Trophy Wife

San Francisco, Here We Come!

Trophy Wife has been selected to perform in the annual San Francisco Improv Festival. We will perform this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (July 17 through 19) at 8:00 at the Purple Onion.

Now in its 5th year, the San Francisco Improv Festival is a multi-weekend showcase of improv from the Bay Area and from across the country.

Our shows will be at the famous Purple Onion. Lenny Bruce, Phyllis Diller, and other comedy greats have played the Purple Onion over the past 50 years. The club is at 150 Columbus Ave in North Beach.

The Festival’s site has information on the other featured acts and is now taking online ticket orders.

Night of the Refugees

By now, everyone knows that a recent accident has brought all shows and bar service at IO West to a grinding halt. For some of us, that means drinking far less. For others, it means having to get attention elsewhere. And for a few others, it means no paycheck. With the IO bar closed, a lot of members of the IO community are finding themselves out of work for the time being. That being the case, Nick Armstrong, 2007 Del Close Award winner for sexiest player had an idea. Let’s do shows somewhere else and donate a portion of the proceeds to the IO bar staff. Brilliant!!

This Wednesday at the the Tres Theater on La Brea four of IO’s best groups will come together for a night of revelry, improv, and drinking for a good cause. Doors open at 7:30 and your $10 admission is good for all four shows. Local 132, Kind Stranger Presents: Improvised Tennessee Williams, a Nite Terrors reunion show, and of course, yours truly Trophy Wife. A portion of the proceeds will go to the IO bar staff so we’d like to get as many folks out to enjoy these great shows as we can.

Looks Like We Made It (This Far): 3 Years of the Wife

Do you know how hard it is to stay married in LA?

It’s hard. Really hard. Whoever says marriage isn’t work is full of crap. Don’t get us wrong, there are good times too. But then what about the times when Eric Hunicutt stalks grouchily off to bed without taking out the trash, or Mike Coen leaves his socks lying around, or Rachael Drummond eats all the spaghetti Bolognese we made without a “thank you” or even an “eeehngh” of pleasure!? Huh? And don’t even get us started on those nights when Kevin McShane turns a cold shoulder in the conjugal bed because he has a “headache” (Kevin ALWAYS has a headache, these days, and if his head is hurting then MAYBE he shouldn’t flounce around in those little scraps of lace like he’s asking for it).

But, like we said, there are also good times. And those good times, if you wait for them, can make you forget the bad times. Like the time when Opus Moreschi packed us a surprise picnic lunch and we took it up in the hot air balloon, then when we came down Jill had camels waiting to carry us to the Arbor Day Parade, and then Tim handmade us all little decoupaged cards telling us which parts of our bodies were his favorites and he said we couldn’t show them to anyone else because they were PRIVATE, and we all played footsie under the wrought-iron table before running down to the beach and getting our pants all full of sand.

Those times are pretty awesome. And it’s those little things that remind us why we stay married.

Which also reminds us – hey, this Wednesday is our THREE YEAR anniversary show! Yes, three whole years. We’ve been faithful, too. Not that we haven’t looked at other improv teams… but you can look as long as you don’t touch, right?

P.S. the three year anniversary is the SCADS OF CASH anniversary which means you should give us money. But if you don’t want to do that, you could always just come to our show Wednesday night at 9:30 (after DHT at 9). What do you think?

Trophy Wife To Play the Phoenix Improv Fest

Trophy Wife has again been selected to perform in the annual Phoenix Improv Festival. We will perform on Saturday, April 5th at 9:30 in the Herberger Theater West.

Now in its 7th year, the Phoenix Improv Festival features improvisers from all over the country and attracts a large audience from throughout the Southwest. Trophy Wife had a great time at last year’s festival and looks forward to another road trip through the desert.

The Festival’s website has information on the other featured acts and will soon be taking online ticket orders.

A Gift From Your Trophy Wives

We got you something.

Yeah yeah. I know we said we weren’t going to get each other anything this year. But we couldn’t help it. We hope you don’t mind:

WE’VE PUT EVERY SINGLE EPISODE OF OUR PODCAST ONLINE.

That’s right. Every single episode. Nearly 50 Harolds and counting. Over a year’s worth of shows. All for you. Because we love you.

• MARVEL at Trophy Wife’s greatest hits! Shows like Bloodsport or the Del Close nominated Animation.
• WINCE at Trophy Wife’s not-so-greatest hits. Shows like Cheeze Whiz or Masturbation.
• RE-LIVE Rachael or Mike’s first show!

