BLOOD

18/11/2019 - 24/11/2019

First of all. and most importantly, let me say
thank you.
Thank you all forever.

I'm not exactly sure how i feel about it all.
I think I'll be digesting and processing this experience for a long time.
I know I feel good.  We worked hard, sold out both of our shows and the response has been absolutely incredible.  I believe I could be talked into doing a short run at another theatre.
I believe Blood is good for people, it has a healing power built into it.
I'm proud of myself for creating and performing Blood.
Steve Martin said:

“Be so good they can't ignore you.”

I don't think this show can be ignored.

I remember when Hobo Banditos were planning our first album release party.  I booked Sneaky Dees, which was primarily a spot for punk bands, which worked out fine for us because I got our friends bands who were the biggest names in punk and metal around to open up for us.  The line up was so crazy that people had to come.  

We sold out quick!

*People started talking about how they'd just watch the other bands and leave when we played.

(*people who weren't fans of rap, our group or us)

Then we combatted those rumours by letting it be known that we were gonna play at a surprise time in the order so *people had to stay for the whole show and would inevitably have to watch our set to get to the other bands.

The next murmers that came our way were that there was a fairly large group of older local 'punks' that were planning on jumping us at our show and kicking the shit out of us.

We had so much back up that night, we weren't scared, besides, we always loved a good fight.

Show time came and we could feel the tension in the air.

The place was packed and security sucked.

We waited until halfway through the night and then jumped up to do our set.

All these morons came up to the front of the stage and started mad doggin' us.

We did our thing.

Hobos message was always righteous and true.  We were more DIY and anarchistic than any of the shitty Toronto punk bands, hands down.

We could see the crowd being won over as we moved through our set.

They began to unfold their arms and nod their heads.

By the time we were finished, a whole gang of full grown (mentally and emotionally challenged) men

who came to our show with the clear and premeditated intention of beating us to a pulp, were won over by the undeniable power of the truth.

They were all rocking out with us by our last song and joining in with the crowd chanting

HOBOS!

HOBOS!

HOBOS!

pffft.

punks.

I'd like to Blood out of town at a nice theatre where nobody knows me.

I'd like to do a run of Blood at a nice theatre in Toronto and hear what the critics have to say.

I believe in its' truth and it speaks for itself.

I'd like to do other original shows and be in other people's shows.

I'd like to make some films and write some books.

I'd like to get some sleep.

No dreams to speak of, just deep, black sleep;

for a thousand years.

On Monday I spent my last day in training for my new job.

Kate and I played a competition show at The Social Capital Theatre with our improv duo Mom & Dad.
(We won first place!)

On Tuesday I started my new job.

On Wednesday we celebrated Violet's 2nd birthday!

On Thursday we did Blood!

On Friday I went to work and thought about how great I'd be at being independently wealthy.
I took a nap at Maggies and then joined up with Pepperoni Pizza Cats to play a show at Comedy Bar.
(palette cleanser)

On Saturday I took everybody out fora big brunch!

On Sunday we put up the Christmas tree, had some hot cocoa and watched
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

PLEASE
if you have any thoughts on Blood, share them on my FaceBook page:
https://www.facebook.com/AmeroBlood/
Be as honest as you can, I'm not afraid of the truth.
Leave the show a review and/or just tell me what you think.

Who knows what happens next?
...

BLOOD

SOLD OUT!

11/11/2019 - 11/17/2019

Blood was spilled.
We were ready.
Kate and Dana and I worked on this for a good long while.
They gave it the same respect and attention I did.
We crafted this into a piece of art and we we were ready to share it.
We were completely sold out online long before opening night and I even had to scalp a few tickets to my own show as a broker between those who couldn't make it last minute and those still hoping for tickets.  I still haven't fully processed the show.
I don't think I'm allowing myself to digest it until we're through the 2nd one.
I was in a strange and brand new state before, during, after and even now.
I distracted myself away from my feelings after the show by putting the focus on the old friends, new friends and family who were all there.  I just wanted to make sure everyone knew how much I appreciated them being there; it really did mean a lot to me.
The response was incredible!
Many wonderful people have told me many wonderful things about the show.
It moved people;
it worked.
 I shared my fears and nervousness around the show with Maggie in the weeks leading up to it.
She told me that nobody could deny you as long as you were telling the truth.
She said your show could be boring or brash but as long as you were being truthful and honest you would gain people's respect at the very least.
This put me at ease because I couldn't get more honest than Blood.
Kate directed me to bring Harold forward and focus on him.
Incantation.
My people come from the Black Irish Gypsy stock and I've learned a few tricks along the way.
This show is very special to me and my Brother.
Tomorrow is sold out again in online sales before the day.
The only spot we didn't give out is Harold's.
...

