The sound of one hand clapping.

I've been chatting with Don about remounting Fugue. Seems like he and I are just about all that remains from the original group, anymore.

Of the original cast- me, Jess Jones (nee Schlobohm), Chris Biddle, Lisa Fairman, Scott Whitehair, Deanna Moffitt, Matt Devine, and Krissy Kavanagh, half have stepped back. For Jess and Lisa, it was personal, relationship-y reasons I won't go into. For Scott, it's the conundrum of keeping his writing muse happy. And for Chris, it's the necessity of letting the show evolve without being bogged down by half of an old cast. I still dunno about Deanna, Krissy, and Matt yet.

It begs the question- is it still a show, if the only people involved are the producer and the director? Is it still a remount? (probably yes)
It also begs the question, should I be cast already? If the remaining three drop out for whatever reasons, I'll be all that's left of the original cast. It'd be a cast of 9 new people, and me. Frankly, that's exciting to me, because it's fresh blood and a fresh perspective on a show I really cherish. I revel in the chance to do truly artistic and intelligent work, and I know there are unexplored levels to this show.

I'm hopeful that, even if their reasons for stepping back from Fugue persist, the cast members come back and audition for the new shows. Their style of play, intelligence, and integrity as performers is something spectacular to behold, and I really can't imagine things moving forward without their (for lack of a less hippy word) energy. Yes, I'm a hugger.

TM will survive. We're in a downswing right now (all but one of the board members has also stepped down/back), but that happens to all companies in their evolution. There's the possibility of us getting (close to) our own space to play in, something I'll finagle any way I can, because of what it means for the company. We have terrific shows waiting in the wings for directors/producers/cast. This is an odd, nervous time I've been through before, but never enjoy. I need to get my ass in gear and make use of the opportunities afforded me by some void that's present in the improv theatre world. I want us to do more shows like Fugue. Hopefully, when we get a new cast, they'll be able to step up and play to the level the original cast hit.

---

Sickest Fucking Censorship.
Chris Biddle produces a show called The Sickest Fucking Stories I Ever Heard. I first saw this show produced about 5 1/2 years ago, at The Memphis Comedy Festival, before I even moved to Chicago. It was hilarious. It's a fun show, but it can get pretty fucking dirty. It's in the title, for crying out loud. People play poker and share dirty stories. Sick stories. Stories involving bodily fluids, functions, and contortions. The underbelly of existence. You know, the best kinds of stories.

Anyhow, Chris mounted a production of it in Chicago, late last year. Opening night was a free show, to gather crowds, and I did my part by posting it on Meetup.com, which seems to be a good source of people who want to see some new and sometimes bizarre shit in the city. Cool, they said, and came in droves. We packed the theater, and everyone had a great time. The show continues now, one Saturday a month, at the Playground Theater.

I'd told Chris I would re-post the event sometime in the future, to get him some more crowds. I've done this for other shows I like. So, I posted an event for his April show, and so far have gotten a good response.

Except for one individual.

See, I post it as "Sickest F*cking Stories" on the event, and when you post an event, it emails the whole group to let them know there's a new event. Well, I got a response from one person who basically told me, "Don't email me this kind of filth. If you're a patron, so be it, but I don't want to be a part of a community associated with such nonsense."

I wasn't sure how to respond. Surely, this person is an adult who's heard curse words before. Certainly, they must know that this wasn't an attempt for me to dump porn into their email box. I've gotten event notices that I'm not particularly interested in- some dude recently had posted something about a rave, which I found odd and almost inappropriate, but I left it alone. It is, after all, a "night life" meetup group. Takes all kinds, right?

So I shot back an email to the tune of "I'm sorry you were offended by the notice. It's simply the title of the show, and not an attempt to fill your email with 'filth'. I can't remove one specific person from the email bulletins; Meetup isn't structured that way. You can shut off emails yourself..." -blah, blah, blah.
I figured they were misreading it as some spam I'd sent out under the guise of an event. Like putting "make your dick bigger!" as an event on a singles group.

Not so. This individual is "a Christian", and thus considers this sort of event "offensive". They went on to tell me that I could have posted a "neutral event" (whatever the fuck that is), "BUT YOU CHOOSE NOT TO" (their caps). And further went on to say that I should ask myself before posting, "is this event appropriate for the group?" and that they, themselves, withhold from posting events about "Sunday Morning Prayer" events, or "Christian Fun Night" and the like.

Really?

No. Fucking REALLY?

I had to vent to a friend about it, but eventually decided it would be pointless to reply, and deleted all the emails associated with it, to fight the temptation; it'd be pointless to attempt to hold a conversation with someone so uptight and closed-minded.

I just can't imagine that someone would go to the trouble to be so offended about that. Please, feel free to post a Christian Fun Night, or a Muslim Fun Night, or a trip to the Gay Pride Parade, or a Seance, or a Rave, or a NRA member's Boys Night Out at the gun range. Guess what? I'll ignore it if it's not for me. It's an open group; anyone (who is an Organizer) can post anything they want. I don't belong to a gay singles group, a Christian prayer group, or an American Idol groupie group. Because they don't apply to me. It's not as though there aren't a million things that I see every day online, in the news, in the paper, that should offend me. I decided to completely ignore the existence of the Red Eye, because every single time I've ever opened it, I'm annoyed by the utter tripe it spews. Because I don't care about Britney's blah-blah or Bradgelinaffer's baby dramarama. Who fucking cares? Not me, so I move on. I ignore it. And I'm better off.

Guess what? You don't have the right to not be offended, at every goddamn turn. Sure, there are blatantly offensive things that are said, every day. And yes, some of them are things you should point out and say something about. Words do hurt, and language can have power in how we use that tool. Geraldine Ferraro said some things that were pretty offensive about Barack Obama. And his camp was offended. And she was let go. That's something to be offended about.

But this? This is pretty fucking tame. You don't dig it? Move the fuck on. Shut the fuck up. Stop being so thin-skinned and realize, for just a moment, that you live in a world composed of billions of people, most of whom have nothing in common with you. Get over yourself. If you find what's on television offensive to your tender sensibilities- change the channel. If the newspaper is filled with things that bother you- don't read it. If there are movies filled with violence and sex and cursing, don't see them. Guess what- your specific bubble offends ME. And guess what? I don't fucking go there.

See ya at the show, bitches.


Postscript:
In an odd coincidence, the same day I received the emails above, I was removed as an organizer from completely different Meetup (where I'd posted this event, and where I'd also posted it, months ago). I'm sure the two have nothing to do with one another; I've been glitch-ily removed as an organizer before, without warning or reason. This is likely more of the same. I just couldn't help but connect the two in my mind, even though I know correlation simply doesn't equal causation. Ah, good ol' Sociology 101- I knew you'd come in handy someday.