BLOG NUMBER NINE: I talk about trying out some Edfest Industry events
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831314443816/Working+the+Fringe+-+Part+One.html
Monday, August 29, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Whatsonstage.com Blogs Numbers 7 & 8
BLOG 7: LUCY DANSER VS THE INTERNET
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831313362103/Lucy+Danser+Vs+The+Internet.html
BLOG 8: EXITING THE BUBBLE
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831313603250/Exiting+the+Bubble.html
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831313362103/Lucy+Danser+Vs+The+Internet.html
BLOG 8: EXITING THE BUBBLE
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831313603250/Exiting+the+Bubble.html
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Things ain't what they used to be---primarily me.
I haven't blogged on here for over a week now. Being in Edinburgh and producing my play Rachael's Cafe has taken pretty much all of my time and energy. Plus I often have very little to say other than what I upload on the Whatsonstage.com website as working the festival tends to shrink the world down to a tiny little bubble where nothing outside of Edinburgh exists. Obviously the London riots have broken through this protective little screen we so painstakingly erect between us and the real world this year, but although there is so much more than the festival to think about, it still tends to take over in the here and now. The result of this is that trying to think about anything other than your show usually threatens to frazzle your brain and greatly disrupt any small sense of equilibrium you may have established.
What I'm saying is that I'm an empty vessel right now. I'm finding it hard to collect my thoughts together enough to produce an actual coherent thought, I've forgotten the concept of mealtimes and I discovered that I only have to touch alcohol to my lips briefly to appear and feel instantaneously inebriated. I remember working the festival when I was 16 and effortlessly switching between painting the town red until 3 am (sixteen, I know!) and being up and at 'em first thing in the morning, flyering with a cheerful smile and personality on it's highest setting. I'm not sure when I aged thirty years or lost my stamina, but I sure as hell intend to find out this Fringe.
Until then? My cup of tea and bedtime book bid you goodnight.
What I'm saying is that I'm an empty vessel right now. I'm finding it hard to collect my thoughts together enough to produce an actual coherent thought, I've forgotten the concept of mealtimes and I discovered that I only have to touch alcohol to my lips briefly to appear and feel instantaneously inebriated. I remember working the festival when I was 16 and effortlessly switching between painting the town red until 3 am (sixteen, I know!) and being up and at 'em first thing in the morning, flyering with a cheerful smile and personality on it's highest setting. I'm not sure when I aged thirty years or lost my stamina, but I sure as hell intend to find out this Fringe.
Until then? My cup of tea and bedtime book bid you goodnight.
Whatsonstage.com Blog's number 4, 5, & 6!
BLOG 4: EDINBURGH: THE EDGE OF INSANITY
http://bit.ly/pMMTJF
BLOG 5: TEETHING PROBLEMS
http://bit.ly/nyjKQn
BLOG 6: LIVING EDINBURGH
http://bit.ly/nOGvi7
http://bit.ly/pMMTJF
BLOG 5: TEETHING PROBLEMS
http://bit.ly/nyjKQn
BLOG 6: LIVING EDINBURGH
http://bit.ly/nOGvi7
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Whatsonstage.com Blog Number Tres
Last of the pre-Edinburgh blogs. From now on it'll be the trial and tribulations of the Fringe from the middle of the melee.
http://bit.ly/pX4yyK
http://bit.ly/pX4yyK
Monday, August 1, 2011
Whatsonstage.com Blog The Second
Exactly what it says on the packet. This is my SECOND blog for Whatsonstage.com, and it's all about how my Guardian Angels swooped in last minute to save my show.
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831311982422/When+One+Door+Closes+Another+One+Opens...and+other+cliches.+.html
http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831311982422/When+One+Door+Closes+Another+One+Opens...and+other+cliches.+.html
Humour - The best form of defence?
It has long been accepted that, in the never-ending procession of defence mechanisms that mankind inevitably carts out one after the other, humour is one of the most present, one of the most human and one of the most controversial. Whether you're consciously constructing a joke to calm your nerves or momentarily lose control and blurt out laughing at a sad story, there will always be someone ready to slate you for doing so and someone gratefully commending you.
Stand-Up Comedy, a practice revolving entirely around the art of making people laugh and entertaining them, doesn't necessarily seem like the most natural choice of vehicle with which to express sadness, depression or fear. Indeed, not all, but most of the comedians we see on television are of the 'poking fun, buying into stereotypes and exuding cheerful charisma' variety. But step into a comedy club and you'll see humour being used to delve into the psyches of these performers who have entered a profession stereotypically famed for attracting 'damaged' people.
