Hi. It’s me, Rejected TTS Labs.
Let me preface by stating a few notes. This piece is not my Dan Humphrey moment. I want this to be an opportunity to get to know me, to understand why Rejected TTS Labs exists.
Let’s start with me. My name is Madeleine Kaylor Mason. I am the person behind Rejected TTS Labs. I’m a Theatre Arts major, and I’m about to graduate. I’m terrified, but that is neither here nor there.
Coming to TTS was a form of culture shock for me. After my first conversation regarding Brechtian theatre, I knew I was swimming in deep waters. I was the so-called “theatre expert” at my high school, so being surrounded by twenty-five to thirty theatre experts every day was terrifying. I was scared all the time, and I had no positive outlet. I felt lost. I didn’t know what it meant to have an aesthetic or what Free Street Theatre was. What was I doing here? Why did they let me in?
My feelings boiled into this anger that sat inside of me for the entirety of my freshman year. I was in a new city and didn’t know anyone. I barely trusted anyone. Long story short, I wasn’t happy.
This was where Rejected TTS Labs reared its ugly head.
Spring quarter, someone was looking for actors for their lab. As a thirsty bitch who would kill for any opportunity to act, I jumped. Before one of the shows, the whole cast was dancing to Rihanna’s “Disturbia”. I imagined if the audience walked in at that moment, and just sat through ninety minutes of just that. It was the funniest idea in the world. It propelled me to log onto Twitter, create the handle @rejected_labs, and a place to share my ideas.
Comedy is something that lives in my bones. It’s how I process pain and understand the world around me. Whenever tragedy strikes, I find myself laughing, trying to process what’s happening and understanding the chaos that’s happening around me. I had all of this anger and frustration about the institutions that governed my life and comedy helped me make sense of it.
The concept was a Twitter account that only posted ideas that would be immediately rejected by Coya, Dean, and Barry. I drew from the most absurd performance art I could fathom, as well as little personal moments that happened in my life. Thinking about my parent’s divorce? Let’s tweet that. Angry about something a fellow student said in class? Let’s tweet that. Falling madly in love with a tall tenor? Bitch, you better believe I’m using that as material. I threw any material that might resonate with someone and hoped it stuck. And eventually, people noticed.
I sometimes tweet harsh things about different majors. It needs to be stated that I have so much respect for everyone at this school. The account isn’t a representation of my personal views. But, the account would be boring if it was just stroking people’s egos.It’s less about roasting different majors and more about making people laugh.
This account has sat with me for the past three years, and it’s been immensely weird and entertaining. The biggest plot twist of the whole thing is that I pitched a lab and it was accepted. I would never have predicted it. It was an ironic cherry on top to the whole experience.
But now, I’m going to graduate. What is going to happen after I leave?
I genuinely don’t know the answer to this question. I know I won’t delete the account, there are some things I’ve tweeted that I’m very proud of. But, Rejected TTS Labs only works when you’re part of the TTS conversation. I’m also a little worried that passing the account onto someone else will change the tone and style. I’m a control freak, and I really like what I’ve done.
I’ve started to think about my legacy, and what I’m leaving behind as I move forward into the big bad world. What do I want to be remembered for? The closer graduation gets, I’ve realized that I want to be remembered for this dumb Twitter account I made.
So, hi. I’m Madeleine Mason. I’m Rejected TTS Labs. Thank you for everything.
You know you love me.
XOXO, Rejected TTS Labs
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