Ice Bucket Challenge #1

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past couple of weeks, then by now you've probably heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It is a way to both raise funds for and awareness of ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease. It's also one of those bandwagoning things to do that you do, by dumping ice water over your head, and then challenge at least three of your friends to then go and do.

Like you do.

Last week, my improv troupe—not certain members of the troupe, but the entire troupe—was challenged to do the Ice Bucket Challenge by one of our fans, and we responded by tweaking our "Oxygen Deprivation" game and using ice water instead of regular water.

It's a lot harder than it looks. Trust me.

See the result here, with yours truly, Keenan, Ryan, and Scott taking the challenge live on stage:

Shakespearean Festival 2014

Last weekend, Mom and Dad; Ben, Adi, and Christian; Steve and Summer; and Biz and Jeff, along with yours truly, traveled down to Cedar City to attend the Shakespearean Festival, which has been a family tradition for many summers now. We saw two very entertaining plays: The Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night.

We also spent part of the day Saturday at the Cedar City Park on Main Street, which is where I snapped this photo of Ben and one-year-old Christian enjoying a piggy-back ride together:

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.

Omelette

Last night, the Improvables experienced both a first and a last. It was our first-ever long-form performance, for which we performed a Shakespearean-themed play titled Omelette, which was suggested by an audience member and somewhat based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. Two of the featured characters included the rednecks Rosenstern and Guildencrantz, played by Parker and Ryan:

Yours truly played the princess (yes, really), Keenan played Prince Gobot, Scott was the king, Bryan was the archnemesis, Cameron was the elderly mentor, and Ian starred in the title role as aspiring chef Omelette. It was a very fun and memorable evening, and we along with our audience had a great time.

It was also a night of lasts in that it was Ian's final performance with the troupe. Ian has been a good friend and colleague for nearly the entire existence of the Improvables, and he will be moving on to big and better things, as his new job will be making him travel more, and he will also be spending more family time.

Improvables in the Park

There was another fantastic mid-singles conference last week, and the Improvables, including yours truly, were invited to perform for the Friday night barbecue up at North Canyon Park. With a great BBQ meal served and 200 (?) or more in the audience for some free advertising for the troupe, we were more than happy to accept the invitation. June 20, one of the longest (sunlight) days of the year, was also a perfect day for an outdoor performance that lasted beyond 9 p.m.

What followed was a very fun night of improv, as they almost always are, with the very talented people I get to associate with on a weekly basis.

One of everybody's favorite parts was Keenan literally coming down out of the woods as Bigfoot to complain about his issues in "Town Hall":

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.

Improvables Class of 2014

We (collectively) recently completed teaching another beginning improv skills workshop. At the conclusion of it, the attendees, joined by Erica, Richard, and Ryan, with yours truly as M.C., had a chance to perform and show off their improv skills.

It was a fun and memorable night, as they always are.

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.