Tuesday, June 23, 2009

fireworks...

We came up with a plan.

faced with the sad absence of fireworks this year we had to find an alternative means of 4th of july merriment...
and i think we may have a good plan.

a 3 level display of all things lame and fire-worky...

poppers! exploding diet coke and mentos! Rocket Lauch!

its going to be lame and awesome... dont miss it.

Patriotapalooza!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

T.i.T.S. give you the tools!



Or, in case it doesnt work...

Some of the team are working on a webseries (coming soon) please to enjoy this peek into the working world of Training Instruction and Teambuilding Seminars Incorporated.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

fire safe.

today i had to come down to NCT early in order to meet the fire inspector for fire inspection part deux: the reckoning. this i knew ahead of time. i also had to pay the fees before the final inspection or they would be counted against us as a fire safety violation... as though not yet paying for the inspection of my fire safety is equivalent to setting off fireworks in a room full of inflamable curtains. this i did not know in advance.

im a child of the modern age, so i usually assume that every entity that exists has a website and that all of my needs can be taken care of online. this is sometimes a tragic flaw. you can not make payments to the city of mesa over the phone, via the internet or even with a credit card by mail. one wishing to make a payment of fees must take ones check to the actual city of mesa customer service office.
for a city that equates payment of fees to the safety of lives... they sure dont make it easy for you to get those fees paid conveniently.

by the way, aparantly in order to get our $15.00 fire safety permit we had to pay for a TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLAR inspection.

so. i assure you that NCT is as safe from fire as it is from alien attack and opossum infestation- which is to say, very safe. however, it isnt the creation of that safety that costs us, its the verification.

sigh. till next year...

-nct

Workshopping the night away.

tonight is the level 2 workshop show and IM pretty excited.
however, my level two-bies decided not to invite anyone to watch their show. im a little bit baffled, but maybe that is just because i invite people to watch me do just about everything and i would never let a performance go by unwatched by everyone i had an email adress or phone number for... but thats just me.
while this is not something that has ever happened before, i dont think that theres anything i can do, really. its their show and if they want me to be the only one who sees it... thats up to them. i can teach them to perform but i cant make em want someone to watch it.

but, just so you know, i think they're great.

-nct

Review your reviews

I'm a fan of all things floating around on this series of tubes we call the internet.

and theres about one million sites that list NCT and her exciting events and they all have some type of review function. i like this idea and im all for making lists and touting the merits of something or someone i like... i can almost never think of anything to review. i might need someone to remind me of all the things i either complain about or love. so far- heres what i have covered:




and i just added another one because as i was writing this i thought of an excelent customer service experience that i experienced at a batteries plus.


National Comedy Theatre


i would like more people to review NCT, but im unsure of how to entice fans to do so aside from the posters i put up at the theatre, the links i put on facebook myspace and twitter and the constant asking and asking...

ill figure it out. perhaps its like karma and the more i review others the more i will be reviewed. or perhaps it is like the secret and if i go around telling people we have 137 5 star reviews... they will appear.
trust me, im working on both.

-nct

Friday, June 5, 2009

this weeks weekly

if you happen to find your way to an az weekly entertainment magazine this week you should flip on over to NCT's feature on page 26.

-nt

twitter tweets a treat.

so. theres this new fad called twitter and i dont know if you have heard the kids talking about it or not but its one of these new fangled 'social networking' websites...

never one to get behind on the times or be outdone by ashton kutcher, NCT Phoenix figured that the BEST Live Theatre Company and BEST Live Theatre Venue in Phoenix should be getting on the twitter bandwagon and will be tweeting a discount offer every friday at 5:00pm.

if you jump on the wagon with us and follow NCT then you too can claim these awesome discount offers.

how do i do this?
go to www.twitter.com and find us, our username is nctphoenix (of all things) follow us and each week the bounty of fantastic discounts can be yours!!

-nct

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

not a plank of wood at all, really.


id also have you know that i did not receive ONE plaque from azcentral.com for our TWO best of phoenix wins, but rather two framed certificates that are not plaques at all.

so. there you have it.

-nct

turn. turn. turn.

its the nature of what we do that people come and go.

from house staff to players, some are short timers and some are in it for the long haul. but its also the nature of what we do that, short timer or long hauler, you get attached to every wayward soul that comes through your door... like a puppy mill.

im like that lady who has 18 kids and counting, i love all my trouble makers equally but for different reasons.

some players i love because they think like i do. those players are great to perform with because you can move a scene forward effortlessly, you could finish each other's sentences or run a whole scene without saying a word. its creepy, in an awesome way.

some players i love because they keep me guessing. i dont know what they're going to say or do next but it will certianly be something i would never have thought of. its good to play with people who keep you on your toes. they test your comfort levels, they make you work to do all that adapting and agreeing you practice all the time.

there are some players i just enjoy watching. they make me laugh. and yes, i spend alot of time laughing. its a beneficial side effect of owning a comedy theatre. still, some laughs are better than others. when it catches you off guard and you cant stop the completely un-cute and un-attractive cakles from flying out of you and you really get the sore cheeks from laughing, those are the ones that keep you coming back.

and there are players, whether they are my type or my opposite, that i just like to work with. its the genius of improv comedy that, when its going well, you arent using your brain in any intentional way- you just flow and move forward. you find yourself pulling out information you forgot you had tucked away and leaning on instincts that happen on their own. those are the best scenes, you know its terrific and then when its over you cant remember how or why.
there arent many professions when you do best by zoning your mind out. im glad to be in one.

in any case, the day always eventually arrives when one of my puppy mill improvisers needs to move on to greener pastures, bigger opportunities, or cleveland.

and im always sad to see one go.
maybe one day i'll end up a bitter old thing that refuses to love anymore because, in the end, the more you love em the more you get hurt when they leave- like that lady who has 18 kids.

but for now, i'm sad to say goodbye. im not without my bitterness though, im willing to put off being happy for the upward mobility of my improvisers and focus only on how this effects me. and im going to miss steve and jared.

in other news, i now have openings in my small-sized heart for two improvisers... takers??

-nct.
friendship.

its all about the plank of wood.

Click here to watch NCT get a glowing review on News Channel 3...

i cant figure out how to embed the video here. but ill figure it out before too long. for now, click the link to hear how awesome we are... on the NEWS! and if you can tell me how to embed the video, im all ears.

furthermore, someone from the AZ Republic is swinging by today to drop off our BEST of Phoenix Plaque. very cool.
although, we did win TWO categories and i want TWO planks of wood.
in these tough economic times i guess i understand.

oh. and. we are embraking on a new endeavor, to post discounts every friday at 5:00pm on twitter. so if you follow us on twitter, look for a discount offer friday at 5.

if you dont, then you should. twitter username: nctphoenix

i DID write up a whole review of the NCT vs. HSL show and its coming soon... i like to do things UN-chronologically.

-nct