Surprisingly, this isn’t a post about A Game of Thrones …

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I can’t tell if I smell food or if I smell like food. This is troubling me more than it should.

Hmm.

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Moving along, I’m so excited about Out of Bounds! It’s reminiscent of how I felt during my first SXSW in 1994. There’s so much going on, SO MUCH to see that I’ve given myself an ulcer just trying to make sure I’ve got my must-see shows in order. Not a real ulcer, thankfully, but a pretend-for-the-Internet ulcer. Lucky for me, there’s pretend medicine for it and I’ll be feeling pretend better shortly.

Tuesday night I saw:

You’re Not My Real Dad
Magician vs. Clown
¡Zazamora!
The 3$Bills
The Asides
The Dukes of Bedside Manor

… and it was amazing. My favorites of the night were the bookends YNMRD and TDOBM. Seeing these four improv masters (yep, I said it, masters) in YNMRD get to play together rocked my socks right off. Tom Booker embodies funny. He just does. Asaf, Dave and Ratliff were … is there a word for hilarious that also means amazing? The four of them, man, they were awesome.

The Dukes of Bedside Manor!! My lord and butter, THE DUKES OF BEDSIDE MANOR! I’m a new fan, a huge new fan. They looked like they were having the time of their lives on stage, breaking the fourth wall and being ridiculously physical in their play. I loved it.

I don’t know the name of the woman who plays in The Asides, but she’s got such a great style of play. She’s riveting to watch, actually. (Oh hai, thanks Google! Her name is Erica Lies.)

I took last night off from OOB to spend some time with Rachel and hear all about Brazil over margaritas and tacos. OOB is awesome, my sister is even more so. And tonight! TONIGHT! I’m going to bounce between Coldtowne and The Hideout. I’ve got a tentative eight shows and a roast to enjoy. More recaps later.

Why does the photo have the new Little Dragon CD in it? I just bought it. I was so … moved (or inspired? transported? is that the word I’m looking for?) by the song “Ritual Union” that I went directly to Waterloo and bought it immediately. I can’t remember the last time that happened. It’s all about the digital these days. Everything exists in the 0101001000s. Except for this, for this I needed to have that tangible experience, the desperate “can’t wait to get the plastic off in my car” moment. Desire, baby, she’s the strongest influencer of them all.