Pigs!

Howdy to all our friends and neighbors in Pigland!
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Yes, it's true that I'm taking over as artistic director for the Pigs. But if you're thinking "coup d'etat", you couldn't be more wrong. Well, OK, I guess you could misspell it, and that would be a LITTLE more wrong. And you could mispronounce it - that would technically be even more wrong. You could also get the name of the troupe wrong, which would kind of make the entire thing completely unintelligible, and that would be a LOT more wrong, and also pointless.
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But I digress.
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Denny's been doing yeoman's work for us for the past few years, writing, performing and doing the director thing - and you MET regulars have been seeing him on the main stage on a pretty regular basis as well. So at our Piggy retreat this summer it was no surprise when Denny told us that he'd like to re-focus his considerable energies on performing and pass the directorship onto a fresh pair of hands. We talked about it a bit, and somewhere along the line I volunteered.
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Why, you ask? Well, why not?
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My first experience with the MET was as a student in one of the first adult improv classes the school offered. One thing led to another, as things are wont to do, and eventually I started writing for and ultimately performing with the Pigs. It's been a long strange trip. Along the way I took more classes at the MET and also at Comedy Sportz when they were down in Alexandria, as well as doing my own music-director thing in and around town.
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Short form improv has always been my first love, so the opportunity to rediscover it from the director's point of view is very exciting. I'll be spending a lot of time over the next few weeks snuggled up with various improv books and websites, collecting new games for us to play and looking for ways for the Comedy Pigs to polish up our show and expand our comfort zones - individually and collectively.
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This is building up to be a great season for the pigs - our third original sketch show production is just starting to take shape, we've got new blood in the group bringing new talents, new points of view and fresh enthusiasm to the party, and we're as energized by the recent MET growth spurt as everyone else around here is. I hope you'll join us for the ride!
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Bring sandwiches.
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-Anne Raugh 22 September 2008