Fun house

''Posted on the Squeetus Blog January 30, 2006 01:04 PM PST. ''

Saturday we had a party with the same group of friends we've celebrated birthdays and holidays with for the past 15 years. At one time, some of us formed an improv comedy troupe (like that TV show "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" but not as funny). After swarms of insecurities chased each of us from performing anymore, we started doing Video Parties. We split into groups, go into various parts of the house armed with a video camera, and create short, improvised videos around a certain theme, then return to watch them together. Past themes have included an X-Files episode, movie trailers for Oscar nominees, and infomercials. Last Saturday's theme: things that might be relevant to a person standing in line for me to sign their book.

(weird side note, i just heard a flock of geese honking as they flew over the house. how cool is that?)

Something that's always made me uncomfortable is for people to have to wait in line for my signature (and let me clarify - they're usually not waiting because there are hordes of people at my signings but because I'm so SLOW). I thought about how at Disneyland sometimes waiting in line can be as entertaining as the ride, so I wanted to make a video to play for bookstore line waiters. Our group did "Tips on getting the best autograph out of an author," the other group pretended they were a think tank hired to come up with ideas for the next Shannon Hale book, and then we all did a "Cribs"-style show where I gave a tour of our condo while my friends preteneded to be our live-in cooks, nanny, that sort of thing. We thought we were  hysterical. And...that doesn't bode well for what other people will think. We'll test it out on fans at the next signing and I'll let you know how it goes. I'm anticipating lots of blank stares.

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