What’s My Line? RULED!

ByWil

The first performance of What’s My Line? at ACME last night was an unqualified success!
Everything clicked perfectly: the panel was hilarious and played brilliantly together, the host was charming and funny, the guests were truly interesting and talented, and the set looked AMAZING.
Upon reflection, it was one of the best shows I’ve ever done. In fact, it was so good, I can’t remember a single thing about it.
No, I wasn’t drunk, I was just so focused on performing from moment to moment, I wasn’t able to stop and “watch” myself, like I can when a show sucks. All I know is that I had as much fun as I’ve ever had in a show, and when I was finished, I met several Industry people, who all told me how pleasantly surprised they were to discover that I was funny.
This one guy said to me, “I had no idea you were so funny! Why aren’t you on a sitcom?”
Before I could answer, he said, “I mean, I really didn’t think you were funny.”
“You’re in good company,” I said, “with just about the entire entertainment industry.”
Another woman told me that she loved the show, and will come back every week for the entire run.
“There’s a fine line between ‘devoted fan of the show’ and ‘stalker,’ you know,” I said.
She totally topped me: “Well, I’m not going to be ignored, Wil!”
I laughed again . . . but it was about 70% nervous.
I also found out that a lot of people read my website, and a lot of other people believe the totally fake bio I wrote about being a hobo.
I told this one guy that I didn’t think anyone could possibly believe that, but apparently they do.
“Do you think I should change it?” I asked.
“No way,” he said. “It’s hilarious.”
“Oh.” I said. “Thanks!”
We had a very full house, which is uncommon and pretty surprising for the first performance of a show, especially on a Wednesday, but they were totally with us from the very beginning, and that contributed to the success in a BIG way. So if you came out last night, thank you!!
I’m absolutely loving my life as a writer, but the show last night, and a couple of really wonderful auditions recently have reminded me how much I enjoy being on stage, and performing for a live audience.
This is the beginning of about five months of amazing shows at ACME, and I’m luckily to be part of two of them. I don’t say this about everything that I do, (actually, I hardly ever say this about anything that I do) but it’s totally worth coming out to see What’s My Line? at ACME.

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56 Comments

  2. I am stuck up here in Northern California. Did anyone film any of this? Is that allowed there?
    I want to see it. I will not be ignored 🙂
    Anyhow, just curious. I am sure we’d all love to see videos of your live stuff.

  4. Yeah, I’d like to see it too. But I live on the other side of the world in Australia 🙁
    I like hearing about it though. Well done Wil!

  5. Go Wil ! I love reading about incidents where you defy people’s expectations of you; those kind of moments are a lot of fun and, hopefully, lead to all sorts of new opportunities. Did you call Sean Astin yet ?

  6. I hate to seem stupid, but is the What’s my Line staged, or is it serious. By serious I mean funny, but you don’t really know what his line is? 🙂

  9. Man, I just love that feeling when everything about a performance *clicks* – there’s nothing else quite like it. I hope to have a performance or two like that when the play I am rehearsing now goes up in early December. Congrats on the show and here’s to many more that click the same way!
    Dave Westbay

  11. The show is not staged or written at all. We didn’t know anything about the guests or who the Mystery Guest would be (the Mystery Guest was Rose Marie, from The Dick Van Dyke Show! Cool!)
    Before the show, Keith asked me, “Is there anything you have going on that we can talk about at the top of the show?”
    “Yeah,” I told him, “Ask me about GTA: San Andreas.”
    That’s the same thing we do before the JKvS Show, and that’s the extent of our writing.

  12. I am most regretful that I missed the show. I did beat Queens over Aces with Aces over fives, though, so the night wasn’t a total wash. And I’m delighted to hear that it went so well.

  13. This should be a touring show. And perhaps a video blog. if there is such a thing. Maybe you will be rediscovered as an actor, and not just the kid from stand by me, the boy from the movie “the toy” thats doing porno movies ( sorry, wrong child star ) and the boy who left star trek.
    Good luck with the show.

  15. I wish I was on the West Coast so I could’ve seen it, Wil. You’ll have to bring the show with you to Providence, RI when you come to do a signing at Borders! (Okay, not that you’d planned it, but… ;))
    Glad to hear it was a success!

  17. I agree with Lissa up there, Wil! It’d be awesome if you were to ever do some sort of tour around the US. Do you think you would ever consider that? Providing it wouldn’t take you away from your family for too long, though. I know that would suck.)

  18. Wil!
    This is totally an open invitation–if you ever find yourself in Vancouver, BC, (you know, the northern one) to join my improv troupe onstage. We’re a college group, and we love you. So, drop me a line if you’re ever north of the border.
    Love Kaitlin
    http://www.ubcimprov.com

  20. Well, every tme I read posts like this I always think that… Yes, we all love to see you in a show. And, being struck here in Italy (yes, Italy…) I always think that will be wonderful to have you in a con here. But the local con guys prefer to invite WFS, in flesh and bones (much flesh, as I know).
    Looking forward to see you, better on a live show… But I think that many $$$ separe me from seeing you on stage. Airline ticket, stupid customs procedure, goin’ to US…

  21. Hi Wil!
    I went to the show last night, and it was so much fun. I laughed throughout the entire thing. You definitely did a lot of note taking. And you rocked at plate spinning!
    I agree that the panel got along great, and Rose Marie put J. Keith in his place a few times, which was hilarious. I hope I can come to another one.
    Thanks for the good time!

