Time: Tue, 02-Apr-2002 18:41:36 GMT     IP: 165.97.46.30

Dear Fellows in the No Shame Theatre in Iowa City, United States 
of America,

I hope you do not mind my making a simple request for a friend  
who has expressed an interest in learning more about your 
entertainments.

This friend would like to know more about the Oscar Wilde piece 
in which a fellow rubs his trouser fronts on the face of another 
fellow.

My friend wants to know because he thinks he had a dream very 
much like that once, and wants to know what happens.

A simple description will do, or perhaps a recording or 
transcript would be easier for you.

Thank you for your continued appreciation of my requests.

Ever alive,
Evil Ratgirl No. 5

Postits Scrotums: Please do not do me the harm of thinking that 
either myself or my jolly good friend would have any intention 
of thievery or other dark thoughts about the Oscar Wilde piece. 
My friend is both a Mason and a member of triple A and is 
considerably well-known for his integrital demeanor.
ER5

Time: Tue, 02-Apr-2002 19:31:01 GMT     IP: 216.243.220.117

I would first like to say that membership in the Ancient and 
Accepted Guild is no guarantee of integrity. I would remind you 
and your Blackfriar-debauching friend of the Brotherhood's 
involvement in the late unpleasantness in France. 

In more direct response, the Oscar Wilde monologue was delivered 
by Mr. Chris Stangl, whose strident flamboyant urgency was 
poignantly underlined to comedic effect by his avowed adherence 
to a creed of tact and dignity. At the climax of Wilde's 
description of his ideal funeral, a Bacchanalia of absurdly 
rococo showmanship, Mr. Stangl reached down and pulled up a Mr. 
Jason Nebergall and planted his not-insubstantial crotch in Mr. 
Nebergall's face, sitting on the edge of stage and kicking his 
legs in the air in an ecstatic frolic while Mr. Nebergall flailed 
helplessly. Mr. Stangl released Mr. Nebergall, who returned 
shaken to his seat. 

Yes.

Time: Tue, 02-Apr-2002 21:33:21 GMT     IP: 165.97.46.30

Dear Most Devious Worshipful Master Erwin,

Thank you for your cogent description of the final moments of 
this quite obvious piece de theatre.

I believe my friend will be sufficiently satisfied with what you 
have so deliciously written. I take it that Mr. Nebergall is some 
sort of neophyte and that Mr. Stang One was presenting the figure 
of the very late Mr. Wilde.

Would it be too much to ask to have you tell me, so that I may 
relay this potent information to my friend, what exactly Mr. 
Stang One said about the "ideal funeral." I understand that it 
would be something rather posh, but I lack the imagination to 
deliver such an image to my friend. My friend also lacks a 
certain je ne c'est qua which most admirers see as poise, but 
which we who know him well call vacuity.

You have been so kind. I will find it in myself to forgive you, 
as a matter of proper breeding and being that you are somewhat 
Masonic and debonair in writing.

Yours ever evil,
Evil Ratgirl No. 5

Post Scrofula: Will you be requiring some sort of payment for 
your services? I have several pies.
ER#5

Time: Tue, 02-Apr-2002 22:53:07 GMT     IP: 216.243.220.117

1) I actually refer not to Stang One, but to Stang-L. Dr. Ivan 
Stang (or Stang One) remains hidden in an underground lair 
somewhere in the East Indies. His nefarious clones continue to do 
his bidding throughout the world, despite the recent capture of 
Stang-X and Stang-H during an attempted hijacking of nuclear 
materials just outside Yucca Mountain, Utah.

2) I find myself unable to relay much of Stang-L's discourse to 
you, for which I apologize profusely. It was such a madcap 
whirligig of ideas and images that most of them have escaped from 
my braincasing and returned to the world of Platonic ideal 
comedy. Suffice it to say, there were midgets, flaming torches, a 
stadium of roaring Wildeophiles, and sodomy. If I recall 
correctly.

33) I am not a Mason, nor do I have any connection with those 
accursed half-wit Templar wannabes. They should get on with their 
troweling and leave the business of conspiracy to us 
professionals, to wit: Asians. Jubelo, Jubela, Tweedledum. 

Past Septum: 

Time: Tue, 02-Apr-2002 23:05:02 GMT     IP: 216.243.220.117

Past Septum: I like pie. I have been repaid for favors done in 
pie and attended parties whose sole raison d'etre was pie. Pie! 
Yes. But in moderation. I cannot have too much pie. 

*in Milton Berle voice* You can't have too much pie? Neither can 
my wife! She's 300 pounds! *rimshot* She got on a talking scale 
at the supermarket- it said "ONE AT A TIME!" *rimshot* Speaking 
of time, I got a brother-in-law who worked for the department of 
entomology at the University of Bern in Switzerland. He was doing 
research on parasitic arachnid vocalization, but they kicked him 
out of the country. Thing was, he proved that the Swiss couldn't 
make a tick talk. *rimshot* Thank you! You've been great! I love 
this crowd! Good night!

Time: Tue, 02-Apr-2002 23:24:56 GMT     IP: 209.212.82.162


My Dear Mr. Erwin,

I am sorry to say that your vocal characterization of Mr. Milton 
Berle is, while possessed of a certain Faulknerian manchild 
charm, not in any way reminiscent of the late Mr. Television's 
actual voice. That voice, as of early last week, sounds as 
follows:

"Nnnnnnnggggggaaaaaahhhhh...*sound of air sucking through 
ethereal suggestion of lungs*...bleargggghhnnngahh... 
braaaaaiiiiins."

This is, not coincidentally, the exact text of a haiku found at 
the base of Mt. Fuji by English merchant and sodomite Samuel 
Jacob Morgenstern in 1875. Traced the the court at Kofu in 1697, 
the haiku is generally attributed to Basho, and was sold under 
such pedigree to the Vatican in 1916, for a sum of money 
described by Italian officials as "it's-a lotta the money-a 
*sound of tommy gun fire, bootlegging*". However, even a cursory 
knowledge of Japanese literature while immediately suggest the 
fact that Basho was long dead in 1697, and while therefore 
capable of composing similar haiku aloud on lonely hillsides with 
single willow trees, would not be able to write them down. The 
fact that the intrepid, well-educated, deeply lubricated 
Morgenstern could be complicit in such an obvious falsehood is 
confusing, until one sockets the last jigsaw piece of information 
deep into the fleshy opening at the center of this puzzle: 
Morgenstern was a Mason. Using his Masonic connections with A) 
the Vatican and B) the Asians, Morgenstern was able to sell his 
bogusly attributed haiku to the Papists at a wildly inflated 
price, generating significant income for his dark organization 
and compensating the Vatican and the Asians, respectively, for 
their assistance in assassinating Franz Ferdinand and destroying 
our schools, respectively.

I, also, would enjoy a slice of pie. However, in my quasi-
diabetic state, that would kill me.

Yours in the Battle Against Masonry, Witchcraft, and Non-
Reacharound Sodomy,
Daniel Bysshe Brooks

Time: Wed, 03-Apr-2002 00:07:18 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

My "dear" Mr Brooks:

It is a well-known fact that Morgenstern was not a Freemason at 
all! The truth, as any researcher worth his salt knows, is that 
Morgenstern was actually in the employ of the House of 
Rothschild, the shadowy bankers whose support of the Talmudic 
evil of the Elders of Zion in their shadow war against the Masons 
and the Bilderberger-Trilateral New World Order is taken for 
granted in academic circles. 

You suggest, sir, that the Masons would employ Morgenstern? And 
that, in fact, he was a liaison with the Zion-Mafia-Vatican axis? 
Laughable! If anything, Morgenstern was a dedicated soldier of 
Continental reaction, and a veteran of the Vatican's Jesuit 
campaign to raise the Boxers against British/Masonic control of 
China. 

I can see only one reason you would spread such appalling 
misinformation: You, sir, are a Freemason! An idol-worshipping 
apron-wearing devotee of DeMolay! Shame and fie! 

Also against non-reacharound sodomy (and recommending, in fact, 
that form of reacharound sodomy perfected by the Knights of St. 
John during the siege of Aleppo in 1258 and called by the 
Freemasons "The Secret Handshake of the 31st Degree"), 

James Erwin

Time: Thu, 04-Apr-2002 02:48:33 GMT     IP: 66.25.168.222

Dearest Evil One of Ratgirl #19,
Good show, man. How delightfully clever You are. Pose as a 
Friend, so as to Steal their pieces for Display in the Valley of 
Austin, Ordinance of Texas. The numskulls in Texas would 
never dare Venture onto the chatting chamber of our Friends 
up North. Just when I think You couldn't possibly be any more 
Evil, you astound me Yet again.
Your Servant in Evil,
Evil Ratgirl #13

Time: Fri, 05-Apr-2002 20:40:01 GMT     IP: 198.214.104.100

Not true, evil ones. Not true. Texans, which is what we are, are 
a)everywhere and b) lstening to you.

Go ahead with with your Enrony and Talibany ways. We know.

Yee-hah.

Randy Minnow,
Thourough Mediocrity

Time: Sat, 06-Apr-2002 00:27:14 GMT     IP: 64.6.87.39

Anyone else beginning to not care what Texans have to say?

Remember the Alamo,
-Nick

Time: Sat, 06-Apr-2002 18:08:22 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

How can you not care what Texans think? Texans have contributed 
so much to our society! Like the Bowie knife. And the pocket 
calculator. These are good things. I would love to have a Bowie 
knife. I have a pocket calculator, but it was made in the Czech 
Republic and I can't decipher the goddamn instructions. 

Why do I have an East European calculator? You'd love to know. 

So! Where's that order? I am raring to review last night's kick-
ass show.

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 01:47:09 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

so people can start writing reviews (if they so please), i'm 
posting a very primitive order. this is definately NOT official. 
i know aprille couldn't post it (like she usually does out of 
the kindness of her heart), so somebody else has the order. i 
don't know who this is. until they post it (which for me, is not 
a great rush or huge issue), here's a "quasi-order." natch!

1. Nick Clark's bat-friend piece w/ Jason N. and Michael T. 
2. Al Angel's driving cow poem
3. Danielle K.'s president lesbos piece 
4. Steve Heuertz' Diff'rent Strokes reunion
5. Matthew Hart's No Rain piece
6. James Erwin's Mexico piece
7. James Erwin's brother's wrestlin' bros piece
8. Michael T.'s "In My Pants" piece
9. Furious Skinny song
10. Paul Rust's ran-over bike piece
11. Jason Nebergall's 3-viewpoints on sex piece
12. Chris Okiishi's Gay Porn Literature piece
13. Ron Wright's Garden Party piece 
14. Aprille's operator confessional piece
15. Chris Stangl's "The Big Rape"
and Pookman's "fuck!" pieces

these are all going from my memory, so i could have forgotten 
someone. if i left anyone out, i apologize. please make sure to 
add it then.

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 20:53:25 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

I can contribute this much towards an official order.

1. Nick Clark's bat-friend piece (J Nebergall, M Tabor)  
1.5 Purity in Essence and Understanding by James Horak (J Horak, 
J Erwin)
2. Al Angel's driving cow poem 
3. Danielle K.'s president lesbos piece (D K, J Nebergall, A 
Galbraith, A Clarke, M Thompson, ?)
3.5 Pookman (Andy, C Stangl)
4. Steve Heuertz' Diff'rent Strokes reunion
5. Matthew Hart's No Rain piece (A Lawson, A Galbraith, M 
Thompson)
6. The Hilarious Mexico Sketch, by James Erwin (J Erwin, C 
Stangl, C Okiishi) 
6.5 Pookman
7. Introducing Scott Erwin by Scott Erwin (S Erwin, J Erwin)  
8. Michael T.'s "In My Pants" piece (M Tabor, A Clarke, others...
poo)
9. Furious Skinny song (C Stangl, AJ River)
10. Paul Rust's ran-over bike piece (P Rust, A Clarke) 
11. Jason Nebergall's 3-viewpoints on sex piece (J Nebergall, M 
Thompson, S Heuertz)
12. Chris Okiishi's Gay Porn Literature piece (E A Burton, C 
Okiishi, ? [forgot his name already.])
13. Ron Wright's Garden Party piece (R Wright, A Galbraith, E 
King, M Tabor)
14. The Day the Fortune Cookies Came True, pt 7: Louise (A 
Clarke, J Erwin)
15. Chris Stangl's "The Big Rape" (C Stangl, A Angel, T Wilson, ?)
and Pookman's "fuck!" pieces

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 21:21:14 GMT     IP: 128.255.174.15

Michael Tabor's (ME!) "In My Pants" skit had these people in it: 
Andy Juhl (pookman) Jamie Margolin, Nick Clark, Michael Tabor, 
Toni Wilson, and Paul Rust


Pookman also did a piece at 9.5 and 12.5

After 12.5 in the order it should go like this:

13. The Add-Sheet stand-up by Jamie Margolin

14. Ron Wright's Garden Party piece

15. Aprille's piece

16. THE BIG RAPE!

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 21:25:47 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

So this night rocked. I remain firmly convinced that this is 
because of a little something I like to call positive feedback. 
In the tiny confines of Room 172, you were able to hear 
everything everyone did. The laughter and the applause was 
deafening, where the same amount of reaction in Mabie would have 
sounded about as loud as worms fucking at a hundred paces. As the 
night went on, the performers got giddy off it, the audience was 
put into a really energetic mood, and a show that went 105 
MINUTES flew past quicker than almost any rigidly timed show I 
can recall. Absolutely beautiful and I don't regret losing Mabie 
at all. 

1. Nick Clark's bat-friend piece (J Nebergall, M Tabor)  

Nick's best homage piece. Not only does Nebergall have a style 
which begs for imitation, but Nick nailed that style beautifully. 
Funny funny! Yay!

1.5 Purity in Essence and Understanding by James Horak (J Horak, 
J Erwin)

Zip! In out. This is how .5s are supposed to be. I liked it. What 
the hell is GHB?

