The Neverending Tree

 

Yours truly didn't appear in this show, but I had a front-row seat for last week's Friday-night Improvables performance in Centerville. It featured the musical "The Neverending Tree," as suggested by an audience member.

Ricky donned a unique-looking costume for a game of "Oscar-Winning Moment":

. . . and later belted out the title tune in the musical:

Keenan also chimed in with a bittersweet lament to wrap up the night's presentation:

Sometimes, we even amaze ourselves.

The Gong Show

One of my favorite local hangouts, the Karaoke Café, hosted a "Gong Show" Night last week. Some good friends and I took part together and had a great time stepping up to the mic to sing songs hand-picked by the K.J. randomly as "challenge" songs. If anyone in the audience didn't like what they were hearing, they could "gong" you, and if you received three "gongs" during a song, you had to quit singing.

If you, however, made it through the song before being "gonged" out, you won a prize. I was challenged to Prince's "Purple Rain" and made it through without being "gonged" to win a free dessert. I later was challenged to the Barenaked Ladies' "One Week," a real tongue twister, and was "gonged" twice during the first voice but somehow made it through the rest of the song to win a toy . . . which will be given out to some lucky niece or nephew.

Friday the 13th Show

I got to M.C. the Improvables performance two Fridays ago, which is also the only Friday the 13th in the calendar year of 2014. As always, the troupe both entertained and pleasantly surprised both me and everyone in the audience.

Consider, if you will, Scott's Irish jig about the Spice Girls:

. . . or Bryan, Megan, and Parker in "Replay at Bernie's":

Ode to Les Misérables

I sat in the audience for last week's Improvables show to cheer on my castmates. They ended up putting one of the best "Day in the Life" musicals we have ever created, something of a tribute to Les Misérables.

*wipes away a tear*

I'm very lucky to be a part of this talented group.

The Gobblewonker Rises!

Hello, and welcome to The Gobblewonker!

This is the blog page on which I will feature photographs and videos of me and my family members, friends, fellow improvisers, co-workers, random strangers, etc., mainly for the purposes of maintaining my own personal history. But all other friends and acquaintances are more than welcome to share in the journey.

Why the name Gobblewonker? I'm a "Gravity Falls" fan. It's a clever, unique name and easy to remember. More or less.

Also, the name was available here on blogger.com.

Today, I'm posting a few short video clips of recent happenings, both on stage and behind the scenes, from some of our recent Improvables performances. Included are Parker's portrayal of Lactose, the Intolerant:

Lorin trying to balance atop Charlotte's stilt thingies in the green room:

. . . and Parker and his backup singers performing a boy band song for a girl in the audience named "Camille."

I'm truly fortunate to be able to share the stage with some truly talented individuals.