Random Notes, January 2015

I've got politics on the mind:

+ I'm not that keen on Bruce Rauner, at least not yet. He still comes across as an out-of-touch millionaire who promises more than he can seemingly deliver. Either way, the first Republican Governor of Illinois in 12 years has his work cut for him, a bipartisan mess that dates back to the turn of the 21st century. Corruption has become an assumption in his office, and even though Rauner beat a weak, doddering incumbent he still needs to win Illinois' trust. The bar has been set fairly low.

+ Speaking of Illinois, we're about two months away from the next Chicago mayoral election. Rahm Emanuel has his detractors and rightfully so --especially given his inability to reduce street violence-- but his opponents for reelection are a hodgepodge. He's currently polling at 50%, and depending on whether any of his three challengers gain any momentum, the odds of him winning a second term are fittingly about 50/50.

+ Meanwhile, on a national level, this year's State of the Union was probably the most tangential address to Congress in recent memory. If you looked at it at face value, the speech was President Obama discussing job growth and domestic security while also defending his still-controversial overhaul of health care. If you read between the lines, Obama was discussing the next four years, and the long-term impact of his administration. With less than two years to go and a GOP-controlled ready to nix anything he puts in front of them, this might be the closest this president might ever get to another victory speech. The Obama years might seem like a mixed bag (or worse) but he doesn't seem to be giving up just yet.

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Jason Chin 1968-2015

I am in complete disbelief.



Several hours after I heard the news, I still can't comprehend the fact that Jason Chin is dead. As I write this, details are still sketchy, but what happened was relatively sudden. At the same time, I figured it would be best to process my raw emotions into something meaningful:



I first met Jason Chin at iO Chicago somewhere around mid- to late 2010. I never had him as an instructor; he was just always around, either playing in Armando, sitting in with Deep Schwa --a legendary house team that dates back to the mid-90s-- or talking comic books with the bartenders. It wasn't until I became an intern a few months later that I got better acquainted with Jason. He also created and produced "Whirled News Tonight," a long-running improv show based on current events. I interned on Saturday nights during WNT, assisting in putting newspapers and scissors on a folding table so that audience members could pick the stories the "news crew" would use for scenes.



There was little questioning that Whirled News was Jason's baby. He co-created the show, served as producer, and also coached the oft-rotating ensemble of Chicago improv veterans. It was, he slyly gloated, the longest running topical comedy show in the city. (By my last count, of the current dozen or so actors currently in WNT, three or four are still around from the show's 2003 inception.) Jason also organized the stage like a mom before her kid's birthday party; he made a habit of sweeping the floor himself with a broom, and if an intern didn't do it first, he would also set up the folding table and the cork board used for the newspaper clippings. I usually moved the table off-stage before the show began.



As an intern, I was supposed to alternate weekly between the upstairs (Del Close) and downstairs (Cabaret) theaters at iO's then-location in Wrigleyville. However, one of the other interns was apparently obsessed with the musical improv show in the Cab, so 75% of the time I was upstairs watching and playing gofer for Whirled News. On the occasion that I could sit down and catch my breath, I witnessed a show was at worst above-average improv and at best transcendent and hilarious, and it usually leaned toward the latter. Jason had a singular vision for Whirled News, and it operated like a cunning machine.



Jason was on my short list of people I wished I could collaborate with. When my time as an iO student ended --and ergo, my internship-- I expressed my interest to Jason in auditioning for WNT if I made a Harold team. He appreciated the thought, though obviously nothing came of it. A little over a year later, Jason was putting together a variety show called Saturday/Saturday, which would run Saturday nights after Whirled News. This time around, he was both producing and hosting the show, which would feature a small army of acts in a rapid-fire setting. I auditioned with Bess Miller on a short-lived project we worked on called Half Jew Half Stu ("an improvised divorce"). We did an improvised scene for him; it was pleasant enough, he concurred, but with the election coming up he thought our concept was better suited for Valentine's Day. We promised to re-audition in a few months, but Bess was busy with other projects and HJHS evaporated soon after.



As it turned out, I missed out on something pretty special. Saturday/Saturday ran for a year or so, but the one show I attended left an indelible mark in my mind. Chin's vision of a chaotic, high-energy variety show was fully realized, with him as both the ringmaster and the eye of the storm. It was Variety with a capital "V": you had the obligatory improv and sketch acts, but also a quiz segment, at least one stand-up comedian, a musical guest, a guy that did slight-of-hand tricks, and a hypnotist. Each act was given six or seven minutes to share their wares, to ensure that the show would go as frenetically as possible. Jason's quiz segment concluded with an audience member wearing a "Sombrero of Shame," which I borrowed to him after he messaged some people on Facebook. I meant to ask when I could pick up my hat, but the opportunity never arose.



