10 Years of Silly Hats

Posted by Maggie on April 10, 2011 at 09:31 AM
That's Weird Grandma

Did you know every show has a prop list?  Well they do!  I make many lists every week, but by far, the Monkey props Llsts are my favorite and totally weird.

Yesterday I spent a few hours at The BOM Prop storage: a usually very organized two car garage full of over 10 years of silly hats, over a mile of different fabrics and so much more

I loaded up my car with the Monkey Show staples:

Then I started pulling the TWG 10 YEAR PROPS!  Would you like a sneak peak of my list?  See if you can guess any stories!

I am so looking forward to the awesomeness that will be tomorrow.  Just so you know that will include:
-40 Monkeys on the Neo Stage
-A BOM Props Museum: 10 Years of Silly Hats,  and the Weirdest Things
-300 of BOM’s supporrters and fans
-A Halarious Production of That’s Weird, Grandma

I don’t know what I did before I knew the Monkeys.  All I know if the world is a better place with them.

Graham Crackers for Everyone!

Posted by Zoe on April 7, 2011 at 10:41 AM
School Shows

OH MA GOSH, THE GRAHAM SCHOOL SHOW IS OFF THE HOOK.

I know what you’re thinking. “Zoe, I can’t even begin to process how awesome a school show might be right now because I’m too excited about the That’s Weird, Grandma! 10 Year show and how all of my old monkey friends are in town this weekend to celebrate! Sheesh!” You guys, I get it. But lets take a moment and focus on the trees right in front of your face and not the (secret) forest that is the weekend ahead of us.

Graham is a brand new school and the kids are SO great. They had never heard of BOM before we walked into those two fourth grade classrooms back in January, way before the Blizzard of 2011 hit (omg can you even remember a time before that happened!?), but they were 100% into it from day 1. Their commitment and excitement about the program helped produce such new classics as “The Unknown Baby” by Ina J. where a girl named Alice is sent a life changing Christmas present or “The Eatin’ Contest” by Mauricio A. set on Jupiter that has been turned into a bizarrely beautiful song that stars a Cat, Justin Bieber and a Dragon adapted by the musical genius Laura Mackenzie.

Other exciting moments you can expect at the Graham show include some very elaborate costumes for the piece “Everyone Gets Married”

Or some “earth shattering” prop usage for “The Big Giant”

A killer rap with mad beatz all about oranges!

And even the return of the classic KOOL-YUM! OH YEAH. 

So much to see! I know what you’re probably thinking now, “Zoe, you’ve almost sold me, but I don’t want to start off my exciting weekend with too much violence. Are there any guns in the show? I REALLY don’t like guns.”  Don’t worry, dear reader, the only weapons used in this show are snow cone cones, an unseen rifle in a truck off stage, a spoon, a metaphysical bomb, a teacher’s chainsaw and a hobo. So, tomorrow morning, set your alarm to AWESOME (9am) and join us at Graham Elementary for some pre-reunion good old fashion monkey fun!

Jen Johnson’s Epic 10-Year Line Up

Posted by Amanda Farrar on April 5, 2011 at 11:40 AM
That's Weird Grandma Company Members

In the continuing build up to the big show, the 10-Year Anniversary performance of “That’s Weird, Grandma” at 7pm and 9pm on Monday, April 11, 2011 (get your tickets soon - tickets are already half gone), company members continue to remind us of the fantastic stories both old and new! 

Artistic Director, Luke Hatton, had a heck of a time picking from all the gems of stories from the last 10 years, made even more difficult having to figure in 2 from every year TWG has been happening, and taking into account the 40 (YES - 40) Monkeys who are performing.  I think that may constitute more than one barrel…

Amazing company member, Jen Johnson, shares her epic ideal 10 year show with us!
———————————————————————————————————————————

If I could make a show of Barrel of Monkeys sketches, all with the original players, this would be it. It would be a really long show. It would need an intermission. We would need to serve popcorn. And beer.

If you don’t know some of the stories, look them up in the story archives!

Snowman from Pluto

The Museum

Funny Bunny

Scarf Lady

The Knowheres

The Dog Who Loved Water

Big Smelly Garlic

Homeo and Rulilet

The Bear With Steel Wings Tells About Opposite Day

Trapped in the Hospital

Bad Car

Two Friends

The Magic Pincil

Thomas and Yemesse

Super Cut Man

Spikey Bones and Rose

Toothless Beaver and Broom

Be Careful What you Say! (Goldy Horse)

Battle for the Light

The Tiny Door in the Back of My Closet

If Chocolate Was Free

Bob and His Neighbor

Mr. Bones

The Women Rampage

Book of Secrets

Bunny Madness

I Believe Everything Needs to Be Chocolate

Tragic Fireworks

There was Nothing

The Red River

He Wrestled a Bear

The Two Girls With There Dog Cookie

Cat Castle

I am the Floor

The Boxer

Joshua and Mariah

Dirty

Sammy the Eel

TWG- Last Call for the Double Round!

