Blog Turtle Soup

BBCF/BBIF/BBBBBF

2010-09-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the Black Box Comedy Festival/Black Box Improv Festival/AWESOMENESS!!

It's where we as MTS get to go geek-out at our favorite semi-famous semi-professional improv crushes. We also get to see other troupes and improvisers our own age, older, and much older.

People from all across the country flock to festivals like this one because it's awesome to see someone play with a totally different style, like Johnstone's Who, What, Where vs. Del Close's "The Rules" vs. San Francisco's "Play it slow" vs. Canada's "Play it really slow" vs. DSI's "Play it as fast and ballsy as possible."

Then, on top of that, we get to take workshops with these crazy peeps and get inside their heads and stuff. (Awesome!).

So that, in a nutshell, is BBIF/BBCF, and it is so good.

Sketch Show 2010 this Friday

2010-03-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

So, I don't think anybody reads this blog, since we rarely update it, but just to document this, the sketch show for this year is this Friday and I'm so freakin excited.

We've titled it "Humon Nature", and it's gonna be off the chain.

The format will be a little different than years past, we actually have a show order and junk rather than the numbers on the screen.

Oh, did I mention it was going to be awesome?

The sketch show will be held in Lee shortly after the main stage show this Friday

CIT Regionals Today

2009-11-14T04:33:00.000-08:00

Me, Jeremiah, Lena, Raymond and Alex are packing into the car and driving down to Atlanta for the Chicago Improv Tournament-Southern Regionals. It's all at the Relapse theater, which I need to go print directions to get to... anyway.

Our set is on at Noonish, then if we make it to the finals for the region, we perform AGAIN at 11pm. That would be exciting, but it would also mean a super late car-ride home for your turtles. Give and take, give and take.

Gotta finish getting ready, but I'll make sure to post something about how it goes, you know, for the 4 people that know about this blog.

Show this Friday!!!

2009-10-01T06:50:00.000-07:00

So, I don't know who reads this, but for anyone who does, we have a show THIS FRIDAY at Lee Hall 111. 8pm, 5 dollars at the door (but there are dollar off coupons all over campus and our website, plus if you go to the show before a show it's 2 dollars off).

The first half (Short-form, the stuff that looks like Who's Line is it Anyway) is looking really good. Some games we haven't played in a long time, some favorites, and one or two brand new games. That's really all I'm at liberty to say right now.

The Second Half (long-form, about as long as an episode of a t.v. show, all improvised from one suggestion) is a LaRonde. For anyone not up on their improv Jargon, a Laronde goes through an entire chain of characters discovering their lives and unseen connections.

Finally, in Nocturnal Soup (an extra dollar, but we just saved you one so you owe us) we're going to show off our versatility with some wildly different forms. There's music, there's pictures, there's other stuff, come out and see it.

Last but not least,

Mock Turtle!

{soup}

Blackbox Improv Festival

2009-09-22T04:03:00.000-07:00

We just got back Sunday from one of my favorite events all year, the Blackbox Improv Festival in Atlanta.

It was as crazy as ever, filled with some of the best shows and workshops you can get. We performed a Flashbacks set on Friday night (right after we got there) then had the rest of the weekend to take it all in. There was a lot to take in.

The rest of Friday's shows were awesome, and actually included a Chicago sketch troupe called One, Two, Three (so it's not all made up on the spot) and Sideshow (an idea just crazy enough to work).

Saturday had 3 2-hour workshops a piece, subjects ranging from Death in a Scene, to Solo Improv, a few of us even (accidentally) took the Musical workshop. So good.

The troupe that ran the Musical workshop (Recapitulation) had a show at one of the venues so some of us saw that while others saw another musical from Girls, Girls, Girls. At the end of the night two of the venues shut down and everyone tried to get in to Dramatech to see The Naked Stage and The UCB Touring Co, both of which I would love to see again and again.

Overall, a pretty kick-awesome way to spend a weekend.

This School-Year has already been Crazy

2009-09-09T23:43:00.001-07:00

For starters, we had our first year of 100% retention, so all your favorite turtles are back for another year of face-melting comedy. Then we had a show of face-melting comedy.

So much fun, from Shakespeare's Nightmare and Elimination to the Flashbacks longform.

Then in Nocturnal Soup, another month of stand-up from Ben, as well as a new game called "S#@% on Rush's hopes and dreams." Then Jeremiah and Tyler performed as "Emotional Ineptitude" as members of some kind of crazy carnival. The end of the night saw a bold and different show from Alums Jason and Meg (as Micha and Mira in "Kinda like Jesus").

And if that wasn't enough, we just finished Auditions (a 4 day process) and now have four new members: Larissa, Lena, Alex, and Raymond.

Yep, another year of Mock Turtle Soup is definitely underway, and I can't wait. Is it the October show yet?

Auditions

2009-09-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Pretty sure all 2 people will read this at some point, but auditions this year are hella fun.

VFW Show

2009-08-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

Rush, Ben, Larry, and Jeremiah just represented Clemson and Mock Turtle Soup at VFW Post 9273 in Moonville at probably one of the best outside shows I've ever been involved with.

It was all short-form and half the audience had never even heard of improv let alone seen it, but there wasn't a minute the entire 2 hours without a huge laugh. Sometimes it was us, sometimes it was them, but there was always something funny going on.

We'll definitely be back for another show some time this year and let all of you know when that happens.

Until then,

Mock Turtle!

(that's when you say Soup!)

The Island (2005) Review

2009-07-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

So, I just saw The Island (Michael Bay) for the first time, and it's pretty awesome. It seems to be back when he valued a script over gremlin-esque gangsta robots and "Praise God for the Beef" (transliteration of Shaia Lebeouf).

Anyway, the Island is about a Utopian society that praises "The Island" but soon finds out that everything that glitters is not always gold, or in this case NOT a hologram designed to keep them in a perpetual state of self-improvement and clean healthy living. It stars Ewan McGreggor and Scarlett Johannson (so hot) and Ewan McGreggor. Steve Buscemi and the guy who played Neelix from Voyager also get some screen time as pretty close to their usual characters.

The movie should be praised for its originality, amazing action, and parade of people that make you go "Hey it's the guy from ____!" Unfortunately, the first of those is too good to be true. A 7-figure settlement stemmed from the fact that it was EXACTLY like the plot from a 1979 movie "Parts: The Clonus Horror."

The aforementioned action, however, is pretty sweet. Most of it involves destroying concept cars and one pretty sweet looking concept Mack truck. Fire, explosions, fire, explosions, like 10 cases of being oblivious to the fact that they just died because of the shiny happy life they had in the strangely GIGANTIC underground compact they grew up in.

There's plenty of movie, that's for sure, and it's a good way to spend an afternoon.

[car chase>] BOOM! That movie just got what's coming to it.

Site Launch

2009-07-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

So, Mock Turtle Soup is kicking it new school with our launch of a Blog. We'll put stuff in the blogosphere and put it on spin cycle and see what comes out.

Some ideas:

Mock Turtle Soup Reviews...anything- We'll find any of an infinite things to review and then review them

Road/Show Vlogs- For when we make trips to improv festivals and shows and the annual trip to Chicago

Everything else - Mock Turtle Soup has provided you with Improv, Sketch, and even a Stand-up act or two. This year, we're bringing on the improvised with a whole new can of kick-awesome.