I didn't know Jason Chin on a personal level; we hardly hung out or had any lengthy one-on-one conversations. At the same time, I grew familiar with his essence. He was jovial, but his art was truth; he could be grounded and spontaneous at the same time. He was a late bloomer to improv, having not taken his first class until he was almost 30, but he more than made up for lost time. There was a reason why he spent so many years as iO's creative director and training center chief; he knew talent and understood how to both nurture and support it. Like a certain big, silly hat that now sits in a closet somewhere, Jason Chin is now lost to the ages. A peerless man with a tremendous mind, gone far too soon at age 46. To my friends on the Chicago improv scene, I mourn with you tonight, as we collectively struggle to figure out this incalculable loss.

That Wonderful Year in TV... 2014

Well, Happy New Year everyone. After fighting a rough case of the flu last week, my 2014 TV blog was pushed into early January. For the handful of people that still read this blog, thank you for your patience. I hope this top five was worth the wait, because 2014 in TV was incessantly entertaining.

1. Broad City, Comedy Central. In a banner year for Comedy Central programming --"The Colbert Report" went out with a bang, and I've heard good stuff about "Review"-- arguably the most unique sitcom on basic cable was its funniest. Abby and Ilana live pathetic, low-stakes lives yet their tiny crises and self-delusion was plenty entertaining. Memorable Episodes: "Working Girl," "Fattest Asses," "Apartment Hunters"

2. Community, NBC. This season never should have happened. After an uneven (read: not totally awful) fourth season, showrunner Dan Harmon returned by some act of God and made his strangest creation relevant again. Aging and mortality made for a compelling recurring theme in 2014's big comeback story. Memorable Episodes: "Cooperative Polygraphy," "GI Jeff," "Basic Story"

3. Bob's Burgers, Fox. Surreal humor and family warmth are always on the menu at everyone's fledging burger joint. Even though monotone eldest daughter Tina remains the show's best weapon, all five Belchers have their own lovable set of quirks, and Season 4 was also a breakout year for sad-sack regular customer Teddy. Memorable Episodes: "Mazel Tina," "The Equestranauts," "Tina and the Real Ghost"

4. Mad Men, AMC. The ad execs and creative talents of Sterling Cooper & Partners (or whatever it's called now) entered 1969 amid much personal turmoil. At the halfway point of the show's bifurcated final season, it came down to the agency's makeshift family: Don the Dad, doting Pete and Peggy, Grandpa Bert (RIP) and wacky Uncle Roger. Memorable Episodes: "A Day's Work," "Waterloo"

5. Girls, HBO. Even though the hype (and ensuing controversy) has died down considerably, Lena Dunham and company are still putting out a quality product. The lighter-hearted third season also featured the epic "Beach House" fight that was in the gloaming almost from day one. Memorable Episodes: "Dead Inside," "Beach House," "Flo"

Honorable Mentions: Boardwalk Empire, HBO (episodes "Devil You Know" and "Eldorado") and Adventure Time, Cartoon Network (too many episodes to count).

Again, your thoughts?

That Wonderful Year in Music... 2014

If I could summarize 2014 as a year in music, the first word that comes to mind is "abundance." This was a very rich year for alternative and hip-hop, maybe the best since 2010. I intentionally heightened the number of new releases I listened to compared to last year, and I still feel like I didn't cover enough ground. Worse yet, it made the process of whittling down the best albums list to 20 a even tougher task than usual.

BEST ALBUMS:

1. St. Vincent, St. Vincent. Not to be confused with the recent Bill Murray movie of the same name, the genius of Annie Clark saw its audience increase tenfold with her fifth studio effort. Her 2012 collaboration with David Byrne Love This Giant confirmed she was the heir apparant of the former Talking Heads frontman, as her accessible art-rock is a rare breed. The sound is more pop than her previous work, yet Clark's razor-sharp wit seems even more vicious underneath the candy-coated production.
2. Run the Jewels 2, Run the Jewels (Killer Mike and El-P). Not a single beat is wasted on this unlikeliest of sequels. The first Run the Jewels, released in mid-2013, was a pleasant lark, but no one anticipated a sequel that was so immediate, yet fluid and filthy. Killer Mike and El-P are established hip-hop MCs on their own, but together they destroy worlds.
3. Lost in the Dream, The War on Drugs. To anyone who dismisses indie-rock as millennial prattling, I want you to meet Adam Granduciel. The Philly-based musician, who co-founded TWOD in the mid-2000s with Kurt Vile, then kept the band going after Vile went solo four years ago, has fully matured as a songwriter on Drugs' captivating third album. This is 21st century blue-collar, and the callbacks to Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen are both earnest and justified.
4. Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen
5. Salad Days, Mac Demarco
6. Pinata, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
7. Benji, Sun Kil Moon
8. Manipulator, Ty Segall
9. Here and Nowhere Else, Cloud Nothings
10. Are We There, Sharon Van Etten. Over in Brooklyn, an old pal and hired hand of Neko Case's is turning into a formidable singer-songwriter in her own right. Two years after Tramp and the AAA radio hit "Serpents" first made people aware of Van Etten, There makes the case that she's no fluke. This woman has suffered for her art, yet beneath each confession is a parable.

11. My Krazy Life, YG
12. Oxymoron, Schoolboy Q
13. Atlas, Real Estate
14. Nikki Nack, TuNe-YaRdS
15. Morning Phase, Beck. On the surface, Beck's first studio album in six years is a kindred spirit and sequel to 2002's Sea Change. At heart, this thoughtful disc has more in common with 1998's Mutations; the sound is relaxed, but the lyrics are more melancholy than sorrowful. Anyone expecting a return to his goofier, funkier side should keep waiting; this exercise into Nick Drake-type country-rock might be his most intriguing reinvention yet.
16. They Want My Soul, Spoon
17. Sukierae, Tweedy
18. Lazaretto, Jack White
19. Turn Blue, The Black Keys
20. Sun Structures, Temples. One of the most fun listens of '14 came from this quartet of '60s-obsessed British lads. The leadoff single "Shelter Song" sounds like a long-lost track from Nuggets. Their obsession with making everything sound like 1967 might have gotten in the way of giving these up-and-comers any personality, but Structures is so trippy and energetic that it almost doesn't matter.

Best Import: The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas, Courtney Barnett. Not so much a debut album but a pairing of two EPs released in her native Australia in 2012-13, Barnett made ripples in American indie-rock circles in 2014. If Stephen Malkmus (of Pavement and Jicks fame) had a long-lost Aussie niece, she'd sound a lot like Barnett; her stoner-slacker deadpan adds wit to "Avant Gardener" and "History Eraser," two songs that play like compelling short fiction. Her first proper full-length is due out in early 2015, and fingers crossed it'll make next year's Top 20.

Best Jazz Album: Last Dance, Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden. The second release culled from a 2007 session between these two old friends, this collection of tunes feels more like a cohesive album than 2010's equally atmospheric Jasmine. The peculiar, curious intro to Monk's "Round Midnight" reveals an affection for the melody I don't think I've heard in any other rendition. (Also, RIP Charlie Haden, bass virtuoso.)
Honorable Mention: Kin, Pat Matheny Unity Group.

BEST SINGLES:

"Coming of Age," Foster the People
"Supernova," Ray Lamontagne
"This is a Game," Nick Waterhouse
"Don't Wanna," Howler
"Fall in Love," Phantogram
"Hot and Cold," Ex Hex
"Uptight Downtown," La Roux
"American Horror," Speedy Ortiz
"Violent Shiver," Benjamin Booker
"War on the East Coast," The New Pornographers
"From Eden," Hozier
"Left Hand Free," Alt-J

BEST VIDEOS:

1. "Take Me To Church," Hozier. This video first dropped just under the wire late last year, but "Church" (the single and the clip) both blew up in mid-2014. The lyrics about suicide and Catholic guilt meshes eerily well against the haunting hate crime of the video.
2. "Chandalier," Sia. It's all about that dance.
3. "Seasons (Waiting on You)," Future Islands. A viral hit twice over: this rodeo-centric, documentary style clip gain just as much attention as their operatic performance on the Late Show last March.
4. "Fever," The Black Keys. Hey, remember tele-evangelists?
5. "Babylon," SZA. Speaking of overt religious themes, this R&B singer decides the only way she can absolve herself is by self-baptism in a pond.
6. "Crime," Real Estate. This was a breakout year for former MADtv cast member Andy Daly, who plays the "auteur" director of the most clusterfucky video ever made. You know before you hear the song that it's going to be chaos.
7. "Water Fountain," tUnE-yArDs. A recreation of a typical Tuesday evening at Merrill Garbus' house.
8. "Thirst," Every Time I Die. Imagine an episode of "Broad City" taken over by two speed-metal dickbags from the Great Plains, and that's pretty much this video.
9. "Low Key," Tweedy. Shot in and around Chicago, this father/son Wilco spinoff is desperate to sell some records. Look for appearances from Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter, and in one of her last film appearances, veteran Windy City stage actress Molly Glynn.
10. "7/11," Beyoncé. In accordance with the Federal Beyoncé Act of 2013, all music video best-of lists must include at least one clip from Bey. This on-the-fly, yet slickly edited home movie should meet the quota.

