6. "I Am Awesome -&- Thus You Should Like Me," by Jason 
Nebergall

The voice cracking on the repetition of the name was a nice 
touch.  It saved the piece from being just an ostentatious, 
braggy thing_that voice cracking provided the next layer that 
separated this monologue from the less successful ones of 
the night.  It showed us a hint of desperation, of longing for 
approval, that made the faked celebrity letters not only funny 
(which they were), but kind of sad and pathetic too.  And, 
praytell, what good is something funny if it's not sad and 
pathetic too?

7. "Hard to be Jones:  a Total Song," by Arlen Lawson

I agree with Nick, it sounded like Counting Crows.  I might 
not have thought of that had I not known that Counting 
Crows is one of Arlen's favorite bands, but having that 
information, I listened to it from that particular perspective.  
Even Arlen's singing voice sounded like the singer from that 
band.  I wonder if people in the back row could hear him.

7.5. "Jurassic Pork 2:  The Lost Sam Neill," by writers of #3.5

8. "Peaches the Somersaulting Poodle Has Dreams Where 
She Fucks a Wolf," by James Erwin

This was good as a memoir-type piece.  That said, I don't 
usually go in for memoir-type pieces.  It would be really hard 
to do this piece, because an important part of it was 
James's uncertainty about the diagnosis of and how to deal 
with his superior intelligence.  How on earth do you talk 
about that without coming off as cocky and annoying?  For 
the most part, it worked.  Maybe because it was juxtaposed 
with so many painful memories.  It was hard for me to 
shake my general distaste for listening to people talk about 
themselves, though.  Maybe just because I've heard this 
story before_I don't know.  I'm not talking about this in a 
very constructive way.  It made me wonder if the attacks he 
received were really racially motivated, or if his peers used 
his race as an excuse or an add-on during torture sessions 
stemming from other things they didn't like about him.  As I 
daresay most of us were as kids, James was probably 
different from his peers in a lot of ways.  I might have liked 
this piece to explore some other aspects a little more.  It's a 
complicated subject.

9. "OH GOD!  OOOOH POOP!!"  a tragedy in two parts by Erin 
King

I couldn't see what she was doing, but it sounds like it must 
have been interesting.  I liked the frame_the two types of 
tragedies + poop + eye gouging = multifaceted fun for 
everyone.

10. "Flash!  Flash!  Flash!" by Al Angel

Funny_it surprised me when I saw that Al had written this, 
since Neil became so absorbed in the character it seemed 
like a Neil monologue.  Good casting on Al's part.  The 
skateboard provided a wonderful visual relief, quite 
necessary after the audience had to digest the content of the 
monologue.

10.5 "Jurassic Pork 3:  Dinosaur Scratches," by writers of 
#7.

11. "Chets and Balances," by Aprille Clarke_A Clarke, AJM 
River, A Galbraith [3 characters talk about facial eating and 
tenderness; comedy sketch]

12. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Part I:  The Adventure 
Begins_" by Paul Rust

Yeah, whoever thought this wasn't good was wrong.  It was 
good.  Agreed with whoever said it:  the beginning and the 
details put into the Clue game were the strongest part; the 
broadstroked characterizations of the nerdy kid, the cool kid, 
etc. were funny.  Remember when arcade games used to 
be really expensive?  Now they're cheap because nobody 
plays arcade games anymore, they just play Nintendo or 
whatever.  Not Paul, though!

13. "Da:  Dry 55," by Silas Brown

It was fun to listen to from stage.  I'm curious as to what it 
sounded like from the audience.  Poor Alyssa got really 
dizzy, but I'm glad she's been up on stage so much this 
semester.

13.5 "The Punctuation Egg," by Tyson R. Xauna

Would it have been overkill to cast Adam Hahn in this?

14. "Arlenita, the Prettiest Girl," by Neil "Balls" Campbell

I wanted to get even deeper into the old man's fantasy 
world, since Arlenita's refusal of his affections seemed to 
imply a delusional quality.  Neil mentioned something to me 
that I experience a lot too.  He said that a lot of times when 
he writes something he thinks is really good, it gets only a 
l

Time: Tue, 23-Oct-2001 18:15:51 GMT     IP: 63.95.18.70

12. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Part I:  The Adventure 
Begins_" by Paul Rust

Yeah, whoever thought this wasn't good was wrong.  It was 
good.  Agreed with whoever said it:  the beginning and the 
details put into the Clue game were the strongest part; the 
broadstroked characterizations of the nerdy kid, the cool kid, 
etc. were funny.  Remember when arcade games used to be 
really expensive?  Now they're cheap because nobody plays 
arcade games anymore, they just play Nintendo or whatever.  
Not Paul, though!

13. "Da:  Dry 55," by Silas Brown

It was fun to listen to from stage.  I'm curious as to what it 
sounded like from the audience.  Poor Alyssa got really dizzy, 
but I'm glad she's been up on stage so much this semester.

13.5 "The Punctuation Egg," by Tyson R. Xauna

Would it have been overkill to cast Adam Hahn in this?

