AUGUST! FRINGE! EGADS!

Hi friends... July is somehow both the long and the short of it. We made it through travel, are back in the new house, the old house has a new family in it, and there's all to do. But in a good way!  

AUGUST!

CLOWN FUNERAL!! Minnesota Fringe 2025! Levi Weinhagen, Chris Rodriguez, Mark Benzel, myself, and a very special guest you won't recognize at all. It is what it says it is: a funeral for a clown as attempted by idiots.

It's dumbdumb. We hope it makes you snort and maybe feel nice things: we are stupidly proud of it, like a kid who caught a frog. Tickets here!

******

Adorable is up at the Bryant Lake Bowl on Wednesday August 13th, with special dreamy guests Two's Company. 6 p.m. doors/7 p.m. show. A smooth midweek $10 for it all. Tickets here!

We'll also be teaching a Monoscene workshop through Very Good Improv on Saturday August 16th, 1 p.m. Info here!

******

September will come rolling in wildly... There's some music stuff, Bring Your Kids! returns, Nudge starts monthly at Open Eye Theatre, a show with the Rev. Matt Kessen, I'm producing a show at the Bryant Lake Bowl called "I Wrote This For You"... Whewwww... BUT THAT'S ALL LATER. 

Love and love and can't wait to see you so soon. :) 

JULY A SUMMERTIME BREAK? NO?

There's been a lot going on, universally speaking. We're doing it, and also, whewwww... I think you're great. I hope you're finding some time and space and joy, along with managing the terrible or things out of our control. 

All those things from June - - they happened! I'm so proud of the Bring Your Kids! cast, I'm so chuffed to have performed at TCIF, I'm so grateful for the workshops I got to take. I played Kingfield Porchfest until the sky came crashing down, and 'am so grateful for my hosts, and for those who stuck around. 

JULY!

Though technically August, CLOWN FUNERAL!! Minnesota Fringe 2025! Levi Weinhagen, Chris Rodriguez, Mark Benzel, myself and a very special guest you won't recognize at all. It is what it says it is: a funeral for a clown as attempted by idiots. 

Also, Nudge is up at Open Eye Theatre!! It's gonna be lovely! July 14th and 21st, 7 p.m. shows. Tickets here. We're so excited. 

I'm out of town for a chunk of July, and am still emptying the old house's garage. It's a lot and it's gotta get done. I'm not overwhelmed and I'm proud of what I've done! 

I'm also worried that I've mis-timed the whole thing. 

I think I'm okay. 

....

eeeeeeeeeek. 

****

Dave Kappelhoff died two days ago. Dave Kappelhoff was a fixture of the Twin Cities community for wayyy over 20 years. He was a gentle. He was funny. He was thrilled to be here. He was a fantastic teacher. He was insanely generous and believed in us dorks. He was a dork. He was a fantastic person to be in company with. He was a leader. He collected good folks and created stuff with those folks. 

He loved nature and played pond hockey and taught kids in juvie and then worked with the park system because of course. 

He gave me basically every first chance I had here in the Twin Cities, and knew me at my most idiotic. And still let me come play. 

Here's to Dave Kappelhoff, whom we loved and love. Here's to stupid cancer, who we wish would fcuk off and leave everyone alone. Here's to the ecosystem he helped shape, the lake he skated on, for years and years and years. We're so grateful and sad. 

****

Love you. 

JUNE! JUNE!

Welcome to June! I hope? OH WHO KNOWS. 

MAYYYYYY!

May had more moving! 

May had weird wrist and ankle and teeth stuff! BODIES. 

May had multiple multiple trips to St. Paul (across a whole river! *gasp* I honestly love St. Paul... Road construction season has begun, making the Capital City harder to get to, and messing up my ankle as I drive a stick shift.) May had many trips to NE Minneapolis, both for studio time* and for an impromptu residency through COMPAS. 

 - Adorable continues to Adorable at the Bryant Lake Bowl! We were lucky enough to be joined the ever charming James Rone and the beloved and hilarious Adventures of Tim Troy and Damian. Butch shocked my character to the core. DAMMIT. 

