Ohmigod I have so much to tell you about this week! Friday night, I went to The Jacksonville Music Video Revival at the Five Points Theatre (and saw myself on the big screen), attended a Mad Cow Improv show at Northstar Sub Station, hung out at Dos Gatos and caught a concert at Cafe 331. On Thursday, I got a tour of WJCT during the day and participated in a movie shoot in Riverside with some gory looking liquid latex on my face at night.
Oh yes, we have a lot to cover.
Okay, let me start with Friday night and the Jacksonville Music Video Revival. I could hardly contain my excitement as I drove downtown toward the Five Points Theatre Friday night. A few weeks ago, I was invited by local filmmaker, Anthony Kilburn to be in a music video to promote his upcoming comedy Gore-E-ography: The Making of Death Harmony. (Gore-E-ography rhymes with choreography). The music video shoot was so much fun! You can read all about it here: http://www.outandaboutinjax.com/2010/07/shoot-for-zombie-disco-music-video.html
I'd had a blast at the video shoot, but I hadn't yet had a chance to see the full finished project. Not only was I jazzed to see the video and hear the song again (a super catchy fun song called "Open Skate (Zombie Disco)"), I was also pumped for my big screen debut.
Let me tell you a bit about the Jacksonville Muisc Video Revival. Its the brainchild of blogger and EU writer, Jack Diablo (http://www.jackdiablo.wordpress.com/). To read an interview with Jack all about the Music Video Revival, click here: http://jackdiablo.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/jmvr-interview-at-wingard-creative/
Basically Jack says that after attending the Citrus Cel Animation Festival recently, he was inspired to try to resurrect the art form of the music video (remember when MTV actually played them??) and to showcase Jacksonville's great local music scene. So Jack partnered up with EU Magazine, the Five Points Theatre and CW 17 among other sponsors and put out the call to all local musicians and filmmakers to submit their videos.
So the big night was Friday night from 5-7pm, and coincided with First Fridays in Five Points, an event that happens on the first Friday of each month. Similar to the First Wednesday Artwalk downtown, Five Points shops and restaurants stay open late, many featuring local artwork and/or live music.
When I arrived in Five Points a little after 5pm, the streets were packed! Really interesting looking cars were parked all over the place (including brightly colored souped-up trucks, lowered so much that the body of the truck appeared to be resting on the ground). Adding to the unique mix of people, groups of bikers sat outside having beers, and dressed up girls browsed the shops. An avid people-watcher myself I was in heaven: I love eclectic, diverse groups of people.
I met up with Effie right outside the Five Points Theatre. There were two showings of music videos, one at 5, and one at 6 (each showing consisting of 14 videos, and taking about an hour). We arrived close to halfway through the first showing. As we headed into the theater, I immediately noticed the familiar, toe-tapping notes of "Zombie Disco" wafting from the theatre. "That's our video playing!" I screamed, as I grabbed a startled Effie's wrist and dragged her into the theatre. So we stood in back of the dark theatre and watched the "Open Skate (Zombie Disco)" video.
It was so GOOD!
In my view, the best music videos are ones that tell a story, and that's how ours was. Our video was the story of a guy and girl zombie (CJ and Courtney from my last post about the video shoot) who starred in a music video together back when they were humans. So the zombies are each in their respective homes, (as zombies now) and their human music video comes on TV. This causes them to head out into the city, looking for each other, killing people and recruiting more zombies along the way. Near the end of the video, they find each other and then do a Thriller-like dance with a big group of zombies. It's hilarious! You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBnH4J9YcEU
I can't even describe how cool it was to watch myself on the big screen. In fact, I reached up with my camera and snapped a picture of the image of the three of us on the screen. When the video finished, I burst into cheers, startling a few people sitting nearby. There was only a smattering of people in the theater for the 5pm showing (most people showed up at 6) but they clapped and cheered along with me.
Effie and I settled into a couple of seats to watch the rest of the videos. Of course, in my completely unbiased opinion, our video was the best, but the other videos were really cool too. I was quite impressed with the obvious work and talent that were showcased in the different videos. Also impressive was the range of types of music that were represented: we saw everything to pop sounding songs (like ours), to more hard core rock, to slow smooth R&B to rap. It was a really great blend of music, and almost all of the videos were impressive visually too.
