#11 The sad fact that most of us are not Liza Minnelli
Issue #11 The sad fact that most of us are not Liza Minnelli
25th May 2022
From the desk of Christopher A. Mead, Esq.
Off to the Czech Republic today for more improv meets video games fun at Game Access '22. It's amazing to be working at the nexus point of theatre and computer games. My 14 year old self can't stop smiling.
Actually, my 41 year old self can't stop smiling either.
As I write this in my office in Farnham, the heavens just opened and dumped a biblical flood of water over the Surrey Hills. Now it's golden sunshine again. Radio is zooming around the garden like a pup possessed.
Everything is in flux at the moment but I am comforted by the words of 20th century Dutch Theosophist, Jacobus Johannes van der Leeuw:
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”
I like that very much.
Rule of three
[Music] Cabaret
How do you approach playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret if you're not Liza Minnelli? Because the sad fact is that most of us are not Liza Minnelli. I'm fascinated by young actors taking on roles that have been made iconic by a previous performer. I think that what Amy Lennox does in this song is nothing short of extraordinary. The material breathes again - she fills it with such glorious, lacerating pathos.
[Money] Wise
Quick practical tip here. If you're a freelancer and are often paid in different currencies, Wise offers one solution which works as a native account all over the world (including GBP, USD and EUR which are the most relevant for me). This means that you can be paid without additional international transfer fees. I realise how boring I sound but it's made a real difference to me.
[TV] Anthologies
I love a good anthology show and the superb Love Death + Robots has just released it's third season. Check out Night of the Mini Dead for a 7 minute blast of brilliance. But it also got me thinking about one of my favourite TV shows of all time. Inside No.9 is always set behind a door marked number 9. That's the only link between the episodes (other than they're all written by and starring Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton). It's masterfully funny and queasily horrific, often at the same time. My favourites are:
A Quiet Night In | The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge | The Riddle of the Sphinx | Misdirection | Wuthering Heist
Spotlight
Myself and the brilliant improviser/ film critic Tara Judah have been working on Improv Cinema Club for a few months now. It's a hybrid online improv class and cinema discussion group and it's going to be amazing. This time we're looking at directors Agnès Varda, Chloé Zhao, Taika Waititi, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Joanna Hogg and Jordan Peele. If this seems like your sort of thing, I'd advise you to sign up pretty quickly as we're already more than half full. Hope to see you there? I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to taking a deep dive into the work of these phenomenal filmmakers.
Longform thoughts
Fall, and then figure out what to do on the way down.
Listen like a thief.
Play like a raving paranoid. Notice everything, make everything a big deal.
Make assumptions.
If it’s good make it better, if it’s bad make it worse.
Read Five improv techniques that you shouldn’t try in real life
Radio days
Radio + beach = hang glider ears!