There is an ad campaign on New York buses encouraging atheists to come out of the closet. I suppose it is ironic, a little, that the donor who paid for the ads has chosen to remain anonymous, but I think calling him one of the worst people in the world is beyond harsh.

Greta Christina has already succinctly argued why a person might want to maintain his or her anonymity in such a situation:

Coming out as an atheist can have serious real-world consequences. Parents get denied custody of their children for being atheists. People get harassed and vandalized by their neighbors for being atheists. Teachers get suspended for being atheists. Teenagers get harassed and suspended from school for being atheists. Politicians whip up anti-atheist fear to try to get elected. (And that's just in the US. I'm not even talking about parts of the world where atheism is a crime, punishable by imprisonment or death.)

I like Keith Olbermann, probably for the same reason that conservatives love Limbaugh or O'Reilly. The man knows how to rile up the base. And perhaps I am being hypocritical; would I have noticed - or worse, agreed - if he were discussing another group? I don't know. It's possible.

The Olbermann segment is below:

Labels: Atheism

Clown Stigmata is the name of my fake band. I got the name from my friend Liz, who told me a story about a class she took in clowning. One day after class she discovered that she had an intricate pattern of bruises around her body. She mentioned it to her instructor, who congratulated her for receiving her first case of "clown stigmata." Upon hearing this story my first thought was, "That is a perfect name for a band!" And for some reason it stuck with me.

I call it a fake band because there is no band; there is just me, my guitar and my computer. It's a hobby. Were I taking it more seriously I might say that I am to Clown Stigmata what Trent Reznor is to Nine Inch Nails, except that I have never played a show or sold a record. And I suck at writing lyrics - the vocal distortion is partly to cover the embarrassing lyrics, and partly because I think it sounds cool.

I've had a MySpace page up for a while now, but I had refrained from spreading it around too much until now. Why the change of heart? Dunno. I'm just proud of the new batch of songs I posted, and I'd like people to hear them, and I'd like to get some feedback.

So, If you're in the mood for some industrial rock with a metal edge to it, head on over to myspace.com/clownstigmata. I'd love to know what you think.

Labels: Music

Busman's Honeymoon at Lifeline Theatre has been extended to July 26th. I'm having a fine time playing a Scottish douchebag named MacBride. It's a small part, but fun. I show up and act like an asshole. It's pretty great.

In one pivotal scene (pivotal because I am in it. Also, because it is the scene in which they discover the dead body) I have to sit on a couch and write some notes to myself in a little notebook. For about thirty seconds I amuse myself on stage by thinking of stuff to write. There are, I suppose, a few things that would be easier to understand if you were familiar with the show, which is why you should get down here and check it out.

I thought I might share a sampling with you, so that you might better appreciate what goes on in the actor's mind as he performs:

May 1
Holy crap. People here.
So far so good.
Butler = raccoon
What else today?
Lots of laughs
Missed a line.
Dead = Lame

May 10
Totally fucking up my
lines. What the hell?
Stupid press opening.
Still had trouble finding
notebook in case

May 11
Opening Night!
Pretty good so far.
Good house.
Working the briefcase better

May 15
I've got "Suicide Jag" by
Chemlab stuck in my head.
Opening reporter scene sucked
a little.

May 30 #1
WTF? Feeling weird on
this one. Timing's off. I
blame this diet. I'd kill
for a candy bar. I really
need to use the bathroom.

May 30 #2
Better this time. Almost
missed an entrance during
#1! Scared the shit out
of me.
Somebody brought cornbread
for dinner. Good stuff.

Fascinating, no? It's almost like haiku. Except, you know, not at all.

In other theater news, we had our first read-through for Treasure Island last week. I cannot wait to get started on this thing.

Labels: Acting

Chicago actor Will Schutz died today after a battle with pancreatic cancer. I had the privilege of acting alongside Will in a couple of shows, and saw him perform in many others. He was a gifted actor, a complete professional, and a great guy to grab a beer with after the show. He was one of the people who defined, for me, the meaning of Chicago theater: Honest, fearless, and a little silly.

Good show, Will.






(My apologies to the photographer. I stole the picture from Will's Facebook profile. It's my favorite shot of him.)

Labels: Acting, Moments of Silence

Courtesy of the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign, we'll soon be seeing this lovely poster emblazoned on the sides of CTA buses:


Catchy, clever, and sure to piss off a whole lot of people. I cannot wait.

