CRUMBS tours end

The CRUMBS fall tour of 2012 is all over... It was great.

Our last stops were in Idstein (a little village nobody as heard of) and Munich (a big village that everyone has heard of).

Idstein:
We did this show in a really cool venue in a converted barn. Really cool vibe. Can't wait to come back to this place. The show was about a love story in s series of flashbacks where a woman had to choose between her family and stability and the hot times she had with Rico. The scary story was a young newly wed couple who venture to a spooky house owned by some sort of demon.

Fun times.

Munich:
In Munich we get to hang out with Isar 148. We love them as anyone who has ever read this website before knows. We also got a dose of hang-outs with a number of other people. It was pretty much the best way to end a tour... with a reunion of friends.
Who did we get to see?

-Becky Johnson (who was in Munich doing a real honest to god play)
-Amy Shostak (in Germany to do the Wurzburg Festival)
-Christian Capozzoli (in Germany to do the Wurzburg Festival)
-Felipe Ortiz (in Germany to do the Wurzburg Festival)

Crazy lucky right?

Show number 1 in Munich!

 The bar of soap and architecture teaching show:

A shower without any soap leads Thomas to stumble upon a murder scene. The cops quickly arrest him under suspicion of murder... they aren't very good at being cops really. Meanwhile, an architecture student (who happens to be really bad at being a student) gets mistaken for a genius (with photographic memory). This leads him to work with other people on their Phd and eventually to work for the cops (who think he's a psychic). He eventually ends up forming a band with the cops (they all don't really want to do what they are doing, which is just as well). The band they form is Rush. Good name huh?

Show number 2 in Munich!

The undertaker and handkerchief show:

An undertaker hires a new employee who he sees as having what it takes, they both had an obsession with dead animals when they were young. The new undertaker ends up being a true artists and with his first corpse he is inspired by Picasso to deconstruct the human form. It is a hit and the business gets famous for the "re-invention" of the human body in death.




We also follow the story of a man who is in a dead end job and suffering. His boss tells him of a place he can go to dress better, because as everyone keeps saying "there's just something missing" with every outfit he puts on. At the shop he is given a handkerchief, not just any handkerchief, one that makes him irresistible. He is given a promotion and then even set up with his boss's daughter. The handkerchief of course gives him nothing but trouble and he is forced to give it back and accept his boring life.

Then we were done. And we again jumped onto a plane and flew home. Back to Winnipeg to sleep........ wait. NO SLEEP! We've gotta put on the Winnipeg if... Improv Festival!

 

WINNIPEG IF... IMPROV FESTIVAL WEBSITE!

CRUMBS in Berlin

 CRUMBS again returns to Berlin. How many times have CRUMBS actually been to Berlin? Sooooo maaaaaany tiiiiiiiiimes. We love Berlin, the freedom city!

We did two shows in Berlin. One at our “home” theatre the Ratibor. The other show we did at our “other home” theatre the English Theatre Berlin. Let me now tell you about those two shows. But first, let me tell you about something else.

Now, there comes a time in everyone's life, assuming that they continue to live their life, that they get older. I have always believed that your age is just a number, but sometimes that number... well, sometimes that number has so much weight attached to it and so much social baggage that you can't help but contemplate your mortality and the absurdity of getting old. I turned FORTY in Berlin, I turned old. I don't feel older, and I certainly don't feel what I always imagined FORTY to be. Thankfully, I live a much younger life, look much younger and act much younger. I was even told by shocked strangers that I looked THIRTY and not FORTY. I would like to say now that my THIRTIES were great, much better than my TWENTIES. If this trend continues, and I intend on continuing the trend, my FORTIES are going to be hyper-amazing. Alright new chapter in my life, start.

Now the shows:

Show number one was the birthday show and celebration. I had invited Jacob Banigan (yes, the same one I mentioned before who now lives in Graz) to join CRUMBS for the set. The plan was to do the first half of the show with him and then give myself over to the will of Berlin and let then pull some surprises in the second half. We would all then go to the Volksbar and Dj Hunnicutt would then make the crowds dance and we would all just party.

