So, Shannon and Jolene came out this weekend, which was nice in and of itself (I attribute the niceness to Jolene). But what was above and beyond the call of duty was that they came all the way out here to primarily to teach a high-level (Shannon insists on “master class”) improv class for the Royal Fools improv group (which I coach). They got here about 1:00 on Friday and Shannon helped me do a few tech things (like formatting an Apple drive and answering a tech call or two). Shannon and Jolene got to sit in on Mer’s period 9 English class, where the class was reading out of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The two primary actors were in costume, which was fun, and they both have acting experience, so they did a fun job. One of the great moments was when they read a line from the play that went something like, “The only thing that keeps us going is the irrational belief that at any minute someone is going to show up,” and at that moment a student came in though the classroom door, which was unplanned. It was great. The class did that for about 10 or 15 minutes and then played a review game for their upcoming Hamlet test tomorrow. At that point, I went back to my desk to finish up some things.

After school, Shannon and Jo and Mer and I got together with the Fools. We started around 3:30 and went until about 5:30. Shannon and Jo ran the whole thing. They introduced us to a hectic warm-up game called “Bunny Bunny” where you keep chanting one of three different things depending on who “has the bunny.” It is very high energy, and got things off to a rousing start. Jo then went over some of what they were going to cover in the class, and they started in with exercises. They had games and exercises that concentrated on heightening “to the grotesque.” They had Fools in scenes with specific personality traits, they had Fools doing three-line scenes, they had Fools heightening to the point where they were having trouble breathing (the Fools were given a specific task like laughing or singing where they had to keep raising the bar until Shannon yelled “scene”). The Fools responded really well, trying all the exercises even if they pushed the Fools hard. Shannon and Jo did a great job. I wish I could have them come back every 4 or 5 weeks – we’d be a much better group than with just my coaching.

After the Fools practice, we took Shannon and Jolene to Aladdin’s restaurant in Hudson, where we met our friends Zach and Londa. We had a great meal with much laughter (Zach and Londa are fun people). We saw several other CVCA people, students and even a board member. We went to pay for our meal after a leisurely pace only to find out that the CVCA board member had paid for the meal before he left with his family. That was tremendously kind, and we were very grateful. Zach and Londa and Mer and I headed to Coldstone Creamery for dessert while Shannon and Jo went to a coffee shop (they have given up dessert for Lent). Zach gave us a 2-for-1 coupon for ice cream, so the dessert was going to be cheap, which was happy. A CVCA student was behind the counter and helped serve us, and then he used his discount to bless us as a group, so we ended up with two ice creams for under three dollars. What a remarkable evening for people being kind to us. After the ice cream, we met back up with Shannon and Jo and went home, where we watched an episode of the BBC version of The Office. Shannon and Jo had seen it before, but still found it really painful to watch again. For those who have not seen The Office, it is very much humor based on making the watchers uncomfortable because the characters are so very  unaware that they are jerks. It is fun to watch, but very painful at the same time.

Saturday morning, we all went to Yours Truly where we had a huge breakfast. I was finally able to pick up the tab this time to thank Shannon and Jo. After the meal, we wandered around Hudson and went into a great coffee house that was fair trade and helped employ people with disabilities. Good for them! We got hot chocolate (me and Shannon) and coffee (Jo), and then wandered over to a very cool toy and games store, where Shannon bought a card game called Stupiduel where you have to explain how your odd cards will help you win. I’m looking forward to playing it (we did not get a chance this weekend). We finished up in the Learned Owl bookstore, where somehow Shannon and Jo did not buy any books. We went home and chatted while Mer went to get groceries. We got a chance to listen to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. We chatted some more, then went to the upscale West Point Market in Akron for “tea” and scones. We actually had scones with cream and hot chocolate and coffee (and Mer had water and a sandwich). We spent about a half hour wandering around the store after “tea,” and Shannon bought a 4-pack of a very good root beer. We went home, where Shannon and Jo napped while Mer made supper and cinnamon rolls (yum!). After the sleepy ones woke up, we watched a short animated Hamlet and talked about it. Once supper was ready, we watched one more episode of The Office, which was even more painful than the one Friday night. Once that was over, we broke open season one of the new Doctor Who, which Shannon and Jo very kindly brought to give to me and Mer. It is really well done – well written and very good productions. It was quite wonderful to see Doctor Who again – I had only seen two new episodes (which were lost episodes released a few years ago) in 17 years. I was a HUGE Doctor Who fan when I was in high school, and it was comforting to see the Doctor again and hear the theme music once more. Ahhhh. That was wonderful. We chatted some more after the show, and eventually made our way to bed around 11:30.

Sunday we slept in a little, and Shannon and Jo left about 8:30 (Mer and I decided to go to the second service at church, which starts at 11:30). It was a fine weekend – I’ll have to see if they’ll come back out again, if not this year, then at least next year for the Fools again. It really was a great practice.