This Friday we had a visiting improv team from Madison (Monkey Business Institute) come visit us. Brad Knight, Dylan Brogan, Casem Abulughod, John Steeno, and Brandon Jensen. I’ve known these performers for years now. I’ve known Brad for half my life. We’ve been living parallel lives in many respects, and have mutual talent in improv and trust and love in each other.
The hugs I got from these people carry some extra weight in that I don’t see them as often, so it’s old friends meeting again which is always emotionally charged. Hugs were plenty. And after the shows we hung out together and talked and joked into the early morning hours. It was truly a night where I didn’t have the feeling of “I’ve been doing this so long, I’m burnt out and exhausted from performing.” I had the feeling of “I’ve been doing this so long and I feel a deeper bond with these people than with my actual family. They’ve become family.” And, it’s great fun to have “family” who are also the funniest people you know.
During the show, Ken Goltz as host that night, announced to the audience that I had this hug project going and everyone should hug me afterwards. We made a bit joke about it during the show. It was funny. After the show, I got maybe 4 – 8 hugs. Which is only about 10% of the audience, but compared to every other normal night of performing with ZERO hugs, it was quite a step up. Hugs from strangers/people I’ve just met, are not as effective as hugs from friends I’ve known for years. Is that just a feeling I impose on the hug? Or is it because both parties are more invested when you know each other? Discuss>
#5hugsaday