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It practically gallops!

Fest Up

The show schedule for the Gatlinburg Improv Fest was posted the other day. Einstein Simplified will perform on Friday, February 24 at 9:30 p.m. and on Saturday, February 25 at 6:30 p.m.

A weekend pass for all shows Thursday-Saturday is available for $100
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Thursday February 23, 2012
6:30-7:30 Welcome!
8:00-9:00 Sweet Fanny Adams, Gatlinburg, TN $10
9:30-10:30 TBA (tentative)

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Friday February 24, 2012 – day pass is $40 for all Friday shows, or individual show prices below
5:00-6:00 Shenanigans, Cleveland, TN $10
6:30-7:30 Obv-prov, Cleveland, TN $10
8:00-9:00 Six Guitars -Chase Padgett, Orlando, FL $12
9:30-10:30 Einstein Simplified, Knoxville, TN $10
11:00-12:00 Sweet Fanny Adams, Gatlinburg, TN $10
12:30-1:30 *Sweet Fanny Adams. Gatlinburg, TN – late night invitational (tentative)

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Saturday February 25, 2012 – day pass is $50 for all Saturday shows, or individual show prices below
3:30-4:30 Sweet Fanny Adams, Gatlinburg, TN $10
5:00-6:00 Obv-prov, Cleveland, TN $10
6:30-7:30 Einstein Simplified, Knoxville, TN $10
8:00-9:00 Six Guitars -Chase Padgett, Orlando, FL $12
9:30-10:30 Reasonably Priced Babies, Asheville, NC $10
11:00-12:00 Shenanigans, Cleveland, TN $10
12:30 -1:30 *Sweet Fanny Adams. Gatlinburg, TN – late night invitational (tentative)

I’ve started looking up the other groups who’ll be sharing the stage at the Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre with us. I found a Facebook page for Reasonably Priced Babies from Asheville and a YouTube channel for Shenanigans from Lee University. Here’s a video of Shenanigans playing “Dead Bodies.”

February 5, 2012 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Choosy Mothers Choose GIF

Krisha Newport stopped by my remote broadcast on Wednesday. She was on her way to a planning meeting for the Gatlinburg Improv Fest, which starts five weeks from today. The entry deadline is January 25. The festival will run February 23 to 26 at Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre, located at traffic light #3 in Gatlinburg.

The headliner is a one-man musical improv act called 6 Guitars. The star, Chase Padgett, had to buy a new guitar when his home was burglarized recently.

Krisha said there will be an improv jam, in which all the participants get to play improv games with each other. Although I’ve been doing improv for over ten years, this will be my first improv festival and I can hardly wait. I saved a few bucks by signing up Einstein Simplified before the early registration deadline last month.

January 19, 2012 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

On the Launch Brad

Einstein Simplified performs at First Night Knoxville 2012 - Frank Murphy & Brad Bumgardner play "Whose Line" There was a moment during the 10:00 p.m. Einstein Simplified show at First Night Knoxville last night when the emcee asked for two players. Brad Bumgardner and I stepped forward and were told to head to isolation. We had lucked out. We were going to play “Whose Line,” the game that gave the TV show its name. While we were gone, the audience shouted out sentences for the other troupe members to write on index cards. All Brad and I had to do was incorporate the lines into a scene. Brad and I joined Einstein Simplified at the same time, which makes it especially fun for me when we get to share the stage.

Until recently, Brad worked as a video editor specializing in local commercials. His employer merged its operations with another company and laid off most of the staff. He decided to partner with another coworker in the same situation. They formed their own company, which is called DigiPro Video. Brad does a great job. I plan to keep my ears open for any opportunity to send work his way.

January 1, 2012 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Stream Weaver

Three of the items purchased with an Amazon.com gift certificate that I got for Christmas were Instant Videos. Two were movies that were on my wish list for a long time: “Shaun of the Dead” and “Stormy Weather.” The third was a black-and-white episode of “The French Chef” in which Julia Child cooked lobster.

The hassle of connecting a laptop to my television in order to watch “Sherlock Holmes” inspired me to click another link on Amazon. Set-top boxes and certain newer model televisions can be connected to the Internet and can play Amazon videos. The Sony SMP-N100 is currently on sale for less than $50 online and at several retailers.

