LAST SHOW: RETURN TO THE IMPFEST

Wardrobe by our unofficial, officially awesome sponsor, Tank 7, Photo by Paul DeMerchant.

There's only one more chance to see Spite play this year—and it's a great night of improv at a great event. We were invited back to the Impfest in Bonner Springs (so it's good Nikki talked us out of getting drunk and trashing the backstage). Thursday, October 14, at 8pm, just 10 bucks gets you four troupes: us, The Roving Imp's own Dial-a-Show, the improv-dude hotness that is Babel Fish, and the mostly improv-dude hotness that is Improv-Abilities. 

Click here for the full schedule, ticket info and classes. 

YEAH, WE GOT A SPONSOR.

The Spite girls play with Tantrum during the opening weekend of the KC Improv Festival. (Photo by the Paul DeMerchant)


We like lots of things.

We like improv, so we're excited to be part of the Kansas City Improv Festival for the second year in a row this Thursday at 8pm at the Off-Center Theater.

We like improvisers from out of town, like local-boy-turned-big-star Jason Sudeikis, who comes in to play this weekend. And our friend Jonathan Pitts, who runs the Chicago Improv Festival and called us "the plush toys of improv" and talked to the KC Free Press this week.

We like smart, funny, talented dudes, like our Thursday night show-mates Loaded Dice and festival hosts with the most Improv-Abilities (now with estrogen!).

And we like beer. So we were super-excited at the offer for an unofficial wardrobe sponsorship from our favorite brewery on the planet. Coming up next: A beer-off between Spite and the improv/brewer pal who made this wonderful thing possible.

SURROUNDED BY BOYS AT KCiF.

Spite at 9:KCiF. (Photo by Rita Marks)

Spite plays the KC Improv Festival Thursday, September 16, with Loaded Dice and Improv-Abilities, and we could NOT be more excited.

It's like being in a funny sammich, and we're the creamy filling.

Who else is there? Jason Sudeikis from SNL. Two of the very best improvisers from Chicago: improv legend Susan Messing and TJ Jagodowski (the passenger in the Sonic commercials). Other troupes from all over. And all the best local groups.

Order tickets from Crown Center at (816) 842-9999 or Improv-Abilities' website. Want to play? Sign up for classes while you're there.

GET A SPITE FIX ONCE A MONTH.

Summer break is over. We're back with three shows:

• Friday, August 6, at 8pm at the Living Room, 1818 McGee, with our pals in Babel Fish, I-A and the Trip Fives. Presale tickets are just $6. Go here.
• Thursday, September 16, at the KC Improv Festival, with our good friends in Loaded Dice, Biblioclast, and I-A. More info coming soon here.
• Thursday, October 14, at 8pm at Impfest. Check this space for info.

PLAYING AT KCIF, PLAYING WITH THE BOYS AND MORE SHOWS TO COME!

We're working on putting a few shows together (it has been way too long). In the meantime...

The KC Improv Festival has invited us to perform in September. We'll be joining some of our favorite local improv troupes and some kick-ass groups from around the country. Stay tuned for more.

And you can see us playing with our boy parts at the next Tantrum show, Friday, July 16, at 8pm at the Westport Coffeehouse. Our special guest is local writer Bryn Donovan, whose book An Experienced Mistress features a smart, creative heroine, an insanely hot hero and enough evocatively described romantic encounters that we still, several weeks later, blush furiously if we think about them. (And, you know, we do.)

THE PITCH SAYS NICE THINGS.

The KC improv community got a great writeup in the Pitch this week, with mentions of every major group and the great folks like Tom and John and Ered/Jed who give us all terrific opportunities to play.

Which makes it extra flattering that honorary improv geek Alan Scherstuhl led off with a review of a recent Spite show at the Fishtank. (And used our photo by the fabulous Ben Pieper.

We especially liked this:

The women of Spite upend expectations by thinking in terms of scene and character, rather than just joke after joke, as they satirize the everyday give-and-take of friends and co-workers.

That could pretty much be our mission statement. Also, he called us "prickly," which we like.

Read it all here.

