Category: True Life Adventures
Puppet Up Down Under – April 20, 2014 – Melbourne Finale
Before I get started on today, I forgot to mention something else about last night. After the pump it up show, then I went to go see another show that is part of the Melbourne international comedy Festival. We went to see a standup comedy show. Featured three comics from United States. I have seen a lot of standup so the show was not incredibly hilarious. The final comedian of the evening was pretty good and had me and Dan both cracking up.
This morning I woke up to the sound of Brian bustling around in our kitchen. He was getting ready to meet up with Dan because Brian has decided that Dan needs a haircut and the two of them were going to go out and get a haircut today. I got ready to go and leave with them, not to get a haircut but just to go get lunch.
As they were having their “spa day”I walked around the city and found a nice place to have lunch. Then I walked around downtown a little bit more and then headed back to the hotel. I did some writing, some email and worked on my song improv for a bit. Then I had to vacate the room so housekeeping could clean it. I sat down in the lobby and continue to write and then Dan and Brian arrived with their new haircuts Intel. Their haircuts are the top of the company.
Then, after housekeeping was done, it went back up to our room. Brian continued working on his project well I took a nap. And then we got ready to get over to the field
Tonight was our final show in conjunction with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It was another fun show. The hotdogs went skydiving, we took a carpool trip to Tipperary, I saying my jamboree song about monkey, I guy in the front row who was wearing a Robin (from Batman) style mask. it went pretty well. I got a few more laughs and then last night. Excited to work on it even more in front of a crowd and get it even. and of course the aliens saying their barbershop song, this time about leg waxing.
I wax my legs
They look good in a skirt
It’s really worth it
But it fucking hurts
After the show, we went out and took Facebook photos with people in the lobby. then, sadly, it was time to pack up all the puppets and starts taking down the set getting ready for our trip to Brisbane. I’m really happy that we get a day off tomorrow in Melbourne. It’s kind of like an extra chance to say goodbye to this amazing city.
After getting her stuff back to the hotel, a group of us met up and went out for dinner. We then went to a place called the Hi-Fi for the closing night party for the festival. They had a DJ playing music and everyone was having fun. Then all of a sudden the lights went out and the band took the stage. There was sort of a Quentin Tarantino team to the party and the band was called the Tarantino’s. They played only songs from Quentin Tarantino movies. While I admired the concept, they totally killed the vibe of the party so, Patrick and I left.
And that will bring to an end our penultimate day here in Melbourne.
Puppet Up Down Under 2014 – April 19, 2014 – Debut
This morning started by getting up at 9:00 AM and quickly getting ready to head out to Federation Square with Dan. We were finally going to go see the show we had been meaning to see all week. The show is a children’s show called Luck Child. It is a one man show performed by David Collins who is one half of the group the Umbilical Brothers. I’m so glad we finally got to see this show. It was incredible. It was filled with physical comedy, sound effects, and a cardboard set that just inspired me to be creative. David had the entire room in the palm of his hand the entire show. If luck child is playing anywhere near you, and unless you live in Australia I don’t think it is, you must go see it. It is 40 minutes of just pure fun.
After we got back from the show, I went and worked out down in the gym. Then I started work rehearsing on my song improv which was set to debut in tonight’s show. Brian has been really amazing and helping me prepare for the songs debut. It would not be in the shape it was and if it weren’t for him. I also have to give a huge amount of thanks to Dan Ring who came up with an amazing track for me to sing too. It is exactly what I wanted and even better then I could have imagined.
After the Toronto tour, Patrick told me that I should start thinking about doing a song improv in the show. I tossed around a few ideas, a country western song, and 80s rock song, but nothing really struck me as being THE right song.
Before the Australia tour there was a small US tour, which you know about if you are a regular reader of this blog. We had a night off in Park city, Utah, and one night we were having dinner in this restaurant and I went to use the restroom. Well I was in the restroom a song came over the speakers that I had never heard before. It was just a really great Americana style folksong. But I could tell that it was recorded relatively recently. I remember the lyrics and later did a Google search and found out that the song was called old Dan Tucker and it was by Bruce Springsteen. It was a cover of an old Pete Seger song which in itself was a cover of an old traditional folk song. I bought the song from iTunes and listen to it on repeat. I then started thinking that it might be fun for the song improv to be a song about an audience member but turned into one of those classic American folk songs about John Henry, Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, and Pecos Bill. And that is what it has become.
