IDB

hairy shoulders

M&G:
The meet and greet set up was pretty decent. It could have used more tables instead of making people sit on the floor. I think it's a sign I'm getting old as all the teenagers sat down immediately on the floor and I scoped out a chair. I missed the moment exactly when Dan and Phil walked in and took a selfie with the group, so I only got a picture of Dan walking as a well as the security guy and they immediately were hidden behind the photo backdrop. They had a quick announcement of some rules and a note about either wearing your bag or leaving it to the side if you trusted others.Then everyone lined up and the line moved pretty quickly to get through everyone in less than an hour. Not surprisingly, as it is Wisconsin, there wasn't a whole lot of ethnic diversity in the room. I think I was one of two Asians. It was a little more diverse when I saw people coming in for the actual show. I could have done without most of the VIP merchandise. Yay trash . The US tour poster is probably the only thing I would keep.

When it was my turn, Dan immediately reached over to hug me, followed by Phil, who was definitely the better hugger. Dan immediately asked if I wanted something signed. I had them sign the cover of TABINOF, because why not . Phil asked me how I was doing, and I said great, or something along those lines. Dan asked if I wanted a selfie or a regular photograph and I opted for regular photograph since I wasn't going to pay all that money for a smartphone picture. I brought along a fancy camera and had the security guy take pictures for me. Dan talked about being too tall and there being such a height differential. I'm even wearing 3" heels so it would have been even worse. I enjoyed the experience for what it was, getting to see both of them up close in person and I didn't expect any meaningful conversations. They both look good in person. Phil was looking especially striking. Maybe it's those eyes of his up close. They didn't seem really tired or lethargic despite the back to back show nights. Photos below (with my face covered)




Pre-show:

Post M&G, I exited the venue hoping to find some quick restaurants nearby. That failed miserably and I chatted with some fans who also wanted food before the show. I ended up going back to my car to grab some snacks to hold me through the show. By the time I got back, the merch line was in full swing, lining up near to the front doors. Not really my thing so I went over to the bar area to get a drink.

When we were able to get to our seats, I took some pictures of the set pieces and stage. The earlier songs in the playlist didn't really get a lot of attention. Then they started playing a bunch of songs where all the girls around me started screaming along to and singing loudly. I'm terribly out of touch with today's top hits, so when they played songs from Halsey, Twenty One Pilots, 5 Seconds of Summer, and others, I was like, I've never heard these before. I looked them up...I recognized Troye's "Youth" and when that played, I noticed the girl next to me looking up tickets to his show while in her seat.

Cat whiskers were quite prevalent. I saw at least one person wearing a dinosaur onesie. A father-daughter pair wearing matching cat whiskers shirts was quite adorable.

On to the actual show:

I'm guessing they make it a point to recite three facts about each new place they go to for each show? Well, Phil had Dan talk about Milwaukee/Wisconsin. Dan didn't really have any good facts on hand - he mentioned that Milwaukee was in Wisconsin, that Wisconsin is the land of cheese, and something along the lines of having really great fans which should be a fact (trying a bit too hard on that one).

Basically they talk about the premise of this show - apparently Phil microwaved his laptop and caused the internet to explode in the real world and they are on stage for this very reason. They mention that the audience members are all the Youtube "comments" in real life. Phil's blue button up shirt appeals to me so much. I love the look of tailored menswear and he looks great in it. Dan's circle shirt is iconic at this point. I saw at least 10 fans wearing the same shirt.

I loved when Phil tried to dim the lights and get the spotlight on himself so he could sing a showtune line. Then again, I'm trash when it comes to showtunes, so I might be biased. I just wanted Dan to stop interrupting him and let him sing a whole number or two

On the 7 second challenge:

Basically, if Dan wins, they go back to doing their usual Youtube stuff. If Phil wins, they try something new.

Dan:
1) Make up a rap about Wisconsin - it was pretty bad and mentioned cheese at one point but the audience loved it
2) Spell his last name backwards - Dan nailed it just in time
3) Having to dab 5 times in a row - Dan completed it with time to spare shaking his head at fans for even submitting that

Phil:
1) Run backwards from one end of the stage to the other - he does with time to spare and Dan is impressed
2) Name 5 dog breeds - Phil answers this quite easily, no surprise
3) Make up a poem about cheese - He talks about fearing cheese but he wouldn't run backwards to get away from it (referencing the effort #1 had on him)

Bonus round: They get a mystery card (I have no idea if this is pre-decided; or something a fan wrote). Dan has to become a whale and swim to the other side of the auditorium/room. He spends 2 seconds spluttering and then just makes noises on stage without moving. Phil gives it a fail.

AmazingPhil magic segment:

I thought it was a fun segment where Phil got to show off some new tricks. I shook my head at the girls reaching for the paper that was in Phil's mouth because the scientist in me thinks...all those microbes?? I would actively avoid having it landing on me, so I'm glad Dan didn't toss it in my seating section.

