May 7, 1999 16:17 from Ender
 
...and I recall gender balance being a recurring topic of discussion over the
last several years.
 
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May 11, 1999 13:36 from Whitewolf
 
When I first started coming to No Shame back in 1989, it was severely polarized
between performers and non-performers. This resulted in a lot of unnecessary
misunderstanding and interpersonal conflict outside of No Shame but I didn't
feel it "killed" No Shame, or even necessarily lead to a lot of clique writing
for the clique. There was more a sense of "them" (the "theater majors,"
although many of them weren't; there was a definite sense that anyone
performing or writing at a certain level was a Theater Major, regardless of
actual student status) performing for "us," the audience members.
 
I think the only way No Shame was really hurt by this is that there wasn't as
much of a sense of community, as sense that anyone could perform. Most people
seemed to believe that the No Shame stage was for a limited number of people,
ad anyone else that tried to break in would be regarded with suspicion and
contempt. At least that's how audience-clique members expressed it to me when
debating whether to perform, or gauging the reaction to pieces they had
performed.
 
I've definitely felt that suspicion declining over the years, as individuals
left, the cliques broke up and the groups changed, as "audience members"
started performing and "theater majors" got online and weighed in with their
comments. Then again, it's not surprising that the people around me would feel
more accepted as seniors or graduates with years of No Shame under their belts
than they did as freshmen walking into a pre-established group for the first
time. So I couldn't really say whether the No Shame environment's changed that
significantly, or it's just me and the people around me.
 
Which leads to the obvious question -- whether new performers this year felt
there was a barrier to be breached, or they felt instantly welcome as part of
the No Shame community, either on or off stage. Anyone want to comment? Or are
you all studying, or alternatively, home for the summer by now?
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May 11, 1999 14:05 from Fishcult
   I was a little intimidated...  It took me a while to get the nerve to
perform, and some of that had to do with how I saw the audience respond to
performers they knew vs. performers they didn't.  And, when I finally did
decide to get up there, the fact that I was a stranger to most of the people
out in the audience made me decide not to do a few pieces that I liked because
I was afraid that the audience wouldn't receive them well until they knew me
better... As a result, I did a few weak pieces with a few cheap laughs in them.
This was, of course, just my experience and might have had something to do with
my own neuroses.  I'd also like to hear from some other new performers as soon
as they can find the time to pull away from finals and what not.
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May 12, 1999 08:01 from Trouble
 
  I agree...I've always felt more comfortable on the sidelines.  I have always
felt that in order to be accepted, I'd have to do one super-fantastic piece.
And since I rarely think any of my ideas are that great, they usually get
tossed away.  *shrug*
 
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May 12, 1999 11:25 from Dan
Okay, so you probably saw this coming a mile off, but Do Your Questionable
piece Anyway! That's how they get better. I've certainly done pieces that
sucked. (Rum Diary, anyone?) Every time I do, my writing improves much more
than it does when I do a piece that goes over well. Writing is an art of
graceful failure. I'd much rather see an interesting piece that failed than a
solid one that didn't try anything new. New performers try new things. It's the
natural order.
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May 12, 1999 12:32 from Patrick
 
The natural order also asks that the new performers *eat* the old performers
to complete the "circle of life".
 
kumbaya, anyone?
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May 12, 1999 15:32 from Dan
And I support that. Eat me, new performers. Eat me.
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May 12, 1999 19:06 from Crotch Monkey
i dont think this is what elton john had in mind...but oh well, alls well thAT
end in eating dan........what?  see...this post wasnt really that
ground-breaking, funny, or even interesting, but i posted it anyway...its the
onlky way my posts will get aNY better.....so bring on those shitty no shame
pieces!! lord knows i have.....and most of the time, the stuff i thought would
bomb...got me laid everytime.
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May 13, 1999 07:41 from Thufir
I think that if I attempted to perform, all the performers that I had strung up
over the years would see me hanging by my entrails in this forum.  Don't deny
it.
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May 13, 1999 08:11 from Quicheo
Not necessarily, as some of us don't know what you look like (but fear you
appropriately anyway... ;) ).   Just a little social psych observation--while
it may be occasionally true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, more
often people like what they know.  Hence, the more one is seen in any setting,
No Shame included, the more comfortable they become to the audience, and hence,
the more "accepted" they become.  Just keep showing up, and doing whatever you
have.  And remember this wise rule of thumb that Adam passed on to me--if you
worry that it's going to suck, keep it short...
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May 13, 1999 10:49 from Amaranth
Well, as a journalist, I always think editing and shortening is a good idea.
And at the same time, I had a number of jokes that would've worked well on the
No Shame stage (usually visual) that I could not fit into a piece (yet).
 
