ADVANCED-INTERMEDIATE CLOWN
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DEVISED PERFORMANCE, INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ENSEMBLE, PACE UNIVERSITY
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PERFORMANCE /\ PEDAGOGY
It ain't easy, folks! As an artist (and as a human being), I am all too familiar with the need to resist uncertainty.
I understand all too well the temptation to move away from the unknown, and instead to try to slap a neat and tidy solution on top of one's present artistic conundrum (or for that matter, on one's life).
I see that you want to get it "right", do it "perfect", "organize" it aka get all your proverbial ducks in a row - thinking that once all those ducks are arranged in orderly fashion, then you can explore, create, perform, be brilliant, take risks, make the theatrical magic happen...
News flash! Those ducks don't want to stay in a row! They want to waddle around, make a mess, jump in the water and splash around!
Rather than being a perfectionist or looking for a big fat formula (trying to "solve the comic problem" as my mentor likes to say),
instead, one must stand squarely in the mess and proceed from there -- from the place of not knowing how to proceed.
This is a manifesto for those who are willing to stand in the midst of this mess, jump inside the big fat mystery and say,
Whoa! Or, even better, WOW! Or maybe, Yikes! In this moment of surrender to the unknown, we make room for discovery and surprise.
From here, our pleasure, our imagination, our enthusiasm, ferocity, inappropriateness, vulnerability, our creativity, our humanity in all of its beautiful, messy glory - may spring forth. From here, we sparkle. Everything feels possible.
"Preach, sister!", did you say? Oh, yes, I have been to the mountain, people! To the Play Mountain, that is, and I am here to tell you that it is a beautiful place full of wonder and chaos, simplicity and delight. The Play Mountain is where your FUN is. And, it's where your CREATIVE SPARK burns brightest.
You know what I'm talking about. I know you remember your FUN. When you were six, perhaps and you played freely in your room for hours
with nothing but a toilet paper roll, a piece of tin foil and a tube sock? Or, maybe last week when you made your friend laugh so hard they snarfed martini out of their nose? Everyday, I work to find my way back to that sweet Play Mountain.
It is not easy, good people. I won't lie to you. I would never lie to you. The socialized world is set up to systematically reduce our fun, flatten our passion and diminish our capacity for unbridled, unfiltered free expression.
In art, we tend to prize clever, cool, cunning and charming over softness, openness, vulnerability, mess, misunderstanding. The clever and cool might make art that is palatable, and even marketable, but it's as tasty and original as a piece of dry toast. It's missing the secret ingredient: YOU, and your SWEET & SPICY FUN!
Okay, settle down now and gather in close to your screen. I'm going to tell you a secret...wait for it....that Play Mountain won't come to you.
YOU have to go after IT! Put on your galoshes or your Swiss hiking boots or your flip-flops or your fancy high-heels or your cleats or shit-kickers or fuzzy slippers, take out your pantomime "fun compass" - and go AFTER it.
In fact, RUN!! Just run around in circles until you get there. Or, walk softly, if you prefer - maybe you have to creep up on your fun, so you don't spook it, like a deer in the forest. But, never fear! You'll find your pleasure soon because it is never ever far.
Have I confused you? Good! That's a great place to start. I told you this wasn't going to be easy. You didn't know you were joining a revolution when you clicked onto this page, did you?
Because it is - an irreverent, sneaky revolution of the heart.
I dare you to be soft, to be vulnerable, to be simple. I double dare you to take up space!
I dare you to playfully, mischievously resist and upset the socialized order of things,
and to investigate and relish your pleasure on your own terms. Follow your pleasure and your creative impulse where they may lead!
Consider me your comrade-in-arms for I have experienced first-hand the toxic horror of desperately trying to make art or "solve the comic problem" with my big clever brain and a synthetic "Made in Taiwan" sense of fun. Conversely, I have enjoyed creating and playing freely from the heart without filter.
Let me tell you, while door number one feels like the safer, more tried and true option and door number two feels like risky business...if you are willing to take the leap, then you get to hop on board the fun train to Play Mountain. I promise that it is a sweet and exhilarating ride that feels 1,000 times better than a torturous trip to the toxic plastic fakey-fake horrorland that is your big, clever idea.
We're risk-takers, right?
Then, let's meet each other on the Play/\Mountain-top. We can have a tender, little party up there, make something beautiful together
or rage and burn, howl at the moon and raise up our fists to the man. In the meantime, Mountaineers, enjoy snooping around this site. There are pretty pictures of past performances and films, class offerings and events, a geyser of failed experiments and half-baked ideas, as well as some sparkly good dumb ones in between.
Now, in the words of my mentor, Mr. Christopher Bayes, the Jedi knight of funny who first showed me that sweet Play Mountain in the sky,
Open your arms real wide and Repeat after me, "Heart Chakra! Open for Business!" Now leave it open.
