Sunday, May 21, 2006

"You really shit the bed on that one." - Jerry Miller























After three fun-filled days, we wrapped shooting on the indie pilot we've been working on. I say we meaning myself and Allocco because we are clearly married. It was such a fun time- it felt like being in gaylord drama department all over again. One of the premises of the show is that we're members of a short form improv group which amused me to no end as I loathe improv and most especially I harbor a seething hatred for "Comedysportz" shite. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun to play cheesy games onstage with the other actors in lame-ass matching suits and such. The photos we took are a riot, espcially the ones of us doing stupid group poses. We're all pretending at being earnest but if you look, you can see that smirk on people's faces that reads "Improv is for suckers". OK-Mostly me.

I was amazed at the amount of work it took just to shoot a very simple, straightforward script. The crew for the shoot were all such pros and so patient- I could never put up with all the hollering, screeching and buffonery that they did from the cast. They didn't flinch. It was really educational, and I was inspired by the process to get off my keister and make something like this happen myself. Then I smoked another Parliament, took one bite of a Snickers bar and passed out with a Marie Claire magazine across my face on a bench backstage until my scene was called.

The best part of this hands down was the chance to work with the other cast members. While I knew the fantastic Law Tarello already from the MORTIFIED! show debut here in NYC, I hadn't met Jerry Miller or Brian McMullen before. Both were a delight and thankfully so because the rehearsal to shoot process was a short one due to all of our schedules. We were able to bond and by the time we were fliming it was as if everyone had known one another for ages. When we were done shooting Saturday night, I was getting sad about the end of the project. But thankfully, to keep it from getting all sappy, we were all driven home in a manner most dangerous by the crazed Law, who blared "99 Problems" as we barreled from Washington Heights thru Harlem down to the Village. I forgot Law had just crashed a homemade motorcycle into a fence and then, a pond until I got into a motor vehicle with him and by then it was too late. I screamed out loud that I didn't want to die with the last song I ever heard being "I Wanna Sex You Up" (to which we had a sing along but still). Brian kept yelling from the back seat, "Faster! More weaving!" Jerry was doing some sort of elaborate, obscene mime sequence in Sara's general direction. Then we all rapped along to "I Wish" by Skeelo, and by the time Law pulled up in front of Sara's apartment I could have sworn I was back in high school. The piece de resistance? Law put on "Joy & Pain" at top volume and we all got out of the car and danced around in front of Sara's Stuy Town apartment building to the disgust of all onlookers. Give it to 'em, Rob Base. It was a perfect ending.

I love you, turds.

2 comments:

Colleen said...

I think timez like this is why we are here and not in the suburbs. You know, with houses and posessions and cable and stuff that regular people have.

Brandy For Sale. said...

And infants. (shudder to think)