30 Days Of NYMF: Day 13 I Got Fired

I Got Fired
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Keith Varney

Rehearsing I Got Fired has turned out to be one of the most surreal experiences of my life. In the show, I play myself telling the true(ish) story of getting fired from my long term office gig. The experience sucked. I spent 6 years in a soul-crushing cubicle. Then I got fired. And now I get to re-live it over and over, with actors portraying the real(ish) people and real(ish) events that led up to me getting thrown out of the building by security. It's a lot like what really happened, just now everybody sings.

Today we staged a song called "The Daily Grind" where the people in the office are cheered up by wildly inappropriate, yet very effective antics of the boss Kathy. Everybody enjoys this except for the new person in the office, Jenny (boo!) who does not approve. The real Kathy will be in the front row on opening night. The real "Jenny" (who ends up being the person who fires me) will not. But we're saving her a seat at every performance anyway.

On a personal level (cue the violins), this process has truly been the greatest experience in my life. A year ago I Got Fired was only couple of songs and a basket of hurt feelings. Now, it is literally a dream come true. The show is in the hands of some of the most talented, dedicated and funny people I've ever met and they are helping me make the show bigger and better than I ever imagined.

Even the menial stuff is wildly exciting to me, going to Staples to make copies, getting the daily Rehearsal Report in my e-mail, spraying the rehearsal studio with air freshener to mask the dog pee smell... it's like Christmas morning every day.

It's the closest thing to real magic I've ever encountered.