ComedySportz Eugene is officially finished. After seven years --- the last three of which I have been a member --- we closed our doors last night after a double-header evening, with a sold-out final performance and an unprecedented early show added due to ticket demand after the final show sold out on the previous Wednesday.

We left it all on the stage during that final performance, and put on a fantastic final show. I got to play Paul Stanley on a talk show, among lots of other fun.

To my friends in California, New York, and elsewhere, I wish you could have seen me perform. The final show was videotaped; if it turns out well, perhaps you can watch me after all. To my friends who came to see me once or dozens of times through the years, thank you! To my fellow players, both current and those who have moved on, thank you for the memories, the joy, the laughter, the fun, and the learning. To Kent, Aaron, and Russell, thank you for taking a chance three years ago on a guy who had no previous training in improv but who had the desire and passion to learn. I hope my growth over the years as a performer and improviser shows.

I had a few personal goals on passing my audition for CSz. The first was to fulfill a lifelong dream of making a paying audience laugh. That happened with my debut performance on Mother's Day weekend in 2003. It means as much to me now as it did then.

CSz became much more to me than just a place to learn and perform improv. It was a place where my son and I learned and had fun together. It was where I met my very lovely and amazing girlfriend. And it was a place where I met many fantastic people with whom I hope to continue learning, performing, socializing, singing karaoke, seeing $1.50 movies, and so on.

Thanks to each and every one of you.

What's next? Well, for starters, check out http://www.myspace.com/manraystevens. And there will be more to come. Stay tuned. But for CSz, I leave you with the following:

British Sea Power - It Ended On An Oily Stage

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Everything you said was true
Everything you did was you
Everything I started with her
Ended on an oily stage where

I wrote elegiac stanzas for you
I hope and pray that they come true

He found God
In a parking lot, and you did not
I, I headed for the coastalry
Regions of mind
To see what I'd find

But I do understand why they're looking at you
As if you ever really cared

All across the Eastern Board
Languages were being lost
You look so elegantly bored now
Totally at ease with it all, yeah

Whilst you were drunk oh you let it all slip
I hope and pray that it's okay

He found God
In a Wiltshire field, whilst you did not
I, I headed for the coastalry
Regions of mind
To see what I'd find

But I do understand why they're looking at you
As if you ever really cared

He found God
In a Wiltshire field, and you did not
I, I headed for the coastalry
Regions of mind
To see what I'd find