Stewart Lee (famed for co-creating hit musical Jerry Springer the Opera) is known for his angry tirades about...well, about pretty much anything. For example, talking about TV programme Top Gear, he easily explains away Jeremy Clarkson as someone with 'outrageous, politically incorrect opinions which he has for money'! Andre Vincent and Dr. Oliver Double both created stand-up shows that deal with health problems, the former's battle with cancer (Andre Vincent is Unwell) and the latter's experience of his two sons having diabetes (Oliver Double in Saint Pancreas). In a moving documentary Conflict Revolution, comedian Andrew Maxwell uses humour to try to bring two warring Irish neighbourhoods together with the tag line 'Can laughter unite what religion and politics divides?'
Even outside of the comedy sphere humour is used daily by all sorts of people to help defend against fear, melancholy or worse. I remember standing by my father's hospital bed when he had a heart attack and joking about him looking like a turkey in his heat protective clothing and him not wanting to leave the hospital because he fancied all the pretty nurses. I knew a very shy, socially awkward boy at university who suddenly came out of his shell to present a play he'd written about how he used humour to try to mask his shyness. In Howard Jacobson's novel 'The Finkler Question' he says of a dying wife lying in bed next to her husband 'she could look deep into his eyes, beckon him to her and whisper what he thought would be a fond memory into his ear, but which turned out to be a raucous allusion, an obscenity even. She wanted him to laugh, because they had laughed so often together. He had made her laugh at the beginning. Laughter had been his most precious gift to her. And now she wanted laughter to be her final gift to him'.
I embrace humour with my whole being. For me, it's one of the most inspiring and natural comforts I can hope for. There is, however, a fine line between the kind of humour as defence that I condone and another, far less tasteful, type. While it's impossible to find a universal line to draw, recently my personal boundaries have been so pushed that my acceptance of 'humour as a defence mechanism' has been sorely tried.
In the past two weeks alone we, as a country, as a world, have been inundated with catastrophe. There is famine in Somalia, massacre in Norway, economic difficulties and we still have wars raging left, right and centre. We've always fallen back on humorous newspaper headlines (thanks mainly to The Sun), television political comedy programmes and, nowadays, facebook and twitter updates. This 'chin up' culture is, and has always been, a major part of the British attitude. But what about when gentle joking turns into spiteful jibes? Is this still an acceptable response to tragedy, or have we lost our compassion as a people? I leave with you a selection of these 'jokes' and let you decide for yourselves. Who knows...maybe I'm just a tad touchier than others.
For example:
DEATH OF AMY WINEHOUSE
Brazilian comedians have made a mockery of mourners at Amy Winehouse’s funeral Tuesday, as they cried crocodile tears to infiltrate the private event in London reserved exclusively for family and close friends of the famous singer.Two Brazilian comics, Daniel Zukerman and Andre Machado, who work on a Brazilian comedy TV show called Panico na TV (Panic on the TV), were seen posing as friends of Winehouse...The tasteless stunt included the two comics giving comments to German broadcaster RTL, and they could be seen smirking on the verge of laughter as they told the interviewer: “Amy changed the world. We lost a friend, the greatest singer. It is difficult to explain how we feel.”
In honour of Amy Winehouse, we shall all be doing 15 lines in the pub toilets, tonight!
It seems that this is the end of the line for Ms. Winehouse.
Elton John will perform at Amy Winehouse’s funeral with a beautiful rendition of Candle Under The Spoon.
Before telling such sick and abusive jokes about Amy Winehouse, think about her poor close friends. Imagine how they’ll feel on Thursday, when they finally come round and find out.
NORWAY MASSACRE
I want to go to Norway, I heard its the bomb. Mate went there last year but she just shot through. Utoya Island must be a great place. People are dying to be there.
DISAPPEARANCE OF MADELINE MCCANN
'Patrick Kielty joked that if the McCanns wanted to dispose of the body of their daughter, they should have checked her in as luggage on a Ryanair flight. He added that the couple had been backstage but had disappeared two hours later when he went to check on them. The sick comments prompted members of the audience to get up and leave the show.' (Sept, (2007), Dailymail.co.uk)
HOLOCAUST
'Trouble is with Holocaust films is there’s never any gag reel on the DVDs,’ (Ricky Gervais, (2009), Golden Globe Awards, dailymail.co.uk)
COMEDIAN LINKS
http://disappointingchildren.com/2011/07/stewart-lee-angry/
http://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/edinburgh_fringe_2002/a/635/andre_vincent_is_unwell
http://www.diabeticinfo.co.uk/#/oliver-double-diabetes/4526898630
Stand-Up Comedy, a practice revolving entirely around the art of making people laugh and entertaining them, doesn't necessarily seem like the most natural choice of vehicle with which to express sadness, depression or fear. Indeed, not all, but most of the comedians we see on television are of the 'poking fun, buying into stereotypes and exuding cheerful charisma' variety. But step into a comedy club and you'll see humour being used to delve into the psyches of these performers who have entered a profession stereotypically famed for attracting 'damaged' people.