14. "Arlenita, the Prettiest Girl," by Neil "Balls" Campbell

I wanted to get even deeper into the old man's fantasy world, 
since Arlenita's refusal of his affections seemed to imply a 
delusional quality.  Neil mentioned something to me that I 
experience a lot too.  He said that a lot of times when he 
writes something he thinks is really good, it gets only a 
lukewarm response, but when he writes something he's not 
quite sure about, it often is very well-received.  He said this 
piece was in the latter category.  That always happens.  
Anybody else experience this?
 
15. "Encyclop�dia Fantastique," by Chris Stangl

The book falling down was scary.  I like it when Chris does 
pieces like this, because it shows the sheer volume of his 
brain.  No need to develop the little thingitos_just plant the 
seeds and convince the audience that having thought of 
them in the first place is enough.  And most of the time, it is.  
Chock full of funny fun.

Time: Tue, 23-Oct-2001 18:26:56 GMT     IP: 128.255.111.164

i am not sure how many people read this stuff but for those 
who do i know you are motivated people so please vote in 
the upcoming elections...


*****
email me if there is something i can do to get you to register 
and vote:    
bradleyadita@hotmail.com
*****

Time: Tue, 23-Oct-2001 18:29:28 GMT     IP: 128.255.111.164

sorry 
if this is an exclusive... noshame material only 
post place please excuse me...
though i really think we need to vote so i thought i'd throw it 
in
to make it up... here's some new on the Jugglys
Steve and I are now a team called 
Magnetic
we have a website at
http://www.adita.org/magnetic

enjoy
we love no shame so much

bradley

Time: Tue, 23-Oct-2001 23:40:49 GMT     IP: 24.4.252.100

Bradley, the merest glance should tell you that this isn't just a 
place for posting about No Shame- it's for the No Shame 
community. And by God, that community needs to go out and vote. 

Get me drunk sometime and I'll tell you what I know about what 
really happens down on Washington Street. Horrifying shit. 

James "The Manchurian Candidate" Erwin

Time: Wed, 24-Oct-2001 00:29:33 GMT     IP: 205.244.161.221

Things which have been mentioned on the message board 
before, but (to my knowledge) never answered:

1. It would be cool if, in adittion to posting the orders, 
someone posted the announcements so that people could 
find out easily, for instance, when the juggly magnet is doing 
something in a laundromat.  I volunteer to type the 
announcements into the internet.

2. Is there a VHS of 'Brothers Askew available for loan / sale 
for those who missed it?  Will there be another screening?

3. Will the NSCD ever emerge, and if so, will most of the 
audience remember the likes of Kyle Lange, or even Ben 
Schmidt?

I yearn for you tragically,
Washington Irving

Time: Thu, 25-Oct-2001 02:52:03 GMT     IP: 64.197.224.67

Does Shame miss Dan?  Sloth love Chunk.

My friend Jeffrey Lloyd Hansen said that people were asking 
about me.  Where I am and other howdy-do.

I talked to AL-ive Oyl Angel a way back time ago and that was 
pleasant but I was upset to miss the potluck and the kitty.  
Other than that and running into people at JoAnn's Crafts a few 
days ago, I haven't heard anything from the people I still have 
the gall to call my fond acquantances if not friends.

On with my pathetic attempt to make my presence known and 
eventual shameless promotion.

Since people have reportedly asked I am currently playing the 
part of Kinesias in the World Premiere of X.J. Kennedy's (some 
semi-famous british poet guy) new translation of Lysistrata.  I 
even designed the prosthetic penises that adorn the crotches of 
the male cast members. Members...tee hee. I call it "The Dando" 
(patent pending)  This has been occupying much of my time.  
Before Lysistrata I was doing props and playing in the orchestra 
for Schoolhouse Rock Live.  In short I've pretty much 
said, "Fine! If the University won't give me a part in a play  
I'll take part in the many other theatre's in town that actually 
think I'm good."  Oh, that reminds me.  I did see a bunch of 
pictures of Mike Cassady at the Childrens Museum when we 
performed SHR Live there.  Other than that I'm feeling like no 
longer a part of No Shame.  It's a sad and lonely feeling that 
leads people to shamelessly explaining themselves, practically 
begging for acceptance, which I imagine certain people that 
participate in No Shame can relate to.

But anyway, I would appreciate you guys coming to Lysistrata.  
It's a World Premiere, dammit.  And Friday the X.J. Kennedy is 
going to be in town answering your questions.  I, too, would be 
proud to answer any questions regarding the Dando (no Lemonheads 
jokes, please)

It's at the Unitarian Universalist Society thingy at the corner 
of Iowa and Gilbert streets.  This weekend.  House opens at 7:30.

Yup.

