Absolute Beginners - Open Stage - Amateur Night

Wow.

Thanks to all who came out and helped us celebrate. Thanks double for bearing with the heat and the lateness of the show.

It was a fun night. Thanks again.

Well, after a full day to recuperate from what was a very busy day for me (attendance of triathlon by my daughter and her best friend--in which both finished, but did less well than they'd hoped, then immediately to Twisted to practice my own piece AND set up the kitchen AND bang out the first 20 plates or so, then, finally, hosting...all ending with a walk to The Arc to give them back the ständer they generously loan me every month...), a brief recap: 10 acts competing with each other, along with the music of Folk Train, and chocolate mousse cake at the intermission. Performances by AB's youngest act, TT's own Monkeedude in tandem with my daughter (with combined age of 18), old-timers Christoph and Asher (our official bouncer) Memo and myself, and lots of new or nearly new faces as well, with the usual range from the ridiculous to the sublime. Lots of music, one die-hard 'poet', magic, 'comedy,' and a little martial arts demonstration thrown in for variety. Top prize was taken by Evan's band--Evan's one of the Twisted's wait-staff--who received two dinners at the Twisted along with two free tickets to next week's English Comedy Club. Second place--two free dinners at the Arc--went to Jodie, a newcomer and one who has promised to return, with her rap on the state of freedom in America, and third prize, a free movie rental at Missing Image, went to Sterling and Che, who started us off with three quick skits of their own devising, including their own rendition of 'Who likes short shorts?'. Memo anchored the show and brought it all back around, and was half a point away from slipping into the top three. And of course, the whole thing was smoothed out by the hard work of AB's resident DJ Bubble G, and big thanks are due her.

Three points for improvement: it was bloody hot in there, due no doubt in large part to the heat of the day and the fact that there were at least 60 people in attendance--and the comfort level suffered in proportion to this fact. The show ran late (almost to midnight), partially because I got a later start in the hosting duties due to work in the kitchen, partially because as has occurred at both birthday parties, there's a full range of acts to get through. I think 10 acts is the absolute limit for the sign-up sheet from now on...but TTers have a leg up if they want to get on the bill, because they know how to contact me. Finally, there were about 3 or 4 rowdies in the middle of the audience that were called for their obnoxiousness (one actually raised the famously illegal 'salute' at one of the performers, only to have it vigorously knocked down by Joshua, a rather large--and outspoken--black man--thanks for that...)--they were twice issued pointed objections from members of the audience, but really didn't quite get the message--so I'll be taking a bit sterner of an approach with that in future. Not that rowdiness is a bad thing--a rowdy audience keeps our performances sharp--but an audience member that's feeling liberated enough to raise the Nazi salute in Munich is perhaps due to be issued some clear boundaries.

All in all, a very interesting night...one not without negatives, but with a balance of positives, at least from my perspective. I had fun, and hope the TTers in attendance did as well. I'll be posting details on the next show as soon as I have them myself.

Thanks again to all who came out, whether to perform, to judge, or to provide us an audience from which to get reactions to our efforts. p_g