The Brady Bunch

We had a wonderful surprise a few Saturday nights back. Wayne Brady came to play at SAK!! He called me about 6:00pm and said he was in town and would like to play in with us. I immediately said "Of course!" and asked when he'd like to do that. "I was thinking about tonight," was his response.

Thus began the whirlwind. I was not scheduled to play that night, but of course I wanted to be there. We already had 180 reservations for the night by that time so I didn't think it would be a good idea to try to blast the word out to our e-mail list. I did, however, send to our internal SAK groups to let them all know.

As you might imagine, though, word still spread quickly. We ended up with an extremely packed house, people sqeezing into any corner or crevice that could keep their butt comfortable for 30 minutes or more. It was a great show and a lot of fun.

For me, it was a little weird - in a good way, but still a little weird. I have performed with Wayne quite a few times over the past couple of years and was just with him in Vegas about 5 weeks ago. But these have always been Wayne on the road personal appearance shows - very high profile. It's been an extremely long time since I've been on the SAK stage with Wayne. It was interestingly, strangely and joyfully familiar. The big difference was that there were many new faces on the stage from the days when Wayne was with us regularly. But it still all felt so comfortable. That's one of the beautiful things about improvisation. When you have the skills it's quite easy and quite fun to blend in just about anywhere. That has always been especially true on the SAK stage. I think the other performers were very excited to be on the stage with Wayne. It was a great show - the audience loved it.

Oh, and we regularly do something at SAK called the "Slice of Life," a scene in our show dedicated to a specific audience member who's celebrating a birthday, a marriage, etc. In that night's performance Wayne played the girl who was soon to be married. Can you imagine? You set up this thing at SAK, they play a scene and at the end of the show you get to take home a video of the performance - and it's WAYNE BRADY! Playing YOU!!! Definitely an extra value added to that deal.

Start Spreadin' the Germs...

I was in lovely New York City Monday before last auditioning actors for the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club show I'm directing at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Seems like everybody loves New York. I like New York - and there are some things that could be considered lovely. But New York is dank, musty, smelly and dirty! Don't get me wrong, I love New York - just, not really. I was there on the kind of deal I love to be in New York on. Fly in to JFK, taxi to the Royalton Hotel on 44th, just north of Times Square, across from the infamous Algonquin Hotel where the infamous gathering used to take place - the Algonquin Round Table. All on Disney's dime. (I'd never be able to afford the kind of accomodations I did if I was on my own). Down the street was Times Square, with all the lights, flashing marquees in all their splendor. When you look up New York is FABULOUS. But when you watch where you're going, New York is dirty and stanky. Who could believe a place with all this money, all this noteriety, all this class - would look and smell like such a dump.

I've decided New York should be neutralized from 30 inches to the ground. Thirty inches and above - New York's beautiful. 30 inches and below - New York could be torched and washed into the yucky gutters.

Of course I don't live there and I have no idea what kinds of challenges they are up against, so I probably have no business talking about it, but with all the technology and industrious thinking we have in this country, it seems someone could come up with a way (and a profitable one too) to alleviate the process of littering the streets with bags and bags of garbage!!!

Okay enough soap box. New York might be a great city to live and work in if you had a lot of money.

On at least a slightly more positive note, however, my entire travel tour was quite pleasant and without delays. I flew to Los Angeles the Wednesday previous, then L.A. to New York (JFK) on Sunday, then out of LaGuardia on Tuesday. No huge delays in New York city cabs, gentle driving up the 405 and across the 101 to Glendale, only a few minute wait at Security in all the above listed airports, no wait to check in at Skycap. I had planned even extra time (always a challenge for me) because of the recent security level hike after the foiled liquid bomb plot in Britain. Cracking down and limiting the items allowed for carry-on have really streamlined the system. I say Kudos to that!! I will gladly check more bags for that ease of travel.

Sweet SixteenTwenty Eight

Vegas was a hoot! We had some great shows, and it was a ton of fun. There's something strange that happens going from Orlando and Walt Disney World to the Las Vegas strip. It's all the same or similar production value - lots of lights, lots of sound equipment, lots of stimuli. But the rating is very different. PG on the one side to NC-17 on the other. From the Happiest Place on Earth to Debauchery City.

At the shows was Jason Earles. You may not recognize the name. Especially if you don't have kids. But he plays Jackson on Hannah Montana on the Disney channel. My kids watch the show all the time. If you haven't seen the Disney channel they shoot maybe 24 episodes or so and then they play episodes 4 times every day or so. So you get to know the people very well. In addition, Disney is champion at cross marketing and cross promoting. All their "stars" make appearances on various other Disney Channel shows, have been involved in the Disney Channel Games, etc.

