23

I have free time for the first time in a month, and what happens? I catch a cold, regular as clockwork.

This week we did an overnight Heineken Late Night in Enschede and slept in the Amadeus hotel next to the railroad tracks. I woke up with a fever and have been desperate to shake it all since. I am getting better, thank god.

Through the wall of my office, I can hear the crowd screaming and cheering for tonight’s best of Boom show. The reveiews for the new show keep coming in and are all positive. I even got mentioned by name in the Het Parool article.

Thanks to everyone who reads this and writes me — your love and support make this easier. Not that it’s hard to be here and do comedy, but it hard to miss ya.

Toodle-Pip

Too Many Things …

Really, there have been too many things happening. I can’t provide a brief on them because in order to describe even the shortest story, I would have to tell tale of the characters involved, and their shared histories, etc. This has been Alumni Week. Check out the pictures on boomchicago.nl, I guess. Ugh. Gotta go do a show. ^__^

Also, I’ve played the Special Girl song for my friends here. They love it. Thanks, Jonesy!

Press Premiere

It smells like a yak in the Boom Office. The washing machine right outside leaks constantly, and the water washes under the door and onto our never-cleaned carpet. There are footprints that track into the bathroom and stain the floorboards brown with mystery dirt, and the carpet goes “squish-squish” like watered lawn.

We are all poor. Suzi sometimes doesn’t have money to eat with.

And then on Sunday, I was on MTV, for the press premiere of our new show, Boom Chicago Saves the World. Total lights and glamour.

I don’t know how to describe the opening. Maybe I’ll try later.

This is the strangest existence one could imagine - ok, maybe not - I can imagine that life as a cat might be weirder, especially if you were a blue cat that hung from the moon, but you get the picture.

Spring is here. Yesterday, the gathered casts of 10 years of Boom shows descended on the very Brothers Grimm amusement park, Effteling, and spent the day riding roller coasters and watching 3D movies. Today, I wandered around Amsterdam in the sun, taking photos and reading a book.

Boom Chicago Saves the World

On the eve of the opening of the show.

After 4 weeks of near-constant rehearsal, the show finally opens tomorrow, in preview form. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that I was picked for the opening night cast, but that’s what happened - some actors here never get to open a show — I feel like I’ve accomplished something and I don’t really have any idea of its magnitude. I got a glimmer of it when I saw my face on the side of a tram, next to the familiar font of Boom Chicago Saves the World. Jesus Christ.

Apparently, the official opening show (next week, Sunday the 13th) is covered by all the networks here and there’s a red carpet rolled out and we get our photos taken as we stroll in to warm up. Like the Oscars, only much, much smaller. But also pretty big. The shows next week are all sold out. And I’ve been on the cover of a magazine. Yesterday, five of the boom actors hosted a show on MTV, right after one of the Jackass guys. Wow.

What an amazing few months this has been.

The cast for opening night - Brendan, Colton, Jordan, Dani and I - have been in every show for the last week, and will continue to work together in every show until the 21st. What a talented group of people, all professional, all very courageous. I’m learning so much, from celebrity impressions to the way to zing an unruly crowd; these are muscles I’ve never exercised before, and now they’re sore every day.

Tonight saw two shows, the first of which was kinda rough. The second, however, was all I could hope for as I head to bed tonight. What an incredible show. Christ I’m tired.

We have a theme song. We have lasers. I know it takes more than fancy lights and sound to have a good show, though. We also have a full-on, fully realized script that says something about the state of the world, and new kinds of improv games that we created.

I said thanks to Pep tonight. In October, he met me at Doughboys on Third street, and I wore cat ears as we talked about whether or not I would consider going to Amsterdam. I had no idea of the gravity of our conversation, or how many people wanted the job that I was being considered for. And I was very, very hesitant to leave my family in Los Angeles. I still miss them with all my heart, and think about them every day. (Especially when I’m eating shitty Dutch food. Of course, then I’m mostly just thinking about eating food with them. But still, I’m thinking of friends. And food. God, the food here sucks.)

Anyway, it’s a rough choice to make - leave a family to join a new one. In the end, I’m I’m lucky - I have three families. I wish I could have everyone here to see all this, to be a part of the process. I want everyone to meet everyone. I can’t wait till they do.