Good Day Sacramento and Squibs

Flip on your TVs....on Sunday. It's important I add "Sunday." Flip on your TVs Sunday, because Blacktop Comedy will be on Good Day Sacramento, talking about Teen Slasher, and depraved things you can find in the show. Last time Good Day came to Blacktop we talked about fun and silly improv games you can play. Oh improv! So much happiness and joy. Well, usually. This time around it's about the blood.

We'll be teaching Good Day Sacramento how you make an affordable blood packet. Teen Slasher is a bloody show, but we realized very quickly and audience doesn't want us just running out and dumping a bucket of blood on them. We needed a more elegant blood adding solution, something that would get the audience excited.

Enter the Squib! It's capitalized because they're invaluable awesomeness. Squibs are packets of blood set to explode onstage and on camera when the audience is watching.

Most actors and actresses don't really want to be shot or bleed on camera, so squibs play the o' so important role of making that murder look real. They can become expensive though. When we first thought about using them in Teen Slasher we were priced out pretty quickly. They sure looked amazing, but we didn't have the money. Mix in technology, and squib triggers, and you can begin spending quite a bit on squibs.

Horror fans, and Halloween aficionados rejoice, because we figured out how to make squibs for cheap. Very cheap. Like 10 cents a squib cheap. We improvised a solution. Of course, you'll be setting them off manually in your hands, but our Rocklin audience at Blacktop doesn't mind. In fact, a blood squib works great for an improv show, because you're not really sure where they're going to "shoot" when you squeeze.

Over the past four years of performing Teen Slasher, the blood has gone everywhere. The record is 30 feet. Pretty impressive for a tiny little bag of blood. Just make sure and use blood that washes out. Very important.

Interested in learning how to create a squib? We have a tutorial on Youtube. And, be sure to turn on CW31 Sunday morning when Betsaida, Jordan, Cristian, Chris and Paul and the Good Day reporter will be making squibs and using them live at Blacktop Comedy. It's going to be fun.

Betsaida makes some Squibs!

Local Things to Do

At Blacktop, we've done a lot of shows. Westerns, musicals, improv games, horror comedies, romance. A lot of stuff.

One thing we've realized, is people love seeing local spots in Sacramento and Placer. When you bring in a location from Sacramento, when you mention the State Capitol or Arco Arena, or Rocklin High School, people immediately get excited. I think people like the familiar, and a shared experience. Bring up Studio Movie Grill in Rocklin, and people immediately think, "I know what that looks like!" There's comfort in knowing the improvisers and the audience are seeing the same thing.

So, that got me thinking, what is around Rocklin, Roseville, and Sacramento that would get an audience excited? What are those local touchstones. If you're ever producing an improv show, I strongly encourage you to take one of these suggestions, or situate a scene in one of these locations. People respond instantly!

Places in Placer:

Thunder Valley Casino
Golfland Sunsplash
Pavilions
Galleria Mall
Del Oro High School Football Stadium
Hidden Falls Regional Park
Miners Ravine Trail
Finnish Temperance Hall
Quinn QuarryFarmers Market

Places in Sacramento:

Tower Bridge
Tower Theater
Sutter's Fort
Good Day Sacramento Set
Sacramento Convention Center
Scottish Rite Temple
B Street Theater
Decades Costume
Crocker Art Museum
The new site for the Sacramento Kings. (It used to be called Downtown Plaza, but according to the Sacramento Bee it'll will be called Golden 1 Center)
California State Fair
Crest Theater
LowBrau
Faces
Sacramento Auditorium

If you could add something to the list, what would you add? Where do you like going, and what would you like to see onstage?