Posted by Luke on April 2, 2011 at 04:59 AM
That's Weird Grandma TWG Weekly Update

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is our last week of this round. You have one more chance to make it this Sunday or Monday before things are forever changed.
We’re putting in a lil piece of gold from last year’s Celebration of Authors show entitled, “The Model.”
In it Molly, a model, starts “going overboard” and is told to “take some time off.” But is time off really the best remedy to going overboard? You’ll have to come find out.
Also, we’re adding a dialogue called “Kidnappers” where aliens abduct Michael Jordan from the United Center.

The password for $2 off at the box office is “The Model”

Be at it.

Read more»

Kristie’s 10-Year Wish List!

Posted by Amanda Farrar on March 31, 2011 at 01:43 PM
General That's Weird Grandma Company Members

You may have noticed some of our wonderful company members posting their wish list of runlists for the 10-Year Anniversary performance of “That’s Weird, Grandma” at 7pm and 9pm on Monday, April 11, 2011 (get your tickets soon - tickets are already half gone)! 

Artistic Director, Luke Hatton, had a heck of a time picking from all the gems of stories from the last 10 years, made even more difficult having to figure in 2 from every year TWG has been happening, and taking into account the 40 (YES - 40) Monkeys who are performing.  I think that may constitute more than one barrel…

Anyway, amazing emeritus member, Kristie Koehler Vuocolo, shares her utopian 10 year show with us!

———————————————————————————————————————————

So here’s my dream runlist with how I’m feeling on this particular day. NOSTALGIC. So most of these picks are from the first couple of years of TWG. When it was a hot “LATE NIGHT SHOW.”  Mondays at 9pm…now that was BRILLIANT MARKETING! :)
 
1. I AM CELINE DION
Matt Miller Oscar-worthy performance of the Diva herself…complete with an air lift of our tiny co-founder, Erica Rosenfeld.

2. ROGER AND HIS 24 GIRLFRIENDS
Roger swears this is only funny because Austin Powers was popular back then. But I’ll take Roger Ainslie over Mike Meyers any day!

3. THE GEEK
This one really illustrated the power of what we do. A kid wrote a one-sentence story called the Geek. Here it is: “I am a Geek. The End.” We turned it into a 30-second powerhouse opera starring our Turkish star, Selen.

4, THE DOG WHO LOVED WATER
Ahh, I remember it was like yesterday. Twas the middle of the afternoon. Jonathan Mastro as the dog, makin’ love to some H2O.

5. JOSHUA AND MARIAH
We turned this one, about a wife going into labor and her husband taking her to the hospital,  into a rap, Fresh Prince style. Here the kid is brilliant… commenting that Mariah had to drive faster to the hospital because her water just broke.

6. THE EXPLODING CHEESEBURGER
(Not sure of the real title, but Jonathan Mastro was the exploding burger and was trying to get a date…Jimmy Durante style, TYPICAL.)

7. THE MUSEUM
Molly Brennan serves up the line, “Would you like some “eyeball ice cream?” and “That was the end…OF CINDI AND DAVID.”

8. MY DOG BISHOP
Lisa Barker introduces us to her dog, Bishop. WATCH THIS!

9. FUNNY BUNNY
My favorite moment was chomping on Ryan Walters’ fingers that portrayed the leaves of the tree where Funny Bunny lived. 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

10. DIRTY
This is story about a homeless guy. Who lived in the sewers. In the suburbs. With the Rats. We turned it into a blues number…but suddenly then Jason Sperling comes along with some Tacks. And ruins EVERYTHING.

11. HE WRESTLED A BEAR
We tried to think of a theme song to end this one…the only thing we could come up with was singing “He Wrestled a Bear ” to the tune of “It had to be you.” I think we were sort of joking, but then it stuck.

12. WOMAN RAMPAGE
One of the first songs not written by the official musical directors…Classic Broadway Brilliance. “Where Women and Men and…FOOD can all be free.”

13. BIG SMELLY GARLIC
Put artistic director Luke Hatton in a smurf hat and give him the voice of an 11-year-old boy going through puberty and you have BIG SMELLY GARLIC.

14. U CAN’T WIN
Tom Malinowski is your host. Elmo is his sidekick and Al Gore is eating meatballs. U really CAN’T lose with this one.

15. HOMEO AND RULILET
Ryan Walters was always drawn to Shakespeare. Poor Homeo. Born in a bathtub.

16. MR. BONES
Whoops!...Mr. Bones

17.CHEERLEADERS
So many versions of this one…but who’s going to fight it out for team captain, you guys? Kayla. Shut it

18. TWO OLD MENS WHO KNOW HOW TO DO KARATE
Picture the title. Now picture Miller and Ainslie with their pants pulled up to their chins. There you have it.

19. FRIENDLY MAN
Jonathan Mastro IS friendly Man.

20. I REMEMBER THE DAY I BROKE MY 2 FRONT TEETH
coined the title of the show.
GRANDMA ME: “My teeth weren’t always so Pearly White. One day they were a BLOODY WRECK.”
GRANDCHILD: That’s Weird, Grandma.