"so everybody put your best suit or dress on
let’s make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
as thirty dialogues bleed into one"
-The New Year, Death Cab for Cutie
Cast parties at the end of movies or plays are always filled with sadness for me, because while we’re together to celebrate the show, we’re also saying goodbye to each other as we return to our real lives. Sometimes, if I’ve really bonded with the cast and crew, I won’t even go to the party, because it hurts too much to say goodbye.
Cast parties at ACME, though, are always insanely fun celebrations, without any sense of sadness. Because we’re such a small company, when one show ends, it’s likely that many of us will be performing together again in another show within a few weeks. But Travis recently changed our writing and performing schedule, and because many of us are working writers and actors who can’t make the commitment to a show that will start six months or a year later, last night’s show could very well be our last, or at least our last together.
I could not have asked for a better way to end the run, though. Because it was a best of . . . show, I got to take a bit of a nostalgic tour through my last year at ACME: when we did Tribute, and Living and Dying in DWP, I realized how sad I was that I got sick and missed most of the run of A Day in the Life. While Kevin and I set props in the blackout between Breaking Up is Hard to Do and William’s Tell, I flashed back to the epsrit de corps we had during Love Machine, and remembered how I truly found my comedic voice as an actor and a performer during that show. NOW That’s What I Call ACME Volume One wasn’t an easy show to do, and a couple of the performances were frustrating and demoralizing, but I love and respect these actors so much. We’ve grown a lot together, and I’m really going to miss them.
After we did our curtain call, and after we thanked our friends and family for coming to the show, we all gathered in the bar next door for beers and shots and pizzas and gnocchi. Shane and I talked about poker, while Annie teased us about being poker blogging nerds. Kevin and I lamented that we discovered a hilarious beat in William’s Tell during its final performance, but we all agreed that each of our sketches went out on top, performed for a house of thirty that laughed and applauded like a sold-out house of one hundred.
The conversation eventually turned to the show, as we were forced to acknowledge that it was over.
"This is like the last night of high school," Annie said.
I looked at Shane, then to Kevin, and Jodi. Chris, who has always been the fundamental grounding force in any show I’ve done with him, sat at a table behind Annie and Shane with some friends who came to the show to celebrate a birthday. I was sad that he wasn’t with us, and indulged in a bit of middle school jealousy as I looked past Anne at him. She was right, and I hated it. Though we’d all try to stay in touch, and though we all hope to be BFF, we all knew that the show was over, and without a reason to get together every Saturday night, we would slowly begin to drift apart, back into our real lives.
We joked with each other, we hugged each other, we took embarrassing camphone pictures of each other, and we teased each other. A lot. (Annie lost a bet to me, and has to start her own blog as a result. "Look, I play Roshambo with Phil Gordon," I told her, "are you sure you want to take me on?" I successfully psyched her out, pegged her as a "scissors," and busted her with my rock. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shane laugh so hard at anything. My middle name is William, Annie, and you’re so busted. Nailed it. Elbow and Send.)
Like teenagers who don’t want to go home to the watchful eyes of their parents, we looked for any excuse to stay out, to stay together, to make the night last forever, just like in a movie. But we’re old and tired, and we have families and responsibilities, and just after one in the morning, I surrendered to them.
"You guys, I have to drive all the way to Pasadena, and I’ve got a mountain of work to do around my house tomorrow," I said, "so I have to go."
Hugs were passed around, goats were thrown, and the final curtain fell.
I walked back into the theater, and down the hallway toward the dressing room to clean out my locker. The din of the bar faded until I was alone with the lonely echo of my footsteps.
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Here’s to you, Wil…who has many more memories just like this and better to look forward to. 🙂
the cast partys here end late,
than meet for breakfast and bowling and another party!
wwoooo!
may the good times be better and more often than the sad.
C.
“so everybody put your best suit or dress on
let’s make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
as thirty dialogues bleed into one”
You wanted the night to last forever, didn’t you? I know the feeling all too well. That bonding moment with friends after shots of Petron Silver. The inside jokes that only you and your closest friends *get*.
You know it has to end but for a few moments, the night is owned by only you and your peers. But even in a bittersweet way, that memory, however small it might sound to others, is gold in your mind. It’s a gold landmark bonding moment that exists permanently in all of your heads. And somehow, that’s enough. I’ve been there. I know.
