#74 Mad Max in an ice-cream van
Issue #74 Mad Max in an ice-cream van
9th August 2023
Hello.
Hope you're all having fun? Not much to share this week.
I'm still decluttering my house.
I time-budgeted three days for the loft and I'm ... still on the loft as I type this seven days later.
Decluttering is hard work physically (why do boxes of Doctor Who action figures weigh so much?) but it's also hard work mentally (I've read a lot of my teenage poetry and I now have a much lower opinion of myself as an artist).
Here is a picture that I found of me as a teenager.
I mean ... there's a lot going on there.
Rule of three
[TV] Twisted Metal
Talking about being a teenager: I used to play Twisted Metal 2 on the Playstation all the time. It was amazing. One vehicle you could play was just a man suspended between two wheels. His name was Axel. Anyway, they've made a TV series out of it starring Anthony Mackie and it is a lot of fun if you like cars going fast and doing things cars wouldn't normally do. I would describe it as Mad Max in an ice-cream van.
[Theatre] Club Life
Fred Deakin is a legend - promoter, musician, designer and also a frequent collaborator of mine (for which I thank my lucky stars). His Club Life show is about his time running various weird and wonderful clubs in Edinburgh and London. It's currently running as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the uber-cool Summerhall venue. Check it out if you're up in Edinburgh - he just got a five star review from The Scotsman.
And if you're dying to know more then may I recommend this brilliant book about the experience, a perusal of his incredible life story or to chill out to the incomparable Nice Weather for Ducks.
[Article] The Galactic Starcruiser
Disney's Galactic Starcruiser is shutting down soon and this article is a thoughtful rumination on the nexus between experiential theatre, LARPing, escape rooms and computer games. Only, ALL THE THINGS I LIKE then. I'm sad that it's closing (especially because I have friends who work there) but it sounds like it was a glorious, if prohibitively expensive, experience. I can't wait for what comes next.
Spotlight
I'm still on my improv teaching sabbatical but I wanted to highlight the work of my lovely friends Vera Chok and Jon Nguyen. They're putting on a whole day of improv joy in celebration of East and South East Asian Heritage month. It's all happening on 15th September and will include multiple workshops and shows to enjoy. I can't recommend Vera & Jon enough - they are exceptional improvisers and even better human beings. All the details are here.
Longform thoughts
My teenage poetry might be terrible but I'm quite proud of this poem from primary school.
Radio contact
Like a sphinx.