The suggestions in the first half were “physics” and “camping”. We launched into stories about a guy who had never camped and his friend from work who felt sorry for him and decided to bring him camping for the first time. This of course led to a run in with a hypnotic raccoon and eventually a new friend. The show also involved a physics experiment that was taken away from the lead scientist and given to another scientist with a cooler name, so that the discovery would be named something better. This is a very important thing in science. If your theory (or new particle, in this case) doesn't have a cool name, nobody outside of the science community cares.

The second half involved a number of scenes with random special surprise guests. The guests started with members of Die Gorillas (the resident Berlin improv company which is the reason we ever ended up in Europe in the first place) and then the first real surprise came. Nadine Antler, the improviser from Wurzburg stepped out on stage... I was surprised! Good, no more surprises were possible right? Wrong. I was then in a scene and out onto the stage stepped Robert Slade! What? Robert Slade had flown in from London to surprise me on my birthday. I flinched for a millisecond and then stayed in the scene (the years have taught me to remain professional). Wow?

The evening continued and many drinks were consumed, many birthday cake candles were blown out, and many dance moves were danced. Success.

The second show was the next day, and I was also wise enough with my years of experience to not have a hang-over (again, professional). The show was inspired by someone yelling out “prostitute”. Classy audience right? Well, after mocking the individual in a classy way, the audience responded with “philosopher”. So there we were, with an audience that straddled the whole spectrum between someone who has sex for a living and someone who thinks for a living. We also received “potato peeler” but this didn't get as much reaction as the first interaction with the audience. The show then started.

We followed the story of a philosophy professor who was disappointed in the latest batch of students, not finding a suitable protege to replace him in retirement. When in walks the daughter of the city's patriarch. We also learn that her father intends on buying the ailing university and turning it into a sports-plex. The new young student has been in love with the professor for years, since reading his books, but the professor is already married and turns her away. How can things get worse? His wife is tired of his words and thoughts and just wants a human's touch. She turns to “Rico” a male prostitute (we worked it in!). The young student, feels embarrassed and jilted and joins her father in selling the university. But then the young student and the old professor end up together and they save the university. Hooray for happy improv endings.

We also followed the story of a man who peels potatoes for a living. He feels unsatisfied at his job... for some odd reason. He feels empty inside. We also see his home life and realize that it is also an unhappy environment. His life sucks and lacks meaning. He quits his job and searches for meaning. This of course leads him to the philosophy department at he university. What a coincidence. The philosophy professor then tells the man that his empty life is about searching for the meaning, not finding the meaning. Happiness is created within this knowledge and the professor hands his position to his young student and ends up peeling potatoes with the him at the end. Neat huh?

Still more posts to be posted about the CRUMBS 2012 Fall tour. Keep yourself posted here for all the details.

 

CRUMBS in Graz

 CRUMBS have been coming to Graz, Austria for 10 years now. The group in Graz is TiB, which stands for “Theater Im Bahnhof”, which translates to “Theatre in the train station”. They started out doing just that, theatre at the main train station. What they have grown into is an amazing theatre company that not only does impro, but also actual theatre... actual mind blowing avant-guard theatre. We have some good friends that are a part of the company, not to mention a fellow Canadian. Jacob Banigan has been in Graz for almost 10 years. We first met Jacob while he was the Artistic Director of Rapid FireTheatre in Edmonton.

Now when we come to Graz, it is one of those places on our tour where we feel less like we're on tour, and more like we're visiting friends and being normal. We just happen to do a show... and possibly a little bit of babysitting. We are distance uncles to Lili Rose (daughter of Jacob and Trixi).

This year, after many years of admiring the great work that TiB has done on stage, we decided to see if we could develop a show with them. We started with a simple enough theme, a connection between Austria and Canada. So not only did we do a show in Graz, we have started to create a show as well.

The show we did was CRUMBS plus Jacob Banigan (always a treat). The show involved Canadian Curling, Crazy Carpenters and Camping in Croatia (the Six C's of improvisation).

 The Curling story was about a couple of Canucks who loved curling. But then we introduced Daphne (Was Daphne her name?) a girl who is then a wedge in the curling duo's world. The introduction of sex and love that potentially distracts a curler from his concentration on curling. We also had to explain curling in the show because nobody really knew that much about curling at all. It was quite educational... well, actually, it was quite silly.