Jason and the Production Manager came back to the Green Room after the shows. They are friends of one of the guys on the Wayne Brady production team who also does the warm up for Hannah Montana. They were very impressed that I knew so much about them and about their show. Apparently kids get glued to the Disney channel, but the parents don't know it at all. Lucky me though, they loved the Vegas shows and thought I was funny, so I got to get some autographed pics of the guy and Daddy was a huge hit with the kids.

Of course the most impressive thing to me was the fact that Jason plays Hannah's brother - a 16 year old teen - and they were telling me this guy's actually 27 years old and married. What!!!! At first I felt horrible for considering divulging the truth about that on my blog, but I looked him up on imdb and it's all right there for anyone to see. Born in 1977. Love that Hollywood where we can't find any suitable 16 year olds to play a 16 year old. In fact there are no suitable 18 year olds. 22 year olds. As it appears, not even a 26 year old could pull it off.

From Feast to Bigger Feast

Once again, the realization of time between posts never ceases to surprise me. Two weeks since my last post. WOW. Where doo the time go?

Well, since that last post when several possibilities were on the horizon, everything has gotten extremely busy on all my fronts. School started on August 7th for my Marina going to 2nd grade and Walker starting Kindergarten. Hey, what's with starting school on August 7th anyway? Didn't we used to have summer vacation all the way until Labor Day? In addition, my Disney work has really picked up for the final third of 2006. SAK is in pre-production for the Lost Comedies of William Shakespeare, the SAK High School Leauge is mounting again, and I leave this weekend for Las Vegas to do the Wayne Brady shows at the Mirage.

It actually looks like I'll be travelling a lot through the end of the month. After Vegas I'm back in Orlando for 2 days filled with auditions for Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club. On Wednesday I fly to Los Angeles for Playtests of the Monsters show at Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale. The following Saturday I fly from L.A. to New York for some more Monsters auditions. Whew! September is only a bit open and I know I'll be much better off if I use the time to ready for October through the end of the year when I'll be knee deep in Monsters rehearsal and development. We hope to have something unofficial (a sneak peak if you will) open by Christmas. These are the times that are most challenging to me as the lion's share of my work hours will be dedicated to Disney to get that show open. At the same time we're opening a new show at SAK. With SAK's current financial state I really don't have much choice other than to try and juggle both. The Disney Show Director work I do not only is my family's major source of income, but the Disney money helps SAK out as well. And I have to say I love doing both very much, but these are the times when the 2 worlds collide and compete for my time.

On a final note, I was successful in my attempts to set up video chat capabilities on the computer. Yay iSight and Mac!!! Now while I'm out of town, I'll be able to stay in touch with my lovely little ones and my lovely wife with both sound and sight. I'm very excited about that. All I'll need is a broadband connection to the Internet, which shouldn't be too hard to find.

Next post hopefully from Vegas!!

Vegas Bound!

Well, things kind of fell into place and it looks like my Vegas trip is a done deal. Luckily, the other booking I had softened and may be able to be rescheduled and we'll celebrate Morgan's birthday a day early or a day late.
The new challenge is to see how I can use iChat to somehow configure my computer and camera so my family could watch me doing one of the shows live. These are some of the silly technical quandries that consume me at times. With just the right cable or wire and this and that hooked up - it seems somehow strangely doable.


I also learned from Jonathan that the reason he can't do the show is he's going to be down the street at the Luxor with the Drew Carey All-Stars! So, I'm sure I'll get a chance to see him while I'm there. I haven't seen Jonathan since the birth of his second baby.


If you happen to be in Vegas next weekend - come check out one or more of these shows...

THE DAVE RUSSELL IMPROV SHOW FEATURING WAYNE BRADY AT THE MIRAGE
(Hey, it's my blog, I can slant it however I want)
Friday August 18th @ 9pm
Saturday August 19th @ 9pm

OR SEE SAK ALUMNUS JONATHAN MANGUM AT THE LUXOR
Drew Carey and the Improv All-Stars
Thursday August 17th @ 9pm
Friday August 18th @ 9pm
Saturday August 19th @ 8pm & 10:30pm
Sunday August 20th @ 9pm

Quick SAK History

I recently did an interview with Becky Morgan for a show called Arts Connection on WMFE. It offers a nice quick history of SAK from its early days at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, through the EPCOT years at Disney, and chronicles the growth and development of the SAK Comedy Lab. Pretty interesting reading. If you want to give a listen, just click Arts Connection Interview.