MORE WITH OUR BOY PARTS...AND A BONUS.

We've just felt like going co-ed the last couple of months, is all. We're working on getting some Spite shows scheduled so we can try out what we learned at the Chicago Improv Festival for a home-town crowd.

In the mean time, come see us with Tantrum, why don't you? In June, we'll be joined by filmmaker and musician Anthony Ladesich. Here are all the details.

WE'RE PLAYING WITH OUR BOY PARTS.

Our co-ed troupe has a show this Friday...with some very special guests. Learn more about everybody here.

There’s only one place to see KC’s most interesting personalities live, unscripted and uncensored: the Tantrum show on Second Fridays at the Westport Coffeehouse. Our special guests will tell true stories based on audience suggestions, and Tantrum’s team of professional improvisers will spin them into scenes.

Joining us in May: our first couple. Emily Akins is an Eater, an Editorial Director, an English Major and an Environmentalist. She blogs about Everything at EverythingBeginsWithAnE.blogspot.com. Sergio Moreno likes to bang on drums with The Model Congress. For food and rent he works at a card factory you’ve probably never heard of. But deep down inside, he just wants to be the awesomest Mexican you’ve ever met.

Tantrum with Emily & Sergio
8pm Friday, May 14
Westport Coffeehouse Theater, 4010 Pennsylvania
Tickets: $10
May contain adult material.
Call 816-678-8886 for reservations.

OUR BIGGEST MAKEOVER YET.

PHOTO BY BEN PIEPER

This week, we get a head-to-toe improv makeover. Want to see what it looks like?

First, go to Chicago.

We'll be performing with three other Apprentice Teams on Sunday, April 25, at noon. (Which is nice, because then we can commence immediately to drinking.)

Want to check it out? Click here, then scroll down and down and down.

HOLY UNUPDATED BLOG, BATMAN!

Spite has a show this Saturday! At the Fishtank with the fun folks in KC Crossroads Comedy! At 7pm! It's $6 in advance and $8 at the door! You should come!

Whew.

We've been a little busy, what with working out (seriously!) and getting ready for the Chicago Improv Festival. Along with our pals at the Roving Imp, we'll be heading up to the improv mecca to study and perform as an apprentice team. That means:

• We get to spend four days seeing great shows and meeting fun people and maybe—just maybe—having a couple of beers.
• We'll be coached by Second City guy Nick Johne, who describes his college-age self as "a science nerd majoring in microbiology at a central Ontario agricultural university" and sounds like he might be made of pure awesome.
• We perform Sunday, April 25, at noon at the Gorilla Tango Theater, 1919 N. Milwaukee Ave. Tickets are a measly $5. The lineup:
  Fork [opening act]
  Roving Imp Theater [second act]
  Spite [third act]
  West of Shake Rag [closing act]
  Tickets will be available at the box office on the day of the show.

We're, you know, a little excited.

WE ROCKED THAT PARKWAY...AND NOW WE'RE READY TO ROLL WITH OJ.

We did it! Spite and our pal Daryl completed the Rock the Parkway 5K—even in the cold rain. It was exhilarating...especially the part where it was over. Now we're in search of another Spite First...stay tuned.

Next show is this Friday, April 2, at 8pm at the Roving Imp with our pals in Olive Juice. Reliable Sources tell us our last show was our best yet...catch the momentum this weekend. Tickets are just 5 bucks.

SPITE IS READY TO RUN...AND PLAY.

One more than the others, maybe. Which will be more entertaining—the 5K or the show?

Today's training check-in with the girls:

MEGAN: Pumped & ready to go. Want to get better time than last race.
TRISH: Ice pack—check. Aleve—check. Cooler of beer for the finish line—check.
NIKKI: That's THIS Saturday? Crappity crap crap.

It's a toss-up. Both should be pretty funny to watch.

SPITE ROCKS THE PARKWAY...AND PERFORMS THAT NIGHT

Oh, but we make bad decisions when we're likkered up.