2. Al Angel's driving cow poem 

Cute! I cannot contribute much more, because Al has hit a 
consistent note with these pieces and that note is: cute!

3. Danielle K.'s president lesbos piece (D K, J Nebergall, A 
Galbraith, A Clarke, M Thompson, ?)

Many new performers the last couple of semesters (J Nebergall the 
notable, although certainly not the only, exception) have jumped 
in with the following notion: What is No Shame? No Shame is the 
most visible and memorable of No Shame's pieces that I recall. 
What is this essence of No Shame? Dan Brooks-style shock cruelty 
and, by extension, the other shock-cruelty pieces I have seen 
that Dan inspired, even if I have never seen Dan perform. In 
order to break in at No Shame, I must cannonball in with the most 
cruelty I can muster. While this piece fits nicely into this new 
genre of No Shame writing, it was, I have to say, the funniest of 
the Cruautˇ Nouveau pieces.

3.5 Pookman (Andy, C Stangl)

Pookman's Fuck pieces were each nice little .5s, but for me? each 
would have been better served with a different punchline than 
Fuck.

4. Steve Heuertz' Diff'rent Strokes reunion

Perhaps the only piece that indisputably would have worked better 
in Mabie, as that would have enhanced the creepy aspects of this 
piece. Good No Shame Dada. I am ashamed of myself that I did not 
click that the dead lady was Dana Plato until the piece was 
almost over.

5. Matthew Hart's No Rain piece (A Lawson, A Galbraith, M 
Thompson)

Did you expect this from Matt Hart? I didn't. I liked it, because 
1) it was genuinely likable, well-written and well-performed, and 
2) Matt tried something different and it worked right off the 
bat. Keen.

6. The Hilarious Mexico Sketch, by James Erwin (J Erwin, C 
Stangl, C Okiishi) 

Me. The Christophers were perfect and I thank them again for 
making my dream come true. I would also like to thank the Academy.

6.5 Pookman

see Review: Pookman, 3.5.

7. Introducing Scott Erwin by Scott Erwin (S Erwin, J Erwin)  

He is my brother! I love him! You love him with good reviews or I 
hate you with a baseball bat!

8. Michael T.'s "In My Pants" piece (M Tabor, A Clarke, others...
poo)

Cute gag-writing. I liked.

9. Furious Skinny song (C Stangl, AJ River)

The funnest.

10. Paul Rust's ran-over bike piece (P Rust, A Clarke) 

Paul took what in lazier hands could have been a completely 
predictable 2-minute skit and made it into a really moving and 
engrossing 5-minute piece of Theater. Good, honest dialogue and 
frankly, my favorite Rust piece of the semester.

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 21:26:27 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

11. Jason Nebergall's 3-viewpoints on sex piece (J Nebergall, M 
Thompson, S Heuertz)

Whoa boy! Such talk of sex. Steve stole the piece. 

12. Chris Okiishi's Gay Porn Literature piece (E A Burton, C 
Okiishi, ? [forgot his name already.])

Having never read gay porn with the exception of William S 
Burroughs, I am almost completely dependent upon Herr Okiishi for 
my gay porn insights. Given this, it is easy to sound witty. 
Despite this obvious cavil, good writing and hee-hee oh! you 
boys. The acting.

13. Ron Wright's Garden Party piece (R Wright, A Galbraith, E 
King, M Tabor)

Dammit, I lost all of the dialogue once the food came out. I have 
to say: if you have something to say and something cute to do and 
you want the audience to apprehend both, one must not distract 
from the other.

14. The Day the Fortune Cookies Came True, pt 7: Louise (A 
Clarke, J Erwin)

I was in this.

15. Chris Stangl's "The Big Rape" (C Stangl, A Angel, T Wilson, ?)

Two weeks without a Stangl monologue. This was a good joint if 
not up to Stangl's unearthly monologue skills. One thing: both 
participants in the rape were obviously half-committed and I 
don't know. I wasn't shaken up enough by it on that account and 
it was just committed enough that I couldn't find it all that 
enjoyable. As part of the piece, not bad. As theater, eh... 
*waggles hand* 

No Shame Jungian Watch: Good-natured sexual transgression. Quite 
possibly the wakka-chikka-est No Shame ever. Oh, we're naughty. 
Also, Mexicans.

And just where the hell is your review, punk?

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 21:28:06 GMT     IP: 128.255.174.15

So, adding on to James' order, I have this:

1. Nick Clark's bat-friend piece (J Nebergall, M Tabor)  
1.5 Purity in Essence and Understanding by James Horak (J Horak, 
J Erwin)
2. Al Angel's driving cow poem 
3. Danielle K.'s president lesbos piece (D K, J Nebergall, A 
Galbraith, A Clarke, M Thompson, ?)
3.5 Pookman (Andy, C Stangl)
4. Steve Heuertz' Diff'rent Strokes reunion
5. Matthew Hart's No Rain piece (A Lawson, A Galbraith, M 
Thompson)
6. The Hilarious Mexico Sketch, by James Erwin (J Erwin, C 
Stangl, C Okiishi) 
6.5 Pookman
7. Introducing Scott Erwin by Scott Erwin (S Erwin, J Erwin)  
8. I Love Almost Everybody ...IN MY PANTS! by Michael Tabor (M 
Tabor, N Clark, A Juhl, P Rust, T Wilson, J Margolin)
9. Furious Skinny song (C Stangl, AJ River)
9.5 Pookman
10. Paul Rust's ran-over bike piece (P Rust, A Clarke) 
11. Jason Nebergall's 3-viewpoints on sex piece (J Nebergall, M 
Thompson, S Heuertz)
12. Chris Okiishi's Gay Porn Literature piece (E A Burton, C 
Okiishi, ? [forgot his name already.])
12.5 Pookman's piece where he read the thing about the girl and 
then said "See, I told you that I could get through the piece 
without saying 'fuck!'"
13. Jamie Margolin's stand-up about the add-sheets
14. Ron Wright's Garden Party piece (R Wright, A Galbraith, E 
King, M Tabor)
15. The Day the Fortune Cookies Came True, pt 7: Louise (A 
Clarke, J Erwin)
16. Chris Stangl's "The Big Rape" (C Stangl, A Angel, T Wilson, ?)
and Pookman's "fuck!" pieces

It's true! 16!

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 21:29:14 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

13: Jamie Margolin's Add sheet stand up. 

By-the-numbers comedy monologue. I did enjoy Jamie's earnest 
delivery. Good.

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 21:43:00 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

CNN! Space section!

Chlorophyll on Mars! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 21:54:05 GMT     IP: 63.228.160.67

James Erwin. What are you going on about now?

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 22:08:19 GMT     IP: 128.255.174.15

8. I Love Almost Everybody ...IN MY PANTS! by Michael Tabor (M 
Tabor, N Clark, A Juhl, P Rust, T Wilson, J Margolin)

Oh, and Erin King! Erin King was in my piece too! Sorry, Erin! 
You rock!

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 23:21:29 GMT     IP: 63.25.167.87

                No Shame Theatre
                  4-5-2002
          Theatre Building, Room 172
Announcements: Rust, Clarke, River, Galbraith
Order: Stangl

1. "Danny and the Space Dinosaur; for Jason Nebergall" by Nick 
Clark
   Jason enjoys tumultuous friendship with bat; parody sketch.

1.5 "Parity in Essence and Understanding" by James Horak
 Do you believe in God, or is it the GHB talking?; comedy sketch

2. "COW'S' TORY" by al angel
   Cow, calf meet wizard; humorous dramatized poem.

3. "'Our Founding Fathers'? HA! More Like, 'Our Founding Lezbo 
Porno Pervos'! -or- Pretend I'm a Guy So This Piece Will Work" 
by Danielle Santagelo Kovalick
   Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson demand "eat her chach!"; 
comedy sketch.

3.5 "Great Moments in Fuck" by Pookman
   Stangl, Pook, bemoan Pook's unpopularity; comedy sketch.

4. "The Power to Keep You Going" by Emeril Lagasse
  Non sequiturs gradually unveiled as "Diff'rent Strokes" 
reunion; comedy sketch.

5. "No Rain" by Matthew Hart
   Boy meets, looses girl, set to monosyllabic poem; dramatized 
poetry.

6. "The Hilarious Mexico Sketch" by James Erwin
    At "Mexicology" conference, in passionate, extended 
metaphor fashion, prof. makes love to the woman who "is" 
Mexico; comedy monologue triptych.

6.5. "Great Moments in Fuck Part II" by Pookman
  Pook bemoans his laughable endowment at urinal; comedy sketch.

7. "Introducing Scott Erwin" by Scott Erwin
   Sibling rivals vie for NST attention as J. Erwin vs. S. 
Erwin spar. Physically; comedy sketch.

8. "I Love Almost Everybody... IN MY PANTS!" by Michael Tabor
   Michael's single quip (see above) eventually backfires; 
comedy sketch.

9. "YOU ARE DEAD" by Areli River, Performed by Furious Skinny
  Furious Skinny play a song on guitar and chair; music song. 

9.5. "Great Moments in Fuck Part III" by Pookman
   Pook embarrassed while singing to self; comedy sketch.

10. "Sea Badge" by Paul Rust
   Nerd smashed by car rejects sexual favors, takes refuge in 
inept screenplay writing; seriocomic scene.

11. "Go Dog Go! A Tri-alogue" by Jason Nebergall
   3 characters on the transcendent goodness of sex; poetical 
comedic 'tri-alogue.'

12. "Hot and Heavy" by Chris Okiishi
    Two lovers entwine/ literary critic laments utter lack of 
quality gay erotica; romantic comedy sketch.

12.5 "Great Moments in Fuck Part IV" by Pookman
   Pook "recites free-verse memorized poem"; poetry, comedy 
monologue.

13. "I Loves Me Some Add Sheet People" by Jamie Margolin
   Margolin expresses admiration for Add Sheet distributors; 
stand-up comedy.

14. "Garden Party Part V (The Harvest)" by Ron Wright
    Range war re-enacted in vegetable patch, this time 
physically; political comedy, food fight.

15. "The Day the Fortune Cookies Came True; Part VII: Louise" 
by Aprille Clarke
   Carl's child neglect/ alien Jesus capturing punished thanks 
to vigilant, eavesdropping telephone operator Louise; comedy 
sketch.

16. "The Big Rape" by Chris Stangl
    World's Horrors: Al on schoolyard bullies, revenge murder, 
Toni on Carson Daley, Chris on rape, dinner parties, Arlen on 
9/11/01; live attempted rape, comedy sketch.

Time: Sun, 07-Apr-2002 23:26:00 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

I agree with Chaz Erwin. This was a good No Shame. I wish my ma 
and sis could have seen this one instead of last week's slow, 
watery death. 

1. Nick Clark's bat-friend piece (J Nebergall, M Tabor)
Nick did a great job in matching Nebetron's style. I also dug 
Jason's self-parody (him using the voice that gained him so much 
fame - and hate! - in his initial pieces).
  
1.5 Purity in Essence and Understanding by James Horak (J Horak, 
J Erwin)
I couldn't see the actors. One of the few casualities of using 
room 172, I'm sure. I bet it looked neat for the balcony kids 
though.

2. Al Angel's driving cow poem
I liked the fact that this was child-like without having to use 
children as the main characters.  If you can write innocently 
with cows and old wise men, I tip my wrist-watch to you, laddy.
 
3. Danielle K.'s president lesbos piece (D K, J Nebergall, A 
Galbraith, A Clarke, M Thompson, ?)
Good first piece. Was able to say "This is who I am" without 
explicitly saying, "This is who I am" (like most first pieces 
are prone to do in their throat-clearin' ways). Could have used 
some editin' in the beginning though. I hope Danielle keeps 
writing.

3.5 Pookman (Andy, C Stangl)
I wish this first one would have been last since I think NS self-
reflexivity is a more powerful closer.  But what about the 
fourth "you thought I was going to say fuck" one?  Isn't that 
the best closer?  Boy, you could have just ended on the third.  
3's a good number. No one likes the fourth part after a trilogy. 
Although I did like the fourth's tonal shift, which fucked with 
the audience's expectations. That was fun.

4. Steve Heuertz' Diff'rent Strokes reunion
Steve doesn't care if you get his jokes. He writes them. They 
make him laugh. He gets fulfillment. Fuck 'em if they can't 
catch the caboose. 

5. Matthew Hart's No Rain piece (A Lawson, A Galbraith, M 
Thompson)
Best Hart piece ever. Like a Jamal piece in that it's stripped 
down and simple and therefore, more powerful than useless 
forewords and appendices.

6. The Hilarious Mexico Sketch, by James Erwin (J Erwin, C 
Stangl, C Okiishi) 
Having James stewing in the back as the Double McChris's were 
speaking was a fine set-up indeed. It intensified James' 
presence/purpose/performance (the 3 p's of No Shame!). And that 
Mexico-as-woman description was a one-two punch of great writing 
and strong performing (I sound like a famous movie critic!). 
However... where oh where was the "combination of Mexico and 
sex" joke... known as Sexico?!

7. Introducing Scott Erwin by Scott Erwin (S Erwin, J Erwin)  
3 reasons why this made you laugh: 1) unadulterated, faux 
arrogance, 2) an outside source exagerrating another's supposed 
persona, and 3) wrastlin'. I laughed, too, my expatraites. I 
laughed, too.

8. I Love Almost Everybody ...IN MY PANTS! by Michael Tabor (M 
Tabor, N Clark, A Juhl, P Rust, T Wilson, J Margolin)
Beating a dead horse into the ground = the bread and butter of 
weisenheimer comedy. Shaka!

9. Furious Skinny song (C Stangl, AJ River)
Best NS song performane in awhile. Well-rehearsed (especially in 
the double vox sections) w/o losing any of its rawness.

11. Jason Nebergall's 3-viewpoints on sex piece (J Nebergall, M 
Thompson, S Heuertz)
I would have preferred more movement and blocking. The 
viewpoints could have used more distinction from one another. I 
respect the shifts Jason has been making though.

