Welcome to the Brandcenter Community Theatre.

Throughout high school and college, I never participated in the drama programs of either institution. The kids that did typically kept to themselves, close knit, if a touch odd.

Being in the copywriting track at the Brandcenter has given me a new appreciation of those kids. I didn't know it when I arrived, but I was actually joining a bizarre Vaudevillian ensemble. Almost every day for the last seven months, I've marched on stage and delivered a series of ludicrous jokes, tropes, stanzas, lines, voices and characters. That's what makes school so interesting, and, I think, why forming strong friendships has been so easy. If our work was delivered in a vacuum, simply emailed in PDF form to our professors, we'd miss out on the squirmy, uncomfortable hours filled by performances worthy of the Globe. Or at least a community theatre.

Honestly. Who goes in front of 50 people, looks them in the eye, takes a breath and emotes, "Tiffany's: addict her to you."

I do. My peers do. And man, it makes you want to drink together.

"I think this commercial is just about the greatest thing that has ever been on television. It kicks the moon landing's ass."

The above quote comes from an inspiring segment of NPR's always sublime This American Life, in which the story behind Weiden's famous "Freestyle" is finally told. Originally aired in 2001, the piece proves that sometimes - sometimes - advertising can transcend its original purpose (selling) and move in to the realm of genuine art. The segment is great even if you don't give a damn about advertising, but for myself (and I think a lot of others as well) it's really, really encouraging.

Hear what I'm talking about in the player above.