Like come up with stuff we should do together, and videotape for posterity. Stuff like wine tastings (yummmm) and bikini waxings (which we haven't scheduled yet, because, um...gross?) and running a 5K, which comes easy to one of us (we're lookin' at you, Miss Megan) but NOT SO MUCH THE OTHERS.

So next Saturday, our Reuben Kincaid (Nikki's fabulous husband) will cart our sleepy butts to Rock The Parkway, where we'll somehow haul ourselves over the finish line.

Then (after what we imagine will be serious celebrating, followed by well-deserved napping) we'll head to the Fishtank for our monthly show at 7pm with KC Crossroads Comedy. Get your tickets here to save a couple of bucks.

We promise we'll shower first.

FEELING IMPISH FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKENDS

Spite will join our good pals (and fellow apprentice teams at the Chicago Improv Festival) at the Roving Imp for the next two Fridays.

• Tomorrow, Feb. 25: We'll be sharing a set with the RI team It's Debatable! at 9pm. And we'll drink a toast to George Harrison after.
  
• March 5: Spite and Olive Juice (fresh from their Thunderdome debut) at 8pm.

Find out about tickets and reservations and stuff here.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE SPITE VIDEO SHOOT

See what went on last Wednesday when we hung out with Ben Pieper. There are many, many more photos to come, including the rest of the "photo booth" shots and a secret surprise photo that involves PBR Light and a summer storm.

WINDY CITY, HERE WE COME: SPITE IS GOING TO THE CHICAGO IMPROV FESTIVAL

This is what we look like when we're happy. (Photo by Ben Pieper)

We just got the official word.

Spite applied as an apprentice team to the Chicago Improv Festival—and we've been accepted! Along with performing at the festival, we'll get to work one-on-three with an acclaimed director over the weekend (and can't wait to bring what we learn back to KC).

Do we need to say we're flattered and honored and as close to speechless as we ever get? True. All of it.

We'll perform Sunday, April 25...so if you're in Chicago, swing by!

COVERGIRLS: SPITE ON THE SITE HOME PAGE OF KCFREEPRESS.COM

Check out Spite (with our new photo by Ben Pieper) on the home page of KCFreePress.com.

Better yet, come see us at 7pm at KC Crossroads Comedy Saturday night, or next Friday at the Roving Imp at 9pm.

GREAT COACH, GREAT PHOTOS AND TIME TO GET YOUR TICKETS.

So we worked out with Keith Curtis on Monday night. Not only did he participate in the wine-gossip ritual, but he also gave terrific notes and got us thinking about some things in new ways. We're going to love working with him.

Tonight, PBR Light and Grinders Pizza sustained us through a four-hour photo shoot with the absolutely wonderful Ben Pieper. Our makeover stylist, Daryl Forkell, was on hand to make sure we didn't make a big fat fashion faux pas, and Jeff Shumway was there to art direct. The shot above is the first one out (retouched on the spot—because their service is that good).

But even if you'd wanted to, you could not have joined us either night. So we hope you'll come see us Saturday night at 7 at the Fishtank for KC Crossroads Comedy, along with KC Pet Shop and Not a Great Gorilla. Tickets are 6 bucks in advance—get 'em quick. And next Friday the 26th at 9pm, Spite returns to the Roving Imp for a split show with It's Debatable.

Want to see one of the shows free? We'll buy two tickets to either show for the first person to match the tweets to the chick in our contest.

NEW COACH, NEW PHOTOS AND TWO SHOWS.

Monday night is Spite's first rehearsal with our new coach, Keith Curtis. He's a long-time member of Improv-Abilities, makes the serious funny with John Robison in Dictionary Soup, and updates the KC improv blog when he gets the chance. As husband of Erin and father of Zella, we feel like he totally gets the chick thing, too.

Wednesday night, it's time for a photo shoot with Ben Pieper (we're big fans of Four Foodies, his blog with his wife and two friends). We'll have photo art director Jeff Shumway and our makeover stylist Daryl Forkell on hand to make us look good.

Next Saturday night at 7, we're back at the Fishtank for KC Crossroads Comedy, along with KC Pet Shop and Not a Great Gorilla. Tickets are 6 bucks in advance—but get 'em quick, because tickets go fast.

