Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category
Where in the world am I today?: Vacationing in Peru
I posted last week about the fun I’ve been having building props for “The Hot Dog Show” that I’ll be debuting at the PNE on August 22. One of the props I’m building for the show, the Hot Dog equivalent to the Human Cannonball, is being built from a modified compressed-air potato cannon that I received as a gift from John Ullyatt a few years ago and a wooden box to house the bits that make up the cannon.
Now I’ve got a workshop at home with some tools in it, but it’s nothing compared to the wood-working shop that my neighbour has and I just knew that if I could convince him to give me a hand with the cutting of the bits required for the wooden cannon case, that the end results would be far better than were I to attempt it with the tools that I have handy at home.
As it turns out our neighbour is an engineer, and when I told him about what I wanted to do, and demonstrated the cannon in action he almost jumped at the opportunity to give me a hand with it.
“Measure twice cut once”
Is a term I learned when doing some of the home renovations that we did when we first moved into our house. The idea is to be stupidly diligent about making sure you don’t make a mistake along the way, and this is very much the philosophy that our neighbour took in the cutting of the required pieces for the cannon housing. Little details like having the hand holes fit to four fingers were all part of the process and not only do I feel a greater ownership from having done the work on this myself (with help of course), but also a greater connection to my neighbour who willingly offered up his wood-working shop to accommodate the project.
I’m thrilled with the result and with the time I got to share with my neighbour and all of this because I took the time to ask if he’d give me a hand.
Posted in Technical Tuesdays, Thoughts | Comments Off on Asking for Help
Where in the world am I today?: Vacationing in Peru
Years ago a friend of mine gave me a Charles Atlas t-shirt sort of like the one in the picture that accompanies the post. On my shirt there were two great contrasting lines.
“Me as a wimp”
and
“Me as a God”
Each of which was accompanied by a picture of Charles Atlas in two completely different states of muscular development. I always loved this shirt and was sad when it eventually died, but this is taking me a long way away from what I was intending to talk about…
I heard once that the secret of genius is knowing one’s strengths and limitations. By doing things with in certain parameters, your chances of creating amazing work increases dramatically over a more random shot-gun approach.
Knowing who you are on stage why and audience responds to you and what strengths you bring to a performance will increase your chances of successfully deciding what demographic you should target not to mention your chances of success when you hit the stage.
If, for example, you’ve got a show that absolutely kills in a street/festival environment, but doesn’t seem to translate all that well to indoor venues, then think seriously about whether pursuing theatre gigs is really in your best interests.
I was working in the Piazza of the STAR Princess and the GOLDEN Princess back in June and what I was asked to do was basically a mini street show for passengers in the informal setting of the ship’s atrium. Because of my year’s of experience working on the street and working in festival environments, this was second nature to me and I thoroughly enjoyed the shows and the reaction I got from the passengers. By contrast, I’ve heard from various performers who’ve also performed in the Piazza that this is their least favorite venue to work on ships. It’s not that they aren’t good performers, they just lack the performance vocabulary to really know how to make shows in this space work.
Ships are actually a fun venue for me to be playing in because I get the opportunity to perform in a variety of venues. Everything from the Piazza to the cabaret venue to the main theatre. Each venue offers a different set of challenges and opportunities and I love throwing myself at all of them as the opportunity to grow exists when ever I put myself in a new situation. Regardless of the actual venue though I always try to walk on stage with an awareness of my strengths as a performer and capitalize on what I can do for an audience in any given situation.
Taking the time to understand why the audience responds to your performance is critical. Maybe its your breath taking technique, perhaps it’s your impeccable comedic timing, perhaps it’s something as simple as your likability, the charisma you have when you walk out on stage. By all means try to stretch and expand what you’re capable of, but try not to loose sight of what your strengths really are.
Posted in Performance, Thoughts | Comments Off on Capitalizing on Your Strengths
Where in the world am I today?: Vacationing in Peru
I make and effort when ever I step onto stage to give a little piece of myself to my audience. I think this is an integral part of doing a good performance and wouldn’t have it any other way. The cumulative effect of giving a chunk of my soul away at each performance can and does end up getting quite exhausting. I have vivid memories of booking myself a schedule that was so busy a few years back that by about November I was feeling incredibly burn out.
