So that's it. We did our last show on Wednesday at the Carousel Theatre here in Vancouver, and I put Louie on a plane this morning. And here I sit, back in real life land. Sigh.
Now that the dust has settled, it looks as though Louie and I still have a very small few t-shirts and buttons left. We'd like to sell them, so if you or someone you know is interested, drop me a line:
kaitlin[dot]fontana[at]gmail[dot]com.
And I'll be happy to mail it to you, no matter where you might reside. Prices are a very reasonable (and discounted) $10/shirt and $1/two buttons. Get on it! Going fast!
We love all of you that we met, re-met, saw, partied with, bonded with, slapped and tickled on this tour. Canada rules, and our improv rules harder.
For further proof of this, check out another project of mine: www.improvisation.ca. Enjoy! See you later, kids!
6/13/08
6/7/08
Vancouver, here we come!
Okay, so clearly Louie is a much better blogger than I. In my defense, he's so good at it that I find I have nothing more to add to most posts. And pictures speak louder, after all.
This tour has been a whirlwind--it's hard to believe that in a few days it will all be over. Once we're back in Vancouver, the onus is mostly off me (whew!) and mostly on Louie and Rene to do an amazing job at various shows across the city (details below).
Yesterday we arrived in the lovely city of Edmonton, where we headed straight for Canada's jewel, the West Edmonton Mall. Louie bought Wheely shoes before he, Rene and I rode the Whirlwind, the largest indoor roller coaster in the world. The last time I'd taken that ride I was too short--in fact, my mother somehow lied to get me on it--and I spent the whole time being terrified that I'd lift out of my seat and fling across the mall. This time I was in a bit better shape, and screamed for joyfear the whole time. Then I called my mom, who grounded me for riding it without her (sorry mama!). Pictoral evidence of our enjoyment:
Last night the lovely folks of Rapid Fire Theatre had us as guests for a TheatreSports match, which was fun and fantastic. Tonight we do our second to last Buckshot N Benny show of this tour. I feel sadness creeping in, along with a bit of relief. But hey--that's what touring's all about. At least, I think it is.
Vancouver dates abound! Check it:
Monday June 9 - Urban Improv w/Rene and Louie, 9pm @ Chivana's on 4th and Vine
Tuesday June 10 - Bronx Cheer w/Rene and Louie, 8pm @ Cafe Montmarte on 27th and King Edward
Wednesday June 11 - !nstant Theatre + Buckshot N Benny, 7pm @ Carousel Theatre, Granville Island
To the future!
This tour has been a whirlwind--it's hard to believe that in a few days it will all be over. Once we're back in Vancouver, the onus is mostly off me (whew!) and mostly on Louie and Rene to do an amazing job at various shows across the city (details below).
Yesterday we arrived in the lovely city of Edmonton, where we headed straight for Canada's jewel, the West Edmonton Mall. Louie bought Wheely shoes before he, Rene and I rode the Whirlwind, the largest indoor roller coaster in the world. The last time I'd taken that ride I was too short--in fact, my mother somehow lied to get me on it--and I spent the whole time being terrified that I'd lift out of my seat and fling across the mall. This time I was in a bit better shape, and screamed for joyfear the whole time. Then I called my mom, who grounded me for riding it without her (sorry mama!). Pictoral evidence of our enjoyment:
Last night the lovely folks of Rapid Fire Theatre had us as guests for a TheatreSports match, which was fun and fantastic. Tonight we do our second to last Buckshot N Benny show of this tour. I feel sadness creeping in, along with a bit of relief. But hey--that's what touring's all about. At least, I think it is.
Vancouver dates abound! Check it:
Monday June 9 - Urban Improv w/Rene and Louie, 9pm @ Chivana's on 4th and Vine
Tuesday June 10 - Bronx Cheer w/Rene and Louie, 8pm @ Cafe Montmarte on 27th and King Edward
Wednesday June 11 - !nstant Theatre + Buckshot N Benny, 7pm @ Carousel Theatre, Granville Island
To the future!
6/5/08
a pictoral revue
Some behind the scenes pics from the last few days. 
K-Fon and I playing an old school hockey game in the Winnipeg airport. What a welcome back to the true north strong and free!
Great shot of Renee on the Border between Manitoba and Seskatchewan.