12. Chris Okiishi's Gay Porn Literature piece (E A Burton, C 
Okiishi, ? [forgot his name already.])
This was a great piece. I felt it wasn't only critical of gay 
literature, but gay art in general. Okiishi expects more from 
this world and lets you know it. And you're more enlighetened 
because of this. The third man's name is Adam by the way.  

13. Jamie Margolin's stand-up about the add-sheets
This piece needed to take things to a larger plane.  Yeah, add 
sheets are funny, but what's that have to do with the price of 
Anne Rice?  Why are we compelled to them and their grunt-
workers? What's that say about US FOLKS? I wanna' know, Jamie! I 
wanna' know!

14. Ron Wright's Garden Party piece (R Wright, A Galbraith, E 
King, M Tabor)
Yeah, I lost the dialogue after things got thrown. No fault of 
the actors though. I just got distracted. Damn you, "Seaseme 
Street!"

15. The Day the Fortune Cookies Came True, pt 7: Louise (A 
Clarke, J Erwin)
Revelation of the martian-as-baby was a nice piece of horror. 
The stage set-up of phone-operator-as-confessional was a neat 
physical visual, too. And it's always good to hear some social 
criticism at NS since it is rare (and often only consists of 
campus affairs).  Aprille was able to satire the whole priest 
sex scandals without coming off as a soapbox blowhard.

16. Chris Stangl's "The Big Rape" (C Stangl, A Angel, T 
Wilson, ?)
Arlen Lawson and Aprille Clarke were in this, too. In this 
piece, the use of Sept. 11th brought some color(without just 
using - gasp, Sept. 11th!). For me, it showed the contrast 
between tempid, naive reactions to complete chaos (the 
teenager's summation of 9/11) and outraged, stupid reactions to 
simple observations (the party-goers' resonse to Chris' rape 
comment) and finally, primal, violent reactions to schoolyard 
teasing. In the end, Chris is saying to you: Hey, I just tried 
to rape someone on stage. What's your reaction, you de-/over-
sensititized piece of shit?  

That's my review. You (No Shame-goer, writer, peformer) should 
write one, too.  This message board is rapidly turning into a 
graveyard and you'd be wise to sneak in, kick over some 
tombstones, and have sex with your high school sweetheart inside 
it.

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 01:51:40 GMT     IP: 128.255.173.70

I didn't get in to last weeks show.  I am wondering why you used 
room 172 and not Mabie Theatre.  Mabie isn't big enough for 
everybody, but has a somewhat better compacity than room 172, 
and I've heard it even has a stage!

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 02:39:56 GMT     IP: 128.255.52.148

Mabie Theatre has approximately twice the audience capacity we 
need for a typical non-best-of Friday, but on this particular 
Friday it was being used by some music people who didn't trust us 
to perform on the same stage as their precious equipment.  No 
Shame was not made aware of this until some time after 9pm.  
Sorry you didn't get in.  It caught us by surprise also.

Aaron

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 03:54:48 GMT     IP: 206.72.33.253

No Shame Theatre
4-5-2002
Theatre Building, Room 172
"It The Small Things In Life That Make No Shame Worth Having" 

1. "Danny and the Space Dinosaur; for Jason Nebergall" by Nick 
Clark
Really thought this WAS a Jason piece until I saw that Jason did 
another piece.  You tricked me.  Good job. 

1.5 "Parity in Essence and Understanding" by James Horak
Rohypnol, ketamine, GHB, or roofies.  Which of these three would 
have led to the best punchline?  They're all pretty much 
synonyms, and I would have used roofies.  Would have had a much 
better payoff.  I'm prolly sounding harsh, but I think 
using "GHB" ruined the skit.

2. "COW'S' TORY" by al angel
Ditto what James "The Mexican" Erwin said.  Also, I've worked 
much w/ kids, and every time I see these pieces, I can just 
imagine smiling, giggling little gas-factories enjoying them.
 
3. "'Our Founding Fathers'? HA! More Like, 'Our Founding Lezbo 
Porno Pervos'! -or- Pretend I'm a Guy So This Piece Will Work" by 
Danielle Santagelo Kovalick
I gotta say: she nailed me.  I felt so dirty about my love of 
lesbian sex after seeing this that I actually DIDN'T masturbate 
when I got home later.  OK, so that's a lie, but I wasn't 
thinking about lesbians if that's any consolation. 

3.5 "Great Moments in Fuck" by Pookman
Thank you, Stangl.  For all you regulars: this is actually how I 
feel.  I know my pieces are shit, but I really don't care this 
semester as the whole point of Rainbow Project is doing different 
things.  Also, I think I could've left off part 3 in favor for a 
trilogy.  That one wasn't that funny, anyhoos.  

4. "The Power to Keep You Going" by Emeril Lagasse
Quote: I just write the pieces for me.  Damned, I wish I had that 
much whatever it is that makes him so whatever he is. 

5. "No Rain" by Matthew Hart
HAD NO IDEA IT WAS A MATTHEW HART PIECE.  I am impressed.  I am 
not easily impressed.  Sometimes I hate things just because it 
makes me happy.  But this impressed me and I liked it.  Good show.
 
6. "The Hilarious Mexico Sketch" by James Erwin
Despite my inability to write "intelligent funny", it is still my 
favorite type of funny.  Much better than "crass funny" and "dumb 
funny".  This is easily one of the most intelligently funny 
pieces I've seen this semester.
 
6.5. "Great Moments in Fuck Part II" by Pookman
That's right; I have a small penis.  Who'd a guessed that? 

7. "Introducing Scott Erwin" by Scott Erwin
Ditto of piece #6.  Little Erwin is almost as funny as Big 
Erwin.  Good introduction piece.

8. "I Love Almost Everybody... IN MY PANTS!" by Michael Tabor
Beat...joke...into...ground.  Doesn't always work, but in this case it 
worked spectacularly.   A good and solid Machael Tabor piece (if 
you like that sort of thing*).
 
TO BE CONTINUED..........

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 03:55:36 GMT     IP: 206.72.33.253

9. "YOU ARE DEAD" by Areli River, Performed by Furious Skinny
I don't really get Furious Skinny; it must be above me. 

9.5. "Great Moments in Fuck Part III" by Pookman
Could've neglected this one.  Didn't really need the four.  But 
thanks, Aprille; you's one fine lady. 

10. "Sea Badge" by Paul Rust
Beautifully acted.  I almost wanted to think Aprille was using 
Paul in the end because that would've made it easier on my 
heartstrings.  Paul, you took a piece that needed to be acted 
well for it to work and nailed it.  Had this piece come off as 
disingenuous, it would have easily been one of my least favorite 
pieces thus far.  But, no.  It was acted with as much skill as 
I've seen yet from Paul (and Aprille, you were pretty damned 
good, too), and because of this it is now one of my favorites. 

11. "Go Dog Go! A Tri-alogue" by Jason Nebergall
Really good dialogue (but not really dialogue, which is 
impressive in and of it) mixed together with some decent jokes.  
A well-rounded sketch without being anything extraordinary.  This 
is in no mans an insult.  Doing a skit with no perceivable lulls 
is probably one of the hardest skills to master.  FAVORITE JOKE 
OF NIGHT: Steve's "sex is like a trip back to Grandma's house" 
joke. 

12. "Hot and Heavy" by Chris Okiishi
The guy on the table was awesome.  I don't often congratulate 
performers after a show, but I saw this guy at the Village Inn, I 
couldn't stop myself.   

12.5 "Great Moments in Fuck Part IV" by Pookman
I don't know what "recites free-verse memorized poem" means.  
There probably is no such thing as free-verse poetry; I don't 
know.  I don't care.  That's just what I called it.  Also, I had 
no time to memorize it.  All this being said: This was my 
favorite "Fuck!" piece.  I also think it made the best closer.  
That's why it was last.

13. "I Loves Me Some Add Sheet People" by Jamie Margolin
OK, this is the one thing I know about.  Jamie's got skills, but 
his confidence on stage this night wasn't there.  One thing you 
absolutely need (even more than timing, I feel) in stand-up is 
confidence.  If there had been a drunk in the crowd, then I don't 
think he would have made through.  As it was, when a joke died he 
lost concentration and what confidence he showed.  Also, the fact 
that Jamie didn't have this piece memorized forwards and back was 
an absolute bad move.  You CANNOT perform stand-up unrehearsed.  
You need to be able to move around jokes in the order to 
accommodate the audience's reactions, and along the same time if 
a bit isn't working you need to be able to skit to the end of it 
and go to the next part.  And if the audience isn't with you, you 
have to bend them to your will, because as a stand-up you can't 
bend to them or you lose your (perceived) respectability as a 
performer due to your pandering.  In addition, the first third of 
this piece was extremely inaudible.  Several people behind me 
said "what?" and even I had a hard time hearing what he said (and 
I knew what he was saying having read the piece prior).  You 
can't expect to get laughs if the audience doesn't hear the 
joke.  I'd hate to think what would have happened if the same 
thing happened in Mabie.  All-in-all, I was severely unimpressed 
by this stand-up, but I'm gonna be a harsher judge than most (and 
Jamie gave me reign to be).  That being said, Jamie shows amazing 
promise.  I have no problem saying that I would GUARANTEE Jamie's 
next stand-up will hit right on if he (1) memorizes the piece,  
(2) collects a little more confidence (to a further extent: learn 
to read the audience), and (3) talks up.

14. "Garden Party Part V (The Harvest)" by Ron Wright
I am happy to see these come to an end.  This was a good way to 
end it, even thought the dialogue was obviously overshadowed by 
the throwing of the vegetables. 

15. "The Day the Fortune Cookies Came True; Part VII: Louise" by 
Aprille Clarke
Very Aprille.  Very good.  I never have much to say on your/her 
pieces because they have a consistence about them that always at 
or around the same level.  A good level, mind you; but that 
doesn't allow me to say much beside they're good (it's late; I 
hope that made sense). 

16. "The Big Rape" by Chris Stangl
The rape scene was too uncommitted.  That was one of the 2-3 main 
selling points of the piece, and thus it made it a huge drawback 
for me and left an empty taste in my mouth.  The joke at the end 
of the [attempted] raping helped save it, however, as did the 
ending of the skit.  I'm not advocating rape nor am I huge rape 
fan**, but I do think if you're gonna do it, you need to go all 
out, and I didn't expect these two performers to hold back so 
much.

*=I like that sort of thing.
**=I'm not a fan at all, actually.  Just was too lazy hit the 
backspace.

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 04:02:16 GMT     IP: 128.255.173.70

The title of my thread says it all!

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 05:00:54 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.194

1. "Danny and the Space Dinosaur; for Jason Nebergall" by Nick 
Clark
I loved this.  I loved doing it.  Thank you, Nick.  

1.5 "Parity in Essence and Understanding" by James Horak
I leaned to my girlfriend and asked her what GHB was.  She told 
me.  I laughed.  I'm glad it wasn't explained in the piece, 
though.  For those who don't know, it apparently is the 'date-
rape drug.'

2. "COW'S' TORY" by al angel
I liked this piece a lot because it allowed for interesting 
blocking and movement.  The evolution of Al's children's pieces 
is really interesting for me, because they started out really 
good, and haven't slipped at all in their consistent improvement.

3. "'Our Founding Fathers'? HA! More Like, 'Our Founding Lezbo 
Porno Pervos'! -or- Pretend I'm a Guy So This Piece Will Work" by 
Danielle Santagelo Kovalick
This didn't need the intro.  The piece made sense on its own, and 
at that, was a good piece.  However, a very fine debut.  

3.5 "Great Moments in Fuck" by Pookman
These sketches were pretty good for what they were, but were a 
lame joke, that once repeated, becomes good.  Sorta like the 
classic "Jurassic Pork" trilogy, but without the naked-dancing-
pig-man weirdness.  Not my favorite, but okay.

4. "The Power to Keep You Going" by Emeril Lagasse
I am very fond of non-sequitur sketches.  This was a good one.  I 
wish I had watched more TV in the 80s.

5. "No Rain" by Matthew Hart
When Matt showed this to me, I was surprised by how 
uncharacteristic it was.  Kudos to Matt.  Not too long, and told 
its story well.  A very good piece.

6. "The Hilarious Mexico Sketch" by James Erwin
This was consistently inventive.  The piece kept topping itself 
without breaking the rules of the piece, which was enjoyable to 
watch.  It was well structured in that the audience knew Erwin 
was going to say something big, but what it would prove to be was 
a surprise.

6.5. "Great Moments in Fuck Part II" by Pookman

7. "Introducing Scott Erwin" by Scott Erwin
The turnaround from being about James to being about Scott was 
really well done.  And wrestling is always fun to watch.  An 
auspicious debut from Erwin II.

8. "I Love Almost Everybody... IN MY PANTS!" by Michael Tabor
I love sketches that are repetitive in a good way.  This was one 
of them.

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 05:01:31 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.194

9. "YOU ARE DEAD" by Areli River, Performed by Furious Skinny
Furious Skinny is an awesome band.  The music is rockin', but the 
masks and t-shirts are what keep the love alive.

9.5. "Great Moments in Fuck Part III" by Pookman

10. "Sea Badge" by Paul Rust
Paul has been experimenting with his style recently, and this was 
the first time that the new serio-comic Paul stuff has really 
clicked for me.  The balance was kept perfectly, and I was 
consistently absorbed.

11. "Go Dog Go! A Tri-alogue" by Jason Nebergall

12. "Hot and Heavy" by Chris Okiishi
I loved this.  My favorite Okiishi piece of all time.

12.5 "Great Moments in Fuck Part IV" by Pookman

13. "I Loves Me Some Add Sheet People" by Jamie Margolin
While I usually hate standup, this was an interesting change of 
pace from sketches and monologues.  Still, it didn't really have 
me laughing, and seemed under-confident.  Pookman's the major 
expert on standup, so I defer to his review.

