SneakyVarmint by Libby Ward

Today! Check out 3 Woman, 1 Woman show starring Maren Lovgren, Haley Lovegren and Kristin Schmitz!  A brilliant sketch show that focuses on finding humor in being a woman (or three) in today’s society.  Join them…this time in San Jose…for some fun, fabulousness, and Femor (that’s female humor).

Thursday, May 9th @ 8PM & Saturday, May 11th                           Presented @ ComedySportz 288 S. 2nd Street, San Jose

Tickets: $10 General Seating, available at the door                                   To reserve, email: 3womanshow@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/events/294872513976655/

The gorgeous, talented and hilarious Maren is part of my Second City Chicago family.  And I tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve been a Minnesotan licking ice cream of Maren’s face at Second City!  Characters…this girl has characters, accents, silliness and energy, on stage.  In life…this girl has characters, accents, silliness and energy!  Plus, she’s smart, kind and positive.  I’d write this little fireball into anything just to have her around.  Take note, Chicago friends…she’s coming back to you in June. <3

Today! Check out Noise-a-Tron with Lea and Jason Bledsoe! I can only describe this awesome husband/wife band as an epic music experience. They tour, they play, they party, they love. They have a show coming up in Seattle, Saturday May 18! Seattle Passive Aggressive Presents: 
BORIS AFTERPARTY featuring NOISE-A-TRON, DJ Snakes McBlade (spinning a mix of doom, sludge, hardcore and punk) FREE 11pm Doors All Ages + Bar
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Noise-A-Tron/164982910181009
Use their FB and Twitter @noiseatron for show dates.
Find great music here: http://www.reverbnation.com/noiseatron
Or here: http://noise-a-tron.bandcamp.com/

I am most impressed with Jason and Lea’s incredible dedication to their music but moreover to leaning new techniques, sharing creative ideas and pushing their artistic limits. As many challenges as there are for artists (and we all know there are many), these two will always find a way to keep their music top priority. Besides, they are cheery, giving, fun friends and members of the Greenwood/Ballard community. They support other musicians, and artists of all media, by building a wonderfully creative symbiosis. If karma works the way it should…their supernova moment is coming soon. 
(If you had to look any of that vocabulary up, it’s because there are no dull words to describe these two)!

Today! Check out Moby’s Coffee and Tea owned by Jennifer Jackson and Patrick Higgins! The yummiest coffee beverages and chillest atmosphere in LA. Moby’s coffee is locally roasted and lovingly concocted with all organic and mostly local ingredients. They have smoothies, a wide variety of teas (Jennifer is an expert and can find you a tea for any need/preference), and bunches of specialty drinks including…The Shiny Squirrel! Oooooh. Jen and Patrick are the bestest! Knowledgeable, fun, and great community builders. Come by for Craft Night! Open Mic! Yoga! See the goings on here:
https://www.facebook.com/mobyscoffeeco?fref=ts

Jennifer and I maaaay have been separated at birth. Muppets?! Yaaaaay! We love them! Dinosaurs?! Raaaawr! We each have our own dinosaur mug kept at the shop. Marshmallow topped delicious coffee beverages of deliciousness? She makes ‘em, I drink ‘em. Match made in heaven. We Bar Trek (Nathan Pata), we drink at fancy cocktail joints (Like The Varnish, Niki Lindgren), we watch magic shows (Joel Ward). See how all my awesome friends are connected by a web of amazing creativeness?! Jen is also a brilliant make-up artist. Sometimes she makes me look pretty, sometimes she creates Universal Studios’ Whos, sometimes she turns men into monsters, and sometimes she glues bees to people’s faces. Who else does all those things?! No one. Waldorf, Statler, and I give her a, “Yay! She’s wonderful. She’s wonderful! Yaaay!”

Today! Check out the second of my Twofer 48 hour friends Jesse Klein and Ben Parks! Two great friends with two great shows…(pssst they’re in both of them together). Today see both of them in Cakewalk at Second City. https://www.facebook.com/events/188430361308901/

Then! Go see them April 28th, in The Death Count Show presented by Handsome Dan, their regular (and awesome)! iO sketch team.  Sunday 4/28, 7:30p, iO Mainstage, $5.  Whooo!

Jesse has a super fun range of characters, shares my nerdy sense of humor and my penchant for collaboration.  He’s a pleasure to have at table reads because he brings the commitment and the funny.  He’s a pleasure to have a parties because he brings the beer and snacks.  Jesse is lucky to have my same Second City intern job of keeping bums out of the theater.  Do come to Second City.  Don’t be a bum.  Do see Jesse perform with Cakewalk AND Handsome Dan!  :D

Today! and Tomorrow! Twofer 48 hour friends Jesse Klein and Ben Parks! Two great friends with two great shows…(pssst they’re in both of them together).  Today check out Ben Parks and Cakewalk, a kick-ass sketch show at Second City Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday! April 23, April 30, May 7 at 9pm! As if $5 wasn’t a sweet enough deal…FREE CUPCAKE with Second City ID! (Performing each night with a different guest team).

https://www.facebook.com/events/188430361308901/

Ben and I studied together at UCB and practiced and played on the independent team: Whoa! Dinosaurs! Great thing about Ben is that he can always be relied upon to show up AND “show up.” He can be counted on to be where you expect him and give 100% I’ve never seen him half-ass it which makes him a dynamic performer, character and pal. Come see 

Cakewalk…it’ll be easy!…and fun!

