May oui? (ehhh?)

 Hi! You're the best. 

April was a speedy demon of a month! Good heavens!

 - Taught a character workshop with some amazing students at Spring Lake Park High. So many thanks to Kevin for having me!

Cheesehead,
but make it fashion.

 - And then taught an Intro to Musical Improv workshop at the Twin Cities Teen Improv Festival at PiM! So many thanks to William and everyone involved! (Also, hire Emily for you improv piano needs!)

 - Teaching for COMPAS at MSS (fashion show!) and at Sunny Hollow Montessori (middle school improv!)

 - A couple of Bring Your Kids! and a lovely 3 person Nudge!

 - Teaching an awesome 101 for Very Good Improv. 

 - I've started teaching private beginning guitar, piano, and ukulele at MusicLab; it's taken a bit to get my feet under me. But when it works, it's really lovely. Hats off to my students: they are awesome and doing it!

MAY

You know that sound Lightning McQueen makes? It's a bit of that. 

 - Finishing up with MSS, Sunny Hollow, and now Mississippi Creative Arts Elementary through COMPAS. Finishing up the 101 with VGI. 

 - A four Bring Your Kids! month!? We were at Cadenza Music last weekend, will be at the Bryant Lake Bowl and Francis Burger Joint NE this weekend, and round it all off with a visit by the Zucker Family Suite at M Health Fairview. So lucky!

 - Nudge has its last show of the season, Monday May 18th!

 - I'll be playing music pre-show at Worm Teeth, Melancholics Anonymous' amazing new show, on Friday May 22nd. I love these humans and 'am so excited. 

 - I'll be telling at story at Fiasco, the latest iteration of Table Salt Production's annual storytelling show, Friday May 15th at the Bryant Lake Bowl! I also love these humans and thanks to Megan K. for awesome story pep talks. 

 - I'm working own a couple of Fringe shows, including my own. I'm swinging for a solo piece, with the amazing Levi Weinhagen directing me. <3

And then suddenly it's June and suddenly summer, Susan. The LegoTetris bricks are falling into place. 

Navel gazing!: it's a funny thing to be teaching music. It's technically what I went to school for... decades ago. I've been giggling over improv and theater exercises for the last 25 years, with music firmly, comfortably, on the side. 

I'm grateful to be playing this way, and also... I think there's some old tender stuff I'm squinting through. 

Live theater and performance is so much more forgiving than music. I've done shows with folks with masters in theater, and we made the same paycheck. Improv, you can be anything you like, and the metric is how much fun you had, how hard you played pretend. Comedy, you just take swings at, and nobody gets to say whether you get to have a show or not - it's your stuff.

Written music can feel like a crossword puzzle to me: you get it right or you don't. And there will always be someone 'better' than you, a better voice than you, faster fingers than you. (Stories of classical musicians taking beta blockers for auditions, etc.)

It's some real capitalistic shit, and we also know that that's not how all art works. There's certain musical competitive spaces, and most folks don't mess with those. 

(And those written pieces can be funsatisfyingbeautiful to play. Like a novel that can only be read out loud.)

Musical improv is one of the most thrilling and satisfying things I've ever done. I love writing my songs. I love when I get to perform them. I'm stupid proud of the number of guitar chords I now know, and will evangelize the ukulele forever. 

I stopped playing piano for improv years ago, as you'll get pigeon-holed so quick. 

I don't want to lose what I've built, what I put my 10,000 hours into. (Ego, and also, insecurity. I'm super proud of the stuff I've done: I love this shit.)

It's hard, and I feel like it's not supposed to be hard. 

Luckily, it's loveliest of low stakes: it's beginning private lessons, and I'll eventually be sending these students to folks with intermediate vibes. 

A thing! Anywhoo, don't send me anymore students until the fall. I love the ones I have, and sometimes we play Tom Petty together and laugh at the joy of it. Let's see what happens. 

Current vibe.

4/4

There is a Simon and Garfunkel song (a tune, if you will) that begins with the word April, and I feel like I've quoted it annually, so... here we are. 

Thank you to everyone!

