Post by Lane on Oct 13, 2008 0:55:34 GMT -5
The board has been so dead for such a long time 
, but I thought I'd post anyways - got to see the Bammer at the Punchline on Wednesday.
It's a long drive up from the South Bay to the City, so I was thinking of skipping it. After all, I thought, I know all of Maria's material by heart anyways. But I went - and man, I'm so glad I did.
Maria brought a big binder with all these papers sticking out of it onstage, and she did about 40 minutes of new material. So that was cool. My favorite new bit was about her days performing as a Star Trek character at Burger King openings. "Why are there stains all over your uniform?" "The Federation does not reimburse for dry cleaning".
But the part of the show that really blew me away was all the riffing that Maria did with the crowd. That was totally new - everything I'd seen MB do on stage before had been scripted. Now she was interacting with the audience and improvising a lot of jokes. She even snatched a cell phone away from someone who was texting during her act.
And, as always, I got to talk to El Bambino after the show. She was selling CD's, and I got to the front of the line and said "Hey, I've already got your CD's, I just wanted to say Hi". And she said "Hey, I know you! You brought me chocolate last time I was here!"
I was amused that, of all the gifts I've given Maria at her shows, she remembered the 3 squares of chocolate I threw in the bag with her last gift.
I didn't have a gift for her this time, bcs I've been way too busy. But we did talk about the book on depression and creativity I'd given her last time I saw her. And I told her how blown away I was by all her new material and her crowd work. She was happy I'd noticed.
I also told her she has to come to the San Jose Improv so I didn't have to drive so far. She wrote it down, who knows, maybe she'll come. Then she came around the CD table and gave me a hug, being the sweetheart that she is. I told her "You are superlative, Maria. You are hyperbole" - one of her greatest lines, I think - and she laughed and I took off and that was it.
Every time I see Maria she's grown leaps and bounds as a performer. It's very inspiring. Anyways, that's the 411.
-Lane
, but I thought I'd post anyways - got to see the Bammer at the Punchline on Wednesday.It's a long drive up from the South Bay to the City, so I was thinking of skipping it. After all, I thought, I know all of Maria's material by heart anyways. But I went - and man, I'm so glad I did.
Maria brought a big binder with all these papers sticking out of it onstage, and she did about 40 minutes of new material. So that was cool. My favorite new bit was about her days performing as a Star Trek character at Burger King openings. "Why are there stains all over your uniform?" "The Federation does not reimburse for dry cleaning".
But the part of the show that really blew me away was all the riffing that Maria did with the crowd. That was totally new - everything I'd seen MB do on stage before had been scripted. Now she was interacting with the audience and improvising a lot of jokes. She even snatched a cell phone away from someone who was texting during her act.
And, as always, I got to talk to El Bambino after the show. She was selling CD's, and I got to the front of the line and said "Hey, I've already got your CD's, I just wanted to say Hi". And she said "Hey, I know you! You brought me chocolate last time I was here!"
I was amused that, of all the gifts I've given Maria at her shows, she remembered the 3 squares of chocolate I threw in the bag with her last gift.
I didn't have a gift for her this time, bcs I've been way too busy. But we did talk about the book on depression and creativity I'd given her last time I saw her. And I told her how blown away I was by all her new material and her crowd work. She was happy I'd noticed.
I also told her she has to come to the San Jose Improv so I didn't have to drive so far. She wrote it down, who knows, maybe she'll come. Then she came around the CD table and gave me a hug, being the sweetheart that she is. I told her "You are superlative, Maria. You are hyperbole" - one of her greatest lines, I think - and she laughed and I took off and that was it.
Every time I see Maria she's grown leaps and bounds as a performer. It's very inspiring. Anyways, that's the 411.
-Lane
