MemeMachineGo!

Saturday night was my first performance in a comedy improv show. I and the other troupers met last Thursday to practice improv games, and went drinking afterwards. I proposed a toast. "Here's to not knowing what we're doing."

Well, the show went great. We all invited our friends and family, so the house was packed with a friendly audience (and thank you to everyone who showed up.) And we all had fun and were happy with the results.

After breaking down the stage, we went out to a bar. Though we generally avoided critiquing the show or otherwise interrupting basking in perceived success, another improviser indicated having experienced increasing nervousness as the show went on, and said I seemed to get more comfortable as we went. And I'd felt that too... by the time we were finished, I wanted an audience for everything I do.

Yesterday I finally got to the tabloid exercise in The Right to Write and read the Globe with its scrutiny of celebtrities — this one made a fussy order in a restaurant; this one hugged a friend's wife in public; this one ate a large meal, and reconsidered this position.

The web being the web, there was a comment on the show by the time I got home. "Quite fun, and free" — it don't get any better than that. And Marissa sez "Zed and his improv classmates were swift and funny".

For the past month, I've been doing improv practice three times a week. I'm looking forward to having more unscheduled time. But I do want to perform more.

Last night I went to the SFBATS Sunday show, where my BATS Beginning Improv teacher and one of my East Bay Improv teachers (among many others) were performing. Recognized a guy working the concession stand as someone from the first web start-up I worked at — hadn't seen him in almost six years. Turns out he's been an improv performer for the past six months. "Best six months of my life," he said.

I'm looking forward to finding out if I'll feel the same.