Octopuses have large nervous systems, centered around relatively large brains. But more than half of their 500 million neurons are found in the arms themselves, Godfrey-Smith said. This raises the question of whether the arms have something like minds of their own. Though the question is controversial, there is some observational evidence indicating that it could be so, he said. When an octopus is in an unfamiliar tank with food in the middle, some arms seem to crowd into the corner seeking safety while others seem to pull the animal toward the food, Godfrey-Smith explained, as if the creature is literally of two minds about the situation.
Foxden Summer Episode – Clowns, Communities and Captcha
life is a chemical strategy for the conquest of dimensionality.
Terence McKenna, somewhere or other
we don’t see things as they are
we see them as we are
Anaïs Nin, quoted on Tshirt in Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell
“Being a (pre-Nolan) Joker goon required one of the most elaborate skill sets imaginable. Can you a wield a tommy gun? Check. Safe cracking, bomb making, get away car driving? All check. Advanced chemistry and hazardous materials handling as well as clown school or equivalent experience? Check, check and check. Juggling? Check. Mime? Check. Willingness to commit crimes dressed as a clown or as other circus related characters (subject to change based on nature of scheme)? Check. Willing to work for a homicidal madman who doesn’t hesitate to kill his own henchman at the slightest whim? Check.
I always imagine the Joker running the most terrifying clown school of all time. “Ok, Barney. You’ve gassed the staff, disabled the silent arm and cracked the safe. Class, give Barney a hand. Excellent work. Now, Barney throws the jewels into some bags, climbs onto a unicycle and proceeds to juggle as he makes his way to the getaway car. You dropped the bags Barney. Do it again. Do it again! Barney, if you can’t juggle those bags while riding a unicycle how will we ever be able to pull off this job? You disappoint me Barney. You’re fired! (shoots Barney) Hahahahahahahah!!! Get it? Fired?! (Turns to a terrified goon) Why aren’t you laughing Larry?! That was funny?! Lighten up! (The Joker’s flame throwing lapel flower incinerates Larry) Lighten up! Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Get it?! (The surviving goons laugh nervously) Ok class, recess is over. Now, who wants to go next?”
Commentator Mr Noy at http://www.toddalcott.com/superheroes-batman-1989-part-2.html
Lastly, a secret weapon I picked up from a Scorcese interview that really works: the “fuck-around” take. When you’ve got a good version of the scene, let the actors know that you’re happy to move on, that they’ve done everything they need to do but, if they fancy doing it one more time with the pressure off and the chance to fuck around, they can have it. That’s almost always the take you end up using in the edit.
All most actors crave is a relaxed, fun environment where they are comfortable trying things out without being made to feel foolish; an atmosphere, in other words, created by friends working together.
Julian Simpson at Julian’s Brain
Improvisation you can’t understand?
I saw Klancyk perform while I was in Warsaw, so here’s an obvious thing.
I’m on my European jaunt, rootless, nomadic, and drinking in improvisation, and well, it’s handy to speak English, as many Europeans do also, well enough to make it possible to meet, collaborate, teach, learn from and perform with them. Even so, if you’re into improvisation and in Europe you’re going to see shows performed in languages you don’t speak. And you should.
Lacking the ability to parse what exactly is being said in a scene, you find other ways of making sense of the scene. Your attention moves to the manifold ways we communicate around the words, ways to which we should be paying more attention anyway. Tone of voice, rhythm of speech, silences, body language, emotional expression, characterisation, physical contact. You find what you can appreciate.
I’ve seen shows recently where I’ve been impressed by the clarity of establishing a scene, of visibility and consistency of character choices, or of the way that the performers engage with the audience at the top. Klancyk really impressed me by making me laugh out loud, several times, at a show I couldn’t honestly understand a word of.
Go see improvisation you can’t understand, and see just how well you can understand it.
A quiet update
At the beginning of this year I was in Germany, France, UK, Malaysia, Newcastle and then India, all for interesting reasons, within the space of just over a month.
I spent 5 weeks in India studying alchemical Tai Chi.
A few weeks after my return, I decided to up sticks and, for a while, take a room in Berlin.
Since I’ve been in Germany I’ve
* Been involved in planning and executing a civil responsibility awareness exercise on the streets of a city
* Performed in shows in three new cities, including my first festival slot
* Helped develop a play
* Teaching kids improv as part of a school initiative, including bits in German (a language I never spoke before last summer)
* Taken four workshops with teachers from many continents
All while maintaining my work blog and doing a big piece of work to ensure I’m not just solvent, but profitable for the period. And driving to Denmark. And seeing family.
Next week I travel to Warsaw to teach more improv, then back to Germany joining an event for an incipient international network. Then on to the UK, where I’m taking classes and performing as part of the London Slapdash impro festival. The rest of the summer is undefined, but includes more festival slots, teaching on a German kids summer camp, and maybe buying a van.
I like 2013.