It's the Same SAK.

I got an e-mail a few days ago from someone on our mailing list. We had recently sent out an e-mail about our new show FourPlay: the (Improvised) Musical. Here is the person's response/inquiry:

The name of the show sounds like it could be an indication of off colored jokes.
Is the show still going to be family orientated and kept clean?
Signature Protected

Here is my response:

Thanks for your inquiry about FourPlay: the (Improvised) Musical.

Fear Not!! The show is not a departure from our standard fare on the content scale. Granted, our clever play on words certainly does cause one’s head to look again. But that’s just what we are hoping for! There are 4 actors in the show creating 16 characters and creating 20 never before sung songs. 4 Actors Playing – that’s FourPlay!

We have always strived to provide entertainment that is suitable for all ages. We often explore and lambast themes and emotions common to everyone – we toy with the good and the bad in all of us. We have dedicated ourselves to curb the use of profanity and vulgar language in our shows – something we’re very proud of which has helped us build our reputation as family friendly. We don’t shy away from sensitive topics, familial dysfunctions or political references. But we do it in an appropriate fashion. We do, as you know, have our “Scum Box” handy for times when our players go beyond decorum and appropriateness. We use that in our “Duel of Fools” show. Since FourPlay is a complete 2 act play in the style of a Broadway Musical, we don’t use the Scum Box, but the standards it represents are respected and understood in all our shows unless specifically stated otherwise.

If you’ve been to our theater before you know that there is no shortage of lampooning stereotypes and we are certainly guilty many times of not being politically correct. But as thousands of wonderful fans have experienced its all in the name of fun. It is improv and because of that you never know exactly what is going to happen, but as an ensemble we have agreed to certain boundaries of content.

I hope this sufficiently answers your question(s) and I hope you’ll come and see FourPlay with your whole family. It runs at 10pm Fridays and Saturdays through September 23, and Matinees on Sundays in September.

If you’d like more information about it go to www.sak.com/fourplay

I also recommend for your entertainment pleasure our classic signature improv comedy show “Duel of Fools,” which will run at 8pm.

##end of response##

I will have more to say about this in subsequent posts, but I will add that I get a little anxious over the whole "family-friendly," "family-oriented" thing.

To Vegas or Not To Vegas?

How can it be? Over a week since my last entry? Not a very compelling blog if there's only a new post once a week or so. My friend Mark Baratelli has offered some tips and hints for successful blogging and I am a very eager and willing student. I'll bet his first lesson will be "You gotta blog every day - or almost every day!" Note taken - even before it is given.

Today's topic is more of a canundrum. I got a call yesterday from Jonathan Mangum (SAK alumni, 1993-1996) saying Wayne (Brady) wants to know if I can do some Vegas dates in August in Jonathan's stead. It happens periodically that Jonathan has other commitments when Wayne has dates booked and often times I am able to fill in. The dates are August 18 and 19 and I'd have to break another performance commitment here in Orlando not to mention I would be gone on my wife's birthday.

I hate opportunities that become such crazy and personal decisions. I have done several Wayne Brady road shows and the Vegas dates are definitely among the most fun. The Mirage Hotel is a great venue - the Danny Ganz Theater - is really well-suited to this kind of performance. It is always of course good press to boast appearances with Wayne Brady. It is actual and truthful news with a direct Florida/SAK/Dave angle and frankly a great way to remind people of the SAK/Wayne Brady connection. Plus I really have a great time in the shows. Wayne's got a trio of musicians that travel with him and they are all wonderful guys.

Promising Future?

Well, the biggest revelation I have for today is it's really hard to blog consistently. I can't believe how fast days go by since we have been back from vacation. I am having post vacation something or other stress. I want to be back on the beach. I think I could do that for quite a long time and not get too tired out. Granted, there was wireless internet access from the Activity Center and since our room was right above the Activity Center... You do the math, but I can tell you my frowns always turned upside down when I could get online right there in our room looking out at the beach.

Isn't that a sin? To be online at the beach? Well, with all the SAK stuff and Disney stuff that was happening it was a life saver. In my opinion spending an hour or two here and there online made it possible for me to actually stay away for 2 weeks. I have been fantasizing about how I could do everything I ever need to do online. Then I could live at the beach or on a lake. Oh well, isn't that everybody's dream?