14. "Garden Party Part V (The Harvest)" by Ron Wright
I cringed when the veggies started flying, but it added an 
interesting visual to the repetitive nature of Wright's series.  
However, I can't tell you a damn thing that was said, because I 
kept watching the vegetables fly and the board members cringe.

15. "The Day the Fortune Cookies Came True; Part VII: Louise" by 
Aprille Clarke
Clarke's series has been improving a lot.  It's becoming a lot 
more cohesive and that makes it a lot more enjoyable.  The 
specifics of the story are becoming more and more defined without 
losing the intriguing non-linearity of the series.

16. "The Big Rape" by Chris Stangl
I love pieces that make you laugh, and then question what you are 
laughing at.  I had high hopes for this, and they were met.  I 
have no problems with the fact that fun was had during the "rape 
attempt."  The mere suggestion of rape was enough to set me on 
edge, and the final lines did get me thinking.  This was a 
laudable end to a fine night.  

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 08:04:02 GMT     IP: 128.255.193.252

Damn, that was a very long post that I just accidently erased...

To summarize:

The reason that No Shame wasn't allowed to use Mabie the other 
night wasn't (directly) due to the equipment.  Don Buchla 
(inventor of the Buchla synthesizer, noted eccentric) was giving 
a performance with his group Fried Suck for the SEAMUS national 
convention.  As expected, the concert ran well past 11:00pm.  In 
addition, the entire stage would have been covered with 
synthesizers, speaker equipment, microphone stands, an old 
fashioned baby carriage, and miscellaneous other crap.  Combined 
with the mixing board in the middle of the room, the 16 speakers 
around the aisles, and enough wiring to encircle insert obese 
celebrity reference approximately 62.7 times, it would have made 
for a very... interesting situation.  As it was, it took a group 
of us over 5 hours to take down all of the equipment on Saturday.

As one of the directors of the conference (who just happens to be 
a regular No Shame audience member), I apologize for the 
confusion.  The theatre department had known for many months that 
Mabie Theatre would be occupied from April 4th-6th; I'm not sure 
why they chose not to pass that information along to the No Shame 
Executive Board before 9pm on Friday night.  I wish I could say 
that there was more we could have done, but once we booked the 
theatre, the situation left our hands.  Apologies anyway.

- M. Grusha

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 16:58:15 GMT     IP: 128.255.45.7

I suppose it was foolish of me to assume that blame should be 
cast on the music group occupying the space.  I was contacted by 
the department this morning with apologies for not telling SEAMUS 
that No Shame had priority to use the space after 10:30.  I was 
also assured that new measures would be taken to prevent this 
from happening again.

Aaron

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 18:11:47 GMT     IP: 128.255.163.35

Dear friends,

Last Friday, Chris Stangl informed me that he now has a 
computer.  Due to this fact, he will be taking over posting the 
orders.  Actually, he and I have not discussed this, but all 
signs seem to point to it.

This is fine with me, considering the fact that posting the 
expanded order every Friday night often kept me up until 3 
a.m., which, coupled with my inability to sleep past 8 on 
Saturdays, has led to some unpleasant weekends.

"Well," you say, "you didn't have to stay up on Fridays to post 
them."  That's true, I didn't, and Chris doesn't either.  I just 
felt/feel that the sooner the order is posted, the better the 
level and content of disussion in the forum.  This is just my 
opinion, though, and the matter is now out of my hands.  I 
mean this as no insult whatsoever to Chris or his posting 
style/timing.  I just want to make people aware of the shift.

I would encourage people to continue doing what happened 
this week--if the order doesn't get posted right away, try to 
reconstruct it the best you can, because having the details 
in front of the readers' faces stimulates discussion.

Why do my pretzels smell like shrimp?

Thanks.

AC

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 21:25:14 GMT     IP: 128.255.208.70

Yes, it was an all-around unfortunate situation.  Their 
response to you is a bit puzzling however.  SEAMUS had 
Mabie Theatre for the dates frm April 4th-6th exclusively 
booked before the academic year even started.  Even if there 
wouldn't have been a concert in Mabie during that time, and if 
the venue hadn't been booked months in advance, it still 
would have required a six hour strike and another six hour 
setup, all between the times of 10:30pm on Friday and the 
7am rehearsals on Saturday.   Most of the people working 
the concert were being paid by the hour, so a two hour long 
No Shame would have cost us hundreds of dollars, twelve 
extra hours of labor, and would have ripped some sort of 
hole in the space-time continuum.  Hopefully by "new 
measures", they mean planning ahead when they book their 
venues.   Again though, hindsight is 20/20...

- M. Grusha

Time: Mon, 08-Apr-2002 23:15:25 GMT     IP: 128.255.193.252

Too bad I didn't see this sooner.  We could have avoided the 
entire debacle.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem-&-item=1528048825

- M. Grusha

Time: Tue, 09-Apr-2002 02:10:41 GMT     IP: 63.228.160.67

We're over it Grusha. It's cool. Calm down.

Time: Tue, 09-Apr-2002 02:49:02 GMT     IP: 134.161.71.239

Just curious, will there be a Best of No Shame Theatre this 
semester and if so, when?

Eric

Time: Tue, 09-Apr-2002 03:08:05 GMT     IP: 128.255.187.193

I'm confused.

Why are we neglecting our beloved little B?  We were all so 
happy there...

Time: Tue, 09-Apr-2002 04:10:26 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

Currently, Theatre B is being used for "Wonderchild," a UI 
Mainstage production. As a result, No Shame has been using Mabie 
instead.

Time: Tue, 09-Apr-2002 04:25:23 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

Yes, there will be a Best of No Shame this semester. It will 
probably happen on Friday, May 10th.  
Rumor has it that the release of "Star Wars - Episode II: Attack 
of the Clones" was held back one week, so it would not have to 
compete with Best of.
Director George Lucas remarked, "All the wookies in the world 
can't stop folks from seeing Jason Nebergall do that funny voice 
of his."

Time: Tue, 09-Apr-2002 22:05:28 GMT     IP: 128.255.88.131

Will said No Shame be featuring anything besides Pookman's 
various pieces?  I know he's good and extremely gifted and better 
than everyone else at No Shame, but I do think you let somebody 
else in the show besides him.

But if you don't nominate the "Fuck!" pieces, I'll begin killing 
squirrels at the rate of 3.2 an hour until the world is made 
right again.

Time: Wed, 10-Apr-2002 05:23:03 GMT     IP: 12.217.248.128

I just re-read the previous posts from Stubble et al, and I'm not 
really sure where any slander would have occured.  All presented 
the information as they had been told, with a fair amount of 
regard for all concerned, to my read.  It sould be remembered 
that No Shame PAYS to use a theater in the theater building, and 
has, in the past, gone to great lengths to accomodate other 
productions and events, when such accomdations were foreseeable.  
In what way did you find the posts disrespectful of the theater 
department or intentionally misleading so as to cause injury (aka 
slander)?

Time: Wed, 10-Apr-2002 14:51:50 GMT     IP: 67.251.189.49

Dear Weirdos and Retardeds,

  You know that six-foot pile of boxes full of t-shirts in my 
basement? They all say No Shame Theatre on them. Wouldn't they 
look better wrapped around your torso than mounded in my 
personal space? Live the dream for ten dollars. TEN DOLLARS. 
David Lynch is selling "Eraserhead" DVDs for FORTY DOLLARS on-
line if that gives you a gold-standard.
   Electronic-mail me or see me after the No Shame Theatre and 
we'll dyke out!... I mean sell some shirts!

        Keep your eyes on the prize,
                   Rev. Chris Stangl

Time: Thu, 11-Apr-2002 04:08:13 GMT     IP: 12.75.101.165

Does the board know which theater that No Shame will be using on 
Friday?  I know that 'B' is the usual, but I thought that 
the 'Blind Tom' piano performance would be using 'B' from 8p to 
10p.  Just wondering.

Ron

Time: Thu, 11-Apr-2002 15:22:49 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.75

I just think that sounds better than dropping the f-bomb.

Time: Thu, 11-Apr-2002 18:34:50 GMT     IP: 167.83.10.24

Dear Kids,

   This slipped my disc until just now: on April 5 during the 
announcements I yelled "You know Tony Werner? That sumbitch 
piece of shit snuck TWO PIECES into last week's show! He is 
BANNED FOR... LIFE!" This is patently untrue: Tony is NOT 
banned, let alone for life. I was intending to admonish Tony in 
the form of a joke-- escalating cruel and unusual punishments 
climaxing with forced castration-- but was interrupted and never 
finished the thought, instead ending with the phrase: "TONY 
WERNER IS BANNED FOR LIFE!" Which... is not true.
    Why, though, WERE there two scripts with his name on them 
last week? And why didn't I notice this while I was taking 
order? These questions remain unanswered.

       Do you like a,
          Rev. Chris Stangl?

Time: Thu, 11-Apr-2002 21:48:25 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

Tony did not write two pieces.  He wrote one ("Blue #3").  As for 
the other piece under his name ("Room Serves and the Galapagos"), 
this was actually written by Spencer Griffin. 
I SUSPECT that after the pieces were handed in, Spencer had his 
name changed to "Tony Werner" on the order. This, plus the fact 
that Tony spoke the majority of the sketch's lines, made it seem 
as if TONY wrote the piece. Why? If you remember, the piece 
included many controversial and off-color remarks about pre-teen 
girls and such. Spencer was trying to pull a joke on Tony and 
make it seem as if Tony was the naughty boy, not himself. Hence, 
two pieces by Tony Werner.
I apologize if by saying this, I've ruined a hoax. I just wanted 
to make sure that Tony would not be seen as a "double piecer" (a 
term coined by Sir Walter Crombit Noshame III in 1874).
By the way, I was not totally aware of this hoax until AFTER the 
show. If I would have known it would have caused such confusion, 
I would have probably suggested the idea be nixed.

Time: Thu, 11-Apr-2002 22:02:06 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.172

What I meant to say (before I accidentally posted early) was...

By the way, I was not totally aware of this hoax until AFTER the 
show. If I would have known that such confusion would have 
resulted, I would have suggested nixing the idea.

Interesting note: When Chris was admonishing Tony during the 
order, I began to speak, so I could clarify the situation. 
However, Chris looked at me with a glance, which I thought 
suggested, "Hey, I know it's a hoax, Paul. I'm just using this as 
a vehicle to be funny." So I shut my mouth and remained quiet. 
How sad. In the pursuit of comedy, a man's life has been ruined. 
For shame. For shame.

You know, this reminds me of a scene that a friend of mine once 
created.  It went like this:

Man #1: You know the Holocaust is all your fault.
Man #2: But I didn't do anything!
Man #1 (in hushed seriousness): That's exactly my point.

Time: Fri, 12-Apr-2002 21:00:59 GMT     IP: 205.188.193.37

I take my life in my own hands by posting here again, but what 
the heck, I got no shame.

Totally awe inspiringly cool.  You guys have enough writers and 
performers you actually have a rule about no more than one piece 
per week which actually has to be enforced with threats of a ban?

While on the one hand I worry about jack booted no shame thugs 
(that would be production assistants to those who are "Masters 
of the Fine Arts) enforcing such rules, I won't get into any 
discussion of what no shame is cause I have barely begun to feel 
like the blisters on my ass are healing from the last 
time....what?  Oh yeah, the other hand, it was rubbing those 
blisters, but on it is this amazing sense of amazement that you 
have that many new pieces every week.

Some of us in the provinces, far from the primordial cess pool 
sometimes have to mount a Friday with only 5 pieces where we 
kick ourselves for not writing more than one piece that week.  
Oh, to live in the land of good 'n plenties.

Please keep up the good work, the bad work and the mediocre 
work, just so long as you keep up the work!

I imagine No Shame Iowa shuts down over the summer, eh?  

Us poor country cousin's in Virginny have a motto that nothing 
pre-empts No Shame, not even No Shame...we still do a regular 
friday show even after our Best Of's which we do quarterly.  
Since we are not an academic institution, we go year round, 
every single friday, so maybe you can forgive a little that we 
don't have quite the volume of work...but I don't forgive us.

I must go out and shanghai some writers.

Anyway, congratulations.  You got something good over 
there...even if it is often pretty heavy on the poop.  But poop 
is good too.  :)

Todd "Who let the smelly old guy in?" Ristau

Time: Fri, 12-Apr-2002 21:07:21 GMT     IP: 205.188.193.37

Ok, the real reason I came here to post--I'm currently working 
on an article about the history of No Shame.  The idea arose out 
of David Gothard's visit to Virginia to see our ten minute play 
festival and most recent Best Of.  In his enthusiasm when he 
discovered we were doing a very careful documentation of our No 
Shame with archives and photos, he encouraged me to start 
collecting a short history of No Shame which might be suitable 
for submissions, either to theatre journals or grant writing.  
I'm not sure how far it will go, but I think if nothing else, 
those of us who were involved would appreciate it finally being 
put together in some form or another.  Sort of like the TDR 
article but nearly two decades later.

Since No Shame isn't any one voice or opinion, I'd like to get 
input from all of you out there.

I know that the Iowa No Shame was important to a lot of people, 
and that the various franchises which have popped up have also 
allowed many to gain some experiential learning and stage 
experience in a low risk environment that they might not have 
gotten anywhere else.

The angle of the article is going to be on how important that 
venue was to people on a personal and professional level. 

It would be a great help to me if you could send your thoughts, 
etc, on what No Shame meant to you, means to you, and so forth.  
Also how, if at all, you feel No Shame helped (or hindered) your 
professional advancement as theatre artists.

If you have a favorite no shame story you'd like to share, that 
would be great too, just send it to me in an email, rather than 
posting it here (though you can do that too, if you like) and 
I'll start compiling.  Also, please forward this to people who 
have a No Shame connection (performers, writers, faculty, 
theatre owners, etc) but who don't check message boards.