During tonight’s show I sang the song about Josh the lawyer in the front row. The thing I love about this song is that it is not a solo song. The entire cast gets involved singing backup and doing some hilarious choreography. To me it’s sort of reminiscent of emmet otter, because I’m using the beaver and everyone else is using woodland creature puppets. There’s a lot of banjo and fiddle and singing together just like in a good old country song. And Brian does these little spoken interludes in between each of the verses that are just totally hilarious. The main thing I love about it is that everyone is up there with me. It’s more of a group piece that I am leading. I had posted on Facebook earlier in the day that I was a little nervous about the song debuting tonight. Peggy replied that they would all have my back up there. And it really did feel that way.
By the end of the song the entire audience with singing along about the guy in the front row. I even had the beaver tell the guy to stand up and give her wave and he did. It was a lot of fun. It’s good that I now have one time of the song in front of the audience under my belt. Now I can just work on making it better and making it funnier. Again I huge thanks to the rest of the cast for having my back, Dan for making such an amazing track. And especially for Patrick in believing in me to do the song improv.
The rest of the show was really hilarious. The Hot Dogs were in jail for being naughty and saucy, we played the game show called ‘That’s Not Your Car!”, and Brian and Allan did some amazing puppetry and had their puppet doing handstands! Of course the Alien Barbershop was in there and the subject was boobs.
I like your boobs,
You have a nice rack.
And my favorite one,
Is the one on your back.
After the show we had a fun little get together to thank the cast and crew of the Princess Theatre who have been utterly amazing. We will miss them when we are gone. Tomorrow is the last show here in Melbourne. Can’t wait to do it all again tomorrow and then see what adventure awaits in Brisbane.
Creative Mondays #016 – Become a utility player.
Here’s another aspect of creativity that I believe is important. That is being a utility player. It’s a sports term and it means someone who is able to play many different positions competently. So, in you art and your creativity, you should strive to become a utility player. I’ll admit this concept may not apply to all fields of creativity, but I think it’s generally a good rule to have in life. The concept is, be good at many different aspects of your field so those in charge have a ton of options to plug you in anywhere. This will show that you can really do anything and it will give you more opportunities to make money.
I first stumbled upon this idea when I started doing my comedy songs at open mic nights in San Francisco. I was a young comedy songwriter who just started going to comedy open mics to play my songs. I started with comedy open mice because I was singing comedy songs, but at the first ‘mixed’ open mic I attended, an open in mic where there was comedy and music and poetry, I realized I could start going to strictly music open mice as well. I found I’d do pretty well at either comedy open mice or music open mice because my act was so different from what else was going on that night. At comedy open mice I stood out because I did funny songs where everyone else was doing straight stand up. At music open mice I stood out because I was doing funny songs when everyone else was doing serious straight songs. This discovery led me to being booked on all sorts of shows because I could fit in with whatever else was going on on the bill. I learned to be a utility player, fit in as many different places you can. You’ll get booked more.
And don’t worry about bing someone who’s just starting out. I think that’s the best time to become a utility player. You aren’t pigeon holed into just being able to do one thing. This concept has really hit home with my work with Puppet Up! Uncensored. When it comes to Puppet Up! I try to be the best utility player I can be and I started the moment I began working with the company. When I was strong enough to do my first shows, I eagerly learned the part in the opening and closing numbers I was in. I learned it to the best of my ability. The next time I was asked to be in a show, they put me in a completely different part in the opening and closing. Instead of complaining, I shut up and learned it and did it to the best of my ability. Next time I was asked to go into another slot and I did it gratefully and willingly. Now there are three different spots in the opening where I can be plugged in. (And I’ve been working on a fourth on my own.)
In the show we have two recreations, I’ve Grown Accustomed To Your Face and Java. When I was asked to learn the spot of Demon Head in Face, I jumped at it. Then I was asked to try out Big Java in Java. Again, no hesitation, I jumped on it. Then I was asked if I wanted to try Lady Singer in Face. You’d better believe I said yes. Same thing with using the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio in that segment of the show. I’ve never been trained on it officially but I’ve fooled around with it enough to be able to do a passable job, so now I can be plugged in there. On top of all this, I was once asked to host the show. A big task, but instead of waffling and saying I was unsure, I shut up, said yes, and did it to the best of my ability. I did a passable job and now have been asked to host the show several times now. By saying yes I created yet another spot in the show I could be plugged in.
