Tonight I performed in my final Harold Hour performance as member of my improv comedy troupe Spank’d. As I will be away in two weeks I will miss our second season finale, and as a team we’ve agreed to slip the surly bonds of the bi-weekly Harold Hour and explore other formats. It’s not the end, but it is an ending.
I feel a tad sad.
Perhaps I’m feeling it because it’s the end of a very emotional election week for all of us; perhaps it’s due to Veteran’s Day. But the healing hands of raucous guffaws erupting from irreverent and silly humor made up onstage served as a much needed soothing balm. Tonight I played Beyoncé in a cooking class, an aging wrapper/taster in a cupcake factory, and shed some clarity on the purpose of the resurrection (yes, THE Resurrection). It was a fun, funny night with special friends.
It’s coming up on nearly two full years since I started my first class at Harrisburg Improv Theatre (The HIT). While surrounding myself with younger, smarter people is a common (and ever-increasingly easy) theme in all areas of my life, it is certainly most pronounced with my predominantly millennial playmates. I wrote about each troupe-mate in “A One Word Suggestion”; they are smart, dedicated, focused and hardworking. They love their craft, and they are as funny as hell.
As blessed as I feel in so many areas of my life, being a part of Spank’d ranks among the very top of the list; it continues to simply make me a better man. I’m so grateful to Sarah, Alex, Nate, Katt, Dave and our coach Liz Curtis. You guide me, you teach me, you put up with me. You got my back and I got yours. You always make life on our little lily pad the safest, silliest place on earth. Thank you so much. I love you.
Here’s to new beginnings, new horizons, new Harold Teams and new formats. None of us knows what life has in store for us tomorrow, but we all need have a little hope. Unless I have to channel my inner Beyoncé . Then we could really be screwed.
tongonpig 