Thanks to everyone who came to the show and made it such a rousing success! I was very very very nervous before and during the show. So, if I seemed weird, it's because I am a strange person who put himself into a high-stress situation.
Thank you all so much for the kind works and compliments and reassurances. I don't really do docs or research material for the show, and I had no idea if the material I selected was the right kind of stupid. By the 2nd round, it seemed like it was gonna work after all!
I came up with this idea last year of having a show where the content was random. During F Plus Live 6, I thought it would be funny if the readers picked a "spell" out of the box at random. That idea stuck in my head for a long time, and it wasn't really viable for Seattle. I tried to expand on that and find a theme that would work for a live show, and WikiHow popped into my head in the shower. I got in contact with Lemon and said, "I have this idea for a live show, but it involves you building a big dumb thing." Lemon jumped at it, and created exactly what I had in my head.
The benefit of working with this community of folks is that they are all really capable and talented on top of being funny and interesting. It is like working on "The Muppet Show." Lemon built two amazing pieces of tech for this show, which is astounding to a dummy like myself. Boots and Jimmyfranks also worked hand-in-glove (foot-in-boot?) to make this whole thing actually work, and it can't be understated how much labor went into making the show work in a non-show space. Big props to Bunnybread for his Rod Roddying duties and K. Thor for committing to a bit that tops almost all of the crazy shit I've ever seen at a live comedy show But still the second time I've seen a man consume his own pee for a comedy show. Great work also by my competitors, the Ladies Shell, Shell Game and Nutshell Gulag. I had my money on either of you, and you both are dual chambers of the very large heart at the center of this whole crazy business.
Kumquat, thanks for delivering exactly what we needed for this show. Lou, thank you for jumping right in with this absurd and complicated festival of crap and giving a top notch performance. Jack Chick, thank you for not only melting the audiences' face, but for also letting the podcast use your home as our receiving center for merchandise. bumpgrrl, thank you for making me laugh and indulging and encouraging my angry lefty side all weekend. Heelies, thank you for taking your shirt off, something you never do when we hang out or golf (which is a shame).
And a big Yay Victor to Victor, who is a kind and generous sort who is such a lovely guy to talk to. Both Victor and Squiddy as well are such comforting presences in real life, you want to tell them all about everything. You two are such great company!
It was also truly a random selection process, except for my reading. A lot of the random selections felt perfect or preselected, but 15 of them were all random. Shell Game can attest to this fact, as she was given all of the remaining docs left in the show. I was giddy with excitement when Frank West received his document and killed it with his reading, and it made me excitedly flit around the room telling people that I couldn't believe how well it was all working. The reading Stog did was statistically the least likely article to be read in the show. He was the only one who could have read it. When the board landed on that last square, it was a gift from Podcast Jesus. No one makes me laugh like Stog, because there is only one Stog, and Stog is real.
Also, truth be told, between the nerves and the beer I cannot remember most of what I read. I remember bits of it, and it will probably all come back to me once the recordings are dropped, but most of it is lost to the ether at the moment. I remember it had to do with sex and Tom Brady. But I do remember that I lost the vote, so now I must kill all of you. Sorry.
Thank you to everyone who was so nice to my brother who also came down from Seattle to see the show. It was odd to have family in the audience for this, and it worked out well in the end. He had a great time and we talked about getting our other brother out to the next one. Here's hoping.
Lastly, I wish I had a chance to talk to more of you who came out to see the show. I am similarly afflicted with interpersonal awkwardness. That is why I say curse words into microphones instead of on stage these days. It was great to say hi to the folks that I have done Extra Credit with or that I met previously at live shows or that I see posting here often. If you listen to this show and you are reading this message now, then you at least "get it" and I am sure we would get along great. It's the one regret I have from the show is being stuck in my head and not meeting some more new people. But even if we didn't talk, it was great sharing the Lucky Lab with you all for the weekend!