• WITNESS me wear the same four outfits over and over and over again!

And all this comes with the announcement that we’re splitting the podcast off from our normal news feed in the New Year. iTunes subscribers don’t have to worry – your subscription should automatically update over the next few days. But non-iTunes subscribers should grab the link to the left or enter http://feeds.feeburner.com/trophywifepodcast in your newsreader. It’s as easy as that.

Now don’t go out and get us something last minute out of guilt. It’s really no big deal. Just our way of saying “thanks” for sticking with us this long. But if you really must give us something in return, why not donate a few dollars to your favorite improv team?

SUPPORT YOUR TROPHY WIFE!

If you like what we do, please consider tossing a few bucks our way. All tax-deductable donations go toward various team expenses (upgrading the podcast, festival fees, potty-training Tim, etc.) as well as good karma.

Have a safe and happy holidays,
-Your Trophy Wives

That's Our Jill!

Last night, our very own Jill Alexander debuted on Quarterlife – the new angst-ridden twenty-something-centric web series by My So-Called Life creator Marshall Herskowitz.

In her recurring role, Jill plays a conniving co-worker alongside GOAL! cast member Rob Smith in an ongoing subplot that apparently involves lower ad rates or something. I dunno. All I know is that I’m one degree closer to Claire Danes. Or, as I like to call her, The Future Mrs. Kevin McShane.

Trophy Wife to face King Ten in Harold Competiton

This Tuesday, October 30, Trophy Wife will go up againt King Ten in Round 2 of the IO West Harold Team Competition.

King Ten has been a fixture of the IO West Harold scene for many years. They’ve won their share of competitions. They’ve been the object of countless improv crushes. In short, this night of improv competition (Tuesday, October 30 at 8:00) will not disappoint. The only sad part is that, at the end of the hour, you’ll be asked to decide which team did a better show. But don’t worry: the real winner will be you, the audience.

Trophy Wife vs. King Ten
Fall 2007 Harold Competition
iO West Theater
6366 Hollywood Blvd (between Cahuenga and Vine)
Hollywood 90028
323.962.7560 or www.iowest.com for tickets/info

Admission: $5
21+ (bring your ID)
Full bar / Valet parking

And The Wife Takes a Del

The Wife post-ceremony

Trophy Wife won two Dels last night at the IO West’s first-annual Del Close Awards. Nominated in 3 ensemble categories (Best Team Name, Best Harold Performed, Best Harold Team), Trophy Wife won for Best Team Name and Best Harold Team.

Several members of Trophy Wife were nominated in other categories. Zabeth Russell and Eric Hunicutt won a Del for their two-person show Applebottom Gang as Best Show in the IO West’s Andy Dick Black Box Theater. Eric won again for a Goal! show. And Zabeth won again for Most Memorable Line. Her line was from a Trophy Wife show and is, indeed, memorable: “Do you think it’s easy having a child with an 11-inch clitoris in class?”

Opus, Zabeth, and Kevin with various Dels

The awards ceremony itself was a lavish affair. Craig Cackowski served as the announcer, Josh Dubose as the host, and a cavalcade of IO West’s finest were the presenters. The night celebrated improv as an art form, the IO West as a community, and self-congratulation as an acceptable thing to do on a hot summer night in Los Angeles.

Best Dressed: Irene White

As with any awards ceremony, talk inevitably turns to debating who was the best dressed person at the event. I’d like to say that award goes to everyone. The entire theater was dressed to the nines: Miles Stroth in a seersucker suit; Ali Davis in a dress fit for a queen; Nick Armstrong in an outfit that was part P.T. Barnum, part Liberace. Again, I’d like to say that everyone wins Best Dressed, but there is, in fact, a clear and singular winner for Best Dressed: our coach Irene White.

Check out Kevin’s photos from the event.

the wife cleans up at the Del Close Nominations

Last night the nominations for the upcoming Del Close Awards at IOWest were announced and Trophy Wife (or Trophy Wifers) were nominated in several categories.