If nothing else, I am sure that Jeff and I will find a way to 
feature the final article on the no shame web-hub, and we've got 
a few other ideas that this type of info would be useful for.  
Nothing will be shared or published or submitted or posted 
without passing the material by the contributor first for 
approval, so feel free to say whatever you like.

Some of you Iowa folks are graduating, congrats on that.  In 
addition to any thoughts about how having a place to test stuff 
out without it directly impacting your grade, I'd enjoy hearing 
how you expect having done no shame to help as you make your way 
out into the world--not least of which if you expect that having 
a national network of people who have done no shame over the 
last 17 years or so, to be of any use to you...or is (as has 
been said to me in this forum) no shame something you graduate 
from and just leave behind?

thanks in advance for all your help.  I look forward to seeing 
what you you have to say.

Todd

Time: Fri, 12-Apr-2002 21:22:12 GMT     IP: 205.188.193.37

It occurs to me that since we have this radically different No 
Shame environment over in Virginia where we who have so little 
look to you who have so much--I'm going to do a totally un-no 
shamey thing and suggest a scandalous perversion of "what no 
shame is" and throw this idea out to the wolves....

If any of you have pieces that you think can be done by people 
other than your own selves and would like them performed else 
where, our Virginia No Shame is compiling sort of a Emergency 
First Aid Script Box.

We never want to do a No Shame with fewer than five pieces--
though we did last week with four--and I thought, gosh, all these 
No Shames have these nifty script libraries but there is almost 
no way to contact people to get permission to do them...and since 
we have that "3-5 minute ORIGINAL" rule, is it right to even 
consider doing the pieces of people who are not on the stage or 
watching in the audience?

Well, some of you people who hate history (and old guy stories) 
let me tell you where that original peices rule came from.  We 
didn't want to worry about royalties or getting sued.

No shame started as a forum for performers, not really for 
writers, but writers were a necessary evil since we didn't want 
to have to worry about getting sued or hit with royalties, and 
heck, there were plenty of writers around.

Point two, we've already had some submissions from people like 
Iowa City's Fred Norberg to do his pieces at our No Shame, and 
nobody saw anything wrong with that--there never was to my 
knowledge that the "original" piece's author had to be sitting in 
the theatre, just had to have given his consent for the 
performance.

Even Jeff Goode has had one of his pieces performed (with 
permission) at the Charlotteville NS.

Given that...what the heck is stopping people from No Shames 
across time and space from sending us some pieces that we can 
pull out in time of dire need (only having 4 pieces in the order).

If you send me your scripts with a note giving permission, I will 
print them out and put them in the Emergency Script Box here in 
Charlottesville and will send you an email to let you know when 
your piece patched a hole in our order.

This way we get help from people who actually want to help, and 
we don't have to frantically search through online NS script 
libraries to find a suitable piece and get permission to perform 
it when the people likely to be giving permission are at their 
own no shame.

What do you think?  The crazed idea of a Heretic?

Last act of a desperate man unable to gather sufficient support 
and interest to keep his own no shame alive?

Or a really good idea to increase the viability of a network of 
mutually supportive artists actively engaged in keeping a 
national venue for new work alive?

Todd

Time: Sat, 13-Apr-2002 08:57:47 GMT     IP: 63.228.160.67

Great Show. Want To Review. No Order. Well. Great Show. Awesome.

Time: Sat, 13-Apr-2002 17:53:13 GMT     IP: 67.233.170.28

                  No Shame Theatre
                       4-12-2002
                Happy birthday of Paul Rust!

1. "I Was a Teenage Wearer" by Michael Landon's cold, cold dead 
body, RIP, and Estelle Getty's hot ass, YEOUUCH!
	Deaf boy, legless boy, son of Zeus spar verbally, rap 
about King Tut; comedy sketch.

2. "AGES" by al angel
	Vigor of youth vs. oldness of old men; children's poem

2.5. "In Agreement" by James Horak and Nick Clark
	Nick encourages James to sigh till he passes out; 
comedy sketch

3. "Long Sentence No Suggestions" by Sarah Neilson
	Boy brings love to life of joyless girl; love sketch

4. "Wake Me Up When This Poop is Over; Part I" by James Brown
	Man wrecks sadistic, unlikely havoc on shopping mall, 
whorehouse; comedy monologue

5. "The Man Who Was Must-See Thursday" by Mark J. Hansen
	Accountant resorts to urban espionage to win office 
sitcom pool; comedy monologue

6. "IT RAINS" by Matthew Hart
	Poignant scene degenerates into orgasm puns... PUNisher 
intervenes; comedy sketch

6.5. "Card Shot" by Scott Fiddelke
	Card trick with firearms!; magic

7. "The Lunatic Club" by Arlen Lawson
	Lunatic baking club disassembles bike, builds flying 
car; monologue

8. "Phillip Morris Approved Entertainment" by A. H. Anonymous
	Cowardly author devises elaborate plan for Horak, Hague 
to cop onstage smoke; comedy sketch

9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor
	At Tabor-Wilson family dinner in 60 years, bickering 
disrupted by evil fart; comedy sketch

10. "Bastard, BASTARD HarbourMastah" by Jason Nebergall
	"Actual letters from the Civil War" wrought with 
anachronisms, sex jokes; comedy sketch

11. "Who is Stupider?" by Mean Jamma
	...pretentious, formulaic NST writers? Or stupid 
audience? Answer: both!; comedy sketch

12. "Happy Birthday... to Me?!" by Paul Rust
	Paul encourages audience to sing increasingly degrading 
variations on birthday song; comedy

13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo Kovalick
	Girl writes wistful please-don't-break-up-with-me e-
mail; dramatic monologue

14. "Fortune Cookie Nights - A Spin-Off; ten 30-second Plays 
about Carl" by Aprille Clarke
	Series of blackout gross-out sketches 
revisiting "DTFCCT" characters; comedy sketch

15. "I Can't Sleep" song Chris Stangl perform Furious Skinny
	Furious Skinny play song on wastebasket, trumpet, 
screaming; music song

Time: Sat, 13-Apr-2002 18:33:52 GMT     IP: 64.6.87.98

And the persons who appeared in those pieces is, as nearly as my 
brain can tell me, these (and apologies in advance for those my 
drug-addled knowledge-sponge left out, or whose names I cannot 
spell and/or pronounce):

1. "I Was a Teenage Wearer" by Michael Landon's cold, cold dead 
body, RIP, and Estelle Getty's hot ass, YEOUUCH! (A Angel, M 
Tabor, S Huertz, J Erwin)
      Deaf boy, legless boy, son of Zeus spar verbally, rap 
about King Tut; comedy sketch.

2. "AGES" by al angel (A Angel, P Rust, J Erwin)
      Vigor of youth vs. oldness of old men; children's poem

2.5. "In Agreement" by James Horak and Nick Clark (J Horak, N 
Clark)
      Nick encourages James to sigh till he passes out; 
comedy sketch

3. "Long Sentence No Suggestions" by Sarah Neilson [M Thompson, 
some other guy (???)]
      Boy brings love to life of joyless girl; love sketch

4. "Wake Me Up When This Poop is Over; Part I" by James Brown (J 
Brown)
      Man wrecks sadistic, unlikely havoc on shopping mall, 
whorehouse; comedy monologue

5. "The Man Who Was Must-See Thursday" by Mark J. Hansen (J Horak)
      Accountant resorts to urban espionage to win office 
sitcom pool; comedy monologue

6. "IT RAINS" by Matthew Hart (A Lawson, M Thompson, P Rust, J 
Nebergall, M Hart)
      Poignant scene degenerates into orgasm puns... PUNisher 
intervenes; comedy sketch

6.5. "Card Shot" by Scott Fiddelke (S Fiddelke, the girl who shot 
M Cassady dead, and some other guy from the audience)
      Card trick with firearms!; magic

7. "The Lunatic Club" by Arlen Lawson (A Lawson)
      Lunatic baking club disassembles bike, builds flying 
car; monologue

8. "Phillip Morris Approved Entertainment" by A. H. Anonymous (J 
Horak, J Hague)
      Cowardly author devises elaborate plan for Horak, Hague 
to cop onstage smoke; comedy sketch

9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor (T Wilson, M Tabor, J 
River, two hep cats I don't know)
      At Tabor-Wilson family dinner in 60 years, bickering 
disrupted by evil fart; comedy sketch

10. "Bastard, BASTARD HarbourMastah" by Jason Nebergall (J 
Nebergall, D Kovelick)
      "Actual letters from the Civil War" wrought with 
anachronisms, sex jokes; comedy sketch

11. "Who is Stupider?" by Mean Jamma (C Stangl, J River, A 
Lawson?, P Rust)
      ...pretentious, formulaic NST writers? Or stupid 
audience? Answer: both!; comedy sketch

12. "Happy Birthday... to Me?!" by Paul Rust (P Rust, audience 
member)
      Paul encourages audience to sing increasingly degrading 
variations on birthday song; comedy

13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo Kovalick (D 
Kovalick)
      Girl writes wistful please-don't-break-up-with-me e-
mail; dramatic monologue

14. "Fortune Cookie Nights - A Spin-Off; ten 30-second Plays 
about Carl" by Aprille Clarke (A Clarke, J Erwin, S Huertz)
      Series of blackout gross-out sketches 
revisiting "DTFCCT" characters; comedy sketch

15. "I Can't Sleep" song Chris Stangl perform Furious Skinny 
(Furious Skinny)
      Furious Skinny play song on wastebasket, trumpet, 
screaming; music song


i am the god of memory.  worship me.

Time: Sat, 13-Apr-2002 19:05:47 GMT     IP: 12.217.237.60

Review 4/12

1.  "I Was a Teenage Wearer" by Michael Landon's cold, cold 
dead 
body, RIP, and Estelle Getty's hot ass, YEOUUCH!
I liked the King Tut song interspersal.  The image of the little 
person living in our ears was good.  When whoever said 
it--Mark?--started to say it, I thought he was going to say that 
a person lived in his mouth and did his talking for him, but it's 
more interesting if everybody has a person in his/her ears, 
because everyone would hear something different.  Also, 
despite being best known for her roles as Sylvester 
Stallone's mother in "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" and Sofia 
on The Golden Girls, Estelle Getty is actually only 37. 

2.  "AGES" by al angel
The rhyme and meter flowed really nicely and un-forcedly in 
this.  In some earlier ones it seemed like sacrifices were 
made for the sake of rhyme--not here, though.  I think all the 
practice has really honed Al's skills in the genre.  Content 
aside, this was my favorite of his poems so far on a purely 
auditory level.

2.5. "In Agreement" by James Horak and Nick Clark
It took the joke to its logical conclusion, which was 
funny...when I was watching it, it didn't seem too long, but 
now in my memory it seems like one or two sighs could have 
gotten cut.  Nick seemed so sincere, or at least as sincere 
as a person can be when saying something figurative.

3. "Long Sentence No Suggestions" by Sarah Neilson
Nice first piece.  It did what it did and then it stopped.  I liked 
how  the author didn't feel pressure to kill five minutes or 
make a comedy joke.  Something sweet is best done shortly, 
unless it has some other vehicle it's riding on (like, say, a 
rhyming metered poem or a mo-ped).

4. "Wake Me Up When This Poop is Over; Part I" by James 
Brown
Hm...I laughed quite a few times during this, I think because 
it was funny that James was saying what he was saying with 
such apparent sincerity.  The title (which I didn't remember 
while I watched the piece) leads me to believe the whole 
thing was a dream, which is what I figured during the piece.  
It seems like he should have addressed that, though, 
because it was unclear whether the piece was taking place 
in a real world (where people go to malls) or an absurd world 
(where people eat Country Crock, only to have it really be 
Country Cock).  Unless you reconcile the boundaries of your 
piece, the audience isn't sure whether laughing is a nice 
thing or a mean thing to do.

5. "The Man Who Was Must-See Thursday" by Mark J. 
Hansen
I liked how James Horak kept saying car words.  I also liked 
how it was sharp and tight and language-heavy without being 
tedious.

6. "IT RAINS" by Matthew Hart
My favorite part was when Arlen was desparately trying to 
keep his lines going while the piece disintegrated around 
him.  Just the breakdown of the frame was enough 
(especially when paired with last week's "real" version); I 
didn't need the PUN-isher.  I mean, I know...what's funny 
about puns isn't that they're puns, but rather that you're 
laughing at them, so a certain amount of pun meta-humor is 
cool.  But I already get it.  And I feel bad for Jason's crotch.  
The first 2/3 of the piece was quite strong, though.

6.5. "Card Shot" by Scott Fiddelke
Cool and funny, but waaay too long for a .5.  Hell, it may have 
gone over 5 minutes.  The magician seemed awfully 
gregarious onstage considering how shy and awkward he 
seemed onstage.  Mike Cassady's presence strengthened 
this a lot; by pulling me out of the magic show context, I 
wasn't sure where to file it, so I didn't know what to expect.  
May I would have liked it a little better if it hadn't turned out 
just to be a magic show.  But that's cool.  Magic's cool.  
Maybe he'll do something else later.

7. "The Lunatic Club" by Arlen Lawson
Funny lines, nice juxtaposition of a detail-rich story with a 
form we've seen Arlen work before.  There are so many 
possible adventures a shat-upon child can have!

8. "Phillip Morris Approved Entertainment" by A. H. 
Anonymous
Funniest misspelling of the night:  "stuggle."  Too bad it 
came at a time of mock-seriousness in the piece.  That's 
weird that so many people are addicted to smoking 
cigarettes.  Gross!

9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor
The beginning was really slow, but it sure picked up once 
Jamal got involved.  I'd forgotten his exact role in the piece, 
so I just thought there was some crazy guy following Michael 
around everywhere.  Then when the fart came, it was funny in 
a different way.  Did Alyssa videotape this one?  Jamal's 
facial and hand-wringing expressions were so nice.

