More progress...

So, I am incredibly proud of myself after last night's show. I really feel like I've come out of my shell or judging and fear in the last few performances, and gotten so much more ballsy. I've always been able to tell when something needs to happen onstage, but there's been a little voice inside that says, "No, better let so-and-so do it, they'll be really good/funny/better than me." I think I can safely say that I have shut the voice down.

Quick plot (such as it is) recap. The show began with a birth, which is generally an improv kiss-of-death, but I guess we're to the point where we can start breaking some of the "rules." Amy's character gave birth to two boys, who had to be dragged literally kicking and screaming out of the womb. She then gave birth to the ugliest girl ever (Eileen, who took what was given to her and made it stellar--her faces were priceless), and the story centered around her brothers' attempts to make her feel "special" and "beautiful," which was shot to hell when she began killing people with her ugliness. We had a prison scene, etc.

Here are my favorite moments from the show last night (though these things never keep well in the re-telling):

In the beginning, the brothers send their sister to play in the pond, and the fish (me, Amy, and Karen) ran screaming offstage. Huge laugh. And then, as the brothers sang a tender song to their sister, the three of us slid our legs onto the small stage from outside and did a little Esther Williams style arm-swinging and backup singing.

Toward the end, the mother decides the kids are no good, and we shoved them back up the birth canal, which was funny in and of itself, but led to a gorgeous split scene: pregnant Amy with me and Karen on one side--the three in utero on the other. Bryce had a hysterical moment about spotting a frito on the floor, and went to reach for it. I immediately jumped behing Amy, and stuck my hand down as if from her vagina, being Byrce's hand finding the corn chip. This led to my being born--finally, a beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed child. And the three of them lived on in the womb for 30 years.

Another huge laugh, and I was tickled pink at my own move. Used to be, that was the kind of thing I would think, but not do, and somehow, in the last few weeks of shows and Storysets rehearsals, I've broken through that barrier. I wish I knew exactly how, but I'm just really happy to have gotten here.