One of the best nights yet

So the show went up last night, and was a rousing success. I discovered some pictures of us on the Prague Post website - just in case you didn't believe me, here's the proof that Dan and I are honestly appearing on stage together in the Czech Republic. Dan's comment: "if you'd have told me three years ago that you and I were going to be in a play in the Czech Republic, I probably would have said...'don't you mean Czechoslovakia?'"

The theatre was about half-full (maybe 100 people), and they were all laughing at us (even the little kid in the back row. Our director's comment: "if we can make a kid laugh, you know that shit is honest"). My personal highlight was when, at the end of the show as my shirt comes unbuttoned and my gloriously toned abs, luscious pecs, and hair-free chest are out there for all to see, that little kid yelled "EEEEWWW!"

Afterwards, I went to the lobby with little in the way of hope or expectation at seeing anyone I knew. But I was wrong. About seven people from my program showed up and stayed through the whole thing to give me a hug and tell me they enjoyed it. Definitely made my night, day, week, month, you name it.

So, a successful opening night under our belts, Dan and I set out to a) put some more money on my phone, and b) get Dan some food. Our director, Tyler, had a table reserved at a super-trendy club called M1, so we decided to meet him there for a few drinks.

The best part of being in this play was something I did not expect when I was first cast. There is a very, very closely-knit American expat community here in Prague, and this show has essentially been my pass into that elite club. I've met tons of people, all of whom are business owners or performers here in Prague, and all of whom know each other (there's seriously only about 1 degree of separation between anyone who speaks English and lives here). It's really enriched things.

And its also starting to give me the hook-up. Tyler introduced me to his friend Jonathan, a magician who's headlined in Vegas and has used Prague as a base for the past few years as he's toured Europe doing stage magic (I've never had more of a desire to be with Magic Mike than when I found that out. I definitely would have set up a magic-off, right there, in the middle of the club). He showed us some cool tricks. Oh, and by the way, he owns the club we were at.

Three bottles of complimentary champagne later (Jonathan wanted to make sure we celebrated our successful show), my inner Hollywood boy suddenly turned on and I realized that I had connections to exploit in this situation. My host brother, Vaclav, is a concierge at one of the nicest hotels in Prague, and the owner of this club would surely want to meet him and make sure Vaclav talks up his club to all the rich tourists. I mentioned it to Jonathan and was told that'd be a "huge favor, thanks man." So I called up Vaclav and Jonathan hooked him up with a VIP pass, and in the meantime I assured myself free entry into this club whenever I want it.

On the way back, on the tram, Dan and I were minding our own business when a Czech man reminded us that we weren't supposed to eat on the tram. I knew that. Dan knew that. We weren't planning on eating the food till we got off. But I guess Dan was a little sassy in his response to the guy, so the American behind him got involved and things kinda escalated. Dan wants to get in a fight ("honestly, I'm a six foot five frat star"). To be honest, I'd have had his back. But we just turned around and complained about it instead.

Ahhh, what a successful evening! The only thing that could make this better would be...waking up to svičkova. Oh wow, is there really anything else in life that matters? Honestly.

Tonight, we do it all again (minus the club probably. Well actually who knows). And there are supposed to be some more folks from my program in attendance.