-dan

Time: Thu, 25-Oct-2001 03:23:50 GMT     IP: 24.4.166.160

I wasn't sure who was who in the elections so I stopped by the 
Public Library and asked at the Information Desk.  Turns out they 
have been clipping relevant articles from local papers for many 
months, so I was able to get a fairly well-rounded impression of 
all the candidates in just half an hour or so.  I highly recommend 
it.  Please take the time to register, to learn who stands for 
what, and then to vote when Nov. 6 rolls around.  It's your chance 
to make a difference in the way things get run around here -- or 
to help keep things the same, if that's your bag.

-Adam

Time: Thu, 25-Oct-2001 19:21:25 GMT     IP: 128.255.107.75

I think you really have to hand it to the violence guys for not 
destroying the all-too-fragile stage on Fri.

Good job


P.S.

A.Clark's skit was the best to date

Time: Sat, 27-Oct-2001 08:01:38 GMT     IP: 63.95.18.140

NO SHAME THEATRE 

ORDER 10/26/01

0.5. "Halloween 5:  The Poop of Michael Myers," by Al 
Angel_A Angel, AJM River (There was candy in AJM's butt.  
We can all guess_comedy sketch)

1. "I Wish I Was a Food," by the Jugglies and Nick_N Clark, 
AJM River, A Angel, Juggly Brad, Juggly Steve, E King [N is 
so sad and hungry, and there are social food (and not so 
food!) jugglies everywhere!); comedy sketch]

1.5. "Arlen's Happiest Birthday," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl, 
J Erwin, A Lawson (A gets some used-pancake present; 
comedy sketch)

2. "My Eternal Reward," by Calvin Hennick_C Hennick (C is 
dead and gives away his stuff in search of salvation; 
monologue)

3. "Me -&- My Balls," by Magnetic_Juggly Steve (Juggly Steve 
does tricks with his three blue balls; skill performance)

4. "A `New' Song" by Kyle Lange [order poster's note:  I was 
thinking Kyle's last name was spelled Lang, but since I'm 
not sure I'm going with what's in the official order]_K Lange 
(K sings and plays guitar; musical performance)

4.5. "Formula Plots Pt. 3:  Over Used Pickup Line," by 
Kovacs -&- Walken_P Rust, M Thompson (Is there a banana 
in Paul's pants, or is he just happy to see an 
apple?_comedy blackout)

5. "BRAIN of Darkness!!!" [Order poster's note:  correct 
number of exclamation points] by Al Angel_A Angel, P Rust, 
M Thompson (P and M discuss their relationship with 
varying degrees of enthusiasm while A takes audience on a 
graphic tour of the brain; seriocomedy performance)

5.5. "Duck Tape," by Kurt Meyermann_K Meyermann (What 
is duct tape made of?  Crap, that t should have been a k.  I 
guess it's always spelled wrong; monologue)

5.  "Sheila in a Gig," by Yeovil Englund_T Wilson, J  Erwin, A 
Clarke, AJM River, S Griffin (T is in a box, J gets taken away 
forcibly; comedy performance)

6.5. "An Acorn Fell on My Head Today_" by Ellen 
Flaherty_P Rust.  (P changes shoes, he is not a panty hose 
runner; monologue blackout)

7. "The Starvation Box," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson 
(Characters go to circus, pay to see penis-free rose-full 
man, eat sno-cones; monologue)

8. "That Man IS Not a Moon! (Arlen Birth)" by Norval 
Brown_C Stangl, AJM River, A Lawson (accompanied by a 
metronome, players chant words and sometimes don't; 
sound performance)

9. "I, Neil `Balls' Campbell, Am One Tenth the Order-Reader 
that Kyle Lange Was," by Kyle Lange and Dan Brooks_K 
Lange, D Brooks (D is sensitive and K is crude in 
attempting to pick up women; comedy performance)

10. "Heema Jeema!  That's a Moon Dan Brooks!" by Alyssa 
J. Hayward_A Bowman, C Stangl, AJM River, various 
audience members; AJM and C talk shit about Dan Brooks 
old-school-style, there is chanting; comedy/sound 
performance)

10.5. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Pt II:  Zen Arcade," 
by Paul Rust_P Rust, M Thompson, N"B" Campbell, ??, ??, 
?? (Was there a murder?  And how does it relate to the 
marble?  Not even the Carrot Kids know; comedy sketch)

11. "Hands of God OR The Bus that Couldn't Slow Down," 
by Jason Nebergall_J Nebergall (J's hands fight and 
debate theology; monologue)

12. "How Not to Have Babies OR:  Why I Hate it When the 
French Reproduce," by Aprille Clarke_A Clarke, M Cassady, 
N"B" Campbell, AJM River (bad parents do bad things to 
kids, each other; comedy sketch)

13. "Luckies," by Dan Brooks_M Thompson, M Brooks, J 
Erwin, K Lange, D Brooks, C Stangl (An overlapping set of 
stories evolves about Slipknot, infidelity, and blind 
person/cat violence; comedy performance)

14. "The Ghost in THIS VCERY ROOM!" by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell_N"B" Campbell (Orson Welles' ghost haunts the 
room, as N"B" excitedly tells us_monologue)

