You guys. That was a joke. I made a joke about the fact that I have mentioned that. Like, 1,000 times now. Awesomesauciness has had 30 dreams about Strangerville Live and some of you accidentally wrote it in as your choice of candidate for several mayoral elections because I've mentioned it so many times.
I am so good at jokes. And at explaining them.
The show was a smashing success ifwedosaysoourselves. Because you've read stuff on Stranger before, it is likely not a surprise to any of you that a series of near nervous breakdowns preceded Strangerville Live, occurring every 5 to 10 minutes throughout the week leading up to 8:00 PM on Thursday.
We wanted this to go perfectly. Flawlessly. Elihairlessly.
And so, when we discovered 45 minutes before the start of the show that the sound system was having some problems, and as nearly 200 people started funneling in and filling the nearly 200 seats, you can imagine the number of anti-anxiety pills that would have been helpful. And when, five minutes before the start of the show, the sound system was still not working, I may or may not have actually googled "witness protection program."
The night before, Jolyn, Meg, and I went to the venue to set up some lights. I told Meg that my biggest fear was the sound system failing. (This was a lie. My biggest fear is a Glee revival.) I asked Meg what we would do if this happened. She responded, "you know that scene from Mean Girls where Gretchen Weiners kicks the stereo off of the stage during 'Jingle Bell Rock' and Cady Heron has to save the day?"
We then spent the next two hours practicing this:
I'm Regina George. Obvie.
But by the good graces of June Snapple, things were up and running by 8:00. The venue was gorgeous. The audience was gorgeous. The storytellers and musician were adequate. And the show went splendidly.
I cannot tell you how excited we are about Strangerville Live and how much we appreciate your overwhelming support. We hope that that those of you who were able to come had a good time laughing with us. We hope that you'll come back. And we hope those that couldn't make it this time might be able to join us for our next show in May (details TBA).
We decided that we will release the audio of our first show as Strangerville Episode 14, so please stay tuned for that.
And in the meantime, please enjoy some pictures, courtesy of the ever lovely Matt Broome Pants.
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| Freeze frame. "I bet you're wondering how I ended up here." |
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| The exceptionally talented Jared Bird, performing an original song. |
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| Meg woos the crowd. |
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| Ms. Jolyn Metro, serving up a reading of some middle school journal entries. |
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| The delightfully funny Whitney Call telling us about her run-in with the Humane Society. |
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| World's Best Hair, 1984 - 2017. |
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| And we didn't even mean to coordinate our shoes! |
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| Hashtag June Snapple. |
~It Just Gets Stranger
#elihairlessly ; the English language finally has the word for when something is more perfect than perfect. How do we nominate Eli for a Nobel prize?
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this I see "Eli Hairless" and all I can think is noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
DeleteBest comment ever.
DeleteMe too, although I love the way you said it. It needs to be something less alarming like Elihairifically, although that's maybe too close to "horrifically" for my taste. Elihairificently?
I will consider all word options.
DeleteOkay Strangers - if you're in an audience shot you must identify yourselves! I live vicariously through you!
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought the dreams were due to some questionable sauerkraut. Thanks for clearing that up, #eliperfecthair.
ReplyDeleteAs and aside, never saw the show so I guess I'll have to wait for it to hit my local video store in VHS format.
Lol!
DeleteAnd I don't even say LOL!
DeleteI was at the show (not pictured above because I was sitting up in the balcony seating and you didn't include any pictures of us because DISCRIMINATION). Eli, can I just say that this show was amazing? I seriously went in with high expectations and you guys exceeded them. It was one of the most fun live events I've been to in a long time. All of the stories were so entertaining and the venue was beautiful. I have not criticism. I will be coming back (and sitting on the main floor next time).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katie! You made my day!
DeletePictures must be taken of the second event so that Katie can appropriately identify herself.
DeleteAlso - note to self - if I were ever able to attend said venue - sit in the balcony (I hate having my picture taken)
Ah yes! I'm in a picture on my favorite blog. I think I've peaked. This is as good as it gets.
ReplyDeleteAre you the one in the June Snapple shirt? I wanted to get a picture with you if you were but it was so crazy after the show.
DeleteI don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. We (my main man and I, I can't speak for the rest of the crowd) LOVED Strangerville live.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Did you say hi after? I always love putting faces to internet names at these live things.
DeleteI'm with Chaun. I brought a friend who wasn't familiar with the Strangerverse and we both said after that that was the hardest we have laughed in a long long time. It was awesome. And the whole show was good from beginning to end. I went to the Porch a couple of times when you told a story and you were always really good but sometimes the rest of the show was not as good. I fully expected that you guys would all deliver of course and it was great to go to a show that was good all the way through. Seriously so impressed. I hope you do a ton more of these. There isn't a lot of stuff like this in SLC and you do it well and it was a show that can appeal to all audiences. There wasn't shock value and you didn't rely on crass or uncomfortable stories. It was just solid entertainment---hilarious joke after joke, really fun stories, and exceptional hair. I will recommend this to anyone and can't wait for the May show.
ReplyDelete(I feel like I just wrote an Amazon Review for a product).
You can Amazon review us any time! Thank, Jessica!
DeleteHey Eli... June Snapple supporter here... I apologize for not staying for a photo op, but I had some campaigning to do at another function. Please forgive me. I promise I'll wear the same shirt for every Strangerville Live for the rest of forever.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to review Thursday's show: Super hysterical, but I felt it was lacking the promised nudity. That being said, I look forward to coming back.
Thanks for all you do to keep us entertained.
All the best, Kelsey
#junesnapple
Yes! Hi! Photo op next time? Also, there was tons and tons of nudity. It was just covered up by our clothes.
DeleteSo I may or may not have flown all the way from Arkansas for this show and may or may not plan future trips to Utah around future Strangerville Live shows. This show was not disappointing at all!
ReplyDeleteYou win Stranger of the year. No one else can even be in the running.
DeleteSarah - you're my hero.
DeleteThat venue looks gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThe use of the Mean Girls gif was amazing. So excited that you will be releasing this on the podcast! I was 1,200 months pregnant and sick so I didn't feel up to making the trek out into the snow. Will for sure be there for the next show!
ReplyDeleteGreat show, we all loved it. My only critique was going to be it was kinda hard to hear towards the back but you already mentioned sounds issues so maybe that was it, I'll definitely go to future shows. You guys set the bar pretty high!
ReplyDelete