One video I really liked was for a song called "Trouble Hunters" by Astronautalis -- the video was shot in many locations, a beach, a parking garage, a store, a house etc and was really cool to watch. It featured a guy with a Dracula-esque vampire cape and big fake teeth singing, along with different scenes of people shooting each other, or running.. not really sure what the story was supposed to be, but I was entertained the whole way through and I think whoever filmed it was very talented. http://www.last.fm/music/Astronautalis/_/The+Trouble+Hunters
Another honorable mention goes to "Something More" by Mr. Al Pete featuring Tony White. Reminiscent of Boys II Men, this was a beautiful R&B song --the guys were very talented vocally, and the quality of the video was very good. A majority of the video was shot in San Marco Square. I remember thinking that Jacksonville really should get more credit nationally. We have such a beautiful city, and obviously there is some great talent here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SskZ1Me7Zws
One of the funniest videos of the evening was probably "Rootin For the Bad Guy" by The 2416. In the video, a pack of puppets that look like something out of a Fandango commercial hunt down members of the band and kill them. There's a part in the middle of the video where two female puppets seduce one of the band members and then strangle him with his own belt... it had the audience hooting and snorting... check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11fgGTRwr8g
Soon the 5pm showing was finished and we had a few minutes to kill before the 6pm showing started. I headed out to the lobby and had a look around. I was really impressed with the Five Points Theatre. They have a great snack bar with beer wine, and other drinks and snacks, a nice lobby and pretty nice bathrooms. I made a mental note to come here to see a film soon. They tend to show lesser known films and Indie films -- something I'm becoming more and more interested the longer I'm involved with Gore-E-ography.
Soon more of the cast and crew of Gore-E-ography started showing up, and I chatted with them and introduced Effie. I'd just seen them the previous night for a film shoot. Anthony Kilburn (the director of Gore-E-ography) had invited me, and it was a really cool experience. Although he is already through filming all of the footage he needs for Gore-E-ography, Anthony was gathering some people at his house to do some still shots that will be used in the movie when the characters refer to their past.
So Thursday night, I gathered with about ten other people at Anthony's house in Riverside for the shoot. I had a lot of fun, and met some really interesting people-- some were actors, and some were friends and family of actors. Everyone got along really well and we all had a lot of fun. I played the little sister of one of the characters in the movie, played by a gregarious guy named Jay. Jay must have been the most hilarious guys I met that night. He's one of those people who two seconds after you meet them, make you feel as if you have been friends all your life.
So in the movie, when Jay's character talks about his family, the still pictures we took will flash up on the screen. My character is supposed to be deformed, so a makeup artist at the house spent about an hour painting liquid latex onto my face to make an grotesque tumor like lump coming out of the left side of my face. It was my first experience with liquid latex, and I'll be honest, that part of the experience was a little rough. First of all, it took over an hour to apply the latex and makeup. Also, the latex gave off some fumes, causing my eye to water, and the latex REALLY stuck to my skin (and some of my hair). With the latex covering half of my face, it made it really hard for me to make any kind of facial expression.
The most fun photo we took was of me, Jay and Jay's mom, who came that night just to play Jay's character's mom in the photos. Jay's mom deserves a "Best Mom in the World" award for allowing the makeup artist to cover her right eye with a sheet of liquid latex and makeup. You just try covering an eye for even a few minutes... you lose all depth perception. Poor thing had to practically be led everywhere after the makeup was applied.
So for one of the photos, we gathered in Anthony's kitchen, and Anthony's lovely wife, Halina snapped the photos while Anthony directed. Jay walked out of the kitchen through the back door, while Jay's mom and I stood together in the middle of the kitchen. Halina set up a bright light on us, and then Anthony yelled for Jay to come out and scare us. Anthony called out directions: "Look horrified, Erica! More horror on your face! Mom: grab the phone like you're calling 911! Erica! Can you look a little more scared? Can you open your mouth up any more than that?"
