All Access

Something that has always been a special and cherished experience to me in live has been when I was granted access to someplace exclusive. That's a natural thing, I think. Maybe people are perhaps eager to get into someplace like a nightclub where they are rather discriminating. For me, it need not be such a spectacular example of an exclusive place. I like just being able to be in the back room of a store, which employees of the store will probably tell you is not special.

The other day, I had a reasonable excuse to enter one of these protected realms. I had that sketch in the show on Sunday night, and I had props and costume items that people needed. My friend and I went into the bar area of iO West, which is how you get to the main theater where the show was to be. The guy checking IDs tells me that props have to go around back. I was not at all sure how to handle that, but I did know the way to the main stage and green room from the back.

Once we'd gotten past a locked door, there we were in the green room where cast members were getting ready. I quickly located the actors who needed things I had, and I handed them off. My friend and I were having fun chatting with the actors, who didn't seem too bothered, so we lingered a bit. It was a fun feeling to be there where most people would be greeted with awkwardness and hostility, and who probably would be told to leave.

After the show, I had to retrieve the things, and so I went back to the green room with another valid excuse. I returned to the theater for the next show, and my condition of feeling special was over. The privilege of being in that rarified air was one more incentive for me to get another sketch into that show or any other show. Maybe it's only me that it's a special thing for, but it's a special thing for me. I can't wait until the next time.