Thank You For Today . Dreams of San Cliche . March 10

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I am thankful for today. I am thankful for family and friends. I am thankful for improv and writing. I am thankful for a place to wake up and start the day.

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Thank you for the dreams of San Cliche. Many chapters to remember. Arriving in the parking lots behind the old iO Chicago and discovering a wall where it once stood. Goofing around with an old Improvised Shakespeare friend Martin Wilson, him picking me up in a bear hug and carrying me around laughing in the cold. Old iO is gone, everything is different. Caught a ride in a van driven by former Comedy Sportz St Louis boss, Michael. He said he had a scheme to sell $100 tickets to investors in his new car. He shuffled through documents in the cabin. I said I’d pass as I opened the door while papers and envelopes poured out from the car. Above the streets, a theater on a rooftop, I am at the door and shaking hands. For $30 I bought a building and with a rooftop theater. I can’t remember if it was a man or a woman, they were just thankful the theater would survive. It was the first time in awhile I remembered San Cliche. And then I am parking my bicycle besides a familiar bar & grill. I want to say it awas Wrigleyville’s Sports Corner. I’m sitting on the bench outside tying my shoes, while some people I’m chatting with enter the bar. I tell them I bought a theater but don’t know what to do with it yet. They hold the door and listen. We all go in together. My clothes keep disappearing. First my shirt, then my pants, naked one moment and clothed the next. But my bags are always packed. The restaurant gets busier. I sit in the back with old improv friends. The place reminds me of Cochran’s now. Katie Nahnsen is in a play called Turkey set in Australia. Sounds weird and fun. I touch her wrist to congratulate her, she has the same smile. Her husband Kevin and Holly Laurent join us. We chat a little while. Holly always has something to be happy about. Kevin opens a menu and keeps wondering, “what is up with this place?” The Australian director arrives, I excuse myself to find my clothes again. The restaurant has set up pinball and plinko machines for it’s plinko league. I’m asked to join a team. I help the owner clear some bread off the seats. ‘People keep putting their bread on seats.” he says in his apron and mustache. I apologize about my clothes. He says not to worry, says my wallet is behind the bar. The restaurant is warm. Winter and snow are outside. Turning the van around. The hallways of the building I bought are familiar, I remember San Cliche. Up a small flight a steps, the theater doors are tall. The back of iO Chicago is gone, because old iO is gone. I wake up with a toothache. I wake up.

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Thank you for the dreams of San Cliche. I don’t talk much about it these days. It is a waking dream to someday have a theater. I call it San Cliche, a comedia del creve couer, comedy of the broken heart. I have not thought of it lately with so much going on. But last night it subtly came to me again. My dreams are often in a place that reminds me of Chicago. St Louis and Los Angeles landscapes come from time to time. But I often return to a metropolis that I can only describe as Bizarro Chicago. Lake Michigan is there, but the city is now on a huge cliff overlooking the ocean like waters. Lakeshore drive is there but the city has rolling hills like San Francisco. Last night was Wrigleyville but turned upside down. It makes sense that iO was gone, because it has moved near North & Clybourn. It felt familiar to be in a busy Chicago bar. It is a social scene I miss deeply. I have a deep appreciation for my college and childhood friends, but there will always be something special about Chicago. That is where dreams of San Cliche were born. Everything cliche’ that I loved about improv, live comedy, and the Chicago social scene, I have reimagined in San Cliche. San Cliche is real, it is a show, a fun style of show to share with friends, a celebration. I still have the facebook and twitter account and may have even had a website once. Tis a creative vision that has let me play in Chicago, St Louis, LA. The most recent run was monthly at iO West Loft. I am thankful to have played with Brad, Howie, Tyler, Rebecca, the two Joeys, Davey J, and one of the best people in the world, Aaron Caponigro. God bless that magical dude, his lovely lady, and his wonderful two boys. I am thankful he is working with ComedySportz LA these days. I am thankful he has always been a core part of San Cliche. It never manifested into a business, I let the momentum of my efforts bring me and hopefully others joy. It was nice to remember in a dream. Who knows, maybe it will someday have it's own Smart Media Token. Thank you San Cliche.

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Thank you for today. The little red couch is leaving at 10 am. The tires have lots of interest from Facebook Marketplace. I can barely keep up with the Marketplace, people have lots of questions, questions which are answered in the post. I wonder if they take the time to read the post or just see the photos. They do not match, but are brand new tires and rims. The comic books are next. Long weekend. Thank you for the rest, the coffee, the sunshine and the morning walks. Thank you for this motivating time, this gentle dusk before a whole new dawn. Thank you for today.

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photos . various san cliche

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jacobts

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