dood, i so wanna see that!

baby, what you and I have is magic.

Imago777 said:

but i don't want to put it on stage... that's just for us.

Imago777 said:

but i don't want to put it on stage... that's just for us.

cborgman said:

can you put it on tape?

cborgman said:

Why do you ENCOURAGE HIM?!?!?

jerseykrs said:

Imago777 said:

damn you to hades!!!!!

cborgman said:

Why do you ENCOURAGE HIM?!?!?

cborgman said:

can you put it on tape?

[eeeeemo jersey was here]

jerseykrs said:

DynamicSavior said:

preferably betamax. i have an old copy of 'electric dreams' you can tape over.

Imago777 said:

jerseykrs said:

Not to ruin Chris's fine thread, but I love that picture.

stop jacking cborgs thread stay on topic.....

jerseykrs said:

s'ok. not much to discuss in here anyway... you just don't want us making fun of oyu

Anxiety said:

you have betamax.

cborgman said:

actually, i don't. hence the suggestion.

Anxiety said:

:rimshot:

but i so totally rock.

one half of the couple i live with is named chris, and in the time i have known him, i have been begging him forever to do the magic show he used to do at kids birthday parties. he is tremendously embarrased of it, and would never do it, saying he left it in his past and that he didn't want to do magic anymore.

then, this last october 17, which is a really terrible anniversary for me, i was in deep depression mode, and was sitting around the apartment staring off into space and being really miserable and sad, and he pulled out the puppet whose name is jojo, and did some of the show for me.



that's jojo.

it was so adorable, and suprisingly funny for kids show material, and it completely worked... pulled me out of my depression.

i started telling him he really should pick it back up and do something with it, because it was too damn good to waste. he wanted none of it though, and said that nothing would ever come of it, so it was just a waste of time and a distraction from the kinds of theatre he and ryan (the other half) are trying to write and create.

i then told him he should take it and make it into an adult show that mocks those silly kids shows, but he didnt think it would be worth it.

next thing i know he and ryan have written tongue-firmly-in-cheek songs and put together a version of his old birthday party routine with tricks and jojo.

i ghost-edited it, made it more adult and dark and completely rewrote the ending, making it much darker and incredibly innappropriate for kids.

it is freaking b r i l l i a n t.

the show starts off innocently enough, you walk into this room which is very gaudily decorated to a point of excess in birthday stuff including birthday party hats and what not. the show begins, and chris does his old schtick, funny and cute, and clearly written for kids. lotsa simple little tricks, goofy jokes, and the audience laps it up. it's amazing how quickly when adressed as 8 year olds they sort of revert back to it, and watch him with sparkling eyes entranced by these silly little magic tricks.

but he does these little outbursts where it gets adult. he calls harry potter a "fucking liar", makes a dick joke, ect. which eventually build to the appearance of jojo about 3/4 of the way into the show.

which is where it gets really dark and adult.

jojo is MEAN to chris in the show, and goes off their rehearsed routine and starts improving these horrid (and hilarious) jokes about chris, making fun of his abilities as a magician, his singing voice, and then he starts getting really mean and dirty, the last two jokes of which are:

jojo: what letter of the alphabet is gay and has no talent?

chris: what?

jojo: what letter of the alphabet is gay and has no talent?

chris: oh god. okay- i don't know, jojo. what letter of the alphabet is gay and has no-

jojo: U! get it? U!

chris: jojo, that's not very nice, and i think-

jojo: WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! I have another! what do you call the disgusting peice of flesh attached to christopher the magician's body?

chris: jojo, i-

jojo: HIS BODY! get it? HIS BODY!

chris: okay, jojo. i have a joke for you now.

jojo: okay.

chris: what do you say to a dodo bird right before you strangle it to death?

jojo: i don't know. what do you say-

chris: I FUCKING HATE YOU!!!

and then he starts strangling jojo. it's hysterical. after a moment or two of the strangle, you think jojo is dead, and then:

jojo: i don't get it.

chris: MRAHHH!

and you see them struggle as he is strangling him, and then he slams the birds head on the end of the table, braining him, and jojo is dead.

and then he realizes he is killing a puppet and sees the shock he is causing the audience of children, and says it's only a puppet and there is no such thing as magic, and does this suprisingly effective monologue about adult life really being crap, and how awful his childhood was and that magic tricks were his only friends growing up, and basically has a complete mental breakdown in the middle of the birthday party.

and then he sings the mocking of the cliche sad childhood song, which is awesome.

and then he starts packing up his stuff to go, and tries to make it better by telling the kids/audience that maybe if they believe in magic and clap hard enough he can bring jojo back to life.

they do so, with the music and him building them up to a climax as jojo starts twitching on the table he died on.

and then he tells them they didn't clap hard enough and it's their fault the dodo is extinct.

and then starts packing up the stuff to go again.

which of course brings about the ultimate tongue in cheek ending which involves the birthday kid using his birthday wish combined with the clapping to bring him back to life.

jojo comes triumphantly back to life, and says:

jojo: HIS BODY! get it? HIS BODY!

chris then kind of has a moment where he silently considers jojo, and jojo looks at him and shrugs.

chris: yea jojo, that's uh... that's pretty funny.
jojo: thanks.
chris: you're welcome.
jojo: i want to tell you something but i have to whisper it, because i don't want them to hear.
chris: okay.
jojo: (whispered but audible) i think you're a really great magician.
chris: thanks, jojo.

and then jojo kisses his cheek., and jojo says goodnight, takes a bow and is gone, and then chris leads the audience in a lovely reprise sing along of the song that opened the show, and it's over.

it is unbelievably funny.

so chris talked to the owner of the bar he works at, and sets up a one night only show in one of the piano bar section of the bar, the proceeds to benefit raising money for a serious musical that he and ryan are trying to get up and running... basically, this was just supposed to be a lark.

they ask me to direct it, and i agree on the condition that i get to do so anonymously. we pick a stage manager and off we go, just a funny little one night thing.

opening night completely sold out, and people were waiting for cancellation tickets since no tickets were available. chris tore it up, and the audience ate it up.

so they added a second show last night. chris did even better, and the audience went absolutley ballistic. people were actually crying last night when jojo was coming back to life, it was mind blowing! when jojo came back to life people went absolutely apeshit with joy. i think a lot of it comes from when you address the audience as if they were 8 year olds they tend to kind of slide into that part of thier childhood agian and empathize with him during the monologue.

one of the guys in the audience came up to us after the show, tears still streaming down his face and gave chris a huge hug and cried on his shoulder for a second and thanked him and said it was beautiful.

so they added more shows in january. chris is now thinking of expanding and deepening the plot and story stuff (most of which is my writing or my idea) and turning into a full length show and getting a bigger better venue.

a friend of ours who is independantly wealthy said he would be interested in seeing the full length script, and i have a feeling if he likes it he might back it for an off off off broadway limited run.
yay!
[Edited 12/15/05 12:01pm]

Imago777 said:

see, now THAT i would hit. does photoshop have a 'sharpen grooming' filter on it or something?

jerseykrs said:

DON'T MOCK OUR LOVE, BREEDER!!

cborgman said:

That is MUCH too long to read!!