"I can't look scared," I answered, "This latex is freezing up the entire left side of my mouth and face. I feel like I've been shot up with botox or had a stroke!"
"Can you grimace out of the right side of your mouth?" Anthony asked me. So I jutted out the right side of my mouth and contorted my face in mock fear. Everyone in the room cracked up, so I started laughing too. It was a lot of fun. What was not fun was ripping the latex off of my face. I swear I'll never get irritated when one of my patients whines about me taking tape off their IV ever again. Of course I'm glad I did the shoot, and as a result I'll officially be in like a tenth of a second of the feature film, premiering at the Florida Theater on October 28th. I'll be listed in the credits (and in the IMDb) as an extra!
Okay, so back to the Music Video Revival. I ran into Anthony and Halina, and Jay among others. I also ran into CJ, one of the stars of the video. I thanked him profusely for a great tour he gave me of WJCT studios on Thursday. I got to look behind the scenes and see all the radio and television equipment used for WJCTs television channel and radio station. I got to see set pieces, and television cameras. I also got to see the rooms where NPR radio programs are done. I'm a fan of NPR, and listen a lot in the mornings, especially when I'm on my way to work. One of the highlights of the tour was meeting Melissa Ross, host of First Coast Connect which airs on WJCT's radio station 89.9FM each weekday morning from 9-10am. The program is all about Jacksonville -- local news, events and issues, so of course I'm a huge fan. http://www.wjct.org/radio/shows/wjct_news#fcc
Effie and I stayed at Five Points Theatre long enough to see the videos we'd missed due to our late arrival to the 5pm showing. Jay sat next to us, occasionally leaning over to comment on one of the videos. Of course we stayed to see the Open Skate (Zombie Disco) video one more time. Right before it came on, I leaned over to Effie and whispered, "Just so you know, I'm going to scream and cheer obnoxiously the entire time our video is on."
"Oh, goodie," Effie replied. Of course the whole Gore-E-ography group cheered for our video. After our video aired again, Effie and I slipped out of the theater to go find somewhere to eat, and Jay tagged along.
We ended up trying a new sushi restaurant right in Five Points called Yoshi Sushi. The food was pretty good and the place was really nice inside. The service was a little slow, but as the waitress explained, they've only been open 2 days, so they are probably still getting their routines down. While we ate, Jay invited us to a Mad Cowford Improv show going on that night at 8pm. He gushed about the improv comedy troupe and how much fun the shows are.
Several of the Mad Cowford players are in Gore-E-ography, and I have met a few of them, so I'd been meaning to attend one of their shows. I love improv comedy -- when my twin sister and I were undergrads at UF, she was a theater minor, so I ended up hanging out with theater types a lot. I love improv comedy and even went as far as taking an improv class at UF. Effie and I were pretty easily talked into attending the Mad Cowford show, so soon we were headed over Northstar Substation on Bay Street.
I love nights like that -- you start out the night without much of a plan, and you just drift from one place to the next, having so much fun along the way.
Soon we were seated at Northstar, waiting for the show to start. There was a pretty large crowd there, impressive since on this particular night the AC at Northstar happened to be broken, so it got pretty warm in the restaurant. The show was so comical I almost didnt' notice the heat. The players made jokes about the heat, and nobody seemed to mind too much. Mad Cowford Improv has shows every Friday night at Northstar Substation on Bay Street at 8:15pm. (http://www.madcowford.com/) I definitely plan on coming to more of them. Northstar had a great menu (I instantly regretted having sushi beforehand, we should have waited and just eaten at Northstar). The menu had pizza (baked in a brick oven), sandwiches, salads and wings among other things, plus beer wine and an array of bar drinks. Several people around us were having dinner and the food looked and smelled awesome. http://www.northstarsubstation.com/
There were about six players that came up front to perform, and they played several improv games, resulting in some fascinating (these guys were talented) and entertaining skits. For example, one of the games they played was called "hijacker". One of the players ran outside so he couldn't hear the audience suggestions. The rest of the players would pretend they were on a plane, headed to a certain location. The players then asked the audience for suggestions such as where they were going in the plane. What we came up with was that they were headed to Dubai to go to the Gap, and that the hijacker's weapon was a seal (as in the animal). I know, weird right? The hijacker then came back in the room and based on clues from the other players had to guess where they were supposed to be headed, what the weapon was, etc. It was really funny, the hijacker yelling diabolically at the other players (who were screaming in mock fear) while he made guesses as to where they were going.
