Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Miniature Basketball Hoops


I was flipping through one of my notebooks and I found this overheard conversation I had written down. This conversation occurred this Summer while I was at Second City for a 4 week immersion course. At this time Second City also has improv camps for teenagers. I was sitting in the cafe area, and there were two teenagers sitting at a table near by. This was the "precious" conversation I overheard:

Boy: Around 15 years old
Girl: About 15

BOY
Did you ever have one of those little basketball hoops when you were little?

GIRL
Yeah! I loved those. But when I got older, I dunked and knocked it over and broke it...

BOY
Haha I know, huh? I always thought they would be perfect for midget basketball.

GIRL
Yeah I could see that! Midgets running around on a tiny basketball court with those Playskool hoops.

BOY
Man, it would be freakin' hilarious.

I think they saw me listening to them, because the girl asked me if I was in the Summer camp as well. I kindly told her no, and said I was in the adult immersion course. In her sprightly, doe-eyed way, she then asked me how old I was. I told her I was 20, and she looked surprised, then replied, "Really? I thought you were 15 just like me!" I then laughed and told her I got that a lot. She laughed and turned back around to continue talking to the boy.

They moved on to some other strange conversation that I didn't quite hear because I was thinking about how silly teenagers are. They're an interesting species, aren't they? Later that day in my writing class, I shared the overheard conversation. My writing instructor told us about when she taught a writing class for the teenage group. She said that, on average,  all they wrote about were midgets, hobos, and the like. I asked her why they were so interested in writing/talking about "midgets, hobos, and the like." She candidly replied, "You know... I'm not actually sure at all."

Thursday, October 11, 2012

A Little Intro

"One can acquire everything in solitude except character. " - Stendhal

All my life I have been fascinated by people and their individual quirks. I constantly catch myself people-watching and "accidentally" listening in on their conversations. These are the things that I'm most inspired by. People-watching has been the nexus of all the characters I have created in stories, comedic sketches, and while acting or improvising. Even in daily life I find myself going in and out of different accents or impersonations of different characters. (This may be a psychiatric issue of mine, but it seems to entertain my friends and family, so I don't mind if I'm a little bit crazy).

We're all a little bit "crazy" in one way or more, right? I mean life would be completely boring if it weren't for those silly quirks.  I love this about people and all the characters we have within us. So as I'm sure you have already guessed, this blog is going to be a place where I'm going to share funny (hopefully) stories, observations, and overheard conversations from the characters I encounter. And I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. If not that's okay, too... We've all got our quirks, and this is just one of mine.