10 Questions: Andy Mason

10 QUESTIONS: ANDY MASON

April 25, 2004

1. Who are you?

Andy Mason, mad scientist-in-training (I can’t help but emphasize the mad part) and token Generically Named White Boy.

2. Where did you first find out about OOPS?

Well, I saw the poster that had me believing Drew Carey was going to be mentoring us to improv greatness. But, it’s all good, as it turns out we didn’t need the help. J That reminds me, a shout out to everyone else who contributed to OOPS’ birth and growth before having to graduate or leave – Lisa, Mike B., Zach, and anyone else that I didn’t mention.

3. What's your favorite improv game to play?

That’s a tough one. Everybody has me tabbed as the Sound Effects guy, and that’s cool, because I love that game. But I also love Murder Mystery and Irish Dri – oh, pardon me, “Drunk Man’s Hymn.” I’d say those three would be my favorite, but in a photo finish, I’d go with Sound Effects. And you know, I’ll have forgot about two or three other games I like a lot by the time this goes up on the site, but eh, whatever.

4. Do you have any favorite memories from your time in OOPS?

You kidding? I have tons of favorite memories from OOPS. Here are 10 that I can think of at the moment, in no particular order:

(holding an imaginary baby) “It’s a beautiful baby…” “Freeze! Interior Decorating!” “Oh, this’ll look nice on the shelf over here…” (Scott, having to go from Lifetime original movie to home decorating in F&T Styles.)
“…Doggy.” (Nick, during Murder Mystery; a key element of this game is not to speak in English while playing the game. CHAY-TER!)
“I’m a ghoooost!” (Zach, doing F&T Styles and needing a sheet to put his character’s ethereal self in.)
“There is no sandwich!” (Bryan, doing the Matrix in yet another Film and Ryan Styles)
“MR. PHUKWITZ! MR. PHUKWITZ!” (Josh, during a practice Press Conference. I don’t care, that’s how I’m spelling it, so there, nyah nyah.)
“IT’S STILL STUCK IN HIS EYE!!!” (Ray, during a practice Sportscasters that went way too long. Instant classic.)
“sh-doo-ba-do, yeah, computer ENIAC, sh-doo-ba-do, yeah, and then the Zodiac…” (me, trying desperately to think up rhymes for “Jack” in Sh-doo Run during warm-ups. When there’s three people left, the third person gets stuck trying to think of three rhymes every time he has to go, as opposed to one. That would be me in this case.)
Doing Sound Effects for a football game scene, punting an imaginary TV after seeing the Bills give up a TD, and watching my shoe fly off my foot and kick a panel out of the ceiling. Tip to budding improvisers: Don’t wear moccasins or loafers while doing a physical game like Sound Effects.
In a practice Quick Change, being a checkout clerk in a supermarket that was also a Jamaican hockey announcer, and watching Josh and Bryan trying to cope with me being both at the same time. “Ha, ha, ha, hello and welcome to the Kingston Dome, mon! Bryan gets five for fighting and will have to sit in the freezer-penalty box!” My good friend Rich was visiting from his Air Force Base and got to see it, too, which is why I’m especially fond of this memory.
Trying to get Ray’s backpack after Nick, Bryan, Ray and I had left Josh’s apartment. No one was home, and we’d shut the locked door and Ray’s bag with it behind us, so he had to go up on the second-floor patio to get inside. The only problem was, Nick got his head stood on with Ray’s full weight, and when Ray came back down, he fell awkwardly while we were trying to catch him and butt-smashed poor Nick in the face! All this, while the University Police were driving around trying to find something to do with themselves, and Bryan losing his cell phone only to find that he dropped it in the road trying to catch up with us as we faked driving off without him before discovering Ray’s backpack was missing in the first place. Let’s just say that that was hair-raising. Naturally, Josh wasn’t too pleased after we told him, and I think Scott was just glad to have left before any of this happened that night.

5. Do you have a most embarrassing moment in OOPS?

Two, actually. In one show, Nick and I were doing a lot of two-man games that involved audience suggestions. Somebody kept yelling out “PORN! DO PORN!” “THEY’RE IN THE SHOWER!” “THEY’RE SHOPPING FOR THEIR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY, DOING PORN!” And the host of the game decided, yes, these were all great ideas. (I’m gonna git you, Stoyle!) Naturally, those games were the creepiest things we’d ever had to perform; just so you all know, Nick has a girlfriend and if I weren’t single, I’d have a girlfriend too, not a boyfriend. In conclusion, NO MORE porn requests please! Also, there was the time I got the games mixed up while hosting “Quick Change” once and barked out the directions for “Stand, Sit, Lie” instead. I guess that’s why they call it “OOPS.”

6. What else do you like to do besides improv comedy?

Well, I like to do physics – it may not sound like it when I’m doing homework, but I do. And I play guitar and bass, I’m always up for a game of Frisbee or football or what-have-you, and most importantly, I always make sure to crack open the Bible and go to the Newman Center Masses to say I’m sorry to God for any improv games that went horribly wrong. ;)

7. What got you into improv?

Well, if you want a bit of personal history, I’d have to say the fact that I loved doing the school musicals back in high school, and people seemed to think I was pretty good at it. However, when I got to UB, I didn’t have time to add on a theater major to a physics major, and there wasn’t much of anything for non-majors to do in terms of theater – that is, until OOPS came along. At the time, I was a rabid fan of Whose Line is it Anyway? (I still am, just haven’t been able to get to the TV) and thought, “Hey, that looks like fun, I’ll give it a shot.” So, I went over to the first practice with Josh, who was my hallmate at the time, and the rest is OOPS lore and legend.

8. What's your favorite movie and why?

Aw man … I have like 20. I guess I’ll pick “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Excellent execution, Harrison Ford is at his best, great message delivered by the movie, lots of little bits of humor scattered around – my favorite part is the birth of the concept “Why go into an arduous fight with a highly skilled evil swordsman when you can just shoot him?” – and of course, it’s always fun killing lots of Nazis!

9. What are your future plans?

Well, next semester, I’m headed off to the University of Pittsburgh and try and get me one of them high-fallutin’ Ph.D.s in physics. After that, I tentatively plan on doing astrophysics or planetary science work research. Perhaps I might do science writing, there’s a lot of possible options. In terms of improv, it’s up in the air at this point, but rest assured, you haven’t seen the last of me on stage!

10. Do you have any parting words to your friends and fans?

Exuberance. Poltergeist. Incendiary – oh, you mean like words of wisdom? I’d like to thank you guys for everything we’ve been through together. Maybe I have a hard time saying it out loud, but you all mean a lot to me and I already miss every one of ya. It’s time for me to move on, and sooner or later, it’ll be your time too, and you’ll find it’s a good thing. Keep in touch, don’t be strangers, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be around again – after all, it’s Pittsburgh, not Mars! I leave you with a little snippet from my all-time favorite song, which I think summarizes about a novel’s worth of feelings about this sort of thing. Catch you on the flip side, and God bless you all!

”So I went from day to day,
Though my life was in a rut,
Till I thought of what I’d say,
Which connection I should cut.
I was feeling part of the scenery,
I walked right out of the machinery,
My heart going boom, boom, boom,
Hey, he said, ‘Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home!’”
- Peter Gabriel, “Solsbury Hill”