Feel Me Don't You

[caption id="attachment_2876" align="alignleft" width="407" caption="MS 150 Benefit Show - Be There!"][/caption]The weather’s blazing hot and this benefit show is looking to top it. Last year, Scott Sjoberg stepped up to the plate to knock one out against MS and this year his li’l sis, Kristen Christian (please no Night Ranger jokes), wants her shot. She will tell stories on the spot—and raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis. Kristen’s sister-in-law, Kami, was diagnosed with MS in 1999; now they both ride in the MS 150.

For more a more personal look at Kristen, head over to tantrumkc.com.

8pm Friday, August 13
Westport Coffeehouse Theater, 4010 Pennsylvania
Tickets: $20 (no discounts or passes will be accepted for this benefit performance)
Call 816-678-8886 for reservations.
Will almost certainly contain adult material.

Caliente!

[caption id="attachment_2855" align="alignleft" width="406" caption="See the whole glory!"][/caption]Sex sells… just ask Bryn Donovan, author of An Experienced Mistress (not to be confused with the website of the same name). Lest you believe the genius dial only goes to published author, think again. She is also an accomplished poet and Emotioneer, which we’re positive has nothing to do with Disney regardless of how it sounds. Will she regale you with sultry sonnets, torrid tales, or a lilting libidinous lyric? Who knows? Perhaps she’ll simply peel back the curtain to reveal the muse undulating in her subconscious. One thing that’s certain is it will be honest and you’ll laugh.

If you’d like to know more about Bryn, head over to the Tantrum site to check out her bio and answers to Tantrum’s 7 Questions. It would be great to see all of you loyal readers this Friday night – we haven’t seen you at a show in ages!

8pm Friday, July 16
Westport Coffeehouse Theater, 4010 Pennsylvania
Tickets: $10
Call 816-678-8886 for reservations.
Will almost certainly contain adult material.

Yes, I’m still alive. My apologies for the gap in posts and overall online absence. As I stated in a recent text, “I’ve just been dealing with a lot of shit lately.” The cause? “Life, death, love, anger, the pursuit of happiness… or the lack thereof” One of the donors to the dead air is simply a fried power supply on the server. Thank you, Sean, for getting that back up and operational with no apparent lingering effects.

So many things have been swirling around the cerebellum and I don’t want to delve into them and drag you fine folks through the mental mire. A very generic update will have to suffice for now. I arrived in Illinois late Wednesday night and will be here until Sunday when I will head back home with my brother in tow as it were. My schedule at the moment is pretty scattered as I hang out with the family and friends of the family – the regular cavalcade of characters now extending to my Aunt Paula, cousin Stacy, cousin Wosie (Rosie’s new nickname thanks to little Breanna), and a seemingly endless revolving door of others that I either a) haven’t seen in ages or b) have never met.

As much as I’m enjoying being around my family, tonight I will be missing my first Tantrum show and that really saddens me. Why? Tonight’s monologist is local filmmaker and musician Tony Ladesich. The opportunities for musical games and scenes will be the greater than we’ve had since our TBA shows and it’s something I’ve wanted to add to a Tantrum show for quite some time. Please go see the show and support the group even though you won’t be able to see yours truly? Thanks, I owe you one.

Other than that, there will be some more flash fiction forthcoming. So, that’s something to look forward to or avoid as you feel.

IN MARCH (Friday 3/12/10): KMBC’S JOHNNY ROWLANDS

[caption id="attachment_2606" align="alignleft" width="408" caption="There\'s no grass under her feet"][/caption]He flies a helicopter. He chases tornadoes. He tells you if you’re crazy to even THINK about trying to cross the Broadway bridge at rush hour.

In March, KMBC’s NewsChopper 9 pilot and traffic reporter Johnny Rowlands will tell true stories about any topic you suggest, and Tantrum will spin them into scenes that may be even more outrageous.
Join us for a night of improv and mayhem. Just $10. Call 816-678-8886 to hold your spot.

