Once more into the darkness...

I think this blog still exists purely for me to post about Sleep No More. It seems to be the only thing that gets me motivated enough to write.

After a road trip in March to see the newest reincarnation of Punchdrunk's Macbeth/Hitchcock nightmare mashup, I sort of figured I was done with it. At that point, I'd seen it four times - three times in Brookline, MA, and once in NYC. I'm not foolish enough to think I'd seen everything - the way that show is put together, you could go every night for a month, and still find something new. But I'd seen a lot, had an amazing experience every time, and even gotten some spectacular solo interactions with the cast - an amazing bonus reserved for just a handful of lucky people every show. I could continue to go back and see more, explore more, but I didn't need to anymore. Plus, especially with the move to New York, it's an expensive habit to form - $80 a ticket minimum, and all the expenses that go with a weekend trip to Manhattan. I love the show, but it seemed like the end.

Then it kept getting extended. Never too far - a couple weeks further every time. I kept an eye on it, because I do love it so much, and I'm thrilled to see it doing well enough to warrant an extended run. When available tickets hit mid-to-late October, my wife and I started discussing how insane Sleep No More would be around Halloween. The show is such a creepy, surreal trip anyway, we could only imagine how over the top they would go if given the excuse.

Then the show got extended past Halloween and into November. Only odd thing was that tickets were blocked off from Wednesday 10/26 to Halloween night this coming Monday. Clearly they had something special planned, and wouldn't it be cool if we could go? But the message on the website was that those tickets were being held for VIP guests on an invitation-only basis, so we figured we were out of luck.

When the email came with our invite and promo code that would allow us to purchase tickets for that week, we barely thought about it. Our wedding anniversary had just passed, so we had a bit of extra money, and before we really discussed it too much, the tickets were bought for Thursday the 27th. We had both already gotten that week off from work - completely unrelated to Sleep No More's schedule; that was just the last week it seemed that we'd be able to get together. Everything sort of fell into place.

Two days later, I still love that show. I will admit to being... disappointed is the wrong word. The show is still incredible. I had an incredible time. I still saw things I've never seen before. The New York show seems to have grown and expanded in the last six months, and really developed past what it was in its early weeks and months. My only regret is that there were so many people.

I feel bad even saying it, because a huge part of me wants as many people to experience this as they possibly can, and also wants Punchdrunk to become a household name - if you look at some of the events they've been doing in Europe, they're moving in the direction of becoming the next Cirque du Soleil, the go-to group for truly fantastic, off-the-wall experiences. But all four previous trips into Sleep No More, across two cities, I always found moments of quiet. Moments where I was alone in the set, able to carefully examine a document, or watch the minutiae of a character's business. There were times when I would be the only person to witness a small scene between characters, because the rest of the audience were having their own adventure elsewhere. There's something truly special about that. And that was much harder this time around. It seemed like there was always a crowd to fight through to see a pivotal scene, or too many people to dodge when the character you're following suddenly breaks into a sprint. It just seemed crowded. Oftentimes, when I came across anything involving a major character, there would already be such a crowd gathered that I would just head off in another direction - there's no way I could get close enough to see anything anyway. I don't know if this was the standard amount of people that attend every night, or if they boosted their capacity for the Halloween week, but it certainly seemed like more people in the space than there had been before. Maybe in March, we just got in before New York figured out what a gem they had in their city.

Again, there's almost shame attached to this. I feel like an idiot who complains when their favorite indie band hits it big - like it's no longer fun when everyone else likes them. I still want everyone who is even remotely interested in this sort of thing to go check out the show, because it's absolutely worth it. My only hedge now is that I might recommend checking them out on a weekday night. It's a bit cheaper (not that the show isn't worth the more expensive weekend tickets), and there may be less of a crowd with you.

I will say this about their Halloween extravaganza - Sleep No More and Punchdrunk can throw one hell of a party. If you happen to have tickets to any of the Halloween week shows (only three left at the time of this post), you're in for a treat, though a pricey one if you're looking for some liquid motivation. The party in the ballroom was a lot of fun, though not quite my scene. I do wish they had made it clear that other parts of the set would be open for less raucous celebration - my group might have stayed a bit longer had that been the case. But if you're looking for an amazing night out in one of the cooler places you'll ever get to party, it's worth it.

Once again, I feel like I'm good with Sleep No More. I've been scouring the internet for months for more news on "Punchdrunk Travel," their next project that was rumored to kick off in September, but I've never found more news. I'm ready for the next thing, and I think I'm cool with not seeing Sleep No More again. Yesterday, I saw a note on Twitter that they had extended to December 30th, with the 31st listed, but not available. I bet they'll throw one hell of a New Year's Eve party.