Stewart Lee (famed for co-creating hit musical Jerry Springer the Opera) is known for his angry tirades about...well, about pretty much anything. For example, talking about TV programme Top Gear, he easily explains away Jeremy Clarkson as someone with 'outrageous, politically incorrect opinions which he has for money'! Andre Vincent and Dr. Oliver Double both created stand-up shows that deal with health problems, the former's battle with cancer (Andre Vincent is Unwell) and the latter's experience of his two sons having diabetes (Oliver Double in Saint Pancreas). In a moving documentary Conflict Revolution, comedian Andrew Maxwell uses humour to try to bring two warring Irish neighbourhoods together with the tag line 'Can laughter unite what religion and politics divides?'
Even outside of the comedy sphere humour is used daily by all sorts of people to help defend against fear, melancholy or worse. I remember standing by my father's hospital bed when he had a heart attack and joking about him looking like a turkey in his heat protective clothing and him not wanting to leave the hospital because he fancied all the pretty nurses. I knew a very shy, socially awkward boy at university who suddenly came out of his shell to present a play he'd written about how he used humour to try to mask his shyness. In Howard Jacobson's novel 'The Finkler Question' he says of a dying wife lying in bed next to her husband 'she could look deep into his eyes, beckon him to her and whisper what he thought would be a fond memory into his ear, but which turned out to be a raucous allusion, an obscenity even. She wanted him to laugh, because they had laughed so often together. He had made her laugh at the beginning. Laughter had been his most precious gift to her. And now she wanted laughter to be her final gift to him'.
I embrace humour with my whole being. For me, it's one of the most inspiring and natural comforts I can hope for. There is, however, a fine line between the kind of humour as defence that I condone and another, far less tasteful, type. While it's impossible to find a universal line to draw, recently my personal boundaries have been so pushed that my acceptance of 'humour as a defence mechanism' has been sorely tried.
In the past two weeks alone we, as a country, as a world, have been inundated with catastrophe. There is famine in Somalia, massacre in Norway, economic difficulties and we still have wars raging left, right and centre. We've always fallen back on humorous newspaper headlines (thanks mainly to The Sun), television political comedy programmes and, nowadays, facebook and twitter updates. This 'chin up' culture is, and has always been, a major part of the British attitude. But what about when gentle joking turns into spiteful jibes? Is this still an acceptable response to tragedy, or have we lost our compassion as a people? I leave with you a selection of these 'jokes' and let you decide for yourselves. Who knows...maybe I'm just a tad touchier than others.
For example:
DEATH OF AMY WINEHOUSE
Brazilian comedians have made a mockery of mourners at Amy Winehouse’s funeral Tuesday, as they cried crocodile tears to infiltrate the private event in London reserved exclusively for family and close friends of the famous singer.Two Brazilian comics, Daniel Zukerman and Andre Machado, who work on a Brazilian comedy TV show called Panico na TV (Panic on the TV), were seen posing as friends of Winehouse...The tasteless stunt included the two comics giving comments to German broadcaster RTL, and they could be seen smirking on the verge of laughter as they told the interviewer: “Amy changed the world. We lost a friend, the greatest singer. It is difficult to explain how we feel.”
In honour of Amy Winehouse, we shall all be doing 15 lines in the pub toilets, tonight!
It seems that this is the end of the line for Ms. Winehouse.
Elton John will perform at Amy Winehouse’s funeral with a beautiful rendition of Candle Under The Spoon.
Before telling such sick and abusive jokes about Amy Winehouse, think about her poor close friends. Imagine how they’ll feel on Thursday, when they finally come round and find out.
NORWAY MASSACRE
I want to go to Norway, I heard its the bomb. Mate went there last year but she just shot through. Utoya Island must be a great place. People are dying to be there.
DISAPPEARANCE OF MADELINE MCCANN
'Patrick Kielty joked that if the McCanns wanted to dispose of the body of their daughter, they should have checked her in as luggage on a Ryanair flight. He added that the couple had been backstage but had disappeared two hours later when he went to check on them. The sick comments prompted members of the audience to get up and leave the show.' (Sept, (2007), Dailymail.co.uk)
HOLOCAUST
'Trouble is with Holocaust films is there’s never any gag reel on the DVDs,’ (Ricky Gervais, (2009), Golden Globe Awards, dailymail.co.uk)
COMEDIAN LINKS
http://disappointingchildren.com/2011/07/stewart-lee-angry/
http://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/edinburgh_fringe_2002/a/635/andre_vincent_is_unwell
http://www.diabeticinfo.co.uk/#/oliver-double-diabetes/4526898630
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