Our first listener!

Against his will, Bob*, an unsuspecting patron at a Chicagoland Panera was subjected to the rough readthrough of Episode 2 last night. I watched Bob out of the corner of my eye as he craned his neck to see what crazy hijinks were happening two tables down. Bob tried a couple of times to put on his headphones, but decided against it and kept trying to hear what was going on. We weren't that loud. I wonder if his iPod had stopped working or something. Poor guy.

Three things are notable about Bob:
1. He seemed genuinely interested. Whether that interest was getting to hear the episode or trying to figure out a way to get us to shut up, I don't know.

2. Whatever his reasons, he did not run screaming from the restaurant. I'll consider that positive feedback.

3. He also didn't laugh at some seriously funny lines. I'm not sure what's wrong with Bob's sense of humor. Then again, he was a couple tables away. Maybe he really couldn't hear us. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

What Bob might have heard, had he been really listening, was the readthrough we often do with a completed episode to check for timing. Episode 2 is a bit longer than some of the others, since we have to do quite a bit of setup in a short amount of time. (Jason has a little song that he sings when we write episodes like these... "Exposiiiiiiition!" That's really the only lyric, but he does jazz hands and everything. It's like he's looking for three other guys to join his barbershop quartet. It's cute in a sad sort of way.)

Bob would also have heard Jason reading Alex's lines, and me reading everyone else's... which in Episode 2 includes Viper, Olga, Klaus, Mags, and a brand-new character I just made up called Mr. Ranalli (who is named for my favorite pizza place.) Mr. Ranalli helps provide a little backstory and character development for Alex. "Exposiiiiition!" So Bob would have heard me having long conversations with myself, sometimes with a fake Russian accent and sometimes using the word "Dude!" excessively - and Jason interjecting a comment here and there.

I love it when we do readthroughs - particularly when I can get over my initial embarrassment about doing a silly Russian-ish accent in a public place. And you know? I think we're getting better not only at the writing, but the acting as well. Jason is going to rock at being Alex, and I'm not just saying that because I want him to finish up Epsiode 6. (Which I do, but that's beside the point.) It's really fun to listen to him "get" the character. We've known Alex for a while now. It stands to reason that his voice would become more and more familiar as we go.

Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having with this project? I totally am.

So thanks to Bob for being our first listener. Thanks to all seven of you readers for your patience as we work to complete this little hobby-project. And thanks to Panera for not kicking us out.


*Not his real name. Or maybe it is. I have no idea. I just think he looked like a guy who could easily have a name like Bob. His name could be Xerxes, for all I know.