Tour Update: Still Alive in Hamilton

[thehefner]

$325 later, I have a passport, and am successfully in Hamilton, Ontario, one of the oddest damn towns I've ever seen.

The twisty rolling ribbons of roads in this suburb feel like the streets were designed by Jervis Tetch. There are "Turtle Crossing" signs. LOTS of them. And the downtown streets feel like they were designed by Winchester Mystery House lady. Streets that go nowhere! Parking lots that dead end behind McDonald's! Keep building the city or you'll die! And as if on cue, Lennon's "Mind Games" popped up on the radio.

Unfortunately, I have little hope that such oddness will actually work for our favor ticket-sales-wise. But hell, it's too soon to start thinking that, say, this will be like Boulder all over again. And even if it is, having a Henchgirl along makes all the difference.

Which reminds me: say, I can has an actual www.JohnHefner.com? Why yes. Thanks to Henchgirl, I now can has. SUCK IT, JOHN HEFFNER AND YOUR DESIRE TO OWN JOHNHEFNER.COM SO IT COULD REDIRECT TO YOUR SITE! YOUR DOMAIN NAME HAS LAPSED! I WIN!

If you know anyone in Hamilton or Kansas City, MO, tell 'em to go see THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES over the next couple weeks. Tell 'em to laugh. Because I love you, Canada, I really do. But when I'm on that stage, I need boisterous American laughter, not polite internal appreciation. I like to know when I'm doing well. Also, Henchgirl may blow up Canada if this keeps going on.

Comments

[whimmydiddle.livejournal.com]

Ah. That explains things; must be my Canadian blood. (Both parents.) It's rare that I will laugh out loud even when enjoying a show. I had no term for it, but "polite internal appreciation" is not a bad one. Whenever I go to a Rudes show, I am accutely aware of how forced the (frequent, in the case of comedies) loud laughter around me seems, much of the time coming from friends of those onstage. It sounds for all the world as if they are making a point of giving the performers what they need. Me, I paid my money to be entertained, not to feed egos. And if I've got to work to feed the artist, I'm not sitting back and enjoying the show. They've got this thing called applause at the end; I do that.

This will probably start a flame war thread. Sorry.

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda like that, though I've never been to a comedy show. During movies I cry and laugh though (and, on one occasion, freak the fuck out and start scream-crying while stumbling in blind panic out of the theater. Jonny Crane would have probably orgasmed upon seeing me, I was that scared).

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I understand that. Eddie Murphy said something about how comedians don't laugh when they watch other comedians. They internalize it and go, "Yes, that is funny."

Interesting that you find the laughter forced at some Rudes shows. I suppose it is, at least sometimes, and even then only to a certain extent.

But there's something to be said for the crucial energy interchange between performers and audience in live theatre. We performers NEED to feel that energy, because it's very much a give-and-take. The Rudes are a particularly boisterous group, which is how we get people laughing hard at things that things that aren't THAT funny. It's all in the spirit of the give and take, not so much feeding egos.

And if I'm up there and it feels like I'm the only one giving, giving, giving, so much so that the audience feels like they might as well be a brick wall, then ughhhhhh, torture. I don't need huge laughs (though I do love 'em), I just need to feel that energy so that I can give it right back to 'em.

[whimmydiddle.livejournal.com]

I'm nost silent all the time. I just laugh out loud when the material makes me do so, and when I'm quiet I may be enjoying it or not--but it's not a sign that I'm not enjoying it, I'm just not inspired to belly laughs. And I really feel uncomfortable forcing reactions that don't come naturally.

The one Hefner Chronicles I went to I enjoyed very much, except there were some people who know you directly behind me laughing so very loudly & so frequently that I found it intrusive. Ah well, to each his own.

[whimmydiddle.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I guess it sounds forced to me because it would be, if I were responding in that way.

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

The twisty rolling ribbons of roads in this suburb feel like the streets were designed by Jervis Tetch.

I NEED TO BE THERE RIGHT NOW. RIGHT THE FUCK NOW. *puts it on the list of Potential Places to Settle Down*

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

It's just the suburb on Dundas. Henchgirl and I arrived at 3 in the morning, and weren't sure we both weren't hallucinating from sleep exhaustion. I wonder how it looks in the daytime?

[little-dinosaur.livejournal.com]

Oh, god, my apologies for Hamilton. I lived there once. If they don't laugh, it won't be because they're Canadian, it'll be because they're brain-damaged hicks. Although the over-50s missed the meth trend, so they're pretty cool and artsy.

(Given the above, and all our past conversations, I would say Canadians are "reserved" rather than "polite". Important distinction.)

In conclustion, screw Hamiltom, come over here and drink martinis with me. (Break a leg though!)

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

I was already planning on writing to you to ask for the full deal here, and a reminder of what to expect. Our first audience last night was small and mostly silent, but the people who really responded to it were a fifty-plus-year-old couple and a group of Aussies. Poor Henchgirl: her only experiences with Canada are this and Vancouver!

Oh, quite right, quite right, very important distinction. "Polite" is more British.

OMG martinis would be awesome. Bah!

[little-dinosaur.livejournal.com]

Tell Henchgirl to also come over here and drink martinis with me.

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

How come henchgirl gets to blow up canada but I don't get to blow up england?

Come on man, They still have it coming after Oliver Cromwell.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

FINE, you get to blow up England. Everybody gets to blow up one country of their choice!

... on second thought, perhaps I should limit this to states/territories or cities.

*ala Tommy Wiseau* Oh hi FBI watch list.

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

Wait, I don't want everyone to blow up what ever country they want, I just want to wipe the damn British off the face of the earth.