The state of Florida has reduced spending this year and many organizations are struggling to find funds, especially art programs. Our family gave to two organizations, Ringling Art College and Venice Theatre. We are proud to offer any amount of money to these two art-based communities.
You can give to Venice Theatre or to any organization. Until noon today, your gift between $25-$100 will be matched. Thank you!
Here's a video about why my family recently volunteered at Venice Theatre in the play Grapes of Wrath.
I'll Fly Away is playing in the background as they are doing sound checks. How sweet. That was our ending song for Grapes.
Church is not a religion or building.
It's a collection of people who love and care and believe the same way.
Here's a publicity shot of me as Ma in Grapes of Wrath. Having so much fun.
I love interviewing people. I just wish I knew more awesome, famous people. 🙂 But I know at least one and he's super awesome and almost famous. To me anyway. He's brilliant, creative, fascinating, funny, talented, accomplished and so, so friendly. Embracing. Welcoming. Decent, kind, inspiring. He's my friend, Chris Churchill.
He so kindly agreed to let me interview him. He has quite a few things out right now. Book, songs, documentary. Thanks for reading and checking out my friend, Chris. He's the coolest. Thanks, Man! for letting me probe your brain.
I'm an artist of many types of art. Writing, visual art, music, comedy, film-making. But, of course, not many make a living doing these things. So, I give tours and have recently started teaching.
Where did you start performing?
Started performing in high school. School plays, etc. Also tried, here and there, to play in bands. Wrote a lot of stories and little plays. In retrospect, any shiny artistic object, pulled me away from the previous one. I saw a good friend in an improv show in 1992 or '93. I thought, "That's really funny. And I'll bet I could do that." So, I auditioned for Lighten Up Improvisation Company and got in. This is where I met your husband (Guy Maggio).
How did you get to Chicago? What led you there? Anything you miss about KC?
I got to Chicago because I met Adam McKay and David Koechner at an improv fest in Austin, TX (I was performing with your husband and others). They were teaching an improv workshop which I took twice when I was there. Once as a participant. The second time, I just sat in the back and watched. I had never had a conversation with a famous person before. And Koechner had this amazing, positive, "you can do it" energy. He told a group of us that if we were serious about this, we had to move to Chicago. Eventually, I did.
What's the best thing about following your love of and talent in music? Improv?
The best thing is that you can go to a place on your heart that needs massaging, when it needs massaging and massage it. Flood yourself with serotonin when you need it. The finished product has never really gotten me too far. The process makes me happy, though.
What inspired you to come up with "Abraham Lincoln: The College Years"? What is just improv or something you thought about?
When I was recovering from a psych issue I'd had a few years ago, I finally got to the point where I could artistically express myself again and it helped me get back to "normal". At this point, I just made up the worst ideas for television pilot episodes and wrote 12 of them. For fun. Because I was crazy.
Later, I decided to have staged readings at Second City for four of them. Well, obviously, they'd need theme songs. So, I made up these silly theme songs and recorded them. Originally, I thought I'd just play them at the live show but, since I already had an audiobook on Mint 400 Records, I asked them if they'd put out my "Doomed Pilots" soundtrack. As far as the Lincoln song goes, I started with the lyrics, searched within the lyrics for the rhythm and recorded that. I added the simplest of bass-lines so that when I sang the lyrics I'd be on key. Or at least I'd know where the key was. Then, from within that framework, I improvised the recording or the rest. The guitars, the backing vocals were improvised because I don't like planning too much when I'm in creation mode. I think it worked out. It's one of my favorite things I've ever recorded.
My siblings and I constantly find ourselves telling these old family stories over and over again about how crazy our mom was/is. After I'd had an internship at a video company and had begun to make more of my own independent stuff, my sister Deb said, "This should be your next project." And she was right. It turned out really well. It's been getting a lot of emotional responses from people.
I'm sure it was difficult reliving the past, was it healing or just messy?
It was definitely healing. My mom needed validation for a lot of what she went through. It was nice to hear my dad's side. Even though some might say he doesn't come off smelling like a rose in this movie. And my siblings, as usual, served as comic relief when necessary. Some of these stories are pretty intense.
Do you think that your past/childhood set you up for how you live your life now in terms of music, improv, life goals, career choice, or creativity in general? Do you think it propelled you? Or do you think it was a detriment?
My childhood gave me both the artistic tools for survival as well as the need to use those tools to keep my sanity (most of the time). The problem and the solution are wrapped up in the same thing. My upbringing was alternately exciting and fun and sad and lonely. In terms of being able to make any money, it's never really happened for long stretches. That is probably just a case of not having the right backing, connections, luck and also, let's face it, I'm not making mainstream anything. I don't know how to do that because I don't feel the same way most people do.
What are you working on now or hope to be hearing about in the near future? What's coming up for you?
Always working on something. Thinking about raising money so I can edit the rest of the story of me and my family and release the whole thing on DVD. Mixing an album for the label. Writing for an online magazine called Literate Ape. Teaching one college course and still giving tours of Chicago.
I started in a different role, so I was dressed as the femme fatale secretary. Ah, to be 25 again. I ended up in the starring role as Lily Piper. So fun!
And here's my hubby. I think he was 28 or 29. We're so lucky.