A beautiful prarie sunset on the Alberta/Seskatchewan border.
An awesome old school Safeway in Regina.
Alsitair making important deals outside of that Safeway.
Outside the theater in Regina where we had just played for 250 enthusiastic people. We were totally on a performance high.
Like all comedians across the continent, we all love Rock Band. Here's a cute pic of a bunch of us at Rob's (from General Fools) house for the after party in Regina.
Your two favorite slow comedy duo people on the border of two provinces making strange body positions.
K-Fon and I playing an old school hockey game in the Winnipeg airport. What a welcome back to the true north strong and free!
Great shot of Renee on the Border between Manitoba and Seskatchewan.
A beautiful prarie sunset on the Alberta/Seskatchewan border.
An awesome old school Safeway in Regina.
Alsitair making important deals outside of that Safeway.
Outside the theater in Regina where we had just played for 250 enthusiastic people. We were totally on a performance high.
Like all comedians across the continent, we all love Rock Band. Here's a cute pic of a bunch of us at Rob's (from General Fools) house for the after party in Regina.
Your two favorite slow comedy duo people on the border of two provinces making strange body positions.
6/4/08
from Regina to Winnipeg.
Hey - just a quick entry before we hit the road. We are going to Calgary today from Winnipeg. Going to try to do it in one day, might have to do it in two because it's apparently a very long drive.
Sorry there are no pictures this time around - we've got a lot of awesome behind the scenes ones from Regina and Winnipeg. I promise.
Kaitlin and I had an amazing chat in Regina about how we are never the same improvisers from day to day. How it's OK to follow your instinct and do scenes that might seem like they have repeat content, because as long as your improvising, there is no way the scene will ever repeat itself. After having that chat, we have had two killer shows. One in a theater in front of 240 people and one in a bar in front of considerably less. Both venues made us feel like rockstars in different ways.
The content of both shows I was very proud of. In one Kaitlin and I were kids forming a beginning friendship. In the other Kaitlin was my mom and I was her son. We had a pretty sad mother and son relationship in that one which felt very real to me. Both shows rocked it a lot. I think we're really beginning to find our stride on the tour now, which is very cool.
I hope to come back to Regina and Winnipeg soon. Nice places, good people. Probably not in the winter though. These towns seem to be ideal summer destinations. I get enough shitty weather in NYC as it is.
Sorry there are no pictures this time around - we've got a lot of awesome behind the scenes ones from Regina and Winnipeg. I promise.
Kaitlin and I had an amazing chat in Regina about how we are never the same improvisers from day to day. How it's OK to follow your instinct and do scenes that might seem like they have repeat content, because as long as your improvising, there is no way the scene will ever repeat itself. After having that chat, we have had two killer shows. One in a theater in front of 240 people and one in a bar in front of considerably less. Both venues made us feel like rockstars in different ways.
The content of both shows I was very proud of. In one Kaitlin and I were kids forming a beginning friendship. In the other Kaitlin was my mom and I was her son. We had a pretty sad mother and son relationship in that one which felt very real to me. Both shows rocked it a lot. I think we're really beginning to find our stride on the tour now, which is very cool.
I hope to come back to Regina and Winnipeg soon. Nice places, good people. Probably not in the winter though. These towns seem to be ideal summer destinations. I get enough shitty weather in NYC as it is.
5/28/08
the t dot
I haven't been in Toronto since I was 14. I'm really enjoying my time here, and the 1/8th of the city I've seen so far. I hope to see more before I leave. It's a really nice, clean, hip Canadian city. And the CN Tower looks like it's from space. Which is hilarious.
The ProjectPROJECT Combustion festival is blazing along. I did my first improv scene in Toronto ever yesterday as part of the "blind date" portion of the show with this nice guy from Winnipeg. Everyone here is super lovely and there seems to be a really healthy improv scene here, which warms my heart.
Also, the Comedy Bar is great. I'm so happy to be part of the first few shows at this theater. It's not finished yet and reminds me a lot of what it was like at The Magnet at the very beginning, performing in a theater that wasn't totally done. There's so much potential energy stored up in places like Comedy Bar before they're done and that's a great atmosphere to perform in.
