Day One

Today was trial by fire. My first day out, and it's the heaviest schedule I can have: a three show day. And, amazingly, it was decidedly a "win."

6:02am
My cell phone alarm goes off, along with my computer, my alarm clock, my watch and my iPod. Not taking any chances with this one. Despite the fact I didn't sleep much anyway (nerves and excitement got the best of me), I was ready to go.

6:45am
My self-proclaimed call time. Teacher-roommate Ed helps me carry my stuff down to the car as he heads off to school. "Looks like we'll have similar schedules for the next few weeks," he says. Sounds about right.

7:02am
I pass a Dunkin' Donuts with a parking lot on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Coffee is considered, but abandoned, although this fortuitous discovery is noted.

7:47am
Stuck on the Belt Parkway. Stuck, stuck, stuck!! And only 13 minutes until I need to be a the first school.

8:02am
I pull into the parking lot of my West Babylon school. How this worked, I have NO idea.

8:18am
All hell breaks loose. First, the backdrop poles topple over as I'm adjusting them, snapping a connecting joint off, sending it flying into a mass of curtains, and twisting the telescoping poles that hold everything together. Next, ALL of my batteries turn out to be dead. Then, the microphone receiver starts picking up a Spanish-language radio station. And, just to add insult to injury, the bodysuit is soaked by an accidental kick of the water bottle. AHH!!!

8:42am
The contact arrives with a cup of coffee. For me. All is better.

9:03am
First show. Lighten Up! for Kindergarten through 2nd Grade. This is my first Slim Goodbody show EVER, and I know I'm pushing. A lot. So much so, in fact, that I almost throw up about three-quarters of the way through the show. The kids, although perhaps a little young, play along beautifully. As much as I want to take in all the good vibes coming from the audience, it is all I can do to make sure I get through in one piece. My voice is hoarse by the end, and I chug a Coke when we're done. And I have 10 minutes of turn-around.

10:07am
Second show. Lighten Up! for 3rd through 5th Grade. Perhaps it's the exhaustion, perhaps it's the fact that I've finally gotten one out of my system, perhaps it's the lingering nausea, but I manage to lay back a little more this time and have fun. Let the kids do some of the work for me, and not "put out" for them. Remember all that stuff we learn in acting school? Well, it works for the pre-teen and under set. Miraculously, the show starts to come to life, and I'm even managing to engage the angry-looking 5th grade boys at the back of the room. I still get nauseous near the end, but it's not nearly as bad.

11:27am
I load out through the cafeteria as my Kindergartners are eating lunch. I get about 20 high-fives, and one little girl asking for my autograph. I am a rock star!!

12:37pm
In Bellmore, lunched and ready to for action! My PTA contact seems very nervous, but pulls the space together beautifully, and even provides me with a bottle of water. I am informed that I will have grades pre-K through 6th. I chug another Coke.

1:51pm
Third show. Lighten Up! The entire school is there. Everyone, plus a few parents. As I enter at the top of the show, a pre-K girl points and screams, "I don't like it!! I don't like it!!" That, however, is the worst of it. Again, I don't know hos it happens, but I manage to engage 245 students, from the littlest to (most of) the oldest. And I'm on top of the world! The show is fun, it's fresh, it's goofy, it's unexpected. The principal invites me out for a bow (this is not standard Slim procedure). I want to hug every child in the audience.

2:42pm
The principal approaches me as I'm packing up. "You've been here before, haven't you." When I tell her that this is my first day, and my third show, her jaw drops. I am a rock star!!

And now I'm home, setting up the new Slim Goodbody MP3 player, and trying to keep myself awake long enough to pack. Yes, pack. I'm South Jersey, Pittsburgh-, Adirondacks- and Niagara Falls-bound this week. And I leave tomorrow. It has most certainly begun...

Call time: 6:30am, two blocks from my apartment. Two performances of Musical Health Show at different schools in Jersey.

Kid quote of the day: (from a 5th Grader at the final school): Hey Slim! Where's your 'fro?
(N.B. For those of you who don't understand, click here)