I had $20 in cash and a $30 gift card to a big box store, which I decided to spend on the streaming video box while Frank Jr. is still home and available to help me hook it up. The only disappointment was that the store would not let me use their coupon in the Knox County School Coupon Book because the item I wanted was on sale. I will probably never use the coupon, because I can’t think of one thing I would buy there that wasn’t on sale.

In addition to Amazon Instant Videos, the SMP-N100 has pre-programmed links for podcasts from NPR and other sources, free videos from Crackle and YouTube and many more that I haven’t tried yet.

It was relatively easy to use the device to log-in to my Amazon and YouTube accounts. I showed Frank Jr. a couple of funny Einstein Simplified videos, including my current favorite in which Dave Fennell is trying to get Aaron Littleton to guess “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

December 31, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments 

Academy, a Comedy

The featured article on the front page of Tuesday’s Knoxville News Sentinel was a first-hand account of Jamie Satterfield’s experience in the FBI Citizens Academy. Her experience was a lot like mine. I took the eight-week class two years ago. The article was a topic of conversation at the annual FBI Knoxville Citizens Academy Alumni Association holiday party on Tuesday night.

buffet at Side Splitters for FBIKCAAA holiday party The group often holds its monthly meetings on Tuesdays, which is the same night that I perform each week with Einstein Simplified. When this year’s holiday party was being planned, I suggested that the event could be held at Side Splitters Comedy Club since I was going to be there anyway. Side Splitters turned out to be an ideal venue. Activities chair Pat Payne chose a menu of salad, chicken parmesan, risotto, mushroom ravioli, and shrimp.

FBI Knoxville Assistant Special Agent in Charge Keith Paul, Frank Murphy and Public Affairs Specialist Stacie Bohanan at the FBIKCAAA holiday party Dinner was served in the showroom at 6:00 p.m. After we ate, Association president Dennis Reedy and Special Agent in Charge Rick Lambert made a few remarks from the stage. Lambert presented the outgoing officers with awards to show the Bureau’s appreciation. Pat Payne and I also received recognition for our efforts in helping to plan activities throughout the past year. Once the meeting was over, the showroom doors were opened to the general public. The FBIKCAAA members stayed for the 8:00 p.m. improv show, comprising about half of the audience.

November 30, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Comedy Comestibles

The conversation in Sid’s Lounge turned to food after Tuesday night’s Einstein Simplified show. My wife and I were talking with Lori and her friend Amber, who are managers at the Chocolate Monkey in Kodak and Pigeon Forge, respectively. I introduced the ladies to Jennifer, who works as a personal chef and also served up an amazing dish at the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction on Sunday.

Jennifer described some other meals she had prepared recently, including one that combined peaches and bacon. Lori told us about chocolate-covered Twinkies and other decadent treats at her store. I challenged them to make something with Marshmallow Peeps, ideally Peeps brûlée. My wife told them about the time we used leftover Peeps Ghosts to cover our sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving.

Side Splitters co-owner Bridgette O’Dell is running a special during our November 29th show. Fill a table of four and everyone at the table gets 10% off their total bill. Reservations are required, especially since there will be a large group from the FBI Knoxville Citizens Academy Alumni Association in the house that night. Use the promo code CHAIR when booking your table online or by phone at 865-934-LAFF.

November 16, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Spirit of ‘76

Katrina is a huge fan of "1776" - photo by John Hudgens A woman named Katrina agrees with my wife and me that “1776″ is the greatest musical about the Declaration of Independence. To prove it, she pulled a DVD copy of the movie out of her purse at Side Splitters on Tuesday night.

Katrina celebrated her birthday by coming to see Einstein Simplified with a group of friends. It was a good night, with many crazy images captured by Cinnamon Studios. I was grateful that two friends made good on their promises to see our show for the first time. Katrina was there with Marisa Lykins, who used to work at a local Christian radio station. My wife ended up sitting at the same table as Bob Becker, who used to work at WATE-TV and now does marketing for a local classic country station. It truly means a lot to me when people take time from their busy schedules to relax and laugh for a couple of hours with us on a Tuesday night.

November 10, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

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