The Fey Improv

MORNING OF MAY 9, 2011

Richard and I were reunited with a friend we knew a few years ago. He told us he was independently filming his own documentary film, and showed us some of the early footage. It was all very amateurish, but we both agreed to join in when he asked us to be a part of it.

Shortly after this, he came to us and explained that the direction of the film was changing. It was no longer a documentary, but would be a comedy with a scripted story. I remember filming one of my scenes. It took place in a small cafe of some kind. I was supposed to be playing the loner, rejected high school student. All the "cool kids" were sitting at one table. Tina Fey played the part of one of the cool kids.

Tina's character rolled her eyes and begrudgingly came over to my character's table, just to "do the right thing". The exchange between our characters was entirely improvised, and it ended up being hilarious. I can't recall any of our lines, but I remember the pride and excitement I felt when the scene wrapped, having just held my own in an improvisational skit with Tina Fey!

There was a different dream in which I was in a store with my parents. They were paying for something and received twenty-five dollars in change. My dad just handed the $25 over to me and told me to buy something with it. There was a rack of generic compilation CDs behind the checkout counter, and I bought a couple of those.

Back in my parents' car I sat holding the CDs and wondering why I'd payed good money for them. My dad asked me some simple question and it took me several seconds to answer him. I remember wondering why I wasn't answering him right away, and I kept thinking, "Well, answer him!" Finally, I replied--and woke myself up actually speaking out loud.