My jeans were rolled up around my knees, my hoodie was pulled tightly around my head, my sleeves were pushed back. The fog sat lightly above our heads spilling morning dew over our noses and our eyes focused intently on the screaming chicken thrashing about in the bucket in front of us. Today I was going to learn how to kill and butcher my own food, and to be honest, you couldn’t wipe the blissfully stoked grin off my face if you tried, even with the ten sharpened blades staring at me from the wooden bench.

I spent Saturday at PFers Chris and Anne’s West Oakland abode growing a little bit as a human being — well, at least becoming a better one… I think. When I first set foot in Chris and Anne’s new home my eyes filled with stars. “Look at all this SPACE!” I cried. “You can cook and paint and dance around naked and throw parties!”

“Want to see the chickens?”

Anne grabbed my hand, passed me a mason jar of the home-brewed strawberry wine she was just now evaluating and led me down a rickety staircase, into their yard. In the chicken coop, balking and squawking, were more chickens than I could count on two hands.

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Adnesthetize [ad-nes-the-tize]: verb 1. to methodically inundate a person or population with advertising to the point of  numbness. noun: 2. a column dedicated to the pursuit of calling out ads that are unintentionally funny and/or creepy with a big ol’ WTF.

We here at PianoFight occasionally enjoy dabbling in AnarchyLite ™, in this case by incrementally dismantling the visual noise machine, a.k.a Advertising® with some measured jabs. Yes, we are a guerrilla theater co-op (everything in SF is a guerrilla co-op) that has unlimited access to protest materials (butcher paper and sharpies), but we don’t take well to tear gas and are afraid of white people with dreadlocks/angry agendas. So in lieu of Molotov cocktails and quinoa justice, we’re going to post every terrible ad we can get our hands on in our new column: Adnesthetized. Face your shame, CorporateAmerica™!

First up,  an ad found outside a back alignment store on 7th Street:

Hey! Do you go to a Chiropractor? I do. And boy do I feel GOOD!

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PianoFight is executive-producing a short narrative film called Low Shoulders. Find out more at www.lowshoulders.com.

Recently we shot our shoe store scene. In this scene, Billy and Annie are in their honeymoon phase, and they’re helping each other try on shoes. Those metal foot measuring devices are surprisingly romantic. The scene is a bit like that familiar moment from the Cinderella story — the moment of trying the shoe on the lover’s foot. Of course, Billy and Annie both already know the shoe is gonna fit.

We went to a Payless Shoe store in Oakland, having called in advance and gotten permission to shoot there. However, once we got there, they promptly turned us away — they had to get approval from corporate, and that involved a series of impossible tasks which no one ought ever dare attempt.

What followed convinced me of the value of supporting locally owned business.

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PianoFighter Nina Harada chronicles her journey of pursuing a career as an actor in Los Angeles. Follow her journey on her blog The Scene Partner.

You never know what will lead you where in this crazy acting world. When you trace an opportunity back to its origin (all of the baby steps that add up), it’s kind of crazy, and also a testament to the fact that you should check your ego at the door and be open to anything, try new things with new people in new places and, hopefully, be doing this because you love it. Just follow the passion. And when you do, you will get somewhere, I promise. I already see it happening with me.

Okay, so let me show you what I mean… My example is this, starting from the end result and traced back to the precise moment where it all started:

7. I was cast in a short film that will be shooting this October. I’m pretty excited about it as the character is very fun and I know that the director/writer/producer is one very passionate, thorough guy who will put everything he’s got into the making of this film.

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It’s WTFriday! Someone in PianoFight made it, we WTFound it, then we WTFputitontheblog. Enjoy this drawing? It’s an abomination? It’s high art? It’s nothing?  It poses more questions than it answers?   WHO MADE THIS THING?  MEREDITH TERRY?!

-Evan

We here at Mission Control (producers of The S.H.I.T. Show) have decided to capitalize on PianoFight’s current lack-of-a-performance-space, and are in the process of greatly expanding the ways we produce comedy. To this end, we have begun to work with an animator friend of ours, Kersey Barrett-Tormey, on one-panel graphics, multi-panel comics, and even some short animated material. Now presenting our first collaboration, Will.I.Blend!

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You know what’s great about joining a theater company? What, might you ask? It’s fellow thespians with timeshares in Mexico. PianoFight’s Endless Weekend continued south of the border. We made it back (through airport security) in one piece. The unofficial PianoFight slogan “no one dies” lives on. Not to make it all doom and gloom, much fun was shared amongst PianoFighters Nicole, Jed, Devin, Chris, Anne, and me (Alex). Days that begin riding waves and end with dancing on tables with local characters are always a treat. And I wholeheartedly recommend Cabo San Lucas to any one with an itch for a beach vacation. That is until it all comes crashing down at that first day back at work. But it was allllllll worth it. Ain’t that right Devin??!!

First day back in the office post vacation, weekend, or Karaoke Night can be a struggle to us all at times. Mission Control feels your pain and hopes you can laugh it off.

-Alex Boyd