Dear Chicago, Why do you make it so hard to leave you–even if just for a fortnight or less? I just wanted to go away for a little vacation. I planned my trip so diligently–being away at a time when I had the fewest commitments. Yet every day, I receive another invitation to something fantastic…
If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? – Dogen Zenji
Looking for something fun and free to do in Chicago tonight? Why not come to a cool bar and listen to some wonderful folks tell some fantastic stories?! Lifeline’s Storytelling Project is happening at the Glenwood Bar in Rogers Park (right off the red-line at Morse) tonight! Yours Truly will be telling a story. Come…
When I was a young actor I wanted to be as much of an actor as I could be. So I took ANY job that even remotely resembled acting. I lived in Cincinnati for a year and a half dressing up as an alien from Star Trek at a theme park nearby. I was 21…
Most improvisers are so afraid of being cliché or “repeating themselves” that they try to avoid archetypes and typical relationships. Maybe they’re thinking, “You’ve seen one lovers-getting-together scene, you’ve seen them all.” But these are the stories that audiences crave to see and hear the most. If this was not the case, nobody would know…
That place on W2 forms where you list exemptions is important. I need to change mine. Uncle Sam is getting a lot of money from me this month. Sometimes when you sit down to write about something, you write about something else entirely. I forgot how much I love Sherman Alexie’s writing. I need to…
Writing a show is: 1 part inspiration 1 part discipline 2 parts putting your insides on the page 1 part playing Scrabble on facebook If you’re going to try to double that last one, you better double the whole damn recipe.
I told a friend recently that I was writing my next one-woman show. She asked me about my process. I’m not really sure what my process is. I think I’m still figuring it out. I can tell you what my process feels like. It feels like my process is: announce to everyone I’m writing my…
Ugh. This whole thing upsets me. As an artist, it upsets me when performers think they have to change a truthful story to make it “theatrical.” There are so many ways to dramatize truth without lying about it. If you have to lie to make your theatre good or poignant, then you’re just not creative…
After I lost my sister, a dear friend gave me a book on grief. It’s called, Transcending Loss by Ashley Davis Prend and has been incredibly helpful. Dealing with the death of a loved one is not something I can encapsulate into a sentence or even a blog entry. At least, not right now. Or…