15. "Special Dark," by Chris Stangl_C Stangl (C recounts 
the subtle pleasures of ruling in his own tiny hell; 
monologue)

Time: Sat, 27-Oct-2001 08:30:43 GMT     IP: 205.244.161.184

No!  No more half assed reviews.  I was thinking of making a 
weekly thing of it so that I could be cool for making the first 
review, and also hold the record for most annoying NS ritual 
not involving performance, but then I remembered how 
embarrassed I was last week when a couple of my real 
reviews weren't really any more insightful than the 
corresponding halfassers.  And that doesn't say anything 
good to the recipients of those reviews.  From now on I will 
leave it ambiguous, so that every writer / performer can 
pretend I care.
I really do care, y'know.
love,
-n

Time: Sat, 27-Oct-2001 17:39:18 GMT     IP: 128.255.107.10

just some friendly notes/corrections about the order...

the two other people in "carrot kids" are jake livermore 
("chuck") and steve heuertz ("laptop")

also, it was erin king (not michele thompson) who was in 
kovacs' "banana blackout" with me.

thanks.

Time: Sun, 28-Oct-2001 07:13:40 GMT     IP: 128.255.195.202

13. "Luckies," by Dan Brooks. 
  How well-written was this piece? Damn fucking well, if you ask 
me! Not only was it funny but also extremely engrossing and 
riveting! It perfectly utilized the style of overlapping story 
accounts. I had only one piece of beef with it: James Erwin, 
although originally a part of this skit, should not have had the 
other gentleman as his voice; it should have just been that 
gentleman alone as the cat. (But you've still got my vote when 
you run for office, James!) Nevertheless, the whole thing made 
my night and I'd enjoy seeing it again in a couple of months. 
Overall, this past No Shame blew away the one from 10/19 by a 
mile. And less nudity, too! Yeeee hawww!

  Amir

Time: Sun, 28-Oct-2001 17:03:37 GMT     IP: 128.255.175.179

Let me start by saying that, overall, this was the best-written 
night of no shame that i've ever seen.  Even in skits where 
audience response wasn't huge, I was often astounded by the 
writing.

0.5. "Halloween 5:  The Poop of Michael Myers," by Al 
Angel_
--I don't see an end to this series any time soon.

1. "I Wish I Was a Food," by the Jugglies and Nick
--Extremely well written.  That really looked like poop.  Liked 
the idea of juggling food.  Surprised by how many skits food 
made it into.

1.5. "Arlen's Happiest Birthday," 
--More food, more fun.

2. "My Eternal Reward," by Calvin Hennick

3. "Me --&-- My Balls," by Magnetic_Juggly Steve 
--I was mightily impressed by this performance.  Every ten 
seconds, he threw something new at me that I hadn't ever seen 
before.

4. "A `New' Song" by Kyle Lange 
--I really, really liked this.  I wish I could hear it again.  
Great vocals.

4.5. "Formula Plots Pt. 3:  Over Used Pickup Line," by 
Kovacs 
--Great play on a cliche line. Well done.

5. "BRAIN of Darkness!!!" 
--this was also well-written.  I was more interested in the 
Paul/Michelle stuff than the brain stuff though.

5.5. "Duck Tape," by Kurt Meyermann_K Meyermann 
--I thought this was really funny, and I was surprised it didn't 
get more laughs.  A full house probably would have helped.

5.  "Sheila in a Gig," by Yeovil Englund
--Great silent performance.  Glad they didn't drop James.  That 
box with Tony in it rocking back and forth was about the saddest 
thing I ever saw.  

6.5. "An Acorn Fell on My Head Today_" by Ellen 
Flaherty_P Rust.  
--Love the title.  Another well-written skit.

7. "The Starvation Box," by Arlen Lawson_A Lawson 
--Will the great writing stop already?  I'm not kidding, this 
was awesome too.  I'm normally a cynical and pessimistic guy, 
but I had nothing to complain about this week.

8. "That Man IS Not a Moon! (Arlen Birth)" by Norval 
Brown
--These types of skits have become increasingly common the past 
few weeks, and they always interest me, but never do much for me.

9. "I, Neil `Balls' Campbell, Am One Tenth the Order-Reader 
that Kyle Lange Was," by Kyle Lange and Dan Brooks
--This was hilarious.  My new favorite pickup line:  "So you 
girls like dick?"

10. "Heema Jeema!  That's a Moon Dan Brooks!" by Alyssa 
J. Hayward
--audience chanting was cool.  It surprised by when everyone 
stood up.

10.5. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Pt II:  Zen Arcade," 
by Paul Rust
--I still don't like these, and here is why:  They are done so 
well that it makes me think I am actually watching a really bad 
Saturday morning television show.  So the skits are good, but I 
don't like them.  Is that allowed?

11. "Hands of God OR The Bus that Couldn't Slow Down," 
by Jason Nebergall
--alternative title a nice tribute to Homer. Funny idea.  Well 
written.

