There's no velociraptors in Shakespeare!

May 4th, 2009

After OKRF, Weekend I

5/4/09 09:08 pm

Well, I'm muddy in places I didn't think mud could go and finals season at school is dumping teh exhaustzzors on me, but otherwise, feeling great. In fact I'm happier than I've been in years. This first weekend at OKRF was exactly what the doctor would have ordered, if there were a doctor who prescribed renaissance festivals and their AWESOME casts/patrons. There was cruddy weather, but Willie's Wenches had good crowds (some huge ones on Sunday) of (literally) screaming groupies. The whole "don't stop performing from 12:15-5:30" thing really makes the day fly by. My latest brainchild: "Every Ren Faire Song You've Ever Heard" went over like helium on crack at Pub Sing, and the new show "Hamlet vs. MacBeth" has apparently (according to one vendor) left people's asses on the benches after they'd been laughed off. And just when I was dreading losing my capacity for improv, a "prop malfunction" at the Smoker caused my inner Peter North to come out, huh huh huh.

Can't wait for this weekend!

April 8th, 2009

Cue girlish squeals of glee...

4/8/09 03:16 pm

Because Willie's Wenches just got booked at GenCon! Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

April 2nd, 2009

To Oklahoma, Master Gamgee, and the House of Elrond! (and stuff)

4/2/09 04:08 pm

Willie's Wenches are heading out to our first stop of the Ren Faire season, the Norman Medieval Faire. Hope I see lots of friends out there! We're on the Camelot Stage all three days, so don't be shy; come visit.

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November 6th, 2008

Long Strange (Wonderful) Trip

11/6/08 02:05 pm

Willie's Wenches, my Shakesperean comedy group has finished its run at the Haunted Castle of Muskogee as of last weekend- while I can't say I'm not happy to have some free time again (the whole work-school thing and all...) I'm missing it and the people I know and got to know already. I can say with complete honesty it was one of the best gigs I've ever worked. WW added numerous tricks to our bag thereof, the patrons were AMAZING (seriously, one family came to almost every show and then gave us a luxuriant gift basket on the last night, people like this are priceless!) and of course, our partners in crime the Jester Rejects were and are a delight to perform with. There were too many good and great moments for me to list in one journal entry. To all my friends in OK, old and new, thank you for one of the best Octobers a girl could have.

And in other news, it turns out that real British people want to see us do our Shakespeare thang here in the KC area - the Daughters of the British Empire have requested our presence as performers at the Annual British Faire, right after tea (12:15 pm). Yayy for being hearted by real British people!

October 2nd, 2008

Back to Muskogee for Halloween

10/2/08 12:05 pm

Willie's Wenches and their friends the Jester Rejects will be performing on the Pirate Ship stage at the Castle of Muskogee as part of the Haunted Castle festivities, every weekend in October. Can't wait! Especially, looking forward to seeing all of my Oklahoma friends again. We'll be doing two shows a night of "A Midsummer Nightmare's Scream On Elm Street 13," and one hour long variety show with the Jester Rejects in between. Hilarity ensues!

August 6th, 2008

Super Troopers and Dirty Songs

8/6/08 12:42 pm

Now that I've spent two days doing not-too-much more than sleeping, I'm recovered enough to recount some of my awesome adventures from the past two weeks. First there was the KC Fringe Festival, where Willie's Wenches debued our musical spectacular Hamlet: Electric Boogaloo to rave reviews and full houses. We ended up tied for the number two spot on the KC Stage website, and I was actually proud to be a part of the Kansas City arts community. Took in a few of the other shows (Six, The Alley Cat Revue) with some of my group-mates and an old friends. For those of you who couldn't make it, here's a sample of one of the songs we did, from the "Female Inner Monologue Song" (to the tune of "Part of Your World"):

( Read more... )

And after that it was off to Tulsa, to see some of my Oklahoma chums and perform at DefCon 7. I don't know if I can adequately describe how much fun I had. Some activities of note: casino night, our "special by-invitation only" performance of Electric Boogaloo, meeting Peter Mayhew, Tom Morga, and Man Thing, and of course, being chased around the convention center like Daffy Duck by the Stormtroopers of the 501st. Video footage will hopefully follow!

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July 17th, 2008

Because I love chess!

