This past weekend was a memorable one for me.  Philadelphia held a comedy festival called F. Harold, a festival made up entirely of local improv, sketch, and stand-up acts.  6 days, 50+ groups, lots of really good stuff on stage for a relatively larger audience than usual.  It is exciting for me to be a part of such a warm and supportive community that is only growing bigger and stronger.  I performed twice in the festival and both shows were wonderful experiences.  The combination of an electric crowd and the electricity surrounding the entire festival really let me open up on stage and take bigger risks than I normally do.  I learned that I have been holding myself back far too much and I still have a lot of inhibitions to shed.  But this weekend was a real eye opener for me as a performer and I look forward to improving.

In addition to this great festival, I received news that my improv team Asteroid! was accepted into the Del Close Marathon, an annual improv festival held at the Upright Citizens Brigade.  Two years ago, my youngest sister and I attended the festival with very little background information about what it was.  I was drawn to it because I am a fan of Doug Benson and wanted to see his Doug Loves Movies show live.  After two 12+ hour sessions in the theater, my sister and I were hooked.  As we were leaving the theater at 6AM on Sunday, I turned to her and said, “I am going to perform in this marathon.”  I had never done improv before then.

So I’ll be returning this year as a performer instead of a spectator.  I must admit that I am very lucky to be in this position and a lot of credit goes to the crazy supportive improv scene in Philadelphia.  I was given opportunities here with little experience that I don’t think I would have gotten in places like New York where the communities are far bigger.  So a big thank you to everyone here for just being awesome and helping me achieve my goal.  I am not often overly sentimental, but it makes me feel really special to be accepted by all these genuinely great people.

And now it’s time to set a new goal.