Hey, Toronto.
I would’ve liked to have told you this face-to-face, but I guess it’s just easier to write you. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.
You’re great, really. It’s just that I don’t think it’s going to work out. When we first met, things were great: all was new, we went on some crazy adventures- it was exactly what I needed at the time. So much potential. Now though, I don’t think things have changed so much as the more we learn about each other the less of a chance you and I really have. We don’t click.
You’ve done a lot for me, I’ll admit. You got me into doing shows again, taught me the power of a community of super-talented and smart people. And you have the coolest friends! I’ve met the greatest people through you, and though I think they’ll probably side with you in the split, I’m hoping they’ll still keep in touch. Also, thanks for getting me that job.
The thing is I just don’t see us together long-term. Your style and mine are ultimately incompatible and though it sounds cold it does sadden me to rationalize it so. I wish I were more flexible, I do! But if I don’t follow my heart/guts/cojones, well then anytime we fight and let each other down I’m just telling myself “I told you so!”
It's... well it's Vancouver. We've always been close and yeah, I've been seeing Vancouver a little bit here and there and I guess I never really got over it. We just work so well together. I’m a west coast boy. I need greens and blues, I need my temperate climate and my buckets of rain. My family’s almost all there, and I never get to see my old friends anymore… I know, I’m making excuses. The basic underlying theme is that I’ve never felt any sense of permanence in this whole thing, and I think it’s time for me to move on. I know you’ll be fine without me. Maybe after some time has passed we can still hang out.
You’ll always have a special place in my heart.
Love, J.Rai
P.S. I hope it's okay if I stick around for a few more months while I find a new place.
Showing posts with label toronto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toronto. Show all posts
Friday, December 30, 2011
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Festivals, classes, books and radio
So I'll start on the regular front: The Carnegie Hall Show. The summer's been an interesting season - while most shows take breaks because so many of the performers have opportunities to tour shows, do theatre festivals or follow the Fringe around, we too have lost each (and sometimes all) of our cast to other engagements during the summer but soon will have the whole gang back together, at least for a while. Not that the "original lineup" is the only recipe for a sure-fire show of course, we've had a slew of awesome guest performances.
The reunion of the cast is just in time though, as our show has been picked for both the Toronto Improv Festival and the Montreal Improv Festival this fall! Unfortunately, after some attempts at shuffling dates around we are unable to make the Montreal party - but there's always next year. Our Toronto date is September 23rd - Wednesday! That should be easy to make.
This week's show will be a bit of an experiment too, only in the sense of re-purposing the show as a fundraiser for a charity I'll be doing a bit of work with next month, The Sandals Foundation. Through them, while on a trip to the Turks and Caicos next month we'll be building community gardens and playgrounds in some of the less fortunate villages on the islands, and also doing a bit of environmental protection work protecting the local reefs. We're going to use this week's event toward a fundraising goal I've been challenged with through my office and we'll see what the community can provide us.
In other news, I'm in at Second City! By "in" I mean that they finally called me in about the great new Musical Directors program they've started up. They have a very cool series of workshops sharing the tricks and methods that the Second City shows use to involve live improvised music into their shows. I'm most excited about this because since I've just been making this up as I go along (which in improv, I guess is allowed!), I'm very interested to really talk techniques and go-tos with other more experienced Musical Directors. I'm already going to start more regular session accompanying classes in the training centre soon and I'll also be taking the classes while I'm there. It's very exciting!
Outside of improv, I finally got a copy of And Here's The Kicker which is a very cool book of interviews with the relatively nameless writers behind the most popular TV shows and comedians of all time. So far I've learned a lot about the development of a lot of the templates for today's talk shows, sitcoms and film comedies, but also the writers themselves are of course very funny and insightful. There's also a lot of little inter-chapter sidebars about how books get sold, jokes turn into jobs and a few "Whatever you do, don't..." lessons learned the hard way many times over by writers over the decades. I'm not even halfway through but it's already the most satisfying read I've found about writing since I finished Crafty TV Writing.
Also I've gotten back into radio in a big way lately by finding out about a lot of public radio shows in the states, notably The Moth and This American Life. I've wanted to do some kind of radio-format podcast for some time now and so many forms are so appealing, but I think I'd have to settle somewhere around radio play or documentary. Obviously those are both BROAD categories, but I just don't know the words to form the specific type that I'm thinking of yet. I've reassembled my portable recording kit so I'll get to start experimenting on locations again soon. If only I knew anything about documentary...