Weird kid segment:

They picked some interesting submissions. One girl tripped and faceplanted into a Lego and had to get stitches. Another girl ate the leaves of house plants. Yet another girl wanted to jump into a fish tank. Finally, one girl would tie string on her dolls to make them fly. Dan and Phil found the last one to be the weirdest.

Internet Support Group:

One dad says his daughter is obsessed with watching videos and he wants to know if they are good role models. Obviously, Dan laughs. My favorite was the girl who asked "How do I make money without having to do any work?" Wouldn't everyone love the answer to that? Then there were the usual ones about procrastination and how to give school presentations. Dan just tells the fan to volunteer to work the computer part or break an arm like Phil mentioned.

Crafts corner:

Someone made flower crowns for Dan and Phil with miniature photos pasted on of representative images like pizza and Pepe for Dan. Another person made a cake with a pretty nice lion on it. One girl made Wowza signs for them and they pose with it. Finally, they show a giant pop up phan art book. I wish I could have actually seen the detail, but on the microwave screen, they show "Unbelievably Censored" and hint it to be quite shocking as they open the flaps. It's hard to say what actually was on it and I was in the fourth row up front.

2083 Dan and Phil:

If I had to rank the segments, this one was probably my least favorite. I liked them in trench coats, but I wasn't a huge fan of the futuristic Q&As. The twerking at the end
gave me so much second hand embarrassment. Phil falls over pretending to die and Dan fake cries over him and drags him into the microwave to bring them back to 2016.

Existential crisis:

I knew where this was heading even without reading spoilers. Phil sits on the mystery cube and asks Dan if he wants to talk through it. Then a motorized toy car shows up with their scripts for fan fiction.

Fan Fiction:

No surprise, the crowd chooses cowboys over pirates and they go to pick up their props. Phil has trouble getting his vest/bandana combination on. Dan goes over to help him and the audience screams (does this happen at every show? or was Dan just intentionally acting on an opportunity..). When given the chance to pick from space or camping, the fans loudly cheer for camping. I laughed when I saw that the popup tent didn't even look big enough for one of them to fit into it. Then given the option to pick from giving them cake or having Phil draw Dan like a french girl, barely anyone cheered for cake.

Dan and Phil mechanically walking about:

The narrator made them "do the dishes" and they threw paper plates at the audience. One landed on me and I gave it to the girl next to me, because, it's a paper plate no matter what text you print on it...

Dil:

I think it would have been more interesting if they had made some sort of face mask/prosthetic looking like Dil instead of that giant Papier-mache one. Or maybe people don't want realistic . I did like the message - Dan shouldn't worry about his existence because it is meaningful to his friends and his fans. Phil shouldn't fear not being accepted by others as this
whole audience is here supporting him.

Finale:

Finally! The full song and dance showtune number. I could watch do that all day. The US jackets aren't as flashy as the gold ones, but they are cool. They've come a long way.
I wonder how long it took for them to memorize the steps. Coming from someone who barely passed dance class many years ago in high school, props to them for including that in their show.
I can't help but notice how at this point, Dan's hair is curling and it looks GREAT.

Overall:

It was a fun and engaging show. It didn't drag at all and the time flew by quickly. While I'm nowhere near as dedicated a fan of Dan and Phil as some of you on IDB, I thoroughly enjoyed this show even though I went by myself. The screams from teenagers didn't bother me that much and no one shouted anything inappropriate that I noticed. As someone who discovered Dan and Phil fairly late (Dec 2014) and being way past the age of having to care about school, I don't really watch either of them for relatability. I only watch them for light entertainment and they certainly delivered that in person 100% while amping up the performance factor. Long story short, go see it if you can! It's definitely worth the experience.

1)Dan’s voice is quite a bit higher than it seems online. When he first started speaking I was like , what is that voice? Phil’s is too, but not quite as noticeable.
2) Phil is better looking in person. I am normally more in Dan’s camp on the look appreciation front, but seeing Phil in the flesh made me lean his way a bit more. I think he looks more “manly” in person maybe?
3) The way Dan stands is very distracting. I have seen it before in vlogs and things, but in person it is different. The entire time I was why for the love of god!? My friend said it looked like his arms were on backwards. I said I think he stands like that to ‘look thinner’? I have seen woman and models stand like that to make them look skinnier. But not all the time, just in pictures and then it doesn't look so unnatural. (He’s still good looking though, ngl)
4) Phil is very springing. I am surprised he is the clumsier of the two actually since he seems to move so easily. My friend made that comment as well, that he is very fluid in his movements. At the beginning of the show he did this jump thing and it was like he had springs in his shoes. Little effort but a lot of pay off.
5a) The audience was even younger than I had anticipated. I thought there would be a majority of older teen/young 20’s. But from what I could see it was tweens, or teens barely any of even driving age. I found this mildly disconcerting. There were a lot of parents there. The mother in front of us knew who they were but was not a fan per say.
5b) I thought a lot of the references and jokes were pretty risque for such a young audience. By that I mean, not that they wouldn't know what it meant or whatever, but If I was that age and went with my mother, she would definitely would have side eyed me, and D&P. I in turn would have been slightly embarrassed to be with her watching it. (Please note I am very liberal, and so are my parents. I mean they put me on the pill when I was 14. But still…) Possibly the Wisconsin audience was younger in general?

