I haven’t posted much about what’s going in in my life lately. Nothing bad is happening. Lots of good things have, actually. Here’s a few highlights:

• Jason Mraz concert with Hesi. That was a lot of fun. We got there late, thinking we’d missed some of Jason Mraz’s performance, but it was just his opening acts, which were also fun. I particularly enjoyed Bushwalla, a hip hop artist who wasn’t afraid to be a bit goofy, but still made serious music.
• Renovations are slowly getting underway here, as you might have guessed from my recent entries. I purchased paint today, and got a ladder in here, so there’s really no excuse not to start painting. That’s going to begin on Wednesday. I’ve also torn up the carpet a bit to see what’s underneath, making sure the floor is in good shape for putting laminate on top. I’ve decided to pay to have someone else do the flooring, partly on the advice given in blog comments here. Thanks folks.
• I did a full weekend intensive workshop with Zach Ward from the Dirty South Improv theatre in North Carolina. It was great to get a refresher workshop on improv. I haven’t had any critique of my improv for quite a long time, and taking the workshop was a great way to get that, from someone who is hella funny and a true master of comedy. I know my improv, particularly tagout skills are improved from having taken his class.
• Big in Japan is going to Chicago at the beginning of June for the mecca of improv festivals, the aptly named Chicago Improv Festival. We’re also applying for the Del Close Marathon in NYC, which happens in August. We’ve been there for the past two years running, so there’s a good chance we’ll go again. I’m excited about the team. In the last few shows, I think we’ve done the best improv we’ve done as a group in ages. We’ve got shows every Tuesday night at the Savannah Room.
• I taught a three-hour photography workshop at a high school in Oakville today. I enjoy this kind of volunteer work. It allows me to corrupt young minds with my own particular ideas about art and photography. Muahhahaha! When I got there, the teacher was leading a drama class. She’d already told them I do improv, so they demonstrated their improv skills for me. They were so into it. I offered to come back and do an improv workshop with that group later, which would be a total blast.

That’s all I have to report for now. I suppose there’ll be more boring pictures of my renovations to come soon!

I’m back from DSIF8. What a blast. Zach and the rest of the DSI crew know how to run a festival, and it ran smooth as silk. I think that every time I go to one of these festivals, I see the quality of improv get better and better. The festival regulars, like Bassprov and UCB’s Death by Roo Roo just keep getting better and better. I see the effect on lesser-known teams too, as they are inspired and learn from the greats.

My festival favorites this year were One Night Stand, a group from L.A. that does full-out improvised Broadway musicals. I saw them perform twice, and they blew me away both times. Death by Roo Roo also threw down some incredibly aggressive and funny improv, attacking the stage with energy and play that left everyone in awe.

Big in Japan didn’t make it to the festival this year, and plenty of people told me they were disappointed about that. I think we put on a decent set last year, and people were looking forward to seeing us again. Plus, we’re just real nice Canadian folk. But, not having Big in Japan opened up an opportunity for me. KPR arranged that he and I would play with Jeff Griggs, who’s one of my all-time favorite improvisers. He also wrote the book Guru, about the time he spent with legendary improv teacher Del Close. Griggs is a modest guy and a generous player, making everyone on stage with him look good. Anyway, I barely remember the set, because I was quite nervous about playing with Griggs, but we got good feedback on it. Also, because I was sharing shooting duties with another photographer, there are pictures of me on stage with KPR and Griggs!

There were some technical challenges for shooting this festival. There were three different venues, with vastly different light between them all. I had to really work the manual white balance to get consistent color, and in the earlier photos, I didn’t quite succeed. I got better at it towards the end though.Here are some of my favorite photos from the festival. In the photos, you can see the final beat from the One Night Stand set, which was an arm wrestling match between the main character and his love interest, in which he wins her over with his poetry.

For other photos, check out the Tumblr for the festival. Everyone got the address to submit to the Tumblr, which I think is a great way to share images among a group.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses down there though. Everyone seemed to have this hacking cough and sneezing, achy cold. Guess what? I got it too. I’m hoping I can kick this thing fast, because it sucks being sick.

I’m off to the Dirty South Improv Festival again tomorrow, shooting and performing. My photos from last year are on this year’s site. Cool! My flight leaves at 8:45am, which means I’ll have to leave here around 6am tomorrow morning to beat the traffic. Not cool! It should be a good time though, hooking up with old friends, meeting new people, taking pictures, seeing awesome improv, etc.

It’s been busy around here lately, with Montreal work and photography taking up a lot of time. I’ve been shooting mainly headshots, but also some more interesting stuff, like pregnancy photos. Here’s a sample.

Now I’m off to watch the lunar eclipse.