The concept of recharging my batteries was for a long time anchored in taking a break from performances, taking time off, but recently I read a post on my friend David Duchemin’s Blog that seemed to stress an additional element to the recharging equation. Not only do you need to take time off from grinding out performances to let your body recuperate, you also need to feed your creative bank account by exposing yourself to new ideas and outlets. This could be as simple as reading a book, going to see a play, listening to your favorite music, exposing yourself to visual art, visiting a museum, what ever it takes to harness, replenish and excite your inner creativity.
The trip I’m currently on in Peru is a great example of seizing an opportunity to do something mind expanding and completely off the traditional path for me during the summer. Will I come back from the trip refreshed and inspired? Who knows, but I will have certainly exposed myself to new situations, new people, a different way of doing things and a chance to perhaps tap into some of these things and bring them to an audience the next time I step onto a stage be it at a festival, on a cruise ship or on the street.
Many many moons ago now I used to make a pilgrimage to the IJA Juggling Conventions and these served as a fantastic resource for creative renewal. I’ve been looking into a couple of different workshops with a few different performance instructors as another outlet for creative growth. I also realized recently that my two boys Koji and Owen have been wonderful sources of creative energy and growth via the little games I create and play with them…
If you’ve made the choice to put yourself in front of an audience and love the experience of doing so, then you owe it to not only yourself but also the people you’re playing for to make sure your batteries are topped up and you’re able to offer a well crafted and creatively charged performance.
Posted in Performance, Thoughts | Comments Off on Recharging one’s Batteries.
Where in the world am I today?: Red Deer, AB, Canada
So I’m debuting a new show at this year’s Pacific National Exhibition. The idea for the show which I’ve dubbed “The Hot Dog Show” started to germinate in my head five years ago while I was performing at the Windsor International Busker’s Festival. I started telling a story about my boys which culminated in the audience joining me in making a hand gesture to represent a “Hot Dog Bun.”
I was bizarrely fascinated by how this story struck a chord with the audience and so started the journey to build a partner show teaming my experience as a street performer with the spectacular dare devil stunts of William T. Wiener, the most Fearless Flying Frankfurter the world has ever seen. There will be thrills, there will be spills there will be comedy, improvised theatrics, and lots of audience participation.
There will not, however, be any juggling in this show.
I’ve taken departures away from the comfort of working with the familiar juggling props that I’ve used for years before, but I find myself scratching my head a bit as this particular idea seems like the biggest departure I’ve taken to date and I’m hoping the audience will enjoy the show as much as I think I’m going to.
I sold the idea of debuting this show at the PNE to the creative director months ago and shortly there after started assembling costume pieces and props to pull the idea together. It’s been a wonderful adventure as I’ve watch some ideas evolve, other ideas get scrapped and ideas I never considered pop up unexpectedly.
Not since I played my ukulele for the first time at the Vancouver Ukulele Circle have I been this nervous and excited about my performance and I’m loving it. Taking a step or two or three outside of my regular comfort zone is making me re-examine why I like performing and approach things with refreshed interest which is really amazing.
I’m well aware that it’ll be a bumpy ride at the beginning of the run as bits and pieces fall into place and the show really starts finding it’s feet in front of a live audience, but the sign that I’m on to something (at least for me) is that everyone I show bits to looks at the props and stunts with the same child-like-wonder that makes me giggle like a kid every time I picture putting them in front of a crowd. This is going to be scary and it’s going to be a whole heck of a lot of fun!
Alright every one… Put your hands up above your head and pretend it’s a roller coaster… Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Posted in General, Performance, Stunts, Thoughts | 1 Comment »
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I’ve had a busy week one way or another. Flew home from Peace River, Alberta where I got to shoot guns after my performances at Peacefest – what a bizarre experience that was. Made it home on Tuesday and dove into the process of arriving home from one trip and prepping for another. Actually I’m prepping for a couple of different trips. I’ll be heading to Red Deer, Alberta for Centrefest on Wednesday next week, but have a couple of local shows in the Vancouver area this weekend so need to pause before packing up for that trip until after the shows are done.
The bigger prep however is for a trip I’m taking to Peru. I got a wild opportunity thrown at me to go to Peru for about two and a half weeks. Some time in Lima, some time in Cusco, a ten-day horse back riding trip along the Incan Trail and some time at Machu Picchu. This is not the sort of thing I do everyday and the company that’s leading much of the expedition gave me a list of things I should bring for the trip. Bit by bit I’m getting it all together, but I find it incredibly useful to have a sort of ‘staging area’ to lay everything out to make sure I’ve got it all organized and I don’t inadvertently forget something.