It was great. Since I had no idea really what it was about, I was very pleasantly surprised. I knew some of the things involved just from being around, but the majority I had no clue. The singing and dancing was great. Not broadway, but great in an endearing campy D&P way. The production value is there. The set is great, and definitely is fitting for them. That microwave is a great set piece, that even on some broadway sets would look at home. As an old theater nerd I appreciated the whole stage set up. The story line was clever. Do we know who wrote it? Was it them? I am interested to know. We laughed quite a lot, and cringed just a little bit. All in all very glad I went. They both seemed pretty comfortable up there, and did not look too tired considering that they just had quite the long run without a break. Since I didn’t want to go to the M&G I don't know how they looked up close, but from the audience they looked pretty damn fine… I mean good, cough cough

Phil’s magic-Was pretty good. The bowling ball was well done. I don’t even like magicians, but the bants that went with it saved it and progressed the story line.

I was a weird kid-He could have done 3 new things or at least 3 that weren’t in the book. I was getting a little bored during it, since I already knew the stories. He thankfully did tell a new story but all new stories would have been better I think. I did like how they were told, and the production itself was well done. Phil was very good, and his comedic timing was on point.

ISG-It was cute. The questions were pretty dull. The answers were in turn, the same. I wonder if they toned it down since the “stalk him until he loves you” debacle.
Existential crisis- also cute. Mainly the Phil “helping” him through it.

The Fan fiction IRL- First of all I was surprised they did this. Second I was surprised at how suggestive it was. I thought about how if they were on tour even 2 years ago they wouldn’t have touched some of the jokes with a 10 ft pole. So that was nice to see that relaxed attitude. Phil did have a problem with putting his costume on and Dan had to help him. I am pretty sure it wasn’t scripted. Dan made a comment about performing a fanfiction that was unplanned or something to that effect. A little risque ad lib is much appreciated.

Dil- I knew there was a Dil in the show, but I was not prepared for the horror of it. Holy crap is his scary lookin! Ha. I jest...kind of. He is pretty scary, and the accompanying music, and the darkness combined makes for some great theatrics. That head looks hard to wield! Haha

Time travel- This was sweet. The twerking was a surprise, and I was thankful they had on the long coats. If they didn’t have them, the cringe factor would have possibly been too much to handle.

The start scared the crap out of me the sounds were so loud and the microwave going off it made me wonder if someone might of went into a panic about it cause it started abruptly. I know people have already talked about some things so i wont go through everything. I didnt know why there was a microwave before the show and what a cute concept. The stage was so Dan and Phil all of the little nik naks that make you think of these guys were represented. The lighting was spot on and the sounds were so big and sounded great the crew guy whats his name chrisopher or whatever really does do a great job he should get more recognition for what he does. Phil climbed up on a big lion and let me just tell you Phillip Michael Lester was so frickin handsome. Sorry but he was so cute and told Dan to get on to his big llama was so funny. I would of loved to take a picture but there was some scary security walking around just waiting to catch you so i didnt want to chance gettin kicked out.

The 7 sec challenge was fun but my favorite was when Dan had to be a whale and swim across the theater or something and the noises Dan made and the way he swayed seriously cracked me up I was crying laughing. Even driving home today I was talking about it with my daugher and started laughing again.
Intenet support was good but could of had better questions. Kanye question of course, a dad about if dan and phils content was appropriate or something like. Sometimes the branding is just a little too much for me. Kanye, cereal, lions, Dog, cactus, you know what I meme.
The why I was a weird kid was good too but I already knew all these except the last one about when you move away people make you feel special or something. But having watched like everything and anything I can get my hands on with Dan and Phil I feel like he did kinda talk about that at some point during a live show. maybe not but yeah.
The crafts were funny there was a tissue box I forgot what it said but Dan was like I could use this and I dont know I found that part very funny. And a really adorable cake

The going forward in time was funny I think when Dan puts on a costume he really can get into that character. I am forgetting the order of the show
Dan existential crisis Phil is comforting Dan and I like all he said, and I am sure Dil has already been talked about plenty I haven't read reviews of the other shows yet but I Iike the concept of how they worked it in to the storyline. one part when Phil is comforting Dan and Phil says maybe drawing wiskers on each other doesnt mean something to us, but it does to them meaning us the phans. I would hope that irl it does mean something to them.
Phils magic was so cute he was having fun you could tell and he was really good too. I already knew the end song because I heard it before but it didnt mater it was so sweet my eyes teared up ngl. The singing an dancing omg loved it. The end there was like glitter streamers that burst out after the song and Dan was all sweaty and he had them stuck to his face that he had to wipe the away to bow. He too is so handsome I love watching they way he walks and holds himself, same with Phil its cool to be able see the perform for over an hour and they are not sitting in front of the camera.