The kids? Well, the young, hip, urbanites are still beatboxing on the bus–but this time they were good! The #27 is an interesting bus. Unlike the creepy #3 that strolls past Harborview Medical Center (read: CRAZY PEOPLE) and all the assorted jails, the #27 takes you deep into the colorful, gentrified corners of the Central district. You’ll see a burnt down home settled next to a new set of urban condos. A hip coffee place next to a struggling car repair shop housed in someone’s side yard. The people on the bus are less frightening, more real, and in some cases I truly feel like I am peeking into an entirely different cultural. (OK, so this probably sounds like Little White Girl Enters the Big Wide Ghetto, but I’m trying to be genuine here).
A group of young, black, teenagers sat in the back of the #27 last Friday. One of them played the mouth trumpet, the other repeated the traditional “boom-ch-boompity-chee,” one of them made realistic turntable sounds, and the last spouted off rhymes. It was such an 8 Mile moment. Instead of being annoyed I was actually really impressed with how good they were. So good in fact, the bus driver carelessly said into his radio, “Hey, if you have a radio on back there, turn it off.” Which was actually a compliment! The boys toned it down briefly, until the leader began to sprinkle his rappin with colorful words. The bus driver came back on the radio with: “Watch your language, we’re a Family Bus.” It was all very heartening; especially when I got off the bus and the kids let me go first, like, “No, no after you.”
Despite having to work on Saturday for a few hours, this weekend was awesome. I met Johnny and Kris’ posse, ate cupcakes, ,
Cooked several good dinners, drank a lot of wine and cocktails, and genuinely enjoyed myself. I’ve been attending classes at the oldest Improv School in the states, which will remain unnamed for now. Instead of just hopping up onstage and playing games we’re actually studying the fine art of improvisational comedy through theory, example, and personal exploration. That might sound pretty heavy, but I’ve been out of school for a while, and I love it. Wednesday they have an open 3 hour forum, where you go crazy with the improv games. All the heavy theory and analysis can be applied. All in all, it’s been a good way to get back into the community.