Here’s the full list of categories and nominees:

EXCELLENCE IN BARTENDING

• Nick Bush
• Jon Crowley
• Dan McNeill
• Brian O’Connell
• Britain Spellings

BEST WAITSTAFF

• Anoush Arakelian
• Jessica Botello
• Ashley Knaysi
• Eve Savona
• Colleen Heider

HARDEST WORKING INTERN

• Anoush Arekelian
• Troy Coleman
• Genevieve Jones
• Erin McGathy
• Judith Shelton

MOST LIKELY TO BE AT IO WHEN THEY DON’T HAVE A SHOW

• Spencer Austin
• Kevin Berg
• Woody Drennan
• Joe Hererra
• EJ Scott

FAVORITE ANDY DICK BOX SHOW

• Afternoon Delight
• Apple Bottom Gang (Eric and Zabeth)
• First Time with Cacky
• The Social (Zabeth)
• Troika (Kevin and Irene)

SEXIEST PLAYER

• Nick Armstrong
• Ryan Gaul
• Sarah Gee
• John McKinney
• Eve Savona

BEST PORTRAYAL OF FURNITURE OR ENVIRONMENT

• Jason Shomer – Table Lamp (Mission IMPROVable)
• Tim Jennings – Computer Game Character (Trophy Wife)
• Craig Cackowski – Bear Skin Rug (COG)
• Jason Meier – File Cabinet Droid, File2D2 (Level 5 Class Show)
• Bob Dassie – Scott Adsit’s Love Handles (Armando)

BEST IMPROVISED NON-HAROLD SHOW

• Armando
• Cog (Johnny A & Mike Coen)
• Dasariski
• Opening Night! The Improvised Musical
• Quartet

MOST MEMORABLE LINE

• “I’ve got a sauce that’ll blow your dick off!”- John Abbott
• “I’m a botanist, you bitch!” Joy Allen
• “Ah, the horrible delay of an excellent soufflé.”- Craig Cackowski
• “I’m looking for a genius baby.” Dave Hill
• “Do you think it’s easy having a child with an 11-inch clitoris in class?” – Zabeth Russell

BEST SCRIPTED SHOW

• Dry Clean Only (Josh DuBose and Dana Powell)
• Lampshades (Scot Robinson & Kate Flannery)
• The Sunset: Live at Dusk (Misson IMPROVable)
• Open to the Public (Irene White)
• Potential (Karen Graci)

MOST UNDERRATED PLAYER

• Rachael Drummond
• Kevin McShane
• Bobby Mort
• Chris Mosier
• Melissa Sorrentino

BEST TEAM NAME

• King Ten
• The LaFontaine Players
• Spazz Free
• Sweetness
• Trophy Wife

BEST HAROLD PERFORMED

• Baker’s Dozen (Goal!)
• High School Drama Club (King Ten)
• Nursing Home (King Ten)
• Animation (Trophy Wife)
• Suede (Trophy Wife)

BEST HAROLD TEAM

• DHT
• Goal!
• King Ten
• La Fontaine Players
• Trophy Wife

COACH OF THE YEAR

• Craig Cackowski
• Dave Hill
• Eric Hunicutt
• Levin O’Connor
• Irene White

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

• Craig Cackowski
• Sarah Gee
• James Grace
• Dave Hill
• Eric Hunicutt

polyamory rocks the house, OR: Welcome Mike Coen

Remember how we just got married again? To Rachael?

Yeah, well. So we’re all sitting on the porch of our opulent beach house, drinking tiki-tinis (we made up that drink on our magnificent honeymoon) and getting totally windswept. It was one of those evenings when everything’s just perfect, you know? We’re all lounging out there on the porch. We’d had a great, super-romantic dinner during which we all held hands and touched feet under the table just like schoolkids. We all looked incredibly attractive and were very excited about our futures together! One of us, I can’t remember who (probably Kevin) said something like, “I love living and laughing. Let’s all do this FOREVER,” at which point we all sighed contentedly IN UNISON! Magic. Magic, you guys.

But then, I can’t explain it, this feeling of restlessness came over us. It was just like everything was almost TOO perfect. We shuffled around a little bit and made fart noises with our mouths and began making strained jokes. So we decided to take a walk on the beach to clear our heads (if you read Trophy Wife’s match.com profile you’ll see that walking on the beach is one of our favorite activities, and you will also learn that we’re very down to earth and can go from baseball caps to evening attire with ease because we’re real like that).

So we were walking, digging our toes in the sand, when up ahead suddenly appeared this VISION in seersucker. He was walking a golden retriever, throwing a stick, laughing, with the wind in his hair. Time stopped.

Mike Coen. Mike… Coen. The name rolls off the tongue.

We invited him back to the beach house for tiki-tinis. Things got weird. Long story short, Trophy Wife got married again. Well, look at him, how could you resist? We couldn’t. Obviously.

Looks like the beach house is a little more full. Also, we’re all going off birth control. Keep your fingers crossed for us!