Writing is not easy. It is not as easy as it sounds to sit down and write a good story. The relative difficulty of any writing effort takes a giant step into the Terrordome (apologies to PE) when you think of your creation being read by real living, breathing, thinking people.
In blog #12 I wrote about the trip I took with my daughter to Chicago. Part of the reason we took the trip was to do research for Tripio and part of it was simply to have fun. My daughter was going to college in a month so we combined the scouting of Starbucks locations used in Tripio with long strolls around Lakeview and Wrigleyville. One stop was the Town Hall Pub on Halsted, http://www.townhallpub.com/.
She had been there without me about a year ago, getting inside because she looks older than she is, and the same show happened to be playing the night we were there. She wanted to go back and described the premise of the show to me : “An improv comedy team goes on stage and takes turns reading those personal ads that start something like Dear Red line princess, I saw you last Friday morning as you took your seat and our eyes briefly held each other’s…’
[[File:Chicago top down view.png|Chicago top down view]]
In Tripio, Jay has three life altering scenarios developing during the summer of 1992. These three plots lines interact to create Tripio. A reflecting and reinforcing set of decisions Jay has to make is to choose one of three buses to take to his Starbucks work location. One runs up and down Clark, one up and down Broadway and the other used Halsted. These three thoroughfares are the backdrops for many scenes and setting of Tripio. My daughter and I had already walked past many landmarks used in Tripio : The Duke of Perth, Bento’s and even my old apartment. So it was no surprise that as we sat down for the comedic interpretation of the personal ads, my mind was still on Tripio.
Welcome to the Terrordome, minus Chuck and Flava. Instead, this Terrordome featured Jay and Kati and anyone with dialogue in Tripio. Chicago is known for its improv comedy and the team on stage did not disappoint. The reading of the personal ads received big laughs from the audience, my daughter and me included. Then about halfway through, for no apparent reason, I imagined that a male improv team member was reading excerpts from Tripio aloud. And the laughter kept coming! The audience laughed even louder as he improved words, sentences and scenes from Tripio that were not meant to be funny!
“Store meeting Sunday at 7. Everyone must be here. You will be paid. Mark”, initiated deafening laughter from the audience.
“I would have a chance to meet him and demonstrate what I know.”-drinks spitting out of the mouths of the audience because it’s so damn funny!
This went on for a few more skits. I did, however, collect my sanity somewhere along the way and enjoyed the balance of the show. I was helped by the proximity of my daughter and the desire to have a good memory of our trip together before she left for college. If lightning strikes and Tripio reaches a big enough audience that I have to go out and do readings from it (go ahead and laugh here), it is possible that those readings would occur in Chicago where Tripio takes place. If that dream scenario takes place, I promise to read anywhere in Chicago….except the Town Hall Pub.
May I help who’s next?
