You can't spell reunion without ruin

I've been busy packing up and getting ready for next week's move back to New York, so to fulfill my desire to blog I'm bringing you the next installment in my occasional series in which I rerun a post from the old blog for Laugh Out Loud, my (sadly, now former) improv troupe.

I'll be at my parents' house most of my remaining time in Utah, and they still use dial-up, so I probably won't blog again until after the move. That week or so off may help me to get out of the habit I've been in the last few weeks of writing about stuff that happened several years ago. But this is a good one--I chose it because yesterday, for the first time since the show mentioned in this post, I saw my friend Talitha at American Idol auditions (which I will definitely blog about soon), and also because this weekend is my ten-year high school reunion. Which is almost as good as a 13-year reunion. I originally posted this, under the same title, on September 27, 2006:

About this time last year, me and my roommate Will started to get hooked on this show on Fox called Reunion. The premise of the show was that six close friends from high school meet up for their 20-year reunion, and one of them is murdered. Each episode covered the major events of one of those 20 years, interspersed with scenes from the murder investigation in the present day. The writing was awful and the acting was even worse, but they did a decent job picking music that represented the era, and the serial nature of the show made me want to keep watching.

So what did Fox do? They pulled the plug on the show after about six or seven episodes. Like they couldn't have taken two Saturdays on FX and played 10-episode marathons or something like that. It was extremely disappointing. I even signed an online petition to keep it on the air (I never sign online petitions for proposed constitutional amendments or anything like that, but this was important--this was TV), but to no avail.

Laugh Out Loud avoids toying with people's emotions like that by making our reunions one-night-only affairs. The pictures in this post come from our most recent alumni show [unfortunately, all of the pictures from the old blog are inaccessible], which was our final free summer show back in early August. (I know, I know, that was eight weeks ago, but it's not easy to schedule time in a darkroom to get your digital pictures developed.) The show was great fun. We had six former players come back and join me, Brendan, and Andrew for the biggest non-Maestro show ever. Someday, I'll get someone to show me how to put pictures where I want them instead of all at the beginning, and how to load the video clips I have as well. For now, just scroll back up and take a minute to enjoy the frozen comedy now that you have some context for it.

Other groups that organize reunions could learn from our example. For instance, this weekend thousands of people will attend mission reunions. I used to go to mission reunions but stopped for two reasons: first off, there's usually an LOL show the same night, as is the case this year (more on that later); and second, I got tired of getting stuck on the freeway for two hours, trying to get to Salt Lake so I could see old "friends" and have the following conversation:

Me: Hey, it's you!
[Fellow former missionary and I shake hands, pull each other in and give a single pound on the back--it's the mandatory missionary greeting.]
Former Elder So-and-So: I haven't seen you forever! How have you been?
Me: Fine. What've you been up to?
Former Elder So-and-So: Not much.
Me: Well, see you in six months!

If the conversation goes beyond that, within 60 seconds someone will ask "Are you dating anyone?" or "How come you're not married yet?" and everyone will feel awkward. Those with even less tact will say something along the lines of "Boy, you sure put on weight, didn't you?" I deal with these questions enough when I talk to my mom; I don't need extra aggravation from former apostate missionaries (you know who you are)!

One last bad reunion experience and then I'll move on. Three years ago I went to my five-year high school reunion (yes, I'm old). When I got there, I was directed to a table where one of our senior class officers, a girl I took to the last dance of the school year back in '98, was helping people make name tags. I noticed hers had her "high school" name on it, so I said "Hey, I thought you got married." "I did," she replied, and told me that her divorce had just been finalized. If I had any self-respect, I would've left right then, but I don't, so I adjusted my foot so it fit more comfortably in my mouth, stayed for a while, and had, well, a boring time, because after all--it was a reunion! (If you're reading, Robin, I apologize. You're not reading? Dang!)

So once again, it's up to LOL to set the standard for good reunions. This Friday, another former cast member, Joey Leavitt, will be returning to the law school stage. I'm the longest-tenured current LOLer (this weekend will mark the fourth anniversary of my first show), but Joey was one of my coaches when I first started with the group. I'm not sure if that is an endorsement or an indictment of his comedic skills, but I think he's funny.

Joey throws everything he has into his jokes, especially in jump-up games. When Joey jumps to the front of the stage, you can be sure one of three things is going to happen: his joke will get a big laugh, or it won't get a big laugh so he'll spend an extra 30 seconds explaining why you should've laughed, or he'll start singing "Oops I Did It Again" and make it fit with whatever game we happen to be playing.

My favorite Joey memory is from years ago, when he and Talitha (the girl in these pictures and the one responsible for me joining LOL) were performing a scene that required them to kiss. It was the funniest "kiss" ever, as they puckered their lips but kept their faces about 18 inches apart, while moving their hands and arms in a "wax on, wax off" type of motion. It was awesome.

(Random side note: Talitha's husband, also a part of the alumni show, is named Tom Hanks. Seriously.)

A few other things you should know about Joey:
1) He works for the federal government and probably has access to your credit rating, so laugh at his jokes.
2) He's in his late-mid-twenties and still goes by Joey. Most Joeys switch to Joe or Joseph when they are about 11. But our pal Joey is a non-conformist.
3) Joey was my neighbor for about a year before I had even heard of LOL, so I've known him for a while. Three out of the four guys who lived in his apartment had, at some point, dated the same girl, who was also in our ward. The roommate switch is always pretty impressive, but this girl pulled off the double roommate switch--unprecedented!

Clearly, this Friday's show is going to be amazing. Get your tickets in advance if you can, because we'll almost certainly sell out. It's sure to be the best performance you see this fall--unless someone decides to put together a "Charles In Charge" reunion show.

Remember, this is an old post. There's no big show this weekend. By the way, Talitha made it past the first round of Idol auditioning. I didn't. Again, many more details will come later. Oh, and if you like funny blogs, check out Joey's. Especially if you also like Bryan Adams.