Until next time!
The reunion of the cast is just in time though, as our show has been picked for both the Toronto Improv Festival and the Montreal Improv Festival this fall! Unfortunately, after some attempts at shuffling dates around we are unable to make the Montreal party - but there's always next year. Our Toronto date is September 23rd - Wednesday! That should be easy to make.
This week's show will be a bit of an experiment too, only in the sense of re-purposing the show as a fundraiser for a charity I'll be doing a bit of work with next month, The Sandals Foundation. Through them, while on a trip to the Turks and Caicos next month we'll be building community gardens and playgrounds in some of the less fortunate villages on the islands, and also doing a bit of environmental protection work protecting the local reefs. We're going to use this week's event toward a fundraising goal I've been challenged with through my office and we'll see what the community can provide us.
In other news, I'm in at Second City! By "in" I mean that they finally called me in about the great new Musical Directors program they've started up. They have a very cool series of workshops sharing the tricks and methods that the Second City shows use to involve live improvised music into their shows. I'm most excited about this because since I've just been making this up as I go along (which in improv, I guess is allowed!), I'm very interested to really talk techniques and go-tos with other more experienced Musical Directors. I'm already going to start more regular session accompanying classes in the training centre soon and I'll also be taking the classes while I'm there. It's very exciting!
Outside of improv, I finally got a copy of And Here's The Kicker which is a very cool book of interviews with the relatively nameless writers behind the most popular TV shows and comedians of all time. So far I've learned a lot about the development of a lot of the templates for today's talk shows, sitcoms and film comedies, but also the writers themselves are of course very funny and insightful. There's also a lot of little inter-chapter sidebars about how books get sold, jokes turn into jobs and a few "Whatever you do, don't..." lessons learned the hard way many times over by writers over the decades. I'm not even halfway through but it's already the most satisfying read I've found about writing since I finished Crafty TV Writing.
Also I've gotten back into radio in a big way lately by finding out about a lot of public radio shows in the states, notably The Moth and This American Life. I've wanted to do some kind of radio-format podcast for some time now and so many forms are so appealing, but I think I'd have to settle somewhere around radio play or documentary. Obviously those are both BROAD categories, but I just don't know the words to form the specific type that I'm thinking of yet. I've reassembled my portable recording kit so I'll get to start experimenting on locations again soon. If only I knew anything about documentary...
Until next time!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Flashback to the west coast, future in the east
While I was visiting Vancouver a couple of weeks ago I got a chance to do a little drop-in work with the TrueNuff TV guys. Running a sketch comedy group as a business is a really tough go - be it with friends or business partners - because even when you're not concerned with making money, where that money goes or what you should do it is still an easy thing to disagree on. It's also really easy to get distracted by that and forget to make with the funny.
Sitting in on the shoot and making a cameo or three with the dudes was killer fun though. I miss being producing like that but also with messing around with my crew and having fun while doing it. There are some new videos over at TrueNuff TV going up right now that I jumped on board for, thanks for letting me back in, guys!
Back here in Toronto we're a couple shows in with The Carnegie Hall Show since our brief hiatus last month. Last night we filled the place to the rafters - sold out! It was amazing. Thanks to all who have attended and if you're curious, come on down! We're at the top of our game.
Well, as the fall is coming up (don't deny it, it's on the way!) I'm getting another opportunity with Second City - I'll be in as a Musical Director Apprentice (I've always wanted to be an apprentice!) in the next month, taking some workshops, working some workshops, and eventually sitting in on some shows and hopefully doing some on my own soon enough. Second City is a great hub for the comedy community, even if so many people operate outside of it's doors, it's a great gateway to smaller shows in our larger community and and a great resource for learning and networking. I'm really looking forward to being more formally involved with them.
When I started this blog I wanted to make it my development and writing blog, but that's coming slower than I expected and I've become so much more involved in related projects that I think I've been less able to keep updating, but I think other aspects of my work in the Toronto comedy community are just as interesting, so I'm going to keep up more info than I have been. Stay tuned!
Sitting in on the shoot and making a cameo or three with the dudes was killer fun though. I miss being producing like that but also with messing around with my crew and having fun while doing it. There are some new videos over at TrueNuff TV going up right now that I jumped on board for, thanks for letting me back in, guys!
