Sigh

Oh my goodness, you can't freaking win.  Fest Mag gives us two stars.  But the review makes me laugh as they still compliment some of our sketches and performances, incorrectly attribute the writing entirely to Jeff (second review to do this), and misidentify me as Anne Teutschel.  

On the other hand, the lovely Groggy Squirrel of Australia recommends our show for any watcher of the Daily Show.  

I've always loved squirrels.

Instant Karma

Well, I'm moritifed.  It happened.  I've been called out.  Discovered, exposed, unmasked, revealed.  "J'accuse!" is ringing in my ear.  I dared to venture into the Dark Side, and it has bitten me soundly on the ass.

Here I am thinking the only people who are reading this blog are related to me by blood or by  other common traumatic experience, such as college, or grad school, or Dr. Thornberg's 10th grade chemistry class.  (Actually, I'm pretty sure those really are the only people read my blog.  I use StatCounter, I know the numbers.  But let me continue.)  Little do I realize that there are other performers here at the Fringe who engage in the same obsessive behavior I do, which is to Google one's own show on a horrifyingly regular basis.   I, myself, Google The Americans at least a half-dozen times a day.  I wouldn't accuse anyone else of being nearly so vain.

I think you can see where this is heading.

There I am at the Loft Bar -- the VIP bar at my venue -- when I recognize a gentleman who I'd met in passing and whose show I'd recently seen.  I hailed to him across the room, told him I liked his show, and he replied with, "Oh no you didn't, I read your blog."

Now, if you listen closely dear reader, you can hear the sound of my brother's head hanging in shame, and my father trying to hide himself under a couch cushion.

I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say I spent the next hour reeling in hideous, appalling humiliation.  Happily, that hour and the next few were also spent in lovely, engaging conversation with said performer who could not have been more gracious and forgiving under the circumstances.  (Gracious and forgiving -- like he really cared all that deeply about what some chick wrote on her blog.  Still.)

This terrible experience has naturally led me to question whether I shouldn't just take my lumps, call it a lesson learned, and pull the review column all together.  After all, here I am dishing out "S'okays" to top-rated shows when my own humble offering has not yet broken (and might not ever) the ever-so-important four star mark.  However, when I proclaimed my intention for removing the reviews, Mr. Gracious Performer insisted I refrain, even going so far as to tell me I had integrity -- presumably because I'd readily and sincerely discussed with him my reasons for not giving his show high marks.  Nice of him to say.  I still wanted to redeem my shabby karma by their immediate removal.

All the same, at the end of the evening and for the moment, the reviews stay.  After all, I did have the instinct (and vanity -- it's a theme in this post) to share my opinions with the blogosphere in the first place, so until such time as I can give the whole matter further thought, the reviews stay.  However, you will now note, I have made some alterations to the review column:  all reviews are now prefaced with the disclaimer that, "I am just a git."

I wish Broadway Baby would have done us the same courtesy.

America Ferrera

Okay, people.  Now that I have you all in a captive audience, I'm going to show you something.  This is for all you non-believers out there:

I do SO look like America Ferrera.  And I KNOW I'm skinnier than her blah blah blah, but she still looks like me.  And if you knew me ten years ago you'd say we were freaking twins.  Here's the proof:

And in other news, it's raining and we had a horrible audience.  Tonight I'm working my batting my eyelashes skills in the late night clubs, at the behest of our PR guy.  Apparently we're not "hanging out" enough.  So tonight we're "hanging out."  All for the love of theater.

More Fringe Photos

Gilded Balloon - my venue

Flyers adorn construction fencing

High Street

Performer from the Aluminum Show at Fringe Sunday

Street Performer at Fringe Sunday

Performer and his Yak

Crowd surrounding some kick ass loud Scottish drumming and bagpiping outside my window

Jeff and Anne outside Gilded

Me outside the apartment

Catherine, daughter of two performers in the Rule of Three, wearing her parents' flyer as a hat

Reviews, news, the New Zoo Review

Does anyone besides my mother remember The New Zoo Review?  Giant hippo, giant owl, Gary Gnu -- any gnews is good gnews with Gary Gnu?  

So this is what I got:

News: Our show getting filmed today for inclusion in some Fringe "channel" on The YouTube; interview with Fresh Air tomorrow -- although it's not the cool NPR show, but a Scottish radio show of the same name.

