Tag Archives: puppetry

Antisocial media

by

0

Social

Oh, hey. Didn’t expect to see you here.

Love to talk but I have to run…I am completely jammed with social media today.

On the off chance that my face-to-face friends never see me again, do not worry. I am probably safe and sitting in my underwear in front of my computer, typing into one form of social media or another.

In the next little while, I will be initiating no fewer than two social media campaigns. One for a friend’s company and television show on which I am working and the other, a completely self-serving campaign to get a world-renown puppet company to come to Toronto (oh, you’ll know it when you see it).

But what that means is, I will cease to be a human in the visceral sense.

In my ironic efforts to reach out to friends and acquaintances, I will cease to actually reach out and do so much as shake a hand or give a hug.

Social media…people living in basements exchanging information with people living in basements, whether figurative or literal.

And note, I said exchanging information rather than communicating. Communication is possible with social media, but for the most part, it merely serves the role once served by the notice board in your local grocery store (if you have no idea what I just said, talk to your parents or grandparents).

It is a place to post things that are important to you and hope someone reads it. It is a place that allows you to yell loudly at everyone you know without actually straining your vocal chords. Case in point, this very post.

And the ability to interconnect social media streams (egad, I’m paraphrasing Ghostbusters) is tantamount to the echo of that voice off the electronic canyon walls.

So, must dash…you’ll be hearing from me, if not literally hearing from me.

Two months in

by

2

On my side of the pond, it is still May 8th, which means that it is just two months since I started blogging and I must say that I have enjoyed it immensely.

I don’t know how many “Likes” my posts have achieved, but am delighted every day when I see there are more. Hell, the fact that there has been even one Like has blown me away–not through any sense of false modesty, but simply that I have improved someone’s day.

Then I consider the people who have decided to follow me…those who feel that my words and photos are worth checking up on every now and again; that the post they liked wasn’t just a one-off. All I can say to any of you is: Thank you!

And perhaps the greatest discovery of all has been the people that have chosen to engage me in conversation, some just once, but for some, several times. It is amazing to think that I have found a budding community that shows all the signs of blossoming into something wonderful.

You are amazing, talented, friendly people and I appreciate each of you.

Here’s to the next two months and then the next two years.

(The following photos show some of my local support crew, none of whom blog…yet!)

Words in other people’s mouths

by

1

I’m not an actor. I cannot act. Actually, that’s not exactly true.

I am an extreme introvert who has learned to live (and thrive) within an extremely extroverted world, so I can technically act aka hide my true identity behind a false façade.

But what I mean by acting is the theatrical form. Give me lines to memorize and my brain fries in mere seconds. I can say the line, I can emote or I can move my body across the stage…ask me to do any two of those at the same time, however, and we have issues.

I can do improvisation. I love improvisation.

The thrill of trying not to anticipate what your stage partners are going to do but instead simply react to what they have done and add to the reality of the situation is an adrenaline high of which I cannot get enough.

And the typical improv audience is a forgiving lot because they know you’re making this up before their very eyes. In fact, they will actually ask you how you prepare for an improv show and sit amazed when you tell them that you arrive at the venue slightly earlier than they did.

But even improv has its self-imposed pressures, because at the end of the day, you have to respond to your colleagues and say or do something. A couple of years ago, however, I found a work-around for that.

A friend of mine introduced me to puppetry improv. In this case, we put Henson-style puppets onto our hands and created amazing scenes with characters that didn’t exist until mere seconds ago.

It was magical.

Image

The minor act of picking up a puppet and letting it do the talking gave me enough distance that I was free to think and do anything I wanted without fear of recrimination. People stopped watching me and immediately followed the puppet. Whatever the puppet said was funny or poignant or shocking. Even saying nothing spoke volumes.

And if I thought improv audiences were generous, oh my God! Puppets can get away with murder! There are no taboos.

Which brings me to writing.

As it was with the puppet, so it is with writing characters for screenplays, stage plays or novels. I have the freedom to write anything, to say anything, because ultimately the words are the responsibility of the characters I create.

Maybe this is a sign of a need for medication, but when I write a character, I hear his, her or its voice in my head. Change the character and the voice changes.

By moving the focus off of me—my skills or lack thereof, my insecurities, my knowledge—I free myself up to pursue something bigger.

Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. It seems to be working for me.