It’s no doubt part of my obsessive-compulsive nature, but the last thing I want to do is leave something critical behind. I’d likely be able to pick up anything I’m missing when I get to Peru, but there’s a certain satisfaction in showing up prepared. What’s that old boy scout motto – “Be Prepared” – well I get a good feeling when I leave for a trip with out that sneaking suspicion that I forgot to pack something really important.
This is even more important when packing up for a show because if you show up at a gig having forgotten the power adaptor for your music source or having left a key part of your costume behind you’ll have to scramble to make things work. Sometimes the excitement of having something go wrong can work in your favour in a performance situation, but if you’re making your living as a professional entertainer, you owe it to your client (even if that client is the audience you gather on the street) to walk into the venue prepared.
When I did a theatrical show which was particularly prop intensive a few years back I actually had a prop list and checked and double checked to make sure I had everything and that everything was in it’s pre-set location before each show. It was sort of meditation, or ritual that helped me prep before the show and allowed me to play more successfully knowing that when I reaches for such-and-such a prop it would be there.
Again… Walking in prepared will make you look more professional and serve you well when you step on stage to perform.
Posted in Performance, Thoughts, Travel | Comments Off on Trip Prep…
Where in the world am I today?: Edmonton, AB, Canada
It’s been an interesting week at the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival for me. I have so many vivid memories of being at this event and cranking out shows and busting my hump to put money in the bank, but this year has been an entirely different experience for me. My invitation to come to the festival this year was to be a ‘Special Guest’ at the daily ‘Troupe du Jour” shows. These shows typically include between 6 – 8 acts who get together to put on the last show of the evening in the square. This special guest status also came with the caveat that I’d be doing fewer shows during the day than most of the other acts and after all was said and done it ended up averaging out to one show a day in addition to my participation in these evening group shows.
At first it was a very strange sensation to be at the event and working so little and I fumbled with this feeling for the first few days. I simply didn’t feel like I was ‘doing’ enough to justify being at the festival. I just seemed to be talking to the other performers at the festival and having really great conversations, but not really ‘working.’
I had a couple of particularly good chats with Michael Kennard – a.k.a. Mump from the horror clown duo ‘Mump and Smoot.’ Michael and I have know each other for years from what I consider the ‘Hey Days’ of the Edmonton Fringe Festival in the Early 90s and I’ve always had an enormous respect for the work that Michael does. The opportunity that this past week provided to have some really in depth conversations with him about his background, how the Mump and Smoot show developed and some of the journey that he’s been on was wonderful. Also the chance to share some of what’s going on in my head with out feeling that I needed to cut the conversation short to run off to do a show was SUCH a luxury! What a fantastic gift to be able to connect with an artist for whom I have such an enormous respect on a much deeper level and feel like I was able to do more than just skim the surface of a conversation before I needed to redirect my focus.
In the world of having conversations with all of our ‘friends’ on Twitter via 140 characters, it’s been a real pleasure to not have to count my keystrokes or watch the clock. I highly recommend wallowing in the wonder of really connecting with people one on one instead of just trying to reach the far corners of the social network universe.
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Posted in Thoughts | Comments Off on Conversations…
Where in the world am I today?: Edmonton, AB, Canada
So…the opening weekend of the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival was a huge success and we’re just over the hump of the run. The shot that accompanies this post was taken yesterday (Tuesday) mid-afternoon in Winston Churchill Square, the performance venue where all of the shows take place… Obviously the weather presented some challenges yesterday. Everyone made it down for a cast/group photo at 10:30 am dancing between the raindrops to get from the hotel to City Hall (seen in the background) where the picture was taken.
Things cleared up a bit in the evening and some people did get shows in, but the weather is very much an issue when performing at Street Performing Festivals and certainly something to take into consideration before booking a tour who’s revenues are directly tied to the amount that the sun shines…
That being said, weather can even have a serious effect on contracted gigs. Last year during the Pacific National Exhibition the Fair had the wettest run on record. Often in Vancouver you’ll get a day where it rains in the morning and then clears up in the afternoon and people will still come out in support of an event if the weather clears. At last year’s PNE we had several days when the weather just got socked in and it rained all day and kept fair patrons away all day. Although this didn’t impact on the performers who were performing at the fair last year (2008) what happened as a result of decreased revenues was that the fees offered to the cast of the 2009 Street Stars Program took a pretty significant cut.
