part 1: i love you at the baggage carosel
nobody looks cool waiting at an airport... and looking cool was squarely on my mind.
that was the landscape, the detail was not seeming crazy.
i didnt think id be going along for the pick up from the airport trip. you see, i am a real wiz when it comes to delegation and avoiding lookin crazy. the arrangement made was to have dorian, sweet, calm, loveable and not crazy dorian pick kevin mcdonald of the kids in the hall up from the airport and usher him to his destination, maybe dinner- who knows, we will just see how it goes...
i did end up waiting, awkwardly early, with dorian outside the gate for kevin mcdonald of the kids in the hall present brain candy's flight from winnepeg by way of miniapolis. and i did manage to play it totally cool and professional and not at all crazy... because i didnt say anything.
anything besides, "its so nice to finally meet you, Kevin." to which he replied, "youre much younger than your emails"
as we rode the escilator to baggage claim kevin mentioned that he didnt want to be rude, being canadian, but he wanted to look at a text he just recieved. "its probably from me." dorian offered, wanting to seem polite and canadian... "we're outside the gate, look for pink hair" kevin read aloud, "i dont mean to be rude i just have to respond to this quickly or i might miss my ride to the hotel-- ok, i will see you there. oh look, we are on the escilator. i love you. your friend, kevin"
we DID go to dinner, as it turned out. a dinner at which i DID talk and still remained professional and cool even when he described the alternate ending to brain candy and almost texted dave foley... right there at the table... (i freaked out a bit, but i kept it all inside) and he DID get recognized, albeit for a guest spot on That 70s show.
we rode high that night on the satisfaction that Kevin McDonald of That 70s Show is polite, canadian, very funny, completely willing to talk about anything you like and might even text dave foley at the drop of a hat.
Part 2: My name is Kevin McDonald, I had a TV show in the 90s
saturday was an exhausting whirlwind. my delegation was spot on as dorian fetched kevin and i set up NCT for our arriving workshoppers, 18 of us to make comfortable at National COmedy Theatre for the coming weekends events.
the workshop was exhilarating, fun and worth while. our host and teacher ended each session and anecdote, of which there were many, by standing on stage and proclaiming, "my name is Kevin McDonald and I had a TV show in the 90s" with a polite, Canadian bow. lunch was exciting and fun, kevin got recognized again at the local sandwich shop and was totally kind, polite, Canadian and gracious with everyone who wanted to ask him anything. we ended the day almost half an hour past due... which was fine and pretty amazing when you consider that 9 plus hours zipped by like a heartbeat of fun and laughter, thrilling learning opportunities and really interesting dialogue.
for many of us, the day was far from over. no rest for the wicked. or... the not at all wicked but also not canadian who own theatres and have to put on a show every saturday night. Myself (my name is Krissy Lenz and I watched a lot of TV in the 90s), dorian, laura holloway, bob caplan and andre bryant- all of the NCT Phx cast, as well as our friend Greg Rojceweicz from NCT San Diego were all sticking around for that evenings short form competitive comedy shows at NCT phx.
the 7:30 show was brilliant. the cast- many of whom were not able to partake of the workshop but were fans of Kevin none the less and excited by his presence in our home- was obviously abuzz with excitement, enjoyment, inspiration and appreciation for the awesomeness we had going on this weekend.
Part 3: suprise, i hope you werent planning on wearing that shirt for long...
we had a bit of debate and kerfuffle, as the owners and plan makers of NCT, and we had a little bit of a happy dilemma over whoma to cast in our evening of stand up and improv comedy show with Kevin McDonald of Lilo and Stich. everyone wanteed to play, of course, but how to decide who would or would not share the evening and the stage with a comedy legend? we decided early on that the improv cast would be made up of those taking the workshop. they would have grown a report with kevin, allaying any awkwardness, and they would have- literally- paid their dues.
that made it a pretty small cast, myself and dorian, allison and greg were all available and ready to go.
still, ones heart does ache for those not able to drink the same delicious canadian kool aide.
luckily, kevin AMAZINGLY decided to swing by and play with us at the late show.
now, please keep in mind that he never actually said that he would definitely be doing this... he would say things like "maybe i'll swing by and do a short set with you guys at the end of the show." and then we would all flutter around like idiots and then kevin would follow it up by saying "although i am really bad at improv and im probably way to nervous" so... i litterally didnt know, until the moment that he stepped on stage with us, that it would happen.
but it did.
and, yowza.
he was hilarious, unpredictible, hilarious, full of energy, completely willing to do anything, hilarious, gracious and kind and hilarious and.... just yowza. there was a scene in which i was NOT at ALL professional or cool, but just giggled my way through a scene in which i could not stop laughing and kevin (in character) kept insisting that i look into his eyes (of his character) as he wriggled around on the floor beneath the feet of dorian and greg (in character) and i simply could not do it.
i was looking down into the eyes (of his character) and seeing the face of a comedian whom i have idolized since childhood and hearing the voice i associate with so much of my comedy cannon, and looking down on him on NCT's stage, literally- lying face up on the stage, between the (in-character) feet of my improviser husband and best friend, dorian, and my dear friend greg who came from my alternate home in san diego... and there he was. and there we were. and in not believing it could be real but still living in the moment of having to talk and act and proceed, (in character), my gigglefits took me over and i had my moment of unrestrained joy. unprofessional. uncool. unrestrained. joy.
afterwards kevin hung around and took about ten million pictures with the cast, the audience, the friends and family whom had gathered. he was wonderful, it was awesome and- i assure you- a piece of shrapnel from international space station mir could have taken me out at that moment and i would have gone to my great reward professionally satisfied.
but there was more on the horizon.
a whole entire other and more overwhelming day.
more on that when my arm loosens up a bit from the vice like grip i kept on it thourough my Q & A with Kevin McDonald of Saturday Night Live guest writing fame....
k.
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