Parents Weekend

My parents came to Chicago this past weekend. They came specifically because I wanted them to see my sketch show. It was good to see them. I hadn't seen them since last Thanksgiving. They arrived Friday afternoon and we had dinner that night at Leona's. As usual, they peppered me with questions about what's going on in my life. My dad was also concerned about being entertained at the show. He wanted to get an exact sense of the type of humor he was going to be presented with before the show. It was sort of odd but I indulged him.

Dad: Is it one long sketch?
Me: No, a series of sketches. A sketch revue; a sketch show.
Dad: So like SNL?
Me: Sort of, but we don't do political satire or impressions of famous people. It's more like slice of life scenes but there's an odd twist that makes it odd, but still real.
Dad: Like what kind of twist?
Mom: You'll find out when we watch it.
Dad: I just want to know if I'll get it.
Me: I hope so.

They liked the show. It was good to have them see me in a show that I was proud of; both of the show as a whole and of my performance. Before this all they'd seen were so-so improv shows I'd been in. I'd never have an amazing performance in front of them. As such, I'm sure they thought I was mediocre and that I should probably focus on a real career rather than this acting thing. I'm sure they think of improv as a nice hobby. So it was good for them to see that I can actually act.

It was also good to hear their thoughts on the sketches. Parental feedback is always a delight because they're critiques always seem to come from an alien place. Mostly this came from my dad who didn't pick up on some of the more subtle moments of the show.

They also came to see a ComedySportz show the next day even though I was only doing the announcing for it. They liked it overall but my dad didn't like how they didn't show the final score at the end. This made him think the show was rigged. I assured him it's not.

Saturday during the day I rode the L out towards O'Hare so they could pick me up and go to a movie together. They've lived in the suburbs or butt fuck nowhere (Brainerd) for over 30 years and as such they fear driving in the big city. That's why I came out to the suburbs. They only drove into the city when they had to: for the two shows they went to see. I teased them about this but they didn't care.