It ain't easy, folks! As an artist (and as a human being), I am all too familiar with the need to resist uncertainty.
I understand all too well the temptation to move away from the unknown, and instead to try to slap a neat and tidy solution on top of one's present artistic conundrum (or for that matter, on one's life).
I see that you want to get it "right", do it "perfect", "organize" it aka get all your proverbial ducks in a row - thinking that once all those ducks are arranged in orderly fashion, then you can explore, create, perform, be brilliant, take risks, make the theatrical magic happen...
News flash! Those ducks don't want to stay in a row! They want to waddle around, make a mess, jump in the water and splash around!
Rather than being a perfectionist or looking for a big fat formula (trying to "solve the comic problem" as my mentor likes to say),
instead, one must stand squarely in the mess and proceed from there -- from the place of not knowing how to proceed.
This is a manifesto for those who are willing to stand in the midst of this mess, jump inside the big fat mystery and say,
Whoa! Or, even better, WOW! Or maybe, Yikes! In this moment of surrender to the unknown, we make room for discovery and surprise.
From here, our pleasure, our imagination, our enthusiasm, ferocity, inappropriateness, vulnerability, our creativity, our humanity in all of its beautiful, messy glory - may spring forth. From here, we sparkle. Everything feels possible.
"Preach, sister!", did you say? Oh, yes, I have been to the mountain, people! To the Play Mountain, that is, and I am here to tell you that it is a beautiful place full of wonder and chaos, simplicity and delight. The Play Mountain is where your FUN is. And, it's where your CREATIVE SPARK burns brightest.
You know what I'm talking about. I know you remember your FUN. When you were six, perhaps and you played freely in your room for hours
with nothing but a toilet paper roll, a piece of tin foil and a tube sock? Or, maybe last week when you made your friend laugh so hard they snarfed martini out of their nose? Everyday, I work to find my way back to that sweet Play Mountain.
It is not easy, good people. I won't lie to you. I would never lie to you. The socialized world is set up to systematically reduce our fun, flatten our passion and diminish our capacity for unbridled, unfiltered free expression.
In art, we tend to prize clever, cool, cunning and charming over softness, openness, vulnerability, mess, misunderstanding. The clever and cool might make art that is palatable, and even marketable, but it's as tasty and original as a piece of dry toast. It's missing the secret ingredient: YOU, and your SWEET & SPICY FUN!
Okay, settle down now and gather in close to your screen. I'm going to tell you a secret...wait for it....that Play Mountain won't come to you.
YOU have to go after IT! Put on your galoshes or your Swiss hiking boots or your flip-flops or your fancy high-heels or your cleats or shit-kickers or fuzzy slippers, take out your pantomime "fun compass" - and go AFTER it.
In fact, RUN!! Just run around in circles until you get there. Or, walk softly, if you prefer - maybe you have to creep up on your fun, so you don't spook it, like a deer in the forest. But, never fear! You'll find your pleasure soon because it is never ever far.
Have I confused you? Good! That's a great place to start. I told you this wasn't going to be easy. You didn't know you were joining a revolution when you clicked onto this page, did you?
Because it is - an irreverent, sneaky revolution of the heart.
I dare you to be soft, to be vulnerable, to be simple. I double dare you to take up space!
I dare you to playfully, mischievously resist and upset the socialized order of things,
and to investigate and relish your pleasure on your own terms. Follow your pleasure and your creative impulse where they may lead!
Consider me your comrade-in-arms for I have experienced first-hand the toxic horror of desperately trying to make art or "solve the comic problem" with my big clever brain and a synthetic "Made in Taiwan" sense of fun. Conversely, I have enjoyed creating and playing freely from the heart without filter.
Let me tell you, while door number one feels like the safer, more tried and true option and door number two feels like risky business...if you are willing to take the leap, then you get to hop on board the fun train to Play Mountain. I promise that it is a sweet and exhilarating ride that feels 1,000 times better than a torturous trip to the toxic plastic fakey-fake horrorland that is your big, clever idea.
We're risk-takers, right?
Then, let's meet each other on the Play/\Mountain-top. We can have a tender, little party up there, make something beautiful together
or rage and burn, howl at the moon and raise up our fists to the man. In the meantime, Mountaineers, enjoy snooping around this site. There are pretty pictures of past performances and films, class offerings and events, a geyser of failed experiments and half-baked ideas, as well as some sparkly good dumb ones in between.
Now, in the words of my mentor, Mr. Christopher Bayes, the Jedi knight of funny who first showed me that sweet Play Mountain in the sky,
Open your arms real wide and Repeat after me, "Heart Chakra! Open for Business!" Now leave it open.