No Shame Theatre

No Shame Theater, at least the Iowa City version, will leave you feeling like you either got a great deal of entertainment for $2 or it will leave you feeling like you wasted $2 and two hours of your life that you will never get back. On any give Friday there is no way to know how things are going to shape up until it’s too late. Shows start at 11 p.m., usually in Theater B in the Theater Building on the University of Iowa campus. At the end of each semester, there is a “Best of No Shame” . Instead of new skits, the board members select the best skits from that semester’s shows to showcase. This is almost guaranteed to be a great show. Although NatchLucid points out that they limit the number of acts, a straight 14 or 15 each show is rarely the case. Instead, they will start throwing in half numbers, which makes the show run ridiculously long. If it’s a bad night, this can be torture. Most of the people who perform at No Shame perform every week and often in several different skits. It tends to be a male dominated show, with most women acting only as stage dressing. Of course there are a few regular female contributors who attempt to bunk the trend. Over the course of my four years at the UI, I saw some interesting things take place in Theater B. On the same night I got to hear a friend’s monologue on how he loved Pokemon in ways Pokemon shouldn’t be loved, AND I got to see an old acquaintance from high school strip down to nothing to perform his piece. Unfortunately, I missed the night he stuck a feather duster up his bum.

No Shame Theatre is located in Roanoke, Virgina, at the Mill Mountain Theatre, whose address is 20 Church Ave, Roanoke, Virgina.

It is part of Underground Roanoke, and part of the nightlife at Roanoke. It occurs every Friday at 11 PM, but if you want to sign up for an act, show up at 10 PM. It costs $5 to attend, and upon your first attendance, you will get a card which is used to mark off 4 times you attend. On the 5th time, you get in free, and start the process all over again (I think I got that right).

All of the works presented are original, and if not original, require permission to be performed (since they're making a profit (or at least they think they are)).
If your work is over 6 minutes long, the lights blink, which means "get the fuck off the stage!!!!!!!!!!!!!".

No Shame Theatre at Roanoke is probably the same as any other No Shame, except that it's a lot worse (meaning funnier and hence awesome). The headline content of No Shame are the skits written and performed by people who spend time writing 5 minute skits (meaning they were created in 5 minutes), but there's a lot more to it than that.

The few times that I have attended, there has been a person who reads poetry, a person who plays guitar, or a person who tells a story.

One time a woman (this was her first time at No Shame) was inspired by someone else's story, and stood up and proceeded to tell her life story. It was interesting, and a bit sad, and they blinked the lights at her.

Although I have bashed it a little, I love No Shame Theatre, and wish I could attend more.

I have yet to perform something, and when I do, I'll let everything know.