ONE WEEK! (Patreon)

Good morning! 

What a fun morning we had!  Ken really fit in like a glove, like I knew he would.  Our fun hang may have resurrected "Cornholin' With The Stars" as the next day, Ken was writing me about trying to get that going again!  But I wish someone would have told me about the annoying white speck on my shoulder that was there the whole show!  Right after the show, Ken was so taken with Andy he asked to get on the list and take his son to the show that night. I went, Captain Carlin and a friend of ours went. Ellie was there, it was a fun night of sad music!  Man, Shauf has a tasty band - but then i was reading he plays are records all his records himself! What a sound he gets! I've been listening to the new record a lot and it's really something special. I think I had to get used to his very specific vocal... accent? It took me a minute to not find it annoying or pretentious, but now I'm all in on it. 

Right after everyone left, I turned the Office Hours studio into the On Cinema War Room. Eric N, Gregg and Katie assembled and we took the whole day to go through the script, take department head meetings and really dig into what we're going to do next Sunday. We've been writing and prepping for a while, but there were a lot of loose ends and this is the week where departments start actually working, so we have to give them direction on what to do.  It was a long, but fruitful and productive session, going through the outline and really making it all work - figuring out what happens when and why... Lots of puzzles to solve - "this is funny, but why is it happening and what motivates it..." those sorts of questions.  

Not everyone always agrees with everyone on everything all the time, and when we hit a place where people have different ideas there's a very healthy, respectful and reasoned discussion, where everyone can make their case and it always ends up elevating the particular scene or joke, or character motivation. 

I always fear the worst, and the weeks leading up is filled with stress and anxiety - So many moving parts, so many things to go wrong, so many people key to making it work... I often think "Why am I doing this to myself?!"  But the past few days have felt better and it's feeling like it's coming together. 

The next day, we scouted the stage we're broadcasting from and it felt even better. More department heads, lots of people who have worked the special before gathered to assess the space and check it out. It felt like it was gonna work. A Goldilocks Space, not too big, not too small, with everything we'll need. It will be a lot of work for everyone, but nothing we can't surmount.   

As an annoying call back to me and Ken's tardiness discussion, I had a hair cut scheduled before the tech scout - now, I do not like getting my hair cut because I always forget what I want, and I don't have a regular person I trust. There was a woman I went to a few months ago who did a pretty good job, so I made an appointment with her for 11am - I showed up and she wasn't there. I texted her and she very apologetically told me she accidentally put me in her calendar for Saturday! Fuck!  She felt terrible but I let it go. It was only annoying because my schedule is becoming very tight, with the Special, prepping to leave for the UK, family stuff... other stuff... But mistakes happen and we found another time early next week. She's gonna insist on a free cut, but that doesn't seem right. We've all fucked up our calendars before, I can relate. 

Next Sunday we will deliver another stunner of an Oscar Special, (make sure you get your tickets. I'm talking to you monthly members!)  then Monday (night, thank god) I will fly off to Merry Old England! Yes, London is sold out, but surrounding cities have tickets left, so maybe make a little trip of it and see us in Nottingham or Sheffield or Brighton? 

What happens to Office Hours when we're gone? we've got some guest host shows lined up, a week off in there, and I will be sure to post away right here from overseas to stay in touch.  Please, DO NOT WORRY. 

Peace & Love my friends! -T