7/17/08 07:42 pm

Actually, I joined Chess Club for a cute boy... and the tasty food they always had at the meets. But I do play a bitchin' game of double blitz.

Your result for Which Chess Piece are You Test?...

The Queen's Rook

The Queen’s Rook is a pensive, analytical individual. They don’t mind spending long periods of time on their own to work through problems. They may venture so far into thought they appear vacant or detached; often they really are oblivious of the world at that moment. These wayward princes are precise about descriptions and by habit correct others (or feel sorely tempted) if the shade of meaning is slightly off. This is annoying to the less concise, but this is what gives the Queen’s Rook a gift for gab, especially in writing.

This Rook is relatively easy going until their principles of truth, knowledge and justice are violated. Because of this they hate the formalities of bureaucracy, politics, and authority – which tend to mask the truth of operations. They will respond with a flip of the switch and become outspoken and inflexible. They will eventually drop the issue, because they do prefer a reserved and benign ambiance. The problem with the Queen’s Rook is when they are debating a point; they may be convincing themselves as much as their opponent. They spend a considerable amount of time second-guessing their abilities and may come to multiple conclusions that offer plausible solutions.

An indicator that a friend may be a Queen’s Rook is an obsession with logic. If a mistake is made, it is because there wasn’t enough data or it was placed out of context. Another indicator you’re friend is a Rook, throw a strategy game at them. They enjoy Risk, Bridge, Chess, and word games. Never rush the Rook. They don’t draw conclusions very quickly. If one were to gather a bunch of Rooks together to form a group they may debate:

1.) Whether or not there should be a group.

2.) Exactly what name should the proposed group choose?

3.) Which of the persons in the group should take responsibility or should they rotate?

Take Which Chess Piece are You Test? at HelloQuizzy

June 4th, 2008

It was the atheism that killed him, sir

6/4/08 12:12 pm

The best part of this was easily the "flavor text:"

"In the dead hand of an earlier adventurer is a scroll marked ATHEISM"

Dungeon of Dwimmerlaik

I was killed in a foul-smelling pit by Blonderennygirl the orc, whilst carrying...

the Shield of Laudanumdream, the Crown of Wolf J, the Crown of Purpledumbass, the Shield of Silviar, the Sword of Ancient Sumer, a Figurine of Neemauri, a Figurine of Sayyana, the Armour of Gr8wolf, the Sceptre of Chueypirate, the Sword of Fantasy, the Wand of Filth, the Axe of Newmexicowriter, the Amulet of Watergob and 123 gold pieces.

Score: 211

Explore the Dungeon of Dwimmerlaik and try to beat this score,
or enter your username to generate and explore your own dungeon...

May 28th, 2008

St. Louis Renaissance Festival, Week 2

5/28/08 11:24 am

or: The Rain in France Gets Somewhat on My Pants, heh. It was a rainy weekend, though the worst of it held off until Monday, allowing HUGE CROWDS OF SCREAMING PATRONS to descend upon the faire, at least, that's what it seemed like to me. Saturday and Sunday saw Willie's Wenches with big, nigh-rabidly-enthusiastic audiences who were ready to laugh/strip/fling their children onstage; it was that good. The only downside was the near-Noachian deluge Sunday night that ended up with the Faire (very wisely) calling things off for Memorial Day. On one hand, it sucks a lot to have missed out on our last day with GSTLRF, but on the other hand, it's nice that we were dealing with professionals who know how to take care of their people.

Back to the fun parts: 1) During our Press-a-Wench show on Sunday, I managed to pull a plain-clothes priest from the audience. Yes, me. I about died when he told me onstage, though I certainly don't regret doing so- he was absolutely hilarious. I just wish more of the audience had gotten to hear him say "I prefer Wenches to alter boys."

2) During one of the Hamlet fights, the stage was so slippery that Hamlet and I (I'm Laertes) slipped, slid towards each other, squealed like the girls we are, and then our blades connected with a perfectly feminine "ting" sound.

3) The patrons. They were all wonderful, but some of them were among the sweetest and the loudest-laughers that I've ever encountered.

4) The cast, the staff and the other stage acts- I just wish we'd gotten to say more goodbyes.

St. Louis was our last ren faire (for a while) and now it's on to the KC Fringe Festival to debut our new show, which since I last described it, has turned into a full-on musical.

