Each moment of this show dripped with sadness and fear. WOW! That
was dramatic. Actually there was an air of uncertainty that hung over
this show. Dale had just moved to Austin a month before. Our founder,
our spiritual leader, our director, our designer, sound guy and brother
were gone  in one swift plane ticket. Dress rehearsal night Mo announced
to the cast that she was pregnant and would be taking a leave of 
absence due to some problems with her pregnancy. We didn't know that 
within a year she would leave the group completely. It was starting to 
look like Gag Reflex was about to perform its last revue.

In 92 and 93 I had been the driving force behind Strange's and had 
driven it into the ground with my tyrannical control. The thing I 
loved most about Gag was that I could come, write, perform and 
not really run anything. Now I took up the reigns and was named 
director. I was terrified. The thing that had made Gag great was 
how professional Dale made us look. By looking at our flyers and 
websites, you couldn't tell that we (as a group) had no money and 
all had day jobs. As I turned out the poster for this show, I
remember thinking what a huge step backward it was. 

The thing that saved this show, and I believe in many ways the group, 
was Dan. Dan had left the group earlier that year just before the 
Sick World Tour. When I told him that the group had this show pending, 
and Dale was leaving, Dan came back. I don't think that if we had 
auditioned and gotten somebody new, I would have stayed. I think Gag 
would have crumbled. 

Chicago is still uncharted territory for us. I think we drew 40 people
over 2 nights. It was comforting to me in a way. At least if my 
directorial debut crashed and burned, few people would see it. There 
was some REALLY great material in this show. "Not That Blouse", 
"Doctor Doom" , "Waiting For Good Dough" and "Hokey Pokey" really 
stand out in my mind as fabulous bits.

It was far from being our best show ever. But it was a good show. A 
show that I felt brought us all together as performers (as schmaltzy 
as that sounds.). A show that felt like a rebirth. At the end of the 
second night, as a bunch of us sat in the shadow of the Beatles in 
the Rock N' Roll McDonald's in the heart of Chicago's Loop talking 
about new sketch ideas for New Year's Eve, I knew we'd be okay.

- Eric