#170 (Arguably too many) assassins
Red. Lemon. Blue. Rainbow.
11 JUNE 2025
Hey hey.
Welcome to another edition of Pretend Post with me, Chris Mead, your friendly neighbourhood improviser.
This week definitely feels like the calm before the storm as I’m off on my travels again next week. I’m going to the legendary Improvaganza Festival in Edmonton, Canada before returning to my home-away-from-home at the Flock Festival in Amsterdam. I’ll be performing in The Play’s The Thing at both festivals as well as a couple of other formats with improv pals from around the world.
Rule of three
[Console] Switch 2
I got the Switch 2 this week and it’s a proper upgrade. It’s like the Switch 1 hit puberty and started going to the gym - faster, better definition, more powerful. Mario Kart World is the launch title Nintendo are pinning all their hopes on and it’s a total triumph. I particularly like open world mode where you can just tool around the Mushroom Kingdom - throwin’ shells and takin’ names.
[Film] Bullet Train
I recently re-watched this silly film about (arguably too many) assassins all boarding the same Shinkansen with overlapping assignments. And I re-watched it for one principle reason - Tangerine and Lemon. These two hitman brothers are the life and soul of the movie. They’re both brilliant but Brian Tyree Henry as the Thomas the Tank Engine-loving Lemon is transcendent. I mean his accent is Dick Van Dyke atrocious but despite that he’s really funny, deeply loveable and plays every moment to perfection.
[Gadget] Hue Sync Box
Spent the weekend untangling and labelling every plug and cable behind my TV, as well as hoovering and dusting the whole caboodle.
I am fun.
On top of sorting everything I installed a gradient lightstrip and a Hue 8K Sync Box which takes the HDMI input signal and converts it into colours. And that means that now, whatever I’m watching or playing something, the colours shine out from the edge of my TV and paint the wall behind it. It’s really something, making the TV seem even bigger and more impactful. I’m not describing it very well, here’s an example. I am transfixed with joy.
Rainbow Road on Mario Kart World was particularly beautiful.
Spotlight
Just a tease this week that The Pretend Company is launching something new and that if you’re someone who wants to be learning theatrical improv at the very highest level - you might want to keep Tuesdays from 2nd September free. We’ve been planning this for a while now and it’s going to be spectacular.
We’ll be launching soon and readers of this newsletter will get everything first.
Longform thoughts
Here’s my assumption: every theater has a particular style, whether they are aware of it or not, that is defined and propagated through classes and coaching. Specifically, by exercise selection and the notes that are given, as well as the notes not given. You could look at the exercises and notes, integrate them with a theater’s shows, and come up with a weighted list of identifying characteristics; a theater’s stylistic finger print. I’m calling this finger print - the style pyramid.
This week we have a blog by Bill Arnett about the choices you make creating a theatre with a unique voice. This is an old blog, unavailable anywhere else on the internet, that we’re bringing back because it’s very much in the forefront of our minds as we build Pretend. Read The style pyramid here.
Radio contact
Go on AI, create something as cute as Radio, I dare you.