I'm glad to see I started some debate, especially since it turned up so many
who were afraid to get involved. Dan is right: if a piece fails, learn from
what went right and wrong in it. Dan's earliest pieces were hardly as
polished as his current work, but doing them is how he got to this point (on
the converse side, my pieces seem to have followed a bell curve and have gotten
worse after hitting a pinacle).
 
As for the clique-ishness (no, not a real word) affecting the audience and
performers, I had one specific semester in mind, which is going to piss a lot
of people off: the semester (fall of 1994 or 1995?) where every Friday JC
Luxton read chapters from a "novel" that had characters with names that were
suspiciously similar to No Shame performers.
 
The piece was a series of in jokes that no one understood unless they were part
of the clique. Although it was very popular with some No Shamers, I have never
seen such a negative reaction to any No Shame piece. The people I came to the
show with on a regular basis gave that as the reason why they didn't want to
come anymore (well, maybe as an example). People in the audience would groan
when they saw Luxton take the stage, and many would say things along the lines
of, "if this is all they're doing, I don't know why. . ." And they would also
stop coming (this is the time before I even thought of performing, and it was
that way that I learned the difference between what the performers thought was
going on and what the audience liked).
 
I also heard a lot of resentment at BONS when after the show Luxton finished
the last two chapters after the show, but the audience hadn't been allowed a
chance to leave if they wanted. Now before anyone says, "That's your opinion,"
notice that good reporter that I am, I have only been putting down what I
saw/heard others do.
 
My opinion was that the piece was the kind of fantasy that a high schooler
writes and seemed to have been written just before it was performed. It
would've been amusing had he done it once or twice, but he didn't know when to
stop. It was a lot like that video shown in Space Place this year -- amusing,
but who wants a whole year of that?
 
A lot of pieces that semester asked a lot of the audience in that way. But then
that was the reason I started performing. . .
 
.
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May 13, 1999 11:26 from Amaranth
I am so excited! My website is now listed on the No Shame site!!! Between that
and the Gazette's site, I am gaining fame increment by increment. Soon, I will
be as well known as the Landers sisters (Judy and Audry?)!
 
And Mike -- you got laid off your pieces? Can I perform (on stage) with you
next year? Please! Please!
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May 13, 1999 13:54 from Prufrock
Having devoured Rob Frisch for his place on the Board, I can attest to the
elegance as well as the brutality of No Shame's natural order. Having reached
alpha male status, rest assured that I will attempt to eat anyone who
challenges me. Unlike Dan, I'm not going without my pound of flesh. *bares
grisly bloodstained incisors*
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May 14, 1999 08:27 from Whitewolf
 
People who actually stopped going to No Shame because of JohnC's extended novel
piece? Good lord, I'm stunned. I remember that as an utterly dead semester, a
few months when I ONLY went to No Shame because I didn't want to miss the
serial. And I'm ashamed to say that, though I knew many of the people he
included as characters, it took me many weeks to realize what he was doing -- I
was busy appreciating it for the writing itself, and for the way the style
changed every week. Granted, I thought some of the installments were overlong
for No Shame, and I wished I knew enough about the people involved to get all
the jokes, but I still thought that was one of the most ambitious and
technically amazing pieces I'd ever seen at No Shame, and I was definitely
disappointed if there was a week we showed up and he didn't.
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May 14, 1999 09:26 from Carolyn
I wasn't living in IC when John C did his serial piece, but I did come to
visit, I remember the audience cheering when he took his place on the stage.
However maybe it was just the part of the audience that was enjoying the piece
that cheered, but it was enough to give me the impression that it was generally
well-received.
 
But when I moved back to IC two years ago, I met two undergrad theater majors
who told me that they had always hated the pieces, but felt uncomfortable
because everyone they knew loved them.  It seems like a love/hate kind of
thing, maybe.  I always had questions about whether the pieces fit into the
theatrical mandate of NS.  ("Mandate" is a strong word, but it's one that Todd
Ristau, who helped found NS, would probably use.)  Todd always said that if
something was just as well done off-stage (on paper, for instance), it didn't
belong at NS.  And I always wondered whether the serial piece belonged at NS.
 
(John C actually thought that everyone referred to in the piece would hate him
by the time it was all over.  He started off, at least, thinking he was
describing people as they would not like to be desribed (chinless, for
instance).  So at first, he was really surprised that people liked it.
 
Cliques--I think that at times when NS has had low attendance and low numbers
of people writing, the idea of being part of a small band has helped encourage
what performers there were.  John C's serial may be an unintentional example of
this.  Given how low the energy was at that point of NS's history, having a
group identify for those who do write for NS may not be without purpose.
 