In one skit, the players had to create an entire scene where all they could do was ask questions. In one game, each line had to start with the next letter of the alphabet, and they had to go in order through the entire alphabet. (Did I mention these guys were talented?") The show took about an hour, with a ten minute break halfway in between. During the break, my friend Monique texted me asking where I was, and soon she joined us. It turns out that one of the players, Matt Flagler is a co-worker of hers. He was great in the show.
It was right around halfway through the second act, when I was sitting with my friends, laughing at the performance that I remember thinking how much I love going out. I'm not just talking about attending charity fundraisers and events for my blog, but heading to different night spots, meeting people and hanging out with friends. It seems that since I graduated college and got married, I certainly have tended not to go out as much, and I've missed it. I love meeting new people, and realizing how connected we all really are, and experiencing something new, much like the Mad Cowford show.
Once the show was over, Effie Monique and I headed over to a bar right across from the Florida Theatre called Dos Gatos. Effie knows the owner, (come to think of it, she knows everyone in Jacksonville), and Dos Gatos is one of her favorite hangouts. It was a really fun place. It had an upscale look about it, with gilded light fixtures, dark wallpaper, and a beautiful painting on a brick wall, and it played fun 80s music all night.
After spending several hours there, we headed over to Cafe 331, another place where Effie knows the owner, and had some food and enjoyed some live music. I wish I'd caught the name of the band -- they were really good. I LOVED the food at Cafe 331. If you ever go there, definitely try the Gyros and the feta fries! Effie is such a social person (much like me) and we made friends easily as we chatted with the owner and met other people in the bar. I didn't get home until 2am, and when I finally did, my face was sore from smiling and laughing so much.
I am always amazed when I hear anyone complain that they are bored in Jacksonville. There is so much to do if you know where to look. Last night for me was a great example of how much fun our city can be. I felt so lucky to be a part of such a fantastic evening in a fantastic city...
Oh yes, we have a lot to cover.
Okay, let me start with Friday night and the Jacksonville Music Video Revival. I could hardly contain my excitement as I drove downtown toward the Five Points Theatre Friday night. A few weeks ago, I was invited by local filmmaker, Anthony Kilburn to be in a music video to promote his upcoming comedy Gore-E-ography: The Making of Death Harmony. (Gore-E-ography rhymes with choreography). The music video shoot was so much fun! You can read all about it here: http://www.outandaboutinjax.com/2010/07/shoot-for-zombie-disco-music-video.html
I'd had a blast at the video shoot, but I hadn't yet had a chance to see the full finished project. Not only was I jazzed to see the video and hear the song again (a super catchy fun song called "Open Skate (Zombie Disco)"), I was also pumped for my big screen debut.
Let me tell you a bit about the Jacksonville Muisc Video Revival. Its the brainchild of blogger and EU writer, Jack Diablo (http://www.jackdiablo.wordpress.com/). To read an interview with Jack all about the Music Video Revival, click here: http://jackdiablo.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/jmvr-interview-at-wingard-creative/
Basically Jack says that after attending the Citrus Cel Animation Festival recently, he was inspired to try to resurrect the art form of the music video (remember when MTV actually played them??) and to showcase Jacksonville's great local music scene. So Jack partnered up with EU Magazine, the Five Points Theatre and CW 17 among other sponsors and put out the call to all local musicians and filmmakers to submit their videos.
So the big night was Friday night from 5-7pm, and coincided with First Fridays in Five Points, an event that happens on the first Friday of each month. Similar to the First Wednesday Artwalk downtown, Five Points shops and restaurants stay open late, many featuring local artwork and/or live music.