I had a meeting today with Pat Delacona of the Downtown Development Board and Cassie Turiczek of the Downtown Arts District - D.A.D. as they're called. I met with DAD today. I was joining Jim Morris of the Central Florida Performing Arts Alliance. I can't really talk about some of the things we discussed as it is not the right time, but I can say that I was very heartened at the meeting. There does seem to be a genuine support (among these folks at least) for SAK. Both had said they have a great desire to keep SAK downtown. That makes me glad. I too would love for us to be downtown - that's where our roots are - and I'd love to see us in a much higher traffic and higher profile area.

(The picture you see shows the last vestiges of our original home. The old Lawyer's Title Building at 45 East Church Street on Church and Pine. Now a giant condo building.)

We discussed what SAK's needs are and what SAK's desires are. It will be exciting to see what these prospects might turn into. I have to keep myself from being over-excited. I have to remember that these are prospects. For these to turn into reality a lot needs to happen and a number of City officials have to join in support. I am also encouraged by the fact that City Hall and the Mayor's Office are familiar with SAK - a goal of ours this year. We performed at the Mayor's CityKidz event and it went very well. They were very pleased. I even got a phone message afterward from Mayor Buddy Dyer! Wish I could add that recording as a post but I'd probably need like - permission, or something. More news to follow as it develops.

Back at SAK

Well, here we are. Back from vacation, diving back into the swirling vortex. SAK got some great coverage between the article in the Orlando Sentinel and the article in the Orlando Weekly. Another silly semblance of myself appears there. Oh by the way, with me in the pic are Keith Dickerson and Mark Baratelli. I completely spaced when I sent the photo to the weekly and it published without any credit to Mark and Keith. Mark pointed out to me how important it is to have all the trackable credit you can on the web. "Potential employers google people all the time these days. The more interesting things that come up when they google you the better." He's right. So now, when potential employers google Mark Baratelli, they'll see this. Even if they don't get the Weekly story they can get to it from here. So, much of this aside is in hopes of making my gaff up to Mark. Mark Baratelli, that is. B as in Baratelli and Mark as in Mark Baratelli. (Whew, that should make for a successful google search for Mark Baratelli)

Of course I got a lot of calls while away with the family on the beach. Now that I'm back it's time to catch up and sift through all the calls and e-mails. We've got everything - from offers for potential space - in Orlando - near UCF - to offers to share our space to offset costs. Some have called wanting to do fundraisers for SAK. Some just want to know WHAT they might do. Of course, my first response is "come and see shows, and bring friends!" I also direct people immediately to helpsavesak.com which offers a growing list of ideas one might consider.

One tough thing is the response time. Already I've heard rumblings and comments that we're not responding fast enough to people's ideas. Hey! I was on vacation! Give me a break! V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N. It's from the greek root "va" which means "to go" and "cation" which means "can't do everything cuz I'm on freakin' vacation."

There are many great ideas though, and it will take some time to work through some of them. There's only so much I can do even now that I'm back. I constantly have to remind people that SAK doesn't really have the budget to pay a full time Managing Director and Artistic Director, and we have a staff of 3 not including myself doing the work of 7. I do much of my SAK work without compensation. (There is a small stipend which I use for gas. I have a lot of gas) Anyway, or rather, unfortunately, I have to keep busy with other things to pay those pesky bills. My Disney Show Director work takes care of most of that. Sometimes, (unfortunately again) that work takes up a full week's worth of time. Stack on that SAK duties and I'm very quickly overloaded. I feel constantly pressed for time and definitely not as much as I'd like to spend with my family. That's why my family vacation was such an awesome treat!

So I've learned to take it all in stride. I go forth knowing the responses will be slow and trust that the Lord (and my Treo 650) will help me with those things I need to take care of today. In the next several days I'll be very excited to talk about some of the possibilities that lie before us. As each day passes, I feel more and more that SAK will definitely make it through the year. We'll have some lean times from now til then, and cross fingers we don't suffer any hurricanes this year, but somehow we'll scrap our way through. SAK usually does. I just don't know how much more of the scrapping I have left in me. I'm eager for this wonderful little improv company to thrive, and for everyone involved to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

More later.

I wish I was at the beach again. Love the sound of real ocean waves.

I HATE FLORIDA

It's too hot. It's too humid.