The Crazy Carpenters story was about an old carpenter and his brand new apprentice. They were building a house for a rich (and snooty) British man. They end up killing him. Some stuff happened to lead up to this, but it was really really complicated. You had to be there.

The Camping in Croatia story involved a single dad taking his two sons on a trip to Croatia to go camping. The trip goes horribly. They get into a car accident, it rains the whole time, and the two sons run away. Dad is still upset about his wife leaving him, and has anger issues. They end up reuniting and dad promises to keep his anger to himself. There is hope for this family after all.

After the show, it is a tradition to go for a drink (like most shows in the theatre). Usually the bar is one called “The Running Horse”, but the bar was too full. So we ended up going to another pub down the street. Now it is time for the “what?” factor to increase. We entr the bar and notice a Manitoba flag. Strange. The only other flags are the Union Jack, the Irish flag, the English flag and the Scottish flag. Okay... then we see a Winnipeg Jets jersey above the bar. What? It's the only hockey jersey in the place. So of course we talk to the bartender about it.

It turns out that one of the partners who one the bar is from Winnipeg. Small world, and more Austrian Canadian connections for the show concept we are creating.

Neat huh?

CRUMBS in Göttingen

 

CRUMBS was in Göttingen. Home of the Göttingen Comedy Company, and home of the “Coach”. We've been coming to Göttingen for years and doing shows at the Lumiere, which is an old cinema that also happens to have improv shows. The thing is, we were just in Bremen, where we did an improv show at a cinema. What is it with improv shows at movie theatres?

Anyway. The Coach has a beautiful new house and in his beautiful backyard he has a beautiful new sauna. So after the show we (Tyler, The Coach and myself) just had to take off our clothes and sweat out our toxins in a lovely hot room. It was great.

The show we did was a classic CRUMBS show in the first half and a mixed show in the second. In the first half we had “machine gun” and “bartender/doctor” as our inspirations.

One story was about a bartender who was talking to his regular customer in the bar. The bartender was really bored and unhappy about his job and the doctor was curious about bartending. So obviously, obviously for improv stories, they did decided to switch jobs for a day. And of course, like you would imagine, mayhem erupts. But when the smoke clears, the bartender ended up saving some lives and the doctor ended up inventing a brand new drink. Happy endings.

The other story was about a gun enthusiast and his brand new gun. He and his new girlfriend had promised to wait to shoot it for the first time. The girlfriend (Rebecca) couldn't wait and accidentally shoots the guy in the head. He lives, but the damage is done. They decide that they need to give the gun up and they decide to send it to Hollywood to shoot blanks in movies.

Next stop Berlin!

CRUMBS in Bremen

CRUMBS again had a stop in Bremen on our tour. Last time we were here we had the amazing time at a 1200 year old fair. It was like a better version of the Red River Ex. We ate great food (corn on the cob, fried mushrooms, crepes, potato pancakes) we won prizes (for shooting guns at targets. Lee happens to be a sharpshooter). This year however, there was no fair while we were there. So we had to just do a show and not have the fun of a 1200 year old fair. Good thing our hosts Gunter and Nicole are so nice. Next time though, we're gonna try and make sure there's a fair going on.

The show was inspired by “Washroom Attendant” (AKA Toilet Lady) and “Wedding Ring” (AKA Marriage Hole... Just kidding, that's a totally different thing that I should probably not even mention).

The first story involved two buddies (Hank and Darryl). Darryl goes on lot's of dates because of the internet dating sites and has recently met someone special after having a lot of dates that didn't work out.

 

Hank, feeling lonely, and never having been on a date asks for Darryl's help. In fact, he figures that because Darryl has had so much experience, he should just have a date with the lady that Darryl has just dated. Hank doesn't really understand how these things work. After some hilariously disastrous dates and some hilarious misunderstandings about a number of things (his fear of horses, his opinion about blind people) he and Darryl have a fight.

 

It turns out that Darryl actually has a fear of his own, a fear of numbers. He and his lady break up (her name is Princess) and he checks himself into a number rehabilitation facility. When he gets out, cured, he finds that Princess and Hank have gotten engaged... with a wedding ring... a WEDDING RING!