10. "Bastard, BASTARD HarbourMastah" by Jason Nebergall
Were they Union or Confederates?  Danielle's accent 
seemed southern, but the context seemed Yankee...I guess 
Minnesota belles don't write as good of letters.  I liked the 
idea of referring to female gentalia as meat.  It's just as 
meaty as a penis, I guess, and in texture, perhaps more.  
The dates on the letters were really close together 
considering the postal service of the day.  I guess they 
emailed the letters.  WTF?

11. "Who is Stupider?" by Mean Jamma
It wasn't as mean as it could have been.  Paul's character 
was really charming.

12. "Happy Birthday... to Me?!" by Paul Rust
Funny, especially considering the information Paul has given 
us previously about his mental health.  I hope he doesn't go 
home and do that stuff, except maybe getting some woman 
pregnant, because you know what that means!  She'd be 
pregnant.  I liked the shift between audience participation 
and not, the flux between Paul actually having human 
relationships and the descent into his own head.

13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo 
Kovalick
I was disappointed by this considering the strength of last 
week's piece.  I guess there's no reason to assume it's a 
true thing, except that she said it was from "Danielle," which 
is also her name.  Ordinarily I'd say keep away from doing 
true-to-life stuff unless you've added another layer of interest, 
because everyone has the same basic human experience; 
what makes theatre/art/music interesting is the hunt to find 
the commonalities within the larger framework of the art.  The 
writing was detail-rich, which was nice, and probably 
everyone in the audience could relate--but Danielle's piece 
last week let me know that she can write some fiction.  It's 
more engaging to see a piece that works on more levels 
than just relating.

15. "I Can't Sleep" song Chris Stangl perform Furious Skinny
Second funniest spelling error of the night--Jamal's shirt said 
"Furous Skinny."  I knew a girl like that.  This was my favorite 
song I've ever seen/heard that Chris wrote.

Time: Sat, 13-Apr-2002 20:46:21 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

Side comment: It was Kovacs doing lights, right? Hot damn, but 
if I'm not mistaken, last night should have featured Kovacs in 
the order. I have never seen the lights performed with such 
deadly precise comedic timing. And in Mabie! A subtle detail 
which I think really added something.

1. "I Was a Teenage Wearer" by Michael Landon's cold, cold dead 
body, RIP, and Estelle Getty's hot ass, YEOUUCH! (A Angel, M 
Tabor, S Huertz, J Erwin)
     Deaf boy, legless boy, son of Zeus spar verbally, rap 
about King Tut; comedy sketch.

Steve! It was funny. I had fun with the table.

2. "AGES" by al angel (A Angel, P Rust, J Erwin)
     Vigor of youth vs. oldness of old men; children's poem

See: Review, #2, previous post. 4/13/02. Clarke, Aprille.

2.5. "In Agreement" by James Horak and Nick Clark (J Horak, N 
Clark)
     Nick encourages James to sigh till he passes out; 
comedy sketch

Nick did that once to me in a conversation. I didn't pass out, 
but I wanted to. But funny! Teehee.

3. "Long Sentence No Suggestions" by Sarah Neilson [M Thompson, 
some other guy (???)]
     Boy brings love to life of joyless girl; love sketch

The writing in this was tidy. Exactly as long as it needed to 
be, and we don't see enough of that.

4. "Wake Me Up When This Poop is Over; Part I" by James Brown (J 
Brown)
     Man wrecks sadistic, unlikely havoc on shopping mall, 
whorehouse; comedy monologue

Maybe he meant to wreak havoc, but he did wreck that havoc. By 
far the most unsettling moments of the evening: Brown flubbing a 
line and then giving us a flash of unmitigated, spooky fury and 
self-loathing. The most effective theater of the evening, 
intentional or not.

5. "The Man Who Was Must-See Thursday" by Mark J. Hansen (J 
Horak)
     Accountant resorts to urban espionage to win office 
sitcom pool; comedy monologue

I was watching this and I was thinking, "Horak, this is damn 
clever. But it sounds like a Hansen piece." It is a Hansen 
piece! Well, I'll be damned. 

6. "IT RAINS" by Matthew Hart (A Lawson, M Thompson, P Rust, J 
Nebergall, M Hart)
     Poignant scene degenerates into orgasm puns... PUNisher 
intervenes; comedy sketch

Heehee! I agree, again, with Aprille on the PUNisher's role. 
Must reiterate: Arlen so great.

6.5. "Card Shot" by Scott Fiddelke (S Fiddelke, the girl who 
shot 
M Cassady dead, and some other guy from the audience)
     Card trick with firearms!; magic

No, not a point five. That does not change the fact that this 
was the "boy o boy! Fun!" est piece since the Jugglies stopped 
coming. There used to be a Chris Mortika who did a lot of magic. 
This is the first magic we've had in yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeears. 
This guy should come back much more, only he should get to the 
lounge earlier so we don't all have to pretend he's got a .5.

7. "The Lunatic Club" by Arlen Lawson (A Lawson)
     Lunatic baking club disassembles bike, builds flying 
car; monologue

"Alright, I built it!" The single most perfect line Arlen has 
ever delivered, goddammit.

8. "Phillip Morris Approved Entertainment" by A. H. Anonymous (J 
Horak, J Hague)
     Cowardly author devises elaborate plan for Horak, Hague 
to cop onstage smoke; comedy sketch

When I saw the "CLASS STUGGLE", I pictured a show where cute 
animated bears ("Stuggles") show people how to be happy and love 
each other by seizing the means of production and abolishing the 
state. Regardless of the piece's intrinsic value, I love it for 
setting off this train of thought. Also, is it just me or did 
the author make the piece longer than it needed to be to get his 
money's worth out of that big pad of paper? 

9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor (T Wilson, M Tabor, J 
River, two hep cats I don't know)
     At Tabor-Wilson family dinner in 60 years, bickering 
disrupted by evil fart; comedy sketch

Jamal stole this piece like Dillinger stole fivers. I was 
gasping for breath so hard I saw spots. First Jamal wrecks my 
voice for weeks and sends me to the doctor, and now he damn near 
drives me unconcious with laughter. He's trying to kill me.

10. "Bastard, BASTARD HarbourMastah" by Jason Nebergall (J 
Nebergall, D Kovelick, J Erwin)
     "Actual letters from the Civil War" wrought with 
anachronisms, sex jokes; comedy sketch

Solid funny. I too liked the feminist-ally detournement of the 
word "meat". (Detournement is a fancy French Situationist word 
for 'reclaiming for a political/ontological purpose'. Like, for 
example, "Take Back the Night" is a detournement of late-night 
bar culture. I'm telling you this cause I spend a lot of money 
on books and it's sad if it's to no purpose.) And kudos for 
referencing public broadcasting... for the FIRST TIME EVER on the 
No Shame stage. Adam? Todd? Jeff? Correct me here if I'm wrong.

11. "Who is Stupider?" by Mean Jamma (C Stangl, J River, A 
Lawson?, P Rust)
     ...pretentious, formulaic NST writers? Or stupid 
audience? Answer: both!; comedy sketch

It's funny cause it's true!

12. "Happy Birthday... to Me?!" by Paul Rust (P Rust, audience 
member, C Stangl)
     Paul encourages audience to sing increasingly degrading 
variations on birthday song; comedy

Paul gets it. Paul makes sure we get it too. 

13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo Kovalick (D 
Kovalick)
     Girl writes wistful please-don't-break-up-with-me e-
mail; dramatic monologue

Speaking as part of the last generation of Americans never to 
write a please-don't-break-up-with-me e-mail (barring nuclear 
apocalypse or total systemic collapse), I found this neat. 

14. "Fortune Cookie Nights - A Spin-Off; ten 30-second Plays 
about Carl" by Aprille Clarke (A Clarke, J Erwin, S Huertz)
     Series of blackout gross-out sketches 
revisiting "DTFCCT" characters; comedy sketch

As far as I can tell, TDTFCCT has always been partly inspired by 
Aprille's file of neat phrases and jokes that she wanted to 
incorporate into something (and Lord, wouldn't we all love to 
get our grubby hands on THAT). Stripping away the narrative 
veneer and flooding the audience with these vignettes really 
pointed up Aprille's strength as a past master of shock-fun. 
However, I have noticed that as this series progresses further, 
this same strength has become something of an albatross, in that 
the audience is starting to expect at least a nominal fusion of 
the introduced themes. This pitfall is part of why I haven't 
attempted anything on this scale. Also, I have two jobs.

15. "I Can't Sleep" song Chris Stangl perform Furious Skinny 
(Furious Skinny)
     Furious Skinny play song on wastebasket, trumpet, 
screaming; music song

Keen. Accomplished. Furous. I have it from the horse's mouth 
that Stangl will be doing an old-fashioned character monologue 
next week, and that will be quite enough of the Stangl-as-
animal's-mouth metaphor, thank you.

NST Jungian Watch: Misspelling. Also, for me, four or five 
pieces containing elements so strikingly theatrical or shaped 
with such total genius that I will remember them forever to the 
utter exclusion of anything else in those pieces. Also, me 
dropping lines or revising them on the fly because I can't be 
bothered to look down at my script. Agh.

Time: Sat, 13-Apr-2002 20:47:41 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

Also, me dropping lines or revising them on the fly cause I can't 
be bothered to look down at my script. D'oh.

Time: Sat, 13-Apr-2002 21:03:45 GMT     IP: 12.217.181.138

Grandmaster T- 

As the oldest regular IC No Shamer, I encourage you to speak as 
much as possible to distract attention from myself. 

I bequeath you my scripts, but I warn you: it has nothing to do 
with passion for the theater. It has everything to do with my big 
fat ego. I expect more than a note, buddy. I want Total Review. 
Also, it's about damn time I got respect from Southerners. 

That said: Do not beat yourself up over a five-performer night. 
IC No Shame was there for a while too, you know. I don't think 
anyone really understands where all these damn writers came from.

James

PS: it occurs to me that Ron Wright is older than me. Apologies, 
Ron. Also, my sympathy.

Time: Sat, 13-Apr-2002 22:15:50 GMT     IP: 64.12.103.169

James,

Thanks!  Are they in the NS archive online or are you going to 
email them to me or photocopy and send them?

I'll review you, ya ruddy right bastard!  :)

I'm not worried about our C-ville no shame, its got real staying 
power.  Last night's show we had our first ever 15 piece night.

I recall lots of less than full houses and less than full nights 
in Iowa, but I'm glad those days seem far behind (or far in the 
future.

todd

Time: Sun, 14-Apr-2002 02:23:19 GMT     IP: 128.255.179.87

No Shame Theatre
                      4-12-2002
               Happy birthday of Paul Rust!

1. "I Was a Teenage Wearer" by Michael Landon's cold, cold dead 
body, RIP, and Estelle Getty's hot ass, YEOUUCH!

I really love Steve's work. I know that it's stream of 
consciousness stuff and that it is just goofy and isn't supposed 
to make sense, but for some reason, it makes sense to me and I 
laugh. A lot. Nice hand in the pants, Michael Tabor.
     
2. "AGES" by al angel

I love these poems. They are the best ever. 

2.5. "In Agreement" by James Horak and Nick Clark

The funniest part was after the show finding out that Horak 
really was getting lightheaded. I knew what was going to happen 
long before it happened, but that didn't stop me from enjoying 
it. 

3. "Long Sentence No Suggestions" by Sarah Neilson

I know Sarah was nervous about this piece, but I think it went 
fine. It was short and sweet, not too long, just long enough. I 
hope Sarah continues to write.

4. "Wake Me Up When This Poop is Over; Part I" by James Brown

Okay. Here's the deal. The way I see it, there are at least two 
end results of stories: a moral or an emotion. Stories can do 
both or they can do one or the other. Some of my most favoritest 
stories ever don't make sense on one level but cut me right to 
the heart. This story didn't seem to have a moral, unless it was 
don't go shopping with the main character or don't replace weapon 
stores with craft stores unless you want havoc to be wreaked. As 
far as emotions go, I am fairly certain the emotion James was 
going for with this wasn't confusion, but that is all I felt 
during this piece. I was confused. I tried to see how this story 
would follow to the end, and I could hardly follow it. And I was 
also unsure of how the themes of shopping and misogyny fit 
together in this piece. And if Aprille's commentary on it 
possibly being a dream is actually what James was going for in 
this piece, then he needed to make it clear what was happening. 
It's one thing to hold back information from the reader in order 
to keep them from guessing exactly what is going on until you 
want them to know, but it is something entirely different to 
never explain yourself. David Lynch can get away with it sure, 
but not everyone can. And this piece needed some explanation. I 
think I have said enough about this piece now, except this: I 
would have to say the five minutes this piece took are definitely 
ones I want back. 

5. "The Man Who Was Must-See Thursday" by Mark J. Hansen
Jesus, I am trying to figure out how I missed this piece. I don't 
even remember it from the description. And I am seriously bummed 
because, well, I LOVE MARK HANSEN'S WORK!!! *Sigh*

6. "IT RAINS" by Matthew Hart

I didn't think this piece would work. And it did. I am glad to 
see the PUNisher again, and I also feel sorry for Jason's crotch. 
I also am sorry I laughed so long and loud at Jason after the 
piece was over and he was crying out in pain. Sorry Jason.

6.5. "Card Shot" by Scott Fiddelke

I guess I am not that big on magic. It was cute. Definitely fun. 
I don't know. Again, not a point 5. Exactly how long are they 
supposed to be? I thought 30 seconds, someone else said a minute 
and someone else said 2. Help!

Time: Sun, 14-Apr-2002 02:24:54 GMT     IP: 128.255.179.87


7. "The Lunatic Club" by Arlen Lawson

Again, another fine piece from Arlen. I like Arlen's stuff 
because the writing is very very tight.

8. "Phillip Morris Approved Entertainment" by A. H. Anonymous

I am sad to say that I have NO IDEA what happened in this piece. 
I couldn't see the flip pad from where I was seated. Everyone 
seemed to enjoy it though.