I've been a complete outsider at NS, and I've helped run it, and I still don't
know how I feel about the idea of cliques.  I think that it is critical that NS
be open to new writers and performers, but that doesn't mean that everyone who
writes or performs at NS should all become friends.  It's a real hodgepodge of
people and aesthetic senses and backgrounds.  And there have been plenty of
people, newcomers and regulars, who haven't been my favorite people in the
world, but I don't think that's a sign of cliquishness.
 
Getting nervous about performing:  I think that if people aren't nervous about
performing about NS, they shouldn't be performing.  :)  The people I know best
as writers and performers all get nervous.  Really nervous.  Even after doing
it for years.  If you think you have something worth performing, and if you
take the venue seriously, then you will be nervous.  And of course it is hard
performing for the first time.  I'm not sure that having first-time performers
admit to worrying about whether their pieces will be liked really says much
about how exclusive NS is (or considers itself to be.
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May 15, 1999 14:32 from Amaranth
It wasn't just Luxton's piece, although that was the easiest one to pinpoint.
My feeling about that semester was there was something self-indulgent about
most performances, and people were getting bored with No Shame -- except for
that clique who cheered what they knew. The problem I saw was that things kept
being played for that small audience segment, mostly No Shamers.
 
But my original point is that the group this semester had a habit of including
each other, even when it was obvious they didn't like each other. I remember in
the past seeing people show up at The Mill for the first time and not even
getting the courtesy of a hello (yes, there were a few of them). This last year
was not like that, even though groups of friends were apparent. And groups are
different from cliques.
 
As for still being nervous, I have actually been less nervous as a substitute
teacher (a very scary thing to do) than times when I was on stage (especially
monologues. Since 1997, it seems to have manifested itself as an uncontrolable
urge to use the bathroom, which subsided when the piece was over.
 
Now does everyone realize why I liked going on early?
 
Just giving too much information. And in the spirit of cannibalism, here is my
favorite part of Catholicism: "This is my body, which was given up for your
sins. Eat me."
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May 16, 1999 03:41 from Patrick
 
I don't think it's true: the connection between artistic integrity and
nervousness.  It's sounds like a rationalization for experience.  Perhaps
better noted as the frustrated fogginess between comfortability and jadedness?
 
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May 18, 1999 16:16 from Carolyn
Anyone know how to contact Dan in NYC this summer?  Thanks.
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May 18, 1999 18:24 from Prufrock
dan can be contacted through his Iowa account, if I'm not mistaken. He'll have
access to Eudora through the PS.
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May 19, 1999 22:22 from Skweetis
AS a new performer that last semester which is now thankfully over, I did feel
a bit wary around the regulars at first.  Every look the first couple weeks was
anticipatory of a great new performer.  When my first few pieces failed to
deliver, I started getting looks like "oh, no, he's back..."  However, after a
while of testing and failing, I improved.  Or got worse, which can also be
good.  I'm glad that I kept at it, because i can actually sort of write now.
Thank you no shamers for allowing new performers to suck in the hopes that
someday they might improve.  Hope I didn't disappoint.  See y'all next year.
 
love and other indoor sports,  other james (the fat white one that hangs around
with cassidy)
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May 20, 1999 22:30 from Norm
 
I still want to give $$$ to someone for T-shirts.
 
how many $$$ can I give ?
 
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May 24, 1999 15:03 from Amaranth
Skweetis -- I am having trouble placing your face. Actually, that is a good
sign. It means I didn't cringe whenever I saw you. ;^)
 
I don't think any performer this last semester was consistently bad (we all
have our off ideas, as Dan admitted). Towards the end, everybody seemed to be
keeping the pieces under 5 minutes, which helped, and Stengel got away from the
running defecation jokes. I really wish I could see what next year is like.
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May 24, 1999 15:07 from Amaranth
This weekewnd was another odd lesson in celebrity. Until I find a real job, I
started working at Hy-Vee to supplement the freelancing. I figured a lot fo
people would know me from working at the newspapers.
 
But on Sunday as I was going to get my brunch at Brugger's, a guy coming out
the door stopped me and asked if I was "the No Shame guy." I then had a
dedicated fan talking to me, and I had to eat my bagel in my car. . . Weird
stuff. He was a nice enough guy, but it was a weird happening.
 
That's what I miss about cartooning -- they don't always know who you are and
ask for autographs only at conventions because they think it'll be worth
something someday. . .
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May 24, 1999 18:02 from Prufrock
Actually, I don't think Chris did any jokes about running defecation. thank
god...
I've had mixed feelings about my No Shame-inspired chance meetings. Many of
them took place after I did the "hot butt" sketch a few semesteres back. Kept
getting, "Hey, you're the ass guy." Which was always fun when I was helping
five other suddenly uncomfrotable customers...
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May 27, 1999 22:13 from Avenue Player
this has been bothering me for months.
 
his name is CHRIS STANGL.  STANGL.  not STENGL.
 
