After that the crowd started chanting "TWO POINTS!" (see? audiences can do callbacks too), Nicole was given two points, and then Vic gave all their points to Nicole as well (surely an official act as Dropout President), and Lily declared that it is now canon in Dirty Laundry that singing "Defying Gravity" is worth two points.
It was an amazing finish; I loved it so much!
Nicole had performed as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway and at one point Grant (charmingly) derailed the show with a question about the procedure when the flying harness doesn't work for "Defying Gravity"—Nicole shared details on the procedure and that she had actually done it once! The performers all lie on the floor downstage on the rake with Elphaba upstage and everyone engages their suspension of disbelief.
At the end of the show Vic was in the lead and Nicole had scored only one point—she jokingly suggested that she could sing "Defying Gravity" for an extra point to avoid the shame of a single-point score. This quickly snowballed into the entire cast lying down and Nicole standing above them on a chair singing an excerpt from the song. The crowd went wild and I swear it's the best theater moment I've ever experienced.
<continued> 🧵
Vic and Griffin were able to riff repeatedly on a John Goodman bit and Eugene's desire for "two points" had an incredible payoff. Lily Du shared that she didn't have Paul Robalino keeping track of players' scores like she does for the in-studio production but she seemed to do really well juggling both point tracking and pacing the show well. I think it was Lily who pointed out that Eugene on studio Dirty Laundry was all about crimes while live Eugene (who had been out until 5am gambling the night before??) had some of the sweetest most heartfelt secrets to share.
But the big deal for this show? You may have seen it on Instagram stories already (unfortunately I can't find anywhere to link to it) — first, some setup:
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3) At a couple points a comedian led the crowd in ironic chants of "U-S-A!" and wow that conjures up some complex feelings these days.
Um, Actually was a joy live, Crowd Control pulled off a show that I wasn't sure would work in a live format; how will Dirty Laundry work live?
The Crowd Control performers were all superb—I was only familiar with Paul F. Tompkins but both Aaron Branch and Natasha Vinik were quite adept at the format. However, there were other aspects of the production that have really stuck with me:
1) I didn't notice it at Um, Actually the night before, but Crowd Control had multiple ASL interpreters available at the show and ended up doing crowdwork with some of the ASL table. I'm unsure whether that was specifically a Dropout thing but I really liked that they did that.
2) The person who ran around with the mic to ensure that all the audience members could be heard was a key part of the production, and Jacquis was right to give that person a shout-out at the end of the show (sorry I can't remember the name; the flu demands a price!)
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Second #Dropout #SFSketchfest review: Crowd Control!
I'd argue that good improv (and crowd work!) is typically balancing on a razor's edge between crushing disaster and raucous success, and I thought live Crowd Control landed on the successful side of the blade.
I was really curious how they would pull off a live version of Crowd Control—in the #DropoutTV show, audience members wear t-shirts with pithy blurbs about their quirky topics; were they going to hand out t-shirts to everyone in advance?
Instead they provided cardstock paddles that the "front row" tables could fill out with interesting stories they were willing to share with the audience. I thought it was an excellent way to adapt the concept for live performance, and Jacquis Neal commented how Dropout is too cheap to hand out t-shirts to everyone, a fun concession to the challenges involved.
<continued> 🧵
First #Dropout #SFSketchfest review: Um, Actually!
I love voice actors so the contestant roster was right up my alley. Going in I was hoping for something like the voice acting samples in s9e12 (also with Janet Varney!), and they did indeed have a Shiny Question on the topic.
Ify made a big deal at one point how the show wasn't being recorded which allowed him to say things off-the-record. I'm guessing he doesn't want me resharing that story so I'll just take the secret to the grave.
The cast was wonderful and though there were some highly entertaining digressions, they were able to keep the pacing engaging throughout. I had never seen Tawny Newsome live before, so that was a special treat, and Marc Evan Jackson was somehow able to pull off an entire character arc for himself which had me impressed. Janet Varney is an SF Sketchfest pro so she felt like an adept ambassador joining the two worlds.
Thankfully Brian David Gilbert's laptop battery survived the show!
I had hoped to post reviews of the sold-out Dropout SF Sketchfest shows right after seeing them all, but the flu had other plans for me.
Now, however, is the time for reviews! 🧵
New Dropout Release
Dimension 20's Adventuring Party - Right Past Titty Town
https://watch.dropout.tv/new-releases/videos/right-past-titty-town
#Dropout #DropoutTV #Dimension20 #Dimension20sAdventuringParty
New Dropout Release
Dimension 20: Gladlands - Collabotage
A thing I appreciate about #dropoutTV is they happily do all Black couches on Um Actually instead of splitting them up. You can tell how much these guys enjoy each other. 💕 Very cool.
New Dropout Release
Um, Actually - Zig, Garrick, and Thundercat Weeb Out
https://watch.dropout.tv/new-releases/videos/zig-garrick-and-thundercat-weeb-out
New Dropout Release
Make Some Noise - Jacob, Kurt, and Angela Have Fun with Filters
https://watch.dropout.tv/new-releases/videos/jacob-kurt-and-angela-have-fun-with-filters
Brennan Lee Mulligan *really* can't help giving monologues in almost anything he does and I'm totally here for it <3
https://watch.dropout.tv/very-important-people/season:3/videos/archimedes-and-ollie
New Dropout Release
Very Important People - Last Looks: Fanoli
https://watch.dropout.tv/new-releases/videos/last-looks-fanoli
New Dropout Release
Very Important People - Fanoli
New Dropout Release
Dimension 20's Adventuring Party - I Will Try to Fix You
https://watch.dropout.tv/new-releases/videos/i-will-try-to-fix-you
#Dropout #DropoutTV #Dimension20 #Dimension20sAdventuringParty
New Dropout Release
Dimension 20: Gladlands - Fake It Till You Fake It
https://watch.dropout.tv/new-releases/videos/fake-it-till-you-fake-it
New Dropout Release
Dimension 20 Animated - Operation Slippery Puppet
https://watch.dropout.tv/new-releases/videos/operation-slippery-puppet
haven't yet finished the episode but i'm already loving this miniseason. first of all i always like it when stuff isn't in 5e, and i love that D20 keeps iterating on systems (i really hope they post a rulesheet like they did with Never Stop Blowing Up).
but also, the vibe's amazing. mad max meets care bears is surprisingly solarpunk - not in the aesthetic of course, but in the kind of plot one can play that isn't just fighting baddies.