Honorable Mention: "The Writing's On the Wall," OK Go. This group has had so many inventive videos, I'm ready to cry uncle. Also, the subtle horror of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space."

Your thoughts?

The Cuban Slide, or One Last Political Blog for 2014

My latest year-in-music blog is still a work in progress, so here's a quick topical dispatch:

I'm convinced that Cuba is on the verge of collapse. This week's historic decision by President Obama to reopen diplomatic ties after a 55-year hiatus was daring, perhaps even partisan, but also potentially a cry for help. This is a country without a strategic lifeline, no world power to back them up. Beyond the elderly, frail Fidel Castro and his 85-year-old kid brother Raul, there is no clear order of succession in the event either were to pass away. Communism in the Caribbean has five years left, tops. Castro lived enough to see his regime thrive (briefly) and slowly watch it die as other Communist powers were leveled out for democracy. Cuba is at our mercy, and Obama knows it.

On the surface, ending the Cuba embargo is a gift to the GOP, the final wrapped box on the right-wing Christmas that was 2014. Florida has an abundance of Cuban refugees and their progeny; they are mostly (but not overwhelmingly) Republican, and known for having long memories. Sen. Marco Rubio, a son of refugees in his own right, declared the move foolish. In contrast, fellow Republican and Libertarian golden boy Rand Paul called the move savvy, and the beginning of the end of a policy that never worked to begin with. It's a fascinating clash between the pragmatist and the hardliner, between a man whose politics was defined by the brutal regime of his parents' homeland against a strategist who wants to leave the Cold War behind. If Rubio wants to remain hawkish, that's his risk to take, and one that could either help or hinder him if he chooses to run for president in 2016.

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2014 in Review, Part One

Something about 2014 just felt... lousy. With three weeks to go in the year, it seems like I can remember two negative moments in the year for every positive memory. I had a half-dozen friends and acquaintances get married this year, but just as many get divorced. On a personal level, I struggled to find stable employment as I accepted one crummy temp job after another. If you were an Illinoisan with any interest in politics, you lost both an iconic liberal (former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne) and a respected moderate conservative (recently reelected State Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka). On a national scale, this was a bad year to be a Democrat and a feminist. On an international scale, Malaysian Airlines and most of Ukraine would like to pretend '14 never happened. The miraculous World Series run made by my beloved Kansas City Royals, 29 years after their last postseason and championship, was hampered by the possibility that it might be another three decades before it happens again.

This has also been a tough time to write topical humor. For the better part of two weeks, the most dominant news story has been about a African-American killed by a police officer under ambiguous circumstances. Some topics are just off-limits, and in a situations like Ferguson, MO and Staten Island it's almost impossible and just about tasteless to try joking about it. No matter what your stance is on the subject, this topic has a very limited angle for satire.

Additionally, this has been a rough year to be an SNL fan. The show's 40th anniversary --which will be celebrated as a prime time event in February 2015-- has been overshadowed by frustration and tragedy. This past summer saw the passings of cast member Jan Hooks and longtime announcer Don Pardo, and even though Robin Williams wasn't best known for being on the show, he was a frequent host in the 1980s. Not to be overlooked is the truck accident that nearly killed Tracy Morgan, a tragedy that was more serious than we originally thought. Least of all, the current state of the show could best be described as fledging; a whirlwind of cast changes in the last three seasons has a left a young, unproven ensemble still finding its voice. The biggest problem spot of all is Weekend Update, where the deer-in-the-headlights glances of head writer/co-anchor Colin Jost reminds us that some people should just stay behind the scenes.

So what did I enjoy this year? I'll discuss that in my next two blog posts.

Next Week: the year in music, 2014.