Tag Archives: fun

Write without worry – OUT OF OUR MINDS workshop

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Do you have a story or several roiling inside you, aching to be unleashed on the world? Do you watch the chest-burster scene in Alien and think “Yeah, I get that”?

Want to share your thoughts but terrified that you’ll suck at it? Already writing, but want to explore deeper characters, more evocative description, and more intense action? Interested in translating your performance arts to the page?

OUT OF OUR MINDS (& onto the page) is the perfect workshop to get those creative juices flowing. Over 5 Saturdays at SoCap Comedy Theatre (May 16 – Jun 13), we’ll play with improv games and prompted writing exercises to help you make writing spontaneous and freewheeling. Thinking is overthinking, so we’re going to remove the pressure to get it right by simply playing with whatever comes. No preparation. No homework. No inhibitions.

Just be ready to be silly and open. Oh, and bring something to write with (e.g., pen & paper, phone, iPad, stone tablet & chisel, semaphore flags).

TO REGISTER: Early-bird pricing of $175 (+ HST) ends April 12 when prices rise to $225 (+HST). Please send an e-transfer to createdbyrcw@gmail.com to reserve your place. Spaces are limited.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Randall C Willis is an award-winning screen and comedy writer and filmmaker, and he regularly performs in Toronto’s spoken-word storytelling community. He is also a seasoned science and medicine writer, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

Randall teaches screenwriting at Toronto’s George Brown Polytechnic and through his company So, What’s Your Story?, this storytelling evangelist helps clients bring life to their visions and breath to their unique voices. He also routinely judges screenplays and films for festivals across North America, including Toronto Chinese Canadian Film Festival, Lunenburg Doc Fest, and Austin Film Festival.

A perpetual student of the storytelling craft and arts, Randall has 25+ years of training in improv, stand up, puppetry, sketch comedy, advertising and publishing. He also writes a killer eulogy. If Randall has a motto, it’s “You have permission to suck”, which fits nicely with his fully improvised life.

Learn more about Randall’s approach to creativity and his style via his YouTube channel.

12 Days of Gratitude – Nicholas

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Nicholas

This is my friend and soul mate Nicholas, a man who is more of a character than the puppets he brings to life.

From the moment of our first meeting, Nicholas and I have been kindred spirits, finishing each other’s sentences, flubbing each other’s jokes. When Nicholas embraces you into his heart, you know that you are loved and that you will never have to face any challenge alone.

Make the effort to meet the many faces of Nicholas and experience the true definition of kindness.

P.S. You can also learn more about Nicholas’ strange afflictions on his web site: Lemon Productions Inc.

(Part Eight of my 12 Days of Gratitude…because the rest of the news sucks)

12 Days of Gratitude – Derek

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Derek

I’d like you to meet my friend Derek (the tall one), although the word “friend” seems too small, while buddy, pal and fellow-reprobate don’t quite fit either.

Although Derek and I have no blood ties, he is easily a brother to me, a constant companion for the last 20 years or so; a man who enjoys a good laugh, a quick pint (or several) and a jovial nod and wink.

If you ever get the chance, come say hello to Derek and see how quickly he invites you to the perpetual party that is his life.

 

(Part Seven of my 12 Days of Gratitude…because the rest of the news sucks)

12 Days of Gratitude – Lisa

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Lisa Serrao

If you want to see the face of love, then you merely have to see my friend Lisa (the one who doesn’t need Rogaine).

A high-energy spitfire who gives of her time and her heart without a second thought, Lisa somehow manages to care for everyone she knows while still having a blast herself. And for her compact size, she has a laugh that fills a room and your soul.

To watch the glimmer in her eyes and feel the warmth of her smile is to know you are in the presence of a great spirit.

 

(Part Five of my 12 Days of Gratitude…because the rest of the news sucks)

Let’s go to the Ex – Part Two

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Okay…so after 4 days without Internet access, here is the remainder of the images from the CNE (following up on Part One).

Let’s go to the Ex – Part One

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Every year for two weeks in August, going back to the Ex has nothing to do with trying to rekindle an old flame…or does it?

Ending on Labour Day, the Canadian National Exhibition plays host to families from throughout the Greater Toronto Area, often dragged by parents trying to relive their own childhoods.

At 134 years old, the grand lady is starting to seriously show her age. She struggles every year to keep up with a population that is increasingly more comfortable keeping its head in a Blackberry or iPad.

She’s creaky. She’s doddering. She smells funny. But she’s ours, and I think we’ll keep her for a few more years yet.

Here are some of the people who agree with me.

PS If you want to learn more about old things Canadian, check out this great blog Bite Size Canada by T.K. Morin

Go fly a kite

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Have you ever taken your camera out for a stroll and accidentally come upon a party? Well, it happened to me while wandering The Mall in Washington, DC, approaching the Washington Monument.

What started as a couple of kites fluttering through the sky on a sunny, windy day quickly degenerated into a morass of people all trying to get kites into the air, lines crossing and wrapping around tree limbs. Kids practically being lifted off the ground by kites much too large.

It was as though a rainbow had exploded and rained down on the people below. Chaotic, but definitely spirit-lifting.