improv is good for you

Alison Fyhrie

Q: When was the last time you stayed awake for 24 hours?
A: I had recently moved to New York City, and life in the concrete jungle had left me hungry for some quality nature time.  I convinced some friends to join me on an excursion to the Catskills for some camping. I found a campsite, organized transportation, and printed some directions from MapQuest. “Well look at you, Fyhrie,” I thought to myself, smugly. “You’re a damn fine leader.” (haughty laugh, smirky face)….

Later that night, our car left Manhattan, accidentally re-entered Manhattan, again left Manhattan, again re-entered Manhattan, and then at long last, exited Manhattan and finally hit the highway towards upstate.  A trip that was supposed to take 3 hours wound up turning into something closer to 7 hours.  “Note to self… drinking wine, while in the passenger seat, in charge of dictating MapQuest directions, is not only illegal, but also foolhardy,” I think to myself, daily, in reference to that fateful trip. (shaking of head, gnashing of teeth)….

We arrived at the campground very, very late… and decided that just because it was almost sunrise, we were not going to be deterred from having a good time. We started blaring ‘Sexy Back’ (the song du jour at that time) on an iPod, shotgunning beers, and dancing.  When we did finally turn in to the tent to retire, it was excruciating cold.  Turns out the mountains are about 30 degrees colder than the city. During the night, fearing gangrene, I begged a lady friend of mine to let me cuddle with her, in a non-sexual fashion.. I also (for reasons that seemed logical in the middle of the night) used a pair of my blue jeans as a blanket.  I was that desperate. I did not sleep a wink.

I learned so many valuable lessons that night… about the importance of research, preparation…. but most importantly — I learned that blue jeans keep you warmer when they are actually worn on your body, rather than being casually draped on top your legs, awkwardly.

• 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)

Kevin Gottlieb

Q: When was the last time you stayed awake for 24 hours?
A: How about 40 hours straight?!  The last time I was severely sleep deprived was back in 2003,  the summer of the big blackout.  I was producing a complex visual-effects-laden HD commercial for Canon; we were under such a tight deadline that we had to work ’round the clock in the studio to complete the effects to the clients’ satisfaction.   The following afternoon we were all guzzling coffee and squinting at the screen, putting the final touches on the spot.  Suddenly the screen shuts down and comes back on again.  We blinked, and it shut down on us again, completely dead.  We thought it was a hardware malfunction until we realized the entire facility had lost power.  Next thing I know, my staff and clients were all on the roof deck listening to a transistor radio, learning what had happened.

As the sun went down, my IT guy offered to drive me home to Astoria so I could get some sleep. Somehow he wiggled his SUV out of a traffic jam on an eerily dark 1st ave to escape onto an even darker FDR drive.  I had forgotten what an insane driver he was – at speeds up to 80mph in complete darkness we nearly caused half a dozen accidents as we wound our way up the river.  Once in my apartment, I nearly burned it down – in my exhaustion i couldn’t find a flashlight, only matches and eventually a candle.

Too wiped out to join my neighbors in the streets who were drinking and partying, I was also too overtired to sleep.  I think I eventually got about an hour or two — after having been up for 40 hours!  Two days later, we finally shipped the commercial so it could air.  It was a tremendous accomplishment and garnered attention for the studio, but I was too exhausted and bitter to appreciate it.

• 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)

Andrew Burns

Q: When was the last time you stayed awake for 24 hours?
A: On the way back from a gig in the Hamptons in October 2007. The van my friend and I were driving broke down at 1AM about an hour and 45 minutes outside of New York. I used my AAA card and we waited on the shoulder of the highway until a guy showed up in a tow truck (he was originally from one of the boroughs.) All three of us rode in the front until we got to a gas station at some forgotten intersection on Long Island that looked like Mississippi. We left the van there (permanently, as it turned out), and took all the equipment with us in a cab — neck of the upright bass sticking out the window — to an LIRR station, just in time to see the train leave. A man appeared, a janitor drinking beer out of a bag, and proposed we share a cab for 20 miles to another LIRR station.

We did.

• 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)

Danielia Donohue

Q: When was the last time you stayed awake for 24 hours?
A: That would be 1996 after seeing the English Patient in the theatre, THE THEATRE!  Then I stayed up and listened to the Judybats and Morrissey with a guy I was trying to have a crush on, but it didn’t succeed. Forgive me if I start hoarding food from you guys while you’re onstage.  I’m going to go feral, I think.

• 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)