Back here in Toronto we're a couple shows in with The Carnegie Hall Show since our brief hiatus last month. Last night we filled the place to the rafters - sold out! It was amazing. Thanks to all who have attended and if you're curious, come on down! We're at the top of our game.
Well, as the fall is coming up (don't deny it, it's on the way!) I'm getting another opportunity with Second City - I'll be in as a Musical Director Apprentice (I've always wanted to be an apprentice!) in the next month, taking some workshops, working some workshops, and eventually sitting in on some shows and hopefully doing some on my own soon enough. Second City is a great hub for the comedy community, even if so many people operate outside of it's doors, it's a great gateway to smaller shows in our larger community and and a great resource for learning and networking. I'm really looking forward to being more formally involved with them.
When I started this blog I wanted to make it my development and writing blog, but that's coming slower than I expected and I've become so much more involved in related projects that I think I've been less able to keep updating, but I think other aspects of my work in the Toronto comedy community are just as interesting, so I'm going to keep up more info than I have been. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Making it up as I go along
So another long stretch between posts, but a busy and exciting one!
The Carnegie Hall Show is still going great. We've been playing every week, nailing down what is essentially a new improv format, introducing our show to the community and the city at large and response has been very encouraging. I do think that lousy Toronto weather has kept audiences on the conservative side (size wise, not politically) so I hope that if this God awful weather ever breaks, then we'll get more happy people on the streets looking for fun things to do. Kensington Market is very quiet this time of year it seems.
Also, another ongoing yet irregular show I've gotten to play is the improvised soap opera Dysfunctional Utopia: A Serialized Romance. Directed by Ron Pederson, the improvised soap features over-the-top characters in a developing overdramatic storyline complete with adultery, conspiracy, murder and mad scientists - and we're doing it again this Sunday! Ghost Jail @ Clinton's on Bloor St.
On the writing front I'm still doing more reading about writing than actual writing, but I'm reading a lot. The latest book I've picked up is "The Way of Story" by Catherine Ann Jones - A book that while it contains some good reminders of the process of builsing outlines and developing characters that I've read in better books, there's a lot of new-agey type stuff about visualization and seemingly letting the story write itself, which I can't stomach to believe is actually very effective. As well, Jones packs the book full of self-congratulatory anecdotes about the few productions her career has consisted of, which do little to sell me on her advice since all the stories and ideas she's sold are never ones I would want to put my name on. (This isn't to say there isn't a market for writing a movie where Dolly Parton plays a country singer (what casting!) who dies and can't get into Heaven so has to go back to earth and do a good deed to get eternal bliss - but good God who would want to?)
More educational than any book I've read or heard of so far though has been the community of TV writer/bloggers that I've be uncovering. Alex Epstein has a great book and accompanying blog [Complications Ensue] about writing, the business of writing and (most importantly to me) the business of writing in Canada. Through him I also found Denis McGrath's killer blog of similar themes [Dead Things on Sticks] which also led me to blogs, groups and a killer weekly meeting of TV pros from Toronto. Last Friday I got to have a beer with Denis, Ed McNamara, Rob Pincombe and Rob Sheridan just because I showed up. This week was even bigger, plus George Strombo showed up. I've never been a proponent of networking (probably only because I haven't ever been good at it) but I feel like I meeting a lot of the right people to know a thing or tow about where to go and what to do once I actually have some product to show.
Anyway, Carnegie Hall is still every Wednesday and Ghost Jail is every Sunday. Come say hello!
The Carnegie Hall Show is still going great. We've been playing every week, nailing down what is essentially a new improv format, introducing our show to the community and the city at large and response has been very encouraging. I do think that lousy Toronto weather has kept audiences on the conservative side (size wise, not politically) so I hope that if this God awful weather ever breaks, then we'll get more happy people on the streets looking for fun things to do. Kensington Market is very quiet this time of year it seems.
Also, another ongoing yet irregular show I've gotten to play is the improvised soap opera Dysfunctional Utopia: A Serialized Romance. Directed by Ron Pederson, the improvised soap features over-the-top characters in a developing overdramatic storyline complete with adultery, conspiracy, murder and mad scientists - and we're doing it again this Sunday! Ghost Jail @ Clinton's on Bloor St.