March got chopped up, and was filled with a lot of good. Bring Your Kids! had two absolute banger shows PLUS 30 minutes at World Down Syndrome Day at the MOA!, friend Matt Kessen held his Monster Science Award Show, I Wrote This For You was just awesome, Nudge raised $495 for Rent Relief, Improv at Justice Page Middle School through COMPAS finished up, work at MSS through COMPAS started up, I've got, like, 5 private music students (thank you, Music Lab!) and we got to to the Southwest for a bit of Spring Break. ("I don't understand why any of this is fun," a quote by the 8 year old about the Vegas strip, and yeah man... However, outside of the strip, we ate our fool heads off and it was so good.)

Zion holds a million people per day.
This photo is a lie. 

April

... uh. WHAT IS HAPPENING? Maybe not much! Maybe a lot! WHO KNOWS! There's a lot of meetings and throwing cabbage and spaghetti into the air.. and that's exciting. Will it land? Where? WHAT AM I FORGETTING?

Bring Your Kids!

Nudge at Open Eye? 

I Wrote This For You?

VGI's spring session starts up and I get to yell at a 101 class again. :) 

Hey Dorks! (myself, Butch, and Angelique Lisboa) have one more performance at Improv A Go Go. 

MSS through COMPAS continues, I head back to Sunny Hollow Montessori and the JFCS through COMPAS (yay and yay!), doing a little work for CTC, a workshop for Spring Lake Park High School, and I got into Fringe! 

Even with the unknown, it's a busy month. But the unknown could be really cool. 

March 2026.. we really have no idea

Really. We don't. AND IT JUST DOESN'T STOP. 

February was a lot of teaching and a little bit performing on my side. 

Graceful Monsters finishes up this weekend! Good job, team! They opened last night, and did a great. 

My VGI class has it's last class Monday/March 2nd, and then are part of the showcase on Tuesday March 3rd. They are so so truly good, and I'm excited for them to continue to play. A dream!

I started teaching beginning guitar and ukulele at Music Lab, a music school in South Minneapolis. The students are awesome, the space is beautiful.. very lucky!

I did some admin stuff for friends (updated a website, created a bad website and some posters for an awesome fundraiser) and also made some meals. 

I Wrote This For You was just dreamy, and Bring Your Kids! was a Galentine's special. (And I laughed and laughed.)

MARCH

My twelves year old becomes a teenager! WHOAAa! What do you do for a 13 year old's birthday???

Rev. Matt's Monster Science Award Show happens, and I'm very excited. 

Here's picture from two years ago where the oldest child
guest-starred as a duck,
standing next to someone named Duck. 

Nudge's next performance is a rent relief fundraiser!

I Wrote This For You, Bring Your Kids!... Also, Bring Your Kids! will be at the Mall of America Rotunda on Saturday March 21st at 12:15 p.m. as part of the World Down Syndrome 

VGI starts up it's Spring session. And I get to go back to MSS through COMPAS! <3 

And THEN IT'S SPRING BREAK. AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE IS GOING TO HAPPEN? I GUESS NONE OF US KNOW OKAY. 

Love and love. 

February...uh.

Again, nothing like an occupation to distract to from keeping a blog. 

************************

It's February 21st. It's been pretty awful. 

The sun still rises and sets. The sunset is currently beautiful. And everything that could be said, has probably already. EXCEPT, we're moving onto the next part. 

It's not over. 

Want a protest song? Oh man, have we got protest songs now. 

Did I write a substack? I did!

Art still (f)arted, and very grateful for it. 

*****

Penguins! was a goddamn trip. Viva la Art Shanties! A very lucky series of silly: so many thanks to Art Shanties, to every penguin, and to Lisa for creating beautiful magic for us to be RIDICULOUS in. 

I Wrote This For You continues at Strike, and continues to be a balm! You dreams!

Bring Your Kids! still happens twice a month. A party!!

FEBRUARY!

The Twin Cities are still being surged. People are still in hiding. We're not seeing the 'draw down'. 

And here's stuff... moments where we came together did stuff. Again. Grateful. 

I got take part of a Story Slam at the Phipps in Hudson, WI, and sniffled and guffawed and man, it was a dreamy line up. Thanks to the Phipps and to Mike Fotis for wrangling us. 

I'm teaching for VGI; I've got a 101 full of dream humans. 