STANGL, as in, a Nazi war criminal (and my maternal great-grandmother, which
makes me think i may be related to chris, since she had 20 children and i don't
know most of my cousins).
 
perhaps you are thinking of baseball great casey STENGL.
 
everyone has off scripts/nights/whatever.  some people always do crap.  i am
not referring to chris here, since i think his work has grown a lot this
semester.  in fact, chris has grown on me a lot this semester...he seems to
have let down the defensive act and really taken more of an interest in
stretching as a writer and performer.
 
plus he gave me beer.
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No Shame> Read New
 
May 28, 1999 10:12 from Carolyn
I read the following in a magazine I don't really trust, but it made me think
of NS:
 
"People faced with difficult tasks perform poorly in front
of supportive audiences, according to research from Case Western Reserve
University.  We do best when confronted with hostile spectators because we're
more likely to take risks in front of audiences that want us to feel--and feel
more pressure from those who expect us to succeed."
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May 28, 1999 10:46 from Patrick
 
That seems very true.  Maybe it has to do wit the fact that in one case you
meet your audience later, and in the other you can bid them a final adieu.
 
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May 28, 1999 13:54 from Little Wildflower
Actually, it depends on the kind of person you are. There are people who thrive
when they are challenged or believe people expect them to fail, whereas others
succeed only when they are in a nurturing, supportive environment.
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May 28, 1999 16:54 from Patrick
 
no.  there's only one kind of person.  this is a homogenous existence.  don't
let the existentialists pollute your mind.
 
and preaching to the converted doesn't count.
 
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May 28, 1999 18:36 from Dan
James is right, you know; you can contact me through my blue address. But, even
better than that, is this:
Dan Brooks
c/o Francine McGivern
20 Debrosses Street
New York, NY 10013
And even better than _that_ is this:
Dan Brooks (212) 219-0357
And not quite as good as that is my work number, which I wouldn't recommend
unless I'm right there to answer it:
Dan Brooks, c/o PS 122, (212) 477-5829 x.306
If you are in the New York area, please please PLEASE give me a ring. I
literally don't know anyone in this town, and I would LOVE to hear from you.
Anybody. Even if you don't think it would be socially acceptable to call me up
for whatever reason. Do it.
I'm having fun, really. It's just lonely fun. Work work work home sleep wake
work.
Drop me a line, will ya's?
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May 29, 1999 00:03 from Amaranth
Wrong: there are two kinds of people in thsi world. There are those who pt
people into groups and thos who do not put people into groups (or did I use
this line here before?).
 
I also agree that Stangl/Stengl grew as a performerand writer this semester and
is the logic (ok, so that is a misnomer) heir to Dan. But that name change of
his unnerves me.
 
BTW, has anybody else seen the new Blue Bunny popsicles that are based on the
Hot Tamales candies? They are cinnamon popsicles with a core of gooey cinnamon
substance meant to resemble the candies. Despite thsi, they are quite good and
spicy
 
Sorry for all the typos
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May 29, 1999 00:31 from Patrick
 
or the old standby:
 
there are three kinds of people in the world: those can do math and those that
can't.
 
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May 29, 1999 09:57 from Dan
While I agree with you fundamental assertion that Stangl has grown a lot as a
writer and is doing very interesting things with the conventions of the forum
and with his own reputation, I have to caution you against declaring anybody
heir to anybody else. Stangl has his own style that is both distinct from and
by no means derivative of mine. (Because I'm one of those "nothing is true with
out at least three supporting reasons" rhetoric bastards, here goes: He
approaches his work from the sketch paradigm -- even in his monologues --
whereas I come at things from a monologue background, even in sketches and
scenes. He uses his pieces to continually develop recognizable stock
characters, whereas I use a character once and then throw him or her away.
Stangl's diction is more presentational and his sentence structure more
direct-address oriented, whereas I'm a verbose, prosey motherfucker. The bench
will now hear closing arguments.) Maybe his level of acceptance by the audience
is following a curve similar to the one mine did, but other than that I think
the similarities are coincidental.
I say this not to disavow any associations between me and Stangl; I dig his
work and I think it's indicative of very high levels of commitment and
craftsmanship. I just don't think it's fair to file anyone away in anyobody
else's shadow. I'm glad that in my first couple semesters I wasn't stuck with
the burden of being heir to the great Gogerty/Jacobson monologue tradition. LEt
Chris be his own man.
And for God sakes, if our son wants to be a designer instead of a football
player, we should support him. You've just got to let go, Merle.
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May 31, 1999 01:12 from Subotai
hey, rothschild here...there are two kinds of people. those who will sleep with
me and...wait, never mind...
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May 31, 1999 12:20 from Patrick
 
Subotai> yes, sometimes this can be the forum of disappointment.
 