It's so great to be back in Canada watching Canadian improv. I got to watch AKA last night. They are so mind-blowingly inspiring. Such tight, good improv with a very unique artistic perspective. When I grow up, I want to be just like them. BnB are playing with AKA tonight for our second Toronto show. What a great lineup. And what a great reward for me to get to watch them again after Kaitlin and I hopefully have a good set.
Wednesday's show was pretty hugely fun. I was playing my interpretation of a pretty well known Canadian song writer who I happen to enjoy, and Kaitlin was a much younger girl friend. While trying to write another hit song in our failing coffee house, everything kind of collapsed around us. The third character in the scene was the unseen but felt presence of David Geffen looming over everything. I had a super good amount of fun with it.
OK, on to some informational business:
Calgarians! You can pre-reserve tickets for our June 5th show at:
tickets@kinkonauts.com
Just e-mail them with your name and the amount of tickets you want and they will be reserved for you at the Box office.
Also - here's a cool article about the combustion fest that features a HUGE photo of us and no text info about us at all. Weird.
Finally, some nice pics from Toronto so far. Shows and just hanging out with comedians:
This is our first meal in Toronto, at an awesome sushi place on Bloor St. near the comedy bar. We're here with Renee and Alistair, who we're on tour with as !nstant Theater, Amber, from Atlanta who is here with Renee as The Doug Dank project and with Kayla and Aaron from AKA improv.
Here I am in front of Toronto's Second City. I've never been to a Second City before so I totally geeked out. This was taken on Wedensday by Aaron from AKA. We walked around the city the whole day and talked about life and art. It was totally fun.
Here are some adorable pics from our Wednesday show. I always love it when we make out in our BnB shows.
The ProjectPROJECT Combustion festival is blazing along. I did my first improv scene in Toronto ever yesterday as part of the "blind date" portion of the show with this nice guy from Winnipeg. Everyone here is super lovely and there seems to be a really healthy improv scene here, which warms my heart.
Also, the Comedy Bar is great. I'm so happy to be part of the first few shows at this theater. It's not finished yet and reminds me a lot of what it was like at The Magnet at the very beginning, performing in a theater that wasn't totally done. There's so much potential energy stored up in places like Comedy Bar before they're done and that's a great atmosphere to perform in.
It's so great to be back in Canada watching Canadian improv. I got to watch AKA last night. They are so mind-blowingly inspiring. Such tight, good improv with a very unique artistic perspective. When I grow up, I want to be just like them. BnB are playing with AKA tonight for our second Toronto show. What a great lineup. And what a great reward for me to get to watch them again after Kaitlin and I hopefully have a good set.
Wednesday's show was pretty hugely fun. I was playing my interpretation of a pretty well known Canadian song writer who I happen to enjoy, and Kaitlin was a much younger girl friend. While trying to write another hit song in our failing coffee house, everything kind of collapsed around us. The third character in the scene was the unseen but felt presence of David Geffen looming over everything. I had a super good amount of fun with it.
OK, on to some informational business:
Calgarians! You can pre-reserve tickets for our June 5th show at:
tickets@kinkonauts.com
Just e-mail them with your name and the amount of tickets you want and they will be reserved for you at the Box office.
Also - here's a cool article about the combustion fest that features a HUGE photo of us and no text info about us at all. Weird.
Finally, some nice pics from Toronto so far. Shows and just hanging out with comedians:
This is our first meal in Toronto, at an awesome sushi place on Bloor St. near the comedy bar. We're here with Renee and Alistair, who we're on tour with as !nstant Theater, Amber, from Atlanta who is here with Renee as The Doug Dank project and with Kayla and Aaron from AKA improv.
Here I am in front of Toronto's Second City. I've never been to a Second City before so I totally geeked out. This was taken on Wedensday by Aaron from AKA. We walked around the city the whole day and talked about life and art. It was totally fun.Here are some adorable pics from our Wednesday show. I always love it when we make out in our BnB shows.
5/25/08
and they're off
Wow. Of course it's two thirty in the morning my last day in New York for about three months. I have to wake up in four hours. I'm currently uploading a bunch of pictures to my computer and doing some last minute room prep for my sub letter.
I can honestly say that I'm really worn out. And this four hours of sleep won't help make me more awake either. But, I am so incredibly excited. Kaitlin and I had a great show on Thursday that everyone really seemed to enjoy. The improv was very funny but also nice and sad and focused. It went over quite well at the Magnet, which we certainly both consider one of our homes. For me, playing with Alistair for the first time as well was very entertaining. Onwards and upwards.
