Random Access
Spaulding Gray used to say that he "could not make up the lie that tells the truth". He was talking about his writing. He couldn't make up fictional stories. If something happened to him he could write about that, but he couldn't make up something that sounded like it was real life. He hated deadlines because he didn't know what would happen that he could write about or didn't know if anything interesting would happen at all. I sometimes feel I know what he meant.Recently I haven't been traveling much and since I don't want to write about politics or the economy it seems that my scope is too limited to have anything interesting to say.
I have been trying to figure out what my next career step is. The Two and Only is on hold while I figure out what to do with it. I want to film it as either a special or just as a DVD to sell or if nothing else, just to have as an archive. To film it means to mount it and that waits on the right theater or new tour. Everything seems to lean on the next in some sort of house of cards arrangement where misplacement of one seems to put the rest in jeopardy.
I really wanted to do this show for a long time to come, but I just don't know. Maybe it is time to move on. Art is sometimes of the moment and to sustain it is to perhaps kill it. And perhaps to film it is to take away its soul. The wonderful thing about a live performance is just that, it is live. The experience is of the moment, never to be repeated. The life of a show is maybe of a season as well. If you could see a shooting star every time you looked into the sky, what would be wondrous about the event? And how could you recreate it? In astronomy there is something called a "singularity". That means it only happened once and never again. Those events are the special ones.
I am being asked a lot about my next show. I don't know what the "next show" is going to be, or even if there is "another show". I feel like I am expected to come up with one, but "I can't make up the lie that tells the truth". When the next show happens to me I can write about that I guess. Spaulding Gray, I miss you.
As you were,
Jay
Hi Jay,
ReplyDeleteI really hope you consider doing "The Two and Only" on DVD (with some cool backstage/inside stuff in the extras) for small town fans like me who could not see the show live. Best wishes!
Jimmy in Missouri
Hi Jay, we did get to see "The Two and Only" in Dallas and would love to have a DVD (or 4 or 5 to share with friends). More folks need to see "The Two and Only" - for the history, for the entertainment, for the pure joy of the moment.
ReplyDeleteDarice & Bill in Texas
I haven't seen the show yet. So I vote you either do another tour....or put out a DVD.
ReplyDeleteOkay here's vote #4 for a DVD.
ReplyDeleteA limited engagement( a week or so) would provide enough performances and plenty of footage to choose from to provide that "spark" and sense of spontaneous happening of a stage show.
Jeff Dunham achieves the "liveness" with his DVDs. And sure I know that your show is not like Jeff's, nor am I comparing you two.
And if you like Spaulding Gray, then you know he came up with an incredibly funny show about writing a book and fixing up a house. (Monster In A Box.
Maybe the taping of a DVD and the preparation and second unit footage taping could very well spark an entirely different show for you to perform in the future.
dave
if the next step is unclear, the best course of action is to take no action.
ReplyDeleteit's important to wait until the inspiration comes in to focus..... then it will be something you must do.
"Ditto" and "Here..."Here" to all of the other comments. I have a couple that can only be shared between us......but in the meantime...
ReplyDeleteCarry on with LOL from TAOTB&TAOP