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Jun 2, 1999 21:22 from Skweetis
I'll sleep with you mike.  -horak
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Jun 4, 1999 16:37 from Thufir
*troublegestures*
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Jun 4, 1999 23:08 from Amaranth
I stand corrected, Dan. I just noticed some similarites and made an (intended)
compliment.
 
So how is New York? Have you discovered that New Jersey smells worse than Cedar
Rapids? (I used to live in Woodbridge, which is near Newark.)
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Jun 5, 1999 00:26 from Tori
Wait, there are places that smell worse then Cedar Rapids?
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Jun 9, 1999 17:23 from Prufrock
It's hard to lock down. Sort of like Tolstoy's riff; every place that smells
good smells the same, while every place that stinks stinks in its own unique
way. And don't start on good smells, I'm talking about towns here. Good
smelling towns all smell like timber and sea breeze.
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Jun 9, 1999 21:06 from Patrick
 
Wrong so wrong.  This town smell exclusively of jasmine and eucalyptus; which
only goes to prove that Tolstoy was a good writer with a lousy sense of smell
(or should i say "olfactorily challenged"?)
 
Rome, on the other hand, stinks in just the same way that Florence does.  While
Nothing on earth or heaven smells like Cedar Rapids.
 
(posting from San Diego, CA)
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Jun 9, 1999 21:44 from Prufrock
Actually, blame me for stealing Tolstoy's line on happy and unhappy families.
And my horribly subjective opinion still stands, because I'm not fond of
eucalyptus at all. And furthermore, Rome and Florence have distinctly different
smells. Rome's smell has more of a burning dog somewhere in the background
flavor to it. Of course, Venice smells worse than both. Venice is like being
equal distances from an overflowing park toilet and a heavily cologned man
belching beer and pierogi. Give me corn starch any day of the week next to
that.
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Jun 9, 1999 22:31 from Subotai
And Edinburgh smells worse than both of them. THe whole city is a combination
of burning oats and diesel fumes.
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Jun 10, 1999 11:14 from Patrick
 
I suppose then that the variances between Rome and Florence have only to do
with the subtleties that one can discern within the general categories of smog.
I applaud your delicate nose, that it can know the difference between
two-stroke motorino and 10-stroke cigarette smoke.
 
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Jun 10, 1999 18:11 from Queequeg
        I thought Edinburgh smelled like a rocky beach where it had been
drizzling hard water and unleaded gasoline. After taking one of the ghost
tours, I tried to catch a whiff of the dried blood and shit caked on the
streets, but after a hundred years or so that general smell of death has gotten
pretty subtle.
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Jun 11, 1999 12:43 from Norm
 
Okay, so, If I am creating a piece, and I know that there will be need for
extra people to preform it, can I jsut show up before the show and recruit ?
 
and, If I do that , how would people like the script laid out ? how do you want
stage directions noted ? or should I jsut try to avoid them ?
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Jun 11, 1999 15:13 from Ender
 
You can recruit right before the show, and sometimes that works but sometimes
it doesn't.  You can also recruit here in the forum.  Maybe you could put the
script in email to anyone who expresses possible interest, so they could see
what they're gettin' into before deciding?  Or not.
 
As for formatting, I'd recommend looking at the No Shame web site scripts for
examples.  www.noshame.org
 
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Jun 12, 1999 09:32 from Carolyn
Different pieces need different amounts of preparation time, too.  Anything
with lots of movement usually needs more rehearsal time.  Anything with
critical timing, too.
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Jun 12, 1999 23:35 from Amaranth
Some of the best pieces I've done were rehearsed in a classroom just before
performance (usually with Ben Zolno making good suggestions). I found it hard
to get more than two other people together for a rehersal, tho.
 
ANd I cannot believe there were more than 7 posts on city smells. . .
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Jun 13, 1999 22:10 from Skweetis
I'll do the peice.
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Jun 13, 1999 22:10 from Skweetis
piece.
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Jun 14, 1999 02:40 from Thufir
peace.
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Jun 14, 1999 11:18 from Tommy
Pez.
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Jun 15, 1999 08:04 from Trouble
Fez.
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Jun 15, 1999 14:02 from DarthMaul
Fuzz
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Jun 15, 1999 14:13 from Prufrock
Scrolling.
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Jun 16, 1999 13:55 from Dan
I'm at work right now, so my time is brief. I figured out how to scam a few
moments of telnet from PS 122.
Anyone who's going to be in the New York area anytime soon should come here and
see 'Squonk.' They are completely indescribable, and incredibly cool. Picture
Blue Man group only actually fresh and interesting. And not blue.
To keep this on topic -- Re: Script formatting. Make your lighting cues big,
bold and italicized. Other than that, the booth doesn't care so much. And
remember to put your phone number on there, for Pete's sake. That's been sorely
lacking lately.
I live right outside the Holland Tunnel, so my neighborhood smells worse than
all your pathetic Eurotrash haunts. So there.
Knicks winning, Dan starving but happy.
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Jun 16, 1999 14:26 from Ender
 
Is there an address to which we should send food, donations, and perhaps gas
mask?  We could start a local collection for ya...
 
