The laughter begins?

:D The Comedy Festival is just around the corner, and with it a whole bunch of laughter... for the audience. My show, A Son of Your Own, will open tomorrow night. Are we ready? ... No, not really. The show is being produced by Latch Key Group, a triplet of guys who think they're funny. And they are. As stage manager, I spend most of my time shaking my head at the props that they use (R-rated), lines that are literally made up on the spot every time (to great comedic effect actually), and the lack of readiness that we have. Our publicity materials were only printed last week. We have yet to get the media really interested. Our website went online at the weekend. Our preview is tomorrow, and our 40-50 seat venue is only sold at half-capacity. The rest of the season there is only about 4 tickets sold (with 19 shows to sell). And tonight we bump in... :jawdrop: Despite the problems, the show looks to be successful. (If we can get an audience). The premise - two parents decide to adopt out their son because he's not what they expected. He's also 24 years old. The resulting 'mature-age adoption' brings out a new fad for Australia, marketing gone mad, and plenty of silliness to go around. What happens when Brian gets pushed by his fairy godmother? Will the parents ever get their flowchart of their son's life to stick? We're hoping to have some 'mock rallies' in the city, with volunteers running around behind the cast (in costume), screaming things like 'No mature-age adoption'. Sounds like fun! Rehearsals have been going well, and the show is actually ready to be presented. For the performers (also the playwrights, co-directors and producers), this is the first time they will be performing as a group, the first time performing at the Comedy Festival, and the first time self-producing a show. It's a learning curve on all that needs to be done... Nobody tells you how difficult it can be juggling work, writing the script, organising the venue (performing at the Trades Hall), publicising yourself, organising insurance, and the million other things that are involved. On top of it all, we have plenty of video clips in our show, which means spending some time filming and burning it to DVD. %) Phew! I'll be glad when it's all over... But then I'll be sad too. The comedy shows are always the most fun to do, and it's quite a challenge to do a short show in a small venue, with limited time for screwing up. And the cast is great, with lots of funny quirks, grins, laughs, and silliness - always great to work with friends! And hey - this is what theatre's all about. Murphy's laws, no such thing as a perfect show, and considering most shows are never ready on time - we're doing pretty darn well! For those who are interested, visit www.asonofyourown.com.