12. "How Not to Have Babies OR:  Why I Hate it When the 
French Reproduce," by Aprille Clarke
--One of the best Aprille sketches I've ever seen.  The contrast 
between Aprille's acting and the rest of it was very effective.  
As I watched it, I sat there thinking, I could never write 
something like this.  Whereas I am able to give an initial setup 
and two or three jokes, this was 17 layers of cool.  I'm jealous.

13. "Luckies," by Dan Brooks
--Maybe the best thing I've ever seen at No Shame.  No joke.  
But Amir, I doubt the New Yorkers will be able to come back for 
Best Of.  

14. "The Ghost in THIS VCERY ROOM!" by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell
--Also great.  And funny.  

15. "Special Dark," by Chris Stangl
--Topped off the night well.  More food.  Another great piece, 
what can I say?

Time: Sun, 28-Oct-2001 21:28:06 GMT     IP: 128.255.107.85




        NO SHAME THEATRE 

        ORDER 10/26/01

        0.5. "Halloween 5:  The Poop of Michael Myers," by Al 
        Angel_I hope Al just goes nuts and does something totally 
different one of these weeks.  I mean, I see the beauty in keeping 
the same punchline and varying the joke, but I think I'm ready to 
be blown away.  Maybe Jamal could fart or something?  My favorite 
parts of these are the titles.  I was at the video store last 
night, and it was so fun to wander around and make Al-style 
titles.

        1. "I Wish I Was a Food," by the Jugglies and Nick_Nice 
new dimension to the Jugglies, and even in the Jugglies' usual 
order spot!  Nick's facial expressions were priceless.  Having 
been witness to the early Chris/Jamal days, I wasn't particularly 
shocked by the poop eating, but it seemed like a nice homage and 
contributed well to the build-up of wackiness.  I reiterate:  
Nick's face can do some wacky squishy things.

        1.5. "Arlen's Happiest Birthday," by Chris Stangl_Even a 
chewed-up pancake is a good present if Chris gives it and Arlen 
gets it.  I found this an interesting commentary on the nature of 
their relationship.  Also, I liked how Arlen's mouth moved when he 
nibbled the pancake.  That was cute.

        2. "My Eternal Reward," by Calvin Hennick_This was pretty 
OK, but maybe it could have been a blackout.  Nice gag_it could 
have either been developed into something interesting (add a layer 
or three, you know?) or just cut very quick.  Goddamn it, I'm 
never using an ITC Macintosh G4 Cube again, because despite the 
powerful processor, they have dedicated like zero RAM to these 
fuckers and it's a waste of a good machine.  Sorry, I'm doing it 
again.

        3. "Me --&-- My Balls," by Magnetic_I've never seen Juggly 
Steve without Juggly Brad before, so it was nice to see him 
blossoming out from Brad's shell, to mix a metaphor into a 
smoothie.  From what I've seen, he's a more skilled juggler on a 
technical level, but he doesn't have quite the stage presence of 
Brad.  Maybe that's why they work so well together.  Good tricks, 
cute self.

        4. "A `New' Song" by Kyle Lange_Objectively I understand 
that this song would be enjoyable to a lot of people, but I didn't 
like it.  "You don't really care for music, do you?"  Not really, 
unless it does something to shake me up a bit.  This didn't, but 
it helps a show to have some music in it, usually, so I 
appreciated its overall effect.

        4.5. "Formula Plots Pt. 3:  Over Used Pickup Line," by 
        Kovacs --&-- Walken_Sorry about the omission, Erin King, and 
thanks for pointing it out, Paul Rust.  I was glad it was short 
and didn't belabor the point.  The thing about formula plots, 
though_shouldn't you (this commentary aborted for lack of 
constructiveness and temptation to sink into mean-spiritedness)  
        

        5. "BRAIN of Darkness!!!" by Al Angel_I for one really 
liked the interplay between Paul/Michelle and Al's monologue.  It 
wasn't as gross as I expected it to be from what Al was saying 
before the show, but the cold quality of Al's brain geography 
lesson reflected interestingly on the varying levels of intimacy 
in the Paul/Michelle part.  It's one of Al's best of the semester, 
I think.

        5.5. "Duck Tape," by Kurt Meyermann_good commitment to the 
role, but it was a one-gag number that suffered from its length.  
Yes, it wasn't very long, but it was still too long.  It should 
have been a three-liner.  I liked when he got so enthusiastic he 
couldn't make the tape work.  He looked kind of ducky, though, 
which helped things.

        5.  "Sheila in a Gig," by Yeovil Englund_I didn't get to 
see the end, but from the review, it's cool that it was sad.  I 
enjoyed carrying James around, though apparently I'm not as strong 
as I thought I was, because my biceps are still a little sore.  
Destruction of authority/pomposity is satisfying.  Did Toni ever 
get out?

        6.5. "An Acorn Fell on My Head Today_" by Ellen 
        Flaherty_Hm_the audience didn't really seem to go for 
this, but I liked it a lot.  It seemed Hansenian, with the verbal 
complexity disguised as absurdity, and it was delightfully short.  
He seemed like a pissy Mr. Rogers.

