American Whitney

Sunday was the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. Because it is impossible to forget, I didn’t want to spend my time watching specials produced to keep the wounds fresh. I know, it makes me sound callous. But honestly, I can still see what happened a decade ago. I remember how uncertain I felt, and the way that others reacted… I didn’t need to see it cut to sappy music.

So instead of watching specials and services, and trying to explain to my young children just what this was about (I still think they’re a little too young)… TheBoy and I went to a reunion at Disneyland. We decided that celebrating life was the appropriate thing to do.

I worked at Disneyland while I was in college. It was where I met TheBoy, and where I made a lot of wonderful friends. (And in the context of the day, it was how 9/11 affected my life the most) In truth, it sort of ruined me for working at any other company- not because the job itself was that great. It was fun, but taxing. But because of the nature of working attractions, you build a family from the people you work with regularly.

I was lucky enough to get to work at the World Famous Jungle Cruise. I came in at the end of a summer, and felt like I was on the outside. But TheBoy’s best friend Ry worked Jungle, and made sure I wasn’t hazed like most newbies (he reminded people that I had already worked at Disneyland for a year and a half). So I was welcomed with open arms by a lot of really great people. Hilarious people.

While I worked at Jungle for almost three years after that, and made some wonderful friends- it was that group that I felt the closest to. It was that group that we were meeting with. We got there early, and met up at the Hub (that’s the fancy name for the place by the statue of Walt & Mickey). We took some pictures, caught up and went through the Park for the day. And the funniest part of all was that it felt like no time had passed. Sure, we were all 10+ years older than the last time we’d seen each other as a group, and most of us were married with kids… but it felt as though we could have just gone to Jungle and hopped right back into our rotations.

I’ve hinted at the scope of my anxiety issues lately. Making friends, being back in situations I’m not familiar with… it’s enough to drive me crazy. I went to a wedding of a cousin of TheBoy’s and had butterflies in my stomach all the way up there! But it says something about the way we all worked together that it didn’t even occur to me to be nervous about anything other than taking my kids along. (And why didn’t we bring them? I knew there’d be a lot of hanging out and talking- indeed, our lunch took well over an hour. Not exactly something my boys have the patience to do. Nor would they have been up for trying any new rides. The next reunion, I’ll bring them along)

Here’s a picture I shamelessly stole from my friend Alan. It doesn’t have everyone (I’ll try to find a picture that does), but it’s a picture that I love.

Now, to what happened on 9/11 a decade ago. Read More…

So this week I’ve been working on characters. Names, rough backgrounds, personalities. But I’m not going to share that yet. Sorry. But you know, there’s a lot of other stuff that I’ve worked on already that I thought needed documentation.

Inspiration comes from a lot of places for me. For the projects that I have notebooks for (and there are several) I have been inspired by television programs, dreams, movies, and even collaborations that fell through.

But this project? This one takes the cake. My inspiration came from a character that I’d worked up for a performance. And not just any performance… an ongoing performance that I did 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for almost 3 years. Read More…

Jezebel seems to think so. Citing its frequent turnover with female correspondants, Jezebel alleges that it’s a boy’s club and girls just aren’t welcome- unless you’re really hot, because who cares if you’re funny if you’re hot? The women of the Daily Show fired back with a note that essentially blames the story on disgruntled women, that there’s no real merit to the accusations.

Both seem to have missed the real point. This isn’t about any show in particular, it’s about our society at large. Comedy is subconsciously a man’s world, and women are still struggling to be accepted. Start naming women who are funny. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Now name men who are funny. Odds are, your list of funny men is longer.

Read More…