Can't wait to see what people think of the show in Toronto. Can't wait.
I can honestly say that I'm really worn out. And this four hours of sleep won't help make me more awake either. But, I am so incredibly excited. Kaitlin and I had a great show on Thursday that everyone really seemed to enjoy. The improv was very funny but also nice and sad and focused. It went over quite well at the Magnet, which we certainly both consider one of our homes. For me, playing with Alistair for the first time as well was very entertaining. Onwards and upwards.
Can't wait to see what people think of the show in Toronto. Can't wait.
5/19/08
J'aime le Magnet
For Louie, performing at the Magnet is second nature; for me, it's something I have heart palpatations about. Since I am a visitor here (though the lovely Alex Marino welcomes me with open arms), I'm always worried about making a good impression. By extension, I'm also worried about propping Mr. Pearlman up, because it's his theatre and I don't want to make him look bad.
So, for the first five minutes of our inaugural tour performance last night at Ampers&nd, I was scared (that Louie's voice was zapped from Coney Island roller coasters and repeated warm ups didn't help). But then I remembered that I love Louie, and he loves me, and we'd be alright. And voila: We were! It was fifteen minutes of bliss. Laughter and kisses. Scratchy voices and sandwich metaphors! Romance and cuteness. We've cornered the market on such. So watch out, other cute things and sandwiches!
Every show we do is something I cherish, like a little gem or a tiny show-baby. I'm dropping show-babies all over this continent. Adopt, dammit.
So, for the first five minutes of our inaugural tour performance last night at Ampers&nd, I was scared (that Louie's voice was zapped from Coney Island roller coasters and repeated warm ups didn't help). But then I remembered that I love Louie, and he loves me, and we'd be alright. And voila: We were! It was fifteen minutes of bliss. Laughter and kisses. Scratchy voices and sandwich metaphors! Romance and cuteness. We've cornered the market on such. So watch out, other cute things and sandwiches!
Every show we do is something I cherish, like a little gem or a tiny show-baby. I'm dropping show-babies all over this continent. Adopt, dammit.
5/13/08
New NYC Date Added - Revised tour dates
Hey guys. Just got an offer to do Ampers &nd at the Magnet this Sunday as a warm-up for our tour kickoff later on in the week.
So as it stands:
05/18 @ 8pm - NYC - Ampers &nd at Magnet Theater
5/22 @ 7pm - NYC - Magnet Theatre (w/Kitchen Party)
5/28 @ 8pm - Toronto - Comedy Bar (Combustion Festival)
5/30 @ 9:30pm - Toronto - Comedy Bar (Combustion Festival)
6/2 @ 8pm - Regina - Globe Theatre (w/!nstant Theatre and General Fools)
6/3 - TBA
6/5 @ 7:30 PM - Calgary - Dancer's Studio West (w/!nstant Theatre and The Kinkonauts)
6/6 @ 11pm - Edmonton - Varscona Theatre (w/!nstant and Rapid Fire Theatre)
6/7 @ 11pm - Edmonton - Varscona Theatre
Proper Vancouver Dates TBA!
So as it stands:
05/18 @ 8pm - NYC - Ampers &nd at Magnet Theater
5/22 @ 7pm - NYC - Magnet Theatre (w/Kitchen Party)
5/28 @ 8pm - Toronto - Comedy Bar (Combustion Festival)
5/30 @ 9:30pm - Toronto - Comedy Bar (Combustion Festival)
6/2 @ 8pm - Regina - Globe Theatre (w/!nstant Theatre and General Fools)
6/3 - TBA
6/5 @ 7:30 PM - Calgary - Dancer's Studio West (w/!nstant Theatre and The Kinkonauts)
6/6 @ 11pm - Edmonton - Varscona Theatre (w/!nstant and Rapid Fire Theatre)
6/7 @ 11pm - Edmonton - Varscona Theatre
Proper Vancouver Dates TBA!
5/12/08
More info on the Calgary gig.
New news! The 6/5 Calgary Dancer's Studio West show will be at 7:30, with doors at 7PM.
The address:
2007 - 10 Avenue SW
Calgary AB
Look at the handy locational graphic from DSW's website!