        7. "The Starvation Box," by Arlen Lawson_nice concrete/
weird imagery along with a commentary on the nature of human 
friendship.  That's interesting, happening on the same night as 
Chris's mini-piece that, at least in my interpretation, made a 
related commentary.

        8. "That Man IS Not a Moon! (Arlen Birth)" by Norval 
        Brown_This was one of the loveliest noise pieces I've seen 
this semester.  The "WAIT" followed by metronome-filled vocal-
silence was so clean and cold.

        9. "I, Neil `Balls' Campbell, Am One Tenth the Order-
Reader 
        that Kyle Lange Was," by Kyle Lange and Dan Brooks_Great 
timing.  Does anyone talk like Kyle's character, though?  I think 
he would have gotten smacked not very far into the scene.  Or 
maybe there were no girls there at all_maybe the two characters 
were standing at home practicing what they were going to say to 
make girls thing they were quirky and weird.  Now that's more like 
it.

        10. "Heema Jeema!  That's a Moon Dan Brooks!" by Alyssa 
        J. Hayward_This reminded me of the semester in which a 
drawn-out fight was developed between Chris and Dan, all that 
shit-talking and all.  Standing up was fun.

        10.5. "The Carrot Kids:  Mystery Solvers Pt II:  Zen 
Arcade," 
        by Paul Rust_Whoever doesn't like this is dumb and wrong.  
I love what Michele does in them.  Her voice and posture and 
general presence are so winning, it's like she always wins.  I 
wonder if we'll ever find out why they're called Carrot Kids.  
Jean Jacket rules.  It's a little offensive that the girl is the 
"voice of reason," though (girls can't be smart or funny or cool, 
just nervous and nagging).  It would have been a better parody, I 
think, to maybe cast it in the over-PC way that often happens in 
kids' programming today.

        11. "Hands of God OR The Bus that Couldn't Slow Down," 
        by Jason Nebergall_I'm trying to remember exactly what it 
was that made the celebrity letters piece so great that was 
missing in this one, because they were basically the same kind of 
style/performance/etc.  But it just wasn't as winning.  I think 
maybe the desperation I found so charming was absent this week; 
perhaps he wasn't acting, he was just nervous.  But he can't just 
go around milking a desperate character forever, now can he?  

        12. "How Not to Have Babies OR:  Why I Hate it When the 
        French Reproduce," by Aprille Clarke

        13. "Luckies," by Dan Brooks_Yes, very well-crafted.  The 
cat character was a good choice_without it, the piece still would 
have been compelling plot-wise, but the cat added a level of 
interest and unusuality and innocence that contrasted pleasingly 
with the hard-boiled rest of the cast.  I imagined James reading 
it, and while his face would work well in the role, I liked Mike 
Brooks's sweeter voice_it was smoother and more delightful than 
James's would have been under the circumstances.  So good choice 
on that one.

        14. "The Ghost in THIS VERY ROOM!" by Neil "Balls" 
        Campbell_Neil does a cute scary voice.  I wanted to know a 
little more about the character, though_I don't know if this piece 
had enough on a pure-content level to deliver it beyond the level 
of jokes.  I was hoping Gene Wilder's portrait would somehow be 
involved.  As always, though, Neil's enthusiasm and obvious 
delight with what he's doing were charming.

        15. "Special Dark," by Chris Stangl_This felt like home.  
I miss when Chris used to do monologues like this, well-crafted 
character sketches with images sprinkled judiciously throughout, 
with just enough of the horror of the human experience to make it 
compelling but not enough to make us dislike the narrator.  So boy 
am 

Time: Sun, 28-Oct-2001 21:29:00 GMT     IP: 128.255.107.85

        12. "How Not to Have Babies OR:  Why I Hate it When the 
        French Reproduce," by Aprille Clarke

        13. "Luckies," by Dan Brooks_Yes, very well-crafted.  The 
cat character was a good choice_without it, the piece still would 
have been compelling plot-wise, but the cat added a level of 
interest and unusuality and innocence that contrasted pleasingly 
with the hard-boiled rest of the cast.  I imagined James reading 
it, and while his face would work well in the role, I liked Mike 
Brooks's sweeter voice_it was smoother and more delightful than 
James's would have been under the circumstances.  So good choice on 
that one.

        14. "The Ghost in THIS VERY ROOM!" by Neil "Balls" 
        Campbell_Neil does a cute scary voice.  I wanted to know a 
little more about the character, though_I don't know if this piece 
had enough on a pure-content level to deliver it beyond the level 
of jokes.  I was hoping Gene Wilder's portrait would somehow be 
involved.  As always, though, Neil's enthusiasm and obvious delight 
with what he's doing were charming.

        15. "Special Dark," by Chris Stangl_This felt like home.  I 
miss when Chris used to do monologues like this, well-crafted 
character sketches with images sprinkled judiciously throughout, 
with just enough of the horror of the human experience to make it 
compelling but not enough to make us dislike the narrator.  So boy 
am I glad he did one.