So what can you do on a day when an event gets hit by bad weather? Roll with the punches. At the PNE we looked into finding alternate rain venues so at least some of the shows could go up. Yesterday at the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival people remained in a holding pattern waiting for the weather to clear then got out and made the magic happen in spite of the conditions not being ideal.
Audiences can tell when you’re making an extra effort to overcome challenging situations and the bigger the attempt to make things work the more appreciative crowds tend to be. Of equal or possibly greater importance though is the impression you leave on your employer when you make an extra effort to make a show happen in spite of challenging circumstances. This sort of dedication will often lead to repeat bookings and long term business relationships.
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Posted in Job Opportunities, Performance, Thoughts | Comments Off on Dealing with the Weather…
Where in the world am I today?: Flying from Ottawa, ON, Canada to Edmonton, AB, Canada
I arrived in Ottawa for Canada Day (July 1) on Tuesday, June 30th and had made arrangements to hook up Al Miller as I had seen via Facebook that he was headed to Ottawa for Canada Day. He actually arrived about a week ago and has spent the past week busking in the Byward Market. So I get down to the Market and the weather’s looking a bit ugly, but there are at least a half dozen acts in on the pitch ready and chomping at the bit to work the streets on Canada Day… A few new faces I’d never seen before, a few familiar faces that were good to reconnect with… Al and I went to dinner along with Kate Mior as a chance to catch up (hadn’t seen him in years, hadn’t seen her since a gig we did together in China), have some dinner and see what the weather was going to do.
For years this was very much my life… Show up to a town, find the pitch and hang out with the acts who had also arrived to work the streets. I did a whole tour of Australia like this in 1990 in a car that kept breaking down. I’d drive to one town, work to pay for what ever repairs were needed, drive to the next town and work to fix what ever else had broken… It was a great adventure and a whole lot of fun and certainly the friendships I made on various pitches around the world are some of the strongest I’ve had in my life but my life took a left turn at Albuquerque when I met my now wife, we got married an started a family. All of a sudden my focus was spilt in a most challenging and wonderful way.
On the one hand I still very much loved (and still do) the life I have as a performer. The simple and addictive pleasure of making people smile for a living is something that I hope I can do until the day I die. I simply LOVE being on stage and playing for a crowd.
On the other hand my growing love for the challenges, pleasures and rewards of being a father and husband kept sneaking in to my myopic performer-centric existence and providing such a wonderful distraction from the life that I had so long clung to.
It was/is a weird transition and I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to enjoy a dual existence as I really do get to enjoy both… I get the Performer Fix when I’m on the road and I get the the Family Fix when I’m at home… The tricky part for me happens when I try to keep things in balance when I’m working AT home. If I find myself at home and have a show to do I always feel more drawn to being with my wife and kids than chasing another show… Somehow the chance of adventure with the home team just resonates with me more as I get older… Especially as I’m well aware that my kids will soon hit an age where they want little or nothing to do with me.
Wallow in what ever the day has to offer seems to be the motto I’m living by these days. If it’s a day of performance…well then bring it on! If I’m at home and I can spend a day at the beach with Emiko, Koji and Owen well then I’m there! I sometimes think that I might be a better performer if I hadn’t let this other life divert my course a bit, but I’m well aware of the fact that my life is made SOOOOO much richer because of my Beautiful Distractions!
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Posted in Thoughts | Comments Off on Beautiful Distractions…
Where in the world am I today?: Ketchikan, AK, USA on my way back to North Vancouver
In the last week I’ve watched the Documentary Film “Buskers – For Love or Money” a couple of times. This may in part be because I was working aboard the GOLDEN Princess and had lots of time on my hands, but I think it’s also because I’m a huge fan of trying to capture moments from the world of street theatre on either video or in still photos myself. In my case this has been accomplished by getting people to come and perform at the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver and recording their shows there.
Mad Chad Taylor took a different approach on gathering footage. Instead of getting people to come to him, he went to some of the most famous street performance pitches around the world and captured many of the legends of the street in action both on stage as well as behind the scenes. Chad’s piece is a window into the world of street performing and street performers. A collage of images, experiences and stories from some of the most well respected street performers from around the world – from Amsterdam to San Francisco, Key West to Halifax and as far afield as Japan and New Zealand.