And Friday the 26th at 9pm, Spite returns to the Roving Imp for a split show with It's Debatable.

Want to see one of the shows free? We'll buy two tickets to either show for the first person to match the tweets to the chick in our contest.

Do you want to play a game?*

With shows on Friday and Saturday, it was a busy weekend for Spite. But, as always, we're not so busy that we can't tweet.

Hmm...how do we combine these two?

Below are nine SpikedSpite tweets, three from each of us. Be the first one to correctly identify the tweeter – Megan, Nikki, or Trish – and win a pair of tickets to one of February's shows. Email your answers to us at spitegirls@gmail.com for your chance to win!


+ My cat has a really intense relationship with one of my sofa cushions. It is probably important that my house guests not know which one.

+ Who do I credit for documenting the temperature of a witch's tit?

+ A nice Cab, cookie dough and Sing-Off...yeah.

+ Tonight a soak in the tub and maybe have some wine. Ah, who am I kidding? Gonna have wine and maybe soak

+ Dogs feet smell like stale popcorn. Truth.

+ I'm entertained by the varying degrees of lead-actor hotness in documentaries about Jesus.

+ Must stop watching TLC...must change the channel....must get one more glass of wine.

+ Thanks to all who fight/fought for our freedom...especially the freedom to talk about our lady parts in public.

+ Every now and then, my self-esteem starts feeling pretty solid. That's when I know it's time...to buy jeans.

Immediate family and employees of Spite are ineligible. Sorry. That'd totally be cheating.


*If you didn't read this with a robot voice, you're missing out. Totally.

THIS WEEK, THE YEAR OF TWO DOZEN SHOWS BEGINS.

For the first time in our lives, our New Years Resolutions are making it all the way to the end of January. That's because Spite resolved to do more shows—at least two a month in 2010.

We're playing at two great spaces:

• FRIDAY, JANUARY 29: Spite returns to the Roving Imp in Bonner Springs for a 9pm show. The Imp is the KC metro's only all-improv theater and coffeehouse—and that's why we love it. Check us out, and you'll also get to see One, an elite cast of Roving Imp's finest. Tickets are just $6—or see the 7pm student show too for just $8.
  
• SATURDAY, JANUARY 30: We make our debut at 7pm at KC Crossroads Comedy, performing alongside beejay and Thunderdome's Team Number Nine. This is our first show at the Fishtank, a performance coop in the Crossroads with all sorts of good improv vibes. Tickets are $6 in advance and $8 at the door—save when you order here.
  

Need a warm-up for the weekend? See two of the Spitegirls and do something good, to boot.

• NIKKI & MEGAN perform with the critically acclaimed sketch and improv troupe Pretty.Funny in a benefit for Cycling for Change at 7:30pm Thursday, January 28, at Rockhurst University's Mabee Theatre.

TWO SHOWS, JUST TWO WEEKS AWAY.

The all-chick improv à trois is back, just the way you like us. Two new venues, two new nights, lots of new pals...same smart-ass Spite.

Our new venues are lovely, intimate spaces—so make reservations before it's too late. Block your calendars:

• FRIDAY, JANUARY 29: Spite returns to the Roving Imp in Bonner Springs for a 9pm show. You'll also get to see One, an elite cast of Roving Imp's finest. Tickets are just $6—or see the 7pm student show too for just $8.
• SATURDAY, JANUARY 30: We make our debut at 7pm at KC Crossroads Comedy, performing alongside beejay and Thunderdome's Team Number Nine. Tickets are $6 in advance and $8 at the door—save when you order here.
  

Can't get enough? See the ladies in their other shows...

• NIKKI & MEGAN: With the critically acclaimed sketch and improv troupe Pretty.Funny in a benefit for Cycling for Change at 7:30pm Thursday, January 28, at Rockhurst University's Mabee Theatre.

A LITTLE SOMETHING TO WATCH.

Want to see Spite in action? Check this out:

SPITE GETS A MAKEOVER


SPITE AT THE IMPFEST, 10/2009