  23. Congrats! I’d love to see some still photos from the show (if nothing else), vintage clothing and all.
    By the way, I’m enjoying your latest book and I wish you’d write more about making Toy Soldiers on your site. (I just finished Sean Astin’s book and he didn’t write enough about it!)

  24. Congratulations on enjoying yourself and living in the moment. Isn’t that the greatest feeling?
    Five months of shows at ACME? Will you be doing the show in March? I may actually be able to see you if you are! Please say you’re still doing the show in March.

  25. Hi Wil, great news that your show went so well. Besides Germany, Italy, Australia, Canada, and the East Coast, I’d love it if you came to Japan so I could see your perform live.

  26. Might be an idea to update your bio with your current projects — published writer, voiceover artist and so on. It currently looks as though your last project was the Jane White film…

  27. Way to go Wil!
    Life is finally clicking in your favor and you deserve everybit of it. Your hard work, mindset and talent have shined for your public and now they have the pleasure to enjoy it.
    Congratulations Wil.
    “sitcom” you say
    hmmmmm……..

  28. Any chance that WWDN readers will be treated to your hobo bio? There’s a nice cardboard box in it for you if you post it…

  30. Wil,
    Great to hear the show went well. Sitcoms? Seems to me you should be doing Broadway in NYC, or Second City in Chicago.
    Your agent should get cracking.

  32. If you’d take the show on the road, there’d be a huge audience for it here in the Blue swing-state of Minnesota…..
    Get someone to tape it, and put it on a web subscriber service — you’d have a whole new audience!
    Peace,
    Michael.

  34. Congrats on a successful performance!
    I huh actually didn’t know you were funny either and guess that’s because most of the movie roles I have seen you in were serious like Stand by Me, Toy Sodliers(just watched that for the first time last night). Anyway I am glad to find out you are funny.
    Oh and please don’t change that bio, it’s too dang funny.

  36. Glad to hear it went well, Wil…now I’m definitely upset that I wasn’t there…oh well, put the show on the road and come to Chi-town; I don’t know if I’ll get out to L.A. again anytime soon.

  39. Yay!
    Great to hear it went well.
    I totally believed the fake bio too.
    Till I read your book and figured out, hey, he never would have had time to do that! 🙂
    I think being a hobo would be kinda fun though.

  41. It was great seeing the show, Wil… thanks for making us laugh at a difficult time. I’ll do as much as I can to support, and come to as many shows as I can. I’m working on getting a crew together for one of the Sketch shows.
    Pleasure meeting you, thank you for being so gracious and kind. You’re a good egg.

  43. Hey Wil,
    Congrats on a great show. You should bring it here to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – we have Chimprov and Die Nasty which are two kick butt improv troops. Several talent scouts have come up here and stolen our talent. One of the guys Ron Peterson is at MADD TV and Nathan Fillian who went to Firefly fame. Hopefully we’ll see more of you on that “sitcom” soon. LOL! Yeah ok I can’t see you on one.

  45. Snipped from http://www.wilwheaton.net/about.php
    Since leaving TNG, Wil has explored a number of different career options. In 1993, Wil put everything he had in a storage locker at Los Angeles Union Station, and tried life as a hobo, riding the rails across the US.
    He settled in Florida in early 1995, where he found work at The Waffle House, on route 90. Wheaton had found his calling, it seemed, until a tragic accident known only as “the pigs-in-a-blanket-fiasco” drove him out of the Waffle House, and, ultimately, out of Florida completely.
    Heartbroken and disillusioned, Wheaton returned to Los Angeles, and reclaimed his place in the spotlight by writing clever biographies for former child actors.
    Call me gullible but I actually thought you might have tried riding the rails. I have a friend that rode the rails back in the 80’s – not full-time just for fun. He grew up and has his own skydiving business now.
    I thought the last few paragraphs were bogus but I did think you were homeless for a while. Now that would have been an interesting chapter in your book.

  46. Glad you had fun and felt you pulled the show off well. I’m an Arkie, so trips to California aren’t in the picture for me. I want to know if they are filmed as well. I seriously thought about doing the book signing in Dallas, but ya caught me on a bad weekend. Anyway, I’m glad to see you can do something other that Star Trek. I found Wesley so annoying. It wasn’t you acting, it was the writing and the part. A boy genius wandering around the bridge didn’t suit well with me. Now if they had written you as a dumb-ass…. lol….

  47. I was surprised to see Bush elected again. I have lived in the midwest my whole life and I am getting sick of the “Family Values” aka= “Christian Values” people claim to have. People in this part of the country want everything to always stay the same, even if they have to drag people behind trucks to do it. It makes me sick. And I am also tired of the terms, “left-wingers”, “wright-wingers”, “Democrat”, “Republican”, “Battle-ground States” and “God bless American and God bless the American People”. That last one really gets me, just the American people? Why not all the people? And which god is doing the blessing? In this part of the country it has to be the “do what I do God”.
    WTF?

  48. “Yeah for Wil… way to rock the show!”
    (Using the force… come to Savannah… come to Savannah…)
    (Using the force even more intensely… Make Brent and Michael buy crates of your books to give away as Christmas presents to all their friends…)

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