9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor

And Jamal was the best evil fart ever. Jamal rocks. I love Jamal. 
I would have him be a fart in any of my pieces, any time any 
where. 

10. "Bastard, BASTARD HarbourMastah" by Jason Nebergall

I must say, this piece worked so so well. I wasn't sure about it 
when I saw it before the show, but I think that it worked better 
in execution than on paper.

11. "Who is Stupider?" by Mean Jamma

Paul should wear that hat more often.

12. "Happy Birthday... to Me?!" by Paul Rust

There were points in this piece I was genuinely amusing and then 
there were points in this piece where I was certain Paul was 
going to have a break-down right in the middle of it. That kept 
me on edge with this piece and I think it definitely added to my 
interest in the piece. I hope Paul had a good birthday.

13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo Kovalick

Yeah, I agree with Aprille completely on this piece. It 
definitely wasn't up to the quality of Danielle's first piece. I 
do think that this was decent writing though, but I think that if 
it would have been presented in a different way or perhaps 
written as a part of something else, it would have been better. 

14. "Fortune Cookie Nights - A Spin-Off; ten 30-second Plays 
about Carl" by Aprille Clarke

I loved this one so much. This one was the best one since the one 
where Mark Hansen uttered the infamous "Ow, that's my doing stuff 
arm" line. Brilliant.

15. "I Can't Sleep" song Chris Stangl perform Furious Skinny

I love Furious Skinny so much I could die. Really. I almost love 
Furious Skinny more than King Toad. Almost.

Time: Sun, 14-Apr-2002 02:52:53 GMT     IP: 128.255.192.14

hey, here's my uneducated opinion for those who really care...

1. "I Was a Teenage Wearer" by Michael Landon's cold, cold dead 
body, RIP, and Estelle Getty's hot ass, YEOUUCH! (A Angel, M 
Tabor, S Huertz, J Erwin)
    Deaf boy, legless boy, son of Zeus spar verbally, rap 
about King Tut; comedy sketch.

I enjoyed this a lot - when Erwin (apologies in advance for not 
knowing all of your first names) did that hilarious Hercules bit 
with the table, it put me in a mood to laugh for the rest of the 
night.

2. "AGES" by al angel (A Angel, P Rust, J Erwin)
    Vigor of youth vs. oldness of old men; children's poem

These seem to be getting better and better.  Angel really ought 
to take this skill he has farther than No Shame.  No foolin'.

2.5. "In Agreement" by James Horak and Nick Clark (J Horak, N 
Clark)
    Nick encourages James to sigh till he passes out; 
comedy sketch

The quintessential .5.  They didn't belabor the joke, and thus 
it worked very well.

3. "Long Sentence No Suggestions" by Sarah Neilson [M Thompson, 
some other guy (???)]
    Boy brings love to life of joyless girl; love sketch

I must admit, I personally couldn't hear what was being said too 
well.  But my friend who was sitting next to me, a first-time NS-
goer, seemed really pleased by it.

4. "Wake Me Up When This Poop is Over; Part I" by James Brown (J 
Brown)
    Man wrecks sadistic, unlikely havoc on shopping mall, 
whorehouse; comedy monologue

This made me uncomfortable, and probably not for the reasons 
that it was supposed to.  The guy really seemed nervous up 
there, and (i assume this is his first NS piece) that's 
understandable and all.  The trouble was, the script wasn't 
quite good enough to simply stand on its own - it needed a 
better delivery, so the audience could understand the purpose of 
the piece.

5. "The Man Who Was Must-See Thursday" by Mark J. Hansen (J 
Horak)
    Accountant resorts to urban espionage to win office 
sitcom pool; comedy monologue

A bit awkward at times, but certainly funny and enjoyable.

6. "IT RAINS" by Matthew Hart (A Lawson, M Thompson, P Rust, J 
Nebergall, M Hart)
    Poignant scene degenerates into orgasm puns... PUNisher 
intervenes; comedy sketch

I thought this was EXCELLENT.  I'm a big Arlen fan anyway, so 
perhaps my opinions are a bit colored.  But the fact that he (or 
they?) took something from last week that was poignant and 
turned it inside-out this time around just completely tickled my 
fancy.

6.5. "Card Shot" by Scott Fiddelke (S Fiddelke, the girl who 
shot 
M Cassady dead, and some other guy from the audience)
    Card trick with firearms!; magic

This immediately piqued my interest by being a deviation from 
the No Shame norm.  Scott pulled this off well - a great deal of 
the NS audience regulars who were skeptical were completely into 
this by the end.  Neat-o.

7. "The Lunatic Club" by Arlen Lawson (A Lawson)
    Lunatic baking club disassembles bike, builds flying 
car; monologue

One of my favorite Arlen pieces so far this year.  He somehow 
makes these disturbing, surreal scenarios completely hit you 
emotionally.  On this one, I was struck by how he knew precisely 
how he wanted to say everything for maximum effect.  Probably in 
my top 3 of the night.

8. "Phillip Morris Approved Entertainment" by A. H. Anonymous (J 
Horak, J Hague)
    Cowardly author devises elaborate plan for Horak, Hague 
to cop onstage smoke; comedy sketch

I liked this one - an idea, completely realized, without any 
extraneous crap gumming up the flow.

9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor (T Wilson, M Tabor, J 
River, two hep cats I don't know)
    At Tabor-Wilson family dinner in 60 years, bickering 
disrupted by evil fart; comedy sketch

Jamal = funny.  That's all I can say about that.  I'm laughing 
as I recall this one, even.

10. "Bastard, BASTARD HarbourMastah" by Jason Nebergall (J 
Nebergall, D Kovelick, J Erwin)
    "Actual letters from the Civil War" wrought with 
anachronisms, sex jokes; comedy sketch

This was great.  Danielle told me afterwards that she completely 
had to improvise a Southern accent (as it's not in her arsenal), 
so that makes it even more impressive to me.  Nebergall knows 
how to build steam on a sketch, I must say - the sudden addition 
of chatroom jargon was hilariously unexpected.  I thought 
the "meat" joke was pretty entertaining too, if not a little 
predictable.

11. "Who is Stupider?" by Mean Jamma (C Stangl, J River, A 
Lawson?, P Rust)
    ...pretentious, formulaic NST writers? Or stupid 
audience? Answer: both!; comedy sketch

This was fantastic.  Paul cracks me up.  And when Arlen couldn't 
keep a straight face?  Priceless.  Probably my fave of the night.

12. "Happy Birthday... to Me?!" by Paul Rust (P Rust, audience 
member, C Stangl)
    Paul encourages audience to sing increasingly degrading 
variations on birthday song; comedy

Did I mention Paul cracks me up?  Because he does.  My opinions 
on this might as well be ignored, because so far everything I've 
ever seen him do I've considered to be genius.

13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo Kovalick (D 
Kovalick)
    Girl writes wistful please-don't-break-up-with-me e-
mail; dramatic monologue

I appreciated the fact that this was a slice out of Danielle's 
own life... an insight into another human being's thoughts in a 
familiar situation.  I'd not have the courage to basically 
recite my post-breakup desperation to an audience.  A great deal 
of the audience, I'd guess, could completely empathize.

14. "Fortune Cookie Nights - A Spin-Off; ten 30-second Plays 
about Carl" by Aprille Clarke (A Clarke, J Erwin, S Huertz)
    Series of blackout gross-out sketches 
revisiting "DTFCCT" characters; comedy sketch

I liked this one a lot.  It lightened the mood a bit.  Nothing 
like bite-size chunks of absurdity after something deeply 
personal, right?

15. "I Can't Sleep" song Chris Stangl perform Furious Skinny 
(Furious Skinny)
    Furious Skinny play song on wastebasket, trumpet, 
screaming; music song

When Furious Skinny first debuted, I found them incredibly 
entertaining - but lately, they don't seem to be as funny to 
me.  The joke feels a bit worn out.  I'd like to see them do 
something drastically different from their normal thing... I 
know, they tried to incorporate a trumpet, but I'm talking 
something bigger.  By the way, does Chris know that he sounds 
like the singer from Modest Mouse?

that's it, folks.  do with it what you please.

Time: Sun, 14-Apr-2002 16:19:15 GMT     IP: 64.6.87.79

Again I'm intentionally not reading other people's reviews 
first.  If I repeat stuff or contradict, bite me.

1. "I Was a Teenage Wearer" by [etc]
Very cute disaster stuff.  Reminds me of a piece I wrote once.  
That was called "Arlen Lawson Plays Horp inThis Sketch".  
Disability as bitter surrealist humor is automatically a Beckett 
parody.  And Beckett referrences are difficult to make 
unfunny.

2. "AGES" by al angel
Al's talent at writing these poems is really striking to me.  
Slap a few illustrations on those suckas and publish them 
and become rich easy, Al.

2.5. "In Agreement" by James Horak and Nick Clark
My printer broke and I wound up doing this since I couldn't 
print out my real piece.  I'm glad I did.  

3. "Long Sentence No Suggestions" by Sarah Neilson
Was this the one where the guy talks about the girl of his 
dreams and her imperfect appearance?  It was pretty, and 
kooky, and that I was happy to see that new guy on stage 
saying this kinda stuff.  I don't think this is a very helpful 
review.  I apologize.

4. "Wake Me Up When This Poop is Over; Part I" by James 
Brown
James Brown was clearly very nervous as he recited this, 
and looking back, I can remember being really shaky during 
my first few NS performances.  I realized that I was looking at 
the ceiling at one point and thought back to the whole 
discussion of eye-rolling as being an inappropriate 
expression and somewhat hostile attitude to take toward 
newer performers.  I kept this in mind and realized that I 
looked at the cieling during several pieces that evening.  I am 
hostile to all performers equally!  But especially I noticed the 
reaction during moments when repetition or uneconomical 
language seemed to be slowing the piece down.  The latter 
was the case here.  Perhaps if the piece would have flowed 
more quickly it would have maintained my interest better.  
The concept seemed more like one that could have been 
best spat out and then blacked out - "SURREAL DAY AT THE 
MALL!!!!!!"   could take about a minute, maybe a minute thirty, 
and get accross enough action and detail to be funny and 
interesting without bogging down the rythm of the thing.  The 
piece lacked dynamism to some degree because of it's 
subjectivity; I got no idea of the other characters, so perhaps 
the long version might have worked better as dialogue.  
Ultimately the piece's intent was lost on me.  While there 
were some funny parts, it was clearly not primarily a comedy 
monologue.  While there were some jokes, the piece wasn't 
about jokes, or filled with them a-la Hansen.   The jokes in it 
were too silly to mistake it for a tragic piece, and the main 
character was not developed enough to make him 
sympathetic even as an anti hero.  I don't mean to hold 
anyone to the phallocentric narrative model of rising action 
and climax, but I do feel that there ought to be more of a 
sense of payoff - by the end I'd like to feel... something.

5. "The Man Who Was Must-See Thursday" by Mark J. 
Hansen
Very cute, consistent wordplay throughout.  The main 
character was a bit of a tough nut to crack and seemed to 
lack much development aside from the jingoism which 
emerged at the end.  Nonetheless, Rocky was aGREAT 
choice to play him.  The ending was slightly dissapointing in 
its predictability and straightforwardness.

6. "IT RAINS" by Matthew Hart
The degeneration of the scene was very clever and  
amusing, and the interruption by Jason was welcome, but 
the PUNisher seemed out of place, and the final joke was 
hackneyed yet difficult to grasp.  

6.5. "Card Shot" by Scott Fiddelke
Not a point five.  My main gripe with this one was it's length.  
Very cute execution....  OF MIKE!!!  but really, the piece was 
very cutely executed, but it really seemed to drag, and while I 
understand the lengthy setup of the thing was the joke, I think 
it could have gone more quickly.  I'd like to see magic guy 
come back.  That's about all I have to say.

7. "The Lunatic Club" by Arlen Lawson
This was funny, horrific, and Arleny in an Arleny way I had 
almost forgotten was Arleny.  The car?  That was a beautiful 
thing - the uncertainty, and the inescapable horror of any of 
the possible outcomes.  Very memorable.

8. "Phillip Morris Approved Entertainment" by A. H. 
Anonymous
So I made an audio tape of the show to help me go over the 
pieces before I wrote my review...   The clevernes of this 
piece was not the visual aspect, but the aural one; the 
audience was left with a silence which they felt obligated to 
fill.  And why not fill it with larfs.  So okay, they did.  They 
laughed, and the piece went over well.  And that's okay.  Now 
imagine the same piece with loud, but relatively unobtrusive 
music - is that as funny?  Didn't think so.  I once heard the 
elements of theatre described as being perfect silence and 
perfect spatial emptiness.  And in everything you write, 
consider the wisdom of intruding upon that perfection.  This 
piece looked at it and decided not to.  It was a sage decision.

9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor
Somehow, Michael going "Rawr" wasn't as amusing as I had 
anticipated.  I wish I hadn't overheard T -&- M talking about this 
piece earlier.  My favorite detail was that after Toni told her 
children that they'd never make anything of themselves, one 
was a doctor, one was a movie star, and the other one didn't 
say anything.  Jamal's face was turning red as he drifted 
behind Michael.  He was really in character.  That's exactly 
what a fart would do in real life.

10. "Bastard, BASTARD HarbourMastah" by Jason Nebergall
Aw shucks, this was cute.  I wished that it had been written by 
James or someone with more historical knowledge so that 
the anachronisms and historical misrepresentations could 
have gotten more specific.  Ashokan  Farewell - I played this 
in Jr. High Honor Band.  I remember it well.  I used to play the 
trombone.  Then one quarter, the band teacher didn't 
schedule me for any lessons.  I asked him about it and he 
got angry.  I got a C in the class for never coming to my 
lesson.  I never played the trombone again after that year.  I 
got a bit sidetracked there.  This piece was really cute, in a 
way that I should have been able to discern was Nebergall's 
but didn't.  I had assumed it was Danielle's.

