Lobster Memory Lane – James Bewley’s Naked Lobster Sneak Peek

From James Bewley, director and actor alumni:
“(*Most of this will be found in my upcoming tell-all about my experiences in the group, The
Naked Lobster, but I don’t mind giving the folks a little taste.)

The Lobster had just gotten going by the time I arrived in San Francisco. Everyone was a
millionaire then. We ate burritos wrapped in Yahoo stock. I had known Paul from our time in
Providence, and after painting walls, watching the show from the tech booth, and making some
weird early posters, he finally called one day and said, “So…you thinking about performing
at all?”. This was probably Paul’s way of telling me that a) they were going with a much more
professional person to make their posters and b) an invitation to join the group onstage. But
I think I had to be nude first. I don’t remember the exact timeline, but Peter Nachtrieb was
directing the summer show, Hot August Nights, and since he was really my entry into moving
to San Francisco and hooking up with the Lobsters in the first place, I had weasled my way
into a pool party/early writing meeting. My sketch idea was to have someone walk in and do
a nude cameo. That someone ended up being me. I’ll never forget the young girl in the front
row whose eyes filled with tears as her mother cringed in the seat next to her as I delivered my
lines. That and being able to be nude onstage with Paul was pretty fantastic. (Try it!) Happy
with the show and eager to tell my family about the experience, I brought a VHS tape home
and at Thanksgiving asked if anyone wanted to see what I had been up to in San Francisco.
Now, fortunately the big tv was not working, and this was pre-HD, so on a little 13″ screen/VCR
combo, I fast forwarded till I got to my part. It played, I skipped ahead to the concluding part
of the joke in the second act and the room was kind of quiet. My aunt went back to cleaning
the stove, and a most distant relative solemnly asked if anyone wanted pie. Funny can mean
different things to different people. Pie is universal. To the entire gang celebrating your teenage
years, Happy Birthday. I still miss being a part of that nonsense more than anything – keep on
killing it. James”