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Jun 17, 1999 00:58 from Patrick
 
or perhaps a gourmet's guide to frying rats on the "third rail".  And actually,
*kicking dead horse* NYC's air is better than most cities - that is, cities
larger than Pheonix (which is really sprawling suburbian stripmall).
 
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Jun 20, 1999 09:22 from Mortika
I was going through my records, and I found the following archival information,
perhaps of use to the No Shame web site.
 
Dates are accurate in many cases, but are good guesses in other cases:
 
A No Shame Card Trick --     actors: C Mortika, J. McLarty  -- Oct 6 1989
The Water Torture
    Card Trick of Death--    Mortika, J. Hugart, S. Entsminger --Dec 1 89
A Snappy Die Card Routine    Mortika, Hugart, K. Denniger      --Dec 8 89
Four-Ring Routine            Mortika                        -- Jan 26 1990
Omnibus Mailbag              Mortika, Hugart, A Schumacher   -- Mar 2 90
One Cup, Three Balls         K. Denniger                     --Mar 9 90
Spiritual Manifestations Club  M. Bona, N. Ray, E. McGuire  --Apr 13 90
Anderson Newspaper Tear      Mortika                        --Sept 28 90
If I could Read Your Mind    Mortika                        --Sept 20, 1991
Memory Sponge                Entsminger                     --Oct 18, 1991
Cups and Sponge Balls        Mortika, Entsminger            --Oct 25, 91
The Powers of Two            Mortika, w/ DuBe & Shepard     --Feb 7, 1992
A Game of Nap                Mortika                        --Setp 22 92
Sympathetic Coins            Mortika                        --Aug 10, 1993
Warm Fuzzies                 Mortika, E. Daniels, either
                              B. Barrett or P. McCarron    -- Oct 1 93
Cut To Ribbons               Barrett, Entsminger, M Sprengeler --Oct 29 93
Backstage                    Barrett, Sprengeler               --Nov 5
Sharpshooter                 Barrett, Sprengeler, Entsminger  --Nov 12 93
Jelly Bean Trick             J. Torgerson, Mortika            --Nov 26 93
Three Ring Manifesto         Mortika                          --Dec 3 93
Magic With Borrowed Props    Mortika, Entsminger              --Jan 28, 1994
What is Hip: Prelude         M. Salazar, Barrett, Sprengeler -- Feb 11 94
What is Hip?                 Mortika, Sprengeler, Entsminger,
                              McCarron                        --Feb 11 94
Carlos, the Mind-Reading
   Cactus                   Sprengeler                        --Mar 11 94
Magic is Easy, Once You
   Know the Secret          Mortika                           --April 8 94
Ring and String Advert.     Barrett, with Entsminger          --Sept 9 94
 
(errata:  looks like it was Jeni Torgerson, not Bridget Barrett or Pat
McCarron, who portrayed the witch in Warm Fuzzies.)
 
There were three or four additional performances in the years after 1994, but
nothing I've kept good nostes on.
ah, that's "notes."
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Jun 20, 1999 15:13 from Thufir
I seem to remember that it was Bridget Barrett who was the witch in Warm
Fuzzies.  But it was a long time ago.
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Jun 20, 1999 17:35 from Dan
I think I speak for all of us when I say, "Goddamn, you guys are old."
At work, stealing telnet again.
Hey, if you want to send those care packages, the address is Dan Brooks, c/o
Francine McGivern, 20 Desbrosses St., New York, NY 10013.
Knicks in trouble!
Things remain well otherwise. And I'd like to point out that the only one of
you fair-weather compatriots to have sent me any e-mail is Wolf, and that thatt
is a damned shame.
Also, to keep this on topic, everyone and their brainy sister should read,
"Tricks of the Trade" by Dario Fo. IT's about theatre, and therefore super
cool.
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Jun 20, 1999 18:56 from Prufrock
And my phone message and e-mail go completely unrecognized. See if I ever care
about Brooks again.
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Jun 22, 1999 05:34 from Trouble
 
  Yes, I think Thufir is right.  It was Bridgett.  Though, I really don't
remember anything clearly prior to 1996, so take me with a grain of salt.
 