When I arrived in Five Points a little after 5pm, the streets were packed! Really interesting looking cars were parked all over the place (including brightly colored souped-up trucks, lowered so much that the body of the truck appeared to be resting on the ground). Adding to the unique mix of people, groups of bikers sat outside having beers, and dressed up girls browsed the shops. An avid people-watcher myself I was in heaven: I love eclectic, diverse groups of people.
I met up with Effie right outside the Five Points Theatre. There were two showings of music videos, one at 5, and one at 6 (each showing consisting of 14 videos, and taking about an hour). We arrived close to halfway through the first showing. As we headed into the theater, I immediately noticed the familiar, toe-tapping notes of "Zombie Disco" wafting from the theatre. "That's our video playing!" I screamed, as I grabbed a startled Effie's wrist and dragged her into the theatre. So we stood in back of the dark theatre and watched the "Open Skate (Zombie Disco)" video.
It was so GOOD!
In my view, the best music videos are ones that tell a story, and that's how ours was. Our video was the story of a guy and girl zombie (CJ and Courtney from my last post about the video shoot) who starred in a music video together back when they were humans. So the zombies are each in their respective homes, (as zombies now) and their human music video comes on TV. This causes them to head out into the city, looking for each other, killing people and recruiting more zombies along the way. Near the end of the video, they find each other and then do a Thriller-like dance with a big group of zombies. It's hilarious! You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBnH4J9YcEU
I can't even describe how cool it was to watch myself on the big screen. In fact, I reached up with my camera and snapped a picture of the image of the three of us on the screen. When the video finished, I burst into cheers, startling a few people sitting nearby. There was only a smattering of people in the theater for the 5pm showing (most people showed up at 6) but they clapped and cheered along with me.
Effie and I settled into a couple of seats to watch the rest of the videos. Of course, in my completely unbiased opinion, our video was the best, but the other videos were really cool too. I was quite impressed with the obvious work and talent that were showcased in the different videos. Also impressive was the range of types of music that were represented: we saw everything to pop sounding songs (like ours), to more hard core rock, to slow smooth R&B to rap. It was a really great blend of music, and almost all of the videos were impressive visually too.
One video I really liked was for a song called "Trouble Hunters" by Astronautalis -- the video was shot in many locations, a beach, a parking garage, a store, a house etc and was really cool to watch. It featured a guy with a Dracula-esque vampire cape and big fake teeth singing, along with different scenes of people shooting each other, or running.. not really sure what the story was supposed to be, but I was entertained the whole way through and I think whoever filmed it was very talented. http://www.last.fm/music/Astronautalis/_/The+Trouble+Hunters
Another honorable mention goes to "Something More" by Mr. Al Pete featuring Tony White. Reminiscent of Boys II Men, this was a beautiful R&B song --the guys were very talented vocally, and the quality of the video was very good. A majority of the video was shot in San Marco Square. I remember thinking that Jacksonville really should get more credit nationally. We have such a beautiful city, and obviously there is some great talent here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SskZ1Me7Zws
One of the funniest videos of the evening was probably "Rootin For the Bad Guy" by The 2416. In the video, a pack of puppets that look like something out of a Fandango commercial hunt down members of the band and kill them. There's a part in the middle of the video where two female puppets seduce one of the band members and then strangle him with his own belt... it had the audience hooting and snorting... check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11fgGTRwr8g
Soon the 5pm showing was finished and we had a few minutes to kill before the 6pm showing started. I headed out to the lobby and had a look around. I was really impressed with the Five Points Theatre. They have a great snack bar with beer wine, and other drinks and snacks, a nice lobby and pretty nice bathrooms. I made a mental note to come here to see a film soon. They tend to show lesser known films and Indie films -- something I'm becoming more and more interested the longer I'm involved with Gore-E-ography.
Soon more of the cast and crew of Gore-E-ography started showing up, and I chatted with them and introduced Effie. I'd just seen them the previous night for a film shoot. Anthony Kilburn (the director of Gore-E-ography) had invited me, and it was a really cool experience. Although he is already through filming all of the footage he needs for Gore-E-ography, Anthony was gathering some people at his house to do some still shots that will be used in the movie when the characters refer to their past.
