the right to make things up to make people laugh

 So as I mentioned before, Improv Asylum Mainstage has a short run of shows at the Old South Meetinghouse in Boston.

It may be dorky of me to say so, but I think it's really cool to be doing a comedy show in the same room where the Boston Tea Party was planned in 1773. Growing up in Boston I was constantly exposed to its historical treasures. By the time I was nine years old I had memorized Oliver Wendell Holme's historic poem "Old Ironsides."  Voluntarily. Because I liked the boat. The high school I attended is even historical, the oldest public school in the country, alma mater to Ben Franklin, Sam Adams and John Hancock.  Because of all that, I'm no stranger to treating historical sites with familiarity and even (inevitably) indifference at times.

But the significance of the Old South Meetinghouse in particular is what I love the most about this run of shows.

See, in the 1920s the Old South Meetinghouse became a hot spot specifically for debates regarding free speech rights, an issue that was dividing people all over the country.
The Meetinghouse had, since its inception, been a place for public discussions including a program series called the Old South Forum. But as mayors in Boston (James Curley and Malcolm Nichols) banned books and plays to keep up with the rest of the nation, people began debating whether there should be limits on what kind of discussions were allowed at the Meetinghouse.

In 1929 the Old South's board put an end to the debates about free speech by declaring that anyone was welcome to speak in the meetinghouse "without regard to the unpopularity of any cause."

Which... explains how eighty years later I'm free to get up on stage and sing about how much I love to eat hamburgers. Or whatever else the audience wants me to sing about.

In the back of the meetinghouse there are some educational exhibits set up. Across from the life sized statue of Margaret Sanger* , a sign asks visitors if there is anyone they feel should be banned from speaking in public forums. The answers can be written on yellow slips of paper which are then entered into a plastic binder as part of an "ongoing dialogue about freedom of speech and dissent."

Most of the entries in the binder are from school children on class trips. In pencil most have answered along the lines of, "no, everyone should get the right to talk." Some made a caveat such as, "Everyone can talk if they agree to be respectful of other ideas as well." A few that made specific exceptions such as, "I would not let the KKK or nazis talk because their ideas are harmful to others."

But two entries made me giggle out loud.
The first, in a child's heavy handed pencil scrawl said "I would ban amateur comedians from telling jokes."
The second, also a child, but one who gripped the pencil less tightly said, "Only comedians should talk."

It's like they knew.

----------------------------------------
* I do not know if it is actually life sized.

Vampires at Boston Latin School - Revealed

I am proud of having graduated from Boston Latin School. Founded in 1635, its alumni include Ben Franklin, Sam Adams and Leonard Bernstein. It's an exam school and fairly prestigious. For six years I studied Latin, presented in public declamation competitions, and enjoyed the knowledge that "doors would be opened" because of my developing organizational skills and work ethic. Since then I am happy to say I have found that last part to be absolutely true. The things I learned at BLS have brought me very far.

So when I woke up today and checked the weather on boston.com and saw this article I became very, very embarrassed.

Apparently, the new Headmaster had to send home a letter to parents quelling a rumor that vampires are in attendance at Latin. The whole thing made me feel like we were in some sort of fantasy novel world because the tone of the article intimated that the HM's message was not "vampires do not exist," only that "vampires do not go here."

Like, maybe the undead just don't score as high on the entrance exam.

Thanks to the comment section on the article as well as Facebook and Twitter I have not been alone in this. I came home from work to the typefaced griping of many members of the Latin family.

However, also due to virtual social networking, bits and pieces of the real story have been surfacing. A former classmate of mine, Adam Pieniazek shed some light on the situation for me by linking me first to this superior article from channel five news. Apparently there are some underclassmen who are calling themselves vampires, and when one student bit another the police were called to the school.

This news story which I think is actually a lot more interesting (why did she bite? was the other student teasing her? was it self defense? were they goofing off? does she really think she's a vampire or does she just dress in black and say that to keep the 'posers' away?) didn't get published until it was far too late.

Mr. Pieniazek, who is co founder of the growing web media company The 42nd Estate, also has a blog entry related to the event on which a couple current BLS students commented, further detailing the circumstances of the sensational story.