I was there last night! It was my first time to see you at Acme (my friend has been a couple of times) and you were great. All of it was. Those were some great sketches, with Tribute being one of my favorites with william’s tell being a *very* close second. Just wanted to say congrats on a wonderful show, you guys are great!
you were talking about how it felt like a High School after grad party. Well, mine is coming up – i am half looking forward to it and half dreading the friday of next week. Four years of my life coming to a close, emotions running high. Things i never said that i really should have. But life must go on…
-Jamie
Wil, my sympathies on the end of another show. I know too well the feeling of, “We’ll never be together like this again.” I found out today that the actor who played my twin in The Comedy of Errors last year died unexpectedly on Friday. David (yes, his name was David too) was a great guy, and although I had only met him when we did that show, I felt like he could have been my brother. I’m so sorry now that I didn’t keep in closer touch with him after the show closed. Treasure your memories of the time spent with your friends; someday the memories will be all you have.
Death Cab for Cutie has been brought up three different times in the past two days. I guess I finally need to check them out.
I was there last night as well, didn’t get to come say hi as you were speaking to a lot of people, but I enjoyed the show. My abs hurt from laughing so much.
It was awesome.
Wendy, yes, check out Death Cab for Cutie… Very smart band.
WHAT?????? AHHHHH!!!! NO WAY!!!!! NO FUCKING WAY! I did NOT get suckered that easily. William is your middle name? Did Nickerson know that? Oh, he is so dead.
Fine Mister Wheaton, pretty fucking sneaky. Pretty fucking sneaky. You may have nailed that one, but just wait. Week one starts tomorrow.
re: last night: I woke up sad this morning. thanks for being my ‘hero.’
Yeah. I just couldn’t call you ‘Richard’. That would be so wrong. You will always be Wil.
That ‘other’ Wil doesn’t rate in my books.
Here’s looking forward to bigger and better things. Cheers.
Yeah…I remember things like that. When you and a significant other break up and neither one of you find someone for a while…you try to hang out because you’ve invested so much time in it, and then one day, you realize “You know what…this is gonna have to be the last time…I don’t know why, but this can’t go on” The last moments are always empty and cold and confusing…
Can someone explain the throwing of the goats? That’s just the horns, right, like \m/ ?
Thanks.
Sertich-
When can we announce the launch of your new blog, “Jesus’ Favorite?” I wait with ‘bated breath.
(And no, I didn’t know. But he totally nailed it.)
I was there on Saturday, too! Damn, that was some funny stuff. Well worth the drive from Phoenix and back… (Not that I came to LA just for that! Because that would be weird. But it really was the highlight of my weekend.)
The “Tribute” sketches were my favorites. I kept having flashbacks to 8th grade drama and those yellow ankle warmers will be burned into my memory for years to come. And I really wish I had a pic of you and Chris (?) leaning around that corner in Living and Dying in DWP… that was priceless.
Most of all, I kick myself for not sticking around afterwards to say hello and congrats on a great show. (Blast my social cowardice!) Maybe next time…
Anyways well done to everyone in that cast… and SHAZAM!
Wil,
I’m an engineer and I work in construction. I completely understand what you’re saying here.
Every 12 to 24 months, we pack up and move – to the next state, to the other side of the country, to the other side of the world.
We work 50-80 hours a week with complete strangers, who in a very short period of time manage to become like family. Despite our differences, we are united toward a common goal – to get the thing done safely and move on to the next project.
We take a great deal of pride in our work, knowing that after we’re gone, someting remains of our effort. We are a part of the structure we helped organize and build.
Hopefully, my path will cross with some of my coworkers paths again. But mostly, I just have to be thankful that you had the opportunity to work with these people at all.
What I’m really trying to express is that acting is by no means the only field that goes through what you have expressed. There’s lots of us, all over the world.
Well, I only do acting as a hobby, so I feel like kind of a n00b, but I can relate. For months you form bonds with people, and you share an experience, then when its over there’s no promising you’ll ever have it again. When I moved in April, I had to leave a theatre company that I loved, and people that were so incredible. I’ve thankfully kept in touch with some of them, but there are others that I miss and really don’t think I’ll ever see again. I’m also planning on moving to another state here in a few months, which means I’ll have to leave the Renaissance Faire I perform at in the summer. Anyway… congratulations to your cast for their sucessful run! I hope you’re all able to stay in touch. I wish I could have gotten to see one of your shows, but yeah, I live in Michigan, blah blah blah. :oP
while probably not as wild as yours, Wil, the cast party we had after our school production of Copacabana got pretty damn out of hand…teenagers + caffeine + the “Superstar” dance=lots of people on tables dancing like jackasses and giggling madly…i really wish i had taped it…:)