11. "Who is Stupider?" by Mean Jamma
Both are stupider.  Reminds me of Mose's work from the 
semester when Mose really hated my work.  I miss stuff like 
Mose used to do.  If anyone could rikindle such a spirit at the 
No Shame, it would be the Jamal, who is clever.

12. "Happy Birthday... to Me?!" by Paul Rust
This seems like an idea which was concieved very quickly "I'll 
lead the audience in singing Happy Birthiday to me, then just 
keep escalating it".  The only thing that made that single idea 
stand up as long as it did was Paul's manic investment of 
energy to the performance.  I dunno.  The desperation of 
crying while masturbating in this context - I mean, that was 
really what he needed to do at that point to maintain the 
audience's interest, and it is kinda fascinating that a piece 
can be simply an exercise in escalating desperate 
exhibitionism as a way to maintain interest.  Although by the 
end you're left with nothing - your interst has been held with 
nothing, and that's what you got.  It's like one of those soap 
bubbles that doesn't pop satisfyingly but just sort of 
disintegrates unnoticed.

13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo 
Kovalick
There's a really really delicate line between the kind of writing 
that's so painfully personal that doing it in public has the kind 
of terrifying spiritual nudity that sets my heart right on edge 
where it needs to be, and the kind of stuff that's just a little too 
personal in terms of details and specifics to resonate, or 
seem universal.  This was just a touch too far on the latter 
side of that line to hurt me like it should have.

14. "Fortune Cooki

Time: Sun, 14-Apr-2002 16:30:05 GMT     IP: 64.6.87.79


12. "Happy Birthday... to Me?!" by Paul Rust
This seems like an idea which was concieved very quickly "I'll 
lead the audience in singing Happy Birthiday to me, then just 
keep escalating it".  The only thing that made that single idea 
stand up as long as it did was Paul's manic investment of 
energy to the performance.  I dunno.  The desperation of 
crying while masturbating in this context - I mean, that was 
really what he needed to do at that point to maintain the 
audience's interest, and it is kinda fascinating that a piece 
can be simply an exercise in escalating desperate 
exhibitionism as a way to maintain interest.  Although by the 
end you're left with nothing - your interst has been held with 
nothing, and that's what you got.  It's like one of those soap 
bubbles that doesn't pop satisfyingly but just sort of 
disintegrates unnoticed.

13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo 
Kovalick
There's a really really delicate line between the kind of writing 
that's so painfully personal that doing it in public has the kind 
of terrifying spiritual nudity that sets my heart right on edge 
where it needs to be, and the kind of stuff that's just a little too 
personal in terms of details and specifics to resonate, or 
seem universal.  This was just a touch too far on the latter 
side of that line to hurt me like it should have.

14. "Fortune Cookie Nights - A Spin-Off; ten 30-second Plays 
about Carl" by Aprille Clarke
I really really like Aprille's writing in small chunks like this.  It's 
cool to get a sampling of all the different directions her brains 
can go.  Especially nifty are the rare moments when a mini 
piece can travel its length without doing sex or gross-out and 
yet maintain its essential Aprilleness.  Not tyhat there's 
anything wrong with a sex or gross-out Aprille piece, it's just 
kinda rare to get one that's not.

15. "I Can't Sleep" song Chris Stangl perform Furious Skinny
I'd like to see these guys play someplace other than No 
Shame, but I can't figure out where.  I don't think they could do 
a long set.  Possibly if they just started performing in some 
unusual place downtown, like the corner of Burlington and 
Clinton.  Or in the cemetary.  Or on top of a parking ramp.  Or 
inside of a car.  Wait, that sounds like a list of places to make 
out.  That means Furious Skinny is officially Makeout Music.  
What would be especially neat is if they terrorized 
businesses [restaurants, hair stylists, pornography stores] 
and college classes by interrupting, doing a song and then 
leaving.

Read em and weep
-nick

Time: Sun, 14-Apr-2002 19:59:03 GMT     IP: 128.255.174.15

9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor (T Wilson, M Tabor, J 
River, two hep cats I don't know)
     At Tabor-Wilson family dinner in 60 years, bickering 
disrupted by evil fart; comedy sketch

there were THREE more people in Toni's and my skit. They were: Al 
Angel, Sheree Morris, and Anthony Werner

Time: Sun, 14-Apr-2002 23:13:21 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.75

No Shame Theatre
4-12-2002
Happy birthday of Paul Rust!

An audience member wrote a review. This makes me happy. More 
audience members need to do this.

1. "I Was a Teenage Wearer" by Michael Landon's cold, cold dead 
body, RIP, and Estelle Getty's hot ass, YEOUUCH!

This felt like the first piece where Steve's various 
non-sequitors actually seemed to be linked thematically (i.e. the 
body, handicaps, etc.) rather than just being a funny crapshoot. 
I hope he continues this thematically-similar, but-still-absurd 
writing style.


2. "AGES" by al angel

Nice revision on the ol' "youth and elders" conflict.  
Revisionist in the sense that most NS pieces end with the kid 
kicking the shit out of the oldie. By having the older man get 
the last word, he was allowed to be more than a vicious 
punch(literally -ha!)line.

2.5. "In Agreement" by James Horak and Nick Clark

Funny because a person's sigh isn't actually a WORD or a 
STATEMENT that can be "said again." I think if a specific line 
was requested for repeating, this would have become more of a 
piece about testing the audience's patience. By repating a sigh 
instead, it was more playful and more ".5"-ish. 


3. "Long Sentence No Suggestions" by Sarah Neilson

Mabie's acoustics unfortunately pooped on this piece.  It wasn't 
entirely the actor's fault.  I think his choice of delivering the 
words quietly was effective for the material. Unforunately, not 
the best choice for Space Station Mabie.  Despite its quietness, 
however, the delivery and writing were quite nice. I hope Chris 
Lavoie (the actor) and Sarah Neilson (the writer) continue 
performing and writing at No Shame.


4. "Wake Me Up When This Poop is Over; Part I" by James Brown

This would have been more effective if James had functioned as a 
semi-narrator with mini-scenes dramatizing the events.


5. "The Man Who Was Must-See Thursday" by Mark J. Hansen

Maybe I'm a sucker for ensemble pieces or something, but I think 
I would have enjoyed this more if the character was explored in 
his interactions with other folks.  Witty, clever writing seems 
more energized when its being tossed around between multiple 
actors.  Instead, it seemed like the words were stuck in the 
character's mind and lost their cleverness b/c it seemed 
thought-over. I dunno. I think this is a poor criticism on my 
part.
   
6. "IT RAINS" by Matthew Hart

I was really reluctant about this piece at first. Mostly because 
I liked last week's version a lot and I didn't want something 
silly to spoil it. In the end though, I appreciated the fact that 
Matthew Hart doesn't take himself too seriously and could parody 
his own work. Remember Marlon Brando in "The Freshman?"  Genius!
 

6.5. "Card Shot" by Scott Fiddelke

I like magic.  Magic's cool.  But in my typical 
"love/hate/fuck/fight" relationship with classic entertainment, I 
wanted this piece to be anti-magic - a big set-up with no payoff. 
Still, a fun piece, but it didn't provide me with the type of 
kick that an alternative format like No Shame can provide.


7. "The Lunatic Club" by Arlen Lawson

The line about "not understanding how a mind couldn't break in 
this modern world" (paraphrasing) was the best of the night. So 
great I couldn't remember it word-for-word and had to paraphrase, 
right?


8. "Phillip Morris Approved Entertainment" by A. H. Anonymous

I wish this piece would have followed through on the "this is 
supposed to look deep, but it isn't" concept.  That was the best 
idea of the piece, but it didn't get the necessary reinforcement  
at the end.

       
9. "Hilariously Retarded Old People (featuring Jamal as a 
       Fart)" by Toni Wilson and Michael Tabor

Wouldn't of this been funnier if the stereotype of "the nagging 
wife" had been revised somehow?  It's comparable to Roger Ebert's 
assesment of Hightower in "Police Academy." He looks big and mean 
and happens to be... big and mean!  It'd be more interesting if 
Hightower was big and mean-looking and was... incredibly gay!  
Ha! Ha! You know it'd be hilarious. Therefore, my critique is 
that Toni's wife character should have been less big and 
scary-looking and more gay. Gay. Gay. Gay. Yes, that's it 
exactly. 


10. "Bastard, BASTARD HarbourMastah" by Jason Nebergall

I missed half of this piece b/c the need to pee was too great and 
I knew I had to go onstage for the next two pieces.  This is 
unfortunate considering what I saw looked pretty funny.  The 
musical cues were great and the "messin' with history" vibe was 
welcommed. I apologize to Jason for missing some of it. That's 
rude of me.


11. "Who is Stupider?" by Mean Jamma

It's good that Jamal didn't give either the NS audience or NS 
performers an even break.  As much as there was venom towards the 
audience, it was equal in spite towards those NS tropes we see 
too often.  In a selfish sort of way, I wish the audience 
wouldn't have liked this.


13. "SUBJECT HEADING: Hey" by Danielle Santangelo Kovalick

With "break-up" pieces like these, the writer/performer needs to 
find what makes this situation distinctive from any other version 
done before (whether it be songs, books, theatre).  I think the 
one thing that made this piece different was its' Internet/email 
format.  I wish Danielle would have done more exploring of this 
medium (critically, analytically) within her piece.  Plus... 
isn't it odd that Danielle was in two corresponde pieces (one 
that's completely NOW and the other that's completely NOT NOW). 
Woah!
... And apologies to Danielle for screwing up her name during the 
order.  


14. "Fortune Cookie Nights - A Spin-Off; ten 30-second Plays 
about Carl" by Aprille Clarke

I liked this piece's suggestion that life is a series of episodic 
blackouts rather than a strict narrative, which has a definite 
Point A and Point B.  By using this "30-second 10 play" format, 
Aprille was able to reproduce the same type of cruel spontaniety 
as life. Oh, how nihilist of me! 


15. "I Can't Sleep" song Chris Stangl perform Furious Skinny

With all due respect to Ryan Lovedall (after all, you're an 
audience member who wrote a review, which is way neat-o), I don't 
think Furious Skinny was ever meant to be funny.  In my opinion, 
they were meant to write spook-beautiful songs. And they have. 
Goddamn, father, they have.


People who need to write reviews:
1. Everyone who went to the show on Friday
2. And Chris Stangl (remember those days of yore when he wrote 
those great reviews? he's got a computer again. where are the 
reviews now? where are the reviews NOW?)

Time: Mon, 15-Apr-2002 03:57:01 GMT     IP: 128.255.175.158

don't forget to come to no shame this wednesday night in currier! 
 please please come! i have heard word that only 3/4 people will 
perform there.  you all know how much that would suck.  also, 
there is a possiblity that i may be late, and if there were a 
bunch of people there, then it would flow more easily.  please, 
please respond to this post if you are coming.  
thanks! erin

ps. we also need an audience!

Time: Mon, 15-Apr-2002 03:59:04 GMT     IP: 128.255.175.158

oh yeah, it is at 9 pm this wednesday in Currier, just ask 
directions at the front desk.. be there by 8:15-30 if you are 
planning on performing so that we can make up an order. thanks

Time: Mon, 15-Apr-2002 12:35:20 GMT     IP: 128.255.179.87

People who talked to me at No Shame on Friday:

Mark Hansen and Ron Wright. Erin, I will give you their numbers 
and email adresses when I see you next. Also, I know Nick Clark 
wants to do something too.

I am still going to try and make it, but you know how it goes.

Erin King rocks my world.

Toni

Time: Mon, 15-Apr-2002 21:12:46 GMT     IP: 167.83.10.24

Labies and Genitals:

   The piece "Card Shot" aka 6.5 aka the card trick guy from 4-
12-2002: no, not a "point five."  This is entirely my fault. 
When I reached the predestined 15-"full-length" piece limit, I 
yelled "Order full, now accepting Point Fives." I was 
handed "Card Shot" by a man who very likely has no idea 
what "point five" means to the rest of us. I glanced at 
the "script," which reads something like "Get volunteer. Shoot 
deck. Kill guy in wing of theatre. Shoot again. Get card."  
Looked like a Point Five to me, son. I should have both 
explained the Point Five and asked if "Card Shot" qualified. 
That is how history is made.
   The "original" nature of "Card Shot" may be a more fruitful 
direction in which to aim the urine-stream of complaint.

       -Rev. Chris Stangl

Time: Tue, 16-Apr-2002 00:44:23 GMT     IP: 128.255.202.75

Man, I just got of the phone with someone at Campus Theaters 
who told me that Jason X will not be playing in Iowa City for a 
few weeks.  That's bunk.  Then the at Wynnsong in Cedar Rapids 
said they might get it.  That's bunk too.  So perhaps I will be 
making a trip to Davenport that weekend...

Time: Wed, 17-Apr-2002 01:06:04 GMT     IP: 128.255.174.15

I don't know how I didn't remember until just now, but Jason 
Nebergall was also in our skit! Sorry, Jason.

Time: Thu, 18-Apr-2002 03:29:25 GMT     IP: 63.15.137.197

Is he Always That Mean Or Just on Stage?: Review, No Shame 
Theatre 4-12-2002
By Darth Stangl

	I feel weird, because I like to review using people's 
last names-- like we were talking about real artists!-- but how 
can I pretend I'm not writing about my friends? And that they 
aren't reading it? I don't call Paul Rust "Rust" when I see 
him! Weird!

1. Huertz- "I Was a Teenage Wearer"
	My favorite thing in Huertz pieces is the feeling of 
the audience collectively thinking they "get it," sometimes 
that they "get it and just don't think it's funny."  This is 
achieved by throwing them partial bones, chunks they recognize, 
chunks lowbrow enough to laugh at, chunks so low they CAN'T 
laugh. I guess this is called making the audience confused on 
purpose. This is much tougher than it sounds, young writers, 
because if they sense it, they'll resist it. Huertz is usually 
irresistible.

2. Angel- "AGES"
	When I was a kid I liked "A Light In the Attic