So Thursday night, I gathered with about ten other people at Anthony's house in Riverside for the shoot. I had a lot of fun, and met some really interesting people-- some were actors, and some were friends and family of actors. Everyone got along really well and we all had a lot of fun. I played the little sister of one of the characters in the movie, played by a gregarious guy named Jay. Jay must have been the most hilarious guys I met that night. He's one of those people who two seconds after you meet them, make you feel as if you have been friends all your life.
So in the movie, when Jay's character talks about his family, the still pictures we took will flash up on the screen. My character is supposed to be deformed, so a makeup artist at the house spent about an hour painting liquid latex onto my face to make an grotesque tumor like lump coming out of the left side of my face. It was my first experience with liquid latex, and I'll be honest, that part of the experience was a little rough. First of all, it took over an hour to apply the latex and makeup. Also, the latex gave off some fumes, causing my eye to water, and the latex REALLY stuck to my skin (and some of my hair). With the latex covering half of my face, it made it really hard for me to make any kind of facial expression.
The most fun photo we took was of me, Jay and Jay's mom, who came that night just to play Jay's character's mom in the photos. Jay's mom deserves a "Best Mom in the World" award for allowing the makeup artist to cover her right eye with a sheet of liquid latex and makeup. You just try covering an eye for even a few minutes... you lose all depth perception. Poor thing had to practically be led everywhere after the makeup was applied.
So for one of the photos, we gathered in Anthony's kitchen, and Anthony's lovely wife, Halina snapped the photos while Anthony directed. Jay walked out of the kitchen through the back door, while Jay's mom and I stood together in the middle of the kitchen. Halina set up a bright light on us, and then Anthony yelled for Jay to come out and scare us. Anthony called out directions: "Look horrified, Erica! More horror on your face! Mom: grab the phone like you're calling 911! Erica! Can you look a little more scared? Can you open your mouth up any more than that?"
"I can't look scared," I answered, "This latex is freezing up the entire left side of my mouth and face. I feel like I've been shot up with botox or had a stroke!"
"Can you grimace out of the right side of your mouth?" Anthony asked me. So I jutted out the right side of my mouth and contorted my face in mock fear. Everyone in the room cracked up, so I started laughing too. It was a lot of fun. What was not fun was ripping the latex off of my face. I swear I'll never get irritated when one of my patients whines about me taking tape off their IV ever again. Of course I'm glad I did the shoot, and as a result I'll officially be in like a tenth of a second of the feature film, premiering at the Florida Theater on October 28th. I'll be listed in the credits (and in the IMDb) as an extra!
Okay, so back to the Music Video Revival. I ran into Anthony and Halina, and Jay among others. I also ran into CJ, one of the stars of the video. I thanked him profusely for a great tour he gave me of WJCT studios on Thursday. I got to look behind the scenes and see all the radio and television equipment used for WJCTs television channel and radio station. I got to see set pieces, and television cameras. I also got to see the rooms where NPR radio programs are done. I'm a fan of NPR, and listen a lot in the mornings, especially when I'm on my way to work. One of the highlights of the tour was meeting Melissa Ross, host of First Coast Connect which airs on WJCT's radio station 89.9FM each weekday morning from 9-10am. The program is all about Jacksonville -- local news, events and issues, so of course I'm a huge fan. http://www.wjct.org/radio/shows/wjct_news#fcc
Effie and I stayed at Five Points Theatre long enough to see the videos we'd missed due to our late arrival to the 5pm showing. Jay sat next to us, occasionally leaning over to comment on one of the videos. Of course we stayed to see the Open Skate (Zombie Disco) video one more time. Right before it came on, I leaned over to Effie and whispered, "Just so you know, I'm going to scream and cheer obnoxiously the entire time our video is on."
"Oh, goodie," Effie replied. Of course the whole Gore-E-ography group cheered for our video. After our video aired again, Effie and I slipped out of the theater to go find somewhere to eat, and Jay tagged along.
We ended up trying a new sushi restaurant right in Five Points called Yoshi Sushi. The food was pretty good and the place was really nice inside. The service was a little slow, but as the waitress explained, they've only been open 2 days, so they are probably still getting their routines down. While we ate, Jay invited us to a Mad Cowford Improv show going on that night at 8pm. He gushed about the improv comedy troupe and how much fun the shows are.