Graceful Monsters finishes up this month.

I started teaching at Music Lab! Beginning guitar and ukulele. I have 3 and a half students, and so far, so fun. Thank yous to Brian and Josie for having me!

I've been doing some website updating and fundraiser-poster-designing-and-printing for friends. There's a singing group that meets outside every Sunday for 30 minutes at a time, beautiful and cold. I go to BYOB guitar class (no one drinks). I love the word 'hyperlocal', and my 8 year old now knows too much about the water we swim in. Trying to follow up on what's good to do and ACTUALLY DO IT. 

MARCH IS LITERALLY AROUND THE CORNER. 

2026! HERE WE GO.

WHOA. This was started and never finished. AS A LOT OF THINGS HAPPENED. 

But here it is... 

******

Hi loves. It's the 1st: yesterday, I got to have friends over. And in response to having friends over and getting the house prepped for non-family is to WRITE A BLOG. 

 - I am enjoying all the Year End Book Lists other people have read. It's great! Someone's reading all the things, and I love it. 

 - I read a couple of books this year, as long as they weren't too sad. As, if looking for sad, *motions wildly*

 - I was thinking about yearly wrap ups, and this blog is literally A MONTHLY WRAP UP, so... How was the last month?

DECEMBER!

 - I Wrote This For You moved to Strike Theater, and we had the loviest time! Our next show is Thursday Feb. 8th, and I can't wait. (And I need to start the process!)

A dream. 

 - Will Schroeder wrote/cooked for/produced a cracking holiday show that made my eyeballs weep. So happy to have been a part of it, and also, just to witness the joy. 

 - Off Book at the Jungle Theater was a delight! Thanks to all who make that joy happen, and so happy to be a part of it again!

 - Bring Your Kids! continued with our silliness, PLUS a delightful birthday party. Your children are a dream, folks. 

We do birthdays!

- I got to yell at a number of Dakota County librarians in a workshop called "The Introverts Way: Navigating Customer Service through Improv". Librarians continue to be the best. So many thanks to COMPAS for the opportunity!

 - I drove down to Sioux City, picked up my mom, hopped a plane to Hartford CT, grabbed the rental car, drove to my sister's place, hung out in Vermont for five days, and did it in reverse. Vermont! New Hampshire! These are places! They call grocery carts carriages! Charmed.

JANUARY

 - An Art Shanties proposal got accepted! OH NO! Please watch for PENGUINS! We'll be roving on Jan. 17th and Feb. 1st in the afternoon. 

 - I get to continue Afterschool Improv at Justice Page Middle School through COMPAS! Bwahahah!

 - I start teaching for VGI!

 - Clockers play at the Buzz! Saturday Jan. 24th, 11 a.m.! 

 - I'm co-directing a show with Graceful Monsters! It's gonna be ridiculous!

 - Bring Your Kids! Twice a month!

 - Nudge at Open Eye! Monday Jan. 12th, 7 p.m.!  Cancelled! We were overwhelmed! We'll talk about that in the February blog, but it's mostly because stupid awful assholes with seemingly zero accountability are attacking our city and it's been awful. Abolish. 

I'll go update February, as it's now Feb. 22nd. 

Love. 

December! Snow and the whole thing

Hi loves. Hoping things are good by you and yours, and that care is being passed around. <3 

NOVEMBER

Finished up an almost year long residency with MSS through COMPAS. It was truly the loveliest, and so many thanks to Matt at MSS, Jesse at MSS, Jes at COMPAS, and every one of the participants. Cool things were made, we laughed a lot, and I'm so grateful. 

Adorable taught a workshop on Adorable for Stage Your Change, and it was just great. So many thanks to Mandi and Conduit Sound! (also, do a search for "Recording Studio Northeast Minneapolis" and.. that's a lot of recording studios.) We also got to get back on stage for Improv A Go Go and so grateful. 

Afterschool improv through COMPAS at Justice Page Middle School will finish up this month, and it's been great. Yesterday, unrelated to our class, auditions for the spring musical were happening and that's just about the best thing to peek at. 

Felt and Flesh (bwahahah) had it's first performance at Improvocation; so many thanks to genius dream Phoebe Bottoms for constructing the madness. 

