ten forevers

It has been almost a year since I've posted but I haven't been having any luck writing sketches recently so I need to do something to get my brain moving. I just heard a neighbor have a very loud orgasm in the middle of a thunderstorm. I am confused because it seems like a bad time to have your windows open but I really can't see how I would hear them otherwise. Our house is at least ten feet from all of the other houses and I've never heard them before. Maybe this is a new thing I now have to look forward to. We are talking really loud here. For a second I thought maybe someone was hurt and Baxter started barking twice because it freaked him out. I really hope this is a one-night stand.

Out of Bounds just finished up. I have so much fun during the festival and see so much great improv, it is hard to come back to reality. I got to take a workshop with Craig Cackowsky and he gave us all personal notes afterward. His notes to me were not shocking, I have gotten most of them before, but they were definitely on-target and gave me a clear focus for my improv. Some of the notes were new from a coach but stuff I have thought about my improv for a long time. I just have never been able to put it into words. I have been told by at least four or five coaches that I always play low status characters and that I should explore playing high status characters. I feel like no matter how hard I work on this, even when I actively push myself, nine out of ten characters I create are going to be low-status. What is funny is as an actor, I played a lot of higher status roles and loved it, but when I am creating the role myself I go to the place where I feel more comfortable.
My challenge to myself is to play only high-status characters in my next three shows. It will be really hard but I am going to try! Two of those shows are this weekend so I will soon see how it feels. Another thing Craig told me was to work on endowing my partners with more specifics. This is something I definitely don't do enough of, probably out of meekness. I don't want to tell my scene partner what their character needs or does or looks like or more importantly I don't trust the ideas I have for them and don't let myself take risks. I'm excited and scared to work on this stuff. It makes me sad that Northshore is no longer rehearsing. I think it was the right decision for us, but I really want to figure out some sort of weekly improv rehearsal to keep me working and growing as an improviser. I am going to try to figure this out as soon as I can. I am excited about improv again. I am hungry for it in a way I haven't been in months. Thank you out of bounds, specifically, Cackowski, and the Reckoning, for making me realize what I want to be able to do with this art that I love.