Don’t forget to head over to www.tantrumkc.com/ to check out Johnny’s answers to Tantrum’s 7 Questions. You might be surprised by what you learn. Come to the show and then join us at McCoy’s afterwards for a potential behind the scenes look. You never know what is going to happen.

Belly dance that is…

When was the last time you saw live belly dancing? No, I mean good belly dancing right there before your very eyes. I’m not talking about the student show you had to sit through, I’m talking about the type provided by the ladies of Massive Tassel. They will bring their Tribal Fusion belly dance to the stage after co-founder Kim Carrington finishes weaving tales for Tantrum at the Westport Coffee House this Friday, February 12 @ 8PM. Comedy and dancing girls? That’s quite a bargain for only $10! Call 816-678-8886 to reserve your seats and get there early to be close to the action!

You can learn more about Kim by visiting the Tantrum website.

Come see the first Tantrum show of the season featuring 89.3 KCUR’s host of Morning Edition, Michael Byars! We broke from our Second Friday schedule last week to spare you fans of live comedy theatre the awful, snowy roads and bone-chilling cold conditions. See how nice we are?

Don’t forget to visit tantrumkc.com to check out Mr. Byars’ replies to Tantrum’s 7 Deadly Sins Questions. In case you’ve forgotten or are too lazy to click on the links provided – hey, I’m not judging, here are the show details:

Tantrum with Special Guest Michael Byars
Westport Coffeehouse
4010 Pennsylvania • 816-678-8886 for reservations
Friday, January 15 • 8pm • Tickets: $10
May contain adult material.

Come see the show that has Michael Byars thinking:

My NPR cred could very well be ripped to shreds after this night!

[caption id="attachment_2216" align="alignleft" width="307" caption="More Dilmore!"][/caption]
Oops, that’s Dilmore, Kevin Dilmore, and he’s back by popular demand. If you haven’t seen Kevin getting his Spalding Gray on, you’re missing out. If you haven’t seen Tantrum getting our Kevin Dillmore on in awhile, you’re missing out. Kevin’s monologues have ranged anywhere from the “Aww” factor of bicycling and “camping out” in Small Town, USA to the geeky factor of guys with bat’leths to the “OMG srsly?!” factor of his late night verbal exchange with what turned out to be a Las Vegas hooker. With subject matter so far-ranging, we never know what we’ll get from Kevin and the results are crowd-pleasing.

This is the final public Tantrum show of the season, so don’t miss out! Don’t be that person. Nobody likes that person.

Thanks to all of you who made it out to the KC Improv Festival to see us play. And to Steve Jones, our lovely and talented guest monologist. Now, after about a month off, we’re ready to get back on stage again.

First up, it’s our regular Second Friday show at the Westport Coffeehouse. In October, we’re joined by writer Jonathan Bender, who blogs for The Kansas City Star’s Prime Buzz, which covers Missouri and Kansas politics, and The Pitch’s Fat City. And he’s working a book about Adult Fans of LEGO (he put that in caps, so we’re respecting the subculture). He also performs with the improv troupes Improv-Abilties and Loaded Dice, so we’re pretty sure he can handle whatever you guys throw at him.

To get Jonathan started, you’ll shout out topics you want to hear about. He can respond with anything he wants to—as long as it’s true. Then Tantrum takes over, twisting and turning his tales into a series of scenes. Get to know Jonathan better by reading his answers to our 7 Questions.

Tantrum Improv with Special Guest Jonathan Bender, writer
Friday, October 9, 8pm at the Westport Coffeehouse
Tickets: $10. Call 816-678-8886 for reservations.

Later in October, it’s another festival. Tantrum (and our ladies, Spite) have been selected to play at the Roving Imp’s very first ImpFest. See one or both—and some other fun local troupes for crazy reasonable prices. Tantrum will be going sans monologist for the first time in a while. And this is the last chance to see Spite in 2009.