But every once in a while, the beauty and joy of living this close to the ocean and tropical weather shines its face on us. I'm amazed how we can spend the entire day - I'm talking 8-9 hours - living, playing, eating, and "working" on the beach. When children are busy playing, building and creating you can see the beautiful concentration on their faces. It's all so very important. Each hole dug, each grain of sand displaced. They can be occupied for hours on a single project - a project which will offer no sign of their efforts in the morning. And that's okay, because a new project is begun that day, maybe a repeat of yesterday's project, with lessons learned, improvements made. The total acceptance of the expected futility does nothing to dampen spirits or enthusiasm, or the energy with which the task is undertaken. Somewhere along the way many of us lose that discipline. If we can't see a lasting outcome, or a result that will benefit us in some what we think is a lasting way, we do it half-assed. Or maybe that's not true, but do we do it full-assed? (Never used THAT term before!) Something to think about. To what ass do you do things? To what ass-degree do those around us do things?

Waves of Anticipation

My Big Fat Greek Face

Hey, and I'm not even Greek. Did you see my big ol' mug plastered on the front page of today's Orlando Sentinel (front page of Section E, that is)? And right under me it says "GOOD LIVING, cooking & eating."

Yowza! SAK got a great write up in the paper today thanks to Elizabeth Maupin. I just love how she has such a passionate heart for the Arts here in Central Florida. Anyway, if I'd thought the floodgates had opened after I sent e-mails to our ensemble and theater staff members and one to our patrons... I ain't seen nothin' yet. IT'S GREAT!!!! The word is getting out! My phone has been off the hook with calls already - Hey, how'd they get my number? And the e-mails of support have been pouring in. Oh, if you want to see the story you can find it online. See the SAK story in the Orlando Sentinel. And I'm going on vacation in 2 days. This is another God test, I just know it. I can't and don't intend to cut the vacation short. My kids have been a little daddy deprived over the last couple of months and my wife has been hubby deprived. I'm going to have a great reconnect with my family. I don't like not striking while the iron is hot, but it'll just have to stay warm a couple of weeks. With the responses that have already come in my "Hope Level" has increased several degrees already this morning. AND I get to talk to people I haven't talked to in months and years. How Joyful!!!

More rain - residual from Alberto? is just beginning to fall - reminding my hopeful heart that we're just beginning hurricane season so there's plenty to still be anxious about. Go away, little voice.

Dave

I'm Not Running Away

I'm running away. Well, not for an elongated period of time, but for awhile. Oh, and Rob's running away too. For a couple of days. This Friday marks the first day of my family vacation. For two weeks we will be basking in the Florida sun in Ormond Beach at a rented condo. This seems like a weird time to be going away, with all the initiatives just launched, but it's a train that's got momentum and can't be stopped. Actually, I don't want to stop it. I can't imagine stopping it.

At SAK it's always difficult to be gone for several days. Every day something new, exciting and wonderful happens. If you could hear the tone of my voice as those words come forth you'd hear the steaming sarcasm. Of course that really means aggravating, frustrating, and maddening. When it rains - like it did today, we get leaks. They come and fix them, but somewhere/somehow, it finds its way to leak again. Our network goes down, we don't know why. It comes back up, we don't know why.

So this vacation will be a welcome distancing from all that. I'll only be in Ormond, so if there is some great emergency, I can get back if necessary. Alberto has already passed, not quite a hurricane. Can you believe it? The first weather system of the year, and it becomes a named storm! Whoopeee!

I need to let it go for awhile. I'll still blog - probably some will be audioblogs, but won't that be fun - Dave blogs from the beach. I love technology!!!!

Rob's going to New York with Robyn Pedretti and Mark Baratelli, and his name doesn't even end with a pair of consonants and a vowel.

Seems lately every step forward is accompanied by one or two steps back. There are great and valuable lessons to be learned through all this. Perseverence, industriousness. Mantra words for my life. How many times have I been there? I believe it is building strong character within me.

Dave

Oh - My - God

Hey, the party went well. My words were somewhat coherent, and I think even inspiring. I talk too much though. I've got to learn to speak more concisely.

Anyway the SAK Company party went very well. A good turn out - still quite a few not present. When it was time to talk I wasn't nervous like I thought I might be. I think I'd run it through pretty many times in my head - what I wanted to say. I never really memorize these things which is why they can sometimes ramble - I remember something halfway through that I meant to get in there, so I weave it in. As I began speaking my first instinct was to pray - for SAK for the group, for our audiences. I don't know what people think when I pray like that. I don't say "Jesus" generally when I pray among the SAK family, but I do pray to God. I really don't know what else I can do. I really understand and believe that SAK is in God's hands. No matter what happens, I trust that it is God's will.

