No.1 How would you describe this week in a sentence?
This week?
Yes
The sentence would be- ‘how does one relax, question mark.’
Would you like to elaborate? [laughs]
[laughs] Well, I only have a sentence, right?
Right, it's true. That's the question.
I can elaborate if you want.
Yes
So I just finished touring my show and teaching. I finished on Saturday, so this week I've been trying to relax a little bit, but then I've also had other stuff I've needed to get done. I'm also staying with my friend who has small children, so I've been trying to help her sometimes.
I think when you get off a big project, or a big something, it's hard to remember how to relax. And also, I'm not in my own space, so that's different too. Also, what the fuck is going on in the fucking country? It's really… yeah. I think things have popped up for me this week that I haven't been able to deal with before now, because I was so busy doing the other stuff I was doing. So now I'm more calm, and all that shit's coming up.
We nod in agreement
Thank you. Yeah…
Yeah.
Yes.
I have a personal note but I will tell you later.
Okay.
No.2 An artwork that inspired you this week. It can be any form, any medium.
My friend's husband is a professional magician. I had never seen him perform before and we got to go see him perform on Monday and that was really cool. I was nervous because, well, everyone, all of our friend group, has said what a great magician he is, so he's been vetted. But I know I'm gonna have my own opinions, so I was a little bit nervous. But it was very cool because I felt like he was more himself on stage, or at least a different version of himself, and that was really cool. It's different from what I do of course, but the relationship between the performer and the audience is really similar, so I think it's cool to see something that's similar to what I do but a little bit different, to see not just him, but there were two other magicians too, to see the vibe of how that person plays and interacts with people.
No.3 A memorable moment from this week.
A couple of my friends came over with their kids yesterday so they could have a play date with their kids. And I was here and I had a really nice conversation with one of my friends, that even though it was kind of chaotic, we were still able to cut through the noise and really connect, and that was really nice. And I think it was.. I guess affirming about our friendship, how close we are and how invested we are in each other's lives to be able to connect even in those circumstances.
That's amazing. Friends are so important.
They are.
This is a two-part question. Feel free to answer either or both or none.
No.4 A motto you swear by, or an advice you received and would love to share.
These might feel contradictory, if that's okay. One of my great clown teachers, many years ago I heard him interviewed in person, but I hadn't worked with him yet; but he was talking about something and he was like, ‘why do we waste time doing easy things? We like to do very difficult things.’ And I like that. And I also think, at this point in my life I feel like everything is difficult. I feel like any choice you make, if you really are doing it, it is difficult. So choose the one or the two or three that you really really want to do, because we don't have enough energy to do them all.
And then the part that's kind of contradictory is, I was talking to a friend in London in December, and I was talking about my show, this current show I'm working on, and how I felt like it just came out of my body, it felt really like it wanted to be here. And I was saying that I wanted to trust that for this year, and he was like ‘yeah you just want to let it flow’; Which is not a mind-blowing expression, I mean, it's a kind of cliche expression, ‘let it flow’, but I was like, ‘yeah!’. Because I think I can get in the way of things a lot, and work on them too hard, and it's like, yeah, I do want to trust that this thing wants to be here and let it flow. So I've been trying to meditate on that this year.
That's beautiful. Thank you.
Thank you
And that's a great segue to the last question, which is -
No. 5 What would you like to share about your projects?
So right now I'm doing this solo Bouffon show. Bouffon is the mocker of a clown, it's a lot of direct addresses with the audience, and audience interaction, and it's super imaginative. I play the three witches from the Scottish play, and I play Medusa with my whole body, where my tits are her eyes. And I play the goddess Dentata at the end, that has a vagina puppet and she drinks up the whole city and it's very powerful.
My parents don't know a lot about this show. They know some of it but not a lot of it, but I was talking to my mom the other day and I was like, I just feel like this show is so timely right now, with Trump, and the presidency, and the Epstein files. And it's so much about female empowerment, and it's really me making what I would like to see, and [what] I feel is powerful for the audience, maybe not everybody, but the people that it speaks to, or maybe the people that it's hard for them to see. I was talking to my mom about it and I was like, ‘mom it's really cool what I'm doing. It feels really really cool and I think you would like it.’ I mean, I think she would have trouble with some things for sure, but I think ultimately she would like it. So she [said] ‘okay, maybe I'll see it sometime this year.’
It's very cool to be working on something that I feel is bigger than me and is really risky, but that I think at least has the possibility of being deeply resonant with some people, and freeing [and] liberating for them I hope.
Well I've seen the show and I loved it. And it is timely, and it is ambitious and very powerful.
I want it to be about you, but knowing you, what you're saying [about] no choice is easy and nothing is easy these days, you definitely made choices that are very very challenging. But hearing you say that you just finished a tour of your show, that's amazing. What a thing, what a statement to have and to pursue. I'm so proud of you.
Thank you
And it is an amazing show, so I'm glad you get to expose it to different audiences in different places .
It's interesting, the relationship between the artist and their parents, and how much they know about what you're doing and how much they can understand it, but I'm glad you had that conversation and I'm also glad that you are doing it despite them not knowing anything about it. Maybe it's even for the better sometimes.
Yeah
Thank you, thank you. I've had a lot of love for this show, people coming to see it, but also people making puppets for the show, and writing a song for the show. It feels like there's a lot of love and energy behind it, which is really, really beautiful. Because we don't work in a vacuum, we need collaborators even if we're on stage by ourselves
Yes. And you're displaying other people's creations, which is also amazing
For sure
Snapshots by Rachel Bard
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