Tonight capped off a pretty good weekend. Big in Japan did a show at The Oasis, after a very decent rehearsal yesterday. We’re gelling nicely as a team, now that casting has been stabilized. It was a blast playing with this comfortable group of improvisers.

The audience tonight was amped and ready to laugh. The energy from the crowd was like candy. We were high on it. Our suggestion for tonight’s set was “exit.” We broke the third wall during the opening, and entered the world of the audience, which was weird but energizing. We riffed out a Harold that was loose on format, but tight on individual scenework. The general themes of the show were travel, failure, death and birth, all of which had nice associative ties back to the suggestion. Our run after the third beat was not as fast-paced as we had initially intended, but it was hard to cut short the scenes since it was just so much fun to watch them play out.

Playing in Toronto makes me really feel like I need to elevate my game. The level of talent is just amazing, and I’m constantly surprised and delighted by what unfolds on stage. I feel like I have to step up to match what’s happening, and I’m enjoying the workout. I felt good about tonight’s show, and it’s the first time in quite a long time since I’ve been totally satisfied with anything I’ve done on stage.