The Lame Duck

"Eric, we've hired someone," my supervisor told me.  "He starts on the 16th, but you can still work until 17th if you want."  Cool.  This was very convenient.  I'd go home the night of the 17th, come back the 25th and soon have a fresh new job.

 

So, to explain my itinerary a bit, the only day in which I'll actually be in Boston is Sunday the 22nd.  I'll be going to The Comedy Studio at night but before that my plans are rather light.  Most of you are people I know, so if you want to come see me and catch up, without going to The Comedy Studio, let me know and we can probably do something.  Maybe a bunch of us can go see "Hot Fuzz" or something.

 

Monday I left my temp job for class.  The previous week had been canceled, so I was eager to see what was up this week.  I got some food in Westwood first.  Normally I got to Mongol King for a teriyaki bowl, but they were only serving the BBQ combos that day (where you fill a bowl with meat and vegetables and they add noodles and sauce and cook it on a large round cooking area, stirring it with a giant wooden rod).  It's delicious, but more money than I wanted to spend, so I got food somewhere else and took the bus to class.  It was 5:30 and I had to be there at 7, so I had plenty of time.

 

We got to Sunset and Doheny at about 5:50  To give you some idea, Sunset is parallel to Hollywood Blvd., and so are the numbers.  Where we were was in the 9200s and I needed to get to 6366 Hollywood Blvd.  We were at Sunset and Doheny for about 45 minutes before I decided to chance running all the way down.  Maybe there was a bus further along that would get out of the traffic just as I got there to pick it up.

 

I got to Fairfax, about 1500 numbers away, before seeing a bus.  I waived it down and the door opened.  It was the exact same bus.  So, all I did was waste energy to get there the same time I would have, which was 7:15.

 

Fortunately, our teacher was telling the story of why class was canceled and when it would be made up, the next Sunday.

 

I ran in and told my little story and we started with class.  I'm quite pleased with the level of progress I've made in this class, it's considerably higher than with the previous class, so I think when I get back, I'm going to see about performing improv outside of class.

 

But for now I was going to work on the material I wanted to perform when I got back home to The Comedy Studio.  First I would go to BrewCo., which was right in Westwood, so I didn't need to take any bus.  I don't know how this works, but I always manage to be roughly the strongest act in the last half-hour of the show.  In format, it's similar to the open mic at the Emerald Isle back in Boston, but split between two hosts.  So a spot near the beginning is usually better, but I tend to do very well.

 

The next night I didn't do quite as well.  I went to Synergy Cafe for the first time in months.  One reason was that I was taking my Level 3 on Wednesdays, so it would be some time before I'd be back.  The way rooms sometimes come and go I didn't know when I'd be back.  It's also in Culver City, which is actually a different bus system, and therefore inconvenient.  Plus, I bought a Synergy Card.  These cards are little gift cards that give you extra credit depending on what denomination you buy.  So if I wasn't going to be back anytime soon, I wanted to burn the card.

 

I got there early and bought some scrambled eggs, toast, and juice while flipping through an old Time Magazine 70th anniversary book from the shelf.

 

Someone I saw there was Dan Rosenberg, someone who noticed his name in my blog a few months ago, because he hosted the second half of the night there.  Also, he looked t my hair once and joked, "George Takei around the early 70s!"  To which I replied with a George Takei impression, "Oh my!"  I bought him a drink to burn some of my card off and called him someone from Star Trek played by someone of his ethnicity, or at least religion, Spock.

 

"Mr. Cheung is buying me a Soy Latte because he's awesome," he ordered at the register.

 

"I'm buying it because he's Vulcan," I suggested.

 

"Vegan," he corrected.  Well Vulcans are vegans.

 

Thursday I just wanted to get home, but it was not to be that easy.  Just before I left work, my supervisor told me there was a lot of wind and a fire that was disrupting traffic, but it looked like it was west, so it wouldn't affect me.  Actually it was in Beverly Hills, or east.  So there was heavy traffic and friendly bonding on the bus over the laments cried over the lousy drivers.

 

On Friday I made some stops in Westwood.  My shoes are wearing out, and though it wasn't urgent, I thought I had some time since it was only 4.  I had three hours, so I went to browse, and found a good deal, so I went for it.  Normally, my shoe size is 12 wide, but this store didn't sell wide shoes, so a 13 medium fit much better.  I went back to Mongol King and not only didn't they have the plate and bowl specials, but they changed the menu to reflect that.  I got the food anyway.  It was usually to much food for one sitting, so I figured that I'd have some if I needed it later since I wouldn't be back until 1.

 

On my way to fill in for the intern that works on Saturdays, we traded shifts so I wouldn't be obligated to work while back home, I got a call that he might be able to come in after all.  I decided to come in anyway, since I was on my way, and if he showed up we'd figure it out then.

 

He didn't so, I did the shift.  On Fridays there's a host who knows the schedule and calls the show.  On Saturday, there isn't.  I still didn't really know the schedule beyond the vague one on the calender, so I just sort of offered to call the lights if no one was there to do so.

 

At 9 were two Level 6 teams and they were both great.  I didn't quite know what to expect since I'd seen teams that I assumed completed the program and were only mediocre, so I wasn't sure how good these folks would be.

 

From 10 to 11:30 were three Harold teams.  After the second would be something called "The Dream" in which an audience member describes their day and a bunch of improvisers extrapolate a dream from that.  After the third was a brief game of freeze tag, a short form exercise in which two people start improvising and someone on stage yells "Freeze!" and replaces one of the players and starts a completely new scene.

 

The only problem is that these extra pieces push everything back.  I had a 12:30 bus to catch and the three teams finished at 11:40.  There was another Harold team scheduled for 11:30, so that would be another half-hour.  Adding flame to the fire was the fact that after being in the theatre non-stop for nearly five hours, I needed to use the bathroom.  "As soon as I get back, we'll start.  Okay, kids?" I said.

 

The team had only four people, and about as many audience members, so I thought, "Maybe instead of the usual three scenes, they'd only do two per beat."  No such luck, but I still found a spot to end the show at about 12:10.  The house manager for the night came in immediately after and remarked that we ended after the mainstage shows.

 

I left in time for the bus.  For that I wasn't late.

 

I'll see you folks from New England.

 

Thank you, I'm Eric Cheung.  I'm on MySpace and Live Journal.

 

Upcoming gigs

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April 22: The Comedy Studio - Erin Judge Presents... $8 Buy tickets here!  (Stand-up and/or sketch)