5/6/08
Another confirmed date!
It's a new date. Drumroll, please...
6/5 @ TBA - Calgary - Dancers Studio West! (w/Kinkonauts and !nstant)
Be there, or be square!
6/5 @ TBA - Calgary - Dancers Studio West! (w/Kinkonauts and !nstant)
Be there, or be square!
a brief history
Gosh. A tour blog. Exciting. Especially considering I haven't updated my actual blog in months. I've been making the excuse that my life has been going really well, and I haven't wanted to stop to retrospect. But this tour. Well. It really does warrant a blog. The tour is sort of a crazy, new, cool thing for Kaitlin and I to be doing.
Buckshot N Benny started because Kaitlin and I were living in the same town (NYC) for the first half of 2006. We were friends from college, in Vancouver. Kaitlin was a freshman when I was a senior (sorry to our Canadian writers for throwing such Yankee terms at you). We felt like we both had a lot in common, were becoming nice friends, and then, right when our friendship was going to become pretty concrete and stable, I moved to New York. I spent my first few years there with my mouth hanging open and in a daze. It was magnificent and terrifying, all at once. Those were the years that Kaitlin was going through the whole University thing.
We kept in touch for a few years, knowing there was something special about our friendship, so I was pretty excited when Kaitlin came to NYC in 2006 to intern at Spin. At the same time, she took a class with the great improv guru Armando Diaz at the comedy theater where I work - The Magnet. There's this awesome show there called Ampers &nd that features rotating improv duos. Many people who don't normally get to work together team up to do a duo and stretch their improv skills a little bit. We signed up for a slot, just because we thought it would be fun to do a little bit of improv together while she was there. We practiced with my buddy Shannon directing us and had a pretty good time. But something happened during our show. The performance ended up feeling really good for us. Meaningful and fun. We had some sort of advanced chemistry that I don't think either of expected.
So, with Kaitlin moving back to Vancouver, we did something pretty silly. We vowed to keep going. We made this decision that we were going to do a show whenever we were in the same city together. We've done the Vancouver improv fest two years in a row and people seem to dig us. We did a Magnet Mixer in NYC the spring of 07. And we broke into a lounge at UBC and performed for friends in December of 06.
But now we're going on tour. I want some of these places in Canada to see Ampers &nd/Magnet Style improv who perhaps haven't seen it yet. I hope they dig our style. I want to have great shows with Kaitlin. We've actually only done 8 shows over the last 3 years as Buckshot N Benny. This tour will show us if we can keep the special feeling between us, doing a bunch of shows all quickly in a row. I want to see parts of Canada that I've never seen before with friends I really like. I kind of feel like I'm coming back to Canada and bringing some presents with me.
While continuing my activities in the city that never sleeps - teaching and performing with my new favorites The Story Pirates, video editing high school plays, teaching adorable teenagers improv, performing around the city with my Magnet house team the Yes Andersens, with my amazing NYC comedy partner Angela as After School Music Club, and in my little ukulele shows... whoo, that's a lot - I've had this nagging feeling for the last few months in the back of my head. Am I doing enough for the tour? Neither Kaitlin or I has ever organized anything like this before. I know that I need to e-mail my friend Becky back about making buttons for us. I need to set a time for our Calgary gig with the Kinkonauts at Dancers Studio West. It's a lot of work and is hard to all keep straight.
I hope that by the time our tour kicks off on May 23rd - only two weeks away - that everything will be good to go. I have a feeling I'll be working until then to have it all come together. Then, ready or not, I'm really excited about getting on the road and seeing where Buckshot N Benny takes Kaitlin and I next.
Buckshot N Benny started because Kaitlin and I were living in the same town (NYC) for the first half of 2006. We were friends from college, in Vancouver. Kaitlin was a freshman when I was a senior (sorry to our Canadian writers for throwing such Yankee terms at you). We felt like we both had a lot in common, were becoming nice friends, and then, right when our friendship was going to become pretty concrete and stable, I moved to New York. I spent my first few years there with my mouth hanging open and in a daze. It was magnificent and terrifying, all at once. Those were the years that Kaitlin was going through the whole University thing.