And if I were to get an invite, I might just change my mind...

A new project...

Inspired in part by my previous post:

The Near Fall Journal

What Is The Near Fall Journal?

The four of us are long time professional wrestling fans who want to write about professional wrestling giving it the respect it deserves. The internet is flooded with sites dedicated to professional wrestling news and rumors. Here at The Near Fall Journal, we aim to dig deeper and analyze the story lines and performances of today while also re-examining its illustrious past.

We hope you enjoy.

Should be fun!

I Enjoy Pro Wrestling... and So Does My Wife. SWERVE!

June 7, 2010 was the day my wife began a slow-but-inevitable transformation into a (reluctant) pro wrestling fan.

If I remembered that date off the top of my head, I’d be a much better fan than I am. No, this is why we have Wikipedia. The date is nothing important, but the angle kicked off on WWE’s Monday Night Raw was what caught her eye and caused her to pay a little more attention, give a little more credence to the shows at which she usually just rolled her eyes. My wife claims that she has to fall asleep on the couch for a couple hours before going to bed, or else she won’t be able to get to sleep. So our nightly ritual typically consist of watching something we both care about until she’s about to crash, and then I put on something that I like that she considers background noise – and wrestling very often fit that bill. But that night in June, she was apparently more awake than usual…

I’ve been a pro wrestling fan off and on for most of my life, with a particular upswing in the last couple years – having a DVR made a huge difference in that respect. The WWE’s product has had its ups and downs over the last couple of years, but the past year has seen a couple angles started that showed real promise of opening the concept up to newer audiences – not all superheroes and goofy real-life cartoons. What CM Punk is doing right now on and off WWE TV is a great example – a little more realism, making the whole saga a little more relatable.

On June 7, 2010, Raw seemed to be business as usual – they were in the middle of the dreadful guest host gimmick, and this particular night was “Viewer’s Choice” night, making everything that much worse. (Side note: I’m all for giving fans what they want, but shows like this prove that some people just don’t know what’s good for them). Anytime Morgan was awake while watching wrestling, she typically gave a running commentary of just how goofy it was – not that I can blame her for it. For the first hour and fifty minutes of Raw, it was clear this was not going to be the night to change Morgan’s mind about wrestling.

The John Cena/CM Punk main event had her attention a bit more – Punk’s good for that, even at the tail end of the dying Straight Edge Society gimmick. But just as Raw went into their 11 PM overrun, something happened that even made her sit up and take notice. The debut of Nexus, led by Wade Barrett, was unique and special because it wasn’t something that WWE often allowed people to see on TV. Individual characters were always fair game, including the onscreen version of Vince of McMahon, but taking shots at the company or the product wasn’t something you’d normally see. So when the former NXT participants came down to the ring, decimated the company’s poster boy in John Cena, and then proceeded to tear the ring and ringside area apart… that was new.

One of the most telling points for me was when they tore off the mat to reveal the plywood that makes up the ring surface – I don’t think that’s something that most people realize. With the acceptance that pro wrestling is fake/fixed/planned/etc., I think a lot of people expect that the ring is a giant mattress of some kind to make sure the performers don’t get hurt. So seeing plywood laid on a steel frame was probably an eye opener to some people – my wife included – and if nothing else earned the performers a bit more respect.

The biggest impact from the segment was that it was produced in a very unique way: there was no commentary, and no one on the microphone. The cameras were picking up everything that was going on, but the performers were not playing to the mounted camera side of the ring like they will in a match – most shots had something going on in the background. They involved people who wouldn’t normally get that into the action – ring announcer Justin Roberts, commentators, cameramen and producers, referees. And the icing on the cake – the crowd shots. Starting with the attack on Cena, but escalating as Nexus tore down the set, you could tell that people in the crowd weren’t really sure what was going on, but they knew this was not a normal Raw event they were at.

The thing about most pro wrestling fans that I’ve met, myself included, is that we know it’s fixed. And the WWE has stopped trying to sell it as a legitimate sport, branding themselves “sports entertainment.” But that doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed – did knowing that Lost was fiction and not a documentary get in the way of people liking the show? The typical question I’ve heard is that people would rather watch MMA or boxing because “at least that’s real.” And if that’s what you’re into, enjoy it. I personally don’t really like people getting the crap beaten out of them when it’s “real.” I also enjoy the storytelling aspect of wrestling. Granted, there have been a lot – A LOT – of crap stories over the years, but every so often they find one that hits home, reenergizes the fan base, and maybe even grabs them some new fans.

