I Don’t Want To Ruin The Surprise
By Augie Praley
Samantha and Harry have come back to Harry’s place at the end of their third date, and so has a lot of baggage. As memories and might-have-beens come out to have their say, it’s up to them to decide who to listen to.
Augie is a Manhattan based writer, director and actor. Praley’s work in theatre has been seen across the world in cities including Chicago, Washington, DC, New York and Tbilisi, Georgia. His play “Thanksgiving at Chekov’s” was a finalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and his screenplay “i am become the sea” was a quarter-finalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. In the past Praley has written for The Blue Man Group. In 2014, The New York Times called Praley’s one-man web series Augie, Alone “a series of delightful solo vignettes that announce a strong new comic voice.” He is also co-creator of the web series “INGENUE!” Praley studied Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago and received an MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU’S Tisch School of the Arts. He is currently a writer/producer at Comedy Central. He is a proud company member of Flying V.
Based on “Falling Through Your Clothes”
“Falling Through Your Clothes” by The New Pornographers
Reina: How did the idea for the play come out of the song? What song ingredients did you use, and what extra ingredients did you add?
Augie: I think the idea of the play came more from the overall feeling of the song rather than anything specific in the lyrics. I hadn’t heard the song before, I like the New Pornographers and I’m a fan of AC Newman, but I’m not caught up on their entire oeuvre as it were. Something about this song had a sense of nervous energy in it and a pulsing backbone that made me think a lot about that anxious world of human connection. Of course, now that I’m listening to it again after writing the play I hear the lyric “You turn into someone that you only know, when you’re falling through your clothes” which in a lot of ways is the heart of my play. These people we become to impress our dates and our loved ones and the people who continue to haunt us long after we’ve left them. I guess that’s a long way around the barn to say, a combination of the songs lyrics and ideas and pulsing beat lead me down a path towards insecurities and awkardness in trying to find a connection. It was a collaboration between music and my own thoughts.
Reina: What people from your life/famous characters pop out of your subconscious when you are trying to act cool on a date? Who would you welcome in that situation? Who would you dread?
Augie: Oh god. I gave up trying to be “cool” on dates in sixth grade when it became clear the silver sequin shirt I wore to my first boy/girl dance was lame, not cool like I thought. I was never going to be James Dean, I’d be lucky if I could be Kevin James. I started looking for the funny, rather than the suave to emulate… So… Bill Murray. I think I’d welcome Bill Murray to come on in and give me advice. He’s hip, cool, funny, and in my greatest moments, I hope I make him proud.
I think I’d most dread Ryan Gosling to show up on a date, cause I can’t stack up to him. Funny. Smart. Handsome as all get out… He’d probably pay for my dinner, while taking my date out on the most unforgettable night… Next question please.
Reina: What’s the best piece of dating advice you can think of?
Augie: Don’t invite Ryan Gosling.
Reina: How often do you use music in your writing?
Augie: There’s always some element of music in most of what I write, be it something written to play in the background or a conversation two characters are having about some obscure record. I like using music in the play itself, but also as an identifier of people, too, y’know? Like, you can get a sense of who a person is by their music taste, are they talking about deep tracks from albums, skimming the surface, are they a pop kind of person. It can tell you a lot about a person, their tastes. I like to use music in both of those ways, I get to know who this guy is when he tells us his favorite song is “your body is a wonderland” by John Mayer when hers is some obscure contemporary Czech composer that I’d have to google before writing about anyways. Music can tell a lot, so I try to lean on it as much as possible.
