Dogs in Crates.

Originally uploaded by macnab.

Magical Ancient Cologne Dispenser in an Eagle’s Club

Originally uploaded by macnab.

Where it All Started, Kind Of

Originally uploaded by macnab.

Please forgive this slow crawl down my Memory Lane…soon I’ll be
posting about new and exciting things I find in a new city.

But this is the site where Jump played our first “plugged in” gigs. We
had a weekly show here when we first came to Charleston, playing our
handful of originals and Irish tunes to a dozen or so angry frat boys
a night. And a couple of new fans, who are all close friends to this
day.

Good times.

Yeah. Pretty awesome. Creepy psycho killer flick. It’s amazing the things that you can find when you’re rooting through old boxes. And amazing how distracting those things can be when you’re trying to pack up said boxes. OK. Right.

I mean, of course it’s great. The concept of moving is amazing: being in a new place, seeing new things, starting new jobs. The actual doing it does not. Moving has never ever been fun, no matter what situation I’m in. A year and some change ago, I moved right around the corner. Some of my stuff I simply walked to my new apartment. But it still sucked.

Moving to another city is much, much harder, of course. And as much as I’ve tried to control my pack-rat tendencies, there is still a lot of stuff that accumulates. Giant trash bags are the new Black, in our house.

And the other question is how to get rid of things that are worth money but not worth anything to us. And to do it as easily as possible. There is a company in town that does all the ebay.com work for you: takes photos, sends things, etc., but they charge a commission of 40% and that’s… a lot of cash.

I find myself up to my old tricks: doing anything I can to not think about actually packing a box. Taking on jobs I shouldn’t. Going to see shows I don’t really have time to see. But it’ll get done, at some point. Right?

Right?

Kiki May 2008 was an amazing success. Thank you all for being there. Saturday night’s show was the saddest I’ve been on stage since… Dock Street, 2005. I know that we’ll work with Cary Ann, Bill, Nathan, Stephanie, Danielle, etc. again, but I don’t know when, and it makes me miss them already.

But… onwards and upwards! only loose ends and packing left.

Yep. Just when you thought that it couldn’t be more awesome.

I can’t believe that opening is only ten days away. Evan and I started freaking out a little bit at all the stuff that needed to get done; we could have have handled it in the past, because everyone on the Kiki team is their own capable entity, but we were still missing Direction.

Enter Reason Number Four: Greg Tavares. Greg is a founding member of the Have Nots!, Charleston’s premier Improv Comedy troupe, and is also part-owner of Theatre 99 itself. He’s the reason we’ve always done Kiki Proper at ‘99, because I’ve known him since the day he moved to Charleston and we’ve been fast friends for more than 10 years now. He recently directed me in Santaland Diaries, and it was one of the best times I’ve had, working with someone, so when we were wondering who could possibly lend a spare eye and ear to the various pieces of this show coming up, he was the first person that came to mind.

The Kiki shows are structured unlike anything most Theater People have experienced before, and it generally freaks them out to watch our process. The musicians get together to learn songs, and the dancers meet separately, the writers write bits and actors rehearse their skits. Then, close to the show, we just throw everyone into a room and say “GO!” and hope for the best. We’ve had surprisingly good results before using this haphazard “hope for the best” rehearsal process, but the frustrating thing is that if there is any amount of direction needed, it probably won’t be able to come from Evan or me, because we’re too busy on stage, and that direction is just as haphazard as everything else. In the past we’ve had our writers Joe and Summer act as “police” of sorts, telling us when things need to go more smoothly or aren’t funny, but they’re also busy being writers.

This time we wanted to have someone in charge. Thankfully, Greg agreed to do it. Not only has he already lent a spare eye/ear, but he’s tidied up some skits and helped us find a real rhythm to the show. And that was in his first day of work.

Seriously. Do you have tickets yet?

Trippy Alien Lunch Beast

Originally uploaded by macnab.

Kikioke.

I tell you what. Coming up with this stuff is more fun than you can imagine. And then people actually donate real prizes for the winners. People are actually encouraging this behavior.

From the official site:

Part game show. Part reality TV. And the possibility of pain.

If
you come to any of our shows in May, you will be treated to
the first public performance of the underground Japanese hit reality
game show, Kikioke, in which two contestants are chosen to compete
against one another in a cut-throat version of “Name That Tune”, only:
if you’re wrong, someone pays! But all in good fun. Fun like going
water skiing and busting your ass over and over as your maniacal uncle
refuses to “take it easy”.

Our past game show winners have
walked away with fabulous Kiki t-shirts, bottles of wine, and
“pre-owned” panties, but this time, we’re upping the ante! Come,
compete, and possibly win:

• a gift certificate to Sermet’s Corner, in Charleston, SC
• a gift certificate from Crushed Fine Wine, in Charleston
• a gift certificate from O’hara and Flynn’s Wine and Cheese, also in Charleston.

…and
more prizes may appear! This is real shit, y’all. Stuff you’d actually
want to have. Stuff worth embarrassing yourself and a number of your
closest companions by singing to a packed audience of people for.

How
do I sign up? 1. Get yourself some tickets to a Kiki show coming
up. 2. Come to the show. We’ll be set up in the lobby to
audition possible contestants. 3. Show us what you can do.

That’s it? Yes! That’s it! See you in May. And a hint: start brushing up on your classic 70s and 80s torch songs. KIKIOKE!!

I’m so lucky.

I need to get better about posting events that are happening in Charleston. Last night I saw a great show at the Map Room, a project that Evan put together with members of Slow Runner and Leslie. It was a Tom Petty tribute band, and they were great. Like, Tom Petty great. Lead Vocalist for the evening Sadler Vaden (yes, his real name) has all the moves, the looks, and the cheezy-but-perfect stage patter of a rock and roller age gone by, and the rest of the band was comprised of easily the best musicians in town (thanks, Biv,  If you’re like me, you don’t even know that you’re a Tom Petty fan until you’re sitting there listening to the songs and you find yourself singing along, because the far reaches of your sub-conscious are filling in the phrases for you, because almost every song he wrote in the 70s/80s was a hit. Try it.

Unless, of course, you weren’t born in the 70s or 80s. Which is completely fine. If so, check out this guy named Tom Petty. He was a huge star before you had to look like a model to be famous.