Time: Sun, 28-Oct-2001 22:30:54 GMT     IP: 205.244.161.63

This was a night for a lot of pieces by the same people.  Kind 
of uncool in that so few people wind up being represented in 
the end.  People who authored two: Me, Al, Steve, Chris, Kyle, 
Dan.  Some of those are blackouts, but most aren't.

0.5. "Halloween 5: �The Poop of Michael Myers," by Al 
Angel
Good that there's more of a coherent setup here than there 
was in the past few.  It continues to amaze me that such a 
specific formula doesn't grow tiresome

1. "I Wish I Was a Food," by the Jugglies and Nick
Calvin, this piece wasn't actually written at all.  It was 
rehearsed a bit, and ideas were emailed around, but 
anything well written was your imagination.  And if you 
thought that poop looked real, you should have seen it before 
I baked it.  Also, I had no idea the immense volume of poop 
Erin would stuff in my mouth.  Yikes!

1.5. "Arlen's Happiest Birthday," by Chris Stangl
I thought those were our pancakes, and I was all, like, hey.  
But it was short, sweet and funny.And they were different 
pancakes.

2. "My Eternal Reward," by Calvin Hennick
This was cute.  Indeed, very cute.  One of those annoying 
things about being a student that I had forgotten - and a very 
clever and theatrical send-up of it.

3. "Me --&-- My Balls," by Magnetic
Amazing.  He did unbelievable things and only goofed up a 
little once.  Holy Jesus, I have a God-on.

4. "A 'New' Song" by Kyle Lang[e] 
This song was very long, sort of slow and definitely not the 
kind of music I'd ever buy an album of, yet I liked it, just cause 
it was a pleasant contrast to other pieces in the order.  Come 
to think of it, that was my reaction to every Kyle song I ever 
heard.

4.5. "Formula Plots Pt. 3: �Over Used Pickup Line," by 
Kovacs --&-- Walken
A good blackout.  Combined an obvious joke setup with an 
unexpected and wonderful non-punchline.  I get the feeling 
Kovacs may finally be finding his groove.

--missed two pieces while stuffing Toni in a box.
Of 5.5, I can say, this was not a point five.

6. �"Sheila in a Gig," by Yeovil Englund
Sorry for almost dropping you, James.  Sorry for stuffing you 
in a box, Toni.  "Sheela na Gig" by PJ Harvey, who is from the 
tiny shepherding community of Yeovil, England.  The music 
playing was Madredeus' "Alfama"

6.5. "An Acorn Fell on My Head Today�" by Ellen 
Flaherty
I liked this bit a lot.  I wish I had remembered the title at the 
time.  That wouldha made it even cuter.

7. "The Starvation Box," by Arlen Lawson
This is the kind of work Arlen does, all right.  I think he has 
done better.  That is not saying I didn't like this one, but when 
Arlen creates all these narrative monologues, some of them 
have more desparation and and pain and beauty, and some 
have more jokes.  Because of the similar structures, they are 
easy to compare and say -"This was a less desperate, 
painful, beautiful, more jokey piece".

8. "That Man IS Not a Moon! (Arlen Birth)" by Norval 
Brown
This was really really neat to hear.  I thought it was Al's piece 
because I knew he had a metronome like that one, but it 
wasn't.  I hope someone recorded this because I thought this 
was one of the sound experiments yielding the neatest and 
prettiest sounds.

9. "I, Neil 'Balls' Campbell, Am One Tenth the Order-Reader 
that Kyle Lange Was," by Kyle Lange and Dan Brooks
Hm, Kyle had one piece, Dan had one piece, and Kyle and 
Dan had one piece.  Hm.  It was funny, but it certainly didn't 
seem like anything that hadn't been done before.  It might 
have been done a bit better here than it has been in the past, 
but not enough better to make me say "Yes, give these guys 
an extra spot in the order, and a hot ham on rye!" No.

10. "Heema Jeema! �That's a Moon Dan Brooks!" by Alyssa 
J. Hayward
I liked it extra good.  It is always nice to see some 
lighthearted fun being poked at anyone in the audience who 
might be percieved as a VIP (see David Goddard).  I was 
embarrassed to realize that I was supposed to stand in the 
audience But I had gone up onto the stage.

10.5. "The Carrot Kids: �Mystery Solvers Pt II: �Zen Arcade," 
by Paul Rust
It was fun for me in exactly the same way last week's was 
fun.  Not in a 'sequel' way, but in the exact same way.  Almost 
as if the previous episode had never happened.  So, see last 
weeks review.  This was not a point five.

11. "Hands of God OR The Bus that Couldn't Slow Down," 
by Jason Nebergall
So fun.  I really like Jason's presence onstage.  He does a 
really good job with his own text.  It makes me wonder what 
kinda performance background he has.  The text itself and 
the action accompanying it were beautifully, hilariously 
stitched together.

