improv is good for you

Nov. 6, 2009
This photo was taken on Friday night @ 8PM (not pictured: Taren Sterry).

Nov. 7, 2009
This photo was taken on Saturday night @ 8PM (Alison’s picture was added to this group shot because she had to leave at 3PM on Saturday to catch a flight).

see more photos, videos | my daily grace

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We did it. We improvised for 24 consecutive hours. Big, big thanks to all the teams who came out to play and to all those who came to watch — your support is greatly appreciated. My photographic output is pretty limited since I was mostly conserving energy just trying to stay awake. Moreover, I failed to get any clean shots of Kevin — apologies to you,  Kevin. But ace photographer Eric Pearson got a bunch of shots, so hopefully I can repost his stuff.

On behalf of the team, I would just like to say thanks again for everyone’s support. Extra-special thanks to Devon Ragsdale and (birthday boy) James Rich for hooking all of this up from the very beginning. To see short clips from the shows and scenes from backstage, please visit our tumblr page.
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Keith Huang

Q: When was the last time you stayed awake for 24 hours?
A: A few years ago, I stayed awake through the night to participate in “Midnight Madness,” a citywide scavenger hunt, inspired by the 1980s Michael J. Fox movie of the same name.

The game began precisely at midnight in Riverside Park and ended (for my team) at 3PM in East River Park in the Lower East Side. I was a member of the veteran “Midnight Madness” team, Team Red, which eventually finished fourth in a field of more than 25 teams.

I remember a few things about the hours that unfolded between midnight and 3PM — Alex Farlow falling slow-motion from a stationary bicycle, Ptolemy Slocum headbutting a piece of styrofoam in Union Square, Chris Grace mentioning that he had played in a rugby tournament earlier in the day before joining the crusade (and finishing the game with us), Pete LePage staring at me zombie-like, unable to respond to direct questions, and learning for the first time the meaning of the word “dongle.” (See Brian Fountain’s photos | my photos).

But most of all, I remember hitting the proverbial wall really, really early. In fact, I know I didn’t stay awake a full 24 hours, either. I crashed pretty hard by 6PM Saturday. I’m so screwed.

• Join Tomahawk and New York’s best improv teams on Fri, Nov. 6, 2009 @ 8PM at The Sage Theater in Times Square (711 Seventh Ave, 2F) for 24-consecutive hours of improv. (Facebook invite | Tomahawk tumblr)

Grace Helbig

Q: When was the last time you stayed awake for 24 hours?
A: After college I went backpacking in Europe for about three weeks. Our final week we found out the Running of the Bulls was happening in Pamplona, so we booked a couple of the last available train tickets from France to Spain. We left from Bordeaux at (let’s say) 3PM on a Friday, transferred trains three times, helped stow away (under our seats) a couple of American frat dudes who couldn’t get train tickets, met a group of 16-year-old Mexican girls who were celebrating their high school graduations (and “loved to go dancing dancing dancing”). We arrived in Pamplona at (let’s say) 1AM Saturday morning.

Somehow, as soon as we got off our train, we ran into a guy we met back in Venice a week before.  He was with a group of about five friends — all of whom had just met one another — and had JUST got kicked off a bus because a girl who was with them had tried to pee on the floor in the back (far right in photo).  They had had a few drinks.

Marshall York

Q: When was the last time you stayed awake for 24 hours?
A: A Lock In at my elementary school (as a reward for reading lots of books).  watched a movie about a witch and some pancakes.  we kept looking at our clocks and saying, “wow!  it’s 4 am!” like it was magical hour and the very air we breathed had become magical. the next day i slept through my alarm (first and only time that’s ever happened) and had to play in a baseball game.  I wasn’t in fighting form and my ma was mad at me for staying up all night.  i kept falling asleep in the car on the way there.

Remember:  it’s a marathon.  Pace baby, pace  Keep the longview. we have to have a before and after pic.  wear the same clothes.  same positions in the photo. i might break down in hysterical laughter.  only i won’t be laughing.  I’ll be gasping for air.  magical air.  hope someone knows CPR.”

• Join Tomahawk and New York’s best improv teams on Fri, Nov. 6, 2009 @ 8PM at The Sage Theater in Times Square (711 Seventh Ave, 2F) for 24-consecutive hours of improv. (Facebook invite | Tomahawk tumblr)