Several of the Mad Cowford players are in Gore-E-ography, and I have met a few of them, so I'd been meaning to attend one of their shows. I love improv comedy -- when my twin sister and I were undergrads at UF, she was a theater minor, so I ended up hanging out with theater types a lot. I love improv comedy and even went as far as taking an improv class at UF. Effie and I were pretty easily talked into attending the Mad Cowford show, so soon we were headed over Northstar Substation on Bay Street.
I love nights like that -- you start out the night without much of a plan, and you just drift from one place to the next, having so much fun along the way.
Soon we were seated at Northstar, waiting for the show to start. There was a pretty large crowd there, impressive since on this particular night the AC at Northstar happened to be broken, so it got pretty warm in the restaurant. The show was so comical I almost didnt' notice the heat. The players made jokes about the heat, and nobody seemed to mind too much. Mad Cowford Improv has shows every Friday night at Northstar Substation on Bay Street at 8:15pm. (http://www.madcowford.com/) I definitely plan on coming to more of them. Northstar had a great menu (I instantly regretted having sushi beforehand, we should have waited and just eaten at Northstar). The menu had pizza (baked in a brick oven), sandwiches, salads and wings among other things, plus beer wine and an array of bar drinks. Several people around us were having dinner and the food looked and smelled awesome. http://www.northstarsubstation.com/
There were about six players that came up front to perform, and they played several improv games, resulting in some fascinating (these guys were talented) and entertaining skits. For example, one of the games they played was called "hijacker". One of the players ran outside so he couldn't hear the audience suggestions. The rest of the players would pretend they were on a plane, headed to a certain location. The players then asked the audience for suggestions such as where they were going in the plane. What we came up with was that they were headed to Dubai to go to the Gap, and that the hijacker's weapon was a seal (as in the animal). I know, weird right? The hijacker then came back in the room and based on clues from the other players had to guess where they were supposed to be headed, what the weapon was, etc. It was really funny, the hijacker yelling diabolically at the other players (who were screaming in mock fear) while he made guesses as to where they were going.
In one skit, the players had to create an entire scene where all they could do was ask questions. In one game, each line had to start with the next letter of the alphabet, and they had to go in order through the entire alphabet. (Did I mention these guys were talented?") The show took about an hour, with a ten minute break halfway in between. During the break, my friend Monique texted me asking where I was, and soon she joined us. It turns out that one of the players, Matt Flagler is a co-worker of hers. He was great in the show.
It was right around halfway through the second act, when I was sitting with my friends, laughing at the performance that I remember thinking how much I love going out. I'm not just talking about attending charity fundraisers and events for my blog, but heading to different night spots, meeting people and hanging out with friends. It seems that since I graduated college and got married, I certainly have tended not to go out as much, and I've missed it. I love meeting new people, and realizing how connected we all really are, and experiencing something new, much like the Mad Cowford show.
Once the show was over, Effie Monique and I headed over to a bar right across from the Florida Theatre called Dos Gatos. Effie knows the owner, (come to think of it, she knows everyone in Jacksonville), and Dos Gatos is one of her favorite hangouts. It was a really fun place. It had an upscale look about it, with gilded light fixtures, dark wallpaper, and a beautiful painting on a brick wall, and it played fun 80s music all night.
After spending several hours there, we headed over to Cafe 331, another place where Effie knows the owner, and had some food and enjoyed some live music. I wish I'd caught the name of the band -- they were really good. I LOVED the food at Cafe 331. If you ever go there, definitely try the Gyros and the feta fries! Effie is such a social person (much like me) and we made friends easily as we chatted with the owner and met other people in the bar. I didn't get home until 2am, and when I finally did, my face was sore from smiling and laughing so much.
I am always amazed when I hear anyone complain that they are bored in Jacksonville. There is so much to do if you know where to look. Last night for me was a great example of how much fun our city can be. I felt so lucky to be a part of such a fantastic evening in a fantastic city...
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