Too Many Cooks Spoil the Melting Pot

Evolution of a show by 6 writers at the Second City's Training Center in Chicago

Thursday, September 21, 2006

New projects

Thanks to Kyle for this update:

"Regan and I got into Mary's next project, 'Family Treason.' It's a proposed show in the Donny, and if all goes well they plan to take it to another theatre after this one. It should be hilarious, and it involves all the same writers from Monkey See Productions. It goes up on Oct. 21st, and runs until Dec. 2nd.


I also just wrapped up on the feature Sketch that I have been working on. Hopefully we can get a distribution deal, so all the world can see it. Regan, Jessica, Mike, and Mary are all actors in the film."

The synopsis is at http://www.mindlight.com/sketch.html.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Standup alert: a stroll down Kyle Lane



Kyle Lane has just returned from performing at a corporate gig in Columbus with Joe Canale (from Second City's Mainstage), who talked about the gig on the new Ruby Streak/Second City podcast. Canale said that these corporate affairs are typically PG in sensibility, so he was caught off guard when Kyle really got filthy (and got a lot of laughs) with his standup.

The podcast is available online at http://secondcity.com/?id=theatres/chicago/features (Kyle gets a mention about 16 minutes into the podcast).

Here's what Kyle writes about the experience: "Columbus was insane, apparently insane enough to make a podcast! We had a blast though, and it was great."

He adds, "This Friday [September 15], I am doing a show at the Cork Lounge at 1822 W. Addison. It has some really good comics, including my filth. It starts at 8 or 9 I think."

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Michael Larimer's new show



Michael Larimer's new show!
Title: Me, Myself, and iPod
Time: Fridays @ 10:30pm
Run: Sept. 8th-Oct. 13th, 6 shows

At Donny's Skybox Theatre
1608 N. Wells St.
Piper's Alley, 4th floor

From the Donny's Skybox Web site: "'Me, Myself, & iPod' is an intelligent and energetic exploration of society’s growing dependence on technology. The show examines this dependence and its effects on interpersonal relationships, and ultimately, our own identities."

Great run!






We had our 5th and final performance last week--not quite a sellout, but a good turnout considering a lot of folks were out of town for the Labor Day weekend. Since Director Mary Scruggs was on vacation, Andy Miara, a Second City Training Center faculty member who taught Writing 3 for most of the show's writers, held a mini-commencement and gave the writers certificates certifying our successful completion of the SCTC writing program. The writers thanked cast and crew with a gift bag that included a coffee mug with the "Too Many Cooks" poster design.

It was a bittersweet evening saying goodbye to "Cooks," but we're all looking forward to future efforts.

Coming soon, technical challenges permitting, audiofiles of the songs.

Also, Watch this Space for updates on what the Cooks are up to!

--J. P. Stephenson