The Project: a look back!
- Thread starter The Project
- Start date
Because I am a stickler, I must point out that Rob Lathan and I were late-season substitutions into The Biggest Dog in the World. I believe we were replacing Brett Christensen and Natasha Levinger, who moved to California and should be credited as original, dare I say founding, members of TBDITW.
Now that THAT'S settled, man, I loved The Project. Oh, to be a fly on the wall before the second season draft!
Now that THAT'S settled, man, I loved The Project. Oh, to be a fly on the wall before the second season draft!
Signing up for the Skirmish because I wanted the candy bar, then getting picked and having to play the Skirmish while someone else got the sweet, sweet candy.
Not The Project with Pat Baer. It was Not The Project.
Whenever someone had to miss a Rebecca Factory show, subbing in someone named Rebecca (or Rebekka).
Butter.
Not The Project with Pat Baer. It was Not The Project.
Whenever someone had to miss a Rebecca Factory show, subbing in someone named Rebecca (or Rebekka).
Butter.
It was, in most simple terms, a show that featured a bunch of improv teams doing 20 minute long-form improv sets.
The first year was just teams who put themselves together (I asked several people to be "captains" and put their teams together and submit rosters.) The schedule just rotated so everyone's teams got a fairly equal amount of shows.
The second year I tried a (what I thought would be fun) "draft" format. Captains were selected and they had to draft (in rounds) their team roster from the pool of Project players. (The draft was done in secret as to not upset people who might have been drafted low.) This resulted in some crazy combinations of people who would never ever normally be on a team together. (Some teams faired better than others.)
The third and fourth year is the current "competitive" format. Again, captains put together their own teams. After each show all the teams that went up that night were ranked by secret audience ballot from best to worst. Points were awarded from the ranking on each ballot (2 points for first place, 1 point for second place, 0 points for third place.) After a 3 month "season", the bottom scoring two teams were eliminated and two new teams were added.
The Project started doing shows at Juvie Hall/Gene Frankel theater. Then it moved to the Magnet Theater. Then it moved to the PIT (where it is now.)
The first two years there was also a light-hearted random team competition called the "Big Team Skirmish". Teams were randomly picked from a hat (actually a "FreshDirect" baseball cap.) They each performed 10 minute sets. The audience then voted and the winner went on to the next week to face a random new team.
Essentially it was an experiment to see if there could be a theater agnostic team improv night that was mostly about having fun and not being that serious or pressurized.
-Terry
The first year was just teams who put themselves together (I asked several people to be "captains" and put their teams together and submit rosters.) The schedule just rotated so everyone's teams got a fairly equal amount of shows.
The second year I tried a (what I thought would be fun) "draft" format. Captains were selected and they had to draft (in rounds) their team roster from the pool of Project players. (The draft was done in secret as to not upset people who might have been drafted low.) This resulted in some crazy combinations of people who would never ever normally be on a team together. (Some teams faired better than others.)
The third and fourth year is the current "competitive" format. Again, captains put together their own teams. After each show all the teams that went up that night were ranked by secret audience ballot from best to worst. Points were awarded from the ranking on each ballot (2 points for first place, 1 point for second place, 0 points for third place.) After a 3 month "season", the bottom scoring two teams were eliminated and two new teams were added.
The Project started doing shows at Juvie Hall/Gene Frankel theater. Then it moved to the Magnet Theater. Then it moved to the PIT (where it is now.)
The first two years there was also a light-hearted random team competition called the "Big Team Skirmish". Teams were randomly picked from a hat (actually a "FreshDirect" baseball cap.) They each performed 10 minute sets. The audience then voted and the winner went on to the next week to face a random new team.
Essentially it was an experiment to see if there could be a theater agnostic team improv night that was mostly about having fun and not being that serious or pressurized.
-Terry
Primal Bias was born at the Project. The Project started a few months after the harold team I was on was dismantled. This kept me improvising - and with such great improvisers that I don't think its wrong to credit Primal Bias and the Project for making sure I was good enough to get back on with Mailer Daemon.
More importantly then that, those shows were fun. I remember trudging through a blizzard to do a show at the Gene Frankel theater and afterwards feeling it was totally worth the soaked jeans, the freezing fingers, and the dreadful trip back home. I think that was the night Festante was so funny Will couldn't stop laughing and Donnelly began addressing him (and dragging him on stage?) which only made Will laugh louder.
Primal Bias had so much fun we kept performing together after the first season of the Project ended with a USM run (along with the 5 dudes). This is when we forced Silvija to join us, and despite her attempts to quit numerous times since she is probably the most dedicated team member.
I remember being in a skirmish with Erik Tanouye and Dominic Dierkes, where Tanouye because suspicious of Dom's initiations - suspecting they were not actually drawn from the suggestion. Then when Tanouye figured out where the idea came from he would announce it in the scenes "Oh, I see. We're in TINSEL Town." Dom would realize he had been doubted and smirk out the response "Yeah - that's right." and then the scene would get going.
Season 2, getting to play on a team with people I never played with before was fun too. I love the opportunities to do shows with new people, and/or old friends that I had never performed with.
Sure I had bad shows at the Project, but I always had fun.
I was late to the project (only in during the competitive years) but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Team Fernandez, which might be the only team in Project history to keep the original name Terry gave us.
My favorite thing that happened at the project was before a show in December of 2006. Lou and I ran into Terry and plugged his name into Christmas songs, such as
The Charlie Brown Christmas song "Terry Jinn is here"
Carol of the Bells "Ter Terry Jinn, Ter Terry Jinn"
And doing this in front of a slightly bemused Terry (who eventually asked us to stop, because we did it for about 20 minutes straight).
Viva la Project! Viva Terry Jinn!
My favorite thing that happened at the project was before a show in December of 2006. Lou and I ran into Terry and plugged his name into Christmas songs, such as
The Charlie Brown Christmas song "Terry Jinn is here"
Carol of the Bells "Ter Terry Jinn, Ter Terry Jinn"
And doing this in front of a slightly bemused Terry (who eventually asked us to stop, because we did it for about 20 minutes straight).
Viva la Project! Viva Terry Jinn!
I loved in early Project shows when Lombard would tag himself out and point at me to go into the scene. What an odd compliment/challenge! I've done it to others since then.
That JAG scene was indeed one of the funniest I'd ever seen. I remember an early skirmish where Sue Galloway was playing ping-pong against someone. Or the long run of one of the Skirmish teams that had Ptolemy and Curtis on it (at the Magnet). Boxhead was certainly one of the most underrated improvisers around. Team Fernandez has had amazing amazing shows -- one where Lou was the Lincoln Memorial come to life, eating people was particularly joyous.
Primal Bias has certainly been one of my favorite teams ever if not my most favorite. A very good time.
I liked the loose energy of a good Project show. Friends performing and trying things out.
That JAG scene was indeed one of the funniest I'd ever seen. I remember an early skirmish where Sue Galloway was playing ping-pong against someone. Or the long run of one of the Skirmish teams that had Ptolemy and Curtis on it (at the Magnet). Boxhead was certainly one of the most underrated improvisers around. Team Fernandez has had amazing amazing shows -- one where Lou was the Lincoln Memorial come to life, eating people was particularly joyous.
Primal Bias has certainly been one of my favorite teams ever if not my most favorite. A very good time.
I liked the loose energy of a good Project show. Friends performing and trying things out.
