The Aerie
Went to see Stephanie Miller today after she broadcast her show from the newly-remodeled Coffman Union on the University of Minnesota campus. I can catch the 16 bus two blocks from work and it stops right in front of Coffman, so it was a quick trip.
Caught the tail end of Miller's show/performance, and it was truly amazing. If you haven't listened to it, it is lightning fast comedy, replete with improvised sketch comedy and sound effects. Jim Ward is the comedy engine, a polymath who can produce an almost infinite variety of voices and is terribly terribly quick. It was fun to watch them work along with Chris LaVoie, who remained back engineering the show in Los Angeles.
This was the first time I've been in Coffman Union in probably ten years, certainly since its extensive remodeling. The place was unrecognizable, although I did not go downstairs to the basement bowling alley and video game parlor where the majority of my time in Coffman Union was spent. I used to play the video games, but there were always some truly impressive lightning-fast games of ping-pong being undertaken by young Asian men completely unconcerned with Western cultural stereotypes. I'll have to go back sometime and see how the downstairs has changed, or if it is even still there.
After the show there was a reception which I paid to attend, since I wasn't able to see much of the show itself. I arrived nearly first to find a very tasty looking buffet set out. Never being shy about such things I took a plate and was about to serve myself when I was shooed away from the table by one of the caterers arriving with another tray of food to put out. I stepped aside obediently, at which time the rest of the audience arrive en masse and formed a half-hour long line that stretched out the door. So despite being the first person to grab a plate, I was one of the last to actually put food on it.
I sat at one of the tables at random, and was shortly joined by a pair of men who then spent the next ten minutes very carefully ignoring my presence. Finally I moved to another table where people seemed to be convivial. Glancing back at my prior table I caught the two men glaring at me as if I had somehow offended them. Weird.
When Miller and Ward arrived they were immediately swarmed. I felt bad for them, as they barely got a bite to eat and seemed to quickly give up on the idea entirely. Despite this, they were extremely friendly. I got some food when the line subsided and ate while they made their way through their well-wishers. Finally I got a chance to shake their hands and thank them for coming and for producing the program which has been keeping me sane at work for the past six months.
I needed to get back to work so I took off shortly thereafter. But it was a fine old time. I did take a couple of photos with my new phone, and I'll have to try to upload them sometime this weekend when I have a minute to try to figure out how it works!
That may be a challenge, though, because I was fortunate enough to pick up a small security-scanning contract to carry out this weekend, so much of my time will be busy scanning and writing the report. Next weekend is Easter, and then the weekend after that I'm off to Mage-Con in Nebraska at the invitation of a friend who is running the con. The construction is underway in earnest up in the attic, and there is so much to do!
Posted by Albatross at April 7, 2006 1:04 PM | TrackBack