 - COMPAS brought me to MSS, Banaadir Elementary, and Flint Hills Children's Festival! Thank you, COMPAS! We made up stories, we created many many cuppets, we took pictures as superheroes, and 

 - The Wellness for Everyone Workshops up at the St. Croix Falls Public Library finished up! So many thanks to the Center for Health and Creativity, Su at SCFPL, and Anna Solfest for being amazing. 

 - Bring Your Kids! had shows at the Bryant Lake Bowl, Cadenza, AND Greta's house for her birthday. WE HAD THE MOST FUN!

JUNE. Oh June. 

 - Adorable is up with James Rone at the Jungle Theater, hosted by The Neighborhood Improv! Monday June 2nd, 7 p.m. show!

 - I'll be telling a story at TableSalt Production's annual fundraiser! Friday June 6th, 7 p.m. show, Bryant Lake Bowl: the theme is Food! Tickets here!

 - TWIN CITIES IMPROV FESTIVAL!!! BWAHAHAHAH! CAN WE TALK ABOUT IT NOW?!?!? I'll be up with Give the Drummer Some late Friday, and with Nudge Sunday at 7 p.m.. Also, take some amazing workshops!!! WOOOOt!!

 - Adorable is up at the BLB on Wednesday June 21st! Special guest Pattycakes!!

 - Bring Your Kids! not only has our Bryant Lake Bowl show on Saturday June 14th, but also heads to Madison, WI for PRIDE! So many thanks to the Big Gay Market for hosting us: we'll be Alliant Energy Center. Alsa and Morgan will be doing Brick by Brick's Anti-Racist Storyhour at 10 a.m., and then Bring Your Kids! at 11 a.m.. (Just a heads up that Friday night will also feature some of the loveliest improvisers from the Twin Cities. Please come and giggle with us, Madison!)

 - I'll be playing music at Kingfield Porchfest on Thursday June 12th! 7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. at 3941 Harriet Ave.. Come one down!

FUTURE?

 - WE ARE FRINGING! 

 - Nudge at Open Eye

And more!!!

You are great. Love and onward!

*Speaking of music, I've been lucky enough to get back into the studio to hang out with the amazing Matt Patrick. Second album hopefully coming this fall! 

Somehow, it's May?!

Somehow it is. 

Are we still moving house? OF COURSE. As it never ends. But has to and soon. So April was overshadowed by a bunch of that, along with a quick trip to see family and eat chocolate. 

And also this.

May! LET'S DO IT!

Bring Your Kids! 

BYK! is doing some cool stuff - - we'll be back at the beloved Bryant Lake Bowl on May 10th and Cadenza Music on May 17th, and also at the Zucker Family Suites at U of M Fairview Masonic! And in Plymouth for a party! 

Keep your eyes open: we're hoping to do a BYK! GOOD TIME SUMMER HANG or two sometimes June/July/August. And if you're in Madison WI the weekend June 14th/15th, a contingent of BYK! folks will be at Madison Pride! 

Super cool image by super cool sister, Kathleen Scott. 

Adorable 

We continue our monthly performance at the Bryant Lake Bowl: May 21st features the incredible James Rone and THE ADVENTURES OF TIM TROY AND DAMIAN. (eeeeeeeeeee!!) It will be such good time fun: 6 p.m doors, 7 p.m. show. Please join us!

Music

Penny and the Bandits continues to gooooo... Still working on the second studio album with the absolutely lovely Matt Patrick at the absolutely lovely Library Studio. Hoping for a summer time finish? In the mean time, there's potentially some Mary Jo Pehl's Garage for the Performing Arts sometime this month and some Kingfield Porch Fest in June. 

THE FUTURE... 

Twin Cities Improv Festival! HECK YES. JUNE! It's gonna be wild: PLEASE GO SEE THESE AMAZING SHOWS. (Craig and Carla Cackowski!? Oshow!? AHHHHHHH.) I'll be performing with Give the Drummer Some and Nudge! 

