The following is a self-indulgent look at how I ended up in the Lottery Show at the Upright Citizens Brigade this week. In subsequent posts I will talk about how it actually went. Only read this if you're a super geek like me. Less than a week ago, Greg and I were having a lovely dinner of couscous and something else (it was good, so I don't think I'd personally made it), without phones, without radio or music, without a rush to something afterwards, without anything but each other. It was nice and, sadly, an unusual event. So when I got up and saw this chat from my dear friend John/Vlad the Improv-er...
6:31 PM John: guess who just got selected to perform at the UCB lottery show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
6:34 PM HELLO!!!!!
... I cursed the ill timing of my romantic interlude. I had a feeling. I just had a feeling. I looked at my phone.
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9 minutes |
6:44 PM me: AHHHHHHHHHH!
WHOA!
THAT IS AMAZING
6:45 PM oh SHIT I JUST MISSED A CALL FROM UCB
John: shut the fuck up!!!!!!
thats what it was!!!!!!
..... I'm not normally a big caps lock user, but I was really upset. I think you should know at this point what the Lottery is. The Lottery is a show at the Upright Citizens Brigade (founded by Amy Poehler, one of my idols) where I am currently a level-4 (of five) student. About every six months they have a show in which they draw students from each level of their classes and have them put on a show with members of the UCB House teams. It's an opportunity to play on their stage, to have their superstars get to know you; it's an opportunity, in short, to feel like you won the actual lottery. The chances of getting selected are slim, and the chances of John and I, good friends and members of the same team in Connecticut, were pretty much nothing. But it happened. But I missed it.
me: but i MISSED IT
FUCK FUCK
John: call back
6:46 PM me: I did
John: and?
me: voicemail
John: how did we both get called
they leave a message?
me: no
I think they just call the next person
I missed it
John: oh no
6:48 PM they call a bunch of people
me: I totally missed it
...At this point, you can obviously tell, I was extremely sad. Greg was finishing his couscous and watching me pace around. I called the number back twice. Generic UCB voicemail.
John: what was the number?
me: it's the ucb number, I called it right bak
6:49 PM WAIT
Thinking about my recent "If You Don't Ask" post, I called back one more time. No harm in being obsessive. No harm in listening to voicemail and self-flagellating for a while. This time, someone picked up. Greg got on my computer.
me: It's Greg. She called again and got someone.
They're talking...
John: cool
that would be cool to do it with someone i know
6:50 PM me: She's pumping her fist in the air victoriously
Here's the conversation I had:
Confused girl: Hello?
Me: Hello? Is this... who is this? (an actual voice picking up completely disoriented me)
Confused girl: Who is THIS?
Me: This is.... this is Julia. I got a call from this number. I just called it back. (Good time for nonchalance, me. Slick.)
Confused girl: Um... do you do improv? (I hope that the UCB voicemail just forwarded straight to her phone and that the UCB line is not actually this awkward.)
Me: Yes! Yes I do. I'm in 401 with Eric Tanouye.
Confused girl: (shuffling around and long pause) Oh, ok... yeah... you've been selected to be a part of the lottery show on Tuesday. Would you be interested in that?
me: It's Julia again!!!!
John: whats up???
me: i'M IN MOTHERFUCKER
John: WTF
John: im calling u in a min
me: dude
6:51 PM this is fucking crazy
END GCHAT, commence excited phone call with John, which I don't really remember.
Why do I copy and paste this chat here? Well, I was very excited to be in the show, of course. But I was even more excited that my persistance paid off. Had I not called back three times, I would not have been in the show. Opportunities come but when they do you have to use every part of the buffalo, and not feel sorry for yourself until it is truly, truly too late. I'm often in denial about that part so I'll take things just one step further, ask one more question, call back one more time.
Next post will be a reckoning of the show itself. Spoiler alert: one of the top ten experiences of my life.
You out there: keep calling. Keep asking.