Zoo:  This place is a zoo.  In a delightful way, for the most part.  Our apartment is right across the street from a cool pub called the Tron.  Great place to hang out, have a pint of Magners, and some "healthy option" lasagne that comes smothered in cheese.  But it also tends to spill out masses of loud, rowdy Scottishmen at about five in the morning, who invariably begin reenacting some famous football (soccer) play or engage in a complex singing cheer with many verses.  I have earplugs so I actually find it endearing.  

Review: Three stars from Three Weeks, a rather big publication here.  You may recall that recently I've been sweating my performance and feeling I'd lost the funny in my "Emancipation" scene.  Which I still think is true.  But then this eff-er comes along and says my character has the best lines and that "Emancipation" is the strongest bit of the show.  I'll never understand this business, so why do I keep trying?  Full review is here today, Saturday the 9th, and here after today.  You're looking for Issue 07 from Friday 8th August.  Don't you love how Europeans do dates?

And P.S. - I guess it says something about my continued innocence in adulthood that I was so surprised and disappointed about John Edwards's affair.  Geez Louise.

Lest you think I'm only going to blog about the good ones

Here's our second review in, from Broadyway Baby.  Two stars.  Sigh.  Although the review does call it a "laugh-out-loud script," which is a good quote to pull out and staple to our flyers.  Screw your two stars, Mr. Reviewer Who Uses Mean Review Titles, we will still use your words to get people to our show! :)

http://www.broadwaybaby.com/fringe/reviews/theamericans

(In all honesty, it's a reasonable critique.  He more or less nailed what we were offering, and he was interested in a little more.  Fair enough.)

And now we move on....

Morning meditation

It's 10:20am.  I've been up for a little over an hour and a half.  Went to bed early last night after a long day of flyering in the rain.  I was chilled to the bone.

I have my coffee and I'm lying with my head propped up on a pillow in my bright bedroom.  I came in here to try to conserve some energy.  It's very easy to get oneself whipped up into a frenzy here, what with the whole city full of ambitious, passionate performers all trying to get noticed, to impress.  It's why I'm here too.  But whipped up energy isn't good for performing, and it's not good for the soul, at least not when it's unrelenting.  And it's been unrelenting

 lately.  So I'm here, in my bright bedroom, sipping my coffee, and blogging to you all, trying (so far unsuccessfully) to create some peace of mind.

I'll try to frame it for myself like a Buddhist might:  What a great opportunity this is to practice keeping oneself centered and present amid all this chaos.  What a great opportunity to practice remaining with myself, rather than succumbing to more dominant energies.  To practice breathing.  To practice feeling my feet on the earth.  To practice being here, now, in this very moment.  And in this very moment.  And in this one.

I am going to have fun today on stage.  I'm going to explore.  I'm going to be in this very moment and the next.  I am going to play without concern for result.  I am going to be aware of myself, my fellow performers, and every person in the room, and I am going to respond in the moment to what I hear from all of us.  I am going to be present and enjoy.

Hope you all are enjoying your mornings, wherever you are...

Love,

Anna

We like to believe they are stingy with stars

Because we got three out of five.  Four would have been nicer.  But check out the glowing review from Metro UK, reprinted in full below but found online here:

Can the family survive the therapy in The Americans?

by NADINE MCBAY - Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The Americans

It's crunch time in the American household. Mom Liberty has been racking up the therapy bills, while daughter Mary is only off her iPhone when she's ordering designer bags and prescription drugs online.

As head of the family, dad Sam needs to put his foot down and declare a 'war on debt'. A punchy multimedia sketch show parodying US political culture, The Americans is written and performed by New York-based actors Anne Teutschel, Anna Moore and Jeff Kreisler (the last a Comedy Central writer who won the Bill Hicks Spirit award for his own stand-up).

With something of the irreverence of American Dad and the borderline slapstick of Mr Show, the three Americans don't just represent the stereotypical US family, they are ciphers for the competing claims on the nation's future. With the patriotic father holding the reins, the spendthrift females are kept in check by the fear of imminent attack or being sent to the 'Basementanemo'.

Oddly, though the family budget has been slashed, there's still enough to fund a new security system and in-house CCTV.

Though more Daily Show-style satirical than laugh-out-loud hilarious, the Americans succeeds in being a colourful and engaging portrait of our stateside cousins.

Until Aug 25 (not 11), Gilded Balloon Teviot (V14), 3pm. www.gildedballoon.co.uk

How excited am I that they compared our show to American Dad, Mr. Show, and The Daily Show???

I'm only happy when it rains

Good song, but not remotely true of me.