Thursday, Oct. 22, 8pm, $10
Anomaly Orange, Tantrum, TrivProv, Spite

Friday, Oct. 23, 7pm, $9 (all ages show, 12 & under in free with advance reservation)
Anomaly Orange, Biblioclast, Spite

Friday, Oct. 23, 9pm, $9
Improv-Abilities, Coma Chameleon, Tantrum

Saturday, Oct. 24, 7pm, $9 (all ages show, 12 & under in free with advance reservation)
Omega Directive (Trish performs with them), Coma Chameleon, Improv-Abilities

Saturday, Oct. 24, 9pm, $12
One, Dictionary Soup, Brownies Don’t Lie (Minneapolis improv goddess Jill Bernard and Trish)

For all the details, click here.

Have you visited our new website yet? See what’s up (and get the best deals on tickets) at TantrumKC.com.

Planning your holiday party? Invite Tantrum. Our performers are some of the most experienced in the area when it comes to planning, producing and performing private comedy shows. Call Josh Steinmetz at 913-375-5754 for rates.

August brings back our first 3-peat guest monologist Jim Howard, who blew audiences away at our Making A Scene show in November and the regular Tantrum show at the Westport Coffee House in January. A mild-mannered greeting card writer by day, Jim also has written screenplays for Big Bad Love and the Lifetime Channel TV movie Dawn Anna. His blog, Spulge Nine, is infrequented by nearly dozens of readers. And he recently snared his 100th Twitter follower in a web of terse rumination.

Last time, Jim covered everything from elementary school humiliation, illicit behavior, houses burning down, a dolphin experience, and self-gratification just to name a few. See what he does with your suggestions Friday, August 14, at 8pm at the Westport Coffeehouse, 4010 Pennsylvania. Tickets are $10. Our last show filled up fast—so make reservations now by calling 816-678-8886. For more on Jim, check out the Tantrum site for the “7 Questions for Jim Howard” posts. Oh, and don’t miss the “Secret Virtual Coupon For Our Favorite People” post as well!

If you’re interested, I’m certain we will be heading out after the show to celebrate my birthday (ok, so my b-day is really today, but who celebrates on a Wednesday?). I’d love to see you all there!

TANTRUM MATCHES WITS WITH A FEISTY DEVIL
Improv comedy troupe joins forces with MS 150 rider to fight Multiple Sclerosis

There’s only one place where you can see some of KC’s most interesting personalities live, unscripted and uncensored.

At every show, the improv comedians in Tantrum invite a “guest monologist” to tell stories on the spot. This July, Scott Sjoberg plays along to raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis. Scott’s wife, Kami, was diagnosed with MS in 1999. Today, they both ride in the MS 150 with their team, The Feisty Devils, and commit their time, energy and passion to raising money to find a cure.

To get Scott started, the audience shouts out topics they want to hear about. Scott can respond with anything he wants to—as long as it’s true. Then Tantrum takes over, twisting and turning his tales into a series of scenes.

Tantrum Improv with Special Guest Scott Sjoberg
Friday, July 10, 8pm at the Westport Coffeehouse
Tickets: $20. Call 816-678-8886 for reservations.
No passes or discounts will be accepted at this benefit performance.

The guest monologist:
Leawood resident Scott Sjoberg is a Local Sales Manager for WDAF-TV Fox 4 and a die-hard KU fan. In their spare time, he and his wife Kami raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; their Bike MS team, The Feisty Devils, rides because they “know that riding so many miles is nowhere near as difficult as confronting a lifetime with multiple sclerosis.”

The troupe:
Veterans of the local improvisational comedy scene, Tantrum’s performers are: Trish Berrong, Pete Calderone, Nikki Dupont, Rob Grabowski (named KC’s 2008 Best Funny Performer by the Pitch), Megan Mercer, Michael Montague Jr., and Josh Steinmetz.

For more information, visit tantrumkc.blogspot.com or email tantrumkc AT gMail.com.

Become a fan on facebook: http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Tantrum-Improv/66256933038?ref=ts