On Monday we had a rehearsal for Blood.

On Tuesday I was in training for work.

On Wednesday we had our last rehearsal for Blood.

On Thursday we did Blood!

On Friday I was in training for work.

On Saturday I was home with my girls.

On Sunday I was home with my girls.

SOLD OUT!

ONE LOVE

11/04/2019 - 11/10/2019

This will be my last entry for Blood before opening night.
We sold out in online pre-sales!
(we hope to do the same for the 2nd show)
I've received some very touching messages through the course of building this show.
People sending support, commenting on the blog, sending regrets for distance preventing them from making it out and people surprising me by rallying the troops and ultimately selling out the first show.  This show is for you.


This process has been an experience like no other. 
The writing and editing was painful, infuriating, deeply satisfying and cathartic.
I've found some much needed closure and managed a lot of my grief through the creation of this story (the 2nd time around).
Moving into preparation for the performance of the show allowed me to put down the hurtful truth and begin to look at it as material to perform.  I've been able to separate myself from the subject matter enough to focus on the script as an actor.
It's been extremely convenient that I lived the subject matter and the material is all from my real life, so I can own it, but be removed from it somehow. 

Dana (lost at sea) Puddicombe
worked very hard digging into my story with me to draw out the narrative for the show.
She's going to miss the performances but I know she's rooting for us.  I'm so lucky to have her in my corner, in a word; she's the best.

Kate Fenton picked up where Dana left off and went through the script with a fine tooth comb
(many times).
Kate is just as awesome as Dana!
She taught me to focus on intention and coached me with the acting and staging and mood of the whole show.  I truly believe we have something very special here. 
I'll never be able to thank these two beautiful woman enough for all they've done for me. 

When I started this journey, Onan said he'd do anything he could to help out along the way.
He is a man of his word, always has been, one of the best friends Me and my Brother ever knew.
Onan helped design posters and video projections and is filming the show both nights.
(etc, etc, etc...)
I wanted his style on the look of the show and he gave it. 

Kayla Dobilas and Danielle Blancher are busy-ass professionals!
They're also my friends who took the time to give me professional make-up prosthetics and photography.  Without them I never would've been able to make the show look so great.

My Mom and Sisters and my Wife are my guests of honour for Blood.
I hope they can find an ounce of the healing from watching the show that I've discovered in its' creation.

My Brother left this mortal coil over 2 years ago.
Losing him changed a lot of lives forever.
He lives in our hearts and minds where we keep him close.
Now he'll live in this show, my homage, testimony and tribute to him,
forever.
(He was always so extra)

This has not been easy, but all of you have made it worth it.
So many of you who mean so much to me have told me how proud you are of me and I just wanted to let you know that I'm proud of myself too.

ONE LOVE

On Monday I had an office visit as a part of my training for my new job.
It was weird.
(new?)

On Tuesday I was in training.
(To say I was in training is purely a filler entry;
I've been in training every day from 8:30 - 4:30 from Monday to Friday going cross-eyed staring at a computer screen for the past 3 weeks!)

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to be invited to guest on my friends' show Max Justice!
It was great to get out of my head and escape for a bit.

On Thursday I had a rehearsal with Kate.
Kate is a fantastic director and I'm proud to be able to call her my friend.

On Friday I drove to Montreal with Brad and met up with Mig & Amelia and we played a Pepperoni Pizza Cats set in the Montreal Improv Festival.  After that I met up with a bunch of The Bad Dog Featured Players and we played a set too!
My dear old friend Star came to both shows, let us crash at her place and made us an amazing breakfast before we hit the road for home.

On Saturday I took Adeline to her friend's birthday party.

On Sunday I tied up any and all loose ends for Blood.

ONE LOVE

MYTHICAL CREATURES

10/28/2019 - 11/03/2019

When we were kids, Harold and I spent a very rare occasion on vacation with our Dad.
We were driving through the Rocky Mountains on our way to Jasper Park Alberta for I guess camping?  Our Dad had a Jeep and he had the roof and door off, we thought that was cool.
Harold shit his pants in the back seat. 
He was like 2!
Our Dad sent me to clean him up.
I was like 6!
I brought him to the washroom at a rest stop and cleaned him up.
When we walked out of the washroom we saw Bigfoot!
I shit you not.
Nobody ever believes this story but it's true!
I don't lie, I speak the truth.
We could smell the funky stank first and when we looked up, he was standing just inside the tree line.
He was just looking at us looking at him.
That's it.
That's the whole story.
We saw Bigfoot.
What kind of Dad sends his 6 year old to clean up his 2 year old?
What a prick.

On Monday I was back in training LATE 10 minutes!

On Tuesday I was back in training LATE 20 minutes!
After training I rehearsed Blood with Kate. 
I had a Pizza Cats gig but had to cancel last minute.