I hope everyone in Muskogee had a great last weekend, too! Missed you guys!

May 22nd, 2008

St. Louis, heading in to Week 2

5/22/08 10:43 am

It's hard to believe that Willie's Wenches has only been performing (well for people other than ourselves, ahaha) for a little less than two months now. In that time, we've been to 4 Renaissance Festivals, and 1 regular theatrical-type gig. Wow. No wonder I'm so tired! And happy!

It was good to get back to St. Louis (the last time I visited that faire was 5 years ago) and see how it's grown and changed. The atmosphere is basically the same (which is good!) but a lot of the buildings and stages have been improved in pretty spectacular ways. I love all of the gorgeous trees. The patrons are much the same as I remember them, too, also a good thing. Now that I know my way around the site some (5 years ago I was wearing neither glasses nor contacts in character) I can do a little more exploring.

This will be my last weekend performing at renaissance festivals for a while, but it also means WW can start gearing up for our KC Fringe Festival shows. Bring on the velociraptors and dismembered hands! Whoo hoo!

Muskogee friends, have a great last weekend- you know I'll be thinking about you!

May 15th, 2008

Next up, St. Louis

5/15/08 11:35 am

Willie's Wenches is beginning it's two week run at the Greater St. Louis Renaissance Festival, a faire I haven't been to in five years but remember very fondly. (Muskogee friends, you know I'll still be missing you!)

Current Mood: creative

May 14th, 2008

OKRF= WHEE!

5/14/08 08:22 am

I love a) making lists and b) sharing them with friends on lj, but to sum up the goodness of my (and Willie's Wenches) weekend at OKRF cannot be done using any mortal list. At least, not one that I could finish anytime soon before going to work, heh. It was easily one of the best weekends I've ever had at any renaissance festival, ever, and I can't thank the OKRF cast, staff, and patrons enough for making us feel so welcome and being so darn fun to play with.

Current Mood: chipper

May 12th, 2008

But I like Jews!

5/12/08 09:52 pm

I don't usually go in for quiz memes, but I just had to do this one...

( Read more... )

May 7th, 2008

Party in Oklahoma!

5/7/08 08:27 am

Willie's Wenches are heading out to the Castle of Muskogee, to perform as the Special (very special, in our case) Guests at their Smoker AND to have as much fun as a horde of post-barrel monkeys who've wandered into the National Nitrous Oxide Depository. So you could say we're bringing the party with us.

For anyone who can, I highly recommend this Smoker; it's wild and bawdy (like a Smoker should be!) and of course it has us. And we have stage pyro (well, kind of)

Hope to see you there!

Current Mood: bouncy

April 24th, 2008

Hotspur Teaser

4/24/08 03:19 pm

So I've been working on another show for Willie's Wenches (no, not the one I thought up this past weekend at GPRF). I've been wanting to take a crack at Shakespeare's history plays for quite some time now, if for no other reason than (with the exceptions of Henry V and Richard III) no one seems to give a rat's ass about them. How best, then, to bring these great works of literature back to the masses?

Superheroes, of course!

I'd been thinking about what might make a nice theme for a spoof of all of the histories rolled up into one play, and then I had the idea that, to their respective peoples, the medieval kings and queens of yore were regarded as being well above the norman human. That whole "divine right of rulership" thing; kings giving blessings, queens helping to summon demons (Henry VI) and, as they are depicted by Shakespeare, carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

There's also plenty of room for villains; the obvious choice of Richard III, and of course Shakespeare's bugfuck crazy-whore version of Joan of Arc. I thought it might be fun to start all of the characters out in a kind of "School for the Gifted" setting, where the misfits Prince Hal and Richard III are being introduced to their newest student, a slobberingly lispalicious interperetation of Harry "Hotspur" Percy:

( Read more... )

Current Mood: creative

April 22nd, 2008

GPRF

4/22/08 08:33 am

I had about as much fun as a person can over one weekend at a Renaissance Festival. Here's a Top Ten:

