September 21, 2003

My big day! Saw an awesome exhibit at the Whitney called "The American Effect" with my dearest high school buddy, MaryEllen. What a treat! Then late lunch with Sue and Monte, also high school buds. There's something really wonderful about seeing old friends, isn't there? At the club (Carolines, of course) there was another wonderful surprise -- Maureen and Steve had made it after all. She's a great laugher. I want her in all my audiences. Charlie was there, too, and so were Victoria and David (who later became responsible for my dinner of steak in pepper sauce with ffries -- they don't say the f word (french) anymore). All the SFCC people that were still in town were there, too. Mari Esther and Nancy were totally awesome. I really felt like it was obvious that the SFCC people had a much easier performance style than the NYers, although to be fair many of the NYers had never been on stage before, and all of us have had prior stage time. After feeling so badly the day before, I was completely at ease and having fun during my performance. I got two applause breaks in a 5 minute set. It was such a thrill. I'm so thankful I had the chance to do that! Click here to read the raving reviews (raving is the operative word).

September 20, 2003

Sandy, the sole SFCC representative at Carolines on Broadway, totally kicked butt! It was obvious she was having a great time. For dinner that evening, I had . . . a nervous breakdown. Not sure what happened. A good dose of Madama Butterfly at NYC Opera with Charles made me see things more clearly. Sadly, ate a hot dog on the street on the way back to my hotel after the opera. Happily, it had those onions in the red sauce I like but you can't find anywhere else but NY.

September 19, 2003

Group class with the SFCC folks in Toly and Eli's room. Then Sandy and I tried to do something about the odor before rushing off to make little brochures that we could all hand out on the street by the club. I gave up my attachment to perfectionism, which seemed like a good idea at the time, until we arrived with over 200 copies . . . that all had the wrong start time on them. I had a very nice Linguine alle Vongole (blanca) that Kurtis dared me to order with the wrong accent on purpose. I chickened out. That evening's performance at STAND-UP NY was magical! Everyone rocked: Reggie, Eli, Sharman, Jonathan, Melissa, Dan, Jane, Anatoly, Bill, even Kurtis! What followed (at the Plaza Hotel) was a lot like an AA meeting, only at least half of us were drinking.

September 18, 2003

Had my private session. Learned that the audience doesn't want to be worried about me. After another (bigger) group session with S. most of us went for Thai. At least it was cheaper than previous meals.

September 17, 2003

Moving visit to the WTC site with the group. Made me feel like a little kid because I first went there the summer between 5th grade and 6th grade. I had my first "real" job interview in Tower One, a looooong time ago. Battery Park was as gorgeous as ever (always makes me think of "Desperately Seeking Susan" -- Kurtis says I live in a fantasy world) and Wall Street was as busy as ever, only now there are lots of armed people around. Whereas at one time the Wall St. cry was "You're nothing without equity!" it is now "You're nothing without security and war-on-terror-related stock portfolios!" Anyway, that evening we had our first group session with Stephen, then another group dinner, this one at a restaurant featuring fine Irish cuisine (isn't that an oxymoron?). I had the Shepherd's Pie again because I know that Shepherds are in season this time of year in New York.

September 16, 2003

After "getting orientated" to the American Comedy Institute, had a great group dinner at the Hearland Chophouse. (Anyone want to play "Steak House or Gay Bar"?). I had the skirt steak. (Still confused?) I browned on the rest of the San Francisco Comedy College group 'cause I was exhausted from the weekend. Heard they had great desert somewhere.

September 15, 2003

Third day in a row with Charlie. People will talk. Luckily, we both get a kick out of stuff like that. Met at the MOMA QNS to see the Beckmann retrospective. Great poster at a great price! I had a tuna melt on a hero roll at the diner on the corner. Hightailed it back into Manhattan for open mic night at StandUp NY. Only comedians in the audience, but a nice group. Aunt Harriet was a hoot! Chris somebody or other from St. Pete popped his standup cherry right before our very eyes. Finished off the day with a lovely dinner at Puttanesca (where they serve no puttanesca, and the waitress asked me if I wanted my Kir Royale on the rocks!!! Of course I changed my order to a Cosmo.) We split a carpaccio di melanzana, I had arugula and goat cheese salad and a pasta Bolognese. Delish!

September 14, 2003

Another full day. Saw "The Perfect Game: America Looks at Baseball" at the American Folk Art Museum. It was awesome. If you love the game the way Charlie and I do, you must see this exhibit! Decent lunch of Shepherd's Pie and Tetley's Pub Ale at the OldCastle Pub. That night it was back to back jazz shows! Cedar Walton All-Star Quintet at the Jazz Standard (I had deviled eggs that were yummy!) for some be-boppin' be-bop (you should have seen the bouncy lady next to me -- I thought she was going to hurt herself!). Then it was the difficult to characterize Willem Breuker Kollektief at Joe's Pub. So glad for another long day in NYC. (P.S. Happy Birthday Gwennie!)

September 13, 2003

My first full day in the Big Apple! And I mean FULL! Started at 11:00 am meeting Charlie on the tickets line. Charlie is the father of my best friend from high school, and by his own admission he has been in love with me from the first time he laid eyes on me. It's nice to be appreciated. We scored tix to "Take Me Out," had a brilliant lunch of chicken in mustard sauce at Le Rivage (where they know Charlie by name), then enjoyed a spectacular matinee performance. Good choice. After that it was the Edison Hotel Bar for drinks, a corner place for a slice, then StandUp NY for an excellent evening show (Lisa Landry and Lynn Koplitz totally cracked me up), and finally on to Birdland for the Marvin Stamm Quartet/Quintet. Welcome to New York!

September 8, 2003

Dinner was a few spicy chicken wings at the Pacific Palms Grill and Bar. We were competing with Monday Night Football, but there were about 7 or 8 non-comedians in the audience so we put on a show. I wasn't going to go up at first because I felt sort of burnt out, but the energy got better and better and so I got up. Thanks Tonya for showing up and dealing with the confusion!

The film shoot was a different story. Positive feelings all the way around, from beginning to end. The deal is that it's a commissioned piece for a bunch of venture capitalists and it's called "Venture Capital Idol" -- obviously a spoof of American Idol. I play "Technobabble Woman." Basically I pitch a silly high tech product that doesn't make any sense but involves a lot of real and psuedo-real technical terms. I wrote my own part about an hour before I left, and had it memorized by the time I got there. The director and other crew were thrilled. "How did you do that?" they asked. "I've been living in a technobabble world for the last 11 years, I told them." Pays off to pay attention to what's going on around you, I guess. I'm simply a "featured extra" but it can still go on my resume!

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Copyright 2003 Elizabeth A. Schumann. All rights reserved.