On the writing front I'm still doing more reading about writing than actual writing, but I'm reading a lot. The latest book I've picked up is "The Way of Story" by Catherine Ann Jones - A book that while it contains some good reminders of the process of builsing outlines and developing characters that I've read in better books, there's a lot of new-agey type stuff about visualization and seemingly letting the story write itself, which I can't stomach to believe is actually very effective. As well, Jones packs the book full of self-congratulatory anecdotes about the few productions her career has consisted of, which do little to sell me on her advice since all the stories and ideas she's sold are never ones I would want to put my name on. (This isn't to say there isn't a market for writing a movie where Dolly Parton plays a country singer (what casting!) who dies and can't get into Heaven so has to go back to earth and do a good deed to get eternal bliss - but good God who would want to?)
More educational than any book I've read or heard of so far though has been the community of TV writer/bloggers that I've be uncovering. Alex Epstein has a great book and accompanying blog [Complications Ensue] about writing, the business of writing and (most importantly to me) the business of writing in Canada. Through him I also found Denis McGrath's killer blog of similar themes [Dead Things on Sticks] which also led me to blogs, groups and a killer weekly meeting of TV pros from Toronto. Last Friday I got to have a beer with Denis, Ed McNamara, Rob Pincombe and Rob Sheridan just because I showed up. This week was even bigger, plus George Strombo showed up. I've never been a proponent of networking (probably only because I haven't ever been good at it) but I feel like I meeting a lot of the right people to know a thing or tow about where to go and what to do once I actually have some product to show.
Anyway, Carnegie Hall is still every Wednesday and Ghost Jail is every Sunday. Come say hello!
Monday, December 8, 2008
New opportunity, new show, new challenges.
OK, so at least I've got a contributing gig here in Toronto now. A month ago I got into the Musical Director apprenticeship program at Second City. Great news! I also got a regular job to support my entertainer-artist-no income habit. Also great news, right? Well...
My new job required I spend some time out of town for a few weeks - the same few weeks that were the beginning of this great program at Second City. As a result, I was unable to start - but I will be getting involved in the spring when it starts again, meaning I can take some classes, study some shows and hopefully get to play very soon.
In the meantime, work is good and I'm playing a regular gig, the "Carnegie Hall" improv show on Wednesdays at the new Bread and Circus in Kensington Market in Toronto! The new location is at 299 Augusta Ave. and we helped play the grand opening of the place this past Saturday. Our regular show is Wednesdays at 9pm - we'll be on this Wednesday Dec. 10, and then on a hiatus until January - but then every Wednesday in 2009!
The show is a production of "The National Theatre of Canada" and features, nay, stars, Matt Baram, Ron Pederson and Chris Gibbs, with various guests of excellent talent. Shows so far have been terrible fun and hugely hilarious!
My new job required I spend some time out of town for a few weeks - the same few weeks that were the beginning of this great program at Second City. As a result, I was unable to start - but I will be getting involved in the spring when it starts again, meaning I can take some classes, study some shows and hopefully get to play very soon.
In the meantime, work is good and I'm playing a regular gig, the "Carnegie Hall" improv show on Wednesdays at the new Bread and Circus in Kensington Market in Toronto! The new location is at 299 Augusta Ave. and we helped play the grand opening of the place this past Saturday. Our regular show is Wednesdays at 9pm - we'll be on this Wednesday Dec. 10, and then on a hiatus until January - but then every Wednesday in 2009!
The show is a production of "The National Theatre of Canada" and features, nay, stars, Matt Baram, Ron Pederson and Chris Gibbs, with various guests of excellent talent. Shows so far have been terrible fun and hugely hilarious!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Week 1: The rain smells good
So I've been in Toronto for 7 days now. It rained today, and the air smells like it's been cleaned out a bit. I don't know from what, really, I don't recall what it smelled like before, but I've heard claims of the city's odour ranging from "smoky" to "like a towel that didn't totally dry so it ends up smelling like wet dog."
It's been hot here, like borderline too hot. It's muggy and humid. and yes I did know it was going to be like that before I came here, but it didn't make it much easier to adjust. I haven't worn jeans since I got here (apart from when I arrived) which is weird since that's pretty much appropriate every day in Vancouver.
So I got all my stuff, (the boxes virtually disintegrated after I got them from Greyhound, but my stuff inside was mostly okay) a place to sleep for a while and a 416 phone number. Now to find work. What kind? Well I'm looking for everything from my "fall-back Joe-job" IT support gigs to sound and music work, because for the time being I just want to do something, anything to help me settle and get back into the black financially. I got some great deals moving out here but it's still a hit to the wallet, as I'm sure so many of you know.