I struggled a bit after my first viewing to find the thread that held the piece together. A story line that moved the footage forward because on first viewing I didn’t really find one. I think that’s why I ended up going back and watching the piece again. The film opens on Venice Beach with Tony Vera ‘The Fireman’ setting up his show and ends with a shot of Tony walking away from the pitch after a day of work… Everything in between captures the characters, the lifestyle, the challenges and the joys of what it is to be a street performer. It’s not the story of any one performer, it’s not the story of any one street performing pitch, it’s a snap of venues around the world and many of the unique performers from around the world who can take a street corner and turn it into a stage.
I love that this documentary exists because it brings together so many of the members of this often dysfunctional family into a sixty minute film. Some of the performers featured aren’t doing street shows any longer, so to have footage of their shows and see their impact on this world is a pretty great gift.
Recommended viewing for anyone who’s a fan of the art form.
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Posted in Reviews, Thoughts | Comments Off on BUSKERS – For Love or Money
Where in the world am I today?: Cruising in Tracy Arm Fjord
Wednesdays are usually dedicated to places, venues and or markets where you can track down work, but this week I thought I’d offer one simple piece of advice for what to do once you’ve landed the job and here it is – take the time to read the contract and know what you’re agreeing to.
I got an email recently after receiving a contract from the producer of a summer festival commenting that she thought I was likely the only person to actually read the contract she sent out and ask relevant questions. I figure it’s in everyone’s best interest to know exactly what is being agreed upon so I don’t show up at the gig and get asked to do things that I’m not comfortable with. If it’s in the contract and I agree to do it then I will. If there’s something in the contract I’m not comfortable with I’ll ask about it and often it gets removed from the contract. It doesn’t always get removed, but then at least I know what is expected from me before I leave my door so there are as few unexpected surprises as possible.
Now there can be a fine line between being diligent and being annoying and coming off as a prima-donna. Being too demanding will likely loose you more jobs than it will get you no matter how good your show may be. Now this may not be true for SUPER famous people, but I suspect that if you’re reading this blog in the first place you likely don’t fall into that category. Crafting questions about a contract with a certain amount of diplomacy and/or humor will serve you well and will endear you to the festival producer more than annoy them. Just be aware that the last thing any festival producer needs to deal with is a performer with excessive demands.
If you get a contract that seems to be lopsided in terms of who is benefitting most from the business relationship you’re always free to walk away from the job. If the contract asks for more than you feel comfortable delivering then you don’t have to sign it. Instead consider getting the client to sign your contract. This of course means that you’ll have to take the time to craft a contract of your own, but doing so can be an excellent exercise in making sure the things that are important to you are understood by the client.
I had one friend who went as far as to supply a contract along with a ‘Care and Feeding of the Performer’ document that laid out some simple suggestions for how to make the show look the best it possible could. Documents like this can contain humour and a light hearted spirit, but can go a long way to making sure the performance situation is the best it possibly can be for you so your show comes off looking great which will ideally lead to even more work.
So… Read your contracts and if you haven’t done so already, create a contract for yourself. Having a written understanding of what’s expected (one that you’re comfortable with) before you leave your home to do the job will save you a lot of head aches and ensure that your performances look the best they possibly can.
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Posted in Job Opportunities, Thoughts | 1 Comment »
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
The C.A.M.P. (Circus And Magic Partnership) program organized by the Winnipeg International Children’s Festival runs a Northern C.A.M.P. for a week and another in Winnipeg the week following. For the Northern run, instructors fly into Winnipeg and take a tour bus North bringing with them a ton of circus props that end up being left in the community so that students get to use the equipment and continue to work on the skills they’ve learned even after the program packs up and head to Winnipeg. For the instructors the trip North is a multi-hour experience which can become a bit mind numbing… Not this year though… Someone from the crew brought a copy of the First Season of an HBO TV Series called ‘The Flight of the Conchords.’ and everyone got sucked into the unique charms the New Zealand Comic Musical Duo comprised of Jermaine Clement and Bret Mckenzie, their hapless manager Murray and the small cast of supporting roles.
I wasn’t actually on the Northern trip this year though, so all I got while I was in Winnipeg was references to a show that most of the instructors had seen, but didn’t mean a thing to me… Until now… After joining the STAR Princess a week ago I finally sat down and made my way through the first season of The Flight of the Conchords HBO TV Series.
