Frank: For me, performing to a packed house in my hometown, NYC, on Broadway no less, was a definite highlight.
Trace: After years of writing and performing in a little room, getting immediate feedback from a live audience is a great reward.
Mary Jo: For me, it was doing our first “official” live performance at the L.A. Film Festival in the John Ford Amphitheater. It was beautiful – albeit hot – night, and getting to do it live made me realize how it could all gel. Before that, I’d been operating in a vacuum on our studio DVDs. Getting that immediate reaction struck me to the core of my performer soul. Also, that whole weekend was wild because Roger Corman had pulled a cease and desist about 24 hours before we were to do the show. We’d been slated to do “Wasp Woman”, his horde of lawyers descended, and we were able to switch gears immediately. All very thrilling! I still have the emails from his legal team, sent to each and everyone of us.
Josh: I couldn’t narrow it down to one, so here’s my best memory of each year we’ve been doing live shows:
2008 – Our show at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater. I’d wanted to play this venue since I first moved to LA and saw Elvis Costello play there. I always thought I’d have to rent it out myself to make it a reality – this was much better. That night was a huge confidence booster for us – both from the really fun, sold-out show, and for our ability to handle the legal curveball thrown at us from Mr. Corman and his legal team.
2009 – The Pastrami at Kenny and Zuke’s Deli in Portland. I’m sorry, but of all the fun we had last year and all the cities we visited, that’s the memory I return to most often.
2010 – Our trip to New York was packed with fun memories: visiting MAD magazine and having them know who we are, appearing on Keith Olbermann’s show, playing a sold-out show on Broadway, and the look of sheer joy on Frank’s face as he ate a chopped liver sandwich at the Carnegie Deli.
Also, I’d like to thank Dave (Gruber) Allen for being there at all our live shows the last few years as our opening act. His presence has added mountains of joy and fun to the adventure that has been CT Live.Joel: I think some of my favorite moments were the special events we did for different
groups: such as our shows for Industrial Light and Magic, The USA Film Festival in Dallas, as well as performing at Pixar. These “out of the ordinary” events are a bit out of context as the expectation from the audience is never exactly clear – that is, until you’re right in the middle of it, also, at these demonstrations, it feels as if you’re being observed sort of academically: the audience is there to appreciate your craft as well as your ability to be funny. I like these events as they also include Q and A so you feel like you get to go a bit deeper with the audience explaining the story and hard work behind the making of a riff.
I have two most memorable moments from all the DVDs. From the live videos, the brilliant “group spit-take” in ‘East Meets Watts.’ Classic. For the studio titles I’m going to go with the first 15 minutes or so of “Doomsday Machine.” Some of the tightest, funniest riffing EVAH (in my humble opinion).
What would you pick?
