Sarah’s team, Stottlemeyer, was one of the seven teams cut with the arrival of the new schedule. Tonight was their last show. Yesterday Stonelake (far left) had a Stottlemeyer Going Away Party. People took pictures and got drunk and came up with weird ideas for things they could (but wouldn’t) do for the last show (like lying down dead on the stage at the end and refusing to get up).

Stonelake: Hey, hey... all I know is, we have to have an awesome show tomorrow!

I missed the show because of Whirled News but I met up with the team at a nearby bar afterwards. Some people did shots, some cried. Mostly they hung out like a group of people that truly enjoyed each other’s company.

Hedges (bottom) and I had been through this before when Otis was cut.

Hedges: You know, I was put on Otis and then two years later we get cut. Stottlemeyer asks me to perform with them and a year later I get them cut too. My power to get teams cut is growing.
Me: I don’t think that’s true. Maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe you kept those teams going longer than they would have otherwise.

The hardest part about one of these nights is that some people have been placed on new teams (Sarah has), and some haven’t. One cut performer, who I’ve known for a long long time, said to me, “I’m thinking about learning to play the guitar.”