Suddenly all of the references made sense and the reasons this quirky TV show had such an appeal to the happy family of misfits that staff C.A.M.P. became apparent. The show is funny. The relationship between the characters works, the comedy songs that are liberally sprinkled through out the episodes and the goofy choreography that goes along with them is just the right mix of ridiculousness combined with an underlying respect to the genre being parodied. I found myself laughing out loud again and again.
It’s not a series for everyone… I watched episode #1 with my wife and she got to the end of it and didn’t need to watch another, but I think for anyone who’s worked as a performer the fun and irony of the situations that are portrayed in the series are well worth the time to check out.
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Where in the world am I today?: Aboard the STAR Princess at the peer in Skagway, AK, USA
I’m a performer. I love being a performer. When I started performing in my teens I jumped at any opportunity to perform. I worked any sunny day I could down in the Byward Market in Ottawa or at Festivals or as special events. I fell in love with the lifestyle of being a performer and with the opportunities it lead to and the financial rewards. I became a work-a-holic because I just LOVED everything about what I was doing and where it was taking me. I didn’t even really think in terms of being a work-a-holic because I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather be doing with my time. It was all good.
Flash forward… 1994 I meet my now wife, 1995 we get engaged, 1996 we get married, 1997 we have our first child 1998 we move into a condo we bought, 1999 we sell the condo and buy a house, 2000 we move into the house and have our second child…
I remember a reoccurring dream I had around this time. It didn’t really matter what I was doing in the dream, at a certain point I became aware that I had bubble gum in my mouth. The flavor was fantastic initially, but after a while the flavor left and as I went to a garbage can to throw out the gum it started to grow in my mouth… What started off as a small piece of gum that I could easily grab between my thumb and forefinger turned into a wad of gum and the harder I tried to get it out of my mouth the bigger it got. Eventually I found myself pulling fistfuls of gum out of my mouth like some sort of never ending mouth coil… I realized after a while that the gum represented the increased responsibilities in my life and that there was seemingly no way to escape the adult choices and associated demands on my time that these choices implied. It sort of scared the crap out of me…
My wife helped me realize that the trick to saving my sanity was to find ways to make everything that had changed a good thing. I’d made my decisions and I had set the wheels in motion to radically change my life from that of a single self-absorbed performer into a husband, home owner, father and all that these new titles and job descriptions meant. Instead of trying run back to the life I used to have, why not dive in head first into all of the wonderful possibilities that were offered in all of the new roles I had assumed.
There is a strength I get from being married that I wouldn’t replace for the world. Sure it requires time and energy and work to keep the relationship healthy and happy, but the work is absolutely worth the effort. Being a home owner is a flood of challenges as well as joys, but I thoroughly enjoy looking around our yard and seeing all of the changes that we’ve done as a result of the sweat equity we’ve poured into the garden and various home improvement projects. My boys are a constant challenge and source of entertainment. Trying to negotiate with an eight year old and eleven year old about the importance of doing homework when I make my living playing does at times seem a bit hypocritical, but I derive so much joy out of watching them succeed and take pride in the work they do.
The picture that accompanies this post sort of sums it all up for me… I set up the camera and let my younger son Owen take the picture for a school project he was doing. The project asked students to pick a family treasure and build a poster board describing it to the rest of the class. My goofy car was the treasure he picked but the picture captured not only my goofy car and me as a juggler, but our house as well and even though my wife and kids aren’t in the picture, the idea of being at home is inseparable with being with the people who make it a home.
Somewhere in the middle of helping him get all of the elements together and laid out on his poster board I looked at all of the crazy choices I’ve made and all of the wonderful things that have come into my life and I thanked my lucky stars that somehow in the midst of the chaos there also seems to be a pretty good balance. I may not be able to move forward with any one project with the speed I once could because my focus is split in so many different directions, but somehow it all works out. The things that really need to get done do get done. The things that I get excited about somehow spill over into other areas of my life and the people around me not only encourage me, but support my choices and fill my life with so much more than what I had when I was that self-absorbed performer guy so many moons ago.
