Pride

Last night Echo, the team I coach, had a great show. It was fast, it was fun, and they made a couple of those intuitive leaps/connections that make you sit back during a show and say wow.

As time passes I get to watch them grow, become more confident, and more versatile. I try to guide them and push them in certain directions but I think it's time more than anything that helps them develop. I don't try to impose a style on any individual or the team as a whole. I try to recognize the style of the team and the individual, name it and cultivate it by giving them all the tools I can. Most of the time I think it's just teaching them all the different styles they can play in, the different moves they can make, the different ways to play a scene. Once they have a diverse knowledge of what they can do I let them loose to do whatever they want. I see whatever patterns emerge and try to refine and clarify it.

The team and I have gotten to know each other and I care about them all. They are all talented and I believe I help them in small ways to get better. It's gratifying to see progress, it's gratifying to see them take my advise. When we have a great show or a great rehearsal I feel good. I feel like I've done my job. I feel proud to be part of this group of energetic funny people who are taking some risks.

At the show last night I wanted to point and say: That's my team.

Graffiti 87

Saw this and it brightened up my day. It's playful. I love graffiti that has a sense of fun. Something technically illegal that's done only to bring a little smile to your face.

"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game." -Michael Jordan

"If you obey all the rules, you'll miss all the fun." -Katharine Hepburn

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." -Dr. Seuss

Lobotomy

Rick had a full cast for the first time in months tonight. It was nice to have everyone onstage together but it was a little crowded. Our suggestion was lobotomy and this was the opening.

Gratitude 6

I'm grateful for those wonder filled moments,
when you feel things come together,
seemingly random, and you realize:
you're exactly where you need to be.
When something simple and small,
turns the day from apathy to joy.

Home 2

On a whim I started taking classes at iO in 2007. In 2008 I began performing there. Since then I've been in the building to watch shows or perform a couple times each week. At this point it's a home away from home.

Whenever I'm at iO I feel comfortable. I know the space, I know the layout, and there are tons of great memories there. At any given time I can run into any number of good friends. Some places feel like home because you go there so often or it's a place that has a lot of people you love there or it's a place that houses a certain passion of yours, iO is all three. I was given a lot of great opportunities there. I was taught and grew and given a chance to perform. I was given a chance to experiment, sometimes with success and sometimes with failure but I was always welcomed and nurtured. I met some of my greatest friends there. My interest in performing was reenergized and focused there. I spent many a late night watching shows, learning from shows, and talking endlessly about comedy.

After years of doing shows and watching shows and rehearsing there I feel that I have a place there. It's a place that in some small way is mine. I'm part of a greater collective of wonderfully talented creative people that orbit around this one building.

I go there to kill time: to read and write and jaw with friends. I go there to challenge myself. I go there to feed this insatiable need I have to be on stage and illicit a response from a crowd. I go there to talk to people who are like me, creative funny people who can't live without performing, daring people who want to push things and challenge people. I go there to be entertained and to see my friends take risks. I go there because I feel that I belong there.

If you don't have a place where you belong, find it. Then go there as often as you can.

Pressure And Time

I'm back in Rockford this weekend to visit my family and my BFF Adam. The thing I like most about going home is my bathroom. The Rainbow Bathroom.

We moved when I was four and what would become my sister and I's bathroom was a really big selling point for me. Over the years I've come to love it, even more so as I've gotten older. So gaudy, so 80's, so over the top. The Rainbow Bathroom just screams home and comfort to me. My parents have talked about changing the wallpaper at various points but I've vehemently protested and so far have kept the Rainbow Bathroom intact.

The thing I love most about it is the shower. The Rainbow Bathroom has the best pressure of any shower I've ever showered in. There is no shower experience like one in the Rainbow Bathroom. Any other shower falls short.

In a city like Chicago where there's a city wide shower pressure problem. The Rainbow Bathroom is a ray of light.

Steve's Guide To The CTA

1. Know The System- Be aware of how your city is laid out and the major routes within it. Be aware of when bus and train routes start and stop and which run all night. Get to know what routes you usually take and when they are busy and how often they come. Be familiar in case you get stranded somewhere with no phone and little to no money, you'll be able to find your way home.

2. Get A Seat- If at all possible sit down. Getting jostled about in a crowded train car or bus sucks. Not to mention you are more vulnerable to getting your pocket picked. If you're stressing out during your commute you're starting your day off on the wrong foot. If you're at a stop where a lot of people are waiting and a bus or train hasn't come in a long time there's usually two coming back to back so wait for the second one and get a seat.

3. Track It- Duh. With technology the way it is you should be able to time things so you're not waiting a long time for a bus or train ever.

4. Alternate Route- Where ever you live or work have a couple different routes to and from. Sometimes there's going to be construction or events which slow transit down, when that happens have another route to take. Also variety is the spice of life. Take different routes, don't get in a routine of doing the same thing everyday it mutes your brain, mix it up.

5. Be Polite- If you bump someone say excuse me. If you need to get out say excuse me. Simple. There's no reason public transit should be the go to complaint that it is. If we are considerate and kind we will receive similar treatment. The employees of public transit have a long, hard, virtually thankless job. Don't give them a hard time, treat them with respect and they will do the same. Realize that they probably get harassed by many people each day and cut them some slack if they give you some attitude. Besides attitude is a function of living in the big city- enjoy it.

6. Don't Engage Crazy People- There's a lot of crazy people out there. It's really fun to watch them. So watch them but don't talk to them. Don't engage with them, once you're involved they may not leave you alone. Have a book or you're phone handy to get absorbed in if a crazy tries to pull you in with their tractor beam.