AIC and ColdTowne Present: TJ and Dave in AUSTIN 3/15 &

[ratliff]

Except that sometimes Yo Yo Ma FAKES IT.

I'm not sure that I get this joke, but I bet it's funny. Miss you, Ratliff.

Backatcha, brother. No Left in '09!

[mcnichol]

Except that sometimes Yo Yo Ma FAKES IT.

I'm not sure that I get this joke, but I bet it's funny. Miss you, Ratliff.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBtdgGfbHjc[/youtube]

[bradisntclever]

While talking to a co-worker I likened the experience to a cello player going to see Yo Yo Ma.

Except that sometimes Yo Yo Ma FAKES IT.

I state the following with the assumption Ratliff already knows, but I'm surprised by the amount of people who don't: it's fucking impossible to play a cello outside in really cold weather. I played outside in a quartet one time when the temperature fluctuated about 8 or 9 degrees with the wind. Each time the wind picked up, all of our instruments went out of tune.

Stringed instruments take an absolute beating outdoors. Most performances like these are taped ahead of time with good instruments (like Ma's Davydov Stradivarius made in fucking 1712!!!). Then the players bring out the equivalent of a fake fruit bowl (throwaway instruments that look really pretty) and put a lot of soap on their bows to prevent any sound from being produced.

[ratliff]

I state the following with the assumption Ratliff already knows, but I'm surprised by the amount of people who don't: it's fucking impossible to play a cello outside in really cold weather.

Yes, it was a joke . . . but what bothered me, and a lot of other people, about doing this for the inauguration was not that they did it, but that they weren't upfront about it. When NPR's Robert Siegel asked Yo Yo outright if it had occurred to anyone to announce this in advance, he dodged the question. To be fair, it most likely wasn't his call.

The event was a celebration of an open and transparent democracy, inaugurating a president whose stated goal was to change business as usual and resist doing things the same way they've always been done. The symbolism of faking music to recorded accompaniment for technical reasons -- a practice that is well known to musicians but is conveniently unknown to the listening public -- was a little too poignant for me.

[TexasImprovMassacre]

I talked to TJ for a second after a show tonight about Austin. He said it was their pleasure to get to play, and that it seemed like the scene there was ready for more.


hat's off

[TexasImprovMassacre]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpFdfuJq2Bo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8UfKBA6-WA[/youtube]

[macarthur31]

"Trust us..." is showing at the MSP Int'l Film Fest this weekend, and I was able to catch last night's showing (it'll also run today.) The director, Alex Karpovsky, has a nice following up here since one of his movies was set in Brainerd, MN. He was also on hand to introduce the film and do Q&A afterwards.

The house was probably 3/4 full (I'm guessing 100+ people), and I recognized some local improvisers in the house. It seemed to me that there were probably more non-improvisers than improvisers -- but that's a hunch.

I loved the documentary. Alex did a terrific job with the "framing" of the show (loved the double screen effect), he really captured the show well. My fellow audience members were really responding to the performance. I've seen them about 9 times in Chicago, and seeing it on screen -- it really felt like I was there (except with all sorts of great camera angles). Even though its the next day, I'm still reflecting on their set -- so brilliant. I wished my wife could've come with (she enjoys them as well, but had to watch the kids) -- so as least to have someone to process the movie with.

I still sit with two key TJ & Dave notions: "IT is happening all the time -- our job is to plug into it for an hour. Even when we're done with the show, those characters and their stories move on" -- gorgeous way of explaining how they have so much reverence for the characters they create and the relationships they inhabit. And second -- "performing is about removing all fear."

Before the movie ran, they had a brief 5 minute improv "set" by 4 University of Minnesota college students. I loved their eagerness and earnestness -- but it was a tough set up -- their inexperience definitely showed as they modeled the opposite of fearlessness. While I didn't particularly enjoy their five minute set, I certainly empathized with them -- I've had that fear overcome me on stage. Whether they meant it or not -- it set up a poignant comparison: these college students trying so hard to CREATE with loud voices and contrived situations, while TJ and Dave took almost two minutes being silent and gentle -- deeply listening to the space and to each other to summon IT. Del certainly would've been proud.


It's great to finally have a movie to refer folks to when they ask me about improv -- that's what its all about right there.