We kept in touch for a few years, knowing there was something special about our friendship, so I was pretty excited when Kaitlin came to NYC in 2006 to intern at Spin. At the same time, she took a class with the great improv guru Armando Diaz at the comedy theater where I work - The Magnet. There's this awesome show there called Ampers &nd that features rotating improv duos. Many people who don't normally get to work together team up to do a duo and stretch their improv skills a little bit. We signed up for a slot, just because we thought it would be fun to do a little bit of improv together while she was there. We practiced with my buddy Shannon directing us and had a pretty good time. But something happened during our show. The performance ended up feeling really good for us. Meaningful and fun. We had some sort of advanced chemistry that I don't think either of expected.
So, with Kaitlin moving back to Vancouver, we did something pretty silly. We vowed to keep going. We made this decision that we were going to do a show whenever we were in the same city together. We've done the Vancouver improv fest two years in a row and people seem to dig us. We did a Magnet Mixer in NYC the spring of 07. And we broke into a lounge at UBC and performed for friends in December of 06.
But now we're going on tour. I want some of these places in Canada to see Ampers &nd/Magnet Style improv who perhaps haven't seen it yet. I hope they dig our style. I want to have great shows with Kaitlin. We've actually only done 8 shows over the last 3 years as Buckshot N Benny. This tour will show us if we can keep the special feeling between us, doing a bunch of shows all quickly in a row. I want to see parts of Canada that I've never seen before with friends I really like. I kind of feel like I'm coming back to Canada and bringing some presents with me.
While continuing my activities in the city that never sleeps - teaching and performing with my new favorites The Story Pirates, video editing high school plays, teaching adorable teenagers improv, performing around the city with my Magnet house team the Yes Andersens, with my amazing NYC comedy partner Angela as After School Music Club, and in my little ukulele shows... whoo, that's a lot - I've had this nagging feeling for the last few months in the back of my head. Am I doing enough for the tour? Neither Kaitlin or I has ever organized anything like this before. I know that I need to e-mail my friend Becky back about making buttons for us. I need to set a time for our Calgary gig with the Kinkonauts at Dancers Studio West. It's a lot of work and is hard to all keep straight.
I hope that by the time our tour kicks off on May 23rd - only two weeks away - that everything will be good to go. I have a feeling I'll be working until then to have it all come together. Then, ready or not, I'm really excited about getting on the road and seeing where Buckshot N Benny takes Kaitlin and I next.
Hey, It's Tour Time!
Hey Kids,
So Buckshot N Benny is going on tour (Finally! Says you. We couldn't agree more). This here's where we're going to keep you all updated on the antics of our tour, including the fun people we meet, the photos we take, and the antics that will ensue.
As a primer, here are our tour dates and show locations (where available at this point). We're so excited to get out there and to see you. And you. And YOU.
5/22 @ 8pm - NYC - Magnet Theatre (w/Kitchen Party)
5/28 @ 8pm - Toronto - Comedy Bar (Combustion Festival)
5/30 @ 9:30pm - Toronto - Comedy Bar
6/2 @ 8pm - Regina - Globe Theatre (w/!nstant Theatre and General Fools)
6/3 - TBA
6/5 - TBA
6/6 @ 11pm - Edmonton - Varscona Theatre (w/!nstant and Rapid Fire Theatre)
6/7 @ 11pm - Edmonton - Varscona Theatre
...and more to come!
So stay tuned, and remember that we love each other (and you).
XO BNB
So Buckshot N Benny is going on tour (Finally! Says you. We couldn't agree more). This here's where we're going to keep you all updated on the antics of our tour, including the fun people we meet, the photos we take, and the antics that will ensue.
As a primer, here are our tour dates and show locations (where available at this point). We're so excited to get out there and to see you. And you. And YOU.
5/22 @ 8pm - NYC - Magnet Theatre (w/Kitchen Party)
5/28 @ 8pm - Toronto - Comedy Bar (Combustion Festival)
5/30 @ 9:30pm - Toronto - Comedy Bar
6/2 @ 8pm - Regina - Globe Theatre (w/!nstant Theatre and General Fools)
6/3 - TBA
6/5 - TBA
6/6 @ 11pm - Edmonton - Varscona Theatre (w/!nstant and Rapid Fire Theatre)
6/7 @ 11pm - Edmonton - Varscona Theatre
...and more to come!
So stay tuned, and remember that we love each other (and you).
XO BNB
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)