After a super late Friday night, the next morning I was so tired I could barely see. My contacts were covering my eyes like Darrelle Revis.But off I went to a workshop featuring Mike Page, a casting director for the show “Community.” (One of the three best shows on TV.) After we performed our scenes, Mike had an improv exercise for us. It was voluntary, but I knew it was a great way to score points.
In a “Community” episode that aired last month, a lab rat is loose in the school, and a couple students sing to entice it over to them. Mike wanted us to replicate that scene using “Mary Had a Little Lamb” any way we saw fit. We began, and versions ranged from women Marilyn Monroe-ing it to my friend Tim, a behemoth of a former college football player going timidly high-pitched.
As people took their turns, I went into the workshop’s adjacent kitchen looking for a little prop help, and found something. The tricky part was concealing it behind my back, under my shirt as I made my way up to the front, moved swiftly through the lyrics until I got to the “whose fleece was white as snow” portion, and then I whipped it out: a can of Raid. It got laughs from the men and squeals from the women. Mission accomplished.
Right after, my friend John blurted out, “I didn’t know Carrot Top was gonna be here.” It was a great dig, and John had every right; when Mike was looking for the first volunteer, and the rest of us sat on our hands, John leapfrogged up there like Kurt Thomas in Gymkata. Gutsy stuff, sir.