Rain, rain, go away.  First day in Scotland where it's been nonstop rain.  The festival is quite another animal on days like this.  For one thing, the streets are practically empty, save for the sorry lot who are out flyering for the livelihoods.  We were lucky enough to avoid being among that sorry lot as our venue (the Gilded Balloon) is one of the "big four" at the Fringe, with many venues in one building along with various cafes and bars.  So we were able to flyer indoors to folks eager to stay sheltered once they arrived.  

As a result, our show was pretty well attended and they seemed to enjoy themselves as well.  Anne, Jeff, and I felt great about the performance -- more relaxed and present than other recent shows -- and our tech person Laura collected many "excellents" and "really enjoyed its" from folks as they exited.

I'm a bit nervous though because we have our first big review coming out soon.  The reviewer was in yesterday with one of our less lively crowds, for a performance when I felt I was pushing a bit.  I'm tripping on it a bit, convinced I'll be humiliated.  Typical actor insecurities.

Some pics for you.  This first one is of a sign on a bus shelter:

What is anti-climb paint?  Kinda asks to be tested, don't you think?

The view from near Princes Street reminds me of San Francisco.  Fuzzy pic.

Your ever humble blogger.  Thanks for reading everyone.   

This has nothiing to do with the Fringe, I just love this picture.  It accompanied an article explaining that hopes for the gorilla species' survival have been boosted with the discovery of 125,000 lowland gorillas living in the Congo.  That little baby gorilla seems to be celebrating his existence.

And in fringe news, some of my blog posts have been republished at The Scotsman online -- but good luck finding it, their site is a mess.  No worries because you read them here.  But if you'd like to see my name in cyberlights (that would be you, Mom) try this one:  http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/newsfront.aspx?sectionid=13855&IsTopic=1

Show was good today, but a bit of a quiet audience.  More out-loud laughers in the front row though...

The Dip

I was once told that on a three week road trip, in the first week, everything's grand, you're on an adventure, excitement runs high.  In the second week, you're tired, you're crabby, you hate everyone, and you just want to be pampered.  In the final week, you let go, relax, and become one with the transient nature of life.

This is the beginning of the second week.

Show was a bit off today.  We seemed to be rushing, or off, or otherwise not quite present.  In my three-part "Emancipation" scene, in which I'm the focal character, I could tell I had lost them.  And it wasn't just because I could hear crickets.  

And yet, there were still plenty of laughs overall.  I think that's a testament to our writing that even in when the scene is falling flat, eventually we get to a line that's sure-fire, we get a big laugh, and are buoyed again.  So I'm proud of that.

Less proud of the crickets.

Opening Day

Official opening day of the Fringe and feeling fine.  

Another great show with a big audience and lots of laughs.  Not sure where the swell in audience is coming from -- be it flyering, 2 for 1 (which would only account for today's audience not yesterday's), the weekend, or simply more Fringe-goers arriving -- but I'll take it.  People seem to be enjoying it.  Had a couple groups tell our tech person on the way out that the show was terrific and that they'd be sure to see Jeff's stand-up too.  And we overheard from backstage some Scots in the front row saying, "It was really good, wasn't it?  Really well done." 

What does it say about me that I keep thinking these are people paid to say these things within earshot?

Oh and apparently I have a fan who told our tech person, "tell that one girl in the blue dress she's hot."  Nice.  It must be the silver spandex.

So guess what?

Apparently the Fringe doesn't even start until tomorrow.  What the eff?  Here I am feeling like a war-hardened veteran already, and the Fringe hasn't even begun.  

Our show today was awesome.  Our biggest house yet, reaching into the previously untouched back sections of the house -- and all people paying full-price tickets!  There was a guy right in the front row who was laughing so hard at everything I wondered if he'd been paid by our PR guy.  But no, Jeff spoke with him after the show.  He just loved the show.  Yeah!  That's right.  Unnnhhh.

Anne, Jeff, and I are still trying to work out the most efficient flyering strategies.  So far the three of us have been working High Street (seen above), which is a pedestrian only street that is at the heart of the Fringe, and floods with people, street performers, barkers, and the like.  So far it's been pretty manageable but supposedly the return on investment starts petering out after a while as it gets harder and harder to distinguish oneself from the crowd.  Still, it's right around the corner from our house, so I figure we'll stick with it for a while.

I'm having fun tweaking the show each day, trying to maximize laughs, find new bits and character nuance.  It's been great for me to learn about comedy this way, on my feet.  After all, this is more or less my first foray into it. Can't wait to see where we end up at the end of the run, to see how much the show has grown.