All this saying yes came to a head recently where at one of our shows, a performer became ill moments before we started. After a bit of nervousness about this the show worked, Patrick asked who could do certain parts of the show. I was able to say test to just about everything and was able to perform many different roles. I wasn’t really nervous because they were all roles I’d played before and it was a true testament to becoming a utility player.
By eagerly and happily becoming a utility player, you will open yourself up to many more opportunities rather than just specializing on one thing.
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Are you a utility player? Tell us about where you can be plugged in to many different spots in your field in the comments below!
Puppet Up Down Under 2014 – April 18, 2014 – Musk
I was up late last night talking to Brian and Dan so all I wanted to do this morning was sleep in. That, unfortunately, was not to be. I was up before 8:00 AM to the sound of rain on the window. Yes, it seems after yesterday’s amazing weather, Melbourne was going to give us a little rain. Not a problem though, I still love this city and I let the rain lull me back to sleep.
I got up around 10:30 AM, and Julianna was making plans to visit the Melbourne aquarium. I was actually not going to go but our time in Melbourne is running out and I want to see as much as I possibly can before we ship off to Brisbane.
Around 11:00 AM, I met with a local Melbourne puppeteer named Michael. He wanted to chat about puppetry and making a web series. I’m always interested in talking puppetry with people so I was happy to meet up and spend the time just chatting.
After meeting with Michael, I headed back to the hotel to answer some email and do some writing, I packed up Uncle Interloper and met Julianna, Colleen and Peggy in the lobby at 1:30 PM.
Melbourne must have known that we were going to walk to the aquarium because when we walked out of the hotel the sky was sunny. It was a lovely walk the few blocks to the aquarium. For part of the time we walked along the river nearby and it was very nice. Soon we were standing in front of the Melbourne aquarium.
Today is a national holiday in Australia. So it seems that the rest of the city of Melbourne had the same idea as we did and they were all at the aquarium. We waited in the line to get in and soon were surrounded by all different kinds of sea life. There were some really cool exhibits such as seahorses, turtles, a huge walk through shark tank that also had a manta rays, and an amazing penguin exhibit. We happened upon the penguin exhibit at just the right time. Feeding time. It was amazing to watch the Penguins scramble all over their enclosure to get fish that was thrown out by the keepers. I got some great Uncle Interloper footage as well. Stuff I can cut together as a Podcast once I get back.
After the aquarium, we walked back towards the hotel. We made a stop at a small convenience store where Peggy had seen a type of candy she thought I would get a kick out of. They were Lifesavers but the flavor was musk. Yes, you read that right musk. Here’s the picture.
These aren’t a joke candy. They were sold along with all the other lifesaver flavors. What do musk flavored Lifesavers taste like? They taste like the worst thing you could ever put in your mouth. That’s what Brian Clark said when I tricked him into eating one. To me they taste as if you’ve taken a handful of potpourri and shoved it into your mouth. Pretty gross.
After relaxing at the hotel for a bit, Alan, Julianna, Brian and myself all went out to get some dinner. We had dinner at a Chinese place, and then we walked up to the theater for tech call.
Tonight we got some work in on the choreography for my song improv. Patrick says that the song improv will debut in tomorrow night’s show. I’m nervous but I’m confident that even if it turns out horrible it will still be a lot of fun. And, it will only get better. Right?
Before we got dressed for the show, we met with two kids who are very interested in puppetry. Their parents had arranged for them to come see a little behind-the-scenes tour of Puppet Up. That was a lot of fun. And it was great to see how puppetry was really interesting to both of them.
Then it was showtime. What a great show tonight! The audience was really fantastic and their suggestions were great. The Hot Dogs prevented a nuclear meltdown, we played the game show called Cake or Death, the talent show featured synchronized contortion masturbation and the alien barbershop topic was sheering, as in sheep.
When I am shearing
I got in the sheep stalls
And I shear them clean
Until I can see their balls.
A great show, and a great time meeting the audience afterwards. After the show, I just went back to the hotel to write out this post. I want to try to get to sleep early tonight so that tomorrow morning I could go see the show again and I have wanted to go see at 10:00 AM. So I want to get a good nights sleep.
Sad there’s only a few days left in Melbourne, but I’ve had a world of fun.
