I got a comment on the blog asking me if I liked the small size of SOPAC. For me it was great. The "Two and Only", seen in an intimate theater is a great experience for me and the audience. The size of a theater is important mainly to producers. They obviously can make more money in a large theater than a small one. Me, I just like the intimacy of the experience.
I am in New York for a day to fly to Culver, Indiana Monday for a Tuesday show. New York is great. I feel at home here. The energy is unique. I feel more alive than I have for some time.
I normally take the subway but took a couple of cabs today. I got two great stories from some very talkative drivers. I will eventually recount them here some day soon.
In the city I met with my friend Philippe Parreno who directed "Iil Tempo del Postino", the art show I did in Manchester last July. He is in town from Paris talking to the Guggenheim about a couple of new art projects. I am always inspired to be around him. A great mind and very creative person. Someone I am honored to call a friend.
He had pictures for me to sign from "Iil Tempo".i I thought they were 8x 10's. Not so. They were six feet by four feet glossies of my section in the show. The print is mostly black theatrical lighting except for my face exaggerated by the 24 inch magnifying glass I performed behind. I look like a doomed passenger looking out the port hole of the Titanic. It makes an interesting poster.
We signed a dozen or so prints in large white pen. He copied my signature and I copied his super imposed over mine. It creates a very unusual graffiti like scrawl. However, it is a great statement of collaboration. Both signatures become one, him writing my name and me his. What I realized is we were not just signing autographs we were making an art piece. The longer I know Philippe the more I realize that is what his life is all about. Always making art.
We had great fun rolling the prints out on his hotel room floor and trying to forge each others signature. He had reams of paper to practice on, and glossy paper to get used to the feel of the pen. We were like little kids in a kindergarten art class. His french accent makes any thing he says funny to me. We laughed a lot. It was a great experience.
One of the prints is mine and I'm not sure I have a wall large enough to hang it on, but it is definitely a wonderful memento not just of the show, but the fun of signing them.
Only in New York do these things happen. It is why the energy is so great here. I always feel my artistic soul being fed in the City.
As you were,
Jay
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
2 comments:
Thanks for the fantastic show, Jay! My girlfriend and I came from New York to see you in Princeton. It was amazing - alternately hilarious and deeply moving. I briefly talked with you afterwards at the signing table. I mentioned to you that I do research in neuroscience, and in particular multisensory perception. After seeing your show, I have been telling my colleagues about you. Many of them know ventriloquism as a textbook example of a multisensory illusion (auditory-visual), but have never seen a real ventriloquist perform.
If you ever want to know anything about the science of why the illusion is so convincing, please feel free to contact me. I would be happy to do something back!
Best of luck with the rest of your tour!
Wei Ji Ma
Until now, I was the only ventriloquist to have performed on the McCarter theater stage. My stint was 35 years ago as a Princeton undergraduate in the annual Triangle Club show. Our show then toured the country for a few weeks.
So I was thrilled to hear that one of my ventriloquial heroes was doing his fabulous show at McCarter.
Best wishes!
Bob Baker
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