Aw man...
June 22nd, 2007
Chris Trew just left the Studio 8 House to return to Austin, where he’s got millions of adoring fans and thousands of live events to plan, produce, and manage. For the 3 weeks he was here, we shot and edited almost every damn day. We scheduled out more than 20 things and it looks like we shot a little more than we thought possible, and we still managed to relax and have time for fun activities in between.
It was a different game this time around, writing and shooting with Chris. We’re semi-professionals now, I think. Everything from the camera work to the acting to the writing – it’s all changed so much from our early days at LSU. I took a step back the other day in the middle of a shoot and pondered how the hell we managed to shoot “Everything is Everything,”our feature-length movie, as cheaply and effectively as we did all those years ago (2003) before we knew anything about anything.
Since the last time Chris and the rest of Studio 8 really collaborated together (before Hurricane Katrina), we’ve learned so much more about production, our audience, and our own talents and capabilities. For instance, I learned that I am able to consume vast amounts of ice cream by sucking it up through a straw with my ear and Chris learned that people love watching him fart on infants.
But really, it was something else, a treat perhaps. I feel very spoiled, to have had complete access to Chris’ energy and attention for these few short weeks. I honestly believe that what we shot, what we’re editing together right now, is some of our slickest work to date. We bit a big chunk out of all the material we’ve been developing recently, but we’ve got so much more that we just didn’t have time to shoot, so hopefully, he can visit Cali in a similar fashion in a few months and we can just keep cranking out the good stuff.
For those of you who haven’t kept up with Chris’ whereabouts, he’s running his very own comedy theater and improv school down in Austin, TX, and it’s blowing up with activities, and cool press, and love from all the people who’ve been involved with it. His improv troupe, Coldtowne, regularly tours and teaches all over the US and he’s doing work that I can only marvel at because Studio 8 doesn’t have much of a live presence in Los Angeles.
Perhaps it’s because we live in a huge sprawling beast of a city. Perhaps it’s because I like being in front of a camera more than I like being on a stage. Perhaps it’s because we don’t have time to devote ourselves to a comedy school or venue. Perhaps it’s because Studio 8 isn’t really a “sketch comedy group” as much as it is a “comedy video production company”.
Whatever the reason, I’m both excited and saddened by Chris’ absence. At the end of this summer, it will have been 2 years since Studio 8 left New Orleans and split itself into smaller parts. And somehow, we’re alive and kicking out here. Can we keep it up? Will we be able to maintain this thing with the heart of Studio 8 out there roaming the Texan prairie lands? Will our jokes get any funnier? Will this be the shittiest blog posting ever? Will we ever produce another silly Picture Story or start doing Instant Messenger pranks again?
I want to answer “yes” to all of the above questions, but who knows? Stay tuned, I suppose…