Common consensus is that WWE dropped the ball with the Nexus storyline – it jumped the shark right around the time that Cena was “fired,” because that stretches the line of plausibility just a little too much. Now just over a year since their debut, Nexus has basically disbanded, and included only one of the original members of the group at the time of its demise. WWE missed a huge opportunity to launch Wade Barrett, the original mouthpiece of the group, into superstardom. Even the addition of the CM Punk could only stretch out the inevitable demise, and the group’s final death knell came from Punk picking up his much more exciting current storyline. But the promise of what WWE put together on that night made it the most exciting storyline they’d had in years. It came out of nowhere, immediately thrust eight brand new talents into the spotlight (something WWE has always been extremely hesitant to do with new talent), and took a direction that no fans could have expected. That first night – and honestly, most of the first couple months – had fantastic execution that just fell apart by the end.

After the Nexus angle petered out, my wife continued a quiet transformation. She was awake a bit longer into Raw. She’d make comments about performers she liked watching – Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, CM Punk. I could show her clips of ridiculous spots from matches (the Randy Orton-Evan Bourne RKO clip was a personal favorite), and she appreciated them in a way I don’t think she had considered before. And then came the most recent turning point, one month ago when CM Punk sat down on the entrance ramp in Las Vegas and delivered one of the best promos anyone has ever given. While it’s completely awesome in its own right, it shared a bit with the Nexus angle in that it was completely unexpected, unlike anything the company had done recently, and carried a much more realistic tone than most other storylines. For the first time, she wanted to see what happened next. She wanted to watch Raw the next week. We even threw around the idea of ordering the Money In The Bank pay per view - but really, WWE? $55? Really?

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Time will tell how the current Punk angle plays out, or if what comes next will hold her interest, but I think it speaks well of the current state of the WWE product that they were able to hook a new fan who prior to the new direction had no real interest whatsoever. I’m sure that she’s not the only one, either.

On a recent episode of ESPN’s BS Report with Bill Simmons, CM Punk talked about the current state of pro wrestling: “A lot of people are embarrassed about pro wrestling. I don’t think anybody needs to be. My goal is to make this shit cool again.” I admit to being one of those people, but seriously, what’s the point? Anyone who is going to nitpick your interests and hobbies surely has one of their own equally deserving. So well done, CM Punk. I don’t know if wrestling can once again be classified as “cool” yet, but you once again have my outward support.

Returning to an Incredible Nightmare

In the course of one month in 2009, I posted twice about the same piece of theater, ART & Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. I actually had a third piece almost ready to go, but after re-reading it, I realized I didn't really have anything new to say, outside of "people who come here to disrupt the performance suck," and never posted it. If you've had any real world contact with me in the past year and change, there's a good chance we've spoken about it. I admit, I was somewhat obsessed. Those two posts can tell you the long story of why, but the short version is that the show got me more involved and excited about a theatrical performance than anything else I'd ever seen or experienced. It was just. That. Good. And like many people, I was disappointed to think that I might never get to experience Sleep No More again - it was a limited run, good things come and go. I get that. It's also part of what makes it so special.

Well, to hell with that. I'm doing it again: Sleep No More NYC

Running for just 6 weeks (March 7th - April 16th) in NYC's Chelsea neighborhood, this time Punchdrunk is taking over... I'm not really sure exactly. It looks like it's a fairly general retail/warehouse space. From what I can tell, part of the building has been used to host a seasonal haunted house called Blood Manor New York for the last couple years; another piece of it used to be an upscale nightclub; still another was recently a Sprint retail location. I have no way of knowing how much of the building they'll be using until the show opens, but after my experience in Brookline, I have complete faith in Punchdrunk to make the absolute most of whatever space they have.

The website is branded for "The McKittrick Hotel," which to save people the Google search (cause I already did it!) is the name of a hotel in Hitchcock's Vertigo, where one of the main characters "vanishes" and loses the detective tailing her. From what I can tell (having never seen Vertigo... gonna take care of that shortly), it's not a major scene in the film, but Punchdrunk is using that element of disappearance to set the stage for their incredibly unique telling of Macbeth. Here's hoping they're able to make it as atmospheric and incredible as the transformed Lincoln School in Brookline. That's actually one of the reasons I'm so excited - the territory is familiar, but the setting isn't. With the design and atmosphere being such an integral part of the show, I can't wait to see what new spin Punchdrunk can put on the show I loved so much.

I've already got my tickets booked - for a 11 PM entry, no less - MIDNIGHT MACBETH NIGHTMARE! - and will be there with full anticipation with my wife and a pair of cousins. If you are in or can get to the NYC area anytime during the run, I highly recommend it. It's one of the most remarkable experiences I've ever had, and while it's certainly not for everyone, if you let yourself buy into their premise and presentation, it will push you, challenge you and thrill you in a way not many other forms of entertainment can. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.