12. "How Not to Have Babies OR: �Why I Hate it When the 
French Reproduce," by Aprille Clarke
I'm having trouble remembering this one.  In time, perhaps it 
will return to me and I'll review it.  I hope it does.

13. "Luckies," by Dan Brooks
Very cleverly interwoven, fairly well paced, all characters 
effectively fleshed out (except the cat, who seemed a bit 
inconsistent) the narrative itself was not compelling to me, 
but sweet Jesus some of the lines were to die for.  Stangl's 
conversation with the almighty gave me a God-on.  It was 
long, and it felt long, yet I can't really say that I would advise 
paring down, since It already felt fairly tightly constructed.

14. "The Ghost in THIS V[C]ERY ROOM!" by Neil "Balls" 
Campbell
Whenever Neil steps on history, something funny's bound to 
come splurting out.  I completely agree with Arlen's 
statement that Neil's stuff is difficult to remember, aside from 
the sensation of having been wowed and amused.  And that 
makes reviews of his work difficult, and often worthless to 
him and others.  Ghosts, robots and poop are sure fire funny, 
so this was in there.  Somebody please do a piece about the 
ghost of a robot's poop.

15. "Special Dark," by Chris Stangl
Here was a piece that acheived the truly horrifying by 
emphasising the truly mundane.  There aren't really any 
ghosts on Halloween, and to be honest, real ghosts are not 
nearly as frightening as having to deal with a screaming 
child's stapled hand, a catatonic sugar-buzzed spouse and a 
grill of meat attempting to cremate itself.  Pretty amazing 
inversion of the expected halloween ghost stories; 
outstripping them by eschewing their entire premise.

For all this evening's non point fives and over 5 min pieces, it 
was shorter than previous weeks.  How did that happen?
end
-n

Time: Sun, 28-Oct-2001 22:48:27 GMT     IP: 205.244.161.63

I will continue to pose these questions, since I have not yet 
recieved an answer:

Is there a possibility of getting/ borrowing a Brothers Askew 
VHS, for those who missed it (me) and those who want to 
see it again?

Can someone (I continue to volunteer) punch the 
announcements into the internet for people to remember 
iimportant stuff like shows and cool stuff?

Another thing I forget?

Good rockin'.
-n

Time: Mon, 29-Oct-2001 04:45:44 GMT     IP: 128.255.195.97

Just so everyone knows, the guy who helped me write that banana 
blackout is WalkeR, not WalkeN.

Time: Mon, 29-Oct-2001 20:22:02 GMT     IP: 128.255.109.133

:13. "Luckies," by Dan Brooks.

:I had only one piece of beef with it: James Erwin, 
:although originally a part of this skit, should not have had the 
:other gentleman as his voice; it should have just been that 
:gentleman alone as the cat. 

I have to stick my noze in here and disagree with this guy.  The 
cat was not a very compelling character, in the way that the 
other four were. As such, it seems to me that to validate its 
presence in the sketch, the cat would need to provide narrative 
perspective far enough removed from the others to keep what it 
saying from being redundant.  I did not really notice this in the 
text, but the disconcerting juxtaposition of Mike's voice and 
Jame's face allowed the cat to exist as something seperate from 
the humans, making it an interesting addition rather than a drag--
as I think it would have been had one actor been playing the part.

Also, it was just more fun (not to mention theatrical!) to watch.

Love, 
You.

Time: Tue, 30-Oct-2001 22:45:59 GMT     IP: 128.255.52.157


Is there a possibility of getting/ borrowing a Brothers Askew VHS, 
for those who missed it (me) and those who want to see it again?
-Cinephile in Cincinatti

Dr. Paul says:
I know Mike Cassidy is willing to take blank videotapes and dub 
"Brothers Askew" onto them.  All you have to do is provide him w/ 
the tape. (At least, I think he's still doing that).

Can someone (I continue to volunteer) punch the announcements into 
the internet for people to remember important stuff like shows and 
cool stuff?
-Announcements in Annapolis

Dr. Paul says:
If you're willing to do it, you should just ask Neil and/or 
Aprille to give you the announcements after the show. Then you can 
put them on the web-boardy board. If there's a problem of them 
needing the titles for later, have them rip off the section with 
the announcements. 

(I just realized how condescending this may have seemed. I did not 
mean it that way. I swear.)

Time: Wed, 31-Oct-2001 05:34:41 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

for all ye who are interested, the band i'm in ("my business 
failed in three weeks") is on the web.

you can go to www.mp3.com/my_business_failed_in_three_weeks 
to hear our songs and such

or visit our official (!) site at listen.to/mbf3w
(it's not much, but there's more to come - i promise, dad!)

if you like our shit, we hope to have our album ready to sell 
within a couple weeks. i'll prolly be selling them at no shame, 
so keep your ears open during announcements if you're interested.

thanks a lot. bye bye.

-paul

Time: Wed, 31-Oct-2001 21:33:04 GMT     IP: 128.255.179.87

Does anyone know how to get a hold of the violence guys? I would 
like to have them in a sketch but I don't know how to get a hold 
of them.
Thanks!
Toni