Today! Check out the magic of Joel Ward!  Master prestidigitator…sometimes solo, sometimes with an assistant. ;) Joel tours all over the world, performs often at The Magic Castle and always amazes.  My favorite thing about his shows is the inimitable Joel Ward style: hyper energetic, goofy, and always completely surprised by his own illusions…Whaaaat the fuuu?…maGIC!

This Sunday (4/21) a rare opportunity to see him in a show open the public: noon at The Madhouse Comedy Club San Diego $20 (and a charitable cause).  http://www.autismtreeproject.org 

Much to my dismay, after much early research, I have determined that my roommate is not actually a wizard.  Though he can’t just snap his fingers and make the dishes disappear, he never leaves them in the sink.  We can cooperatively share our orange juice supply and we’re great party co-hosts.  This super fun dude has an affinity for 90s jams, surfing, and Bacardi Gold.  He’s recently joined the Second City training center.  AND, he ties his own bow tie!  Whaat?  Aaamaaazing!

Oh yeah! http://www.joelwardmagic.com/
and on Twitter @joelward
and his awesome Shakeytown Radio interview:
http://shakeytownradio.com/post/39906380232/shakeytown-new-year-2013-w-magician-joel-ward

Today! Check out the 30 Min Musical: Roadhouse with Dan Wessels! As if Roadhouse could get better…well it did! A take on the 1989 film starring Patrick Swayze as a bouncer at a newly-refurbished roadside bar who protects a small town in Missouri from a corrupt businessman (while wearing very high-waisted jeans). Shorter and jauntier with original music co-written by Dan Wessels AND music direction by Dan. Dan forgot to call and tell me more so I assume he, too, will be wearing his pants up to his nipples. Get tickets to see that, here:  

https://www.facebook.com/events/152116061614556/163836750442487/?ref=notif&notif_t=plan_mall_activity

Dan is also a musical director at Second City Hollywood, and a fun, smart, man-about-town. He’s an excellent party guest and relatively new in LA so go on…invite him over…corrupt him.  And don’t let his seriously dapper facial hair fool you, this guy’s got jokes. :) 

Today! Check out my most wonderful and greatly missed of friends Tom Music…who Lymphoma killed, in a shady back alley, without remorse, today in 2011. Whilst I continue to be angry with Cancer in general, I’m highlighting Tom as my friend of the day so all can bask in his amazingness!  

Here, check out “Winners Never Lose,” my favorite of his Toastmaster speeches and a mantra to live by:

http://youtu.be/JeVDQ6Ipg5A

Or, visit some community building and super fun websites he created:

http://obeythedecider.com/wa/seattle

http://haikoo.org

I love many things about Tom but a few things I especially love about him: the breadth of his vocabulary, his insatiable curiosity, his clever sense of humor, and the calm logic with which he approached all problems.

But wait! There’s more! I’ll keep it brief.  I’d rather talk about Tom than the disease but I feel it would be unfair not to share the wonderfully funny and logical way that he dealt with it in this blog: www.lymphomartini.com (there’s a great video link here too).

To help save other people’s friends you can donate blood or platelets.  To honor Tom and yourselves, you can create something amazing and share it with the world!…also, hug your friends!  :D

Today!  Check out Makeda Coffee owned by Prashanthi Reddy!  Best coffee in Seattle?  Heck yes it is.  Roasted locally by 7 Roasters.  Not to mention my favorite community hang in Seattle.  Makeda not only has delicious coffee, custom ice cream flavors for affogato, beer, wine, pastries…they also have awesomest baristas around, monthly rotated local art, and games to play on site.  Check out their FB for hours, specials, events: https://www.facebook.com/MakedaCoffee?fref=ts

Prash is dedicated to quality over quantity, a trait I hold dear as well.  She’s a wonderful listener and conversationalist, and always game for a fun adventure or social event.  An avid dog lover, she has the cutest pal Mingus and welcomes furry pals to visit.  She’s a brilliant fosterer of community.  I miss hanging out with her and our Greenwood neighborhood friends around the shop…and reading our Free Will Astrology from The Stranger (she’s a fellow Cancerian).  :)

Today!  Check out There Will Be Snacks with Licia Shearer!  Eight of LA’s most talented female writer-performers engaging in some serious girl-on-girl sketch comedy action. This sketch show of epic epicness will leave you begging, “Bitches, Please!”  Show next Thursday 4/18 at Second City Hollywood.  Check out their FB page for future dates!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/There-Will-Be-Snacks/552606711426951

Licia and I drop-in and play at iO and Second City…bunches of fun ‘cause this hilarious girl is so full of energy!  Friendly, outgoing, and exciting…Licia starts the party anywhere she goes.  I’m impressed by her rare blend of self-confidence and humility and always happy to have her around.  :D

Today! Check out the comedy of Evan Berke! This hilarious Charleston based comic performs every week, regularly hosting and headlining locally and booking gigs farther afield…recently at The Comic Strip, Neeeew Yooork City! For upcoming opportunities to laugh at this nutball check out his Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evan.berke?fref=ts or Twitter @evanberke

A member of my Second City Chicago family, Evan is a great great great collaborator both on stage and in the writers’ room. I am in complete awe, however, of his incredible dedication to stand-up comedy and so inspired by his perseverance and his ability to always play “Evan.” His voice is unmistakeable and his stage presence is electrifying. I cannot stress enough my appreciation for his equal dedication to lifting up and supporting other artists. This guy! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9d6I-Av1yg