I did make a point to mention to everyone that if we find we must make/take serious or drastic measures to deal with our situation, that will view it as "suspending operations" and not "closing down" or "closing the doors for good," those kinds of things. It is my vision and intent that if we cannot stay in our current location SAK will spring up somewhere. Again, wherever the Lord may have for us. I intend for us to do that if necessary in celebration. That's going to be a great challenge. Actors love to feel the pain of the moment. I guess it helps us do what we do. Seems like we love to wallow in the sorrowful things. We will certainly cry if it comes to that, we will grieve, but most importantly we will CELEBRATE!!!!

So, to finish how this started, I felt very pleased as I went home from the company party. I am continually humbled by this group of people.

Dave

See How They Run...

Today's the Company Party and I feel kind of weird. I plan to (need to, want to, ought to) go into it with hope and positivity. There's that little part of me in the back of my head though that have my nerves tangled up. What do I say? Can I speak with confidence? Can I speak motivationally? I've got to do both. I actually do have both of those in me, but sometimes that other little sneaky freak peeks his way out. It's like that ad for lamasil - that little gremlin thingy. The one that lifts your toenail with the fungus. That's the picture. He's the guy who mutters - "it's all for naught. Nothing matters anyway!!!"

Two things I want to get across today. One is there's really one way and one way alone we'll get through this current tight time. We need more people here at SAK. We've got to get more butts in seats. There's no two ways about it. A lot of ideas, great ideas, have surfaced over the past several days. But any and all of those are temporary or incomplete fixes. We've got to get the word out about SAK to more people. We need new people coming here and getting hooked on our wonderful shows, and we need those who've been here to come back again. All on relatively no budget.

Talking with an associate the other day who's heavily involved in sales, I was encouraged when he said he'd been to a conference where they talked about a study which showed that the best form of advertising a company can have is word of mouth. He said it has been shown that strong word of mouth advertising works better than branding campaigns, direct marketing, and media advertising - that being print and television/radio. What a relief! As I've said many times in jest, "word of mouth is our BEST form of advertising, in fact it's our ONLY form of advertising!" I usually say it as I'm lamenting how little resources we have to throw to print ads for our shows and theater.

So I want to re-inforce the power of word of mouth. First and foremost from us. That we tell people to come to SAK. Beyond that I enourage everyone to tell others about their experience when they're here. These experiential testimonials I believe will prove to be our strongest ally.

The second thing I want to get across is the idea that as much as we love all the great ideas - we are strapped when it comes to implementation. Our humble staff of 4 has its hands full already just putting on the shows we currently have, and have in production [FourPlay: The (Improvised) Musical] for example. I'd love to steer some of the creative energies to manpower resources. Who can help us accomplish these goals - again, for little or no money. Because we are talking about some revenue generating ideas, it is possible for someone to share in the bounty of securing those deals.

My mind is awash with ideas and should dos and have to dos. Sometimes I lose time just trying to organize all the do's. But sometimes we get on a roll and things start happening. That's when the hope and confidence and excitement kicks in.

Time to go address the troupes. I hope my tie is clean.

Dave

Help Save SAK

Wow. I've helped create a monster! Now that the HelpSaveSak campaign has been launched, all hell is breaking loose.

I knew this would happen, and to a certain extent it is all unavoidable. A flood of concerned patrons and friends and others chiming in with how sad they are that things are so dire. I've never seen the word dire used so much as I have in the past couple of days. And then of course, there are the ideas and suggestions. I love them all, don't get me wrong, but man, what a pile! It'll take weeks to pour through them all.

All this to save our poor little SAK. Oh well, I am more than glad. Yes, it's true. I have a heart for this ol' SAK. This silly bunch of improvisers has lasted many storms over the years, through good times and bad, thick and thin, controversy and heresy (metaphorically AND literally). Why do I care so much? What's the point?

Well, my answer comes when I stand in the theater - the SAK Comedy Lab. When its filled with people from 8 to 80 and the show goes on and the laughter and energy and smiling... It's just awesome. I just LOVE what it does for the audience. And I have to admit, when it does that for the audience - it does something for me. It fills me with joy to see joy abound.

So I want it to continue. Much of this blog will be devoted to my journey through all of that. It will include SAK stuff, Disney stuff, family stuff, spiritual stuff... All that because all those things are all wrapped together for me.

If at any point you're interested in helping save SAK, there's a ton of things you might consider. Go to helpsavesak.com for lots of great ideas.

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