*Some audience members maight have complained before the encore that wedding ring, while hinted at, wasn't ACTUALLY mentioned. Well, we made up for that in the encore.

The second story followed a couple of Washroom Attendants. In Europe it is quite common for public washrooms to have attendants. It is quite common for you to have to pay 50 cents to use the facilities. And it is quite common that the washrooms are just as dirty as if there was no such attendant.

Anyways, the attendants (Maureen and Barry) are just starting to get to know each other, which it turns out is against the rules of the washroom attendant book of conduct. Maureen it turns out is a bit of a rebel and attends to the needs of the public at washrooms out of a natural and intuitive instinct. Barry it turns out is actually studying Micro-Nuclear-Physics, actually trying to develop really tiny nuclear bombs to fight against insects.

 

Barry turns down Maureen's obvious advances, but then when she is threatened with losing her job for not following the rules, he stands up for her and they both get fired. Barry and Maureen end up running away together. Him to start a nuclear program in a small Middle Eastern country, and her to open up her own washroom business there.

Bremen. Good times.

CRUMBS in Winterthur

CRUMBS returned to Switzerland on our tour. We went to Winterthur, which is a lovely little place close to Zurich.We played at an amazing theatre called the Casinotheater. We've played there before, but it had been awhile. It's a gorgeous building that has a gorgeous theatre, amazing backstage area, a gourmet restaurant attached and apartments on the top floor. So yes, we could get used to playing there.

The show we played was a theatresports show, something we almost never do anymore. When we first started to tour Europe, we would do a lot of "matches" in the theatresports style of competitive improv. But as we toured more and more with our longform improv show, and taught longform improv workshops. People wanted to do longform shows with us instead of shortform shows. I won't go into the long and short of the difference between these two styles (pun intended). I'll just say that it is rare that we do any theatresports shows, but it's still fun to play an improv show in this style.

Oh yeah, the show also happens to be the 100th theatresports show at the Casinotheater, so it was a special celebration as well as a fun show. Yes, there was champaign. Yes, we did then eat delicious food at the gourmet restaurant . Yes, we did continue our party upstairs in the apartments. Yes, we could really get used to the Casinotheater.

 

Had some fun in Winterthur, as you can see.We went to the Photography museum.

Got into a fight with the Kung Fu Panda.

Saw some balloons.

Saw the world famous candy shop.

So exciting. And then we said goodbye to Switzerland (and the expensive expensive life of the Swiss) and continued on our tour. Next stop.... Bremen, Germany!

CRUMBS in K-town!

 Konstanz is a town in Southern Germany. We like to call it K-town or Konstanztinople, not because we don't like the original name, just because it's fun. We did our CRUMBS show at the K9 and then we left town. It was a real “In Out Operation” as they say in the biz.

We got “Astronomer” and “Nail Studio” as our inspirations. One storyline followed Maureen and Roxy, two nail studio workers.

 Maureen is feeling lonely and unattractive ever since her boyfriend Denis left her. Roxy (and a crazy slutty client) convince her to go to the best club in town (The Unicorn Club). She secretly has a huge crush on Pierre (her smock designer, who seems to be gay). She decides to take part in the local legend at the Unicorn Club. You see, if you grab the unicorn horn on the statue in the middle of the dance floor and close your eyes and make a wish, when you open your eyes the first person you see is your true love.

 Maureen opens her eyes on Denis (the audience was upset over this). Eventually she musters up the courage to ask Pierre out, and it turns out he isn't gay after all. Though looking back with improv regret... he should have been gay and tragedy should have befallen Maureen.

The other storyline involved an astronomy professor and his idiot assistant. The professor was looking for a supernova so he could become famous.

 The idiot assistant was just the only person from his family to ever go to university, and the only person who would actually apply for the job as assistant (because the professor is hated). Jeremy (the idiot) goes home to his family and we see that his dad has black lung and refuses to see his son ever work in a coal mine (hence the university).

 But when all hope is lost, the parallels between coal mining and searching the cosmos for dying stars is revealed. They both involve traveling back in time, whether spying on the old light of dying stars, or digging into the old layers of the Earth's crust.

 Jeremy discovers the super nova, discovers that there is coal on it and gets to fly on a rocket ship to the new super nova. Science.