As many of you know,I used to be married to a puppeteer, and I spent much of my twenties cavorting with mimes, magicians, clowns, Deadheads….

So today, I am sad to write that one of the great contributors to American puppetry has passed away. Kermit Love, who created the Big Bird costume as well as Mr. Snuffleupagus, died at the age of 91. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/arts/24love.html 

The character lives on through the work of the pupeteer, Carroll Spinney, who has spent much of his life inside Love’s creation — on platforms and veering and steering down Sesame Street through the aid of a monitor inside the bird’s chest.

Love also created the Snuggle fabric softener bear, and worked with many world renowned choreographers. He is survived by Christopher Lyall, his partner of 50 years, and the memories of the millions of children who have grown up with Big Bird.

Thanks, Mr. Love! (sigh)

Well, this afternoon Jen and I had a great time working with Youth Leadership Greenville. Very impressive group — funny, brave, and savvy. We met with them at Saffron’s (always a great location), and spent some time investigating improv as a way to break the ice, think creatively, and have a good time.

I found out some new stuff today — for example, I did NOT know that Elton John was a saint (I’m thinking of converting to Catholicism now..) Also, I met my first real live metaphor, and I learned that Sting was actually an 1980’s metal band. Where was I? And was that Meryl Streep or Barney lurking in the background? Hard to tell in that light…

Thanks for having us — it was a blast!

Hey, come on out to some late-night-Good-Friday-comedy improv after Sight Unseen tonight (around 10:30. And it’s not too late to sign up for auditions Monday…or to at least come to the party.

This past weekend the Globe returned to the Warehouse Theatre stage to perform late-night comedy on the set of the mainstage production of a new adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull — directed by Matthew Earnest. (by the way, if you haven’t seen The Seagull — you have 3 more chances — this Thursday thru Saturday at 8pm…)

Anyway, it was improv in the round — and a heck of a good time. Jared won MVP this Superbowl Weekend I do believe — for his bilingual turn in ABC on Saturday night. (He performed the entire scene in Spanish - and did it in alphabetical order…) His poem on spooning — "When I felt your knees cuddled into my back/I knew we wouldn’t be forking tonight) was touching, and his breakdancing was, well, special.

Bryan Gallagher (of Laughing Stock) performed with us as well, and truly elevated the Sci-Fi genre, saving the world with Alien Poop. You can have Maryanne, Captain…

The lovely and talented Traysie Amick gave an ode to Nicaragua, showed us all what Nebraska sounds like, and drove that scooter to the prom from hell. (Thanks for the parrot corsage.) She was also resplendent as a machine gun-wielding, frustrated older sister….

Rick Connor, as usual, provided a pretty spiffy soundtrack, and thank you to Kevin Frazier for the fabulous lights.

Come FLOS with us this week –  comedy improv at the Warehouse on Friday and Saturday at 10:30 - only $5.

Hey, all. Thank you to all of you who came out to support the Globe this weekend — we had some raucous holiday fun. Special thanks to Filthy Santa, and to those who were immortalized on film with him…nothing says the holidays like a Sain Nick who looks like he’s been sleeping in a cardboard box filled with canned chicken soup…

Thanks also to our friends from Laughing Stock - Reed, Bryan, and Jason — for joining us. "And to you your wassail too!"

Hey — while we’re on the subject of holiday giving, I heard about a cool website on NPR this morning. Its www.freerice.com If you go to this site, you can work on building your vocabulary - it asks you to choose definitions of words from the list provided, and increases in difficulty when you answer correctly. So it’s great for anyone who is preparing for the SAT, GRE, LSAT, or just wants to be able to keep up with Jen and me when we play ABC… But the great thing is, each time you get a correct answer, the website’s advertisers donate 20 grains of rice through the United Nations to feed people in need. Painless, and instructive online giving…

Happy Holidays! - join us in January for Rainbow Annie is the Angel of Death!