Who is that crazy girl?

Okay munchkins,

For those of you who missed it, our BBC segment can be found online here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7536605.stm

Short segment, Jeff's in it a bunch and I'm featured towards the end.  I look like a crazed monkey.

Love

-a

Bleary at 2am

Broke the seal tonight, i.e. first night ingesting beer and wine.  Had fun at a couple different parties, saw some funny acts, shmoozed with fellow performers, witnessed many stumbling Scots.  It's going to be a great month.

You know who they have a lot of here in Scotland?  They have a lot of shaggy haired, horn-rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, hipster-looking men and women in their 20s.  It's like Williamsburg with accents.  But cooler because I don't think anyone's trying to be ironic.  Or perhaps that's just my naive, untrained, 'Merican eyes.

We've got duelling laptops every day here.  Except there are three of us.  Is that trilling laptops?

Set your Tivos, DVRs, and (poor you) VCRs

To BBC America, Friday Aug 1st, 7pm EST and 4pm PST for the BBC America World News Hour.

Supposedly there will be a segment on the Edinburgh Fringe during that broadcast that will hopefully feature some footage from our show! The shoot went well but there's no telling if they'll really use us, but I think the content of our scene was right on target for there, "American Comedy after George Bush" theme.

If the segment doesn't air on that broadcast, don't worry. I'm sure it will end up online somewhere and I'll try to track it down.

Here's some pics from the shoot. We're in costume. My thighs look AWESOME.

A very good day.

Woke up at 8:45am.  Feeling somewhat rested.  Jet lag is improving.  Ate cereal while reading Vanity Fair.  Showered and headed to the venue, picking coffee up on the way.  Tech run-thru went well.

12pm.  Flyered along High Street, a.k.a. The Royal Mile, for the next two hours.  Exhausting stuff.  Retired to apartment at 1pm.  Did I say two hours flyering?  Must have been one.  Felt like more.

Ate Starbucks sandwich, cat-napped for 20 minutes, got ready for show.

3pm.  Our show begins.  Awesome crowd.  We decided to paper the show, i.e. give away free tickets to help generate word of mouth.  Good decision, at least as far as the performance is concerned.  Got tons of laughs, including lots of new laughs from the for-the-Brits jokes.  Our for-the-Americans jokes got laughs too.  Forty-five minutes later, we take our bows.

4pm.  Post-show debrief then back to the house.  Body tired.  

6pm.  Summon energy to go grocery shopping.  Will have to make do with Scottish milled "porridge oats".  I'm sure they are just like Quaker but I'm suspicious.  Blueberries and walnuts look good though.

7pm.  Hang around house b-s-ing with Anne and Jeff.  We're feeling great about our show.  Up top.

8pm.  Pasta e fagioli and bad wine for dinner.

9:30pm.  See our technician's husband in comedy show.  Laugh a lot.  Emcee flirts with the pretty Americans forced to sit in the front row.  (The pretty Americans are me and Anne.)

11:40pm.  Blogging about my good day.  Tomorrow we're taping a scene from our show for the BBC and are getting interviewed for a segment on what will happen to comedy in the post-George Bush era.  What was that?  Oh yes, that's right, I'm being TAPED AND INTERVIEWED by the BBC.  I'm sure it's less exciting than it sounds, but still.  In the evening, we're splitting time between our venue's Press Party, and two "it" parties we got invites to.  I am so on the scene.  I wonder if I'll fool anyone into thinking I'm cool.

Love to all,

Anna

Couple Pics

Right outside our apartment:

Around the corner:

This is what Leslie would call Self-Care

Turns out that even better than cheese and caffeine is water and exercise.  Who would have thunk it?  Went for a run this evening along a beautiful cliffside-looking mountain.  Just what the doctor ordered.  Made my vertigo-like symptoms of jetlag disappear.  Now I just need to cement the goodness with an Alexander laydown before bed and a long, restful sleep.  And morning pages when I wake up.

In other news, the sun showed up today in full force.  Followed by a torrential downpour.  Followed by a rainbow.

I wish I had a picture of the rainbow.  Instead, I have a picture of Anne and I in front of the Walter Scott Monument on Princes Street.

Tomorrow morning we have a tech run-through, then we're out flyering for our first preview performance at 3pm.  Cross fingers for us and send us good vibes!

-a

And P.S. --

Anne is totally using British inflection when she asks questions here.  Good to know I'm not the only mimic here.