I Wrote This For You had it's second performance, and man, is it the sweetest thing. Speaking of... 

DECEMBER 

I Wrote This For You - Holiday Edition! We're about to have our Strike Theater debut! Please join us Saturday Dec. 6th at 7:30 p.m. at Strike for holiday inspired valentines, from one performer to another. Featuring work from Alsa Bruno, Levi Weinhagen, Rachel Buhman, Holly Brooks, Mike Fotis, Felicia Cooper, and others!!

Bring Your Kids! Our monthly show at Cadenza Music, our monthly show at the Bryant Lake Bowl, and then a special FREE show at Francis Burger NE at 5 p.m. on Sunday Dec. 28th!!!

Nudge at Open Eye! An absolute dream. Please join us Monday Dec. 8th, 7 p.m. at Open Eye Theater for some grounded ridiculousness, featuring some of my favorite people, and funniest genies around. 

I'm doing Off Book! Two person scene: one person has memorized half of a script, the other person is making it up. Monday Dec. 15th, 7 p.m. show at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. 

I'm still Patreon-ing, if you'd like to join. A song a week, with some chatter. 

And then suddenly, EVERYTHING MUST STOP. School takes a break! Classes or programs pause! Your weekdays are done. Roll into the limbo of the end of the year. 

You're great. 

<3

 

November and then whewwww

HERE COMES HALLOWEEN HERE COMES HALLOWEEN ETC

It is cold and rainy and fantastically spooky outside. 

October was busy and fun and very lucky. Three Bring Your Kids! Monster Science with the Rev. Matt Kessen! Nudge at Open Eye! Some Improv A Go Go! I started facilitating an improv class at Justice Page Middle School through COMPAS! An album was released unto the world (thank you everyone who came!) I turned 50! AHHHH!

Mon Motha was there! Photo by Forrest Wasko!

November!

 - Finishing up a residency at MSS through COMPAS and oh mannnnnnnn... It's been awesome. Dammit. Last week, they had us work on their haunted house, and I'm here to say that decorating a haunted house for friends is truly delightful. 

- Finishing up a series of workshops through Washington County Libraries. These have been a dream! Thank you to everyone who came, who made them possible.. so grateful! The last one is online at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday November 11th. Sign up is here!

 - I Wrote This For You returns! Wednesday November 12th, 6 p.m. doors / 7 p.m. show! Bryant Lake Bowl Theater. 

 - Phoebe Buttons and I will be up at Improvacation on Thursday Nov. 20th at the Phoenix Arts Nest! It's gonna be dumb!

 - Two more Improv A Go Gos! One with Butch! One solo! Oh no! November 2nd and 9th, 7:30 p.m. show. 

Are we not?!

 - Butch and I are teaching an Adorable Workshop through Stage Your Change on Sunday November 16th!

 - Nudge is up at Open Eye on Monday Nov 3rd, 7 p.m. show!

 - I'll be at the Kingfield INDOOR Porchfest on Saturday Nov. 8th, 5 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. at the Meraki Building as Penny and the Bandits!

 - Bring Your Kids! Two shows! 

And then very suddenly it's December, which logistically is only 22 days long. 

I hope, if you celebrate Halloween, that it was an absolute banger. And if you chose to stay quiet, it was quiet and cozy and that someone inexplicably brought you a potato. We love a Halloween potato. 

Onward!

HOW IS IT OCTOBER? Also, ALL THE THINGS.

But somehow, it is!

September is the new summer. Tell everyone. Getting folks into theaters is a trick, and September wins every time. (Plus, everything is a lot, in so many ways. September weathered so much here. A million heartbreaking years long.) And somehow, October's so soon. 

September held some of my favorite art making moments, and we laughed and laughed, loves. 

So many thanks to Matt Kessen for letting me be a part of another Monster Science. It was so much fun and PLACENTAS. 

LOCAL MUSIC SCENE on Friday was a dream. Such a group of brilliant generous people and it was SO GODDAMN GOOD. 

I Wrote This For You! Our inaugural show was on the 10th, and it was SUCH A GOOD SHOW. We get to do it again in November; I'd love for you to see it!