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Posted in Family, Thoughts | Comments Off on Finding a Balance…
Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I’m in the middle of a prop building blitz at the moment as I try to get things in place for a new show that I’ll be debuting in a couple of months… A couple of months??? What’s the rush in trying to get it all together now? Well I’ve got a rather busy schedule in June, July and the beginning of August, so my best bet for getting everything done is to have as much done as possible in May and if possible, June. I’m building a show around three stunt parodies and my partner in crime for this show is a six inch long stuffed Hot Dog that I’m calling Willie.
I’m a huge fan of giving myself more time than I actually need or think I’m going to need to get jobs done because my experience is that something inevitably goes sideways… This week for example, I set out to pick up a couple of costume pieces at a used tuxedo shop that I’d been to a number of times. I drove out to Richmond (about a 45 minute drive from where I live) and when I got out there I was dumfounded to discover that the shop had closed down… What? How could they? They didn’t ask me or anything… Well a day of pondering and I ventured over to ebay and found a reseller of used tux stuff there, so hopefully I’ll be able to order everything off the internet… We’ll see…
The other night I got together with my next door neighbour who’s got a fantastic wood working shop to work on a piece I wanted built for Stunt #2 – The High Dive of Death… I’ve got a 12 foot telescoping ladder that I’m attaching a mini diving board to and will have Willie dive from the board into a mere wet sponge… The stuff of legend’s I tell you! So initially I just clamped a saw to the top run of the ladder to see if it would work thinking that I’d eventually replace the saw blade with an actual piece of springy steel… A trip out to the Metal Supermarket out in Burnaby later and the guy behind the counter suggests that I just take the saw blade into a machine shop and have the teeth cut off… It’ll be cheaper and it’ll work… Right… So a trip to my favorite machine shop and they confirm that yes they’ll be able to make the modifications… Right… Before I hand over the saw blade I need to also build a piece of wood into the equation that can handle some additional hardware for a release mechanism for the diving board so it can actually sprong to life on command…
Yesterday was all about the construction of the Willie Cannon Mark II. This required a trip out to a special plumping supply shop to pick up an additional 2 1/2 inch coupling joint and a bunch of time spent cutting and shaping PVC pipe and a trip to the local tire store to have a valve stem installed… Next came the glueing it all together process which was a bit trickier than I would have liked. I wrote to a friend afterwards expressing my frustration with only being about a quarter as good as I’d like to be on the construction side of things, but how great it is to be building things myself… I have to wait about 24 hours to see if the air pressure chamber is actually air tight, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that it works. If not… Well I’ll go buy the ten or twelve dollars worth of bits and piece and spend the time to do it again. I can say with out a doubt that if I do have to do it again the second time around will go more smoothly than the first, but I’m hoping that the first time around version works…
Like I said near the top I like to give myself lots of time in case things go sideways…
It’s a both rewarding and gratifying to see the bits and piece of the show coming together, but on the flip side I sometimes find myself wondering if anyone apart from me will find this silly premise of a show as much fun as I’m hoping it’ll be to perform… I’m buying, building, writing, creating with the hope that it’s going to work, but who knows if it will. Ah the joys of show business and boldly going where you’ve never gone before…
Yahoo… Preliminary tests indicate that we have air tightness in my first attempt with the air pressure chamber… Happy Good Good!
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Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
The classic scene from “This is Spinal Tap” goes like this –
Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and…
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it’s louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it’s one louder, isn’t it? It’s not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don’t know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don’t you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.
It’s one of those classic movie scenes that gets quoted over and over and over or at least it does in my world. Just the thought of being able to take one’s performance that extra notch, to have the ability to ‘Put it up to eleven’ has a mythical property that I think everyone feels they’d like to have in there arsenal.
There are those shows when the planets align, when there’s a convergence of the energy that you’re putting out and the way that the audience responds, when you as a performer seemingly can do no wrong… Those heady moments are the stuff of dreams and semi-addictive reason why many performers keep walking out on stage in the first place.
In situations like that there’s almost no need for putting it to eleven… The magic comes seemingly from no where. I’ve actually found that it’s the times when the magic isn’t flowing that having that eleven in your back pocket comes in most useful. One of those days when you’re just not ‘Feeling it’ what ever the reason. The audience doesn’t know that this day is different for you and they should still get a great show.
I’ve actually found that I learn more from my show when I do shows on days like these. Something about being in an off mood lets me look at my show in a different way and either take risks or do things that I might not otherwise do. Taking my show into new territory forces me to react differently and this breaths new life into old routines. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s now, but the simple act of having to think on my feet and figure out a way to make things work usually makes the performance more immediate and spontaneous which means I’m not just dialing it in.