10. I saw a real vole in the break area tent. He was digging a burrow and kept popping up like a whack-a-mole to get some plants. Cutest thing EVAR.
9. Getting to see the Scallywags again- it'd been far too long!
8. Wearing my first fake moustache (in a while) for our Midsummer's show- this thing is everything that's wrong with huge 70s pornstaches, and I LOOOOVE it.
7. Did I mention the vole?
6. Getting invited to come do some of our cheerleading for both the King and Queen at Pub Sing, Heavy Metal Combat, and the SCA people who were there. Makes a girl feel wanted.
5. All of the kids who came to our shows; kids can oftentimes be a hard sell for anything that might even be remotely educational- not these kids!
4. Getting to work some fun improvisation into the end of one of our Midsummer's shows.
3. My and Bostwick's "audition" to be part of the German Guards. Rock me, Amadeus!
2. Our group award from the Queen, who is both a regal monarch and a party girl. And...
1. You thought I was going to say the vole, didn't you? Close, actually the inspiration for what could possibly be the best Shakespearean spoof I've ever thought up hit over this weekend, more to come about that.

Next up Willie's Wenches is heading out to the Muskogee, Oklahoma Ren Fest during it's second weekend to perform as Special Guests at their Smoker. You guys will not believe what we have in store! All-new, never-before-seen, and guaranteed at least one spit take from the audience per show.

Current Mood: accomplished

April 17th, 2008

Off to the races again!

4/17/08 02:22 pm

And by races I mean the Wichita Renaissance Festival this weekend, where I'll be performing with Willie's Wenches. There's a lot of people I'm looking forward to seeing, whether it's for the first time or not. For anyone who can't make it, you can always check out our myspace; video footage of our performance at the Just Off Broadway Theater with brand spankin' new (and hilariously weird!) material ***EDIT*** will be up anyday now*. Yes,

neurotic_spaz, there's now a 4th ending to "Midsummer's" for you to collect!

I can't even begin to say how good all of this has been for my writing and creativity in general. In addition to finishing one Shakespeare spoof show, I've got three more in the works.

The only bad part of today is discovering the huge wasp that has entrenched itself in my doorjamb- I hate stinging insects more than I would hate a Rush concert with Thomas Covenant playing bass.

Current Mood: energetic

April 13th, 2008

I'll Play!

4/13/08 08:35 pm

If you want to play, just answer the questions in a comment. I'll screen comments by default.

1. Who are you?

2. In one or two words, how would you define your relationship with me (or just how you know me)?

3. If you could give me one piece of advice, what would it be?

4. My three best and three worst characteristics?

5. What historical personality or mythological character do I resemble?

6. My personality = earth, fire, air, or water? Why?

7. In your opinion, the ideal profession for me would be?

8. Memory of me that stands out?

9. If you didn't know anything about my religious beliefs, what religion (or spiritual path, etc. what have you) would you think I'd be?

10. Something random that reminds you of me?

11. If you had to give me a sobriquet, what would it be? (A sobriquet is a descriptive that follows someone's name, ex. Catherine the Great, Ivan the Terrible, Jess the Gypsy, Mary the Big-Bosomed, etc.)

12. If you had to plop me in a historical period, which one?

13. Animal I'd be and why?

14. Will you put this up in your journal to see what I say?
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April 10th, 2008

[to the tune of "What A Feeling"] What a weekend!

4/10/08 03:27 pm

Willie's Wenches have triumphantly returned from the Norman Oklahoma Medieval Fair with a fresh crop of intestinal parasites and sunburns. Well, okay, just kidding about that sunburn thing. Those are sooo gross.

A fabulous time was had by all, there were new friends made, old friends joyfully jumped upon (too many to list!) and only minor weather-related troubles. A special thank you to the Redlands Rogues with whom we shared a stage for holding up our screen during the worst of the wind so that our show could indeed go on.

Next up for us is Beth Byrd's Laidback Fundraiser at the Just Off Broadway Theater in KCMO on Saturday; for anyone who can, I highly recommend coming! Food, beer, oh yeah, and wenches!

Current Mood: cheerful

March 3rd, 2008

Oklahoma, here we come!

3/3/08 08:16 am

Hey all! I know I haven't been around much, for plenty of good reasons. Suffice it to say the life of Rissy is very busy and fulfilling. My new performing group, Willie's Wenches, is heading out to the Norman Midieval Faire in a month; excitement aplenty! So, Oklahoma buddies, (and anyone else who's going) can't wait to see you there!

Current Mood: excited