FRINGE FESTIVAL! AUGUST!More info to come, but I'm producing at show this year, and it's gonna be so incredibly dumb. And hopefully make you sniffle a little?

Also, coming soon! Heavens Precious Angels! Storytelling with Table Salt Productions! 

And now it's May 11th and I haven't posted this? SMMOOOOOOOTHHHHH. But it's been very busy (#HOUSE). Onward!

 

 

April! April! April!

Yep. 

Are you drinking water? Are you (now) getting outside? Are you connecting with others? Am I doing that? LET'S FIND OUT!

The COMPAS EYA 2025 event was a success! So lucky! 

Butch and I are now Adorable-ing monthly at the Bryant Lake Bowl! Our first special guests were Too Bad We Don't Vibe and they were hilarious and charming, and then Butch and I did our awkward thing. So many thanks to the BLB!!

I missed my first-ish Bring Your Kids! The BLB show rocked, and then the show at Cadenza straight up sold out! Thank you to everyone who's come to our RIDICULOUSNESS. LET'S DO IT AGAIN!

Got to sing a bunch of songs out in the world, and each space was just awesome. So many thanks to Pay Gap Comedy and Will and Phil for creating awesome shows. 

We had our final There's A Crack in Everything at Resource, and it was so damned funny. And then, Bee Davis sang and Sylvia Dieken sang, and it was so damned beautiful.

The family went to visit my Aunt and Uncle for Spring Break. San Diego is beautiful. California is beautiful. My aunt and uncle took such care of us: grateful for it all. (Regarding the people I live with on the day to day: there are moments that family feels like family, and there are moments that family feels like uncooperative, argumentative, and enraging co-workers. Also, did PG drive us to another armed guard station? Indeed. AND, it was a beautiful trip. Both truths, two hands, alas.) 

April! 

I'm starting a week residency through COMPAS at MSS, and I'm so grateful. I'll be there most of the year!!

5 Music Videos will be at IMPROV A GO GO, April 6th, 13th, 27th. Strike Theater, 7:30 p.m. show, PWYW!

I'm part of Heaven's Precious Angels, "A seething mass of experienced improvisers sent from heaven above to blast joy into your soul via the medium of comedic longform improv.” (Bwahahah!) Thursday April 10th, 7:30 p.m., Strike Theater. 

Adorable's back at the Bryant Lake Bowl, with special guests Mudcoven! Wednesday April 16th, 7 p.m. show, tickets an easy $10 here. 

Bring Your Kids! at the Bryant Lake Bowl, Saturday April 12th, 2 p.m. doors/3 p.m. show. Full menu served!

Also, I'll be telling some stories and singing some songs through StoryArtsMN at Badger Hill Brewing, Saturday April 12th, 10 a.m.. It should be delightful! 

(And then I opened my phone, and got reminded of all the awfulness. C'mon.) 

I'm planning on attending Hands Off! National Day of Action this Saturday 12 p.m. - 2 p.m. at the MN Capitol. See you there? <3 

Drink water. Get outside. Connect with others. You're doing it. Love!

March 2025... All things considered

All things considered. Things are overwhelming and a lot. There are amazing people being incredible and brave. There is panic. There are moments of absolute hope. There are moments of everything else. 

I love you and I hope you're finding ways. We're human. Even if there are those who aren't acting like it. 

February. 

Nudge at the BLB was an immense amount of fun. The first two There's a Crack in Everythings were absolutely joyful. Bring Your Kids! is fantastic, and made fantastic by YOU, the awesome audience. Our Love Will Haunt This House at Strike came together in a sweet and lovely way and now Angelique, Rachel, and I are SILLY ASSHOLE TOWN POPULATION 3. (And if I have the name wrong, they will save my sorry hide and I am grateful.) 

Sam and I also go to do Morningside After Dark for the first time. The talent in this town is wild. 

March! 

* I'll be doing my solo musical piece, 5 Music Videos, at Soda Pop Improv on Saturday March 8th, 2 p.m. at much beloved Cadenza Music!

