#72 The state of modernity
Issue #72 The state of modernity
26th July 2023
Hello.
I am a year older. It feels nice.
I've just spent the last few days working with my BFF Katy Schutte and sixteen phenomenal improvisers as part of our Game of the Show masterclass. There's something particularly rewarding about working with a group of people who have years of experience but maintain the enthusiasm and spiritual generosity of beginners. It was the perfect laboratory for some experimental improv and the resulting shows were some of the best I've seen in recent years.
What. A. Treat.
If you'd like to work with us too, please sign up to this waiting list.
Or just sit back, relax, and enjoy these things that are fun.
Rule of three
[Web Series] ⌘Z
Steven Soderbergh just dropped a secret, zero-budget time travel web series and made it available for $7.99 on his own website. Things I love about it: all proceeds go to charity, each episode is about a different issue facing humanity, Soderbergh gives further viewing recommendations in the credits, Michael Cera plays an AI recreation of a billionaire who died on his way to Mars.
[Book] Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Best selling novelist Athena chokes on a pancake, leaving the one copy of her new manuscript in the hands of her best friend, Juniper. What follows is a brilliant satire on publishing, social media and cultural appropriation. I found this a compelling, if stressful, read. It's absolutely a book about the exact moment in which we currently find ourselves.
[Article] Men are lost. Here’s a map out of the wilderness.
And speaking of that exact moment, this article completes my trifecta of recommendations concerning the state of modernity. An incisive overview of what it means to be a man in the twenty-first century. A long read but a startlingly important one.
Spotlight
Improv hero, Stephen Davidson, is running a new course on Improvising Neil Gaiman, based on the work he did directing Mixed Omens. I think Stephen is an exemplary director and teacher and warmly encourage London-based improvisers to sign up. The worlds Gaiman creates are richly detailed and interesting. I promise they are an absolute pleasure to improvise beside and around.
Longform thoughts
Every 29th July is Say Day where improvisers around the world tell each other just how deeply they are appreciated. The practice was started by TJ Jagadowski, partly inspired by the death of Jason Chin.
Jason’s passing was a wake up call. Don’t wait until it’s too late to tell people that they are loved.
This is my list for Say Day 2023.
Radio contact
Radio thinks he's people.