Labels: Atheism

By Mary Shen Barnidge, reprinted from Moulinet: An Action Quarterly - Number One - 2009

SHAKESPLOITATION!

A punch whose knap follows several seconds after the swing, but several seconds before the receiver registers the impact, establishes at the outset the tone of author Andy Grigg's three Shakespeare spoofs, modeled on popular action-film genres -- the ghetto-and-car-chase Grand Theft Othello, the makeup-and-body-parts Apocalypse: Romeo and Juliet, and the chop-socko Ninja Hamlet: Burning Fist of Denmark. But fight choreographer Chris Walsh's biggest problem isn't living up to the show publicity's assertion that "The Bard is Baaadaass", but doing it on the Gorilla Tango storefront cabaret's stage -- an arena barely larger than a hostess-waitstation with front-row tables and customers' knees marking the boundaries of its apron.

Zombies of the Hollywood variety being uniformly big and hulking, the menacing creatures of Apocalypse are kept offstage (specifically, in the general region of the playhouse lobby -- a tactic not uncommon to low-budget Blair Witch Project knockoffs), while Grand Theft relies on hand-to-hand spectacle choreographed in the patently artificial manner of the evening's aforementioned opening sequence. Ironically, Ninja Hamlet presents the most ready solution to the safe-distance problem, thanks to the conventions introduced in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon dictating that magic, not muscle, decides the battle. Thus, blows and kicks launched on opposite sides of the stage (with appropriate vocal accompaniment) are understood to be fully as efficacious as those connecting at close range. This full-cast (and most extensively-conceived) of the three sketches finishes with a burst of adrenaline to send us home -- or off to another Bucktown bar, anyway -- happy and exhilarated.

Labels: Stage Combat

Another show is in the books. Camp Freedom! closed Sunday after a lengthy workshop and rehearsal process and a seven-week run. It was a rough one. The reviews were decent but not great, and we had a hard time pulling in audiences. We had to cancel a few performances due to a lack of paying customers. However, I was proud of my work, I think we had a pretty good show, and I got to work with a great group of people. In spite of the problems we encountered, this ensemble had enough fun working together that morale never wavered for a moment.

I pulled double-duty on this one, working both as an actor and as stage combat choreographer. I also contributed about eighty seconds of original music to score the big knife fight at the end. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned on this show was this: Never choreograph your own fights. This may not hold true for every choreographer, but it does for this one. I had a couple of problems with the experience: First, I went too easy on myself. My part was made up of fairly simple moves that just required me to be big, which I do without thinking about it. By way of comparison my main scene partner, Krista, had to do a cartwheel and flip over a table. She was a gymnast, so she was up to the task, and it all made sense in context. But I never really challenged myself, and I worry that I got lazy in performance as a result.

My other problem arose during performances. I was so distracted every time I was onstage and there was stage combat going on. I couldn't concentrate on what I was supposed to be doing because a part of my brain wanted to observe and critique the other performers. They were doing my choreography, after all, and I wanted to make sure they were doing it right. Never mind the fact that I was onstage with dialogue and choreography of my own for which I was responsible. And the music was just an added layer of distraction. Every time the opening chord of my piece kicked in I couldn't help but wonder if it should be louder, or if the drums were too bright, or if the guitars were too low in the mix. The next thing I know, there's Krista coming at me with a knife.

There is no such thing as a typical theatre experience. No two shows are the same. No two performances are the same. Every script, every director, every company and every ensemble bring their own gifts and their own sets of challenges to be overcome. We grow as artists by finding ways to combine our gifts in order to face those challenges. Rarely if ever is every problem completely solved, but that's half the fun. You work around it. You roll with it. You take what you've learned and bring it to the table when the next project rolls around. I learned a lot about myself as a theatre artist while working on Camp Freedom! As an added bonus, I had a lot of fun, too. Perhaps in the near future I will post my contribution to our little cast song competition. It was... something.

There is, as they say, no rest for the wicked. This weekend I dive into tech for Busman's Honeymoon at Lifeline. By comparison this should be a nice, easy run after Camp Freedom! We start previews on May 1st, and open on the 11th. I have a lot of free time backstage on this one, so maybe I'll get a little writing done for once. We shall see.

Labels: Acting, Stage Combat