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Jun 22, 1999 13:06 from Mortika
I'm pretty sure that Bridget took the part when we reprised it for Best Of, but
I think my script for the evening is accurate.
 
Bridget and Pat alternated that part when we did the five-performance "AMO at
No Shame" thing, but then, nobody came to see those performances, so I wouldn't
think those would be a source of confusion.
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Jun 23, 1999 08:15 from Trouble
 
  _I_ went to see that, silly wabbit.
 
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Jun 23, 1999 15:25 from Thufir
So Chris was right.
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Jun 24, 1999 08:05 from Whitewolf
 
Meee-ow, baby.
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Jun 25, 1999 04:01 from Trouble
 
  Shut your cake-hole, varmint!
 
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Jun 25, 1999 23:33 from Amaranth
I don't know what is worse: being held up as a good example for writingto Dan
or having Dan say that is a shame. . .
 
So how close do you live to the tunnel, Dan?
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Jun 30, 1999 16:45 from Dan
First off, I must apologize to Lord James of Erwin for failing to acknowledge
his timely, thorough and entirely welcome correspondence. Sir, I was remiss,
and I rend myself. (Sound of garments ripping.)
Secondly, I live about a block and a half from the entrance to the Holland
Tunnel. It sucks. If anyone ever tells you that TriBeCa is a nice, developing
neighborhood, they are a filthy liar. Kick them right in the shins and go live
in Park Slope.
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Jul 8, 1999 13:04 from Artemis
Hello - not sure who remembers me here, but I'm on a big reading tour of hte US
right now, so check www.tarin.com/sisterspit to see the schedule. It's not very
detailed right now, I'm doing the web page on the road when I get time to
connect, but see if your city is listed and then send email to spit@tarin.com
to find out where & when we're playing. It's a 12-girl punk rock spoken word
show called the Sister Spit Ramblin Road Show.
 
I should be in Iowa City in the last half of august, more later.
 
If anyone sees JC Luxton tell him to email me!
 
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Jul 9, 1999 00:09 from Trouble
 
  I remember you, J Tarin Towers.
 
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Jul 9, 1999 07:56 from Thufir
Wasn't she some chick with some really bad poetry?
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Jul 9, 1999 14:05 from Dan
I remember you, J Tactful Thufir.
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Jul 11, 1999 19:42 from Trouble
 
  Tarin probably had the only poetry readings at No Shame that I could actually
sit through and not wish it would all end soon.
 
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Jul 11, 1999 23:30 from Avenue Player
hey hey hey...what about the one that one girl did...um...syniva?  cinyva?  she
and kelli did it.  it was really good.
 
it was selected for Best Of but she didn't come!  dear me.
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Jul 11, 1999 23:38 from Fanky Maloon
I'm tactful too, as everyone knows.  So without further ado, thought this was
worth repeating in public:
 
--- Message (#1) to Avenue Player at 23:35 ---
-Artemis/ Tarin Towers is intensely cool and she did sing-songy poetry which
-was more of a performance piece than poetry and Thufir sucks my nads.
 
 
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Jul 12, 1999 09:16 from Thufir
Oh, I liked Tarin and her poetry both.  We're old friends.  Suckup, I ain't.
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Jul 12, 1999 15:41 from Prufrock
I also liked Tarin. It's a love fest.
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Jul 13, 1999 09:08 from Trouble
 
  *cracks up*  Oh, Fanky, some days you put the umbrella in my daquiri.
 
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Jul 13, 1999 14:35 from Dan
That's way, way too easy.
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Jul 15, 1999 03:11 from Artemis
GOOD GOD one would think I just did a gallon of smack and choked on someone
else's vomit. I'm still alive!
 
I'm trying to figure out if I should do an Iowa City show or not. It would
probably be at the new tattoo parlor. But it would be easier to stay in the van
and go home. If anyone is interested in going to chicago, though:
 
I'll be there August 6-8 and again on the 16th.
86: Thurston's
8/7: Hot House 31 E. Balbo
8/8 The Mad Bar
8/16 Shappy's Nite Cap
 
The tour managers are not the most organized people in t world, which is why I
don't have addresses and times for all these venues. Lemme know if you want
some details. I'll give you more details than you could ever want.
 
Mail me if you want to see me. :P Even Thufir.
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Jul 15, 1999 03:54 from Trouble
 
  Dan:  Just like your mama.
 
