Blind Experiment....

Phew!
I've finally got a a few moments to myself to catch up on the wrapping up of Blind Date.

I'm so glad that I tried this and THRILLED with the results. All in all, I do believe it was a more than successful experiment.
My audience doubled every weekend until we sold out the last two shows.
I had repeat audience members who came more than TWICE!!!
Often people would return with groups of 4 - 8 friends in tow!
AND - groups of MEN started coming together!

For those of you not in the "theatrical know" - groups of men do NOT go to the theatre together.
Men tend to go to theatre because their wives and girlfriends take them. Groups of women go to the theatre together. Pockets of 3 -5 guys showing up at the theatre together is unheard of! Men go to sports together. They go drink beer together. They go to comedy clubs together. They might go to the strippers together....So. Why Blind Date?

I can only speculate.....Thanks to the handsome and talented Kurt Furla - I did end up with quite a saucy poster. I got great press coverage with some equally saucy photos....and, I don't know....I can only guess that word of mouth had something to do with it? I certainly encountered a few men in the lobby who made it very clear to me that they would be more than happy to come up and be my Date for the evening - so, obviously they'd heard about it....

It did get me wondering though - why don't men go to the theatre together? Perhaps it's simply not their style of entertainment? Or, not the sort of thing you invite your buddy out to: "Hey Mike - wanna go check out this awesome play tonight?" Doesn't sound quite right....

Blind Date though, offers a great "male - appeal" combo: comedy and titillation - and what's wrong with that?! That's NOT to say that the women weren't equally as entertained (there was at least ONE group of gals who came every weekend!)....but I'm hard pressed to think of too many theatricals on offer that serve up both comedy and titillation. Burlesque (when done well) certainly does - and the success of the Spiegeltent in Toronto this summer proved night, after sold out night, that people like to laugh and see something a little bit naughty!

I think the other appeal of Blind Date - is the danger and the voyerism. A representative of the audience is pulled up on stage with no preplanning. People immediately start to think things like: "I'm so glad it's not ME - but let's see how he reacts to things.", "Huh - I would have handled that situation differently.","WOW - that was amazing!", etc.....We see the Date's nervousness about being on stage, but also the nervousness of being in a blind date situation, of not knowing what to do next - but having to move into the future anyway. PLUS - I get them talking about themselves and so we get the added interest of hearing all about a stranger's life - and NO LIFE is boring! The stakes get higher as the night goes on - but the Date also (for the most part) relaxes as the night goes on, plays more, and takes bigger risks.

Several volunteers overheard people on their way out to their cars after the show saying things like, "I totally would have kissed her sooner than that guy!", or "I would have DIED at that one part." So- the audience is really putting themselves in the Date's shoes while it's happening and then wondering how they would have dealt with it if it had been them.

I also learned some truly valuable things over the course of the six shows:

- Always include the girlfriend in a respectful manner off the top of the show. Give her the power to call a time-out AND bring her down to be reunited with her man at the end.

- Do NOT pick guys who are on date #1 - 5 with a lady. Choose either a single guy, or someone who's been in a relationship for a while. They are under less pressure to be "impressive".

- Use the time-out box to REWARD, not just "punish".

- Steer clear of guys who PRETEND to not know what's going on in the lobby, because they're hoping to get picked.

- Allow myself to be CHANGED by my Date: both positive and negative emotions.

Oh - there's so much MORE!!!

I can't WAIT to try this again. Six shows was NOT enough, to be sure. It was so great to be scared, to be vulnerable, to be open, to PLAY - and I was truly moved by each of the men who played with me and went along for the ride. I forget that being on the stage can be terrifying - and yet, they pushed through anyway! What an inspiration!

Keith Johnstone came and saw the final performance (if you're not aware - he is my life-long improv teacher!)...so of course I asked if he would give me notes afterwards....I was SO nervous! And - in the end, I think he really liked it. I'm going to have lunch with him next week....John Turner of Mump and Smoot also attended two shows (I was taking Baby Clown with him at the U of C at the time...which turned out to be SO HELPFUL!!!)...John had some great feedback as well. I'm so lucky to have brilliant people in my life who are willing to share their thoughts.

Oh! And I've also heard that Loose Moose received ONE very ANGRY email about the show. I don't know all the details yet - but I will get to the bottom of it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, of course - and there may be a good lesson to be gleaned from this woman's complaints. I'm a bit nervous (I certainly didn't set out to make anyone ANGRY!)...but, I'm also looking forward to it. Curious, very curious!

Ahhhhh! Blind Date- I'm in love all over again!