* I'll be playing music at the Malcolm Yards Pay Gap Comedy Hour, Wednesday March 12th, 7 p.m. show! 

* Scott, Simondet, and Roberts Play the Eagles. I'm so excited for this.  Original music, us doin' stuff. Please watch as the instruments shrink throughout the night. Thursday March 13th, 7 p.m.

 

* The last There's a Crack in Everything on the books is Saturday March 15th and is f-ing stacked. Featuring stories by Jim Robinson (TableSalt Productions), MJ Matheson (Bearded Company), and Taj Ruler (Everything!), with music by Bianca Bee Davis (Melancholics Anonymous) and Sylvia Dieken!

* Butch and I will be Adorable-ing at the Bryant Lake Bowl, a monthly situation. Our first is Wednesday March 19th, 6 p.m. doors/7 p.m. show and we're excited. Special guest TBA! Tickets here!

*Bring Your Kids! at the Bryant Lake Bowl on March 8th (2 p.m. Doors/3 p.m. show!) and at Cadenza on March 22nd!

Good stuff! 

I hope you're finding space to breath and connect. Be in community. Stave away the panic. Stand up and say no. You are great. It's a lot. And we're here. 

Love. 

FEBRUARY 2025.. AhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHH

It's awful hard to breathe when any glimpse outward results in an encroachment of panic. 

You are wonderful and I love you. 

STUFF!

January: SHOWS AND THINGS THAT HAPPENED!

There's a Crack in Everything had it's Resource debut! And it was a SALON. So lovely. So many thanks to Butch Roy, Mary Jo Pehl, and One800LiveMusic for absolute beauty. 

BRING YOUR KIDS! returned to the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater and Cadenza Music - don't sleep on St. Paul!

I got to sing some songs at Leslie Vincent's Cabaret Open Gym... So many thanks to Leslie and the amazing performers she's collected!

Still facilitating memoir classes through COMPAS, and also running my own.. It's been lovely.  COMPAS also has me administering their annual Emerging Young Artists show (i.e. DATA ENTRY!) and it's been delightful seeing the art come through. 

Anna Solfest and I are curating and facilitating Wellness and Creativity workshops up in St. Croix Falls - free and for all ages!

February: YOU GOT BUSY! In between the panic about EVERYTHING AND BEING IN A COUP, if you'd like to come see a show, we'll keep making shows until we need to stop. 

BRING YOUR KIDS! - TWICE!

A comedy-variety show for kids and their grown ups. 

Saturday February 8th, 3 p.m. 

Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater, 810 W Lake St, Mpls: 

Saturday February 15th, 2 p.m. 

Cadenza Music, 149 N Snelling Ave, St Paul: Tickets!

A weekly NUDGE!

NUDGE in Love!

In celebration of the most awkward of holidays, veteran improv group Nudge has FEEEELINGS.

Saturdays at 7 p.m. 

Bryant Lake Bowl Theater, 810 W Lake St: Tickets!

A bit of improv and storytelling and song... 

Our Love Will Haunt This Home

A performance celebrating the joys and pains and all the elements of love. 

Friday Feb. 14th, 7:30 p.m.

Strike Theater, 824 18th Ave NE, Minneapolis. Tickets!

A bit of storytelling and song and CINEMA... 

There's a Crack in Everything

An evening of local storytelling and music. 

Saturday February 15th, 7 p.m.

Saturday March 15th, 7 p.m. 

Resource, 512 E 24th St, Mpls: Tickets!

A BIT OF EVERYTHING!

Morningside After Dark "THE CALL"

Local live music and storytelling. 

Monday Feb. 24th, 7:30 p.m.

Morningside Hills UCC,4201 Morningside Road, Edina.

I'm still writing about improv and crap here. https://octoberdandy.substack.com/ Again, until we need to stop. 

Also we're moving out of our sweet house. It's a lot. We are very lucky and oh man.. it's been very very good to us. Ah. 

Authoritarians hate joy. Don't forget to play and breath and here we go. LOVE.