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Jul 22, 1999 12:43 from Dan
You can't hear it from there, but that's the sound of me walking on down to
Canal Street and buying an Army surplus handgun. Ther's gonna be a new law,
Trouble.
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Jul 23, 1999 02:32 from Crotch Monkey
allright people, its been awhile, since youve heard from me, mike cassady, and,
although i have nothing important, pertinent or logical to say....goddammit, i
will stay silent no longer.  ive reading the past messages for the last twenty
minutes, and piss me if im not gonna scream bloody hell about it.
BLOODY HELL!!
now that thats out of the way, fort dodge smells fine....a hint of white
trash with just a taste of trailer park t.v. dinners every monday night as
wwf raw comes on, and every once and i while this place really smells like
shit.  then i bathe and its gone for atleast another day....atleast a
couple hours of that day.  ill begin detassling tomorrow....and ill begin
sleep immediately.
 
ciao ciao,
 
insincerely,
 
mike "victor's secret" cassady
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Jul 23, 1999 13:21 from Patrick
 
yeah, handgun  are really funny these days.  We've enough wack-os that
have already beat you to that notion. /tirade
 
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Jul 27, 1999 16:10 from Dan
Want to hear two fascinating facts? Patrick's handgun post reminded me.
1) Despite extensive media coverage of the "epidemic of violence in our
schools," the number of on-campus violent deaths (grades K-12) is one half of
what it was ten years ago. (That's 1998-99 academic year compared to 88-89.)
Also, in 1996-97, the year Time and Newsweek both did cover stories about the
deadly superpredators attending our nation's high schools, on-campus violent
deaths reached an all-time low.
2) Violent crime in the United States is the lowest it has been in our nation's
history. However, a record-high 62% of Americans describe themselves as living
in "constant fear" of being a victim of violent crime. Moreover, the average
American estimates that just over fifty percent of all violent crimes are
committed by persons under eighteen years of age. In actuality, the under 18
set commits only a little over 12% of all such crimes.
It's almost as if American politicians were trying to shift the public's focus
of attention to crime, a topic that one can be against without any fear of
challenge, in order to distract us from other, more complex issues. (Like, oh,
say, a completely nonsustainable social sercurity system.)
But crime is bad.
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Jul 27, 1999 20:40 from Prufrock
But just in case you were feeling bad about our nation's statistics, a poll of
the G-7 nations found that while over two thirds of Americans still feel that
ambition and drive are the two things most important to success in life, only
30% of the French polled agreed. In addition, over seventy percent of French
factory workers said they would cover for a co-worker's negligence, even if it
had resulted in someone's injury. And finally, nearly eighty-five percent of
the entire French nation said it would throw down its weapons and flee if faced
with a massed infantry charge with artillery support.
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Jul 27, 1999 20:53 from Patrick
 
I think  that openly laughing in the face of the French is to be truly a
red/white/blue blooded american.  Now only if Paris, France weren't actually
*better* than Paris, Texas.  And those cute little accents!  I had a woman
sitting next to me in a chinese restaurant measuring her blood-sugar levels
while she simultaneously diminshed my appetite - but once her cheerfyl chirpy
voice piped up in that oh-so-wonderful swallowed-nasal way, well,... i could
forgive her sanguine eccentricities.  Bleed on, woman - let the sweet and sour
carry the moment.  Vive la France pour touts les poullet!
 
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Jul 29, 1999 12:57 from Skweetis
i love this forum during the summer...
 
nothing on-topic to talk about, so we all just chat.  tre' rad.
 
groove on.
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Jul 30, 1999 23:39 from Mortika
I'd like to say that I just last week saw a very nice production of "The
Tempest," by the Twin Cities' SHAKESPEAR IN THE PARK company, starring Larry
Pontius in the lead role of Trinculo, the Clown.
 
Makes you all warm and muggy inside, doesn't it?
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Jul 31, 1999 14:29 from Fishcult
So... I is in California... which is my home... And I miss Iowa City.  Wjendoes
When does No Shame start again.  I checked thearchives on the web page and all
signs seem to point to early September, but I would like somebody who has been
doing this longer than I to give me a specific date.
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Aug 1, 1999 15:24 from Subotai
But statistics haev also shown that fully one third of statistics are in
acurate or simpply misspelled. I come back to IC in a few weeks (this is
Rothschild, btw) and I am looking forward to more wacky times this year. Drop
me a line if your so inclined, he said in rhyme.
me
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Aug 2, 1999 08:10 from Ender
 
No Shame starts on the second Friday of the semester--but I don't know exactly
when the semester starts.
 
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Aug 2, 1999 18:41 from Avenue Player
and with great flourish, i can tell you that classes start Aug. 23, which would
make the first No Shame September 3.  which is labor day weekend.  which means
low attendance.
 
ah well.
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Aug 2, 1999 19:35 from Prufrock
AUGH! LABOR DAY! I FORGOT LABOR DAY! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!
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Aug 3, 1999 10:05 from Patrick
 
Rise up proletariats!  Now sit back down and drink.
 
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