The Chicago trip was a whirlwind. Literally. There were tornado warnings all day on Friday, the the weather was absolutely wild. It was hot and humid, but the wind was blowing like mad. At times, it was difficult to walk down the street, because the wind was pushing back so hard. You could practically lean against the wind, and it would hold you up. That is until it swirled and changed direction. They aren’t kidding about this Windy City business.

There’s a rooftop pool and patio in our building. The panoramic view is breathtaking. What really amazes me about Chicago is the waterfront. It’s a great example of how a city should manage its waterfront, allowing full access to everyone, rather than crowding it with condos so close that you can’t even see the water, let alone walk to it and dip your feet in (*ahem*toronto*ahem*). Another thing that they’ve done right is maintained a lot of green space. There are trees and grass everywhere in the city, which makes it a much more pleasant place than the concrete jungles who try to squeeze every cent out of the available land space. I think by keeping the land beautiful, it actually enhances the real estate value. But what do I know?

I actually didn’t watch too much improv on this trip. I caught the sets of a couple of the Toronto teams, like WDWMKR and Little American Bastards. They were great. But, since we had to pay for the shows individually, and often the shows were sold out, I was not that inspired to go see them. I saw tons of different improv at DSI and will see tons more at the Del Close Marathon in August too.

Instead, I partook in other fun things, like swimming, partying, shopping, and eating deep dish pizzas two days in a row. Hey, if you’re going to fall off the caveman wagon for a couple of days, you might as well fall into a deep dish pizza.

Big in Japan performed at the Second City’s Skybox on Saturday night. The CIF staff at the show were great, and operated like a friendly well-oiled machine. It was a very cool venue, with about 70 seats, and a multi-level stage. We had fun playing with that. I think if we had the opportunity to play on that stage a couple of times, we’d somehow find a way to integrate it into our style.

Sunday was a pretty chilled out day. We’d stayed up until about 5am the night before, so getting up to check out of the condo was not easy, but we managed somehow. We left the luggage with the front desk, and lounged around for most of the day, having pizza, Cold Stone ice cream, and hanging out in the 44th floor lounge.

The trip back home was not as smooth. We cut it pretty close, making it to the airport about 30 minutes before our flight was to take off at 10pm, but in the end, it didn’t matter. Because of thunderstorms gathered above Chicago, our flight was delayed by four hours. With the time change and delays, we got to Buffalo at about 4:30am. I had the distinct displeasure of watching the sun rise as I drove home. I crashed in bed at 5:30am, and then felt like I had barely closed my eyes when it was time to wake up at 8am to greet the flooring guys who are installing my new floor as we speak. More about that later.

I’m pretty tired today. I’m beat up from eating badly for the last couple of days, and not having enough sleep. But, I should have time this week to catch up on sleep and repair some of that damage!

Landed in Chicago with Big in Japan. We bought three-day transit passes and took the subway from the airport to our swank pad overlooking the city.

Fresh blueberries, strawberries, almonds and yogurt. I love summer.

I forgot to add the ground flax seed before taking the picture, but it was mixed into the final product. The flax seed slows down your body’s absorption of the fruit, so you get more bang for your breakfast buck. Great source of omega-3 fat too.

In other news, painting is done at my place. It was a huge job. It required about 8 gallons of paint, and several near-death experiences on ladders. I probably could have gotten it done sooner, but I was tied up with working, and sheer non-interest in the tedium of the job. However, now that it’s done, I’m pretty happy with it. Yesterday, I also removed the carpet from the studio area, so it’s down to bare concrete now.

New floors are supposed to go in on Monday. I chose a Cumbrian Maple laminate.

I think the dark color will help “ground” the room, since the brightness of the walls have really opened it up. My Monday floor installation schedule might be thrown off though, because I might be hired for a full-day shoot on site that day. I would have to postpone floor installation until after my Chicago trip next week. Either way, I’m pretty happy.

If everything goes ahead as planned, I’ll have a new floor by Monday night. If I have to change plans, I’ll make some money to help pay for all of this!

The Chicago trip goes from Thursday until Sunday next week. We’re taking Big in Japan to the mecca of improv, the Chicago Improv Festival. We’re pretty excited to be playing there. We’ll be playing at the Second City Skybox on Friday, June 6 at 9pm.

We’re so ready for this trip. For the last couple of months, Big in Japan has been blowing the roof off of the Savannah Room shows. Our rehearsals have been intense and productive. We have our own show now, called Big in Japan OMFG which runs every Tuesday night. And every night, I feel like we’re doing great work, advancing our style. We’re feeling invincible up there. Even last night, when most of the team was involved in the Combustion Festival and couldn’t make it to OMFG, Sean Magee and I did a two-person set that rocked hard. I can’t wait to take it to Chicago.

UPDATE: I’m hired for that full-day shoot on Monday. The floors will have to wait!

I can’t believe I didn’t know about this sooner, but The Onion has video reports now. They’re done in the same dead-serious tone as their print reports, with full cable news network production quality. I’m addicted.

This one, for improvisers out there, is a beautiful example of the old “Secret Wants and Desires” game, played to perfection.

Hungry FDA Official Orders Massive Pot Pie Recall

Enjoy the addiction!

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!