So… On those days when the magic isn’t coming, when you’re just not feeling it, keep a little something extra hidden a way so you can Put it to eleven and thank Nigel Tufnel for not accepting a louder ten as a substitute for those times when you need to push over the cliff!
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Where in the world am I today?: Aboard the Serenade of the Seas cruising the Inside Passage.
OK… In the foreground of the picture… A prototype rocket I’m looking at using in a show I’m building. In the background a large pine tree that towers something like a hundred plus feet in the air… Inadvertently put the two together – possible Darwin Awards here I come!
Right off the bat I must admit that this isn’t he first time that I’ve used a rocket like this. Back in 2002 I teamed up with John Ullyatt and Iori Mikumo to for a group we called The Executives. In that show we launched the rocket and had it pull underwear out of our pants… Oh yeah… Totally highbrow humor…
This time around the rocket is being used to demonstrate the super strength of my new show partner – William T. Wiener, The Worlds Most Fearless Flying Frankfurter who will attempt to hold back lift off of the rocket with just his super strength and his teeth…
Now with The Executives Show I think we actually used 1.5 litre bottles from Japan for the body of the rocket. I have since used 2 litre bottles for these rockets in a more recreational setting, but for this show I wanted to try and used 1 litre bottles for the rocket’s construction. Step one – buy 5 one litre bottles and drink the contents… Step two build the rocket… Step three test the rocket…
It all seemed so easy… Steps one and two came off with out a hitch, but it was when I got to step three that I really didn’t quite think things through…
I should probably also mention at this point that Willie the Wiener is a stuffed dog toy with a squeaker in it… I’m still questioning the sanity of the decision to make him my partner, but that’s a completely different story…
Rocket’s Built… Lets test things out. Now in the context of the show I envision strapping Willie into his Super Hero Restraining Station. Some sort of chair like device with lots of seat belts… For the purposes of the test launch… A string tied to a loop in his fabric – Done!
Haven’t built a mouth for him to hold a ring attached to the string that’ll be attached to the rocket in yet… Hmmmm… No problem… This safety pin should do the trick – right?!? Done.
Rocket? Check! • Hot Dog? Check! • Restraining Device? Check! Every thing is ready to go (or so I thought). Fill the rocket with water, attached it to the launch pad, pump it up with air – All is good. Recheck to make sure things are secure – Good!
And launch…
OK… I have to admit that it came as a bit of a surprise that Willie wasn’t able to actually prevent the rocket from lifting off… Not that it was his fault though… The weak link in the mock up test launch was the safety pin instead of the mouth ring as it really didn’t take all that much force to pull the safety pin open and allow the rocket to go flying. That safe safety pin attached to the string attached to the rocket also acted as a nice grappling hook so as the rocket hit the tree in the back yard around 80 feet off the ground and started to make it’s way down the pin quite happily hooked onto a branch preventing the rocket from falling down the rest of the way to the ground… DOH!
So there I am looking at the launch pad, making sure that my partner Willie is OK.Then turning my head and seeing the rocket dangling about 70 feet off the ground in the pine tree in the back and all I can think of is –
“Hey… I can just climb up the tree and get the rocket back.”
First step – Get a ladder that’ll reach up to the lower branches – done.
Second step – Repeat over and over in my head the following statement –
“I was an idiot to launch the rocket into the tree in the first place I’ll be an even bigger idiot of I fall out of the tree trying to get the rocket back!”
Step Three – Realize that this mantra I’ve repeated over and over again as I climb the tree, retrieve the rocket and make my way back down the tree has actually had the effect of tensing up my muscles WAY WAY more than had I simply climbed up, grabbed it and climbed back down… That or I’m just getting old, but I like the former explanation better.
Step Four – take the rest of the day off and feel my leg muscles just throbbing!!!
Several important lessons were learned by this test launch and I’m pleased to report that subsequent launches have been far more successful than the very first one that had the rocket end up in the tree…
I highly recommend pushing yourself with new artistic challenges as they often shed light on all sorts of unseen possibilities and opportunities for artistic growth. I anticipate as I get closer to the debut of the Willie the Wiener Show at this year’s PNE I may have some other stories to tell of lessons learned. For the time being though know this –
A safety pin isn’t really strong enough to hold back the lift off of a pop bottle water rocket.
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