Thursday, April 10, 2008

Please, Oh, Please, Oh, Please!

I know, I've bugged you guys about this before, but it's extremely important, so I'm gonna have to bug you again. If any of you (or anyone you know) are planning on being in or around the Detroit area on

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30TH,

please come to our Improv Bruvaz show. It's at the Park Bar (2040 Park Ave.), it starts at 9PM, and the cover is the mere, paltry sum of 3.00. It will be an amazing night of truly remarkable, reality defying theatre/comedy that will leave you utterly and completely bereft of speech . . . And, that's only if we have an OFF night. Yeah. It's like that.
So, please show some love for some real Detroit entertainers and make it your own personal mission/quest to be at our show. And, hey! How about this? Even if you don't live close by, why don't you make a special trip out here just to see us? You can sleep in my bathtub . . .
Seriously. COME TO THE SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30TH: IMPROV BRUVAZ 9PM PARK BAR (2040 PARK AVE.) $3.00 COVER
DETROIT, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

A Handful of Dust

I found Waugh's
A Handful of Dust entirely depressing. I laughed (bitterly) in places, and the book certainly held my attention, but it hasn't ranked as highly in my esteem as "Brideshead," "Sword of Honour," or even The Loved One. Now, however, I've been reading some interesting criticism regarding the novel, and I'm starting to believe that there's more to the work than I had originally noticed . . . like the Arthurian theme that apparently runs throughout. I'm thinking of giving A Handful of Dust another read. And, before I do, I want you guys (you delightful, well-read, articulate, and wonderfully opinionated people, you!) to further clue me in on what (if anything) I should be looking for, loving, hating, or just being amused by in Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Just a Thought . . .

It's Friday night, and I'm looking out over the lights and life of downtown Detroit. People are moving about, and somewhere, something like music is thumping, throbbing, thumping, and I'm writing a play. I don't know if it's a good play, and it's entirely unsolicited, unwanted, but I feel like I have to write it, so I continue to do so. And, I'm wondering if it's just the intrinsic need for aesthetic harmony and community that might drive one to do such a thing. It was common among the Medievals to say, "Even dwarves can see far if they have the good sense to stand on the shoulders of giants." Is that what I'm doing? Even if I'm not great, am I at least attempting to do something that actual great people have done time and time before in an attempt to hoist myself up just far enough to be privy to something larger and much more lovely than my mere pathetic self? Maybe.
Oscar Wilde said, "We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking up at the stars." This is what my attempt at literature feels like . . . A way to see something beautiful through the mire of everyday life.
So, how do you see the stars?

Thursday, April 3, 2008

A Leap of Faith . . .

Please forgive my self-indulgence. This has nothing to do with Waugh, Wilde, or anything literary for that matter (not directly, anyway). I'm just tremendously excited about my latest endeavor. I'm doing improvisational comedy again, and I'm loving it. I'm hardly (make that HARDLY) a comedic genius, but I'm working with some very kind and patient folks who also happen to be completely amazing performers. These guys of whom I speak--and, glowingly, but probably not glowingly enough--are the Improv Brothas of downtown Detroit. They perform at the Park Bar (which also happens to be the BEST bar in Detroit) on a newly built and really impressive stage facility.
I just wanted to share this with you lovely folks, my friends, and to ask you for your supportive thoughts. Please wish me luck, that I might not be kicked out of the group, be booed off stage, or vomit during a rehearsal.
I believe that there will be an Improv Brothas show on April 30th, for those of you in the immediate or surrounding area of Detroit. I probably won't be in this particular show, but, if anything, this should ENCOURAGE everyone to come. These guys really are truly amazing, and if you go to their show, I promise that you will laugh.
I'll post a show time and more details later. And, hey, maybe I'll try to work Waugh into a scene or two in the very near future . . .