So in short, I'm here, I'm good, and I'm ready to get to know the city a little better.
Big thanks to Rob, James, Brandon, Jorie, Denise and Brett and any smaller players that helped me translocate. All help is hugely appreciated.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Too much week, not enough weekend
Got a call Thursday night to see if I could work on Caprica late Friday. I had said that I had an early morning on Saturday so I couldn't if it might be late. The agent tells me it's a 4:00 call and shouldn't go long, and it'd be a huge favor for him if I could make it. I say yes.
Call time: 7:30 pm. Wrap time: 4:30 am. Class time: 10:00 am (In North Van). God Damnit.
Interesting show though. Without giving too much away... well, I guess I can't say much because there's a lot of weird stuff about the show that nobody's talking about. But there's enough widespread info about it to say that it's supposed to take place about 50 years before Battlestar Galactica, before their planet explodes or whatever and they're on the run from killer robots.
As for my class, I took the Vancouver Film Industry Orientation weekend class that the unions require you to have. It doesn't really pertain to Vancouver specifically really, except for a little P.R. info about why we're supposedly so great, but I'm told that the ticket I get for taking it might be worthless in Ontario because... well supposedly IATSE Toronto is jealous of Vancouver getting all the work or something. I dunno. Turns out the union thing isn't a big deal anyway because the number of non-union shows being produced in Vancouver has been on a steady rise in the last few years, so you don't relaly need to be a member to work on most of them.
Wish I'd known that before I sat around waiting for them to return my bloody phone calls.
Call time: 7:30 pm. Wrap time: 4:30 am. Class time: 10:00 am (In North Van). God Damnit.
Interesting show though. Without giving too much away... well, I guess I can't say much because there's a lot of weird stuff about the show that nobody's talking about. But there's enough widespread info about it to say that it's supposed to take place about 50 years before Battlestar Galactica, before their planet explodes or whatever and they're on the run from killer robots.
As for my class, I took the Vancouver Film Industry Orientation weekend class that the unions require you to have. It doesn't really pertain to Vancouver specifically really, except for a little P.R. info about why we're supposedly so great, but I'm told that the ticket I get for taking it might be worthless in Ontario because... well supposedly IATSE Toronto is jealous of Vancouver getting all the work or something. I dunno. Turns out the union thing isn't a big deal anyway because the number of non-union shows being produced in Vancouver has been on a steady rise in the last few years, so you don't relaly need to be a member to work on most of them.
Wish I'd known that before I sat around waiting for them to return my bloody phone calls.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Another dead end...
So I was perusing the CanDevs Ontario directory looking for Toronto-based developers that might be on the lookout for an Audio Designer (me) and I found a few that look like they're accepting applications but on a couple with explicit postings looking for them.
So I'm doing my due diligence and researching the companies I'm applying to so I can at least know what I'm talking about in my cover letter and applications, or (if it ever happens) if they actually call me back. One company, Pseudo Interactive, starts looking very promising to me, in that they are a "small" company with about 50 employees and seem to be expanding their development force - and then I guess I got the "too good to be true" moment. It looks like a deal falling through with publisher Eidos caused the ground to fall out from underneath them and they had to shut down. God Damnit. Just when things started to look promising. I even sent in my resume and demo reels anyway but the emails fucking bounced. They're phones still work though (I got an answering service) so maybe I should try seeing if they're really gone for good.
And it's not as if they hadn't put all their resources into locking up that deal (which was probably a sweet one for them) they would have gotten it anyway, so they were probably fucked if they did and fucked if they didn't.
Guess it's back to the CanDevs.
So I'm doing my due diligence and researching the companies I'm applying to so I can at least know what I'm talking about in my cover letter and applications, or (if it ever happens) if they actually call me back. One company, Pseudo Interactive, starts looking very promising to me, in that they are a "small" company with about 50 employees and seem to be expanding their development force - and then I guess I got the "too good to be true" moment. It looks like a deal falling through with publisher Eidos caused the ground to fall out from underneath them and they had to shut down. God Damnit. Just when things started to look promising. I even sent in my resume and demo reels anyway but the emails fucking bounced. They're phones still work though (I got an answering service) so maybe I should try seeing if they're really gone for good.
And it's not as if they hadn't put all their resources into locking up that deal (which was probably a sweet one for them) they would have gotten it anyway, so they were probably fucked if they did and fucked if they didn't.
Guess it's back to the CanDevs.
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