Vincent: After SC7 ended its run at the Trap Door Theatre, I had the two thoughts that I always do at the conclusion of a Clowns show: (1) I will never, ever do another fucking Clowns show again. And (2) What shall I do now?

As it turns out, a woman I had befriended on myspace, Caryn Culp, mentioned that her troupe was looking for a director. Since I hadn't directed SC7 and very much missed it, I bugged her once or twice and eventually met up with her and two of the heavies of this group - Mike Nelson and Max Wagner. The PC part of me shuddered when I learned the name of the group - Dry Hump - but I was intrigued with the commitment of the players and sheer machine that Max had created. This was the type of operation I had been looking for, and indeed tried to create, in the Clowns. But, not unlike high school boy, when I mentioned the word 'commitment' to any Clown, they usually ran the other direction.

In any event, I was interviewed and brought into the Dry Hump family and was amazed from Day One. I did a lot more that just direct, as almost every single Humper took on multiple tasks themselves and I didn't want to slack behind. The production itself went off brilliantly, garnering a great review in the Chicago Reader in addition to a series of sell-outs.

It was only a couple of days after Dry Hump 4 closed that I contacted Robert again. It's time for another Clowns show, I bellowed. We amassed the scripts in pretty much record time and amassed a cast in complete record time, bypassing the audition process - which Robert and I loathe anyway - and simply inviting some Dry Humpers as well as Kyle Ramos from SC7 to join us. Boom. There's a cast.

We all met for the first time last Thursday and read through the scripts. The Humpers were astounding at picking up parts and putting their own spin on them; it certainly made Kyle, Robert and I try a little harder. It all went swimmingly well.

By my estimate, I should be panicking in about two weeks' time. Can't wait.

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