On Wednesday we celebrated Adeline's actual birthday;
6 years old!

On Thursday it was Halloween!
We were The League of Mythical Creatures.
The League of Mythical Creatures
-Adeline = a Magical Fire Breathing Dagon
-Violet = A Mysterious Liger
-Kenny = The Elusive Jackalope
-Joe = The Alpha & Omega Notorious G.O.D.
The weather was crap but we made it around the block and 'the kids' got a lot of candy!
A LOT of people gave out plain chips this year?!
Later, we left the kids with Kenny's Dad (Ken) and went to see Joker again!
We enjoyed the film, uninterrupted and would see it again.  
Jaoquin Phoenix for the Oscar!

On Friday it was my birthday!
After training I had steak dinner and cheesecake at home with my girls!
I got my traditional hand made cards and had a lovely time with my family.
I'm very lucky.

On Saturday we ran our tech rehearsal for Blood at the theatre.
It was exciting and kind of emotional to realize how close the show is now.

On Sunday I cleaned my office and drank some wine.

MYTHICAL CREATURES

BUDDIES

10/21/2019 - 10/27/2019

“The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t”

On Monday it was my good buddy's birthday!  I invited him out for a drink but he was 4 days on the wagon.  I haven't seen him a long time and I miss him.  Kate and I rehearsed Blood in the amenities room at her condo.  After that Pepperoni Pizza Cats rehearsed for the first time in a long time (every time we rehearse it's the first time in a long time) at Laura's condo.  I know a lot of people who live in condos.  That's Toronto for ya!

On Tuesday Kate and I rehearsed Blood again.  Kate's only living in her condo temporarily until her condo is ready.

On Wednesday it was another good buddy's birthday!  I texted him. 
I started 3.5 weeks of training for my new job!

On Thursday I trained.

On Friday I trained.

On Saturday we had Adeline's birthday party at the house!  Crafts, games, pizza and cake; good times!  Maggie was over for the party and staying the night.  She was kind enough to sit with kids while Kenny and I snuck out to see JOKER!
The guy sitting beside me answered SIX different phone calls, threw popcorn at my shoe and heckled the screen the entire movie.
I wanted to kill him.

On Sunday I filmed a sketch about cannibals with another buddy!

It looks like I have a lot of buddies!
(I do not.)

BUDDIES

EXPOSURE

10/14/2019 - 10/20/2019

One time I watched Harold main-line a hundred lot of liquid LSD-25!
Before the needle came out of his arm he said two words:
"The snakes".
He then hopped on top of of my wall unit in one movement and perched up there cooing and periodically nuzzling his beak into his wing like a pigeon for a full hour.
We were unable to solicit a human response from him and all we could do was look on in complete horror. 
After his hour long roost, he "flew" out the window!
I ran outside to catch him but he was gone without a trace like he disappeared into thin air. 
Nobody seen him for days; we looked everywhere.
3 days later, a friend of mine came over and told me he'd seen my Brother up at the Dominion centre and I had better get over there immediately.
I ran all the way there!
I found him standing outside the grocery store hunched over in a hand knitted shall.  His face was contorted into a strange mask.  He didn't seem to recognize me as I approached him.
I grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look into my eyes and he finally acknowledged me.
Only he spoke to me in a strange voice; it was that of an elderly Italian woman!
"Joey!  You need a coat, you gonna getta cold, you gonna die of exposure"!
I was stunned, I didn't know what to do.
I tried to entertain his new persona and spoke softly and respectfully.
I tried to convince 'her' to come home with me.
'She' ran away through the parking lot and disappeared again!
3 more days later Harold shows up at my door eating a soft serve vanilla ice cream cone.
It was like he didn't miss a beat.
I asked him if he was ok and if he remembered any of it.
He smiled and said
"Snakes, man".

On Monday I had my first official rehearsal with Blood Director Kate Fenton and it was awesome!  She is SO great, it really got me excited about the performance part of the show.

Then I went to Dynamo's place and he designed the Blood show poster with me from Kayla & Danielle's make-up and photography the day before and it was awesome!  

I'm very happy with how it turned out.

On Tuesday I brought the Jeep to the mechanic and got a bunch of nece$$ary work done on it.

Then I released the Blood poster, it got a great response!

On Wednesday I played with Pepperoni Pizza Cats in our monthly show at The Social Capital Theatre.
Then I crashed at Maggie's so I could be in to work on time on Thursday. 

On Thursday I was in to work on time.

On Friday I took the day off work to take Kenny to the doctor.
Then we drank a bottle of red wine and watched Peaky Fucking Blinders!

On Saturday I did my very last shift at work! 

On Sunday I spent the whole day with my girls.
(and rehearsed BLOOD like crazy!)

EXPOSURE