I played a porchfest kiddy corner from my house. There was almost tragedy, but then there was NONE tragedy, and now we have stories of relief. So many thanks to Jeff and Holly for putting together such an event!

Moments before!
Plus, September just always looked like this. 

Bring Your Kids! began! And we lost our gd minds. GIGGLY. 

OCTOBER?!?!

Bring Your Kids! The first Saturday of the month at Cadenza Music and the second Saturday of the month at the Bryant Lake Bowl! 

Alexis and I are doing Improv A Go Go! I am the luckiest jerk. Sunday Oct. 26th, 7:30 p.m. show, Strike Theater. 

Nudge is back at Open Eye, on my birthday, Monday Oct. 20th. We are so grateful to play on this beautiful stage. Hey look! Cherry and the Spoon said really lovely nice things about our September performance!

I get to be a part of Rev. Matt's Next Top Monster! Saturday Oct. 25th, 7 p.m. Bryant Lake Bowl

PENNY AND THE BANDITS ALBUM RELEASE PARTY. Oh. Hey. So... making albums in studios is, like... say I own a motorcycle. And every couple of years, I'm gonna add a big fancy motorcycle part to my motorcycle... using money. I know this really talented guy, and the work is so cool. What if I drive that motorcycle around a small space, charge people admission, and hope they eat nachos? 

When I play live, everything is so stripped down (out of laziness, capacity, and necessity. All of these things are true.) 

These studio album tracks are wild maximalist gems! All the things are added in! Matt Patrick is a genius! It's a lot of fun. WANNA LOOK AT THIS MOTORCYCLE?

Wednesday Oct. 22nd, 7 p.m. show. Storytelling and comedy bits too! 

*****

You're the best. Keep getting together with folks. Keep making things. LOVE.

September! A thing!

It's September 1st. 

School starts tomorrow. 

Minneapolis is in mourning. 

There's a baby squirrel on the porch. 

Here we are. 

AUGUST

The dumbdumbs in question.

Fringe was a beautiful dream. Clown Funeral was a hoot, and I'm so grateful to everyone who came, who made the thing (Chris! Mark! Levi! Matt!), magnetic coffins and squirty flowers. Floppy Body/Buddy will soon come to rest in my garage (I think), and I cold-emailed to Lakewood Cemetery to see if they're interested. 

I assume they are not. 

Butch and I got to teach a workshop through Very Good Improv and it was DELIGHTFUL. Need a monoscene workshop? Heck yeah, you do. We also got a bit of post-Fringe Adorable in at the Bryant Lake Bowl; so many thanks to Two's Company for hilarity. 

The kids and I got to briefly visit Sioux City, and my sister promptly put the children on the roof. If wondering why chores are more fun there than here, please see above sentence. 

SEPTEMBER

The State Fair closes today. 

The aforementioned school starts tomorrow. 

Everyone's going to get COVID. We're gonna be so tired. 

AND IN THE MIDST OF ALL OF EVERYTHING, WE'RE GONNA GET TOGETHER AND MAKE SOME JOY I SWEAR TO GAHHHHHHD. 

• Nudge starts a monthly run at Open Eye Theater, starting in Monday September 8th! Group improvised monoscene joy! Tickets here!

• Bring Your Kids! returns in September, the first and second Sunday of every month. Let's get the band back together!

• I Wrote This For You has its debut at the Bryant Lake Bowl, Wednesday Sept. 10th! Tickets here!

• I get to sing things and say things with the Rev. Matt Kessen in his monthly show! Thursday Sept. 4th at the Bryant Lake Bowl! Tickets here! A chunk of the proceeds from this show go to Moms Demand Action.

• Penny and the Bandits plays COLFAXFEST, Saturday September 13th, 12:45 p.m., 46th & Colfax Ave S, Mpls. FREE!

• Penny and the Bandits will also be a part of Local Music Scene at the Bryant Lake Bowl, Friday September 26th! Improv! Music! Both!

• I start teaching at MSS again through COMPAS. Also, I get to offer a number of workshops through Washington County Libraries; I'll put a list on my website. if you're in the neighborhood, come on by!

You're all great. As soon as we can, we're gonna drive a very personable baby squirrel to the WRC. Hoping you and yours are healthy, safe, and doing what you need to do. Love.

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.