One of the comments was fairly intelligent. (So I will skip it.) The other one says this:

"well i jsut wanna answer this question fo is it true,
no noone got arrested but someone in my grade does thinks eh is a vampire. its scarey, but true. so dont try to hide it, because the bls student body know the truth. sorry teta [BLS Headmaster] you can’t cover up the truth."

I would like to point out just few things about all of this so I can take a nap and go to my show in peace  tonight.

When I was in school I knew several girls who claimed to be witches. I also know one of my brother's friends at English High claimed to be part of a coven of vampires. I think ( I hope) they most of them were just trying to be different and they knew it deep down. They could admit to someone in private "I'm not actually an undead mythical creature." But I don't know. There are two types of "those kids," in high schools. Some of them are trying things out, and some are actually mentally disturbed.

Now, from my knowledge of psych as well as my experience being one of "those kids," in high school I am willing to make a blanket statement suggesting that if this student actually bit another student to "prove," he or she was a vampire they may be the second kind of kid. They may need some extra attention from the guidance counselor.

"The bls body knows the truth," is an unsettling statement from one of the country's "best and brightest," because it suggests that this BLS student believes that mental illness is the same thing as actually being a vampire. The headmaster did not try to persuade the public that BLS students are without biochemical flaws.

If this student actually did bite another student there are a large number of things that could be at work, and almost all of them have to do with an undiagnosed or obviously unadvertised mental illness. None of them have to do with actual vampires. The headmaster isn't "covering up the truth," she's just trying to make everyone feel safe.

That being said, "there are no vampires here," is not a very useful position for a HM to take. "It is true and unfortunate that an assault occurred on school property but please be advised that the proper measures are being taken to ensure your child's safety on school grounds," sounds a bit less ridiculous and is a lot more on point. And doesn't even include the "V" word which guarantees a less embarrassing press release.

The Improv Update

Three Hole Punch got some great publicity in blogs this week. Our show was mentioned in Transient Travels, as part of Susan Forshner's own take on the boston.com feature "25 things to do in Boston for Under $25." In addition to that, we managed to warm the impossibly icy myocardium of a certain "professor," and in doing so elicited a positive review here in his blog, Periscope Depth.

Come check us out this upcoming Wednesday for all new sketches, all new improv and all new secret telling!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last night I went to my alma mater, Boston Latin School to see the Yellow Submarines Improv Troupe perform. I was invited by a former camper from Thacher. I was her first improv teacher when she was no older than nine, and I had her in my summer classes until she was 12. Because of the casual nature of summer camp, she essentially became like a younger sister.
In high school, I was in the Yellow Submarines (briefly). The group was formed during my at freshman year at BLS by two of my peers, Josh Michel (of Mosaic) and Jack Ferris. Josh's youngest brother, Jesse was in the show tonight. As was Paul, the younger brother of Joe Gels of Boston's own Improv Jones. It was a great show overall. The players were very enthusiastic even through rough spots. The best part was that seeing how Josh and Jack's creation lives on. And also seeing Cam, Jesse and Paul in a new and upcoming generation of improvisers. What a seriously cool thing to witness, the next generation of comedy.
Oh, and if this wasn't enough generational name dropping for you, the new head of drama over at BLS is none other than Sean Sullivan of Friday Night Face Off and BNN, so I ran into him over there too.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It blows my mind to think that I never would have auditioned for Mission:IMPROVable in college if I hadn't been in the Yellow Submarines in high school. Josh is the one who dragged me there. I wasn't passionate about comedy until after I got into Mission. And Mission changed my life. I would be a completely different person now. I wouldn't be here.

Speaking of "here" - I had my second to last show with Friday Night Face Off last night. It was solid. Shan, Steph and myself went up against Dana, Michelle and Sean. Serpico played the ball, and Bobby MC'd. I had fun every minute, the audience seemed to as well, and it was a great house. It's hard to imagine that in two more weeks I won't be doing this anymore. In fact, I can't imagine it. I guess I'll have to wait and see.